Little Pieces of Art by Brandie Butcher- Isley

You Know I Love You Right?

This piece measures 18"x18".  I borrowed words from Snow Patrol.  If you haven't listened to them you should.  They are the masters of the love song.  "Those three words are said too much, they are not enough"

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Surrender Your Heart

Well, I guess you can see that this one is self explanatory.

This piece measures 16 x 20 x 1.5.

Find this piece and more on my Pinterest site.

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Wonder

I wonder if you are okay, and will you call me when you are on your own?

Ahhhhh... the empty nest syndrome.

I have found myself reflecting on them when they were tiny.  You know, when they were little toddler people.  It is such a perplexing feeling to be sad and smiling at the same time.

Find this piece and others on sale on my Pinterest site.

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Let it Go

Let it Go, even if it shatters you on its way out.

This piece measures 14 x 14 x 2 inches.  I really love how acrylic ink will stay in all the cracks and crevasses after you wipe it off the surface.

Find this piece and others on sale on my Pinterest site. 

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All I See is Me by Myself

"All I See is Me by Myself"

You are going to leave me anyway right? Everyone does.  So why should I risk getting close?  Why not just make this end before I invest too much of myself?

I find myself sabotaging what is good by focusing on all that is bad in all walks of my life, but especially in relationships.  Sometimes I find myself so fearful that I do not even maintain contact with people in my life, those who would be very good friends.  If I do not change, I will ultimately find myself alone.

This piece measures 20 x 32.  I finally broke down and took this piece and 4 others to a professional scanner.  If I want to build inventory, I just can't justify spending hours scanning these larger works in several sections then piecing them together on my dinosaur computer.  I am very pleased with the results and it was not as expensive as I had anticipated.

Find this piece and others on sale on my Pinterest site. 

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Strength

On Christmas day my two daughters and my son-in-law were in a very serious car accident.  They hit a patch of ice on highway five went off the road and rolled their CRV three times.  Ali and Blake were belted in, but Tasha was thrown from the back seat of the car.  The call from Ali while she rode in the ambulance with Blake was nothing less than surreal.  She was in a panic because she was so uncertain of Tasha's condition.  I let her know we would meet her at the hospital and let her go.  As I was shaking I remember saying "I can't do this."  I was at John's house and after the call, his mom, Mary, kept asking me questions, I kept answering "I don't know."  Then it dawned on me that Ali probably had answers to some of these questions, so I called her back.  I then learned that the person staying with Ali and Blake at the car had assured her that Tasha was conscience, talking and aware of what had happened.  She just didn't have any details about her physical condition.  I also learned that Blake was going to be okay.  Thank goodness for Mary's persistence.  Our ride to the emergency room was a little more bearable.

Blake had a concussion, and both he and Ali were pretty banged and scratched up, but they were treated and released.  Tasha had several broken bones and was admitted to the hospital. 

This piece is about her strength.  The kid was up and walking within two days, this with a leg that was broken in two places, and a broken collar bone.  All with maintaining her funny sarcastic sense of humor.  A characteristic of hers that has always reminded me of her grandfather, and will often make me laugh out loud.

On the unlikely off-chance that one of you might read this:  I wish I could thank all the people who stopped at the crash site to help.  People who were most certainly late to their own family gatherings in order to help my family.  Thank you to those who gave up their blankets and their coats to keep Tasha warm.  And thank you  to the woman who was first there, and remained by Tasha's side, holding her head up out of the snow until the ambulance got there. It may sound corny... but I don't care, I have to say that it is this act of "stepping up" that is what separates us as humans. 

I want to thank Tasha's friends who visited her at the hospital and showered her with attention and gifts.

And... thank you Grandma and Grandpa Isley for your repeated visits to the crash scene, recovering all the Christmas presents that were strewn and buried everywhere.  I do believe you found most if not everything! Truly Awesome!

I know that I am very lucky.  I realize that.  But, I can't stop thinking about how I could have lost everything in that one moment, that one day.  How could I have survived that?  Well, honestly, I don't doubt that I wouldn't have.  Fortunately, I won't have to. 

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a very belated Merry Christmas.  I sincerely hope it passed leaving everyone happy and healthy.  Sincerely I do, from the bottom of my heart.  

Brandie

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Where are We Going?

For me looking to the future is all about hope.  Living day to day, accepting that it is what it is, where is the dream in that?

If you feel passionate about something, something that is happening or not happening in your world, do something.  Don't just accept it, that is how they win.  Even if it is as simple as talking about it.  Spreading awareness through word of mouth is incredibly powerful.

For example:  I am passionate about our food industry and what they are putting in our foods that we have available to purchase.  The elevation of processing and preservatives has gone completely out of control.  What do I do?  Well I read every single food label before I purchase anything I am going to eat.  I make everything I can from scratch and I am working towards eliminating packaged foods all together.  I am learning to can and freeze fresh foods.  John and I are looking at food dehydrators and other means to extend the life of our fresh foods.  Every chance I get I talk about certain ingredients, I will bring it up and speak to people I don't even know... I inform them that hydrogenated oils scar your arteries beyond repair, and are completely unnecessary in the processing of your food.  I will light heartedly communicate that our society may very well turn into a corn cob if we keep eating the massive amounts of foods that have high-fructose corn syrup, or just corn syrup, or corn flour... I have only begun to research the use of corn in our foods. It is insanely substantial.  Not to mention it is fed to the animals, so we inherently have corn in our meat.  AND you don't even want to get me started on Sucralose (Splenda), or any artificial sweetener for that matter.  I swear to you I believe they may be the root to all evil. There is more, but this blog is about art, not my personal little stand against the food industry.  But if you have any questions, please ask, it is one of my favorite subjects.

I don't know how much impact my words and the people close to me who are influenced by them have had on the industry, but I do know that there are a lot more like me who are getting fed up.  Pun intended.  I am seeing products that once had hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup and more, now they do not.  I am seeing more and more "natural" products being developed by our major food brands (always read the label even when it says natural).

Really though what this piece is about is that if you don't pursue what you want, where are you going?  Nowhere.  If you want it take it.  If you don't like it try to change it.  If you want to do something, do everything you can to do it.  Now there is definitely a dream in that.

Also, what some people fail to realize is that even though I am a very talented artist, in order to have good ideas that translate into amazing pieces, I must be inspired.  Let yourself be inspired.

Tell me what inspires you.  Get passionate.  Comment on this post and I will surely reply!

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The Answer

"I watched the decline of his smile, his laugh, his over-all sense of humor.  I watched as he deteriorated into what was a mere ghost of himself.  Where did this come from?  If I only has the answer, maybe then, no one else would suffer as we have."

John and I were shopping at the mall awhile back.  Upon visiting a kitchen gadget store, we had a conversation with the manager of the store.  I was fascinated and jealous to learn that he lived on a very large property in the country and had many buildings.  He is an artist and he rebuilds motorcycles.  I let him know how I wish I had space like that, studio space that would encompass anywhere I wanted to go with my art.  He went on to tell us that his circumstances are bittersweet.  Sometime ago he was diagnosed with the neurological disorder, MS.  He worked for the railroad.  It was determined through the court that they could not prove that his disease was not caused by his employment and he was awarded his pension plus a substancial settlement.  He was determined to not let the disease consume him, so he bought the property, and keeps himself physically and mentally busy doing what he loves most in the world.

After this very inspiring encounter, I couldn't stop reflecting on the many environmental elements of my fathers' life that could have contributed to his Parkinson's. 

 

The 5 Stages of Grief:

1. Denial

2. Anger

3. Bargaining,

4. Depression

5. Acceptance

It will be two years this November.  Why do I keep bouncing around in the middle?  I am struggling back and forth around and around with 2, 3 and 4.  I call my bad days, "bad dad days",when they happen they are consuming.  I do seem to see more time in between these days, but not enough, never enough time.

 

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I Will Break Your Heart

And don't think for even a moment that I won't.

Oh yeah... I'm thinking a simple revamp of an old piece right?  Easy 6 x 6 on art board.  Guess again... Do you see that deviant smile? 

The trouble started when gluing the torn vintage letter to the art board, the beautiful handwriting almost completely disappeared.  This pursued when I spilled my burnt umber acrylic ink all over my art table and the piece.  I had to scrub the piece to get most of the ink off, which was rather unnerving considering both art board and vintage paper  are very fragile. All was well as soon as I printed her photo. That girl, the one with the deviant smile.

 

Lakeville Art Festival 2012

I'm treating the last show of the season as if it was the first.  This year has been a disaster and this show is the last chance to turn it around.  I don't expect to recoup the season's losses, I only hope to have a great show. 

I am working hard preparing new pieces for this show, and I am bringing back the popular descriptive cards that hung with each work, customers really seemed to love this added touch. 

LAKEVILLE Here I come!

Check out the amazing array of talent at their official website:

Lakeville Art Festival

 

 

New Art Cards

In preparation for the new season earlier this year I needed to make new title cards for my artwork.  I decided to save time by printing only the title and price of each piece on a plain card.  Well this did not go over very well with people who were used to having the little bit insight into what inspired each piece printed on each card. 

A dilemma I had with the original cards was that the purchasing customer would always want to keep the card with the piece, although they were never too happy about the price being printed on the card. 

I solved this by creating stamped price circles that are punched to hang on the same hook that hangs the title card, or as I like to call them "art cards"  One of the new art cards is pictured above.

 

Below: The original "I Will Break Your Heart" 2007

                                                                                                                  

 

 

                                                                                                                                            

 

 

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Let Love Go

This is a remake of an earlier piece. She is walking in the opposite direction, but looking back over her shoulder as she leaves him behind.

I am uncertain of her situation, did she fight for him, was he worthy of fighting for? I don't know.  I do know that as frustrating as it can be, I would fight.  Because, really, as corny as it sounds, in the end it may be all you have.  And should be all you truly need.

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