What a great time of year. I love getting together with family and enjoying this time of celebrating Christ’s birth. With all the gifts and the way Christmas is promoted it’s hard at times to teach our kids why we have this Holiday. My 5 year old wasn’t quite connecting this holiday with Christ. After we’ve been exlaining it she now knows, but still is excited about the rest of the holiday. I hope we can all enjoy this Christmas season and to remember the true meaning of Christmas.
Thanksgiving Time
I love this season. The fall colors. The leaves that start to fall off all the trees. Where I live I only get a glance of that depending on where a good tree with leaves is, lol, but I still enjoy it. The cool weather is perfect here in Arizona.
Thanksgiving always reminds me of my childhood and mainly my Grandma and Grandpa's house. Cousins would come and we had a great time playing together. The smells of the turkey, mash potatoes, squash, etc. were so enjoyable while we played. All the adults in the kitchen working hard while we all played. Such great memories. I really wanted something similar for my kids while they grow up. To my surprise my situation is not even close to mine growing up and I don't know why I thought it would be. Maybe I just wanted to hang onto the memory and create a similar one for my kids. Well that's not going to happen. They dynamics are so different with my own family is a whole new memory for my kids. I hope I've been able to create a fun time for them so that they'll be able to have fun memories with family during this holiday. Let us all remember and cherish family and the good times we have together. Happy Thanksgiving!
Get away!
No I don't mean get away from me or anything like that, I mean at times we need to get away from our daily routine and re freshen up. That is what I did this past week. Just my family and I went to enjoy Pinetop, AZ for a bit. Loved the cooler weather and the pine trees everywhere remind me of my home town, but smaller. We enjoyed bike riding, horseback riding at Snowy Mountain Stables, and hiking trails. I completely forgot about my normal life for a while. That is how it should be. Forget and refresh. Here are are a few images of my time there. I can't wait to do it again. The worst part of leaving reality is coming back. lol.
Horseback riding at Snowy Mountain Stables
Red Barn
Solar Eclipse 2017
Solar Eclipse 2017. I was not fortunate enough to be able to be in the spot of totality. I was at work and did not even have my good camera. So I used what I had, an iphone 6. This is what I got. It was still exciting, but I really need to make the effort to see it in totality on April 8, 2024. Either way these are a few shots I got. the lower one the camera didn't capture it, but the lens flare did. Kinda cool. Anyway, I hope anyone watching had a great time. I know I did. :) Nature is just exciting.
Artist shove down
I love being an artist. Coming up with new ideas and seeing how they turn out. Sometimes they are cool and other times they should be thrown away. Either way it's just fun developing ideas. Well a job can kinda ruin that. Maybe not all jobs, but some can. For example you actually can't design anything because the customer is the one designing it (or a sales person). In the end you have to make it they way they like it and it's still art, but for me sometimes that kills creativeness. Yes it can also bring about better ideas and development so don't get me wrong. Lately I just feel that at my day job I can't be an artist. I do as they say like a robot. Yes I get to build jewelry, but not how I want to or how I think it should be. It's always how everyone else wants it to be. So would I be considered a designer? Not in my opinion. I feel I can only truly be a designer when I have the freedom to put my thoughts into a new design. Otherwise it's like an assembly line to me. This is why I love DanaArts. I am able to freely create anything I want without someone telling me what I need to do or how to do it. That is what it's all about for me. That's why I keep on going and keep on pushing forward even when no one knows who or what DanaArts does. I will continue on forever creating what I enjoy doing. It's what keeps me going and pushing on in new ways. If you are feeling the Artist Shove Down then take a break and do something creative. It will inspire you to create beautiful things.
The feeling when being shoved down and you have to shine to overcome it.
Sunshine
Sunshine is here. It's already going to be in the 80's here in Arizona. One good thing is that my garden is doing well. Here is one of the sunflowers starting to do it's magic. The little bee is helping too. So yes, it looks like it's all sunshine from here on out.
I've been busy with projects for other people. Maybe soon I can work on some new designs. :)
Progress
Progress is important in many ways. That is how we move forward. If we are not progressing then we are only going the opposite way. My progress is slow since I only can work on Dana Arts a few hours a night and not every night. Either way I do my best to progress and move towards my goals. This year I really hope to be active and share as much about what I do as I can. As new designs come out I'll be adding them to my site and non produced rings will be rendered in an obvious way to know it's not a photo. I also will do my best to keep some videos going. It's always hard for me to find the time to get them going, but I really must try harder. I will also post them on my YouTube channel as I make them. If I'm slacking in any way just let me know.
Maybe these Cacti will push me. No sitting down. :)
Always moving forward even if it's only baby steps.
Lunch time hikes
I love to hike and I have a job where I sit all day. I love winters here in Arizona because they are not that cold. So at lunch time I go for a 45 minute walk on a small trail that leads across the top ridge of the small mountain. It's a great view and at least gives me some movement in the day. Exercise is important to me so this is the way to do it. Take advantage of all the time available. Lets all start the new year with being strong and moving along and never quit.
ahwatukee foothills
Red is now 3 months old
So I took this picture of Red with the help of my daughter. It wasn't easy because red is very active. We at least got this one cute shot of him. It has been difficult or tiring for us having a new puppy, but he is doing great. He's growing so fast. I hope we don't teach him any bad habits as he grows. Lol
Red 12 weeks old
First Designs
So I've been thinking about some of the designs I have done and have never been made before. I have quite a few. Not all of them are great, but some of them are pretty cool. I do not like putting up the rendered images of my designs because it can cause a little confusion about what the finished product will look like. I do my best to render them like the real thing, but the overall finish is never the same. I'm talking about the overall shine, blackening, and hard to reach places. The renders are too perfect or not accurate. All the images on my site as of now are all photographs of rings I have already produced. Well I'm going to start posting renders of rings I've designed, but have never produced yet. I will render them with a darker background so you can tell the difference. I leave the overall finish to me so to some degree if you are the first to purchase one of these rings in silver you are the guinea pig. In so doing I will discount the ring to whomever is the first buyer of that ring. The normal price $250 and it will be discounted to $200. That's a great savings and deal to get the first ring ever made of that design. After the first time the ring is purchased the price will go back up to $250 and I'll add real photographs of the ring to the listing. So look for the rendered rings and save $$$$. Not only that, but you'll have a cool ring to wear.
