Art on Me

Snowflake Nail Art

No one is ever going to come to me for fashion advice or tips for buying and using cosmetics or really anything that has to do with personal style. I'm hopelessly conservative in the way I dress and accessorize. I choose almost entirely solid-colored separates for my wardrobe, not because I don't like patterns, but because I just don't want to fuss with my clothes.

So, why did I paint my nails blue and draw snowflakes on them? Well, it's more than the onset of mid-life panic. At least I hope it's more than that. 

I bought the blue nail polish months ago to use in my studio. It's one of two colors in my brand, and I thought it would be useful. I bought green, too, which is the other key color in Blu Jar's palette. Will my nails be green this spring? Who knows. The truth is I never intended to use the polish on, you know, me. 

I did recently decide, though, that I want to take on some challenges in the new year. I refuse to call them resolutions because that will doom them to failure, for sure. I just want to push myself in some new, and probably uncomfortable, directions. Let's just say it's for the sake of my business, which will always need a fresh, creative shot in the arm, if it's going to work for me. I have learned that I sort of have "artistic ADHD." I've always preferred starting things over finishing them. Call that a character flaw (I do), but for my business, I want to try to use that tendency to serve the work. 

For me, this means: 1) I don't want to take on BIG projects unless I'm absolutely crazy about them, because it's really hard to maintain the enthusiasm the art deserves when new ideas are popping (and they always are); and 2) I want to start BEING an artist in my "real life"--you know, the one I live outside my studio. That's where the blue nails come in. 

I want to make more artistic statements and use fewer words to do it. I want to give myself things to look at when there is no obvious design around, because design wakes up my spirit. Design births more design, and it all nurtures the designer in me. I've ignored this phenomenon for too long.

So, 2014 will be the year of Me, the Artist, being more okay with and intentional about living out the role of "Artist" and more grateful for and dedicated to the God-given passion to create.

More Art on Me

More evidence that I'm breaking out of the fashion "box" I've lived in is my wrist full of beads. I have always loved and collected beads. I've been restringing, rearranging, and adding some new beads to make lots of stretchy bracelets, I've been mixing and matching them, regardless of whether they entirely match my outfits. Hey, everything goes with denim!