Getting through the 'tough' times.

Getting through the tough times, for a lot of us, means

we're taking money out of the piggy bank,

rather than putting it in.

I robbed my piggy bank quite a while ago and

if I 'tighten the belt' any tighter, I'm literally going

to cut myself 'in two'.

I was 'talking' to someone online earlier, who asked

if my business had been affected by the economy.

Her business was down more than 60% from this same

month one year ago.

Wow, is that all?

You know, I am one who does believe in the 'laws of attraction'...

and I believed this long before I'd heard

about 'The Secret'..

certainly those people I knew who were

always smiling and happy about everything,

seemed to 'have all the luck'.

I worked with someone a few years ago (and I'm not

kidding about this) who literally won pretty much

every drawing our company had,

for several years running.

She won trips, a large screen T.V.,

money, airline tickets, and more

than I can even remember.

Now, I would win drawings, occasionally..

you know...movie passes,

dinner at the Outback,

company T-shirts and once I even won

a DVD/VCR --I'm still using it,

though the DVD player quit working

years ago.

Landscapes and Abstracts

Landscapes and abstracts...and a few botanicals thrown in for good measure!

I've removed all character based pieces from the CMZ Art Etsy Shop...they just didn't seem to fit in with all of the landscapes and botanicals.

This poor shop has been in such a state of limbo...well, maybe it's me...one minute I'm going to close it...the next, I'm keeping it!!!

I would 'trust my instincts'...if they didn't keep changing.

But, in the meantime...I'll stick with the landscapes and abstracts (coming soon...well..maybe!)

Information about "The Orphan Art Bill"

I wrote a post and included a video and link about "The Orphan Art Bill" on my other blog.
In case you don't already know the particulars about this bill, I am posting a brief Q and A, from the 'Orphan Works Opposition Headquarters' to give you more information...

Congress is rushing to pass a bill that will do great harm to creative expression in the United States. The Orphan Works Act of 2008 currently exists in two versions: House bill H.R. 5889, and Senate bill S 2913 The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 . Both bills threaten individual creators by imposing unacceptable conditions on the creation of any work, from professional paintings to family snapshots. This includes published and unpublished work and any work ever placed on the internet. The Senate version of the bill has already passed; the House version is still before the Judiciary Committee.

Q What is the Orphan Works Act?
A: A proposed amendment to copyright law that would impose a radically new business model on the licensing of copyrighted work.

Q: How would it do that?
A: It would force all creators to digitize their life’s work and hand it over to privately-owned commercial databases or see it exposed to widespread infringement by anyone, for any purpose, however commercial or distasteful.

Q: But isn’t the bill just a small adjustment to copyright law?
A: No, it’s a reversal of copyright law. It presumes that the public is entitled to use your work as a primary right and that it’s your duty to make your work available.

If this bill passes...for me it means---'I might as well get out of the business of creating. Why purchase something if you can just 'take it'...and no one can do anything about it?'

I can't believe I am only just hearing about this...??

You can find a lot more information on the 'Orphan Art Opposition Headquarters' site.

New paintings coming!

New abstract contemporary

large original paintings are coming soon

to

CMZart!

I will be removing many of my prints

from the CMZart Etsy Shop

and listing new, large, original

abstract art paintings.

The latest on CMZ Art.

My CMZ Art Shop is still up and operational,

though I'm not really sure why.

I will leave it until it either,

pays for itself or closes.

In the meantime, I am pursuing

a few things 'outside of art' to generate

more income into my

very 'strapped' household.

For fun, I am writing a new

entertainment blog,

perhaps because I just

'NEED A BREAK"

every now and again!

Drop by and check it out!

I have an Announcement!

The state of the economy has finally

caught up with me.

It has become almost impossible

to keep three shops going.

So...until things 'pick up'

I am closing

the Pendants Plus Etsy Shop.

I do have an ecommerce store where I

will soon offer vintage posters like...

'Keep Calm and Carry On'

'We Can Do It'

and other posters from the

World War eras and such.

And, it will be much easier to accept

wholesale orders on these pieces, as I've received

several inquiries about wholesale orders

recently.

If this works out well, I may leave

the Pendants Plus Shop closed.

For the time being

I am leaving my
CMZ Art Etsy Shop

as is!

I am still trying to determine,

given the current state of our economy,

what I will be doing with this

shop.

I have placed several CMZart

Prints in my

Imagekind Shop

as they have the capability

to offer so many different print and giclee

options that I can't do on my own,

for very affordable prices.

My Rustic Goth Shop

will remain intact

but, I am planning to make

some changes to that shop

in the coming weeks.

There you have it...

my announcements!

I'll be working very hard

in the coming weeks to get all

of the planned changes

in place.

I need to take a 'chill pill'.

I have been - 'oh so stressed' lately -

I really need to 'take a chill pill'...I think the

kids are still saying that..aren't they?

It is really..really hard to depend

on the sale of art and prints online. Especially when

you consider the state of our economy.

I guess the didn't coin the term..

'starving artist'

for nothing.

Anyway..I will continue to 'plug away'..

do what I can to make sales..

and hope for the best.

In the meantime..

I've decided to write, yet another,

blog.

This time it will be purely

for entertainment purposes..

perhaps just my own entertainment..

but, as long as it helps me

'chill'..

then I'm 'cool with it'.

I sound like such a dork.. :)

Anyway, I'll post a link

here..as soon as I have it all set up.

Oh yeah..by the way...

I've added my little

'Twitter' thingy

to my blog...go ahead and follow

me if you want...I'll follow you back..

how's that?!!

Isn't the baby hedgehog picture

just..adorable!!!

New abstract tree art.

This is new 'abstract tree art'.

Actually...it's a chunky little acrylic painting

of an 'abstract' Red Forest...hence..the title.

It is very similar to a larger painting

I did some time back.

Since I really do prefer to work in smaller

sizes...

given my stature..and how very 'crappy' the lighting

is in my studio at this time.

So...I thought I'd do some little

'miniature' abstracts and see how things

worked out.

It is currently listed in my

Shop.

New Poppy Painting

THIS New Poppy Painting...

...was inspired by this Poppy Digital Painting.

Actually, someone had emailed me, to see if I could

do something similiar, but NOT exact.

Anyway...it IS listed in the Shop...

a 6" x 6" original chunky painting.

go..have a look.

Led By The Spirit

I wanted to share these little treasures with you.

They are little pendants and magnets

put together using,

microscope slides and lead free solder.

Aren't they just charming!!!

They are soooo reasonably priced and

can be found in the Etsy Shop

Led By The Spirit.

CMZ Art Shop Announcement

Sunday...that will be the

day I'll be listing

some new pieces in the

Shop.

I'd hoped I'd have them ready

today..but, a little household

emergency set me back a couple of days.

Within the next week or two

I want to have some

Valentine pieces ready to list..

I'll let you know when I'm able to

get them finished.

Free Photo Editing

This is a picture of a painting I did this

last year. I am thinking that I want to turn

it into a print, but I need to do a few things

before I can do that.

I started working with a few photo editing

programs last year. But, there are a couple

that I use more than others.

The program I use most often is GIMP.

It works very much like Photoshop, (another program

I use regularly)

but I find it better for some applications.

It's a free download and you can

find a lot of 'how-tos' on You Tube,

to help you get a faster start.

Another of my favorite photo editing programs

is, Picnik.

They have a bunch of wonderful

fonts on this FREE site, that I use when creating

banners...I used their fonts

to create the banner for this blog. I think it

is really cool!

It allows you to size, color and place the

font where-ever you want it.

Then, you can 'copy' the exact wording, over

the top of what you've just placed, and tweek the color

a bit, to give it somewhat of an 'embossed' effect.

Check my banner to see this example.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a couple of the programs

I use to create new art...the best part is...the only

paid program I use is the Photoshop..and I can get the same--PLUS

with the free programs.

A brief note...

I'm finally back to work

on some new textured acrylic paintings

and some regular acrylic paintings.

For some reason, I enjoy working

on more than one painting

at a time. I tend to get 'side-tracked' while

waiting for paint to dry and this way,

I can just set one aside and pick up another.

Hopefully I'll be able to have

several ready to put into the shop

this week-end.

Jaime and I have planned a new

line of fine art pendants

that we are both quite excited about.

We want to have them

ready by month's end

if all goes according to plans.

My CMZ Art Zazzle Shop

has a new look

and new merchandise.

I will have lots of new items

in the coming weeks,

including,

Birthday Greetings,

Valentines,

Easter,

Mother's Day and much...much more!

Drop in and check it

out sometime.

Vintage Fifties

I grew up in the fifties,

graduated in the sixties,

started a family in the seventies,

and welcomed the first of my grandchildren

in the nineties.

Every now and then, I enjoy

a little trip down 'memory lane'..

..to share my little trip

please visit my latest

Squidoo Lens

and enjoy!

Change Gonna Come

Well, the New Year is here...and I look for lots of change.

Certainly, we will see history made with

our first black President.

Hopefully, we'll see a positive

swing in the economy.

For me...well

I have added some

new digital art prints

in my shop

that I like..a lot.

A series of birds.

I currently have six different

prints in my new birds series...

and I'll continue to add more,

when I have six new ones finished.

I've reworked a few of my

character paintings

into new, digitally enhanced, prints

and have a couple of these

in the shop

as well.

In the Pendants Plus Shop

I have added some brand new prints

in a

'Robots' Series

and some wonderful little

'Dog' Prints.