It has been far too long since I've posted, I'm sorry. Life is crazy busy with work, photography, trying to make photo props, trying to make time to do art, doing the whole being married thing, etc. Excuses, valid ones, but still excuses. I'll do better.
I've been working on my photography and getting that going, you can check it out here if you're interested. Or here.
I'm working on a new painting for a friend. It's a rendition of this, but with a teal background. I'm sooo excited to finish it! It's taking a bit of time, but I'm loving every second painting it! Any other cool ideas for paintings/drawings you want to throw my way?
I found a new printer, yayy! No, I don't own my own yet, the one I would need is about 4 grand, so that is a ways off, but I found a new company to do my prints, they are AMAZING, and more reliable than the one I've been using, which is awesome. I also ordered a scanner so I no longer have to pay someone to scan my originals to make high quality prints! We scan them, which is why they are so detailed with showing brush strokes and such, making the prints look like they could be originals. I'm working on learning photoshop right now so I can piece together my larger pieces that I'll need to scan. I am beyond excited, and cannot wait for the scanner to get here this coming week so I can start fiddling around with it and really learning how to do what is needed! With saving money on scans I can put more money into art supplies, which means more new art! And I'm finally finishing up working Overtime at work, which means more time for art, which I have been sorely missing.
That's right, another giveaway! This time there will be a first, second, and third place winner! It's currently going on on my Facebook page, you have to like my page AND share/like the images in the GIVEAWAY album. Each share/like is one entry, can share as many times as you'd like, the more the better! :] The contests starts TODAY, and ends in two weeks. Three winners will be picked via shares/likes. All prints are matte paper prints.
First place gets all three of these:
Flirty Owl, 8x8
Be Mine, 8x8
Be Mine, 12x12
Second place gets these, Secret in 8x10, I Love You in 5x7
Secret, 8x10
I Love You, 5x7
Third Place Gets this, Peacock, in a 5x7
Peacock, 5x7
I'm still trying to find a way to do a giveaway via this blog, if you have any ideas please throw them my way!
I bought a book the other day, "The tulip Anthology" and it has some phenomenal pictures of Tulips, which has resulted in me itching to do some flower art, I'm feeling watercolor or ink, but who knows, maybe I'll throw in some pastel or charcoal.
I'm struggling to get motivated though, as right now with me starting my new position at work the hubs and I have opposite schedules, and will for about a month. Since being married whenever I do art I have him sitting next to me, rubbing my back, squeezing my neck, playing with my hair, or randomly planting kisses on my cheek whispering that he loves me and commenting on the piece I'm working on. So, with him at work, and me here at home, I have zero motivation. I don't want to get in the habit of painting without him near, or have that be the norm now. I absolutely love being cuddled up while painting, and love still spending time with him while pursuing my dreams. *sigh* Our schedules really should match again soon, I'm kinda a baby when it comes to this, I've been spoiled with matching schedules for the whole year we've been married, and I definitely don't want that to change.
In the meantime, here's something that I LOVE, haha, cracks me up. I'm sure you've seen it, but it deserves a second watch.
I currently have a Facebook giveaway going on! You can view it here! What is the prize? A free 11x14 Matte Paper Print of the following to one lucky winner! Head on over to my page to participate!
Have a good idea for a blog giveaway? Throw it my way, I'd love to hear it and do one, just haven't been able to come up with one yet.
When my page reaches 325 likes I'll be giving away 2 Paxelart bags, and 1 Paxelart t-shirt, in the print pictured here. When the page reaches 400 likes I'll give away 6 prints to people that like this page, all selected at random. Throw a like my way, and spread the word so you can also experience Paxelart! You can view the Giveaway here! You can see some of what's being given away below, so spread the word, and maybe you'll win some Paxelart!
I finally have some Paxelart merchandise! I haven't decided whether I'll sell them or not, but I'm excited to have some t-shirts to wear and a bag to sport! I'm giving some away through a Facebook Giveaway, in case you're interested :]. I'm entertaining the idea of ordering more for giveaways, is there an print of mine you'd love to see on a t-shirt or bag? Let me know!
I got a new job today, which I am BEYOND stoked about! I'll be working normal hours, which means, more time with the hubs, and more time to do art, instead of always being up til about 5am! I'll move to the new position in a couple of weeks, and I could not be more excited! The transition of going from my current shift to an much earlier one is going to be...interesting, so as that transition happens art may suffer a bit, as I'll be a zombie, but, maybe it'll inspire some Zombie themed paintings? Would those interest you? I always thought they could be cool to do, but I've just never done them, I've never taken the plunge. What would you like to see from me? What catches your eye?
So....I'm working on trying to make my Facebook Page better, registering as a Developer, doing the creating Apps thing, and, well, it's kinda killing me. How do people do this? I work full time and am also trying to get my art business going. So far it's going really well, but I still have a full time job and other responsibilities that I have to take care of. How do people do this without tons of money? I hate to fail, so of course, I'll figure it out, but I may be a little peeved in the meantime, because now I have my full time job, where I'm on a computer for 8 hours, and then I come home and I'm on the computer trying to figure this out for a long time, and squeezing painting/drawing in sometime. In other words, I feel like I'm running around like a crazy person because I'm so busy. So, I apologize that my Facebook Page isn't better, but I promise I'm working on it, along with improving my website, my instagram posts, imgur, deviantart, etc. Keep spreading the word, it keeps me motivated to not give up and be comfortable just doing everyday things and spend mass amounts of time with the love of my life, the hubs. Still working on this whole balance thing, I appreciate your patience!
There has definitely been a lack of art coming from myself lately. I'm trying to find a way to balance art with work, time with my husband, etc, and, well, I suck at it. My attempt at balance has resulted in me doing no art for almost two weeks, except for fixing a freckle on a custom painting. I've always been an all or nothing kind of person, but as I get older come more responsibilities, and a bigger need than ever for balance. I wish I knew how. Either I go to work, come home and paint til about 5am, or I do nothing, and am domestic and spending a lot of time with my husband. I love art, and I love the domesticated things and the hubs, of course, all are important to me. Why the heck can't I do them all then? Maybe I need more hours in the day. Since that isn't going to happen, I'll have to go the route of being a schedule maniac so I can make time for all of the important things for me, which means some sort of balance, and art not happening every single night, which will result in not as much new art being posted. I hope you understand, and if you don't, well, I'm sorry, and I hope you still enjoy Paxelart anyway. This week, this week will be the middle week, where I test out new schedules and probably suck at it. Next week is where the magic will happen and balance will occur!
Okay, in all honestly, it's probably going to take longer than that, but, you know, positive thoughts help, and if you tell yourself something enough times it might become true? Anyway, positive vibes would be cool, because I'm really bad at this, and I refuse to give up art, but even more, I refuse to let my relationship with my husband be damaged because of my passion. One day I'll figure this all out, and be amazing at both. Hopefully that day is soon.
My goodness, I love this man (^), more than the world!
Have you wanted to purchase an original, but not known how? Well, good news, I'm selling some of my originals!
Wanna know what's even better?
Like us on Facebook? Take $7.00 off an original!
If you haven't already done so, go to www.facebook.com/artofpax and like my page, then, message me on my facebook page, Paxelart, and let me know which original you want. Give me your Paypal email address, and I'll send you an invoice, $7 off! This CAN be combined with the Returning Customer deal as well!
A Returning Customer? Take $13.00 off an original!
Have you purchased from paxelart.com before? If so, let me know, message me on Facebook and be sure to like my Facebook page to combine the two deals, and get $13 off for being a returning customer, plus $7 off for liking us on Facebook, for a total of $20 off! Be sure to read the instructions for letting me know you've liked Paxelart on Facebook! If you don't have a Facebook page use the contact form to message me!
So, this post is a little bit of a rant. You want happy, painting Pax? Skip this. You want honest, a little annoyed Pax? Keep reading. I run Facebook ads each week to help promote my weekly deals. Yes, I can pick my budget, and nobody is forcing me to run these, but it's necessary for a business, so I have to. I am newly married, been married for just over a year, and I'm paying off student loans. Yes, my husband and I have good jobs, but extra money isn't in abundance, as we're trying to get out of debt. So, I pay for these ads, and I post a status on my Facebook page, asking what people want to see on weekly deals, or if they like them, or would rather have a month long deal, etc, and am lucky to get one response.
I am trying to help you get the art you want, but if you don't communicate I cannot do that. You liked my page, I am, therefore, assuming, that you enjoy what I do, and may even be fond enough of it to buy it. If I had a say in what went on sale at a store I wanted to purchase something them I'd definitely cast my vote! I don't know how to do the interaction via social media to get my business going thing. It's not my forte, I don't know what to ask to intrigue, I don't know what people want to hear/see from me, because they don't say! I am just frustrated, probably because I'm more of a let's talk and sort this out now person, rather than the patient, waiting person. I'm not patient, at all. Huge flaw, I know, luckily, my husband has enough patience for both of us, and constantly reminds me that this business is really taking off fast, and anyone would think that but me. For those of you that like my page and want to see more, thank you! Now, tell me what you want to see! It'd be MUCH cheaper to give me feedback, I'll probably do what you suggest, or something like it, then you can buy a print, as opposed to commissioning an original.
I put my art up at the Coffee Pod, in Provo UT today! Ohhh yeah! I will be bringing more to hang up in about a week, but I'm stoked with what we have, it's awesome! I only have a crappy phone picture, because there were people there and I felt weird taking out my big camera and taking pictures, but here it is:
Now, go on into Coffee Pod, grab a coffee or hot cocoa, and tell em how much you love the new art!
So, I post weekly deals on my website, Paxelart.com each Tuesday, and they run until 11:59PM the following Monday. This week is the week at the movies, and all of my cinema pieces are part of the deal. These are good for promotions and all, but, well, I am running out of ideas. I don't have the super catching wording that just draws you in, even with being married to an english major. I struggle with what to feature, but when I ask for feedback on Facebook I'm lucky to get one response. Fine, I'll feature what I want. I'm trying to give you input, I'm trying to find out what you'd like to see discounted so you can get the piece you've been wanting, but unable to afford, however, if you don't want to take the time to leave a simple comment or give feedback I cannot help. Frustrating, to say the least. But, congrats to Gabe, he wanted V for Vendetta to be part of the deal, and, whalah, it is!
You can also follow me on facebook at Paxelart if you want to give me some feedback, or be entered in for free stuff. I do giveaways via Facebook, but you have to like my page to be entered. So, if you like free stuff throw a like my way and subscribe to my page!
What's the big deal with owls lately? I have no idea, but I'm in LOVE with them. I have owl earrings, I want this really cool owl baking dish, and these rad Owl measuring cups. I see Owls everywhere, and I'm conforming, and I have begum painting and drawing owls. Hopefully you love them too. Here's my most recent one.
So....my art is going to be up at Coffee Pod, in Provo soon. I don't even know how to begin to tell you how stoked I am for it! I have been so scared to really get out there with my art, but my friend Gabe goes to Coffee Pod all the time, and is friends with the owner/workers, and he showed em my stuff and they are game! I should be getting it in there on Monday, along with some little signs telling where you can purchase prints of my work. It's like a dream come true!
For those of you not in Utah, or near Provo, here are some of the options I am considering. For those of you in Utah, and in Provo....go to Coffee Pod and check em out in person!
