Where in the world is Lucy Roberts?

I am in various places, and have just started (in the last couple days) some new accounts around.

Here are the links where you can find me and one or more aspects of my life:
http://www.magicweaver.com
http://weavingmagic.deviantart.com
Helium: http://www.helium.com/users/edit_show_articles/273372
(Do you like to write and share your knowledge? Join Helium and get paid! If you sign up through my email I would deeply appreciate it. I would love to make a network of article writers. This could be lucrative for both of us. For example:
If I know you are a regular writer for Helium, we can link up and I can sub contract some of my article writing business to you, and pay you up front for the work you do (if I have too much work for me to finish on time).
You get paid by Helium for writing, and I do get a small "finder's fee" from Helium that does not affect your payments.
We both get added exposure. I will link your articles in my blog under "my follower's works".
Here are my specific articles with titles:
How to Learn How to Draw
Painting Tips: Becoming an Equine Artist
Good Books on Learning Paintings
Watching Oil Paint Dry: How Long it Takes
Horse Breed: Belgium Horse
How to Bridle a Horse
How to Treat Rain Rot and Rain Scald in Horses
How to Clicker Train a Horse
I try to write a minimum of one article a day.)
If you like writing, you might want to consider another group I have joined, Freelance Home Writers: http://www.freelancehomewriters.com. (I don't get anything for the referal, but you might, be interested in the opportunity.)
Today: http://magicweaver.today.com
(Get paid for blogging about what you care about - anything at all! Sign up using: http://www.today.com/ctr.cgi?idx_mem=17712&mode=vip. I get $5.00 per sign up (you can too when you refer someone) and I am shooting for the $250 bonus per month by getting the most referals. The rates you make on Today.com are varying based on traffic and quality, but any $ is good money right?)
Project Payday: http://www.projectpayday.com/go/2041455
(Project Payday is a unique set up. They don't promise unreasonable amounts of money, but you do have control over the amount you make. Go ahead and put in your email address, and they will send you more information. Your information is kept protected, and I get $1.50, regardless of whether you actually take an account or not.)

New Project sparked

I just got a second idea for a new project using ACEO cards. I will be making at least 1, (maybe multiple different ones) ACEO cards as playing cards. 54 of them, including the jokers. I just need to do a little minor research (as I am not that much of a card player) to figure out what the different details are (such as how many one eyed queen, king, and jacks there are, etc.)

If you are interested in "commissioning" one of these decks from me, let me know. I would absolutely be open to the idea of making one to "order"!

So many projects, so little time...

I am doing a series of 54 original ACEO cards. They will be available for sale through this blog, my website, ebay, art-cards.org, and artcardswanted.com.

I hope these will be some inspiration sparking quick little polished works for me to test (hopefully successfully) some ideas for larger pieces.

Don't know what ACEO cards are? They are also called ATC (though not 100% interchangeable).

ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards. Artist Trading Cards can be printed "copies" ad noseum of the same card that was originally done by an artist.

ACEO cards should always be signed by the artist. They should state whether they are "Editions" or "Originals". The difference would be:

• Editions would be variations of the same picture. Such circumstances would be similar to a Series in effect, more than one of the same imagry with a good portion (or effectively all) the same, maybe doing it in a different style, different color scheme, different, medium, (but not required) but each one unique while alike all the others even if it is simply because it is hand painted, printed, drawn, etc.
• Originals would be one of a kind (OOAK). Each and every picture is unique. They may or may not have things in common (theme, medium, color scheme, style), but each is a piece in and of it's self, not relating to the others.

Compare these definitions to other similar definitions:

• Prints would be duplicates. A good example would be posters. Exact copies of the original. They have nothing different than any other. These can be done in limited runs (becomes called Limited Edition Print - confusing I know)
• Limited Edition Print are prints which would be signed, and numbered in order of printing and sold on a first come first served lowest number basis.
  
• The other kind of print would be print on demand type limitless numbers.

Some people swear that the limited edition runs are more valuable than the limitless runs, and only buy that type of print, but the print more often than not is the same quality, and therefore, it is my personal opinion you should buy what you can afford, and therefore, what you like, regardless of the "value". Otherwise, all anyone would buy is Picasso's and Worhol's etc. If the art is something that you like, then it is priceless. Ok, off my soap box now.

Most Recent Photos (flowers)

These are some photos of a horned iris I took. I love horned iris almost as much as I love horned and spooned irises.


Here are some photos of some traditional irises I took.



Here is a photo I took of a bee on a dandelion flower:


Here is a photo of a couple of edelweiss flowers:


And here is another photo of one of those unknown plants. I disected it (so to speak) and I believe it is in the onion family, but I still don't know what it is.

Updating the art world, and all my watchers

I have been on a bit of a photography kick for a while, and done quite a lot. Not all of it has been macro, but much of it has. I have also started doing some drawings and such. I really need to get going on my website, but I am a little stuck on that. I have several designs, and multiple ideas, but just how to implement them is bum-fuzzling me to an extent I haven't found all the answers yet.

Well as for new photos, I am downloading them to the computer right now, and will have them posted in this message (or maybe a msg or two after to break it up so it isn't hard to read and flow - depends on how many actually work out as I hoped).

I am also writing this blog while I am working on several other projects.

The Carousel Horse (Spring) is just about ready. It has gone through several incarnations, but I am just about done to publish it in it's final state. Just a little more work on the fine details.

The Carousel Horses (Fall/Autumn, Winter, Summer) are in the planning stages, but as soon as I get Spring done I am going to start a new one. It's a toss up of whether it will be Winter, or Fall, but I have lots of great ideas! I hope to have all three of these done by the end of the month of April. I technically have until the end of May, but I REALLY want some down time to work on another project that this one sparked - a Carousel Horse for every month of the year, and tossing in an extra one for Birthdays.

I have some pencil drawings I have been working on. They are going well, but been tossed on the back burner for the Carousel Horses project(s). I will come back to them shortly.

You know, inspiration can come from so many places, one just has to be prepared to use the inspiration they have been handed. I have recently found some such inspiration, and will be creating a series of environmentally based pieces inspired by the art of another artist. (more information on this to come)

OK, so the photos have downloaded, and the ones that don't need cropping are going to be posted in the next msg because there are so many, but the ones that need cropping will be posted in a following msg, because I need time to do the work, and I am too excited to wait to post any of them for the others.

I do hope you enjoy my work.

OMG!

I was reorganizing my things on my drafting table and I set a stack of DVD's on the corner temporarily and the monkey's piece was on top of them, and of course, that is when everything goes toppling over to the floor. I broke the tile, and the jewelry unit ended up on the floor, but no damage done. everything is still in tact.

You wouldn't believe how tight my eyes slammed shut on the realization it was going over and I could do nothing about it. I'm not worried about a $0.25 tile, but if the piece had broken, the world would have collapsed for a moment.

**Note to self - be more careful how you stack things in a frantic rush to clean up on a 15 minute break!

Almost finished with Spring Carosel Horse!

I have a new piece (rather large) almost finished today. Possibly will be finished today if I can get enough done between shifts at my work. I am very excited to be finishing it up. It's been a long time coming. It is most definitely the most involved and intricate digital piece I have done to date. I am very proud of it so far, and feel sure I will be wen all is said and done. There are several things that are unusual and/or unique about this piece. All that is left at this point is polishing up the coat and putting in some highlights and shadows.

Then I intend to go toward focusing on the traditional for a little while as I feel some of those skills are getting a bit rusty, and I have some ideas I would like to tinker with on there too.

Also in the planning stages are several fiber art pieces and some music narrative pieces (some of which fill both slots.

Then I am thinking about getting back to my coloring book plans. Oh so many things to do, so little time left to do them in.

Somewhere in there I want to actually finish my website, and create this blog to match, so there is a little more thrown in for good measure.

New artwork

I have been inspired by a new group of artists, and an old one. I have signed up for a new gallery website, www.storm-artists.net and have been trolling through. I have some work to do and I was just feeling real uninspired to work on it, (or anything for some reason), and I saw something on there, and it sparked me, and it's been pretty non-stop ever sense. I have done the following piece as a warm up to get the creative juices flowing and pumping again. It's "Prancing Pony #1". It's a piece done solely in Adobe Illustrator CS3. I need to go back and make a few adjustments, but I wanted to move on to the real projects. So here is (unfinished) Prancing Pony #1 for your perusal.


He was designed after seeing the photo taken by Vivstock on Deviant Art. It is posted here with her permission per her stock rules.

New work coming...

I have had a rash of computer issues recently, and what with work not being at all helpful, and having to reload my OS several times in recent weeks, and viruses (beware of Spyware 2009 which seemingly started this whole issue for me) my work got put on the temporary back burner.

I am however working on many things...

I have some jewelry getting ready to post. I have a pattern for an amulet bag I am creating. I have some designs in my head for some stuff, and I ave new tools that I am anxious to test out. I got and pet them everyonce in a while promising that they haven't been forgotten.

I am toying with an idea (have been for quite some time) of a coloring book. I remember coloring books when I was little... Jumbo size... tons of pictures. Not connect the dots, but real honest to God pictures to color and use my imagination on. The size of coloring book that makes "jumbo size" now look puny. I am thinking of bringing back my childhood. I have several drawings done to this end, and I am thinking of offering it on CD so kids can print them out and recolor as often as they want as well as printed versions.

I have lots of ideas... and they are starting to surface...

But it is almost time for lunch, and my stomach is taking over. OI!

New Work!

Well, I have started on the one crescent shaped "stone" and am almost ready to cure it, and have started on the pink magnisite stone. I am very excited to have my hands busy again, and have plans for 4 more pieces using 7 more stones.

I found this wonderful store the other day (it is where I purchased some of my stones from) called Bally Beads. It's semi local to me (well worth the drive) but they do have a website (http://www.ballybead.com/). Walking into their store was fantastic. I did not have my tax certificate with me at the time, but I will be returning with it.

I have made a "new year resolution", though it has come a little late, to really make a concerted effort for my art business in the coming years. I have a lot to look forward to and a lot of things I want to be doing in the future, it's time I began tackling some of them.

See y'all next time!

New Artwork

I have been lax on uploading my artwork here, but I really want to pick back up on that again. To that end here is a posting of all the artwork I have done since I last posted art. There is more, but I just haven't finished it, or photographed it yet.

The Herbalist
Corn Husk Doll

Now Introducing ArtFire!!!

Leave it to the artistic community to do this.

It's been a long time coming.

It's way overdue.

But it is here now....

ARTFIRE!!!

It is a better version of Ebay and Etsy and so much more for artists and artisans. There are guilds to interact in, a place to find requests, and an opportunity to sell your stuff with NO FEES!

No fees - that means no listing fees, no hidden dees, no final value fees - !NOTHING, NADA, BIG OLE GOOSE EGG!

You can have a free account too! I choose to pay for mine to get the extras but the free accounts are excellent as well. Also, $7.00 USD a month for life (currently) ain't a bad deal at all. However, if you wait too long they will go up to $20.00 USD a month. Still not a bad deal, but more money.

If you are an artist or artisan you should sign up too:

Also if I refer 10 people who sign up for the $7.00 a month for life rate account my account is free, so if you sign up, please use the banner above. I would greatly appreciate it.
It's quick, easy, and well worth the effort.

WOW such a long absence... UPCOMING SHOWS

My deepest apologies for being gone so long. It's been just about a whole year (let's just call it a year cause in 11 days it will be). This isn't because I have not been creating or working, it is because of the life that I have been having to live regardless of creating or working. So much has happened.

After I posted in December last year the end of December was always hectic, as was Jan, Feb, and April. December was Aaron's birthday (17th), then Christmas (was always a big deal), and then in January Martin's (my husband) birthday on the 1st, then Hope's birthday on the 11th, and then in February there was Valentine's Day (never a big deal :( to my husband) and then my birthday. In March was our wedding anniversary (again, :( not a big deal to my husband). Then almost immediately in April was Angel's birthday. There was very little time to settle down enough to blog about anything short of just being about how hectic I was feeling.

Then things started falling apart for me.

Martin started cheating (I think) on me. He decided to move to an apartment and separate, then the adoption for the kids that we had been working toward was finally scheduled. It was set for Aug. 8, 2008 at 8:00 am. I let Martin know. And was in the midst of a move from Denton to Mesquite. I got the apartment all approved, and everything seemed to be going somewhat normally. I thought Martin would settle down when he saw the stress over the fostering / adoption was over. He said he would go through with the adoption because he didn't want to screw the kids up. I thought all would be fine after some time. He kept telling me nothing was wrong he was just overly stressed.

Well on 7-27-08 I received divorce papers. The next day the jerk had called the state and the state effectively kidnapped the kids from me. I was told while I was driving down the freeway and nearly killed myself, my mom, and everyone else withing a 200 ft radius of my car.

Let me just say the state, the agencies, the people who are charged with "child protection" don't have a blasted clue about what is right for kids or how to handle situations properly.

So here we are... it's December again. Thanksgiving sucked, I have no hope of getting the kids back, and Christmas is coming and I dread it. I am looking forward to meeting a fellow artist. She is coming to Oklahoma for some Christmas festivities and I will be travelling up to see her at some point in her holiday visit. Haven't set on a specific day yet, but we are working on it. You can see her work at http://teague-drydan.deviantart.com

I have also made some decisions about the future of me and where I am going to be. I am re-locating to the UK. I have a couple of very good, very dear friends there who have been a drastic support for me through all I have been going through and I have wanted to return there ever since I was there in 1999 studying art. It was truly the first place I felt like I was home.

I am going to go visit this summer, start getting some things together and set up and look for a place to live. Then I will be going back and forth quite a bit and deal with several shows here and getting shows set up there etc.

I do have some shows here set up and getting set up.

Because of all that has happened I missed the application deadlines of a couple, but here is a current listing of were I am applying and/or will be exhibiting.

I will / am trying to be in the following places:

April 4&5
San Antonio, Texas
La Villita Spring Arts Festival (Vendor & Exhibitor)

October 10-18
Houston, Texas
International Quilt Show (Vendor)

October 31 & November 1 (I think - new dates haven't been made available yet)
Carterville, Illinois
34th annual John A. Logan College Autumn Fest Arts and Crafts Show (Vendor)

I will be working on Blogging much more regularly, but I just started a new job so I will aim for weekly blogs rather than daily blogs.

Don't forget to sign up for my feed so you can read my coming and admittedly fascinating artistic blogs.

Be the Energizer Bunny ...

And keep going and going and going.

Success is not a lack of failure, it is a lack of laziness. There are several ways to look at this.

1. Invention is 99% persperation and 1% inspiration. You have to sweat over something to make it worthwile and therefore to make it succeed.
2. The little engine that could. When you come to a mountain, keep telling yourself you can do it. Keep saying, "I know I can".
3. The tortise and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race, but the speedy trend followers will burn out way too soon.
4. Practice makes perfect. You can't improve, learn, or experiment without time, effort, and eneregy.

So don't let the time investment run you off. Just go at it. Step by step. Keep moving, keep trying.

Also keep everything you do. It may inspire something new one day, AND you can see your improvement and successes.

Now, I am keeping this one short because it is important for you to take that first step and get out there and get working. Find something, do something, make something, just keep on doing it, or something different. Just don't get discouraged or stagnant.

Anything worth while is worth the effort!

Step by Step 2 Jaguars (installment 2)

This is a continuation of my prior post. To see the pieces earlier, please go to http://magicweaver.blogspot.com/2007/12/step-by-step-2-jaguars-in-needle-felt.html to see the first installment.

I didn't intend to work on this anymore today. If anything I was going to work on the dragon sculpture, but as typically happens to me, I got going and picked these up again. Therefore I apologize for the multiple posts in one day.


Here I am showing the two bodies at different stages. The one on the left has the lemon yellow top coat begun. I will put a second coat that will blend the colors back further, but that will be after I put on the first layer of spots.

Here both bodies have the first yellow coat, and the white on the chest which can be seen from the side.

Here are the bodies at the same stage, just showing the white on the chest from the front. Sorry the picture is a little blurry. The digital camera doesn't alow me to force a focus, and it doesn't seem to know what to focus on as these are so fuzzy with very fine hairs all over the place.

These colors are only lightly tacked down still with a course needle. I will now be putting these aside and creating the limbs and then attaching them. Then I will create the head, and attach it. Then I will put the spots and stripes on and refine the shape with a medium needle. Then a final top coat of yellow blended with brown over everything. Finally with the fine needle I will do the final refining, accentuate the spots bringing the darks to the top, and attach them to their own individual "branches".

I hope you like the progress I have been making. I welcome any comments or questions you may have. Just leave them here or email me.

Dragon Sculpture in Needle felt

Here are some step by step photos on how I create(d) my dragon sculpture in needle felt wool. I started taking pictures after I began putting the color on, so my apologies for the lack of photos at the beginning to be helpful.

For this sculpture I did tightly and firmly pack before putting on the color. This is because I will be sculpting scales and I need something firm to work with. However, the color is loosely applied except for the color on the eye, it is very firmly applied as I am not working on it after it is done.

The color is a self blend of two shades of natural brown (light and dark), 3 shades of green (emerald, lime, and chartruese), and a rare occasional hint of lemon yellow. The eye is white scelara, with an iris of ellow and brown veins and a ring of tangerine. There is a reptilian slit pupil that goes about 75-80% of the iris.

Here I have begun filling in the muzzle and the beak here.No detailing yet, just coloring it in. I am barely punctureing the colored wool, just enough to attach it to the form. When I begin sculpting the scales that will further attach,

Step by Step 2 Jaguars in Needle felt Sculpture

My foster son is a student at a school whose mascot is a Jaguar. Our family has had a rough go recently and his teacher and counselor have been wonderfully helpful to him and by extension myself. Therefore as a Christmas gift, I would like to give them something handmade (everything is handmade from us this year) and special. I have chosen to do a needle felted jaguar on a tree limb for each of them.

I thought this was a perfect opportunity to share the process of doing needle felt dolls and sculptures, and so I took some step by step photos to share this at this time. This isn't really a tutorial, as I am not telling you how to use the needles or anything. I am completely self taught so I don't know that I am doing it exactly right anyway, but it works for me. If you would like more detail information, let me know and I will see what I can do.

First I took a clump of 100% Polyester Fiber stuffing (I use Polyfil). One clump for each Jaguar.

Then I gave each piece a hint of the body shape that I wanted. This was really very gestural done with a course needle. No fine details put in, and it isn't very tightly packed, just hinted at so it would hold a shape when it wasn't in my hands.

I continued to shape the bodies, just getting some of the basic angles. Not yet putting in any details or musculature. The bodies are getting a little firmer packing as I go (thus why I didn't get it tightly packed from the beginning).

Now it is time for some color. I laid down a self blended undercoat of lemon yellow, tangerine orange, and natural brown wool roving. I very lightly attached it to the body here, and made sure the wool flowed in the direction of the hair on a live jaguar. I haven't begun any real structural work, and when I do, the punching will help attach the color further into the core. This is just the beginning stages, and there will be a less striated coat on top, and you can even see some of the stuffing through, but this will just add a life too the coat that wouldn't be there if I just did the top layer.

Here you see now the both sides of the two jaguar bodies when the sculpturing has begun. It isn't near finished, as I will continue polishing the bodies as I add the top coat and the details as well as the limbs. The musculature is developing, and you can see how the two jaguars are developing very distinct looks even though I am looking at one photograph to work from. This will change further still.

Don't Meddle in the Affairs of Dragons...

For they think you are crunchy and taste good with catsup.

Well, I haven't posted here in a while, not because I forgot. OH no, I didn't forget. It is because I have been beating my head against the table screaming out my creative woes. I have been struggling and drowning in a problem.

I want to create a dragon. A very unique dragon. I see it in my head, but can't seem to figure out how to make the parts come together. So, I decided to make one of my own, building it up piece by piece, and then designing a pattern from that. Then the question was how to begin. OI! So many ideas running through my head and no real means to get them into the proper medium.

So I decided to work on an animal I knew better. An equine. Well, that is easier and harder in some respects. My real problem is how to handle the armature. I want it to be an artist doll (not a toy).

I am going to be building an armature, bulking it some with tape (probably floral to be honest, but we will see when I get that far), then further bulking with yarn, and finally ending with fabric being pinned to get a pattern onto the "model". The actual piece will be possibly (depending on my moments inspiration) glued, sewn, stuffed, trapuntoed (sp?), needle sculpted, gessoed, painted, etc. I really want to give a shot to oil pastels on the fabric structure!

If I can get a horse figured out, then I can move on to the dragon I have in mind.

I hope everyone would be interested to see the outcome as I work it through.

The horse is to be named "Cainwyn Cyra" and will be nicknamed if someone so desires "Cierrah". She is a fantasy creature being, you will understand when you start seeing her creation.

Seems I owe the blog some inspirational entries as well. Those will be on the way shortly.

Create your own success

Huge ideas don't always change the world. Little ideas are not always insignificant. Therefore, your idea does not have to be huge to change the world. Little ideas do that too!

Let’s take some very good examples from history.

Most people already know most of the history examples, but it is good to be reminded of them every so often to keep our perspective.

Hard to think of little slips of paper with glue on them as huge. However these little slips of paper changed the world (and likely the course of some businesses) once they came on the market. Post-it notes (and all the derivatives) trace their origins to a chemistry accident. Spencer Silver was searching for a super sticky adhesive, and well, we all know that though post-it notes hold, they are not permanent. Mr. Silver did not go any further with his “failure”, but he didn’t throw out the result either. Then a friend (Art Fry) and fellow 3M employee needed a non-permanent bookmark for his hymnal. He got together with Silver, and now they are both credited equally with the invention of Post-it notes. They didn’t do well in market tests the first time around, but two years later when they were released to the public they were a huge hit. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Not many people think of chewing gum as a big idea. However you would be hard pressed to say the inventor of chewing gum didn’t change the world. Chewing gum was developed from a failed attempt to make rubber bicycle tires, toys, masks, AND boots from the chicle from the Mexican sapodilla tree. Every experiment failed. Had Thomas Adams not tossed a spare piece into his mouth and start chewing on it in frustration he would not have known he enjoyed the taste. In short order he decided he could improve it by adding flavor. Not long after that, Adams opened the first chewing gum factory. Then in 1871 his gum began selling in drugstores for a penny a piece.

This was not the end of Thomas Adams ingenious ideas. Adams sold the gum under the name Adams Sons and Company with the slogan “Adams’ New York Gum No. 1 – Snapping and Stretching”. In 1888 his Tutti Frutti gum became the first gum sold in vending machines. They were located in the New York Subway. The firm was the most prosperous producer of gum by the end of the century. Further by 1899 Adams Sons and Company was a gum producing monopoly through a merger with the 6 largest competitors in the U.S. and Canada, and achieved great success as the maker of “Chicklets”.

Where would we be if Thomas Adams had tossed the remainder of his lot of chicle into the East River as he had originally planned before popping a surplus piece into his mouth?

Thomas Alva Edison, the greatest inventor of all time, had more than a few failures. For example, in the process of inventing his 1093 successful patented inventions for things like the lightbulb, the motion picture camera, and the phonograph, he also tried to make a successful run at building things out of cement. He started the Edison Portland Cement Co. to make things like pianos, cupboards (for his phonograph), and houses. Unfortunately the price of cement was too high, and these ideas never caught on. All was not lost though – his company was chosen to build Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

In his work to improve the electric light bulb (contrary to popular belief he did not invent it, instead he improved on a 50 or so year old idea that had been previously a failure for general home use), he had to invent at least 7 other patented items, refine them to “perfection” and pull them all together into his work. These were:

1. The parallel circuit
2. The durable bulb
3. Improved dynamo
4. Underground conductor network
5. Constant voltage devices
6. Safety fuses / insulation materials
7. Sockets with on/off switches

He didn’t let these stumbling blocks or any of the failures as he invented each stage along the way knock him off course. Instead he kept steady, focused, and inspired.

As a race we tend to be impressed by those we have never met. We put them on pedestals, think their life must be grand, and wish we were more like them. Movie stars, authors, artists, business people, athletes, musicians, etc. all have the same struggles, the same challenges, the same fears, the same vices we do. If we don’t make ourselves our own heroes then we are putting our energy, our minds, and our respect in the wrong place. Who is going to respect us, if we don’t first respect ourselves? We have to be the first one in line, tooting our own horn.

Besides, most of the people we are putting up there in a deity spot don’t deserve to be there. Pro-athletes do drugs, drink, commit crimes, and generally tend to think they are above the laws, as do the Hollywood bunch. Why? The answer is pure and simple, because we allow them to. When they do something wrong we give them a slap on the wrist, tell them not to do it again, and the value of their name, merchandise and image goes up. Authors, artists, musicians, etc. live lives that seem to be riddled with so much pain that they tend to (once again) turn to drugs, alcohol, crime, and the same follows through. The more tortured they want you to think they are the more self-detrimental activities they get into. Why would we want to immolate that?

In order to be anything that is your source of happiness, it does not take drugs, alcohol, crime, or a tortured soul. It takes standing up for something you have a passion in. Stand up for your self. Invent yourself. Make you what you want to revere. That is the true success.

Pick your happiness, visualize it, and do everything you can to bring it to fruition. Make it your reality, or someone will make your reality for you.

Edison is quoted as saying “I haven’t failed, I have found 10,000 ways that did not work.”

What can we glean from these examples? Never throw out a non-success. You never know where it might lead you next!

Website Released!

My website is now ready to be viewed! You can go see it at http://www.magicweaver.com.

It has all my artwork on it to date, and the pieces that are ready for prints and/or original sales are noted (there is not a lot yet, because I am printing tests to verify quality and that takes time).