Deck The Halls With Dirty Clothes And Cookie Crumbs

I love this time of year. Yes, I am one of those weirdos who actually thrives on more stuff to do, who enjoys creating hand-made gifts, baking cookies from scratch, and devising new arts and craft projects for my two-year old that does not involve pulling apart the ornaments and dropping them into a freshly peed-in potty. The beauty of the holiday season is that I get to do all of the things I normally do as a mom, wife, and artist, only now I can listen to festive music. There is something quite sublime about baking to the tunes of "Silent Night" while my toddler zips from room to room with his Fisher Price popper toy (you know--the one that "pops" the colored balls as it is pushed or pulled, creating just enough of a commotion that you want to march into the manufacturer's office and beat them to death with it) shrieking "CUTTING THE GRASS!" Even I have to admit that laundry strewn from room to room on my as yet unvacuumed floor really adds a nice touch to the holiday decor. Now where is the cat?

Perhaps my favorite part so far is having had the opportunity to really hone my photo shop skills. Spending over two hours removing myself from my son's Santa picture taught me many things. Along with improving my technical skills, I now realize I no longer need five cups of egg nog to look three sheets to the wind. Bonus!

Somehow, I have no doubt the secret national anthem of moms everywhere on December 26th is "Happy Xmas (The War Is Over)".

Holiday Art Card--Red Series 1, Tree By Catherine Jeltes

www.galleryzooart.etsy.com

Reflection

It is easy to believe in myself as an artist and mother when things are going well. On the other hand, believing in myself when things are less than stellar takes some effort. As an artist selling solely from online galleries, it is important to consistently produce new work to attract potential buyers and maintain the interest of current collectors/customers. Along with this comes the need to market, market, market...not to mention photographing and editing all new work and listing it for each online gallery.

Now in my former "regular" day job career, all of my work resulted in a steady pay check. Easy, right? We are raised to believe if we work hard and do good work, we can get paid and thus make a living. Naive me, I discovered that it is necessary to change this mentality when self-employed. My own self-discipline and drive to succeed constantly motivates me to work towards my artist goals. When buyers are few and far between, or I've entered juried competitions and my work is not selected, it is a challenge not to turn that energy back on myself and question my choices. Am I any good as an artist? Can I provide for my family doing this full-time? And then the big one...Am I being a good mother if my self-imposed work ethics are compromising my energy to be the parent my son needs?

Each day I contemplate these things, and each day I laugh with my son and try to reflect upon how fortunate I truly am. And then I face the easel again.

From the Mouths of Babes

Tonight my husband and I were sitting on the floor of my son's room while he picked out a bedtime book. In the process of selecting a story, he--how shall I say this--released a bit of air. He turned to us and said, "Oh, excuse me. My bottom burped!"

Needless to say, I remained on the floor for a good long while.

Patience

Patience is not one of my virtues.

In fact, being mother to a toddler, this deficit in my personality is a recipe for disaster. Sure, I have tried many things over the years to chill out--deep breathing, whispering instead of yelling, walking away, punching soft inanimate things like mattresses (walls are kinda hard, and well, they actually hurt. It is not pretty like you see on TV.) Despite these efforts, I still struggle. Most days are fairly even keel (I know other moms are hard-pressed to buy this one) and if I had money to put in a jar for every time that I failed to be patient, I could probably end the recession. Ironically, it is not my child that might nominate me to see Dr. Phil. It is Adobe.

As an artist, I have a love/hate relationship with Photoshop. Don't get me wrong--it is an absolutely fantastic (and necessary) tool to market your work, plus if you become adept at it you can get in really good with your in-laws when sending them oh-so-adorable photo collages of their only grandchild.

If you can figure it out.

Adobe Photoshop is perhaps the only sure-fire way to motivate me to swear like a drunken sailor in ten minutes flat. I have no patience for it. Tutorial schmootorial. The "Help" feature sounds like the perfect option when at my wits end, but wait--none of the key words I select show up in the Search For. Funny, since the key words are used by Adobe in the program menu. Even better is that different features are in different places, depending upon which version you might be using, so make sure you have the same version as someone who might be giving you instructions on your "how do I do this" question.

The good thing is, though, that rarely do I experience a higher level of satisfaction and competence than when I master a new Photoshop technique (take that, Layers and Text! To the Mattresses!) It is when these achievements come without me having to take a valium, however, that I know I am one step closer to being the more laid back artist and parent I've always imagined. Now if it could just happen sooner...