Make Art

I spend my days as an accountant and a software designer.  Rules abound, but there is also art-galore.

Accountants have a saying, "What's 1+1? What do you need it to be?"

Software folks have a saying, "You can have it cheap, you can have it fast, or you can have it right.  Pick two."

They're all balances.

Over the last couple of years, I've been craving making art.  Non-stop.

There's never enough time in the day.  I crave time.

What would I do with my time though? I could see the first few days of infinite time being spent binge-watching TV or reading books.  I would spend time playing my ukulele until my hands hurt.  I'd fish for hours. Hiking or just wandering would be great (I just don't like being cold).

What then?  I think it's creative endeavors.

Two winters ago, I decided to take a chalk drawing class. I learned to see the world in blends of colors.  My favorite piece was a bowl.  It's nothing fantastic, but I'm really proud of it.

Chalk is messy though. So I haven't been playing with that medium as much.

I tried coloring and working on zentangles (intricate pen drawings)

I started doing some urban sketching with pen and watercolor.  I love this medium, but it's really hard for a perfectionist.

I found that to do this medium, I really needed to take pictures of scenes so I could work on them at home.  My iPhone camera is good, but I figured getting a real camera would be the way to get good shots any time of the day.

So of course, I started taking a photography class and tried using my 15 year old Nikon camera.  Although it takes good pictures, the versatility wasn't there.  So researched a bunch and landed on a Sony a6000.  Of course that meant buying lenses too (21mm, 35mm, pancake zoom and a 50-210 zoom, plus some fun macro spacers).  I've really been enjoying snapping shots everywhere.  

Spent a couple hours today trying to build my first portfolio of photos.  I have it narrowed to 20, but all the literature says you have to get it under 15.  We'll see what that process will be...

Interestingly, working on that is what lead me back to writing on this blog page.  I was trying to figure out how to put my art online without paying a bunch for a website. 

My friend Betsy gave me a piece of art over the holidays.  It's one of her angel pieces that says "Take time for your art."  She signed it "Art Now!" 

Today felt like a creative day.