More Thoughts About Happiness

I’m not done telling you about The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11×14″

These are thoughts that struck me as I read through her chapter on happiness at work. (You can call me “List Lady” today.)

1. “Enthusiasm is more important to mastery than innate ability.”

No kidding! My drawing students who are unexperienced but enthusiastic often excel as much as those who come to me already knowing how to draw.

Gretchen says that if you pursue a profession that you love, you will be eager to practice more and thereby earn a competitive advantage.

Well, I DO practice. . .

Anyway. . .

2. “The brain is stimulated by surprise, and successfully dealing with an unexpected situation gives a powerful sense of satisfaction.”

I do love surprises. Not many surprises for me in pencil drawing anymore, particularly in drawing cabins. Lots and lots of practice there. My Very Wise Dad often said, “Life’s full of surprises”. Maybe there will be some as I work on The Cabins of Wilsonia.

3. “We tend to overestimate how much we can accomplish in an hour or a week and underestimate how much we can accomplish in a month or a year”.

Since one of “my galleries” sold a few paintings last month, I will need to take some time off the book to paint. This may cause me to be overestimating the number of drawings for February. (It is embarrassing to say “my galleries” – sounds so pretentious!)

4. “Research shows that the more elements make up your identity, the less threatening it is when any one element is threatened.”

DON’T TAKE MY PENCILS AWAY!! Just sayin’. . .

5. “. . . doing what you love is itself the reward.”

Covered that one on Tuesday.

Happiness and Drawing a Book

The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
has captivated me. She is a writer who had a flash of insight: “The days are long but the years are short”. She realized that she wasn’t enjoying her life and appreciating her blessings as she ought to, so she set out to study happiness and learn if a person can boost one’s own happiness.

Wilsonia cabin porch
Don’t you just want to sit on this porch and read “The Happiness Project”?

Normally I borrow books from the library and this was no exception. However, I wanted to underline and scribble notes in the margins, so I actually bought my own copy! (Gasp of shock, but it IS a used copy!!) You can buy one too. I am now an Amazon Associate*, so that is my recommendation of a place to get yours.

Why am I telling you this on a blog about being a California Artist?

In her month of working on more happiness at work, Gretchen lists “Enjoy Now” as one of her resolutions.

I have set a goal of drawing an entire book. It occurred to me that as someone who is motivated by completion, I am in danger of just gritting my teeth and plowing through 230 drawings with the “wake me up when it is over” mindset.

NO NO NO!! I love to draw! Sure, it gets lonely in the studio. To say “Yes” to completing this goal, I am saying “No” to every interruption, diversion and spontaneous opportunity for a year. Wah.

So? This is a self-imposed deadline. It is a well-thought out plan. Drawing is a privilege. I get to work in my home studio without commuting. I love to draw. I plan to enjoy it every step of the way.

Thank you, Gretchen Rubin!

*This means that if  you click “The Happiness Project” under “Books I Love” on the left side of my blog, and then actually buy after clicking the link, I will earn a little bit of money from Amazon.

Read-O-Rama

This California artist has been soaking up non-fiction books, learning about local history, the resilience of a kidnap victim and an ancient prophecy that relates to America today. Phew. No wonder the Reading Rabbit looks as if he is in a state of exhaustion. No fluffy beach-reading is happening around here!

  1. Bill and I: Building William Shatner’s Belle Reve Ranch by Dalan Smith is a blend of autobiography and biography. It is an honest look into crossing the chasm between regular folks and celebrities. The book also gives a glimpse into the struggles of earning a living in a rural setting. Shatner isn’t the main character of the book; Smith is, as he tells his story of building a horse ranch for an absentee owner. He has nothing but good to say about “Bill” and lets the reader draw his own conclusions about the success of the partnership. I loved the book, but may have been biased by my familiarity with the setting and many of the people within the story. It is one of the few celebrity biographies I’ve ever finished, much less enjoyed! Buy it here.
  2. A Stolen Life: a memoir by Jaycee Dugard was a very moving story of a woman who was kidnapped and enslaved from age 11 to age 29. It is graphic and gross in places – I had to skip parts of it. What a survivor! Got it from the library, recommend it, wouldn’t want to reread it. Too painful.
  3. The Harbinger: the ancient mystery that holds the secret of America’s future by Jonathan Cahn is written simply, the relaying of a conversation between two people to a third person. It is an explanation that ties 9/11 to a prophecy in the Bible, Isaiah 9:10. It is shocking, because although it is written as a novel, every event, location and speech is actual.

More Read-O-Rama

(Happy Birthday, Cousin Kelly!)

Salt & Light, portrait of a reading rabbit

  1. Stop Stealing Sheep & find out how type works by Erik Spiekermann and E.M.Ginger was a fun to read and fun to look at small book about typefaces. Well-written and well-presented. (But I still don’t know what typestyles to use in The Cabins of Wilsonia.) This book didn’t denigrate my favorite typeface of Papyrus. In fact, it said and I quote, “There is no bad type.” (Hey Cory, you listening??)
  2. Weird by Craig Groeschel was a gift from Chris LoCurto for being a top commenter on his blog.  I’ve been called weird most of my life, so the title of this one grabbed me. I raced through the first chapters, then lost interest. Don’t know why – it was well written and enjoyable.

There is no #3. I checked 5 books out of the library, finished one and wondered why I had bothered with it, skimmed another and realized I’d read it before, tried a third and rejected it, began a fourth and decided it was too navel-gazing and self-absorbed (an autobiography whose writer shall remain anonymous) and then tried a novel by a popular Christian fiction writer (who shall also remain anonymous). Couldn’t do it. Tried. Can’t.

Life’s too short to read boring/insipid/hackneyed/trite/characterless/violent books!.(I mean all those I tried, not just the Christian fiction) Guess I’ll just put this reading rabbit away for awhile until I have something worthwhile to share with you about reading.

Maybe I’ll just grab those primary colored books off the shelf and paint them again without the rabbit and salt shaker. There’s an idea!

What are you reading? Share with us in the comments!

Read-O-Rama

What does this have to do with a California artist? It could be called “California Artist Reads”. It could be that I want someone to fall in love with the reading rabbit of Salt & Light. Perhaps I just want to share a more complete picture of my life with you than just my art.

Maybe I am just hoping you will tell me the books you love!


Salt & Light, not a dumb bunny

  1. Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl was great fun! She was the restaurant critic for the New York Times. The only way she could get an honest meal was to disguise herself. The book is interesting on many levels – her disguises, her experiences of working at the New York Times, her descriptions of the service, experience and the food at all the restaurants, the recipes she shares and finally, actual reviews. I couldn’t wait to see how she rated various restaurants. It certainly made me realize that I know next to nothing about food. I also couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t fat!
  2. Every Last One by Anna Quindlen is a novel that tempted me because she is a great story teller with very complete characters. It just sort of meandered along, and I kept wondering why I was wasting my time. Then everything changes. Wow. It is very descriptive of emotions, which probably qualifies it as “chick lit”.
  3. The Widower’s Tale by Julia Glass was an engrossing story, pulling me back into thinking I really like fiction when in fact, I really like well-written fiction. Lots of little stories within the main one, complete characters that you understand and would like to befriend, excellent description of the settings – all of it combined into one of those “can’t put it downs”.

Jana-of-all-trades or Master of One?

This piece is called “Less Traveled”. I believe in taking the less traveled road, which is one of the reasons I am not on Facebook.

I read blogs – art blogs, business blogs, marketing blogs, inspirational blogs, knitting blogs, humor blogs, travel blogs, writing blogs and art marketing blogs. The writers of these blogs are my teachers, guides, mentors and some have become my friends.

One of the most helpful is called Fine Art Views. Informative articles, insightful comments by professional artists and interaction with the writers all keep me returning to this site.

A recent series of articles by Brian Kliewer really struck a chord with me. He is writing about the myth of social media as a viable marketing avenue for all artists. It caused me to write this overly long post, which began as a comment on one of his posts.

About 1000 years ago I decided to become a professional artist. Pencil drawing was my favorite (only) style. I chose to be a master of pencil rather than a Jana-of-all-trades.

I learned from Jack White that in art sales oil painting sells the best and pencil the least. It crushed me. So, I learned to oil paint, moved into murals, and now have much more to offer customers. Because my subject matter and my audience are mostly Tulare County, having more to offer is a good business practice.

Still, those who have followed my art for years and new friends continually tell me they LOVE my pencil work. (Perhaps this is because I don’t paint very well, and they are too polite to say that.)

Almost four years ago I started this blog. I LOVE to post, love to show photos, talk about Three Rivers, Mineral King and Sequoia, my drawings, drawing lessons, my sources of inspiration, the processes, the shows and events, and be a smart aleck any time inspiration strikes.

Just like becoming a master at pencil, I’ve chosen to be a master at blogging. (Nope, not there yet but putting in my hours faithfully.) That is where the bulk of my computer efforts are spent. I’ve dabbled in LinkedIn, eBay, Etsy, and Google+. What a waste of time! (Notice I have continued to resist Facebook)

Has it paid off? I’ve read that it takes 5-7 years for a blog to really reap results. Not sure what the writer meant by “results” – probably a Big Fat Following. The pay-off  thus far to me is in personal satisfaction, steady growth in the number of readers, the discipline of 5 posts per week, the relationships built, the credibility established.

Thank you for your loyalty, comments, email, encouragement and honesty as I fumble my way along in the world of art, art business, art marketing and blogging.

And more books. . .

Salt and Light, oil on board, 11×14″, not for sale

(But why isn’t it for sale? Because it is too personal to me. Then why are you showing it here? Because it is the only painting I have with books in it!)

  1. Up For Renewal by Cathy Alter is autobiographical. It was well written for a dumb book, or maybe it was a dumb subject. Anyway, I ended up just skimming it at the end. She spent a year of her life actually following the advice in women’s magazines!!! Are you kidding me???
  2. Just My Type by Simon Garfield is a book I had in my Amazon shopping cart for awhile until I remembered that I don’t like to own too many things. My friend Don bought it and graciously lent it to me. We both have an interest in typefaces, and this is “a book about fonts”. I ended up skimming it too. I realized that I like the way fonts look, I like to see if I can recognize them, but I don’t care very much about their history. It goes back to a year of my life as a phototypesetter, and then a couple of years working at a printshop where I ordered type through several other phototypesetting companies. Just broke my heart to hear my graphic designer nephew tell me that Papyrus is a horrible type. It was confirmed in this book. So what? I STILL think it is pretty, so there, Cory!!
  3. Georgette Heyer was recommended to me by my current favorite writer, Carolyn Henderson, author of Middle Aged Plague (READ HER! SHE IS FANTASTIC!! Then remember to return to me, ‘k?) Carolyn explained her this way:

    Georgette Heyer was a Regency Romance (don’t lose me here) writer of 1920-1960 – comedy of errors, delightfully written, much good advice slipped into gems of stories.

    Heyer reminds me of Jane Austen. I tried with the book Bath. Too many words, too little action, people with nothing to do but talk about one another. If you like Jane, you will like Georgette. I keep trying, but I have really lost my taste for fiction.

Next three books

Salt and Light, 11×14 oil on board, NFS

This California artist does more than just draw or paint. Sometimes she knits, sometimes she reads, sometimes she does both at the same time (if the book will lie flat).

  1. Pennybridge, by David Tolladay is a self-published novel by a pastor from Tollhouse, California. (Hmmm, do you think his hometown influenced the title of the book?) It is the story of a pastor, somewhat reminiscent of the Mitford series by Jan Karon. There are little sub-stories woven throughout, it held my interest, was a little hokey at times, had typos and needed an editor, and I thought it was great anyway!! The book was given to me by a dear friend who goes to his church, so I thought of it first as a mercy-read but ended up thoroughly enjoying the story.
  2. An Italian Affair, by Laura Fraser (the same author of Losing It from my last list) is an autobiographical book about an affair with someone she met while on a trip to heal from being dumped by her husband of 18 months. It is written in a odd style – don’t know the right technical term, but it is the “you” tense. She is brave and adventuresome and lets the reader in on her thoughts and feelings. Can’t say that I related to any of it, but it was certainly interesting to read! (and the complete opposite of Pennybridge)
  3. All Over the Map, by Laura Fraser is her third book. This one tells of her struggles at turning forty, her quest for purpose and her travels during the next 6 years. It has a happy ending, but leaves me wanting to know what happens next in her life. And, it causes me to be both immensely grateful for my stable steady safe life and a little dissatisfied too. I’d love to meet Laura, but will be content reading her blog.

A new year, still reading

“Salt and Light“, oil paint on board, 11×14 (Thank you, Steven S., for the title!)

This year I will continue to tell you what I am reading (Thank you, Melissa, for the idea!). What does this have to do with art? Nothing, except it gives you a more complete view of who this California artist is.  I’ll do it in groups of threes. Just finished or am finishing these books:

  1. Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo (such an unfortunate last name). I was astonished and inspired  by this book. It is a simply told story by the father of a boy who had an amazing life-changing experience at the age of 3. It is very convincing. It is here on Amazon.
  2. Sylvia’s Farm by Sylvia Jorrin. This is a book of essays by a sheep farmer in upstate New York. At first I was confused because the chapters didn’t seem connected. When I read it, I could picture the sheep, the 28 room house, the stone walls and gates, the barn and carriage house. It made me go to her website to see the photos, but they were distorted on my screen. She uses the word “shall” too much, but I liked it anyway.
  3. Losing It by Laura Fraser. I learned of this book from a reference to Fraser’s writing in another book. Her blog is great to read – what a life, what a writer! It made me order all 3 of her books from the library and this was the first to arrive. It is a very engrossing look into the diet industry and how the myth continues, despite the fact that diets are proven to not work.

What are you reading?