The Problem With A Self Portrait

So if you have been following me for awhile you have probably seen or heard somewhere that I have never painted a self portrait.  I've done little drawings and doodles of course, a few for school assignments.  But a self portrait is so much more than that.  Many collectors and fans of my work often ask if my paintings are of me and if I have a self portrait.  The answer.  No.
    Honestly I really thought that I never would create a self portrait.  The fact that I now believe that I am ready to, is evidence of me truly growing and expanding as an artist, and a person.
    What is a self portrait and why has it been so hard for me to create?  A 'Self portrait' is NOT JUST ANOTHER PAINTING.  A self portrait does not have to be an exact physical representation of yourself.  A self portrait is not what you think others want to see.  A self portrait is not what you want others to see or even how you want to see yourself.  A self portrait is most importantly not a fake, a ruse or a mistruth, a white lie or an exaggeration.  Thats why they are so special, so demanding, so frightening.  A self portrait lays bare and naked every self doubt, every flaw, every ounce of narcissism and gut feeling.  Every win every loss, the things we know about ourselves and the things we don't.  It reveals the things that we deny, try to hide, pain, happiness, sorrow and anger.  It is the ultimate window into the artistic soul and vision.  By releasing the self portrait to the world the artist in fact shows a part of themselves that you would otherwise never know, whatever it may be.  In fact if done honestly a self portrait will undress the artist to their viewers, connecting them.
    So I have been holding off on the painting of the self portrait because it's terrifying.  And one cannot paint an honest self portrait if they are afraid.  This is where the growing and changing as an artist and a person comes in.  I think I'm ready to do it.  To paint my portrait. To come clean and be honest with myself.  I will be painting it as a part of my upcoming collection in December of this year.  The collection will be mixed media based, combining fine art and photography on canvas.
-XO-

#art #artwork #artist #portrait #artportrait #photography #mixedmedia #fashion #series #magazine #painting #rikkisneddon #camera #selfportrait #artistselfportrait #challenge #artlife #adeepermeaning #newcollection #december #fall #winter #2014

Taking A Break

As I stated in my last post, I have decided to take 3 months off!  Though that may seem like a long time I know that it will fly by just as fast as ever.  I will still be working part time at my 'dayjob' I have a gallery opening booked for Oct 1st and I'm not telling myself that I CAN'T make any artwork.  However I am removing the stress of forcing myself to be the most productive I can be,
    I am taking sometime to truly let inspiration seep in and take hold and become an idea, I've been lamenting over my current collection and direction for far to long now and finally realized that I AM IN CONTROL.  It's something I lose sight of when caught in the hustle.  So these 3 months will hopefully allow me to reorganize and reinvent my artwork and direction.  I will no longer make anything just to be making something, to be productive.  If I feel creative I will sketch something out or work on the mood board for where I want to pick up my art when I come back...I am hoping to find some purity during this time and be able to start fresh, not necessarily with a clean slate but somewhere in the middle.  I will end this sabbatical with a gorgeous getaway to the Dominican Republic for one last deep breath before I dive back in.
   In early December I plan to take some pieces out of my Etsy shop...Forever.  It's sad and it's something I've been wanting to do but haven't due to sentiment.  But like all things in order to grow and change we must shed the things that don't serve us anymore.      I will still be on the blog and facebook keeping up with all of you and posting from time to time.  Keep your eye out because one of the major reasons I decided to take this break is because of some big news that will be released in full very soon...I promise.  During this time my current art collection will be available on www.rikkisneddonart.com and in print in my ETSY SHOP.  Okay enough for now I'm starting my break!

XO

#art #artwork #sabbatical #breaktime #timetothink #creative #rethink #reinvent #hibernate #inspire #rikkisneddon #artist #blog

Sometimes, A Struggle

    Today I am being completely honest.  Not that I ever lie as a way of life, but as an entrepreneur I think it's VERY important to project positivity.  This post is not meant to be negative but I simply need to be brutally honest with myself and my followers because I'm going crazy keeping it pent up. This is hard.  Making art as a living is hard.  Failing and failing and falling short of my expectations...all the time...is hard.  Measuring the gap between where I am and where I want to be in dollars is depressing.  Being proud of my art and watching people walk by and say they love it but 'don't buy art' or anything from me, not even a $5 dollar print is crushing.  Still having people view an art career as lesser than the rest  even though it takes a heck of a lot more hard work, failure and guts...destroys me.
 
    Recently I have been experiencing what I call style dilemma...it's an art thing.  It's this overwhelming fear I feel  that my body of work is not cohesive...on top of all that other stuff I just mentioned.  When it gets really bad I develop what I have dubbed clean slate mentality, the idea that I should just start over.  I have such difficulty blending my past work and style into the new direction I want to take my art (which is always changing) I feel like my old work is holding me back and the new art is too different from the old, I'm essentially stuck in art limbo....purgatory.  I've been reevaluating a lot and have decided to take the next three months off from making any 'work' per say and just doing art, no matter if its paintings or mixed media or crochet for all I care...I'm just going to make what I want to and see what comes out of the experiment.  The stress of my style dilemma is holding me back and I'm hoping going freestyle will in fact... free me.  I will be relying on my current collection and the pieces I have completed for botanica to sustain me during this time.
 
     On that note....and I write this not only for myself but for every artist out there, emerging or established, young or old.  If you are an art collector, supporter, fan, friend, family etc of an artist please realize the following.  If you are at an art show, gallery, craft fair, coffee shop wherever, and you truly LIKE someones art, buy it!  If you cannot afford the original, buy a print, If you have absolutely no room for any more framed art in your house, buy that $5 notecard or mini they have and use it as a bookmark!  Come on, you're latte costs more than that every day and...yep its gone, you drank it.  However by actually supporting that artist even if it's in the smallest tiniest way (sign up for their email list and share their art with your friends) by buying that little print of their work, that allows them to feel relevant and keep doing what they do, they might be at that show again next year with new art for you to look at!  They might make the next best piece of art around!  But artists need their supporters (Like every other business out there) to keep going.  And let me tell you, when we do make that sale with you even if it's small, it matters.  Personally it gets me excited, when I have a good show, I want to get right back in the studio and make something new!  I want to find better ways to get my art out there I want to take more risks (and this is really the only way to go forward)

    Whereas after a slow showing, I feel as I described in paragraph one, defeated.  I wonder why I dragged 25 pounds of art up and down two flights of stairs to a city 137 miles away from where I live, why I took off of work to be there, stayed up extra late making sure everything was perfect, wore foot killing demon shoes for 5 hours and smiled the whole time.  Why?  Because it's a dream I can't stop dreaming.  I don't think it's going to be easy, I'm not expecting cupcakes and unicorns and glitter (okay maybe a little glitter) But the point of this blog is to let you in, to let you see what it is really like.  and sometimes it's a struggle.  So there, I was honest, I'm an artist and it's hard and I need you all more than you know.  But like I said it's a dream I can't stop dreaming and I hope I get to keep doing this for a long time....     XO

#art #artwork #artist #struggle #dream #hardwork #lifestyle #artlife #dontstop #fans #support #honest #truth

Process | Progress

Today I wanted to give a little spotlight to the actual painting process.  So often I get caught up in taking good photos and posting new art once it is finished or blogging about events etc.  I want to start letting you guys in on more behind the scenes stuff, especially on this blog.  So here are some progress photos of my process with my current painting on easel...
     The process is a very important part of progress.  Everything is broken down into a process whether we realize it or not.  My artwork is no different, every step is important and necessary, no matter how routine, they all lead to the final product.  When painting I often start with a pencil sketch, I then like to add some tone to border or make the figure visible.  Then the layers begin adding detail and color and shadow with each step, going back over and adding highlights and depth, until the
painting is finished.
    When I get ready for a show I have a process, I try to follow a routine.  If I didn't follow a process I would have very little progress.  Over time I will try to be more transparent about my process on this blog, look for sneak peeks, progress photos (as I like to call them) throwbacks of early work and even failed pieces.  So do you follow a process routine?  Does it help you to be more progressive?

#art #artwork #artist #portrait #wip #inprogress #behndthescenes #wetpaint #painting #rikkisneddon #original #process #routine #daily #illustrator #illustration #fineart

Rikki Sneddon Art + Sechoir

I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with Sechoir + being featured on their video styling blog.  Sechoir features fresh, fun and functional styling tips and accessories.  Tanya is great, entertaining + fun to follow along with, she keeps me checking back often to see her new features.  This weeks feature is on summer weddings + where to get the perfect dress.  My art which s featured in the backdrop is a large scale print of my original watercolor 'The Love We Make' available Here.  See the full video and find out more about Sechoir Right Here!  Thanks Sechoir + Tanya!  You were a pleasure to work with!

#art #artwork #watercolor #floral #painting #artprint #sechoir #video #styling #blog #tanya #sechoirtv #renttherunway #dress #summer #wedding #tips #artist #pink #green

A loved Life

Starting out on new adventures this month.  Feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment which always ends up proving to me, that I work best under pressure.  I am very excited for where things are going.  Every decision you make, the things you say yes to and the things you say no to, all decide where your life will take you tomorrow, next month and next year.  So I say Yes.  I am inching closer and closer to my goal of being a full time artist, of one day walking away from my job.  there is so much more to my dream than that though ....there is so much that I haven't discovered yet.  That for me is the exciting part, that I don't know yet what I am capable of, 6 years ago I would never have even entertained the thought that I could be an Artist as more than a hobby.  I would never have even thought about being able to quit my dayjob and be a creative instead.  So I like to think about the future (not too much) but I like to wonder about the opportunities that haven't come my way yet, the people I haven't met and the places I will go....it's an exciting, intangible idea.  I would like to think that I will get to say yes to many of these things yet to come...I will have to wait and see and for now keep building this life I love.

#art #artist #life #sayyes #design #love #life #live #tomorrow #today #lifestyle #smallbusiness #owner #dreamer 

A NEW THING

So I finally took the plunge and tried my hand at Live Painting at my last event.  It wasn't as bad as I thought!  I had worked myself up to an extreme degree, the only other time I have even attempted anything similar was for the recording of my Pioneer Public Television segment and they required shots of me painting.  During that instance I was so nervous I could barely paint at all, mostly just repainting background to look like I was doing something (shh don't tell) I was shaky and unsure.  So with flashbacks of that one try I have been actively avoiding any type of public painting.  After all I would say, it's personal, I have to be in the zone, in my element blah blah blah, excuses.  However with a new art venture on the horizon a good friend of mine has been encouraging me to try again.  So try I did and it wasn't that bad!  I found that it really opened up a new dialogue between me and my fans and people in general about my art.  Many people had questions about what type of medium I was using and why, I was able to show them the layers behind a painting and the story behind a painting.  I think most people really enjoyed it because it exposed them to a new part of the process that they don't usually get to see, I got to show them what was in between the layers of a painting, and me.  That mysterious part between an idea and the finished image.  So after such a good result you can expect to see me live painting at more events and stay tuned for a very important announcement coming soon!

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