Life-Long Dreams Of A Wildlife Painter

To be honest, I did not have a topic or piece of art to share with you today.  I am still working on the finishing touches of my Tattered Halloween digital scrapbook kit, and am also working on a few other projects I plan to share with everyone throughout the week.  I was thinking that mybe I should start vlogging soon... perhaps this weekend?  I do have specific projects lined up to vlog about, but need to set up a specific art area.  Blogging in bed works... but vlogging in bed would be weird.  (My bed tends to be where all the art creating magic happens in my house... oddly).  Today was just an aimless day and I ended up not really doing anything.  I was going to dye my hair... that didn't happen.  Then I thought I would finish some digital projects... that didn't happen either.  Instead, all I could think about was starting a couple knitting projects.  I literally spent the entire day looking at knitting patterns.  Why knitting?  Your guess is as good as mine.

I admire all artists and their passion towards a specific genre of art.... but I seem to love doing it all.  I don't just create art in one genre or express interest in one hobby.  I am a printmaker, a wildlife artist, a graphic designer, a mixed media artist, a quilter, a hair dresser, a knitter, a scientist, a baker, a sculptor, a spiritualist, a papercrafter, a gardener, and a dreamer all wrapped into one person.  Heck, I'm still considering becoming a tattoo artist or archaeologist one day.  Am I the only person who has no specific direction in life or feels lost 90% of the time?  Perhaps my desire to knit stems from the fact that I have been spending so much time in front of my computer lately?  Maybe this newfound desire is a message from my subconscious signally my body to become grounded again?  Whatever the reason may be, I think I will be shopping for yarn tomorrow.

As I pondered about what I had just written above, it dawned on me that I haven't shared any of my wildlife paintings on this blog.  I am a wildlife painter (among other things) after all.  I have been drawing and painting photo-realistic animals and plants since I was 6 years old.  That year I had a major tendon surgery on my clubfoot and spent an entire summer drawing and coloring in a leg cast.  (Ironically... that is how I spent this entire summer).  My whole artistic existence would not be a part of this reality if it weren't for me being born crippled.  I still have a deep love of painting wildlife, but find that it is the most time consuming of all my artistic pursuits.   I have put my paints away, but I know I will bring them back out one day when the urge hits.

This acrylic painting "Parrot Love" took me 5 years to finish. I definitely had a love hate relationship with parts of this painting, but in the end, it is definitely one of the best paintings I have ever done.  I finished painting it last fall and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I initially put this painting up for sale in my Etsy Shop, but my Mom begged me to give this painting to her.  She loved it and couldn't believe I wanted to sell it so fast.  I had mixed feelings about selling it anyway, so I gave this painting to my Mom for Christmas.  It worked out well because I now have the opportunity to enter this painting into the Birds In Art show at Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum of Wausau.  It has been a lifelong dream of mine to have art exhibited at that show.  Thousands of artists from around the world enter their bird related artwork into the competition.  The museum hand selects roughly 100 pieces to be exhibited.  The art selected for the show ends up traveling around the world.  The winning artist of the competition receives the title "Master Wildlife Artist" and has their art published in periodicals and magazines nationally.  Due to my surgery, I was unable to enter "Parrot Love" for consideration last spring.  I do plan on entering next year though.

Click the link below if you are interesting in learning about this years Birds In Art show.  I believe the exhibit just opened to the public a couple days ago.    2015 Birds In Art Video

I hope you enjoyed this blog post.  Please feel free to follow this blog via google+ or email so you never have to miss another post or announcement.  Remember to check out my Etsy shop and facebook page!  Have a great night.  ❤ Tia - Copper Blossom Paperie ❤