Labedzki-Art

The PAIN! The PAIN! I spent a week cutting and pasting papers to create my 3D characters. The tendons and muscles used to cut the paper and press the glue gun are HOT with pain! I guess I have a chronic problem.
Four years ago my right shoulder was a mess. I had overused my arm! I only paint on paper and paper absorbs the paint, so when I pushed the paint on the paper with the brush I totally killed my arm. I also paint hundreds and hundreds of paintings per month which added to the problem. The pain was unbearable (worse than childbirth!), so I finally went to the hospital. I had tendonitis and frozen shoulder. Frozen shoulder literally means that the joint is frozen and you cannot move your arm! It took a few doctors, physio, cortisone shots, medication and two years for the shoulder to heal. Now I constantly have to be very very careful with the right shoulder. I can’t paint the same way, I can’t lift or push anything too heavy and now it looks like I can’t cut and glue paper… My problem is that I go overboard with my creativity. My passion is far greater than my physical ability…I must SLOW DOWN!!! hahahahahahahaha, yeah right, who am I kidding?
Slowing down means DEATH! When I’m dead I’ll slow down…maybe!

I Promise:

1.) To paint bigger; to paint with more detail.

2.) To consciously dwell into my subconscious and pan for hidden gold. Hopefully I will emerge with some precious nuggets which I will share with you through my paintings..here’s hoping!

3.) To paint hard and fast, yet learn to take a day off once in a while. A day off does wonders for the creative battery; a new energy is born out of a place of rest.

4.) To stay away from sugar as much as possible..

5.) To watch more movies.

6.) To dust the house once in a while!

7.) To be more patient.

8.) To continue my 6K walks.

9.) To eat less candy.

10.) To not work so hard.

11.) To nourish my friendships and keep my heart and mind open for new friends.

12.) To be as loving as I can to my family.

13.) To give Mickey more combings, it’s a big job because he sheds white fur allllll over everything..

14.) To post 8 videos per month on my youtube channel…yikes!

15.) To learn how to juggle painting and video making.

16.) To learn and grow every single day.

17.) To not worry so much about things that never happen.

18.) To work on my 3D characters.

19.) To write more blogs.

20.) To lose the 3 pounds I just gained during Christmas.

21.) To have a great year!!

Be true to yourself, be honest, be STRONG, and NEVER EVER quit or give up, no matter how black things seem to appear. Even when you doubt yourself, even when other people doubt you, NEVER quit. Keep pushing yourself through the emotional boundaries and obstacles; express yourself through creativity. When something NEGATIVE happens take advantage of the situation and turn it into something POSITIVE by being creative. If you’re a PAINTER like I am then PAINT your ass off; paint your guts out. Paint until your soul leaves your body and lives within your paintings. Yes, a lot of times I feel like a soul-less zombie because I paint so much, HOWEVER, I feel like a productive, happy and grateful soul-less zombie!
I had a sad childhood and I hid and protected the artist in me from my family and the world. I’m sure many of you artists have done this and can relate, but don’t stay in that withdrawn and lonely place. Find the courage to SHINE, the more you SHINE, the more people will be attracted to your bright star! Fight through your fears and anxieties; there is a beautiful light at the end of the tunnel! The painting you see below is an example of me taking a negative situation and turning it into a positive one. The painting titled “Outrage” was stolen off the wall during an art opening. Everyone told me that it is a compliment and that I should feel honored, blah blah blah…I felt upset and violated. I decided to have 1000 business cards printed of the image and I created a video about the stolen painting and business cards I had printed. I felt so much better and when I hand out a business card I always have a little story to tell people!

NOBODY tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone had told me.

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.

But there is a gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good.

It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got

you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you.

A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit. Most poeple I know who do

interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t

have the SPECIAL THING that we want it to have. We all go through this. And

if you are just starting our or you are still in this phase, you gotta know that it’s

normal and the most important thing you can do is DO A LOT OF WORK. Put

yourself on a deadline so that every week you finish one piece. It’s only by going

through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good

as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met.

It’s gonna take a while. It’s normal to take awhile. You just gotta fight your way

through.     by Ira Glass

Art Journal

My art journal is published in this winter issue 2011 of “Art Journaling” by stampington and company on pages 134-135!

Happy Holidays to all you wonderful souls out there!

I had a wonderful Christmas in Hawaii. We arrived just in time to greet the flash floods and torrential downpour of tropical rain. The same storm that attracted California had also visited Hawaii. Vancouverites have no idea what real rain is! Luckily for us the weather changed for the better and we soaked up the sun and enjoyed daily outings and adventures. I love being on the catamaran and I went for a sail three days in a row! The first day we discovered a school of Hawaiian spinner dolphins, we followed and watched them as they were jumping and showing off for us! What a special treat to witness them in their own environment: also to be part of their environment and not just watching them on “Planet Earth” or on the discovery channel! On the second day  we were very very fortunate to have a whale shark visit our boat! The fish was huge and a teeny bit scary to say the least! However we were told that it is a docile shark! Okay, I’m glad we didn’t become his Canadian snack or lunch! On Christmas day Santa was rowed in and chaperoned by two beautiful Hawaiian women. Supposedly Santa’s reindeer can’t swim so therefore he needed to be rowed into shore!  The vacation was great but now it’s back to reality. Painting, video making, photography, digital art, marketing, feeding the students, husband, son and three cats!

Happy New Year to you all!

Color Symbolism of Purple: Defining Royalty and Abundance Ideally

Since the beginning of the human civilization, colors have been used to depict certain elements and thought processes. ‘Color Symbolism’ can be found in the earliest forms of art like ‘Cave Paintings.’ Mostly, the meanings and the linkages of colors have been derived out of their occurrence in nature. Purple color and its shades naturally exist in the form of some most revered and precious flowers, such as violets, lavender, lilac, and orchids. Therefore, it is regarded as the color of royalty and abundance. Purple is an amalgamation of two characteristically opposite forces and this earns it the reputation of the ‘ideal’ color.

Red color is associated with fire, energy, action, and zeal. Blue is symbolic of tranquility, dreaminess, peace, and relaxation. Blended together, these two colors form purple, which carries the underlying qualities of both. One range of qualities it symbolizes, include fiery passion, pride, flamboyance, pelf, and so on. On the other hand, it also stands for romance, mysticism, knowledge, wisdom, spirituality etc. Medieval art with royal themes was dominated by this color, often to depict the robes and the garments of kings and the other members of royal descent.

Fresco paintings by the legendary Leonardo da Vinci and other artistes of that era predominantly featured deep purple. It was more so because this common color could be used for nobility, sacredness, and mysticism alike. Purple has been used in various combinations to bring out different qualities in a scene. Use of this color with earthy tones, such as beige or muddy was often used to emphasize its ‘Symbolism.’ In combination with more vibrant colors or greens, it was used to depict spring season and life. Purple, in its lighter versions, defines delicate love and romanticism. Pink and light purple make up the choicest color scheme in amorous subjects.

Like other significant colors, purple also carries different connotation in different parts of the world – some even negative. Thai people associate it with death and lamentation. Widows in Thailand don this color to portray mourning and sadness. Opposite is true in other cultures. Egyptian Queen Cleopatra’s favorite color, purple, is associated with kingdoms and dynasties. The Americans treat it as a representative of patriotism and valor. Its ‘Purple Heart’ is a high level of military honor bestowed upon brave soldiers. Precious stone Amethyst is deep purple in color and is believed to have therapeutic properties. Therefore, the Native Americans also treat it as a color healing. In all its forms and variants, purple is one of those colors that find the greatest presence globally.