New art: All You Need, purple, red & gold abstract

Here's the newest painting, fresh from the studio! "All You Need" is size 30"x24" and features red, purple and gold as the color scheme.

I can't believe I've waited soooooo long to do abstract work. I'm feeling it now....the energy I get from doing these paintings is amazing! And for once in the past 3 years, I'm not stressing over my work. I stress too much when painting realistic pieces, and this is a HUGE refreshing change that I really needed in my life!

I'm so serious about doing these, I just ordered 8 more of the big 40"x30" canvases. I love that size. I've already got a custom order for an office to do a diptych (2 canvases side by side with the pattern/color scheme extending onto both). I've had a few more requests for custom orders so I finally broke down and spent the morning getting my custom page set up on the website. I've discounted my normal rates through the end of the year in an effort to get more of my work "out there" too.

Our end of the month gallery event is coming up this Friday night. It wil be interesting to see the reaction I get there from both customers and other artists. Rachel has several of these abstracts hanging there, so I'm excited!

Well, off to do something I dread....organize my office! EEK! Papers & receipts are starting to take over, so it needs to be done. This afternoon I have to work at the gallery from 2-4, so if you're in Jackson, TN and want to stop by, come on! :)

Love y'all!

Jai

More BIG art! "Turn up the Heat" & "Bring Me Flowers in Spring"

Here's my next two paintings....

"Bring Me Flowers in Spring" and "Turn up the Heat". Turn up the Heat is another BIG painting...30"x 40". Very warm colors in that one. And Bring Me Flowers is small, but powerful with it's brilliant color. It's 24" x18".

It's still hotter than hell here in TN, btw. Guess that's why I ended up making Turn up the Heat look so HOT. It's great for a room with neutral colors and dark furniture though. It adds just the right amount of color and warmth.

And I'm really loving these BIG canvases, too. Anything I do, I usually do it big, so it doesn't surprise me this size canvas is appealing to me.

By the way, I can do custom work - so if you like this new abstract style and want a painting in a certain size or colors, let me know!

Jai

Mesmerize Me, new BIG ART

Here's my newest work...titled "Mesmerize Me", this painting is the biggest I've done yet (40x30). I had such fun painting it and as I listened to the music of CeeCee Winans, I believe I also had a spiritual experience as well. The idea for the colors came about because of the most brilliant blue eyes I saw recently...all these colors were in those eyes! They were..."mesmerizing". :)

Hope you all like it - click on the photo to see a larger version.

Love,

Jai

Fire & Ice and Earthly Power...new abstract original paintings

Here's my next two original paintings...Earthly Power and Fire & Ice...hope you like them!

Earthly Power is large, impressive and rich looking. Fire and Ice is the perfect painting to add a rainbow of color to your home or office environment.

I've been moving slower this week - guess the hot weather is getting to me! I still have several of my daughter's original paintings to get photographed and up on Ebay. I hope she'll get some bids on them so she can contribute to her own supplies and her horse riding lessons as well. Some kids babysit to make money...mine wants to create and sell her paintings!

Well back to the easel...I've got two more pieces "in progress" so I need to get busy and finish them up.

Jai

Several new abstract paintings...

Been having some fun with abstract works in the past week...thought I'd share a few of them here. These are all acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas.

The first painting is titled "Lively Energy" and is on auction at Ebay.

The second painting is titled "The Negotiator" and is at the Dickson Gallery in Jackson, TN, as well as being listed on Ebay at fixed price with offers being accepted.



The third painting shown is titled "The Anniversary" and the original is sold, but I am producing a limited edition (20) canvas reproduction of these.

The next painting is titled "Uncovering of Self" and is full of brilliant colors! It's also on auction on Ebay. The color combination in this painting are colors which can help with weight loss!


And the final painting is by my 14 year old daughter Allyson. It's titled "Rubies in the Snow, and is on auction on Ebay in a category in my Ebay store set up just for Allyson's work.

So I've been very busy this past week! I hope to get several more completed this week.

Jai

Two new abstract paintings!

I've decided to do a series of abstract paintings. They are quite fun to do, and are helping me to let go of some inner "stuff" I am dealing with.

Here's the first ones I've completed. (click the photos to see larger ones) The first is appropriately (for me) titled "Release" and is a diptych on 3/4" canvas with the sides painted. Total size as shown is 32x20". Rachel Dickson with the Dickson Gallery of Fine Art can currently be contacted about availability of this work.

The second painting is titled "Peacock Dance", and I've put it on Ebay for those who might be interested. It's 18x24" in size and can hang whichever way you choose.

I've added a little gold dust into small areas on both of these paintings, to give a bit of metallic sheen to these "wall jewels". :) Hope you like them!

Jai

The most BORING birthday ever...

How is it - we say we want PEACE and then when we get it, it's boring? LOL As I turn over the new year, I have to admit a couple of things:

I'm bored...even when painting. Probably because I know everyone else is out having fun with PEOPLE while I attempt to make a living from my creative efforts. I have fun painting, but it's not the same as being in an environment with other people. But when I get around other people too much......I can't wait to get away and get back to painting. Which leads me to my second admission....

...I'm never satisfied. There. I've admitted it. Maybe now I can fix the problem. LOL

I haven't decided yet how I want to spend the next year of my life. Except I have decided I don't want to spend one more day at age 42, and I got that wish!

I know what I need - a cute personal trainer to motivate me. That might just do it right there!

Back to the easel, while my daughter shops at Opry Mills. The things we do for our kids!

Jai

P.S. Actually, I didn't want to go shopping - I hate shopping at malls anymore.

Psyching up to do a painting

Well the next painting - actually it's TWO paintings - is on the easel. The drawing on the canvas is anyway. I can't seem to get started. One thing I've noticed is when I'm trying a new subject idea, I tend to have to have a period of "psyching myself up" before I actually place paint on canvas. I wonder if other artists go through that?

It's like I have to mentally get into what I'm painting before I can actually paint it. Subjects I know well, or am doing because someone has commissioned me for, don't usually require this "mental thing" first. These paintings are a different subject matter (kind of) and the two will go together as a set, so that's a little different for me.

But tomorrow is my birthday and I will be kid-less with a quiet house (with the exception of my dogs, who can get wound up from time to time!), so I anticipate after I have breakfast to get right to work on these two paintings. And I think if I contemplate the design and the best way to paint it all night long (which I always do the night before a new painting!), I'll be able to get down to business and get in the flow. Yanni and I will be in sync, as always, I'm sure. :)

Jai

Lesbian attack in Jackson, TN

There's a reason I don't read the newspaper or watch the news on TV. Most of it's bad - and most of the time the news is revealing how one person violated another's rights. And it makes me mad.

Somehow this morning I ended up reading the article in the Jackson Sun about a woman who was attacked at a local night club. Supposedly she was attacked because a man approached her with some slur - thinking she was a male. She apparently revealed to him she was not male but was a lesbian. At which point he beat her and stabbed her in the eye 4 or 5 times with a beer bottle. That in itself is disgusting enough for me to read.

But to read the comments on the forum to one of the articles about this tragedy was equally disgusting. Go ahead - read for yourself --> Click here.

We've got people saying she brought it on herself because she was in a bar. Or told him she was a lesbian. We've got people arguing whether this is a hate crime. We've got a preacher saying basically - gays don't deserve to exist....much less be in the military? (I guess that was brought up because this woman had served in the military) I'm sure glad I don't go to his church, and that PRECISELY is the reason I have never found a church home in TN because that is the attitude I have come across in every church (except for the one I am attending now - which was discussed in my previous post).

To me, it doesn't matter if she was gay, straight, yellow, black, green or white, has purple hair, is overweight, dresses different, or drives a piece of crap car. The fact is - she is deserving of what I feel we all are deserving, and that is an expectation of respect for our personal space. As soon as this idiot stuck that beer bottle on her physical body, he violated her personal space.

In my opinion, that's a big part of what's wrong with our world today - people cannot seem to keep their hands to themselves! For some reason, we have so many humans who think it's okay to take what doesn't belong to them and to touch what isn't theirs to touch.

I've had someone break into my car and steal money from my purse at a private residence where I had taken my daughter for horse riding lessons. He violated my personal space.

I've had men try to assault me on my morning walk, and men try to come onto me when I walked in the convenience store to pick up some milk.

I've had someone just recently come up under my private carport and break into my car.

And if you've been following my blog, you all know the story about my original painting which was stolen from the buyer's doorstep in South Florida.

Now I'm sure some of those idiots on the talkback forum at the Jackson Sun would come up with some reason about why *I* deserved those things. Must be because I'm straight. Must be because my car's too small. Must be because I had the nerve to exercise to get this extra 20 pounds off. Must be because I painted a flower in a color other than one they thought I should. Must be because the sun was shining. Or it was raining. And on top of that, I probably shouldn't be allowed to be in a certain organization because I have gray hair which I color brown. As John Stossell would say - GIMMEE A BREAK!

All of those things happened to me because some people think they have the RIGHT to violate my personal space. And any time someone feels they have that right when I have not given it to them - they will pay. The guy that stole the money out of my car was fired from working at the stables. The guys who used to bother me on my walk now have their discussions with my GSD (german shepherd dog) and I'm no longer even APPROACHED. (and if they *do* approach...well, let's just say I don't feed my dog before the walk...so he's awful hungry...:)) The next time someone enters my carport in the middle of the night...well, to say the least they'll get a little surprise. The person who stole my painting won't get too far with it, because it's been posted all over the internet. And if they thought they'd get some huge amount of money from their thievery, they're going to be sadly mistaken.

No one has the right to violate my personal space. And this woman who was attacked has the same expectation - as many of us do - that we have the right to be left alone. We certainly have the right to demand that we are not physically assaulted, and those who do such things should get the maximum punishment. And the fact that the bar owners helped him get "away" out the back door makes them just as bad as the idiot who stuck the beer bottle in the woman's eye.

My motto has been and always will be - "Keep Your Hands To Yourself". If I teach my kids nothing else in this world, that right there will be enough.

Get Excited About Your Life (part 4)

Here's something else I've found that's helping me to get excited about my life again:

Believe - Believe in yourself, your abilities, and that things will change. And they will! I have found myself believing sometimes that good things only happen for others - not for me. I had to start believing that good things CAN and WILL happen for me. I have learned if I focus on "nothing good happens for me" - that's exactly what I receive...nothing good. When I believe good things CAN happen for me - they do. I've had to really have some serious pep talks with myself to get to that stage again.

Being surrounded by people who were delivering me negative messages - messages, however subtle, which said my ideas were stupid or would never work - was definitely not beneficial to me believing in myself. Fortunately I've got a better mix of people in my life over the past few years who are encouraging and supportive. There's just a few who weren't, and who were so "into themselves" they brushed me off like I was nothing. So I've made some changes with those relationships, and now I spend a lot less time (or no time at all) with the people in my life who acted that way towards me. I decided to give of my time and energy to those who were supportive and encouraging, as that's more beneficial to my well being.

I also did something I've never done...I tried a new church in my area. My neighbor has been inviting me to his church for 3 years. I was very hesitant to go, as I've never found a church I liked, and I've been to several different churches, different denominations, and even different church-affiliated schools in my life (I went to a Catholic high school in MN, and a Church of Christ college here in TN). I liked those churches and schools - but there was always a little something not right for me. This church just recently moved to a new building, and changed up everything. They are a non-denominational church. I've often heard them use the words "spirit filled church", and that is accurate. It is a spirit filled church, and I am really enjoying spending my Sunday mornings there. It's Landmark Church on Hwy 18 in South Jackson, TN, if you're in the area and want to check it out. I come away from there feeling positive and believing. Faith is reinstilled in my heart each week when I attend. It's like having a cup of water which has run dry, and you fill it with refreshing ice water, take a drink, and say ahhhhhhhh, that's good! That's what it feels like for me to go there. The music is contemporary, and allows you to FEEL, RELEASE, and ANTICIPATE the good which is ready to come into your life. The message is Bible-based, and put in a way in which it's easy to understand and apply to everyday life. It's made a big difference in my life!

On the subject of believing, I've also had to pull some of my teachings from about 7 years ago out of my memory bank and apply them to my own life. It's amazing how easy it is to teach other people something, yet when I need it, and need to be reminded, I tend to forget the very things I taught others! I wrote a course in 2000 called the "A Good Life Course". The whole point of the course was to learn to focus on GOOD. And the first thing I taught in the course booklet was the affirmation "I am deserving of all that is good". Here's an excerpt on this point:

"We *do* deserve our desires to be met. We do deserve the abundance placed before us. By stating I AM DESERVING you are erasing the old mental tapes which taught you that you were undeserving and you are replacing that tape with a new one…one that erases the “blocks” you have in your mind about having more or realizing your true desires and dreams.

Saying the I AM DESERVING OF ALL THAT IS GOOD statement reinforces the “right teaching” which is that you *should* be prosperous, supplied with your desires, and have an abundance of all that is good because it is your divine right! This is what your creator wants for you! It is your spiritual right! “All things are yours” (I Corinthians 3:21) “Give me this day my daily bread.” (The Lord’s Prayer) A rich supply of all that is good is around you universally and within you as talents, abilities and ideas longing for expression. However, that rich supply must be contacted and used. Your mind is your electrical wire that connects you. Your attitudes, mental concepts, beliefs, and outlook are your access to the rich substance of the universe. By changing your mental tape to erase the unwelcome and undesirable thoughts of “not deserving”, you are opening up the door for new attitudes, concepts, beliefs, and outlook to come in and help you to stir up the riches of the universe, attracting them to you and expressing them through you.

The thoughts of your mind have made you what you are today. And the thoughts of your mind can make you what you wish to be from now on. The more you realize this, the more you will come to understand that people, places, conditions and situations cannot keep what it is you desire from you. You will soon discover that things that have previously worked against you will soon work for and with you, or they will move out of your life completely and new situations will occur to help you succeed."

Believing in yourself and your abilities is something which can definitely help you get excited about your life again. It's helped me tremendously! Most of the time, there's no one here to give me a "pat on the back" or an "attagirl!", so I have to do that for myself. And the ability to do that all starts with my beliefs that I deserve that pat on the back, I believe I did a good job, or am contributing to the world in a good way, and if I did it once, I can do it again. If something good happened to me one day, it can happen again, or something better can even come along. And that belief, my friends, helps me to get excited about my life!

Jai

NEW WORK: Palomino Horse Painting

Here's my newest artwork - titled "In the August Wind", this 16" x 20" acrylic on canvas board features a palomino horse in vibrant gold coloring against a rich red background.

Hope you like it!

Jai

Get Excited About Your Life (part III) - What color is your....

...cereal? (I know, you thought I was going to say parachute. :))

Breakfast is the first thing I do every day (after coffee). Recently as I stared at the bland bowl of cereal I was eating, I thought "What in the heck am I doing? I don't even LIKE this cereal!" So I went to the store and purchased my all-time old favorite - FRUIT LOOPS! A little thought came in that said I was silly for eating Froot Loops. It is - after all - made for KIDS. Gee, a lot of the kids cereals are brightly colored. And most kids are buzzing around, loaded with energy, and having a good time. They aren't sitting around mumbling about how depressed they are. Of course some people will say it's the sugar in the cereals that get the kids all pumped up. And I'm sure it does assist in the energy boost. But it's not just the sugar...it's the COLOR.

I have a free ebook out. It's called Healing with Color and it discusses color in depth. I believe color does have a huge impact on our lives. And it can begin to have that impact each day with the colors you see during the first thing you do - eating breakfast. I truly believe the color of the food we choose to eat at the beginning of our day starts things off for us. Since I've been eating Fruit Loops, I've made more positive changes, and had more enjoyable days. I'm not saying run out and buy a box of Froot Loops and you'll have a great day (though you likely will!) - what I'm saying is if you start your day with foods that are brightly colored, you'll have more energy, more zest and more enthusiasm. All which helps to "get excited about your life".

Get Excited About Your Life (part II)

I read an example recently. You walk into a car dealership, and on one side of the room, you see a group of salespeople all huddled around, long faces, looking down at the floor, mumbling about how bad business is. On the opposite side of the room, there's a salesman buzzing around with some pep in his step, smiling and saying hello to people, full of energy. Who are you going to gravitate toward to help you with your car purchase? Think about it!

In order to attract buyers - in order to get others to *want* to do business with you - the person who is excited, obviously having fun with their day and enjoying themselves, is going to draw more customers than one who is bummed out, depressed, and whining and complaining.

So how does a person begin to get excited about their life, especially when recent situations have been crappy? In my opinion, I think the first step is making a decision TO get excited. I can sit here and decide to re-live the YUCK, or I can say, "You know what? I'm tired of this stuff. I'm ready for a change. I'm ready to ENJOY life for a change!" And I can literally start right then and there to enjoy life!

It's like there are two paths in front of me. Let's say the one to the left is dark, blah, depressing. The path to the right is filled with light and color. All it takes is me deciding to step onto the "right path" for a change. And it truly is MY decision which path I decide to walk down. Sure, people will say, "hey come with us over here to negative-land". They can even try to pull me onto the path of darkness. But because I have free-will, and have made a decision that I'm tired of the dark & dreary path, I have the choice to say, "no thanks, I think I'll go this way." It's totally up to me.

(I can see right now this is going to turn into a long post if I post everything I want to say here...and I do have a painting to do today, so it will probably be divided up into several posts.)

Jai

Get Excited About Your Life! (part I)

After years of watching Dr. Phil, that little phrase in his opening of every show - "...get excited about your life..." - is finally ringing in my head. In observing some of the successful artists on Ebay, I find one thing is standard in their listings - it's evident they are "excited" about their lives. It's just a mood which comes off the page when viewing their listings. Now - they might be excited because they are doing very well with their art sales. But I think it goes beyond that....they have a general sense of excitement about their entire life - it shows through the words, photos, and through the art. All of the art seems to utilize vibrant & rich color palettes, which are filled with excitement. And because these artists produce a large amount of work, that gives buyers a sense of their overall energy. One must have a lot of energy to put out the amount of work like some of these artists do.

So I use a vibrant color palette. I'm halfway there. My ART has energy. Now it's time to fix the other half (ME!) - I've got to get excited about my life again. It's time to let the old crap move on out - it's time to have fun with life, and direct my energy to painting, rather than other things which are destructive rather than productive.

In thinking about this over the past several days, I wondered - when a person has been through as much negative situations as I have in the past 6 months...how in the world do I go about getting excited about my life again? I've come up with some ways - some of which I've already been implementing over the past few days as I learned them. And it's working - I'm finally feeling as if I'm getting excited about my life! I'll share the different things I've thought of and tried/will try in a separate post. Keep watching!

Jai

Daughtry rocked the house in Jackson, Tennessee! tn

What can I say....WHAT A CONCERT! I won't be able to hear for 3 days, but hey, it was worth it.

Daughtry played to a sold out crowd in Jackson, TN last night. Mom gave me tickets for my birthday, as she knew I like Chris. Since I don't live far from the Civic Center, I was thrilled...got to leave the house with little driving, go see a great show, and get home at a decent time. Sure beats the days when I went to see Garth Brooks and traveled all over the country. That was EXHAUSTING - but worth it! I can remember flying to Lousiana to see Garth, getting about 2 hours sleep and then flying back. Phew. I'm gettin' too old for that now. So this was cool....great of Chris to come to our hometown and sing for us.

The Carl Perkin's Civic Center was sold out. I've been to some other concerts there, but this one takes the cake as far as crowd. There were 3,200 crammed in there...and I mean crammed in. No one noticed the crowds once Chris took the stage. The guy is magnetizing...passionate.

And that's why I like him. I've never been a big rock fan - I've always been more into pop and country. I enjoy rock music, and buy the CD's, but never entertained the idea of going to a rocker concert. So this was really different for me. What appeals to me most is his passion as an artist for what he does. I CAN RELATE. I feel that same passion with my own art, and that's why I keep busting my butt to make it a success. Seeing what Chris has accomplished makes me want to try even harder. IT'S NOT OVER will probably play in my head every time I think about giving up. What a song! Every song is fantastic though. That's what I noticed when I got his CD....all the songs are great - there's not a single one I don't enjoy!

I could tell it's been a while since I've been to a concert. Things have changed. Remember the good old days when the crowd would all hold up their lighters? In the dark, they'd all glow, as everyone listened and sang along. Well no more lighters....now it's CELL PHONES! Yep, those screens flipped open make wonderful glowing light and when I first saw all the little lights down below me, I thought MAN, those are BIG lighters. LOL A few seconds later I realized it was cell phone screens illuminating the room. How fun! Just goes to show you how technology is taking over the world. (and how old I've gotten...LOL)

All in all, it was a great evening, with an aura of total excitement in the air. As loud as that music was, I probably could have heard it at my house if I'd have been sitting outside...but it was much cooler to be there and experience it in person. I still feel the beat of the music in my chest....what a wonderful thing.

Jai

It's all about the elephants today...

THIS FIRST PAINTING SHOWN IS SOLD

Here's the two newest paintings straight from the studio. The first is titled "Elephant Song" and is the same elephant I'd painted on a pendant about 3 years ago. I liked the pose so much, I decided to paint this one again - but this time in acylic on canvas board. It's a small size painting - size 8x10. I have 16x20" prints available on the website as well.

And the second painting is a landscape titled "The Elephant Walk". The original is also an 8x10 on canvas board. I didn't plan to do this painting. I am used to working bigger than 8x10 size, so I mistakenly put too much paint out on the palette. And I *hate* to waste paint. So I took the paint which was left and using the same color scheme, completed "The Elephant Walk", an unusual landscape in the rich, earthy colors of "Elephant Song".

Hope you like them!

Jai

NEW ART: Summer's End, yellow Poppy flower

It's been a good week so far - I've finished a second painting! This yellow poppy is painted against the same colored background as the red poppy I finished this week as well. Both paintings are hanging here by my desk - my office is starting to look fantastic! This yellow poppy is even more vibrant than the red - the red one is high energy, and the yellow one is more mood-lifting, due to the cheerful color of the petals.

Did you know that the colors you're around affect you? They can affect you physically, mentally and emotionally. In fact, you might be interested in my Free online Ebook, Healing With Color to learn more about the colors you're around, how they can affect you, and how to use color in your life to create certain desired outcomes.

Jai