Were 2011 goals accomplished ???

So, I wanted to know if I accomplished all my goals from last year?? Well, last January I posted this:

2011....

It's 2011!!! I must say that alot has changed in 2010. I am now a Artist. I am really a Artist... There are so many things that I'm working on for 2011 here are some of my goals.

1.) Work on turning my blog into a website.
2.)Come up with a cool banner.
3.)Sell my art online. (Red Bubble)
4.)Make mini prints of my artwork.
5.)Cont. to make BIG art.
6.)Sell some of that BIG art.
7.) Get my art into a Gallery.
8.)Be a featured artist on someones Blog.
9.)Have a art show.
10.) Cont. to define my style.
11.)Make more interesting blog post.



5 out of 11. I'm a little disappointed in myself. I should have accomplished more. To tell the truth, I'm also a little frustrated with myself. I wanted to do so much and I got a little lazy. Truth be told I haven't painted in about 4 months (that's a long time in the artist world) LOL ! I have been working alot on the business side of this creative career. Reading, Researching, Submitting Art, and Working on my business Plan. I haven't had any time to spend be creative!

I'm still learning how to manage my time and trust me "it's a work in progress".  I'm still learning to balance time creating, time to relax and be inspired, time spent working on the business, family time and ect. I guess that is a common theme for all artist huh? Time management? So, if you guys have any tips please share!!

Hopefully, I'll be putting a new list together for this year. Stay tuned to see what's going on that list.

What am I reading????

2012 Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market is the must-have reference guide for emerging artists, who want to establish a successful career in fine art, illustration, cartooning or graphic design. For years, artists have relied on us to help them find new markets and navigate the changing business landscape. The 2012 Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market introduces a whole host of new features and guarantees the most up-to-date, individually verified listings possible. In addition to the 100% updated market listings, artists will find new resources they’ll want to use everyday including:

• A FREE 1-year subscription toArtistsMarketOnline.com, where you can search listings, track your submissions, get the latest art and design news and much more
• Complete, up-to-date contact information for more than 1,600 art market listings, including galleries, magazines, book publishers, greeting card companies, ad agencies, syndicates, art fairs and more
• Articles on the business of freelancing—from basic copyright information to tips on promoting your work
• NEW! Special features on selling more art in 2012, secrets to social media success, pocket-sized promotion, creating an online presence, fine-tuning your sales pitch and generating referrals
• NEW! Informative articles on getting the most from workshops, handling problems creatively, applying creative thinking to running your business and managing your clients
• NEW! Inspiring and informative interviews with successful professionals including graphic designer Tom Davie and artist and illustrator Mike Maydak
• Information on grants, residencies, organizations, publications and websites that offer support and direction for creative artists of all types

New Art Journals !!!!!

Introducing Art Journals by Artistically Urban!!!

Things I Love - Red Stripes
created by: Trena D.

Take note of every detail with these creative and unique, personalized notebooks. Personalize the cover with text or photos to make it your own. These fun and inspiring journals make it easy to brainstorm, take notes, make to-do lists, jot down recipes, schedule appointments, record favorite quotes, or just write about your day. These conveniently sized 6 1/4 x 8 1/4 notebooks feature 80 high-quality lined pages. Printed on premium 50% recycled fiber paper.

This is the First in the Series.
Art Journals can be made from any painting that want!!!
They come in all sorts of colors and backgrounds!

Please leave a comment below if your interested in purchasing one!!!
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Brave New Voices Thinking About You

Very cool poem, thought you guys would like it!! I swear, If I wasn't a artist I would love to be a poet!!!! Enjoy!

I've been featured on Shatterproofglassdolls.com

Check out the website and see the feature:

 http://shatterproofglassdolls.com/dolls-on-display/the-shatterproof-and-talented-trena-darby/

I WANT THIS OUTFIT .......via StylePantry.com

via StylePantry.com

On Friday, we left Los Angeles early to beat traffic for our road trip. Four hours driving with three kids who kept asking, “are we there yet, are we there yet?” definitely wasn’t kosher.
We stopped half way for a bathroom break, to stretch and grab a bite to eat. We let the kids run around until they got tired again before continuing on the road. It worked. Well, sort of..
This was my comfy road trip gear. Free People crochet beanie (similar hat here), military shirt is from Zara, but a season or two old (found something similar here) Marc Jacob sunnies (similar pair here).
Black skinnies are from Urban Outfitters – Can be purchased here. Vintage cowboy boots – They come in two different shades of brown can be purchased here. Onna Ehrlich Rachel bag. Enjoy…xx

My 100th post is ...Dedicated to Arthur Tyrone Douglas !!! "Daddy"

OK, here goes .......I have waited over a year to post this painting. Every time I tried to write this post I would start crying or I would have to stop.... It is the the most sentimental painting that I have ever done! It is one of my favorite pieces. Every time I look at it I smile and tear up at the same time ...

About a year ago I lost my father "Mr. Arthur Tyrone Douglas". It's still hard to talk about him even now..it doesn't really seem like he's gone. My dad was the type of man that never got sick. In fact, I cant even remember him ever calling out of work while I was younger. He had this great sense of humor ( I guess that's where my younger sister gets it from) He would always be joking around with us and anyone he knew. For Example he would say put your ugly daddy on the phone when calling my uncle (lol) But after retiring he started to get sick. He was diagnosed with pulmonary disease and started having lots of problems breathing and was put on oxygen. It happened so fast ..... a trip to the ER then all of a sudden talk about hospice..

Even in his last few day he just didn't seem sick at all, he would talk and joke all day with visitors that would come in see him in ICU...so much that we would have to tell him to calm down and not talk as much because of the breathing machine that he was still on.. We never thought that we would lose him so soon ...even when the doctor gave the new we were still in shock because he seem so happy, he seemed fine ! He was just having some problems breathing...

During that last week I'm glad that I got a chance to talk to him, joke with him, kiss him hug him tell him that I loved him. I'm glad that my girls got a chance to see him and hug him and tell him that they loved him...Some people don't get that. I remember the night before he died me and my twin sister and brother were there to see him and he was telling about what music her had on his mp3 player he was asking about the grand kids and he was himself ...not out of it not drugged up but he was just my dad !!!!  And ..... I love him and miss him so much !!!!

After he died my mom redecorated her den ( well she turned my old room into a den ) and asked me to paint her something for the new room. I wanted to do something for him. This is what I came up with. The name of the painting "Vintage Parents "

I used one of Kelly Rae Roberts technique's. I used sewing pattern papers on the bottom of the painting. The dots along the sides of the painting are from her grand kids ( Atiana and Saniya dipped their finger in the paint and made them) I thought that was cool that they were apart of the painting process. The picture on the right side of the painting is an old school pic of my mom and dad! I absolutely LOVE, LOVE LOVE, this painting.