hbd fanny!!

i want to wish my intern turned assistant crafty fanny a super happy birthday!!! here she is super cute in her bike dress on my back porch in her sweet red sandals that i have too :-)



Can you see my meyer lemon tree behind her? Totally in love with it as well as CF.

And here's another shot of cutie Fanny behind the scenes making the magic happen.



xoxoxo
Mati

From Orchards, Fields, and Gardens

Come by this Saturday to celebrate my friend Shash's Book launch of From OFG:

Here are some photos from the inside from talented folks:

I have a drawing and some photos in it too that I'll post sometime soonish :)

Hope you can stop by if you're local!!

xxx

m

ps- I'm taking a sick day today if you're tryin to get ahold i'm laying low...

i lost my initial treasure seeker blog post...

i'm not sure where my previous post went, so i'm seting off on another journey seeking! i'm starting a new batch of paintings and re-writing this so i remember my mindset :) my blog is often just as much for me to document my life as it is to share to you. sometimes i think of things in blog post time... like oh yeah, that was 5 posts back, so a couple months ago. hee.

here's the bare bones first step towards my second series... take comfort fellow painters that they start like this... they will evolve greatly over time, i hope! it kind of pains me to post this... but i'm being brave!




pretend you're a feather powered pirate at sea... soaking in the turquoise deep sea waters as far as the eye can see. you are surrounded by jewels, sea flowers, bold bohemian silk scarves that are faded by sun and sea salt. your ship is sturdy and you have a baby elephant on board that snuggles with you at night to keep you warm. maybe a super hot pirate too ;) you're blasting your favorite sea tunes into the night. you feel alive, calm and full of adventure. you raise your sails in the sun of day and stand at the helm of the ship. you sail up to tropical islands where you fill your treasure chest with more exquisite booty. you drink fresh coconut and mango juice as you sink into the warm sand, hear the waves lapping, feel the nourishing sun warm your skin and take a nap.

i hope my paintings evoke a sense of wonder, jewels, sun and sea and fill you up to help preserve your treasures.

here are some photos of some previously finished pieces that i deleted earlier too;)

fun and easy= flow

my sweet, wise, beautiful very pregnant superhero friend andrea led some friends and i through a core values exercise a few years back... mine was, no surprise here, that i'm a treasure seeker. i wasn't really sure what that meant to live that out at the time, but as i paint it, it's coming into focus.

i believe dear kelly rae's core values phrase was brave in sadness and brave in love. i borrow this sometimes personally too to help me. i think she's shared this sentiment on her blog before and don't think she'd mind me telling you ;)

and andrea's i believe was fun and easy. i am just starting to understand how this can apply to my life more fully too.

andrea recently shared this in her interview that i linked to a while back. i love this concept she explains below:

MK: How do you nurture your creative spirit within the boundaries of the “do more with less” mentality of minimalism?

AS: I try to live by the law the buddhists call “The law of least effort.” This basically means
that more effort does not equal more results, but right effort equals right results.

I don’t like to pain over my work… write when it’s not coming, sit for many hours
at the computer trying to wring something out of myself when I really just need to fill the well and be replenished.

I listen closely to my intuition, live my real life as much as possible, and write in bursts
from the richness of my actual life. This is how I nurture my creative spirit. I listen for when there is a story that wants to be told.

i had a skype conversation with my brilliant smart agent/mentor Lilla recently about how can i "step things up"? and she basically said i'm doing everything right (thank you) and that i should paint things that are fun and easy for me~ smooshy color, line and what comes naturally to ME, not to others-- that's where your authentic voice lives.

it was a very big A HA moment. paint what is easy to me? wait, i don't have to WORK at it? make it perfect? make it like math? i can keep it mysterious and evocative and fun? i can play with color and paint and go off on little painting explorations? love. it.

thank you for helping me piece together these puzzle pieces friends.

intermixed are close-ups that my friend bob lake (the fantastic jen lake's mister... if you're in the bay and need a photog-- hit him up!) took of my recent treasure seeker series, which means, high quality prints soon y'all!

smooch,

mati

hula's show at arkay workshop!

i'm so excited to spread the word of andrea corrona jenkins' solo show entitled "built like this" opening this friday at arkay workshop!!

i am such a big fan of andrea aka hula and hot damn, it's about time she had a san francisco show! i've been helping behind the scenes to organize this! hope you can come out friday. it's gonna be really good. think art, good people, music, cupcakes and vino.

there's a nice write-up and preview on poppytalk :)

xxxx
mati

my ellies

thank YOU to everyone who bought my art! i've never had that happen so quickly-- over 10 pieces sold in under an hour and i am so. very. grateful. my heart is swelling at your generosity.

here are a few elephant paintings that are still available!

wish big, sweet darling! (little bear not included)
i love how the purple elephant is crackled like real ellie skin!

gallop and leap into a wish (m A letters not included)

and the cutest pretend game... ellie-go-phant

i also wanted to share some photos my lucky elephants in people's homes. if you've ever bought my original paintings or prints, i'd looove to see how you display them.

please send them to me:

matimcd (at) hotmail (dot) com

i'd love to see where the treasure seekers end up! hint, hint!

here's ali edwards' daughter anna's room. she commissioned an original elephant. totally an option for you too :-) i love painting ellies in any color. email me about that too! xmas is coming!

here's the rest of anna's dreamy space

i think i may have shared rosie's room before, but it's so cute, it's worth sharing again. she got that ellie canvas through oopsy daisy (they just emailed to say that their canvas sides are even thicker + more high quality than ever)! or a large print here.


andrea corona jenkin's daughter ava's room with my large red ellie print or smaller ones too!

i love me some ellies.

xxxxx
mrm

to a young painter

To a Young Painter

by jen lee

Trust yourself. Your vision. Your hand.
And when your eyes wander in comparison,
close them.

When the world wants you to strategize,
do not apologize for letting your heart lead,
for letting your canvas bleed out
your questions and your fears,
all the desires that you clutch.
You can throw them into the world
like a great flying disc,
letting them land in light and shadow
and colors that surprise.
In images that do not apologize for their honesty.

Give yourself. Your vision. Your hand.
And when your eyes see what is true,
open them.

my talented writer friend jen lee wrote the above and i had to share. she's good, eh?

TREASURE SEEKER SERIES IS NOW LIVE!

ready, set GO!
xosososo mati

blooming sf

i was downloading my iphone photos recently and noticed nearly 1/2 were flower shots! it was kind of cracking me up. I thought I'd share a few here because they have such inspiring colors for paintings! Not to mention their shapes and patterns. here's the rest of my emerging set.

take 2

a fellow twitter-er sent this flipped ;) thank you dave! and thank you all for your heartfelt comments. it makes me breathe easier to know you get it too. sigh of relief. xxxoxox

a long post on cultivating happiness & perfect protest!

I had the thought recently that i work very hard to be happy. How happiness does not always arrive when i wake up (i'm quite often a grumpy morning riser). It's a "wicked pissah" to use east coast jargon, when I have to wake up super early and don't have time to be sloooow, piddle and drink caffeine.

This thought occurred to me because I hope I put out there in the world my happiness. My paintings are happy (maybe some are dark or have a twinge of sadness too) and I use a lot of exclamation points sometimes to communicate excitement!!!! For those of you who don't know me personally or know my life story, you may think i'm super. happy. all. the. time! Not so. I consciously work at it. Not by denying the sh**t in life, but by looking at it and working to transform it and connect with others around it in a healing way.

I've been reading Brene's "Gifts of Imperfection" since I got it a couple of days ago. I've underlined the heck out of it! one of the things she wrote that spoke to me was the idea that we are " ...worthy now; right this minute. Worthiness doesn't have prerequisites."

These were some examples that spoke to me:

* I'll be worthy when I lose 20 lbs.

* I'll be worthy when I can make a living selling my art.

and this one really got me thinking...

* I'll be worthy when I can do it all and look like I'm not even trying.

Um, how many of us have had that thought? That the things that matter most to us, we often want them to look effortless and like the opportunities fell in our laps!

To be real... when I lose weight, it's because I've been diligently cutting back and exercising A LOT. Right now I'm enjoying food A LOT and exercising occasionally, and if I were to lose weight I would brush it off like it was no big deal, when it would mean 100's of hours of exercise and willpower devoted to it.

The 2nd example is HUGELY pertinent around feeling worthy for me: when I can make a living as an artist... and not just a meager living, but one where I have stability, savings and comfort and ABUNDANCE. I work so hard trying to make a living as an artist, and yet don't share here my horrifying to-do lists and energy spent making my art look EASY. Nope.

Not to mention the years of torment deciding to follow this path and believing I could, years building my portfolio, many thousands and thousands of dollars going back to art school and the years upon years of living rent check to rent check as an artist couple buying supplies and paying for a studio space to create. Oh my, I could go on, couldn't I? As all you artists know, it ain't easy, yet we may make it look like it is and perhaps that's a disservice. I obviously love making art and it is my passion, but it is absolutely not easy and has required a whole lot of sweat and tears and dedication. It's been totally worth it, but not easy!!

The other aspect of my life that I pretend is effortless is being happy. People, I have therapist(s), an acupuncturist, a creative coach, a supportive art agent, and a ton of creative support groups and friends that I regularly attend to keep me sane/happy and I work very hard being intentional and looking for happiness in all the ordinary spaces. Plus I have a regular practice of gratitude here and in my journals.

Recently I wrote a list of tragic things that I have experienced in my life (we all have them) and it filled a page and it was ugly. Then I remembered I have dozens of gratitude journals filled to the brim. Mixed in with sketches and venting, but I have so much gratitude for it all. All of it. I'm especially proud of the hard work it's taken on my path to be happy, healthy and whole.

here's a Perfect Protest pic of me and my AWESOME intern fanny (who um MET THE AVETT BROS this weekend!!). we realized after painting this giant canvas with our fave collective color turquoise, that oops, it's backwards in the iphoto :) alas... to imperfections!!! we are too busy writing backwards to be perfect!



translation: we're too busy getting our paint on to be perfect and too busy having fun to be perfect!

(don't fanny and i look a little like sisters here?)

XOXO

Mati

New Creative Sponsors and Spaces available!

Hi friends,

I'm excited today to share some new sponsors with you:

The Declaration of You

Michelle Ward and Jessica Swift have paired up to create a new e-course: The Declaration of You. I just signed up today and am really looking forward to creating my own declaration of myself! The fun starts on October 25, so be sure to sign up soon! I can't wait to be classmates!

Kelly Rae's Flying Lessons e-book

It's no secret to you that the lovely Kelly Rae is one of my favorite people in the world! I recently took her flying lessons e-course and was blown away by the amount of invaluable information she shared. She really poured her heart out into this one and everything she's learned along her way to success. And did you know that she turned that course content into an e-book?

I think that this book would be an amazing tool if you're just starting out on your journey or are already on your path.

I'll be sharing additional new sponsors as we go!

Sponsorships available for only $1/day!

I have also opened up my blog to sponsorships from you! I'm offering these for only $1 per day, so if you sign on now, you'll get the rest of October for only $25! Or reserve both October and November for $50! Please email me at matirose (at) gmail (dot) com to get started :)

Thanks so much!
Mati