Tour Texas - Bastrop & Austin

hey guys! today i am continuing our tour texas spring break adventures throughout texas! how fun is that? my first post on that vacay is here so click it to catch up!

I wish I would have learned this in school

You remember your teens years, don't you? 

All rebellious, naive, innocent and dumb in its entirety, right? 

Personally, I never listened to anything anybody told me. 

To this day I keep asking myself why I didn't listen.

Now I'm older. I'm just beginning to grasp the meaning of life.

Ever since I joined Pinterest & Instagram, I've been inspired---EVERY DAY.

Ideas, concepts, artists, tutorials...you name it. Whether it's what's for dinner, a birthday, a thank you card or just art....

it came from somewhere. 

I recently went shopping with a friend of mine, and when we entered a store, my eye immediately got drawn to this one item. A book. 

"Steal like an Artist" by artist/author Austin Kleon.
Why was I so attracted to this title?
In all honesty, I seriously thought I was the only  artist that stole ideas from other artists. Secretly saving images to my computer so I could browse those images when I didn't know what to draw? My folder is called "Art Inspiration." So using an image to turn it into your own?? Turns out, I'm not alone. It's what EVERY ARTIST does. I just didn't know it. Until now....
{The author states this book is helpful for everyone, not just us artists}
And I couldn't wait to read this book. I was literally skimming the pages while I was still in the store. 

"Nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. 
Nothing is completely original." 

ALL of it is true. 

ALL of it was relatable, it opened my eyes, and gave me some motivation.

But this, this really hit home:

Sometimes I can't create something, or don't even attempt to, because I haven't discovered my style. 

**rolls eyes** I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM!! {does anyone, really?!}

I'm so fearful that I will fail that I just won't try. Kleon calls this the "imposter syndrome." 

Guys, I really have no idea what I'm doing. In art and in life in general. I guess that's why Google was invented. But I really never get a good feeling after I finish something I just 'winged', that to attempt it again, is just a waste of time. 

So here's a suggestion:

AHH, the whole basis of this book: START COPYING. Copy all that is good. Subtract all that is not worthy. Copy your heroes. Copy COPY COPY! 

The book says, "our failure to copy our heroes is where we discover where our own thing lives{!!!}" 

HOW on earth did no one teach me this?! 

If this had been taught in my 10th grade art class, I would have understood the reason to copy and why it's vital to find your own path within those attempted copies.

After you copy, find your little self, you SHARE. Sharing is good, according to Kleon. Share parts of you--not everything. I often find that artists on Instagram share 'sneak peeks' of a WIP {work-in-progress}. 

This makes their audience excited, it motivates them to begin their own project and shows a "how-to" during their process. 

{I crave pictures of the different stages in an artist's workflow because it's always fascinated me how they  work}.

Distractions are such a jerk. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest....

Like, really....

I am fearful to step away from the screen because I'll miss an important picture that someone posted. That picture could have possibly been my inspiration to draw something!! I could have missed an opportunity to network with someone. 

But according to this book, you are to work with your hands--not just your head. 

Neat concept, huh? 

Another thing hindering me are EXCUSES!

Let's see some of my examples, shall we?

• I don't have a proper space to create {I need a studio}
• I don't have the energy {I've been cleaning and cooking ALL DAY}
• I don't have time {I always have tomorrow}

Excuses are pathetic. "Make things with the time, space, and materials I have RIGHT NOW. "

I recently finished a drawing with a stash of colored pencils that belongs to a 6 year old...imagine that!

It took me forever to finish during our move, but I finished! And the client (a friend) loved it.
I am about to start on this one--

...and am looking forward to the finished product so pray that I finish it in a timely manner :)

Kleon also mentions that having different hobbies helps put a balance in your life. That travel {even to the neighboring town} is important to experience places other than your home. To be boring {set yourself aside from diversions that would not help your workflow like partying it up, for example}. Keep a calendar and a logbook to help keep track. And to keep your rude comments to yourself  and not create drama in the social world.
That's all it should take to become great, right?

I would love to hear some of your self-realizations on how you chose to be better at your craft, and some advice or pointers on how you realized you needed to get out of that creative funk.
IF you are struggling how to improve your motivations, your artistic discipline, I encourage you to read this book! It opened my eyes to what needs to be done and how...and it was such an easy read too!
Kleon shoulda taught my high school art class...

P.S. The life of an artist is so complicated....

NOTE: All images are my own, save for the pink Pinterest one and I am not being compensated for this book review.

the Salt Lick ~ Driftwood, Texas

 Another Witty outing...this time to the outskirts of Austin to a famous place called, the Salt Lick!!!

This place is out in the boonies...thank goodness for Mom in law's GPS because it would've taken us longer to get there after a 2 hour ride from the house...

When we pulled in, there really wasn't that many people, but as you start to look around, there are huddles of people here and there...and the place is GREEN all over--MY kind of place!

and then you get to this....

My cam doesn't have pano pics, nor do I have a telephoto lens so I made do best with 3 images and stuck 'em together in Picasa, my love.

I didn't really know anything about the place, other than they serve BBQ and that it's the new rage since it was on Man vs. Food. 

So I was extremely and utterly in love with the facility and the acreage they had!!! 

Did you know they make their own wine?!

Holy cow!

Flowers everywhere, stone here and there, it was plain beautiful. 

The weather however, was super humid and hot. Ugh, my legs kept sticking together--ha!

Of course, I didn't really get to fully enjoy the beauty of this place...as we had to go inside and eat--duh!

They sat us down at picnic tables basically, and my poor kid couldn't even reach the table. That's one thing that kinda ticked me off....and well, I wasn't thinking when I dressed him in a white t-shirt either. 

Go Mom. 

School cafeteria style plates...not very appealing but hey, they're plates.

The grub...

To be completely honest, it was BBQ. Not the best, but it was ok. 

Definitely made you pay for the 'name' and the 'ambiance' now that they're big shots. 

Regardless, I ate my share ;)

My one good shot of myself with the boys looking somewhere they're not supposed to be looking...

So this is what happens when Gary gets a hold of the camera:

I hand him the camera, ready to go so he doesn't mess with the knobs.

Then I totally think he's gonna get crappy pictures and I point to the boys because they're not looking at the lens. 

Then my face comes out like this: 

Awesome, huh?

I have 3 pictures just like this because my husband really doesn't know how to take pictures.

However, my camera is my baby, as a nice friend put it, and I believe it to be true.

I love my camera because I can capture clear, crisp pictures of something I'm sure to forget in the future. 

Where in the future a conversation might go like this, "Yeah, just like when we ate at Salt Lick's in Driftwood" and I'm like "When? What the heck is Salt Lick's?"

Now with my camera, I am able to capture moments my feeble mind has long lost back in there, somewhere...and I'm able to remember that moment in our lives when Jonah totally made the cutest baby eating some ribs at the Salt Lick's. 

Everyone having a good time.

Jonah chewed on that thing til the last moment before we left...

Chance was a fan of Andrew's armpit farts...

La carilla de mi'jo, preciosa y chistosa!!!

See how far the table was to where the boys were sitting? Ridiculous...

I guess Salt Lick has to consider people of all shapes and sizes...

This is what happens to your butt when you eat here: 

Shoelaces untied....

Then my father-in-law got the bill. HA!

I wish I would have had more time to photograph and learn a bit more about the place. 

It was really serene, green, and hot...perfect for a wedding.

Which by the way, I didn't know they had weddings here. 

Even though I would never ever ever have BBQ catered for a wedding, imagine if you got it on your dress!!!

But I loved the outside, it was so beautiful. 

They sold beer neck mustaches...and I think the hubs looks quite good in a blue mustache, don't you?

This shot is wrong in SOOO many ways...

but I won't go there, I'm always too critical if it's not perfect. 

Anywhoooo, I liked the experience. It was neat. If we're ever in the surrounding area and don't get lost finding our way, I'd love to go back and just chill all day there.