Charity Wings + Prima Art*Venture = Valentina 2013

******WONDERFUL NEWS******

Wow...so since my last post I have had a whole lot of things come up in my personal life that my husband and I needed to attend to.  Now that we are definately going to be having a very special little girl in our life we are making sure to take care of any loose ends and finish up some projects that had to be completed.  I also needed to make sure and finish up some personal art business related things so that I can be ready for the next phase of my life!

So in mid March we will be taking a trip to the state of Washington to meet our little girl...it is a bittersweet situation so I can not post too much more about this and at this time I cannot post too much about her or post any photos.  This much I can say...we are looking forward to meeting her and cannot wait to have her in our lives!

*****EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!!*****

So excited and humbly honored...Valentina is finished and Elena from Charity Wings has seen her and has approved of this painting which I will be donating this as "Wing Art".  When I last posted 'Valentine 2013' I thought I was finished with her but I kept feeling like something was missing and I wasn't happy with the skin tone...I even got a little discouraged...then finally today I was able to finally know what I needed to do to make her be as beautiful as I first envisioned in my mind...got the skin tone just right and did some touch ups here and there.

I felt it was important for me to include Prima in this piece since it was at the Prima Art*Venture event that I came across the Charity Wings booth.  So I added a beautiful flower garland in her hair using some of the beautiful flowers and the beautiful crystal necklace from the 'Say It With Crystals' embellishments from the goodie bag that I got from Prima's Art*Venture.

I am still in a state of wonderment...sort of dreamlike...can somebody pinch me about this happening!!  I think I won't believe that it's real until I actually take my artwork to Elena and meet her!!!  I'm really excited about this and feel that this is the step in the right direction for me...as it is doing something good with my art...something meaningful...and I believe that the Lord has led me down this path...led by his angels as they so often appear in my artwork!

*****LIFE BOOK 2013*****

 

I haven't had a chance to do any other lessons since week 3 so I am pretty far behind since we are now on week 8 but luckily week 4 is not too complicated and week 7 was a break so I only need to do 4 lessons...yeah...only 4!  LOL!  I guess I could've not painted this little cutie but I couldn't help it...I wasn't happy with my original 'Guardian Art Angel' so I recreated her but this time on canvas...I also put some pretty Prima flowers on this piece too!  Her name is Annabelle and she will be hanging  on the wall above my desk to remind me to fly! 

 

 

Cre8tvlyYrs, Gina Marie Arzaga

    

In His Glorious Love

Valentina 2013

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day everyone...and may I present my *Valentina ~ 2013* "In his Glorious Love".

This is a very special project that I have been working on and I had become stuck and was struggling with her face for like a few weeks.  But like always, my Lord always provides me with what I need...it's like he sent down the angels down to help me out with much needed inspiration and around 3 am while I was praying/singing the Divine Chaplet of Mercy (as I almost always do each morning if I'm up)...she arrived!  I felt like I was able to express exactly what I wanted to for this piece.

I first created Valentina in 2009 on a 16"x 20" Canvas and each year since then I create an annual version, I was hoping to have a little slideshow of them by now but since I got her done down to the wire I didn't have a chance yet.  So each year she looks pretty much the same just a lot smaller 9"x12".  Well this year I decided that I wanted to create her with her eyes closed and I painted her on a 10"x10" canvas. 

The reason that I struggled with this piece was because I decided that I wanted this piece to be the one that I donate to Charity Wings and I was trying too hard to make it perfect...I even painted her with eyes at first...but they just didn't look good enough for me and I was going to keep working on them but then my heart spoke to me...you know, I should've known better to try anything than what my heart first wanted in the first place...lol!  So like as I was saying earlier...at 3 am she arrived...and you know what?  I am truly happy with how this piece came out!  I really hope that this will be good enough for Charity Wings but at least I know that I am happy in my heart about this!

I was hoping to post some jewelry that I created in my Etsy Boutique too but not only has time began to speed up even more since my B-day last week but we have also been getting busier...especially this weekend...so I probably won't be able to add those until next week!  Hope you all have a Blessed Valentine's Day and weekend!

Cre8tvlyYrs, Gina

Doors Are Opened To Where There Once Was Only Windows...

Lately the Lord has been opening doors to where there once was only windows for me...it's amazing and I am in awe...in fact, it took me a while to write about it as I was still overwhelmed by these open doors!  You know how they say that when it's meant to be, you don't have to try...everything just flows...it's the most obvious way that you know it was all set up by God!  So what are these open doors that I'm going on and on about?  Well, let me start by saying that these are opportunities, but opportunities that I never thought of myself...they are not big commissions or jobs but these opportunities will bring me those possibilities!  Also, I've been praying ( A lot) for the Lord to lead and guide me...which I keep feeling like the Lord is telling me to get ready...to get ready to fly!
So with that insight, you'll see why I feel the way I do right now.

So when I won my Prima Art*venture prize I was pleasantly surprised and for some reason I felt I should make a few postcard sized cards to pass out...just in case...well it was a good thing that I did because when I seen that Charity Wings had a table there and I was soo excited about it that when I was talking to a gal named Wendy who was a part of Charity Wings, I just blurted out before I could even think about what I was going to say; "so who could I speak to about donating some of my artworks to Charity Wings as I would love to!" (probably not the exact words but along those lines...lol) she told me that Elena but she wasn't going to be there till later...so I gave her my card to give to her.

Honestly, I wasn't sure whether she'd get the card or even think my work was good enough for them, so when I got a pm on FB that she thought my artwork was cute and would love some art from me...I was feeling like when you think your dreaming?  Yeah, well it still hasn't really sunk in yet, but I'm currently working on a special piece right now...it's gonna be my Valentina 2013!  So that is my open door #1 that I am soo looking forward to being a part of...especially since Elena & Wendy seem like such sweet & friendly people and I love their energy! :)

So for my open door #2...I won't go into all the details cause it's a bit much but let's just say that I am now a part of our local art community...I am on the Advisory Board for the Vangaurd Art Gallery of Moreno Valley...which I just got off the phone around 4 pm to establish that with the founder Rick Archer.  He is a great artist and he also seems to be a great person as he really wants our Gallery to also enrich our community.  I am also looking forward to being a part of this awesome opportunity for our city!

I will post within a few days some artworks in progress but for now I just wanted to make this little announcement to share with my family, friends and supporters of my work...thank you to each and every one of you!  God bless and Cre8tvlyYrs, Gina