RED SKELTON

Red Skelton once said that God gives us each a gift and when we use that gift we're giving one back to God. I like that thought... we all have at least one special gift- intellect, patience, poetry, insight... whatever it is the real joy in living is using that gift... then, work is a passion not a chore. The older I get the more exhausted I am over the daily struggles and the more desperate I feel over missing out on the opportunity to focus on painting. And the more I resent the suggestion that art is a hobby. It's my vision of the world expressed. It's who I am, not something I do to amuse myself. My current fate is to have office windows that look out to farmland and the gorgeous Warwick River. There I talk to troubled people all day and lust after a different life. And maybe it's not a life I'm capable of living but I'd sure like to give it a shot. So, plan A: Get the art out there... http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Antonia-Burns-Original-Art__W0QQ_armrsZ1

COME TO MY STORE!!!

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Antonia-Burns-Original-Art__W0QQ_armrsZ1

WHO needs a building? The world wide web is ALL I need! THE WORLD is my art gallery!

Anyway, I'm too broke for a building, lol.

Check out the ebay store!

Waking up Dead

Depressing job or not, lack of money, relationships, whatever is or is not happening with my life, I'm glad to be one of those people that doesn't wake up dead. It's a reality we have to lower our expectations often enough, but we should never give up our hopes and dreams. Happiness can be knowing our limitations and exceeding them or accepting our limitations and being happy despite them, or never limiting ourselves just plowing forward. I don't think it's healthy to always wish for something more and ignore what is right in front of me. I want dessert, but dinner is always good.

It's Nearly SPRING...

Still backward on the 9-5 front. VERY depressing. And the store that sells my art (and it's selling, lol!) is CLOSING. BUT, I've reopened the ebay store. I enjoy it any way. AND, someone wrote to tell me GAZBO DEAN is painting and selling art! He's one of my favorite painters.

Up and Down

The art sold okay considering that I took it off ebay and only had one store selling it- 10 paintings in the 2008 4th quarter. I was happy honestly. It reminds me that I CAN do it and that I need to try harder. The store is closing, which means reassessing what's important and marketing strategy.
I was framing some Gazbo Dean paintings and wondering where is he??? I am so happy with all of the work I managed to hoard, lol, yet he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Danny Doughty seems to be doing well, although my love for his work of 8 or 9 years ago stands a LOT stronger than it does for the current paintings. His color and style just filled my heart with happiness.
Artist or not, we all have to ride this economic death wave so maybe it would be a good time just to paint for the love of it and forget the money part.

January 4, 2009

A new year... first new painting. Photo'd blurry, but I'll fix it later.

I've tasted 5 full days away from the office- worked on the house and painted and well, it was great. I wish...

Here's the painting...

Getting Through the day part 2

The roof is leaking... MY roof, in the sunroom, and have we had a lot of rain! I cleaned for the holidays, got food and put things away. Work was slow so we were asked to use our vacation time and clear out, some of us. I was all for it since there's always stuff to do around here.
I watch the news on TV at night and I know my life is great.
What is enlightenment? How do people find it? Is it the ultimate state of peace, selflessness, faith, or all those things, or something else? As a kid we went to church every Sunday and I took it to heart. When things were bad I BEGGED God to answer, to show Himself. He didn't... until one day... it wasn't that He showed Himself as much as I suddenly like a crack of lightening felt His presence and now I often barter with Him, or think I do, about my going down the wrong path. I have a lot of anger that I wish I didn't, a lot of insecurity and neither are positive or healthy or accomplish a damn thing. I'm working on a painting. I think it's cool. It means something to me, the theme is what we see when we see ourselves, when we're exposed, since noone see's our fears and failures like we do. I'll post it when I'm done.
People are funny. We play stupid games. I heard gossip today about a member of my own family. I had no idea about it. It's really noone's business, not even mine, lol, yet the whole county and then some knows. God, if only good news traveled so fast!!

The ArT

A few more paintings sold. It's so slow, lol, but my usual karma... I have nothing to complain about though. All this time that I've been dreaming I should have been buckling down and focusing on making it all happen. I waited way too long to get myself into gear. It was always wait wait wait...

The one great thing about painting is it's everything I've got... it can be funny, sad, colorful... but it's all mine. And when it leaves my hands for someone elses I feel great.

Work (the 9 to 5) has 2 rewards- a steady paycheck, lie that it is, and the satisfaction of knowing that every day a positive change is facilitated for at least one person that takes the initiative to call. I love being the one they call. Hell, I guess any dimwit will do though. Maybe we'll farm out mental health assistance to India.

The steady paycheck got eaten up this month by fuel oil and Christmas shopping. It's pretty scary. People are hanging on to their homes by a thread and I never though my day would come. So, I'm going to keep plugging away. A recent painting sold fast!

I wonder why.

ARTIST RECEPTION

I'm frantically painting for an artist reception- my first- on October 11, 2008 at NEVER ON TUESDAY... I'm so excited because also sharing that with me wil be John Root Hopkins who painted Kevorkian and had it hanging at the American Visionary Museum! SO, will I finally start selling more art? If not, I can always blame it on George Bush, lol.
Will post the time later...

IN THE BEGINNING...

I grew up Antonia Costagliola in Alexandria Virginia. By the 4th grade the great ladies at Lyles Crouch Elementary School would let me illustrate the school newspaper... I've got very fond memories of that. Painting has always been the best way for me to express myself.
I paint with a sense of humor, choosing bright colors and keeping simplicity in mind. I believe that God gave us so much beauty to inspire me, pain for me to make sense of, and the desire to express it all with creativity.
As I get older and more jaded, as the world gets more violent and chaotic, I feel a sense of wonder, a sense of humor, keeps life interesting and joyful.
My artwork has been carried by galleries in Ellicott City, Severna Park, Savage Mill, and Annapolis. Now that the ups and downs of raising a family are done, I'm living here in Cambridge and making art. I try to use painting as a way to calm my 'emotional roller-coaster". There is often a sense of alone-ness depicted in my artwork, particularly in portraits (see GIRL WITH CATS) and just as often, an idyllic place to rest one's mind. Please watch the web for more of my art...