Monday, March 29, 2010

Grow :: {Project 44}

Grow :: {Project 44}
Not just a mug, but a daily reminder of the potential in everything.

In living life fully, completely, wholeheartedly...
let's face it, growth is simply inevitable.

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them make them."
~George Bernard Shaw

For more glimpses:
{Project 44} on Flickr
Visit my website at www.StrayDogArts.com

Follow me on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/jessie.marianiello
and become a Facebook fan of Stray Dog Arts.

~

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Feline Rhapsody :: {Project 44}

Feline Rhapsody :: {Project 44}
photo shoots with animals that I fall in love with...

...this was just one of the colorful gifts from my day.

For more glimpses:
{Project 44} on Flickr
Visit my website at www.StrayDogArts.com

Follow me on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/jessie.marianiello
and become a Facebook fan of Stray Dog Arts.

~

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

She is Living Her Dream :: {Project 44}

She is Living Her Dream :: {Project 44}
Studio fuse box reminder

Sometimes, while standing at my workbench in the studio, I look up and see this magnet that I stuck on the dirty ol' fuse box that graces the wall...and I remember.

I am living my dream.

Despite grunge and dog hair...
this is one incredible dream.
:)


For more glimpses:
{Project 44} on Flickr
Visit my website at www.StrayDogArts.com

Follow me on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/jessie.marianiello
and become a Facebook fan of Stray Dog Arts.
~

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Friendship :: {Project 44}

I sat down this morning, with a fresh cup of coffee, opened up my email and this is what I found:

One day years ago a woman found my blog and left me a comment that said something like I have a dog named Anu and I love samosas. Ever since that day those woman's words have resonated so much with me that I thought somewhere along the way we were supposed to cross paths. I miss her writing, but know that her absence in the blog world is due to all the amazing things happening in her life. I have this hope that one day we will meet and become friends. Tonight I was excited to come across her words and images again and I read them and thought about all the things in my life I'm holding back from doing because I'm afraid. And I look at her blog and think here is a living example of a woman taking the dream she had in her mind and making it appear in her daily life. I'm wondering what would happen if I did what she said and got out of my own way.
~from Anu, of Samosas For One

Friendship :: {Project 44}
Studio moment: Anu, my smiling wolfie...looking up at me as I paint.

Well, with that, here's to all the Anu's in the world. Here's to the fearless, smiling wolf in each of us. Here's to being brave on a regular basis. Here's to good friends. Here's to support and encouragement. And, of course, here's to remembering that getting out of our own way is an on-going process.

Because the thing about living our dreams is that it pushes and nudges and challenges us in ways that sometimes we can't even imagine. Growth doesn't stop with the first bloom, rather it's just the beginning! It's exhaustive, really. But once we've tasted the good life of turning dreams into a tangible substance, well...there's really no going back. And that's the real danger.

There's just no turning back.
The gifts of authenticity are irrevocable.

And so thank god for good friends along the way.


For more glimpses:
{Project 44} on Flickr
Visit my website at www.StrayDogArts.com

Follow me on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/jessie.marianiello
and become a Facebook fan of Stray Dog Arts.
~

Monday, March 22, 2010

Workaholic :: {Project 44}

Hi, my name is Jessie. Is it possible that I'm a workaholic?

Don't answer that.

~

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sunday Studio, Sunshine Version :: {Project 44}

There's only one thing I want to do today: and that is to paint in beams of sunlight.

Sunny Canvas :: {Project 44}
Stretching canvases. Raw beauty.

Sunny Workbench :: {Project 44}
Filling Etsy orders with Brilliant Red Happiness and Art for Dogs.

Echo in Edina :: Sunshine Version {Project 44}
Oil on Canvas, Completed Painting.


For more glimpses:
{Project 44} on Flickr
Visit my website at www.StrayDogArts.com

Follow me on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/jessie.marianiello
and become a Facebook fan of Stray Dog Arts.

~

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Introducing :: {Project 44}

I've come to the realization that there is just not enough of me to go around. I've also decided that, despite my intense schedule over the next month and a half, blogging is not something I want to give up. After all, I am a blogger. I like blogging and I want to continue. This blog has become a record of my life since 2004, but I've nearly disappeared from this space over the past several months. I hate to see that happen and, well, I want back in.

This space grounds me. It is the more intricate, yet simple parts of myself. I blog to stay connected--to both my interior self and to the tribe of like-minded souls that I have found here. I blog because it adds depth and dimension to my days. It helps me to understand, to let go, to process, to remember. I blog because it helps me to more deeply experience my journey.

These days my path has led me to an art-filled life. I am thriving. My art is thriving. My spirit is thriving. And in the midst of all this thriving, I find myself consumed by the tasks of preparing for my biggest solo exhibition to date. It is exciting and overwhelming all in one fell swoop.

In 44 days I will be given the keys to more than 2,000 square feet of gallery space and nearly enough wall space to go from one end of a football field to the other. This is my life in hyper-speed.

And yet...I find myself wanting to record these days, to take the time to slow down just long enough to capture my daily experiences, even if only in the fraction of a second unveiled by the click of my camera lens.

{Project 44} is made up of bits and pieces of me, of my day, of the world that surrounds me. It is made up of the 44 days from now until I begin hanging my next show on May 2nd, 2010. It is my life as an artist, dog lover, writer, coffee drinker, and person. It might be haphazard--a few words or a sentence, an image, a moment, a canvas in process--it will be made up of whatever I have to offer on any particular day. Whether my day be haggard or inspired or a little bit of both. These are simply glimpses of me: intimate and real.

Welcome to {Project 44}

Studio 3/20 :: {Project 44}
Day NUMERO UNO of Project 44 and a peek into my studio.
Finally putting the finishing touches on the second panel of a painting I started nearly a year ago.


Spring Vineyard Unveiled 3/20 :: {Project 44}
Vineyard life: Finally, the many feet of snow has melted and the vineyard, once again, is revealed.


For more glimpses:
{Project 44} on Flickr
Visit my website at www.StrayDogArts.com

Follow me on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/jessie.marianiello
and become a Facebook fan of Stray Dog Arts.

~