Amateur Performance

I just completed a new watercolor & ink illustration.
I titled it Amateur Performance for a couple of reasons:

First, because the 2 central characters look like they're putting on a play (or engaging in a confrontation?).
The second reason is because it perfectly explains how I feel about myself & my art & my attempts to get noticed… totally amateur.

The dinosaur/rock structure holding up the backdrop reflects my insecurity about my age and my late start. I've realized I have a few reoccurring themes in my doodles and they include wings. Wings to me imply the ability to fly, therefore flee & escape. They also imply a sort of freedom. I wish I allowed myself total freedom to express and not be so self conscious. While there are spectators, there are only a few. (I'm just getting started, though do I really expect global domination?) The feedback I've gotten so far has been positive but I'm bracing myself for when I get asked to leave. My insecurity is so crippling at times I fail to move forward. It's scary to share any of the things I create. They are incredibly personal. Being able to share digitally makes this a bit easier. I find it encouraging to get positive feedback on sites like Spoonflower and Society6 and I'm hoping these communities will help me grow & accept myself a little better.

Thanks for reading my babble.

Playing with Supplies

I like to play with art supplies and I don't care to have a plan. Since I am in a constant state of being interrupted, it's easiest to draw. And if the kids are painting with their watercolors, I can do that too. So, for the last year or so I've been pairing up the two, watercolors with my ink drawings.
Here are a few.

My Brain has These Thoughts Sometimes

My Brain has These Thoughts Sometimes was one of the first and I think still the best of my experiments. It's on bristol board. I can't remember if my son contributed to this one or not but there are certainly finger smears that I used to create the little floating critters. To me, it looks like the profile of a patchwork head that's been happily blown apart.

Alien Sea Floor

Alien Sea Floor was done around the same time as My Brain has These Thoughts Sometimes.

Desires for Change Complacent in the Same

Desires for Change Complacent in the Same is a more recent completion. I hated it for weeks. All I had was the weird flower thing developed for the longest time and couldn't get past it. I didn't want to do another generic imaginary floral design. But then, I started to see the faces emerge, so I followed them. The worry, the complacency, the longing… Hair that becomes wings to a snail-like creature. It's like a weird dream I have yet to figure out all the way.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look and reading some of my babble.
-Jen :)

Prints of these are available over at my Society6 store.