First Book!

Today is the official release of the first book that features two pieces of my art! To say I'm excited would be an understatement! Its available at barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com today and in stores on January 12. I will be the lady in Barnes and Noble, in the Craft and Hobbies section, moving other books and putting mine in front...haha. Oh, heck, who am I kidding, I'll be putting it downstairs, right as you come in, with the New releases. Be sure to look for it!
I still haven't actually been able to see the book in person yet. I was confused about release dates. No worries, I'll get a copy of it soon enough. And I will have more photos to come. In the meantime, I will be celebrating today by doing more art!

ARTIST

   Happy New Year 2015!

                                                                                                                     (artwork by Cindy Blevins)

We all hear talk like this from people: "This is the year to truly embrace who you are!" "Dream big dreams!" How often do we really act on that? Too many times we become impatient. Are quick to give up. We lack confidence in ourselves. We feel it can only happen for others, and not us. We will come up with excuses as to why we can't do something/be something. Let's face it, you can't hit a target if you don't even bother to shoot at it.
We allow the I'm not good enough or smart enough or (fill in the blank) to get in our way.
The negative opinions people throw at you. Most times, our biggest enemy is ourselves.
My struggle? I have had a life-long battle with lack of confidence in myself, my art work.
ARTIST is my word for 2015. I've had a hard time with this label for years. I've allowed  negative self-talk keep me from saying I am an an artist. I have wanted to BE an artist ever since I was a little girl.
I even considered myself one then! Go figure! I was never without pencils, paper, glue, crayons, craft supplies. I would draw, paint, make miniatures out of anything, sew, crochet. I loved getting new school supplies! That meant a fresh box of crayons! the joy! When I was 12, I won 3rd place in a "Create an Ad" art contest the local newspaper ran every year. I even won $75!
Then something happened as I grew up. I didn't go to art college like I always said I would. I didn't get much, if any, encouragement to pursue art. I went down a less risky path for me. I went to vo-tech for Cosmetology during high school. I got my Cosmetology license, a job, graduated high school, got married the following year.
As the years went on, I still continued to draw. And paint. And make crafts. And cut hair for a living. I even sold my crafts at shows for a few years. I got into photography and scrapbooking as my kids were growing up. Still, I figured since I never went to art college, I wasn't a REAL artist. I never had my art in a juried art show. I never pursued that career in commercial art or cartooning like I always dreamed I would. How could I ever say I was a real artist?
Then last year, at the age of 46, something magical happened. I was so sick of feeling the way I did towards my art dreams. One day, I decided to go for it and submit 6 art journaling pieces to a call for art for an upcoming book. (thanks to encouragement from my daughter, who happened to be an illustration major in art college at the time). I'll never forget the feeling I had after I clicked send, emailing my submissions to the publisher.
I felt sick. I felt like a fraud! Who in the heck did I think I was? A REAL artist? Yea, haha, right.
But guess what? A month later, I received the news that they accepted 2 of my pieces! Then I looked to see who else contributed art for the book. Names of artists I admire were listed along with mine. Artists that I have followed for years. Artists that have published their own books. Say what? Unreal.
So fast forward to now. 2015. The book is coming out next week! On January 6th.
It's called "Art Journaling Kickstarter', by North Light books. I'm so excited I can't stand myself.
My New Years Resolution? More art this year!
Have you always wanted to do something? Dream a dream!
Figure out what needs to happen in order for that dream to become a reality
I am finally feeling like I can call myself an artist with confidence. I AM a real ARTIST.
Ask my daughter. This is huge.
.

 Know Yourself. Yourself has known you longer than you think

This is the lesson I've found that keeps showing up in life. I learned this lesson again recently. Thinking about getting older, hitting a mid-life, half way point in age. Time and time again, no matter how far I stray away from myself, explore new things, I always come back to the basics. We pretty much have the basics down by the time we're 7 or 8 years old. Our likes/dislikes and talents start to show more. I've had a love for art and craft supplies ever since I can remember. Getting a new box of crayons was the highlight of my year! Back to school supplies, new pencils, paper, notebooks, erasers, drooool...! For example. When this photo was taken, I lived in Parris Island, South Carolina. We were a Military family. If we needed to buy clothes and such, we would have to drive to Savannah,Georgia. My 7 year old self remembers that I absolutely loved "all the pretty houses." It's all I remembered about Savannah. Well, that and a big bridge. So, a few months ago, we took my son to Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, GA. It took me 40 years to get back down there! And guess what? I took over 100 photos of  "all the pretty houses." Here's proof:

And speaking of a love for art supplies...we stopped at the local Blick Art store. My son is attending art school, after all, we needed to locate the nearest art store. ASAP. Ha. Here a few more shots:

So, like I said before, things have a way of coming back around. Coming back to yourself, no matter how far you stray. If you want true happiness with your life, you come back to yourself. You immerse yourself in the things that make you happy to the core. That's why I've encouraged both of my children to follow their passion, the arts.  I am finally finding myself, getting back to my passion for art and the new smell of crayons. The smell of new paper and ink. Get back to yourself,  because yourself needs you. 

Empty Nests and Bird Drawings

So, no photos this time. Only words. I've been away from this blog for awhile. Life runs in cycles, seasons. This Fall season, both of my children went off to college. One North. One South. That leaves me with something I'm being labeled as for the very first time. Something I've always been afraid of. A day I never thought would come. A day I could never imagine coming!
I am too young to be a...gulp...empty nester. I can't believe it.
So, all of this extra time is available to me. Extra time to think. Not that I needed that! But I have been doing some extra deep thinking lately. I can feel a change in season. Life season. I have to admit, I'm a bit afraid of growing older. And I don't mean that in a bad way, we all keep getting older. I mean, getting old. Old in my thoughts. Old in my ideas. Old and tired in my mind. I don't want my mind to get so old that I don't continue to explore new ideas.
I was in the library the other day. Looking in the art section. I overheard an elderly woman, maybe 30 years older than me, ask the librarian "Where are the books about how to draw birds?" The younger me reacted by thinking, oh god, this is what I have to look forward to as I get older? And not in a good way. I thought, I'm going to be so bored, alone, and desperate for something to do, I'll be tracking down the librarian. Looking for books on how to draw birds. The older me thought, hey, this is what I have to look forward to as I get older! I will have done so many things by the time I'm her age. I will be going through a list of things I still want to do, and one day it will occur to me. I never learned how to draw birds! This is the attitude I would like to hold on to as an empty nester. I'm happy for my children, pursuing their dreams. I can look forward to a time when I have done so many things that all I might have left to do is learn how to draw birds.

Oh how I love Oliver Jeffers' childrens' books

The Latest and Greatest

My daughter is going to art college in Boston for Illustration. Childrens book illustration, to be exact.
This is something I've always had a love for also. When I was a child, my favorite favorite illustrator was Richard Scarry. Still is my all time favorite if I had to pick one. I couldn't wait to have children of my own and buy them storybooks! The first book I ever read to my daughter was The Country Mouse and the City Mouse, when she was just 3 weeks old. It didn't take long until she was surrounded by books. Baskets of them. I discovered yard sales and would buy oodles of them, many for only 25 cents a piece. Sometimes, if I really hit it lucky, I would get a whole bag or box of them for a few dollars! (I will cover more on the topic of childrens books in the future for sure.) But for now, I wanted to tell everyone that Oliver Jeffers latest book, The Day the Crayons Quit, is the most clever, wonderful book. Has fast become a favorite. You will never look at a box of crayons the same way again. I really hope the crayons can work things out, because a world without crayons would be very plain, very boring, very blank.

Kayaking. This is the LIFE.

 July 8, 2013

My husband and I got our first taste for kayaking during a trip to Jamaica. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The water was calm and crystal blue. When we got home that November, we vowed we would kayak as soon as the weather here in Pennsylvania turned nice. We are fortunate to have a number of parks with lakes in our area. Something about being on the water it feels so primitive, so right. Maybe its the relaxing feeling of floating, the rhythm of the paddling, the splashing sounds. Combine that with a beautiful sunny day, a little breeze, and some natural scenery...you have the recipe for a perfect day. I just have one question. Why do these kids keep following us? ...stalkers.

ART JOURNALING

I started art journaling about 3 years ago. I have 2 full journals and am half way through my 2013 book.
This art form is my therapy. With art journaling, anything goes. It's very "free-ing" to put down on the page whatever I feel like at the moment! Even if there are no words. I lose myself when I'm creating in it. I can look back at my old pages and remember exactly how I was feeling when I created the page. So far, it has been one of my top favorite types of art.