Finding my style

I'm struggling.  In lots of areas.  But one area in particular is my art.

I'm fairly decent at copying other styles but I don't really know what my own style is.  I've been trying to find it for years.  I keep experimenting but can't find what truly feels right for me.  I know I just have to keep going, keep painting, keep drawing, but I'm being overrun by artwork that no one will buy and I don't have the wall space for it!

If I had the time I would actually take an art lesson.  I've never been formally trained or even taken an art class.  I've done my own research of artists and styles.  I love going to art museums and I've been to some of the best in the world - El Prado in Madrid, Parc Guell in Barcelona, and Louvre in Paris.  I've been to "off the beaten path" places like Montmartre in Paris, La Rambla in Barcelona, Art on the Lake in Guntersville, Alabama, City Museum in St. Louis.  I love them all.  But I can't seem to find my own "voice" in my art.

I guess my reason for writing about my struggle is to help myself figure it out.  I love bright colors but I also love black and white.  I paint flowers because I can't grow them!  I paint little birds in different colors because I think they are cute.  I've done collages of places I've been using realia and mixed media (I actually enjoy this style).  I paint owls because I was a Chi Omega and each time I paint one I reminisce about the good times my sorority sisters and I shared.  I paint quotes because I like words.  But I find myself still just imitating something I saw on Pinterest or Etsy.  I want my own style.

I'm a little folk art but given time and patience, neither of which I possess, I could do landscapes or portraits.  I've tried those and they aren't really my favorite.  I like painting common, everyday things like pictures of fruits, flowers, birds, crosses. 

I have other interests, like writing, refashioning clothes, and home decor, but I feel like these hobbies hold me back from my art.  I want to incorporate it all.  Maybe a clothing line or home furnishings featuring my own quotes and images in a style all my own?  But there's the problem again.  A style all my own. 

Guess I'll keep working on it.

Design Re-do

OK.  So this post has nothing to do with my kids.  It is a design re-do.  I was inspired by the new show Flea Market Flip.  I love that show!  There was an episode where one of the teams found some chairs, painted them high gloss black and reupholstered the cushions with burlap.  I loved the look.

Not the original from the show, but you get the idea.

Well, here's what I had - 2 chairs from an old dining room set that we now use as a computer desk.  We don't use all the chairs that came with the table so this is perfect.  Cost $0 (well, we paid $100, I think, for the dining set many years ago when we actually used it as a dining table).

Not bad but I want my vision.  Start with black paint.  All over the chair.  Both of them.  Let it dry, then lightly sand the edges and the seat.  Now it's coming together.

I have several jute feed sacks that we got years ago for a family reunion we were hosting.  We used them for family sack races but they've been sitting in a box for years.  I cut one of them to make two cushions/pillows for my chairs.  I wanted the graphic print to show because I am putting this in a corner where I have a painting of Memphis and I wanted that to tie together.  I had a brown, round table that I just moved to this new spot.  I love it!  Now it just needs some crate shelving on the right wall and a rug to finish this entry area.  I am working on the rug - crocheting tee shirt yarn.

What do you think?  I hope it will serve as a little homework area for the little one when school starts back in August.

Be blessed!