I’m going to be very honest… pride aside.

Times are very slow, the economy is ROUGH, and now I understand the meaning of starving artist.  I’m so touched by all the people who STILL believe in me and support me as an artist!!! I only wish the student loan people would support me just as much. lol

For all those affected by the economy just as I am, stay strong!!! Let’s hope that things will look up sooner than later!! (more…)

In the last three weeks, I’ve been trying to create two new collections of contemporary paintings. In the first collection, I want to focus on vivid colors and call it Iro (color in Japanese). In the second collection, I want to focus on the beauty of the planet and call it Chikyu (earth in Japanese). These collections are to be abstract only, which is something I’ve never done. I’ll keep some Japanese calligraphy influence in my paintings because it’s grown to be such a big part of my pieces. I’ll also incorporate more colors into my paintings, particularly the Iro Collection.

Both collections sounded simple enough… until I tried painting them and went to hell and back a dozen times. I’ve learned two things about myself over the past sleep deprived weeks. First, I’m an artist who fears bright colors (strange, I know). Second, I find abstract art to be one of the most difficult styles. Both these artistic flaws drove me to give up all other styles of painting for awhile, and focus on what I struggle with the most. There’s no better way to grow as an artist.