Art by Niki Hilsabeck

"Angel Bird" Click here to view or purchase First, I want to start off with a disclaimer: although I may speak in general terms, when I say "artists," I'm really talking about myself or creative people I've known and interacted with-- everyone is obviously an individual and handles things in unique ways.  So this post is really about how this artist deals with this particular struggle. FOMO (fear of missing out) is everywhere.  Although the term itself is relatively recent to those of us who remember life before the internet, the concept is as old as humans.  It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.  Satan tempted Eve by telling her she would be like God if she ate the fruit from the forbidden tree.  Most people are deeply aware of this feeling, even if they might not admit how much of a hold it has over their lives. Artistic FOMO is a unique beast.  If we've learned any art history, we've been introduced to the stories of artists from all wal...

        "Approaching" 5 in x 6.75 in mixed media on paper In 2004, I signed up for my first official art class on a college campus.  I'd already been teaching public school for a few years, and needed to renew my credential. To do so, I needed to take some post-graduate units.  To my surprise, I was informed that those units could be in any subject!  I decided to go ahead and explore a life-long love that I'd never spent much time learning in a classroom: art classes. My grandmother was a painter, so thanks to her I'd spent plenty of time making art.  When I chose my first "real" art class, I picked one called "The Magic of Pastel Painting."  I knew I loved to play around with oil pastels.  I assumed the class would teach me how to use them properly. To my surprise, the materials list didn't include oil pastels-- instead, it said to bring soft (or what we sometimes called "chalk") pastels, along with a special type of paper.  I p...

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"Bloom Where You Are" 5.5 x 3.5 in. pastel on paper Click here to view on Etsy It's been a long time since I've posted-- over a year!  And what a year it was--  Like many people, I had more time at home than ever this last year.  The extra time, however, did not translate into productivity.  I did learn to make my own bread, and am now the proud feeder and caregiver to my very own sourdough starter.   I wish I could say that I got better at something I'd wanted to have time at home to do-- gardening?  Finishing more paintings?  Writing?  Of course, I know from experience that being home more doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of things that end up needing attention--cleaning up after pets, kids, homeschooling, cooking more.   Instead of being productive, I found myself spending additional time reading.  I was also able to do some commission work, which gave me the opportunity to be creative (and carried the bonus of built-in...

"Joy Comes with the Morning" Click here to view on my website Morning has never been my strongest time of day-- and yet, I find it the most beautiful time to be outside.  The cool, fresh air along with the sun's approaching light are hard to resist.  A morning after a storm can be particularly beautiful, with the colors and remnants of storm clouds streaked across the sky. "Stormy Dawn" Original Sold Even if the night was not particularly restful, or the previous day ended in tears, there is something uplifting about waking in the morning and knowing you have the whole day ahead of you to find something joyful.  Even if it's something small like the smile on my child's face, a happily wagging tail, or a delightfully strong cup of tea, I try to find something each day to enjoy. "Early Light" Click here to view details Even when there are clouds in the morning here, there are still unique sights such as dew on spiderwebs a...

Now that I've gotten a little better handle on gardening (or at least not killing my plants), I find myself doing "plant checks" throughout the day.  I check first to see what's been munched on by the gophers, squirrels, bunnies, hornworms, or whatever else helps itself to my plants.  I also check to see what needs to be deadheaded, what's sprouted, and what needs water.  Sometimes I just like to pull up a gardening mat to sit on and observe the plants.  This is especially fun when new things are sprouting-- if we're not in the middle of a heatwave or a cold snap (rare here in Fallbrook), I usually have new seeds going somewhere. This morning was wet and foggy, so I also got to go out early and look for unique spiderwebs.  I haven't tried painting one yet, but having grown up a fan of Charlotte's Web , I take pictures of the more intricate ones.  The kids and I also do a "wellness check" on our current crop of entertaining bugs and reptiles...

Have you ever wondered whether to call a piece of artwork created with pastels a painting, or a drawing?  Does it even matter what you call it? For starters, pastel paintings are definitely paintings!  A medium doesn't have to come out of a tube or be applied with a brush to be considered eligible to make a true painting.  Despite this common knowledge among those who appreciate pastel works, many art websites and organizations have their own differing criteria for labeling pastel works. So how do you know whether a pastel artwork is a painting, drawing, or sketch?  In this post, I'll share how I define my pastel artworks.  I don't follow any official guidelines, but I do try to stay consistent with how I label my works so that they're easy to identify across my online portfolios. Pastel Sketches: "Raggedy Bird" (Available on Daily Paintworks)  A pastel sketch is something I created in one quick go with dry pastel, using little or no blending. I...

Impressionism has been popular for over a hundred years, while many other art styles have come and gone... why is that? "Water Lilies" Prints Available I used to thing it was just the immediacy of the artwork, combined with the picturesque scenes painted by the original impressionists.  Those are of course great reasons to love impressionism! However, I enjoy a modern-day impressionistic scene just as much as those of the original famous impressionists.  "Mission Water Lilies" Available on Etsy Of course, water lilies are just as amazing to observe and paint today as they were 150 years ago.    "Oak Pair" Available on My Website One reason I think impressionism is still a popular style is because for us (the viewers), it allows our eyes to do part of the work.  It gives the initial impression, and lets viewers fill in the details on their own.  (This might also be why some people dislike impressionism-- they are searching for details...

Cactus seems to be everywhere in Southern California!  It can be a nuisance or a blessing, depending on how you look at it. "Prickly Paradise" 5.5 x 5.75 pastel on drawing paper Click here to view on my website I have to be in a particular mood to draw or paint cactus-- it's got a lot of funny shapes and details.  I see so much cactus every day I don't always think to paint it.  Having lived with a large patch of cactus near my house for many years now, I realized that although I may not take the time to paint it often, it really is an amazing plant.   I've written about painting cactus previously,  and the challenges I had this time were still the same.  I've come to appreciate cactus more, though-- if I take the time to walk over and really look at it, there's always something interesting to watch. It's provided a home for many squirrel babies, who are pretty adorable in their own mischievous way. (Their parents are entertaining too, ...

Pastel is so versatile, I like to use it on a variety of surfaces.  One of my favorites is old parchment paper (courtesy of my late grandmother, who enjoyed calligraphy and creating her own Christmas cards).  I saved the paper partly out of a sense of nostalgia-- I still have some of Grandma's handmade cards on similar paper.  I also saved it so I could try the pastels on it, and it's become one of my favorite surfaces when I want to achieve a "scratchy" look to my pastels or focus on heavier drawn lines. If you're looking to try soft pastels on this type of paper, I have a few tips based on my experiences with pastel and parchment paper. "Spring Field" 3.25 x 5.25 inch pastel on parchment paper Click here to view more details Tip #1: Smear with caution!   Whereas pastel paper is made to hold lots of layers of pastel, parchment paper is not.  I usually stick with a lot of broken color and smear carefully with a paper towel over my finger (basicall...

We live in an age where we can spend our entire day receiving input from others, even without leaving the house or talking to anyone.  We can read messages, articles, scroll through profiles and updates, or even turn on that old dinosaur known as the t.v.  For me, there's also reading novels-- something I thoroughly enjoy but feel a little guilty indulging in when there are so many other things I should be doing.  Add to that the time I spend listening to the birds outside, or gazing at the ocean, or drinking in the afternoon light on the oak trees, and there's very little energy left for output-- which in my case is painting or writing new things.  "Ready to Pounce" on Daily Paintworks And then there are the cats.  They're very distracting, but they do provide me with a bit of creative inspiration. On a side note, I feel this way about learning a foreign language.  In the year I spent in Germany, I probably spent the first six months mostly liste...

It's been quite a summer! I'm now cataract-free and adjusting to the changes in my vision-- it was only one cataract, which caused a few months of cloudy vision, but it definitely had an effect on my attitude toward life and painting. "His Love Endures Forever" 9 x 12 pastel on paper Click here to view on my website We've had a strange summer this year: extremely hot June, a strong rainstorm in July, and a mild August so far.  Being unable to see meant that I spent a lot of time home, which suited me fine as the traffic here seems to get worse every time I leave the house.  The children were of course bored and bickering much of the time, but they seem to do that whether we're home or not.  The summer definitely had its share of annoying occurrences. As we read Psalm 136 in church last week, I couldn't help thinking of this view of the ocean.  I love being at the beach and seeing when the light peeks through the clouds and glitters on the water.  I...

After a long hiatus, I'm trying to get back into a more productive cycle, which means more painting, creating lessons and teaching, and taking my work out of the house to events. It's not that I haven't been busy, but I've gotten sort of sidetracked with fun pursuits like gardening, sewing, and breaking up fights between my children. I did manage to teach my first paint-sip at the beginning of the year (hauling all of the materials in during a rainstorm that dropped an alarming amount of moisture!)  It was a blast, and we did the piece below in about 2 hours:                                                      "Moonlit Valley" Acrylic on Paper (We used canvas instead of paper, so it would be easy to hang at home.) If you're in the North San Diego County or Southwest Riverside County area and would like to do a paint-sip event, please con...

When we're first learning to make art as children, we hear a few things that become familiar over time.  Skies are blue! Tree trunks are brown, leaves are green.  Butterflies are supposed to be perfectly symmetrical! "Mini-Butterfly 1" 4 x 4 inch found metal and acrylic on canvas Click here to view auction Well, if you take a long look around you, you'll notice that most of that well-intended advice was wrong.  Trees can have blue, purple, and green trunks-- or even red or yellow, depending on the lighting.  Leaves can be just about any color too!  Butterflies, while appearing symmetrical, aren't necessarily so if you look closely.  Most of the butterflies I paint from photos have damaged wings, which isn't noticeable to me until I take the time to examine the photos in detail. "Mini-Butterfly 2" 4 x 4 found metal and acrylic on flat canvas Click here to view auction So why do we hear the same advice being repeated to kids over th...