Stop by and see "My Burano"

This is my latest original oil painting.  I have had the joy of visiting the island of Burano, Italy, with all of its brightly-colored houses, and translating that joy to canvas was too much for me to resist.

"My Burano" - Original oil painting by Nicole J. Butler

--Nicole

Be a part of something WONDERFUL (and possibly take home a one-of-a-kind oil painting by yours truly!)

"NGE" ("Scorpion") by Nicole J. Butler

SADLY, THIS FUNDRAISER HAS BEEN CANCELLED, DUE TO LACK OF SUPPORT/ INTEREST.
DISAPPOINTED, BUT UNDETERRED, 
ON TO THE NEXT, I GO...  

I was inspired to paint this painting by the beautiful work of Robin O'Neill for the Africa Yoga Project (please visit both websites - you'll love them).  It took me six weeks, and LOTS of paint, using a palette knife instead of a brush, to complete this 4'h x 2'w x 1"t impasto-style painting.

After it was done, I contacted Ms. O'Neill and asked her if it would be okay for me to auction it off and donate the proceeds to the Africa Yoga Project.  She was gracious enough to give her consent, and also put me in contact with some people on the AYP team.

I had to wait a few months for it to dry enough to be shippable (oil paint dries slowly, and thick layers of oil paint, even more so), and in the interim, figure out how to set up an auction!  Ebay didn't seem appropriate, I tried some of the crowdfunding sites, but none really worked for what I was what I was trying to do.

So I went back to the drawing board, and decided to set it up as a traditional donation-based virtual event...

TO LEARN MORE, TO DONATE, AND TO (POSSIBLY) OWN THIS PAINTING, CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE FUNDRAISER INFO PAGE!


--Nicole

A Simple Resolution.

"The Fairest" - oil painting by Nicole J. Butler*

We're into February already, but here I am, writing about resolutions.  What gives?

I don't really do New Year's Resolutions, but I can't deny that the end of the year seems like a natural time to wind down and take stock of things, so sometime between November and February, I go through that process.  This time, my primary focus is simple:

I want to spend time doing more of what I want, and less of what I don't want.  Simple, right?  Yep.  But "simple" is not the same as "easy."

My day often gets hijacked by minutiae (I suspect that this happens to many of us), and many of the things that I find most important fall by the wayside, or I end up cramming them into less time than I need.  I'm really working to turn that around.  Now that I'm back in acting class (and meeting with scene partners), there's even MORE of a need to budget my time in a way that feeds my spirit, instead of leaving me tired (exhausted, really), and depleted.

In 2013, every single day, I will make sure I do at least one thing that supports my health (mental or physical), my career, or my personal relationships.  On most days I would love to do all 3, but I know that won't always happen, 1 a day, every day, is do-able.

In short, this year is about cultivating a practice of self-care, and I'm posting it here, because I want to be able to look back at this post in months to come and see marked differences for the better- physically, mentally, career-wise, and in my interpersonal relationships.

--Nicole

P.S. - *The photo above is my latest painting.  I worked from a photo that my teacher had in his archives, and kept many of the same elements, but changed the colors as well as some of the details of her face.  I've tried to find out the original artist's name to give credit, but I have no idea who it is.  My intention is not to present someone else's idea as my own.

My Latest Painting...

My sister asked me to paint an aquarium for her. Done the way that I envision it in my head, I knew that it would take a lot more time and perhaps expertise than I felt like I had, so I committed to doing a study of something aquatic: a clown fish in an anemone.

Of course, people in my class started calling him "Nemo," so I decided to name the painting "I Found Him." Now we can all stop looking for Mr. Nemo, and go back to whatever we were doing! ;o)

-- Nicole

One Quick Post...

and then I'm going to bed.  Actually I'm going to water my plants and then go to bed - these 3 weeks of hundred-degree temperatures have not been kind to them.  Poor babies.  I think my bougainvillea plant is actually panting.

I have been auditioning LIKE CRAZY.  Auditioning 5-7 times a week for the past few weeks, getting callbacks, being put on hold and then... nothing.  Booooo.

But I'm taking class after class to stay sharp (right now, studying with Caroline Liem), keeping my finger on the pulse of what's going on in the industry, doing my voiceover workouts, and submitting myself to the projects that fit me.  I am also working with a group over at The Casting Director, and we will soon be producing our own projects.

I also just sold my first painting!  This one, here: The Young Ballerina.  Going through the process of reproducing a copy has been a learning experience, but now I know.  And I will be learning Photoshop so that I can do for myself what I just paid somebody $50 to do.

And aside from all of that?  I'm just living, y'all.  Going for walks, practicing yoga, observing, writing a little bit... soaking in life so that I have something to give to art and to others.

I'm also working out some financial stuff.  I had too little taxes withheld for a few years and I'm paying the price now, but when you know better, you do better.  I need a good class about investing, so if you know of one that will explain things to me like a 5 year-old, please let me know.  And not one of those where they keep trying to sell you insurance.

Once upon a time, my life felt narrow.  I focused mostly on my career, and it flourished, but everything else fell apart.  Now I feel like my life is round - like a pie chart.  And this suits me well. I don't feel like I'm in triage anymore.  I feel like I'm in treatment.

Gotta run.  I think one of the plants just ran away to find water.

--Nicole

My Latest Painting...

Inspired by Fabian Perez' "Flamenco Dancer."

Painting #3 - Bougainvillea!

My Latest Painting!

I finished my first painting in class!

I worked on it one day a week for 4 weeks. I didn't think to take photos of it the first week, but here is the original photo and the progression of the painting over the past three weeks:

Next week I start on a painting of two of the most delicious-looking donuts that I've ever seen! Wish me luck!

--Nicole