Grab a cup of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate and gather around to hear how “When the Morning Dawns” came to be (link to my shop below)! This painting is unusual for me because I’m typically TERRIBLE creating abstract art.

I chose the name “When Morning Dawns” for this painting due to the abstract/foggy appearance. Psalm 46:5B says “God will help her when morning dawns”, which seemed fitting right now. I used to live in Minnesota and would see a layer of fog and mist evaporating from the Minnesota River on the way to work in the morning. On beach vacations, I’ve also seen many mornings where the fog and mist reduced visibility so considerably that it was like walking through a cloud. Do you ever feel like life seems a bit foggy or unclear?

This painting started as an attempt to recreate this landscape oil painting in acrylic. This oil painting is of my hometown and with my move to Texas, I was hoping to create an acrylic copy of it. So what happened? How come the painting became so drastically different? I suppose you could say I’m the one in the hot seat.

It all started well, but my colors weren’t quite right to me. This came on the heels of a different painting I was in the process of, so I was using up colors from a previous painting to begin my “under painting”. I know I started with the dark color for the horizon, but somewhere along the way, I gave up on recreating the painting like I had started out with and allowed creativity and expressionism to dominate the canvas. Sounds scary?

Over the years, I’ve learned I sometimes need to let go of my goals and plans and let circumstances, brush strokes, and paint colors have a say in the final product. It’s never easy, but as I always tell myself, everything can be painted over if I don’t like it!
What do you think? Is it important to always stick to the original plan? If you were to commission a painting from an artist, would this concern you?

When Morning Dawns can be purchased at my Etsy shop, check it out at Wee Whistlepig!

I started a new shop called “Wee Whistlepig” on Etsy, where I currently offer digital downloads, original artwork, flat art prints, earrings, and aprons. There’s more in the making, but make sure you check out www.weewhistlepig.etsy.com for Texas-made art, aprons, SVG files, earrings, and all your gift needs. Make sure to favorite my shop, and some items to get discounts!

You probably think I have a thing for hats. Personally, I don’t believe that’s true, though looking over my recent projects, it appears that I do. My latest project all began with my art history professor combined with the fun response I received from the hats I made my illustration class. So my art history professor is ultimately responsible (unknowingly) for this Christmas hat ornament based off of the Romantic painter Goya and his self-portrait.

I’ve been working on an image series depicting Wee Willie Winkie running through town. Here’s my work in progress!

When I think about art as frustrating, it’s not in the eye of the beholder. It’s more on a personal level for me as a creator. Generally, I find art is frustrating when you are working hard on it and it’s just not coming out right. I’ve discovered that instead of thinking of frustration as an indication of incompetence or failure, it’s actually a process of learning. It’s easy for me to feel like it is showing me that I can’t do it, but looking over my past frustrations and the results I achieved afterwards, I think it’s pretty safe to say that if frustration is used in a good way, it is very beneficial. I like to use frustration as a challenge to overcome my difficulties, but a dose of common sense is needed to keep things in perspective.

So if art is frustrating, take heart! Give yourself a big dose of patience and keep working. It’s the only way to get better.