Alease Michelle Studio2229 Blog

See It, Accept It, Reject it, and Haul Ass!

Today I’m starting to see myself getting burned out and defeated. My body is showing the struggle and battle of physical living. I know what’s happening, I know I am killing myself. I’m losing faith in my ability to survive, much less win the battle. My demising strength is weakling because I’ve been taught to fight what I see rather to listen to what I know. I’m looking outward, rather than turning within to God’s given iteration.

I can see very clearly in others what I cannot see in myself. I can see defects and faults, I can see very clearly what others need to do, I can see potential in others, and I want to help them live up to their God giving gifts. I can see in others, what I can’t see in myself.

How can I prove to myself- I’m right, when I know I’m wrong? How can I be good if I acknowledge the bad things about myself? Good & Bad, Right and Wrong are predetermine judgments placed into my head by past experiences, and recurring thought patterns.

Until I am willing to acknowledge my true self- I’m powerless to change. The universe will send people and situations into my life to show me who I am and what I think, though for providing me with an opportunity to choose people who will show me the way. I must accept what I see- if it quarks and walks like a duck, then it must be a damn duck.

What I can learn and put into action is my ability to choose. It’s my choice. If what I see is not something I like or want in my life, then I need to get to STEPPIN’. I will not make excuses; I will not entertain, change or fix what I see. I will see it, accept it, then reject it and haul ass as fast as my 8.5 feet will take me.

Artwork by Alease Michelle: Titled "Ms. Mary" part of the Phenomenal Woman Series.

Peace & More Love,

 

Catching Up

On in the past few weeks- it has been all about photos for the August Break Photo Challenge.  Now since we are in September you would think I would be pass the photo taking. But I do have a few more images I want to share before returning back to the studio.

I've been busy- more or less busy hanging out with friends and family. I believe I needed this time to decompress. Lots has happened in the past 2 weeks some bad (breaking up with boyfriend) and some good (selling artwork). But what I realized is that even when I'm down there are always lessons to be learned. -A few days ago I posted a personal essay on this situation - I've Fallen, and I Can Get Up!

In the past 2 weeks ...

 
I met one of the biggest celebrity fashion stylist in the US. I'm not really a big person on being glamorized by famous people, but I just love Phillip Bloch fashion sense. He has made the most average women look stunning! He brought glamour back to Hollywood. Check out his work here: Phillip Bloch.com

 
I needed to go out and shake a leg (dance). So I met up with my girl,Tara -For a Girl's' Night Out. I had the best time. I danced all night. I didn't get home until 3am. I paid for it the next day. My knees were screaming with pain- dumb me danced in 4 inch heels. What was I thinking- I'm not 21 any more.

 
Before heading over to Granddads- I took a few hours to sit outside of Panera's to read the Fall issue of InStyle  and talk with a friend who just returned from India. The weather was beautiful and warm. I can tell that Fall is on its way- but until then why not just enjoy the nice weather.

 
Labor Day at Granddads. I wish I was better at taking photos of the entire event. It's always something to do- gotta talk with my little sister (that her to the left of me), have to talk with my cousin (that's her to the right of me), gotta talk with my aunts ( behind me) and I have to hold and kiss on my little cousin, Garvin. (He's my 3rd cousin).

Well, that's what I've been doing for the past 2 weeks. Now back to work. Have a few projects that need to be completed.

Talk with you soon- Peace & More Love,

 

 

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I've Fallen & I Can Get Up

I'm an amazing creature, even with imperfections. However there is always room for improvement. Bad experiences tend to bring me to a conscious awareness of exactly what I need to improve. Bad situations help me recognize, develop and utilize the spiritual quality or character traits I need to foster growth and self improvement.

I've thought many times that bad things happen in my life because somewhere or somehow I've been bad, this is simply not true. I have to grow into GREATNESS, but not until I'm equipped to recognize that I'm able to do so once I've dealt with situations and people who create negative feelings that I no longer want to experience. In other words, until I make changes, made a shift in my consciousness, will I be able to grow into GREATNESS.

The anticipation of greatness and goodness is what makes bad experiences so valuable. They happen to assist me in recognizing that whatever comes up in my life is an direct correlation to what I need to know and learn in order to evolve. Bad experiences keep me from being in places where I have no business being, forcing me to realize that I must do and be better! Change is the first step toward betterment.

The good news is once I get the lesson, develop the trait, embrace the virtue and make the shift, I will rise up out of this uncomfortable situation. Revelations of clarity and deeper understanding of things that once worried and confused me will be revealed. When I get the lesson- I will be ready to change and grow - I will be able to release the old and make room for the new.

The bad news is once I've moved on- there will be other lessons to learn and other areas I will need to strengthen and improve. I'll be tested, but I must be able to exhibit what I've learned- new thoughts, patterns, attitudes and behaviors. The situations will get even more uncomfortable and the lessons will be harder to recognize. "The bigger they are, the harder they will fall" - is a fitting description of the new trails and tribulations I'll face. No matter what I have to remember the more I know, the more I'm required to know and practice in my day-to-day life.Life is hard- but the lesson learned form life is worth living everyday.

Favorite Motto " Its all Good in the HOOD!

Peace & More Love,

 

Inspired by Photographer- Tim Mantoani

Photography by Tim Mantoani

To be honest- I'm not really sure what words I could use to describe what has drawn me into Tim Mantoani's work. But there is something about the way he captures the essence of a person in his photos.

This is the process I try to convey in my artwork. Although many times the images I use in my mixed media art are of people I don't know- I still try to pull outthe essence of the person.

What did they do for a living?, What were their hopes and dreams? What would friends and family say about this person? What were their fears and beliefs?

I Love Family

There is nothing like family. I'm truly blessed to have a family that's so loving and supported. These are images from the 4th July. These images support what I believe and have been brought up to know -that without family you have nothing.

This loving support from such a family has inspired my mixed media contemporary art.  Although I'm not married (not yet) or have no children I still strongly believe that a family's love is the essence of who I am as an artist. My mixed media collages include images of my family, but my mixed art media also includes images of other people's family. Family is family in any shade or country. I just wanted to share how much I Love My Family!

By the way: Photo collage was created with Photoscape and "I love my family" tag in Powerpt.

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Flying Lessons: Tips and Tricks to Help Your Creative Business Soar- Week 3

 
"Sassy" Digital Collage 2010

Alright. I gone through week 3 and I currently working on week 4. My pace has slowed down a little because I'm away on vacation and I don't have easy access to a printer. You see, I print out each week's lesson and read them in total relaxation- which means a  comfortable sofa, tall glass of ice tea, smooth sounds in the background, photocopies of my lessons, and a good pen (for taking notes in the margins). Once I have all of that together, then I'm ready to read and absorb all Kelly has written. Please note the copies don't go to waste. I punch holes in them and place each lesson in a notebook along with any additional notes I've taken along the way.

Well for week 3: Marketing and Online & Offline Opportunities to Sell was the main topics. I've been able to get a few things done.

Marketing:

I gathered up all of my testimonials from clients who've purchased customized artwork. I then placed them on my custom artwork page, and also worked on setting up a gallery of just customized work with notes of the reason and process of each piece. I also include testimonials from the buyers.What I need to complete are: a link to custom artwork gallery and maybe add a few to my blog sidebar.

Outlined next month's newsletter and grouped my readers into niche markets. I think this will help me target my information alot better and to ensure that the right information goes to the right people. By the way, my newsletter is Powered by MailChimp . It is free for the first 500 subscribes you have. So for now it works for my budget.

Online and Offline Selling Strategies

Online: I am still working on posting new work on Etsy, but it's not easy. You have to take several good photos of your work, which include photo styling. Then don't mention writing the descriptions. You suppose to tell a story and enlighten your customers to why and how the work was produced. And since I don't want to seem like I just copying and pasting the information, I try to write something special/different for each art piece. But Kelly does suggest- to at least post one or two each week.

Offline: In December of 2009, I participated in one Art Fair. I made out very well . I sold prints of my work and I was really able to identity my target market. But to be honest, the art fair was alot of work and I learned alot from the experience. But the more I think about it, the more I know I need to participate in more of them. I will create a calendar of up incoming art shows for late 2010 and 2011.  

For Week 4:

There looks like there is much  much more to learn. Will continue to share what I am learning and doing.

 

Peace & More Love, 

 

My Creative Muse

 

When You Care, People Notice.

Susane Berger

My dad was my inspiration for becoming an artist. He was great at teaching me to observe my surroundings and to look for the beauty in the most uncommon, unattractive, misused things. He never judged me for being different or of being proud of what I had accomplished. He pushed me to be better than average and if average is all I could be, then he would say "then be the best average person you can".

He understood me, because we were so much alike. He was the best dad/ creative muse any girl could have. I miss him, but I know he lives inside of me every time I speak to my class about living your dreams, and when I'm working in my studio creating my next master piece.

I Love You, Daddy. Happy Father's Day!

 

 

The Purpose of the Journey

 "Compound Love" 8x8 print Available for Sale

No matter where we are in our life’s journey, no matter what our circumstances are, we can draw from each and every experience. Imagine the freedom from stress or fears when we truly believe that we are protected and guided by the love from within and that hidden in the challenges we face are FAVORS that are tailor-made to benefit us. The sad thing is that many people live and die without every knowing the fundamental truth about themselves.

Once you know – you then learn to look inward during any crisis to ask yourself “What are the lessons that I am to learn from this challenge”.  We have a 24/7, 1-800 number connection to the answer we need, and we just have to look inside to hear it.  Check out Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray & Love talk from O’s 10^th Anniversary.  

Know this…

I’ve not always known that I’ve had the ability to look inside to get the answers. I came into adulthood expecting life to be a breeze. I thought I’d graduate from college and start my career as a graphic designer, move into a place of my own , find a great guy, get married and have a kid or two. Not one time did I envision the major challenges I would face with finding a career I enjoyed, how much money it would take to live on my own and how hard it would be to find a man that would share the same dreams and aspirations as me?

But now I can see the light ahead. I recognize now that the self-doubt, the disappointments and fears forced me to grow up and take responsibility for my life. It caused me to look deeper, try harder and grow stronger. During this time of searching I constantly listen to music in my car and at home. I often fail asleep listening to Mary J. Blige, My Life CD- the songs and words uplifted and spoke directly to my situations. Music has a way of opening up your heart and mind. I totally encourage everyone to listen to music that’s uplifting, when you seek clarity.

 

 

 There are no mistakes in living life. In the trails and dramas there are lessons. Life is not a playground but a classroom, and our journey through life provides us with the course work and the tests required for our education and development. Life offers us the lessons we need to refine ourselves, to realize our profound and often hidden potential.

If your life is everything you wished it to be, what would your purpose be? What would you be doing here? My purpose has been to be an artist and teacher, a friend & mate, and a critical thinker.

As we encounter obstacles, let them inspire your creativity. If you lose a value possession (person, thing, or place), recognize that God is clearing a space in your life for something of greater value.  Embrace for what’s coming and learn to love what is new and now.

Peace & More Love,

Flying Lessons: Tips and Tricks to Help Your Creative Business Soar- Week 2

"Double the Jewels" Mixed Media Collage - 8x8

In the Ecourse - Flying Lessons: Tips and Tricks to Help Your Creative Business Soar, Kelly covered alot of information about websites, social networking and building community.

What I took away from this week was - I have alot of work to do and  "How the heck am I going to do it all?" So instead of freakin' out- I started to write down my goals in my journal. I would like to share with you guys- a few of my goals as it relates to week 2's lesson.

Goal 1 - Websites

I have a website with wix.comand I was currently working on revising it, until I read an article on SEO issue with flash websites (will share link to article in next post, can't find it right now). It got me to thinking that maybe I should rebuild my site somewhere else- and to starting thinking about future directions I would like my site to go.

Goal 2 - Social Networking

I have a Facebook fan page and a personal page and I use them for both personal and business. I also have a twitter account and have thought many times of closing it - but I have over 300 twitter friends. ( don't know how that happen?) More often I just send links back to my blog post on twitter, but now I thinking of using it more to share a little more personal stuff.

Kelly also mention - Flickr as an social networking site. Never really thought of it in that way. So I took her advice and I've made more of an effort of spending more time on my Flickr with posting images, writing better descriptions and joining Flickr groups.

Goal 3 - Community -Online and Offline

This is where I'm lacking the most. I don't consider myself a very sociable person, and I thought leaving a few comments on blogs was good enough. But actually it isn't. So, now I am on a steady - but slow hunt on looking for blogging meet ups (great idea- never thought one existed) and art retreats. Art Retreats- sorta excites me and sorta doesn't. I guess because I was an art major undergrad and graduate school- attending events that teach art -just doesn't do it for me. (That's the loner in me) But I am totally willing to try it. I did enjoy attending art & design classes in college- so why not now (Will be sharing what I find in later post).

Affirmations posted on my bathroom mirror 6/10/2010

  Well.. that's it. I think that's enough. I will continue to keep you posted on what I'm doing and learning.

Peace & More Love,

How to Feel Miserable As An Artist

 
Rretrieved from Anahata Katkin face book page - but posted by Keri Smith