Sad day in the neighborhood...

"The Dickson Gallery swings no more." How depressing. We had our final "Fabulous Friday" on June 27. It was very sad, seeing no art on the walls, and seeing my artist friends for what could likely be the last time for many of us to get together.

My home is now stacked with paintings on the floor. Some of these creative works have been sitting here for months now. Some have dust on the frames. Some hang on my wall, decorating my own home, and giving me fond memories of when I painted them - and what I was thinking when I did. Some have just arrived in light of the gallery closing, and they have joined my others in this depression. I can almost feel them saying..."nobody wants me".

Rachel said to me recently..."Maybe I should have been a better salesperson." But I know from watching her, she did all she could. She gave this gallery - and each one of us - everything she had. MORE than she had to give, actually. I say to myself..."maybe I should have done better paintings." But as I look around at my work, I know that's not true. They just haven't found their right homes yet. And maybe my home *is* their right home.

I don't even feel like painting anymore. Maybe that will change in time. Or maybe not. Right now, I feel lost, like I don't know what to do, or have anything worth giving.

--Jai

Life Update

Wow. It's been an interesting- and not necessarily GREAT - two weeks. I finally was able to go back to work after 2 weeks of being out with an awful sinus infection. Before going back to work, I got the news that the Dickson Gallery here in Jackson is closing. How depressing. I've been a part of this "family" for years and it is very upsetting to me that it's now gone. But you know, it seems the "families" (aka "friendships") in life come and go. Nothing ever remains constant. I wish I could be one of those people that can say "oh so and so and I have been best friends since grade school!". It never works out that way though.

Before the gallery owner told me this terrible news, I was actually thinking of giving up on my art. I've put 10 years into this, and no, I didn't do everything "right", but I feel I should have done better than I have as far as being able to pay the bills with it. I had been wavering on a decision to stop doing all art except digital art (such as the Hoppy Humor line of works I've been creating for a couple of years). It used to be that digital art was frowned upon. Well it might be frowned upon in some art communities, but in sales, the Hoppy line has clearly been my best seller over the last two years. So why not expand on THAT and quit spending huge amounts of money on canvas and paint to create works people will tell you are WONDERFUL DARLING...yet they don't buy?

In the midst of all this stuff, I made the decision to have my German Shepherd Max (pictured with me on the sidebar of this blog) neutered. He doesn't have the tempermant for showing, and unless he's showing, I have no interest in breeding. So it was time. He'll be two in October. I just had the surgery done today, and it was heart-wrenching to turn my "baby" over to have this surgery. I know I'll be happy in the long run for the decision, though, and it is probably best for him. He's sleeping peacefully in my office here beside me.

Work... well it's good. I like the office I'm in...it's small and cozy and just me and the doc at this point, so no office politics and BS like alot of places can have. I'm learning a ton about chiropractic care and seeing it help these patients is awesome! I have been helped by chiropractic care many years ago, and it is truly amazing what these simple adjustments can do for your health overall.

Art...well as I said, I've pretty much decided to hang it up. It's too bad this all came about right after I rearranged my total studio. Now I have even more space than ever and I won't even be using it. I plan to paint just for pleasure now. I'm not going to fool with painting what I think someone wants, nor am I going to fool with photographing, editing said photographs, describing, and listing the art on a gazillion sites. What's the point? I'll just stick with my bestselling digital paintings for online. And I have had two custom digital art requests in the past week, so I think that, combined with my new job and my family life will be enough. I'm tired of stressing out and running myself ragged for nothing. It's time I enjoyed life for once.

Anyway, that's the latest update on things here. Oh, I forgot one thing. I am selling off part of our antique book collection on Ebay. If you like the feel of holding a piece of history in your hands, check out my listings.

InJoy,
Jai

P.S. And did I mention I'm tired of the selfishness and meanness in the world lately? Well, I've been tired of it for a while - I'm still tired of it - and I'll probably never get it. I'm about ready to move to the mountains with my pets and just call it a life.

Hoppy Returns with a Bang!

America's favorite red-eyed tree frog returns with a bang to celebrate 4th of July! After shaving her hair to benefit kids with cancer, & ditching her jewelry for simpler living, Hoppy the red-eyed tree frog is ready to celebrate INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Check out Hoppy's fabulous new design on a variety of cool products, including the new military hat made from rugged chino twill fabric.

Look for more designs featuring Hoppy soon. As her creator, I've been re-inspired recently to revive her character and expand on her personality. These designs are created under my brush name "Silajai", and all can be purchased at http://www.HoppyHumor.Com.

InJoy,
Jai

P.S. Be sure to stop by and see Hoppy in the GalleryFridge online art show this week, along with other red-eyed tree frogs!

Baby Bluebird painting

Fresh from the studio, "Young Voice", a 3x4" miniature painting featuring a baby bluebird. I tried a little different technique on this painting to get a smoother surface. It worked very well! The canvas texture still shows a little bit, but when compared to my other pieces, this one definitely has a smoother look and texture. It's a little more time consuming, but I think the end result is fabulous. :)

Young Voice can be purchased on my website here, and is available on a variety of products in my online gift shop here.

On a side note, I ended up going to the doctor yesterday because I still wasn't well. Turns out I have a very intense sinus infection. So far, the medicines aren't making any difference, but I hope by the end of the week I'll start feeling better. Otherwise I'll be going back to the doc or possibly have to be hospitalized - and with no health insurance, that gets rather expensive. Plus I've missed one week of work already, and I'll probably end up missing the rest of this week unless something drastically good happens by morning.

I'd appreciate your prayers and good thoughts....I'm so tired of my head pounding. This has been going on for months now and it finally got so bad last week with the high fevers, I broke down and went to the doctor. She gave me a really strong antibiotic and some other things, but I think it's just set in there so bad, it's going to take them a while to have any noticeable effect. I certainly don't want to have to go back to the hospital again. Sigh.

InJoy,
Jai

The Long Walk Home

This weekend I completed my first 1/6 scale miniature painting. While I've painted minis for years, I've never really paid much attention to scale as required by the miniature art organizations to be considered a true miniature. So I decided to do so, and using the below photo taken by my daughter of our outdoor cat Boots for reference, I painted this piece, titled The Long Walk Home.

In this painting, Boots is shown heading home after a long day of hunting and wandering. It was very difficult to paint her this small on this 3"x4" canvas, but using the tiniest of brushes and a magnifying glass, I was able to get it done!

Boots has kittens, but she has them hidden from us so far. Maybe she'll bring them up to the house soon so we can get even more fabulous photos, and I'll have even more subjects to paint!


You can acquire the original painting here on my website, or prints/cards/tiles and more in my gift shop.

InJoy,
Jai

Poka the Koala Bear Miniature Original Painting

Oh man, it's been a rough week! I came down with something - don't know what, but it felt like the flu. It's outta here FINALLY and I was able to get a new mini painting completed yesterday afternoon.

This is Poka the Koala bear, the newest in the My Tiny Pet series. She is playing peekaboo from behind her tree, and she is desperately hoping some kind soul will adopt her and care for her forever! You can adopt Poka here. You can also find wonderful gifts and cards with Poka's image here, in case you wish to spread her love with friends and family (or yourself too!). :)

I also have been experimenting with some ACEO prints ON CANVAS. Today I listed Einstein the Red-Eyed Tree Frog in this type of print - it's a limited edition, signed and numbered group of only 8 prints. The first print is up on Ebay and the others in the series of 8 can be purchased on my website.

Hopefully next week will be better than this one was! I plan on staying in the studio ALL DAY tomorrow and hopefully creating some more cute miniatures.

InJoy,
Jai

Love red-eyed tree frogs? Then you'll adore this mini painting!

Check out Einstein, the newest pet in the My Tiny Pet series. Einstein the red-eyed tree frog hangs onto the top of his pencil in this miniature painting. The painting is size 4x5 inches. He'll be a delightful addition to your miniature art collection! You can get the original painting here, and you can also select cool products and gift items with Einstein's image on them here. This is a cute design for teachers!

*Einstein is a real frog! He plasters himself to my studio window every night and hangs around on the bush outside the window!*

We had two turtles on the road in front of our house last week. My daughter took some photos of them, and I'm thinking about painting them next. One is a large turtle and the other walking behind it is a baby. I love baby critters! :)

InJoy,
Jai