PopArtDiva Painting Original Pop Art Divas - Original Art!

After nearly a year and a half haitus I have started to paint "real life" paintings again. I have started a line of miniature ORIGINAL acrylic paintings called The Pop Art Divas - check them out on my new Pop Art Diva Blog just for them.

Since I retired from the art shows a year ago this last May I've been doing art solely on the computer. Around January of this year I followed an urge to start "doodling" again and stocked up on #2 pencils and sketch pads and started cartooning for my own artistic pleasure - you've seen many of those posted here and on my other blogs.

Just recently I found myself badly missing the feel of a brush in my hand and enjoying the sensual pleasure of applying paint to a blank canvas. When I found a stack of little canvas boards I got an inspiration - why shouldn't the PopArtDiva paint Pop Art Divas? I love painting faces and I love retro style sixties cartoon style pop art. These little canvas boards made me realize I could do little paintings and this allowed me to create the time for some painting and art for art's sake again!

I'll be doing these in my spare time (which isn't much) and posting them for sale on my new Etsy Site! So far I've gotten 8 sketches done and I'm really looking forward to the painting stage! To keep up with their progress visit the Pop Art Divas Blog.

I expect the prices for these little mini masterpieces to run from around $20 or $25 up to about $100 each, plus any shipping and/or sales taxes. They'll be for sale on my Etsy store but I will announce them as they're created and post photos and stories about them here.

I have some plans to create some original hand-painted martini glasses too - I just bought 20 martini glasses and some porcelain paint for those! I'll be letting you know when that project starts too, but in the meantime. . . .

Stop by and read my introduction post and check out the very first sketches for my new Pop Art Divas series of original art!

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Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.
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LEARN HOW TO DO ART AND CRAFT SHOWS FOR PROFIT AND FUN STEP BY STEP
Click the links below to download my articles for a nominal fee of only $2.50 each:

What Kind of an Artist Will You Be? Define Your Product First.
Creating Your Booth - Making a Portable Gallery That Works
Preparing To Do An Art Show - Getting your art, your booth and yourself together
The Most Important Sales Techniques for Selling and Marketing Your Art

MAD MEN and MERRY GO ROUNDS

I'm resting today since my back has been in and out all week but I discovered this funny bit from Saturday Night Life - it's "Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women" and it's a take off on the great show Mad Men - a wonderful retro show on the ad world in the 50s and 60s.

You might also want to check out my newest online store Carousel Corner - soon you'll see my entire carousel and mime, mask series that I created in the eighties as original colored pencil drawings for the art shows. Now you can get them on posters, tees, cups and other goodies too!



Enjoy and btw, Happy 40th Anniversary to fellow Woodstock attendees (read about my Woodstock experience here)!





Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Buy Great Art Inspired Products at The LIFE IS LIKE ART Shop!

---------------------------
LEARN HOW TO DO ART AND CRAFT SHOWS FOR PROFIT AND FUN STEP BY STEP
Click the links below to download my articles for a nominal fee of only $2.50 each:

What Kind of an Artist Will You Be? Define Your Product First.
Creating Your Booth - Making a Portable Gallery That Works
Preparing To Do An Art Show - Getting your art, your booth and yourself together
The Most Important Sales Techniques for Selling and Marketing Your Art

Like Forrest Gump says: #@!% Happens - especially with kittens!

I have neglected this blog for the last several weeks and I apologize. I just honestly couldn't face it. Sorry, but it seems as though my life is falling through the cracks a bit and I have a whale of a wonked back on top of it - or because of it!

But life and work go on so I toughed it out and got the redesign of my homepage on Pop Art Diva Dot Com finished - and with it I created a whole new look to my logo and masthead which I am in love with because it's so totally retro pop art looking! I love it so much I'm going to use the right side for a new design for the Pop Art Diva Gift Gallery later this week (oh, okay maybe next week when my back isn't humpty dumptied).

BTW, I'd love it if you would click the masthead and give me your opinion on the look of my homepage - I'm redesigning the whole website to integrate my stores and might use this look if ya'll like it!

I have also created six new online stores (which means new mastheads for all) and been designing new art and redesigning some of my existing art for them. Check them out to see the new mastheads and the new product art below:

The PopArtDiva™ Gift Gallery

The Martini Diva™ Boutique

The Brat in the Hat RANTORIUM EMPORIUM™

Cocktail Napkin Wit & Wisdom

The Normal Challenged Artist™ Shoppe

TweetleBirdie - Twitter Stuff

I am also working on a web design for another artist - it's really looking good and her work is just fantastic which helps.

And yes, there were quite a few new Martini Recipes and the graphic design for their recipe cards at The Martini Diva - I did 2 whole weeks of Think Pink (including a design for tees, aprons, cups for breast cancer awareness and that graphic was really cute:

And I did this really cute retro style pop art graphic for tees, aprons, cups and other gear for all the DIVAS out there:

So, I've been busy even if you haven't read about it here!

VISUALIZE VISUALIZE: Right now I'm visualizing 2 things: a heating pad and the bed and hoping to take the ache out of my back!

IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU LOOK AT IT: You never see all that's going on around you - even though I haven't been posting here it didn't mean I wasn't creating! - sometimes things are going on in the background that you're not even aware of! I think it is wise to always consider those hidden things when we make our life decisions. Just consider that wheels are turning even when you think they aren't!

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE: Even though I'm in pain I'm grateful that it is something I'm familiar with (sadly too familiar with back pain), something that I know will go away if I take care of it. Not everyone who suffers pain is that lucky are they?

I'm also grateful (well, I think I am) for my new family member - Kitty Tink! This tiny ball of grey and white fur adopted me about a month ago and though her kitten schizophrenic behavior drives me batty it also serves as a wonderful source of laughter and entertainment - especially since I got a laser pointer to tease her with!

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Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Buy Great Art Inspired Products at The LIFE IS LIKE ART Shop!

---------------------------
LEARN HOW TO DO ART AND CRAFT SHOWS FOR PROFIT AND FUN STEP BY STEP
Click the links below to download my articles for a nominal fee of only $2.50 each:

What Kind of an Artist Will You Be? Define Your Product First.
Creating Your Booth - Making a Portable Gallery That Works
Preparing To Do An Art Show - Getting your art, your booth and yourself together
The Most Important Sales Techniques for Selling and Marketing Your Art

Ooops, My Bad - PopArtDiva works 24/7!

Just a quick note to apologize for my last bunch of posts - I had accidentally checked off this blog for automatic posts from my ping account and I didn't meant to!

So you were getting silly weird little posts meant for my Twitter account - so, my bad and I've turned them off!

And, yes, I will be back posting my new art and more creative inspiration but right now I'm so busy doing the art I can't blog about it, lol. Follow me on Twitter for my very latest day by day: @popartdiva - faster to tweet in under 140 characters than write a blog post and right now I have little time left for anything but resting between contracts!

ON THE UPSIDE: That of course means more money which I've been visualizing for ages now, lol. Okay, gotta run - sorry but I will be back. In the meantime check out:
The PopArtDiva Blog
The Martini Diva
The Diva of Tiny Foods
and my newest online store:
The PopArtDiva Gift Gallery

Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Buy Great Art Inspired Products at The LIFE IS LIKE ART Shop!

---------------------------
LEARN HOW TO DO ART AND CRAFT SHOWS FOR PROFIT AND FUN STEP BY STEP
Click the links below to download my articles for a nominal fee of only $2.50 each:

What Kind of an Artist Will You Be? Define Your Product First.
Creating Your Booth - Making a Portable Gallery That Works
Preparing To Do An Art Show - Getting your art, your booth and yourself together
The Most Important Sales Techniques for Selling and Marketing Your Art

New Martini Art, Fun Twitter Tees & Gifts & Other Pop Art Goodies

Instead of posting here the last few month of Sundays I've been doing other arty things like painting coffee tables, arranging my art collection and decorating my new home - but I have been getting things done graphics/art wise.

I did another illustrated martini diva nano story - recognize my favorite actor anywhere in here:
And I've been posting my Martini Recipe Cards - some classic cocktails, some martini smoothies and some fun herb infused martinis:

From The MARTINI DIVA

From The MARTINI DIVA

From The MARTINI DIVA

AND I've been in the process of reformatting (yet again) all my art for my new Zazzle stores because I'm moving them over from CafePress (who just changed their commission pay policies and cut a large chunk of my profit off!).
I just finished four designs for my new Zazzle store: TweetleBirdie - Fun Stuff for Twitter Fans and Other Social Media Lovers. I also have two other stores The PopArtDiva Gift Gallery and The Martini Diva Boutique - both of which I am currently adding designs to as I get them reformatted. Below is a my little "window display" for the store and you can shop right here for my tees, posters (in lots of sizes and framing available!), caps, aprons, great cup choices and even business cards!
TweetleBirdie

My little window display allows you to stop motion, zoom in on any product, make a comment about the product, rate my products and click to buy right here!

So, I just wanted to let you know I have not been idle even if my blog posts here have been!

VISUALIZE VISUALIZE: I've been visualizing new clients and new accounts. Several of my old accounts have fizzled out - either due to their own lack of business sense or the economy so I've drummed up new business to take up the slack. I also visualized finally getting my art collection and family heirlooms out of storage and back into my life and here they all sit - gloriously adorning my new home and bringing back many memories of my family and friends from years ago. I am also visualizing prosperity for this country! So many people I know are suffering and I want to see them and all of us get back on our feet and get back our feeling of security of hearth and home (please join me in this visualization - see your friends happy and smiling as they go off to new jobs, drive up to new homes and enjoy their families in a haven of safety and financial prosperity - and don't forget to see that for yourself too!)

IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU LOOK AT IT: I am making valiant efforts to maintain seeing the current financial struggles of today's world as a challenge in how to be creative in finding new work, new sources of income and creatively adjust my spending habits. One thing I noticed was that I could eat dinner for a buck if I was willing to eat junk food every night - but as much as I love Jack in the Box tacos I think I'd end up spending more money to buy a bigger car to fit my bigger butt in, lol. But I can buy on sale and I love pasta and potatoes so it harms me not to use less meat. Plus I planted my own herb garden - cheaper than buying them fresh at the store!

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE: I continue to be grateful for my friends who helped me get my things out of storage and down here to my new home, who brought the rest of my things and even a huge TV out from Arizona, who continue to share my troubles and my joys as I share theirs. I am grateful to have my family photos again - to see and remember the good times with my Mom, Dad, Sister, Ken and my beloved pets. Though they are gone I am so grateful they were all in my life. I am grateful to still have a room over my head and food to eat. I am grateful for the work I get and I am grateful I still have my little Pixel to cuddle with on days like today when the thundershowers storm all around us.

Til the next time - Peace, Prosperity and Joy to you, may you find it in unexpected places!

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Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Buy Great Art Inspired Products at The LIFE IS LIKE ART Shop!

---------------------------
LEARN HOW TO DO ART AND CRAFT SHOWS FOR PROFIT AND FUN STEP BY STEP
Click the links below to download my articles for a nominal fee of only $2.50 each:

What Kind of an Artist Will You Be? Define Your Product First.
Creating Your Booth - Making a Portable Gallery That Works
Preparing To Do An Art Show - Getting your art, your booth and yourself together
The Most Important Sales Techniques for Selling and Marketing Your Art

HOW CREATIVITY AND ART OVERCOME ECONOMIC BLUES

I don't know about you, but all the negativity in the media regarding the economy almost brought me to a screeching halt - creatively and emotionally. It's very hard to keep a positive outlook while all around you are Wild Peeps screaming that the sky is falling!

Pop Art Wild Peeps done for my Wild Peep War Campaign

Though I rarely intentionally listen to the news because it is always so sensationalized and negative, I found myself being exposed to it without choice. Short teasers on TV before I could hit the mute button, headlines glaring at me from newsstands and internet pages, snips of conversations that drifted my way, ad naseum. It was seeping right into my unconscious and infecting me without me even being aware and hitting me right in my most vulnerable spot - my financial security!

Suddenly I found myself waking in the middle of the night worrying about it. I became aware of negative thoughts flitting through my mind and overtaking my creative energy. I was waking up tired and lacking my usual excitement of getting to work on my art and my writing. I wanted to sleep more and numb my brain with the boob tube. My usual sense of humor had dulled too, and my humor is one of my biggest defenses against the Negativity Monster! Yes, I was still working but my heart wasn't in it - how sad is that? This crap had to stop!

Illustrated Martini Nano Story done for Martini Diva post and as spot illustration for my martini book

I am, like everyone else, struggling with this economy, but I cannot let the negativity seep into my psyche and corrupt me - it is like an acid that can corrode creativity and industry. If you wallow in all the bad thoughts all your creative and emotional cogs get so damaged that your entire life mechanism freezes up! I had to put a stop to the downward spiral - for me that means doing something creative - even if it's just designing and building a little mini martini bar for my new home. So that's how I kick started my positivity again after a few weeks of passion deprivation. Sometimes just doodling or doing a little crafty project can stimulate your creative juices.

Working on something creative always keeps my mind focused on the positive and, at the end of the day, I've accomplished something which is always uplifting. Additionally, I tend to be whimsical and humorous in my creative endeavors and humor is always good for the soul. Even if you're the only one who thinks it's funny and you are cackling like a madman to yourself, the laughter is sparking all those good receptors in your brain and adding speed to your descent out of the black hole of negativity! So what if no one else gets the joke???

This doodle of a seventies platform boot inspired this Illustrated Nano Story for The PopArtDiva Blog and it made me giggle.

Then I was just in a good enough humor to get an idea for having some fun with Easter Marshmallow Peeps and started a whole fictional Wild Peep War! You can read the entire "campaign" at last Wild Peep update at The Brat in The Hat. Then, of course, I had to do a Wild Peep Nano story for the Martini Blog and a Wild Peep Martini for Easter!

I also uploaded some new Martini Art to The PopArtDiva Boutique. I try to get several designs done ahead of time and release one each week.

x

x

And, of course, new martini recipe cards for The Martini Diva:

x

x

So now I'm fully back in the "flow" and feeling my spirits and positivity lift on a daily basis - though I have to watch for those sneaky little Negativity Monsters, they like to creep up behind you and get you when you're not looking! Oh, and I'm faster with the mute button and I have imaginary blinders on to screen out the headlines!

VISUALIZE, VISUALIZE: I am using a new technique a friend taught me for visualization. I'm supposed to remember times when I was doing my best financially and bring that emotion into my visualizations for the present. It's like rewriting - you take a good memory and tweak it with current events but keep the positive emotions from the actual memory! Interesting that as a visual artist I find it easier to do this by writing the "story" instead of making a "movie" in my head.

IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU LOOK AT IT: First, you have to be aware, you have to be vigilant about your thoughts and where they are going! It's easy to slide back into old habits of negativity without knowing you're doing it. My first clue was my lack of energy and passion for my work. I had to stop, pay attention to how I was looking at my life and put the brakes on the old baggage of "what if" thinking. I had to look back and see that somehow I always found a way to keep afloat - even during the worst economic downturns! I had to see myself as a person able to use my creativity to create more work, more income and more good things! I had to get mad first, I don't like feeling down and for me getting mad always gets me fired up and energized. Then I had to do something about it - like seeing all the negativity as a challenge.

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE: I'm grateful for my passion for my art and writing, it's my anti-depressant of choice! I'm grateful for friends who listen when you're down and point out things you cannot see. I'm grateful that the Spring weather is sunny and the jasmine is blooming and making the air smell wonderful outside. I'm grateful for waking up to birds singing and Pixel's tail wagging and morning kisses.

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Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Buy Great Art Inspired Products at The LIFE IS LIKE ART Shop!

DO YOU VALUE YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST AND A PERSON?

All images on this post are © 2009 by PopArtDiva.com. All Rights Reserved. No permission is given to post, copy, distribute, save, print or reproduce in any manner without prior written permission.

Though I was redecorating these last few weeks, I actually did get eight new Martini Art pieces done - below are two of my newest Illustrated Martini Nano stories done for The Martini Diva (and as spot illustrations for the martini book) and two new recipe cards that use some of my newest martini art designs. I haven't uploaded the newest designs to my website or store yet so I'll post them here when I do!

Other than that I am doing some adjustments to one client's websites and starting to build another - yes, I know I don't like doing websites but these are favors (although paid favors!)

That statement brings me to my focus for today's post - growing to believe in your own value as a person both professionally and personally. I spent too many years thinking it was egotistical to say "I'm good at what I do and I deserve to be paid accordingly". The problem with that belief is this - it's misplaced humility and it damages your view of yourself and how others will see you, not to mention how it can damage your income!

It took me a few years, but one day I realized how good I am at what I do and I learned that it's okay to admit it, be proud of it and state the facts! A lot of that belief came from learning to love myself, be grateful for what I have and see what others have to offer. My efforts to be a better person, be happier and be positive also allowed me to finally see my value and my talents and accept and embrace them!

I believe wholeheartedly that my work and my time are highly valuable and I have no trouble pointing that out. Education, experience and talent are commodities that not everyone has and those who do deserve to be compensated for them. The concept of "perceived value" is something all professionals should keep in mind - because the still prevailing mindset of the monetary world is "you get what you pay for" - if people don't pay you they think your work/time has no value and treat you accordingly! You have value and so does your time!

I do not do any graphics work or consultations for free FOR ANYONE! I found out many years (make that decades!) ago that anything done for free is rarely appreciated and "pro bono" work is usually the biggest pain of all. I always charge a fee, if only a nominal one.

I believe that we must value ourselves if we want to be valued by others. That's not to say I don't believe in giving, I do and I have often donated pieces of my art to worthy causes. I also believe in giving my time - but I give my time in ways unrelated to my profession. Why? Because, first it keeps my personal time separate from my work time and second, it brings me into places and around people outside my normal work world allowing me to expand my horizons a bit.

I guess what I'm trying to say is you don't have to be a doormat in order to be a good person. To be a contributing member of society you have to have something to contribute and you have to believe in yourself and your abilities. If you don't believe in yourself it is a very hard road to help others! A little backbone is a good thing to have - it means you value yourself. If you value yourself then you value others! Then you're in a good position to help others.

VISUALIZE, VISUALIZE: I have seen my dream homes in my head many times over my lifetime. This image has changed as my life changed but the main dream was always for a space that suited my lifestyle and fit my personality. My current home is starting to come together in a way that has surprised me. Things I've had for years, collected or created are fitting into my home perfectly - almost like this was where they were intended for from the beginning. This has surprised me but it shouldn't - the thoughts behind all the "visuals" was always a place that suited me and, for the time, this home suits me quite well as well as imparts my personality!

IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU LOOK AT IT: I'm happier now that I have gained the honesty and courage to say I'm good at what I do! False humility is a path to resentment and to unhappiness with your work and life. What a big waste of time!

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE: I'm grateful for my house shaping up into a great place. I'm grateful for the great Spring weather that makes me want to get out and enjoy the outdoors. I'm grateful for the people who have helped me the last few months. I'm grateful it's Sunday and now I get to go out and enjoy the day! Later!

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Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Buy Great Art Inspired Products at The LIFE IS LIKE ART Shop!