It's been a long time since I last posted, but today I really felt motivated to share something cool. So here I am, back on my little blog.
The photo above is a snapshot of my growth as an artist over the past 3 years. On the right, is the very first print I ever created (and sold) in this body of work I've developed for the last couple years.
Let's take a step back here, to January 7th, 2013. I was 6 months into a huge adventure of being a 'freelance' artist. I was hand addressing envelopes, designing wedding invitations, painting portraits, hand lettering logos, teaching a mixed media course, and a few weeks away from painting a 5,000 square foot mural.
I had no idea what I was doing. My lettering was, um, "getting there." I could barely use Photoshop Elements. I didn't know how to make prints of my work. And I was on the verge of a very dark winter depression.
But I sat down and drew the words "Bless the Lord Oh My Soul" from Psalm 103 one night, and voila...I felt something click.
And then I posted it on my etsy shop. And then some people bought them. And I thought, "hmm..."
Flash forward 3 years : We've gone through 4 homes, 2 states, and I've made a lot of stuff. I painted that mural, I did more custom weddings, I painted portraits and painted abstractly. I learned Illustrator (kind of). I grew.
I made stuff I hate to look at now, and I made stuff I'm proud of. And I kept coming back to my quirky lettering and florals.
So I think I've decided to stop fighting this. I've fought the notion that my work isn't "refined" enough, or "fine art"-ish enough. My art is my art. It's what I like. If I constantly go back to creating it, again and again (I now have more than 100 pieces available as prints), then I must like doing it.
So I decided to do a new version of the verse I first illustrated. I just wanted to see what this older, wiser (ha!) Megan would create now.
It's crazy how much I've changed, yet how much I continue to carry with me from when I created that first piece.
This year is going to be interesting. We will be fostering a baby in a few weeks (looking to adopt, but fostering until then), and Makewells is going through a period of growth. I'm thankful and I'm anxious and I'm excited and terrified all at once.
So here's the crazy part of this rambling story: I finished the new version of "Bless the Lord Oh My Soul" earlier today. And as I went to find the blog post from 3 years ago, I read the date. January 7th. I haven't blogged in 6 months, but the day I go to post a blog post about a previous blog post, is the exact day 3 years later! (did that make any sense?)
That's what I love about God. He cares about these little details. He sees the whole picture, and on days like today, when January 7th, 2013 and January 7th, 2016 meet up, He gives me a glimpse at the story He's unfolding.
He is the Potter. We are the clay.
- Meg
"My art is my art. It's what I like." - words to live by!
Posted by: Beulahbee.blogspot.com | 01/07/2016 at 11:52 PM