A Clean Slate

Or a clean piece of paper. Or a clean canvas. Or a clean room.

I keep thinking about my place and all of my objects as new and clean, but they really aren't. Every thing I own just brings me joy now. It's fantastic.

Even my blank paper and my art supplies are things I'm excited to use! There's nothing that I'm keeping for the cost or for the fact that I might use it someday for a nebulous project. Every thing I kept were things that I can't wait to take out and create something with. Each thing is clean and crisp and readily available. Nothing is shoved in the back of a closet or stacked awkwardly in the bottom of a trunk.

It's there. Waiting. Full of excitement!

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So what am I going to do first? Well, I'm definitely going to continue taking photos of all my artwork.

If you click here you can see all the work that I'm just releasing. You can have it! For whatever you want to pay for it! Or for free! I've decided all my art has just been shoved in my portfolio without seeing the light of day, and I'd rather it go to a good home for a little bit than stay in my closet for nothing. Please like my Facebook page! I'll be adding new art to be released for at least the next two month.

I have that much art.

And after that?

I will be on r/redditgetsdrawn practicing painting and drawing photos that bring me joy and posting the result! I could be doing commission work but I'm doing an experiment. I'm going to try and create art I love.

Let's see how it goes!

Facebook Art Giveaway

https://www.facebook.com/timelockedart

Visit the Facebook page where I'm going through all my art and posting the pieces I'm hoping to get to new homes! I'm tired of my portfolio being stuffed with art that needs to breathe!

The Joy of Discarding

It was in the midst of the move, sometime around midnight when I decided that once again, I had collected way too much stuff. I've always been a collector of just about anything that catches my fancy and it's very, very hard for me to get rid of anything.

Seriously, I'm like a step away from hoarder territory here.

But while packing and crying and wondering if I really, really needed six pairs of jeans I decided that I really needed to figure out what I wanted to keep and get rid of everything I didn't need. Or keep everything I did. And when I got back to Louisiana I did a google search and stumbled across the idea of only keeping things that bring you joy.

Joy.

That's weird. I decided I liked that idea. It wasn't utilitarian. It wasn't based on time, which I'm horrible at anyway. But joy.

And that has seriously been one of the hardest things to make myself figure out. I don't feel 'joy' easily. When I started discarding things, it was tough. Really tough. I couldn't tell joy from fond memories from anything else. In fact, I was more likely to feel guilt and fear than anything while going through my things. Guilt that I hadn't used it. Guilt that I didn't like it. Fear that I'd throw it out and need it. Fear that it meant something to someone else or that I wouldn't know what it meant to me until after I'd tossed it.

Joy was not a part of this process for a while.

In fact, it wasn't until today after tossing out three black trash bags of things and giving away several times that to goodwill that I finally figured it out when I was doing my photo albums. My photos were all shoved in an album that smelled faintly of cat pee (probably from as far back as Spot), sometimes ten photos to a pocket meant for two. The photos were starting to bend from the pressure and there was no rhyme or reason, sometimes the same photo could be found several pages later.

I didn't think I could do it. I didn't think I could look at those pages filled with feels and toss any of them. In fact, I tossed most of them.

And now, when I look through the photos, instead of seeing sad, bent, frustrated images, I see crisp, clean, happy photos that make me smile. My photo album isn't a place to store all my photos. My photos are memories I want to keep and treasure and my album now reflects that.

And with that epiphany I have to go through my stuff once again.

My Facebook Page is Live

The Facebook page for TimeLocked Art just went live! There wasn't much there for a while and I didn't want to just link to a rather empty and boring Facebook. Things are picking up now, and more new stuff is going to be added!

https://www.facebook.com/timelockedart

Why 'TimeLocked Art'?

Welcome!

First, let me introduce myself since you'll be hearing a lot from me on this blog. I'm a person with somewhat varied interests. To start with, I was a child that daydreamed a lot and read more while also working hard in school. I graduated at the top of my class and I went on to get my degree in fine art (studio 2d) from a nice, southern technical college to the dismay of some of my family. I decided to go back for a degree in physics which caused tears of happiness in some of the previously dismayed family members. Before I could finish, I started working as the lead graphic designer at a startup company. I believe at this point, the previously dismayed-then-thrilled people just became confused. I'm still doing design work, but I've decided to create this space for more personally artsy endeavors. 

I always thought at this point in my life I would be a marine biologist studying dolphins or classifying algae based on body symmetry or perhaps writing and illustrating books about history or advancements in string theory. I suppose working on front-end coding and design work at a medical education start up in the northeast is pretty cool too. Just different. 

So Why 'TimeLocked Art' for the name?

The name 'TimeLocked Art' comes from @dhmontgomery. At first I was just going to go with "My Art" or something just as boring because I wasn't feeling especially creative with my word-things. I am sure most people know the feeling.

What I liked best about the name was that it wasn't taken on a lot of social media platforms. That's always a big relief. It was open on everything I plan to use. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Etsy, and Google under 'TimeLocked Art'. HOLLA!

What I also like about it, is that it seems to encompass my art philosophy with my very nerdy/geeky side. For me, my paintings are little moments in time. Each brushstroke is a response to one value and one color at that one place at that one time. The final image is almost locked in time and holds a memory of who I was as an artist and how I saw the world. (Gallifrey Falls No More!)

It's also incredibly geeky without being overtly so. It calls to mind Doctor Who as everything and its brother get timelocked. And it reminds me of the episode in Sherlock where being "SherLocked" is a major plot point. (That one is a bit of a stretch, but I'll take it.) Also, it reminds me of particles in physics being quantum locked. 

I like the name. I think it works well for me and it was open.

What should I expect from this blog?

I think the first and most important thing you should expect is the unexpected. I am sure most of this blog will be about my art and my art process, but I'm so in to geek and nerd culture and I always find things I want to write about and share that I really can't say what all you'll see. I can promise you can also expect to see links to my art that I'm selling, as well as images from design pieces I'm doing for others. Also cats.

Think of it as an art blog with a brain. A very spazzy and somewhat demented brain, but still, more than just another painting a day blog. (Not to say those are bad! I love painting a day blogs and I have been following them for YEARS on my other accounts. This just isn't going to be one!)

Right now my focus is on getting my social media linked and making my Etsy store usable. If you have any questions about my art or you just want to comment on it, please do! I'm afraid I'm not doing commissions for a while, though I might rethink it if I get enough interest. 

Enjoy!

Well, I'm off to finish some more social media pages. Come back later to see all the links!