My first MATS homework assignment is drawing Cuckoo Clocks. As all my friends and family know, COFFEE rocks my world! I can’t wait to sleep at nights because it brings me closer to waking up in the morning to have coffee! ummm,Yeah, really. So here it is, my initial sketches of Cuckoo Clock meets Coffee called Cuckoo Cafe.
Story behind it…I started an online class with Lilla Rogers (http://lillarogers.com/make-art-that-sells/ ). Lilla is a very successful agent who represents a select group of amazing Illustrators in the art licensing field. She also has a phenomenal, life changing, online school for new and experienced artists called Making Art That Sells -MATS for short. After months of Should I’s and Shouldn’t I’s, very anxiously, I signed myself up. I was extremely nervous to be in the company of such wonderful artists from around the world, coupled with the fact that I am not proficient in Photoshop nor Adobe Illustrator (which I will need somewhere down the line)…but ,I did it anyway. This is how it works: There’s an online classroom as well as a private FB page where all the participants have been introducing themselves and sharing work, websites, thoughts, excitement, fears and so on. My classmates are from every corner of the globe covering almost all the continents! It’s incredible how small the world has become in some ways and how much we all have in common. Many of them already know each other from previous classes, blogs they follow, Etsy and Pinterest. It’s one big, creative family. As the first homework assignments are being posted today, the main thing I realize is how different they all are from each other in imagery and style yet they all are so very equally beautiful. Too many times I have been guilty of thinking my work wasn’t good enough because it didn’t look like someone’s I admired or I was intimidated, ok I’ll say it, basically because of my lack of self confidence. Guess what, apparently, I’m not alone. Almost every artist I seem to meet has the same, shy, little doodler inside that wants to cover her eyes to protect herself as she holds up her drawing for everyone to see. But the more I peek through my fingers and put myself out there, overcoming the fear of being “found out,” the more I understand we ARE all good enough in our own unique way. What sets most of us apart, is that some know it and some don’t. This was my big AHA moment. That being said…I have made a commitment to my art. I will hold my head up high, believe in and trust the characters and worlds I create. I will pretend no one is watching so that every stroke is my truth, unique and pure. I will draw what I love and what makes me feel good, pouring that love into every project…hopefully passing along the the same joy to whoever chooses to experience it with me.
