Become Aware of the Joy Available To You

I’ve been busy with commissions this Christmas season. Interestingly, when one is busy with commissions during the holidays it sometimes feels like the joy of the season is passing by as one works alone in the studio. Then again, when feedback occurs and people are happy with the final work that was created, one becomes aware of a real joy that occurs and a part of Christmas seems to appear early.

I find my work fun… in fact I don’t take commissions unless I consider them fun… and I’ve got to add it’s a big warm-fuzzy when clients are super happy with what I present to them. So now, the more I think about it, I’m not missing any joy of this time of year after all. In fact, truth be known, the commissions add a sense of joy (in more ways than one) that I actually would miss if it were not for them.

Whether you yourself are involved with commissioning work, working on commissions or none of the above… may you become aware of the joy available to you this wonderful time of year.

Merry Christmas

Pictured are two of the several commissions I’ve received this Christmas season..

~ John Essex II is a retired art teacher, a two-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow and an Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. He is also artist/owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC through which he keeps busy creating his own fine art, creates commissioned art, does caricaturing by commission and at special events, conducts private painting parties and is contacted regularly to play the bagpipes (yes… play the bagpipes). Essex also maintains an online print-on-demand store where patrons can acquire gallery quality giclée prints of his art as well as other products that feature his work.

Find it at: https://society6.com/essexart

To view what Essex does, and to shop at his online store, go to: https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt,

https://society6.com/essexart,

http://www.indyartsguide.org/artist/john-essex-ii/

Networked With Wedding Pros

This morning I attended a Hendricks County Wedding Professionals networking event held at the West Chase Golf Club in Brownsburg, IN (http://www.west-chasegolf.com/weddings/). It was hosted by Visit Hendricks County (http://www.visithendrickscounty.com) and the featured speaker was Corie Farnsley of CorComm Creative (corcommcreative.com).

Outside of needing to get up at the crack of dawn ( 8 am 😉 ), this was a really nice way to start the day. Met some new people, got to catch-up with those I haven’t seen in a while, had doughnuts and coffee and learned a few things to boot.

One never knows exactly what will be gained by attending some functions like networking opportunities. However, if approached with a willingness to learn new things and readiness to move on new avenues of opportunity that open up, a very real enriching experience can be had.

Doh!

Needing a higher quality image of one of the paintings posted in my Fine Art album on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt), I went searching in my iPhoto library. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the painting in there even though I searched numerous times. When I was just about engrossed in a pity party, I realized the actual painting was right behind me and all that needed to be done was to photograph it again. (insert your favorite Homer Simpson quote here)

Working in My Studio

Unfortunately, my small studio had slowly gotten more and more cluttered and crowded by stuff because I tend to be a pack-rat. To remedy the situation I took everything out, painted the empty walls and moved things back in. While moving stuff back in , however, I’ve been busy throwing things away, putting in shelves and working to make the studio a genuine workplace instead of simply a clutter-space. So far, so good… but I am a little surprised at how long it’s taking me to put the finishing touches on the re-organization.

Being committed to bringing out the best-use of my studio space continues to be my goal. It will be something I’ll have to keep reminding myself of as I know the temptation will be there to put something down, telling myself “I’ll attend to that later”… which experience taught me is the seeding of the growth of clutter.

Cheers.

EssexArt ABC, LLC Artist / Bagpiper / Caricaturist

EssexArt ABC, LLC  Artist / Bagpiper / Caricaturist.

Available for wedding and reception entertainment, parties, trade shows, private, corporate and collegiate events.

Mission

To live, love, laugh and thank God.

Description

After retiring from teaching art full-time for 33 years, Essex decided to freelance in the areas he knows and finds fun. Consequently he has become an adjunct professor of Art Appreciation at Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana, in that schools Marian’s Adult Program, accepts commissions for artwork and caricatures, does caricaturing at special events and even plays bagpipes at special events, weddings, memorials and funerals.

In his role as artist / owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC, John Essex II has been active in community events, a church youth event, collegiate events, corporate events and conventions, high school post proms, weddings, receptions, wakes and funerals. Additionally he has also been busy with commissions.