_I normally can't sleep on planes but i found myself being comforted by the noise of the aircraft, i felt so at peace and it was like i was being gently rocked to sleep. Finally leaving Norway after 7 years.  Mentally i had released all of my fears about the future and any expectations i had placed on myself and i found so much comfort being just ' in the now'.
I keep saying that it is going to be 'hard' to begin with but i find Dr Wayne Dyer in my head saying you don't attract into your life what you want, you attract into your life 'what you are'. And you are what you think, so you have to be careful what you think because that becomes your reality. He goes on to beat another message into my head ' Don't believe everything you think'.  Sounded weird when i first heard him say that, but the more i examined my thoughts and behaviors the more i realised that message to be true. So for example my thoughts on how my last day in Norway would be didn't really playout in reality. I thought it was going to be so difficult but in reality it wasn't as hard as i had thought. Maybe because i had baptised myself in enough tears over the last 3 months and had fully realised it was the 'END' and that my life would never be the same again.
So now whenever i think to myself that starting new isn't going to be easy, i tell myself that it is going to be easy regardless if it is actually true or not because i can choose to think positive or negative and i think positive!
What i am going through is nothing new, so many other people have done or are doing the same thing. I have this mental imagine in my mind and it is me as a boy and i have fallen over and hurt myself, instead of laying there crying i get up as fast as i can and even though my knee is bleeding i continue to walk and i still continue to cry...but i am moving forward. For me i think that is an important message that even if we are hurting and we have pain, we have to keep moving forward, we have to continue on our journey, sure you can cry along the way, but don't stop, don't pity yourself. You just have to get on with it. Maybe that is how i can deal with difficult situations and why i have been called 'so brave' on many occassions. I don't see it as being brave, i just see it as ' getting on with it'. I am reminded once again of a story Dr Wayne Dyer talked about in one of his lectures and it was about a zebra (or some wild animal in Africa) and it had just had its leg chewed off by a lion but it had managed to escape and it was just eating grass and getting on with its life. It wasn't complaining 'poor me or how could this happen to me', it was simply eating grass and getting on with life. Ofcourse we are much more complex and are aware of our mortality but i think that message was an important one for me, to remember to keep going on, to keep moving forward even if you have a huge chunk taken out of you. You have to do otherwise your finished. There is always going to be 'downs' but there are equally going to be 'ups'.
So i finish this entry unsure of my future or what will actuality become my new reality, but i stay positive in my 'unsurity' (if that is such a word) and just have faith to focus on the 'now' and my passion, the rest will playout as is planned and i will continue and walk forward, wounds will heal and a new day dawns.

So as many of you know, i am leaving Norway which has been my home for the past 7 years. It will be sad to say goodbye to my life here but equally I am very excited about the new life i am about to start. I am full of excitment and also a little fear of the unknown.
So before leaving I thought that i would take the opportunity to take some new pictures of my 'power of white' series out in the wilderness. It took me about 30mins to carry 4 paintings up the mountain, if you could have seen how many times i cussed and swore at every tree, stick or branch which hit my paintings, not to mention how exhausted I was on ascent. But i was determined while the weather was good to DO THIS, because the weather this time of year is so unpredictable and one moment it is sunny and the next your getting snowed on or rained on and sometimes all 3 at once. But the weather gods were with me and it stayed very calm, still and erie silent...but i can assure you i made up for it with my cussing, shouting, huffing and puffing LOL Would have made for a hilarious video...next time.

So I got to the top and proceeded to film and make a youtube video (Currently uploading) and then i ran around taking all sorts of different still pictures. I am pretty happy with how they came out considering there was just me doing the shooting, it would have been better to have someone along to help me with the artistic shots..but you can only do what you can.

So the 'Power of white' series will be following me back to Australia. This series has been a labour of love and now that I am actually moving to a real art city (Melbourne) I now have the change and opportunity to really develop this series into something mind blowly fantastic. I have been keeping a journal of all my ideas for future 'white' paintings and I have enough inspiration and ideas to pull together some fantastic paintings....hopefully. You know how it is though, how things translate from what is in your head to actual reality is somewhat dissappointing. But i intend to fine the best gallery I can to show this series and hopefully attract new patrons and supporters of my work. The Power of white series is my strongest body of abstract work to date. I am excited to think that now i can create some seriously large abstract textured paintings now i am in a place where i can get materials and any size canvas I want. I will be bringing in rusty metal sheets into the next several artworks.

I already have several reservations on a couple of the works which is always a good sign your onto something. But only time will tell!
Working with white has to be one of the most difficult colours to use. Several artists have launched their careers on 'white' paintings and others haven't lol.

What makes a successful artist?
So what makes a successful artist? I have to say it isn’t necessarily about talent. There are a handful of things which I believe if you keep in the back of your thoughts, they will help you get to the level of success you so desire and deserve.

Don’t be an ASS

There is nothing worse than meeting an artist who is obnoxious, full of ego and self-importance. Being an asshole might get you attention but in the long run it will only hurt you.

Here is the thing about successful people whether they are like this in their own environments or not, when they are around people they never have a bad attitude. You know you can be critical and fierce but to be the type of person other people want to be around and what I mean by that is don’t be an ass. The way the art world is structured it has so much more to do with relationships than it has to do with true talent. If you can maintain good relationships you are going to be so much better served than being a brilliant asshole.

Successful artists know this and they look for opportunities, they are nice to people they come into contact with. If you want to get a head learn to be nice and mean it. Be genuine, sincere and kind.

Showing up everyday

Nothing magical is ever going to happen by itself, you have to show up every day and work at it. It is that simple! Be committed to your passion and you will be rewarded, maybe not straight away but eventually you will be.

Don’t worry about what everyone else around you is doing

Learn as much as you can from each other and internalise it, then put it in a bag and put it in the cupboard and forget about. Then you need to really access what it is that you are interested in . Don’t paint to please others although there is a fine line and a piece hasn’t fully reached its potential until it has been evaluated by something larger than you in a sense. It is a part of what we do. So just focus on what you are doing and develop your own visual language.

So today I am really excited to announce the winner of the Sardine Can Shrine Challenge.
As you know I had asked Seth Apter to be the guest judge and he certainly had a difficult time deciding on a winner. But in the end he decided on Deborah's shrine.
This is what Seth had to say about Deborah's shrine titled 'Circus Shrine'
He writes ' I was taken by the playfulness of Deborah's Circus Shrine from the first time I saw it. She created it as an ode to her memories of the circus as a child and her shrine really captures its essence: whimsical, colorful, playful and fun. Deborah did a great job in maintaining the integrity of the original sardine can and wings while at the same time integrating it into a wonderfully complex assemblage. There seems to be a great deal of craftsmanship that went into the design, especially through her use of a light and a wind-up mechanism. Seeing the image makes me want to see this piece in person - and to me that is a sign of a successful work of art.

I would like to personally thank everyone who got involved in this challenge and I appreciate the effort you all took in creating very unique and interesting shrines. What this challenge shows is how wonderfully creative and different we all are, and given the same basic shape 'The Sardine can', we all have the ability to transform it into something magical as well as a representation of our individuality and creativity. So thank you once again for your efforts!
I really hope that you all enjoyed this challenge and I definitely look forward to posting a new assemblage challenge in 2012.
Deborah will be recieving the following assemblage box called ' On the inside looking out' and also a written interview to be posted on Loving Mixed Media and also on my youtube channel.

I would like to thank Seth Apter for his assistance in judging this challenge. Seth will be posting his own blog mention about the challenge, so please be sure to visit his blog over the next couple of days to see what he had to say.
Thank you once again to the following artists who entered a completed shrine and if you would like to see their entries click HERE:
Margo Garrisson, Lisa Patencio, Phillip Chwalinski, Gayle George, Lea Scott, Mike Nowlin, Julie Pilgrim, Heather Snow, Jo Pilkington, Katherine Pippin Pauley,  John Doherty, Heather Smith, Kathleen Blohm, Pascale Hutt, Lucy Di Lorenzo, Dick Camnitz, Kim Draper, Patti Pfaendtner and Lee Hynes!

Sardine Can Shrine Challenge Update
Well I am pleased to announce the guest judge for the Shrine challenge is non other than New York based artist, Seth Apter!
Many of you know Seth through his popular blog 'The Altered Page' and if you don't, you need to check it out! I have been a big fan of his writings and art for a number of years and so when he said yes to being the guest judge for the challenge, i was thrilled to bits.
So as you know, the challenge was to take an empty Sardine can case which i had prepared, and alter it to create your own Sardine Can Shrine. The only rule was that you were to keep the original shape and form of the shrine as much as possible.
I have to say that I am really impressed with the quality and detail in some of the shrines! They are all so unique and different. Seth certainly has a difficult task of selecting a winner from all of the great entries.
The winner for the shrine challenge will be announced on the 7th of this month and they shall recieve one of my own customised Assemblage boxes as well as an online interview on my social art network 'Loving Mixed Media' and also in a blog to be posted here!
So below is a little bit of information about Seth! Doesn't he look like someone you could take home to mum?

_Seth Apter is a mixed-media artist from New York City focused primarily on works on paper, book arts, and textural assemblages. His work has been exhibited in numerous group shows and published in multiple books, national magazines, and independent zines.  He is the host and organizer of a number of international collaborative art projects including The Pulse and The Disintegration Collaboration. His first book, The Pulse of Mixed Media, will be released by North Light Books in March, 2012.
Blog: www.thealteredpage.blogspot.com
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/thealteredpage

 DEAD ROCKSTARS
A TRIBUTE TO THE MORTAL GODS OF SOUND
A GROUP SHOW
Opening reception will be February 2nd 2012 in Eugene Oregon at Blunt Graffix, a 2000 sq. ft. artist studio. Doors open at 6pm and the show runs through February 24th. The art will then move to THE WAVE Art Gallery, located in the historic Whitaker district, and remain until late March._

So I was really excited to be contacted by Matt Dye of Blunt Graffix and to be invited to participate in this awesome exhibition.
Being that the theme of the show is Dead Rockstars I had to do Freddy Mercury!! I just think he is awesome, I also like his image and for me it translates well into a stencil. So I am currently cutting out 3 different stencil designs of Freddy and I hope to combine and layer all 3 to create a unique portrait of him...we will see!

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To find out more details about the show and to see who else is in it, click on the image. And if your in the area check out the show!!