The Art of Happiness

First off, the photos. I've decided to follow in the footsteps of many other artist with the "*blank* a day" technique. This helps improve ones skills as well as resulting in some really fantastic art! I've settled on "A Dragon a Day".
So, two days in:
The blue one was the first, but it didn't survive the baking process. The gold one is my first crack at making a metal frame to support my Sculpey. Usually I just free-form it, but that resulted in Dragon #1 losing its head.
Dragon #2, however, is intact! I have yet to title him, so he shall simply be #2, for now.

Doing a piece of art a day seems to be the theme to a lot of the Blogs I follow. It's a cool idea and one I'm excited to try. Whether I make it a full year or not, it will help me to hone my skills and provide a nice depiction of my imagination through sculpted dragons.

Another common theme in the blogs I follow is the topic of success. This venture into a career as an artist is not entirely new for me. Many of you may recall when my stuff was available at the Jane Doe Market Place and Cafe (R.I.P., it was a brilliant concept and unfortunate that it just didn't manage to survive.) back in 2006/07. I got a few custom orders from that stint and it's true, there was a definite appeal and interest in my magnets and clay dragons,but it didn't pan out.

Thing is, I got really good at making excuses. I perfected all the reasons why it probably wouldn't work and wasn't practical. I didn't want to 'cheapen' my art, or I didn't have time to market. I'd go with it if things at Jane Doe turned out well, drop it if they didn't. I made no solid commitment and didn't have a truly motivated plan behind my idea to 'be an artist'.

Recently I've been getting a lot of comments from people who've known me for a significant enough length of time that their comment could be regarded as mis-informed. In particular I am thinking of a message from a former co-worker. She's interested in commissioning a piece from me and in our back and forth correspondence she showed great surprise at my talent and skill. This just shows how good I was at making excuses.

I'm an artist. I'm also a writer. These are things about me that are as much a part of me as the colour of my eyes, and yet, they've gone unnoticed. When I remove my glasses people will often comment on my eye colour. They didn't notice it before, they'd remark, but without my glasses they suddenly do. My glasses do not change or block my eye colour from view, just as my excuses did not make me any less of the creative individual I know myself to be. I need my glasses to see but my excuses have no room in my world anymore. This is because I believe in living well and living right in order to be happy.

Happiness does not come from some huge sale of my art, from recognition or fame. Happiness is holding clay in my hand or writing another chapter or the stroke of my paint brush on an empty canvas. Happiness is knowing myself and to that end, I have succeeded.