We’ve had unusually mild weather here and that’s been great!  I got the green Christmas I asked Santa for and yet I’ve been kind of Frozen lately.

I finally saw it – a student let me borrow the video and I can completely understand its broad appeal.  Boys and girls seem to like the message equally.  I’m thinking just about everyone can in some way identify with Elsa.

We all have something that makes us feel both powerful and powerless depending on the way we handle outside influences.  The song Let it Go is about the freedom of being okay with whatever that thing is.  Elsa runs away and when she’s alone, she creates an amazing environment and in that moment, she feels extremely happy in isolation because no one is there to criticize her or make her feel like she is wrong, and she’s just not afraid anymore.  She can be exactly who she is, good, bad, ugly or what have you, and be okay with it.  It is such an empowering moment that transcends the boundaries of a cartoon character’s angst and becomes a theme song for everyone who has ever felt alone in this world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0MK7qz13bU

I tend to feel happiest when I don’t let the outside world influence my decisions, but let’s face it – that is very difficult.   1997 was probably my most productive year as an artist or maybe I just feel that way because it was the year Jasper was born, the year I was finally solvent enough to be on my own again and the year I created a series of paintings that I called Messages From the Other Voice, in which I incorporated poetry infused with positive messages.

I have the above painting in my bedroom.  The sentiment is still incredibly relevant to my life.  It is a message for me to stay on the path I’m on and not give up on any dreams.  Almost like another me telling me not to worry, which is something I pretty much need to remind myself when I have one of those weird days when nothing seems to be going my way.

I call those days comedy gold, of course, because I assure you, I always have time to laugh at all the stupid things I say and do.  Maybe not right away, but eventually.

I’m not sure what to do next in regards to this art career, to tell you the truth.  I guess just keep doing what I’m doing.  I have a goal of having 3,000 Twitter followers by New Years Day.  I have almost 2,800 now so that is not outside the realm of possibility.   I know I need to upload more artwork to my Shopify site.  Why I haven’t done that yet is to do with my inability to move forward.

The painting above is about a specific person, really.  Someone I had a hard time letting go of and so, he was a hindrance, which is the title of the painting.  It stopped me from moving forward and yet, whenever I look at this painting I’m reminded that it is okay to feel, whether it be love or loss…or love lost.  I see my old self telling me she won’t let me down and that gives me the courage to just be that fearless person that I should be.

I have a lot in common with Frozen’s Elsa so that shouldn’t be a problem.  At it’s core, the movie is a story about the love between sisters.  Within a day of uploading those paintings to rebubble.com, my sister Sophie purchased a cell phone case decorated with one of my images.  She is always right there with me.  My first and best customer, and greatest supporter.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/karentashkovski/works/13226854-breeze?grid_pos=1&p=iphone-case

Last year, in January, we had serious below zero frigid temperatures.  I’m not sure when the weather is going to turn colder around here.  But I don’t care.  The cold never really bothered me anyway.