Friday, January 30, 2009

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.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

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!)

Monday, January 26, 2009

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.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

New paintings coming!

New abstract contemporary
large original paintings are coming soon
to
CMZart!





I will be removing many of my prints
and listing new, large, original
abstract art paintings.


Tuesday, January 20, 2009

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
perhaps because I just
'NEED A BREAK"
every now and again!
Drop by and check it out!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

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
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.

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.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

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!!!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

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

Monday, January 12, 2009

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.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

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

Friday, January 9, 2009

CMZ Art Shop Announcement

Sunday...that will be the
day I'll be listing
some new pieces in the
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.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

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.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

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.
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.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

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
and enjoy!

Monday, January 5, 2009

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.
I have added some brand new prints
in a
'Robots' Series
and some wonderful little
'Dog' Prints.