Art!!!!

So I've been working at a new job that's been testing my fragile sanity. I came home today determined to write something about being stupid, since lately that is how I feel and how I see the world and everything in it.

Stupid.

Too stupid to actually write anything, however, I just headed over to Creative Commons and did an image search for "stupid" hoping for whatever the opposite of inspiration is.

Most of the pictures were stupid. Except this random one of a badass toad, which is awesome.

He is barely tolerating you.

But there was one picture that caught my eye. Titled scary werewolf, it is of a fierce-looking, muscular werewolf strutting before an enormous moon under masses of stars. Ears back, eyes narrowed -- and is that steam rising from his nostrils? Wherever he's going, he's serious about it.

scary werewolf

The artist, Alexis Renee Mistrot, says of the work, "I think he came out pretty good exept for his back leg it's messed up. The stars were done with white out. Sorry, I was too lazy to go get the paint."

I don't know why scary werewolf showed up on my "stupid" search. It is not a stupid picture; it is vibrant and eye-catching. I was intrigued. Craptastic day forgotten, I searched for more information on this artist. My search led me to Mistrot's page on Elfwood, an online fantasy art community, and I browsed some of her collection -- 70 pictures!

What I found was an artist who finds joy in her work and her process. She describes herself as a self-taught artist who is "still learning and trying to get better," and who wants to use new techniques and ideas to the best of her ability. Her collection includes pictures that run the gamut from line drawings to full-color paintings to altered photographs, including Leopard with horns, Fly Rapunzel Fly!!!!, Elf Demon and he's a knight on the weekends, and A Unicorn!!.

Troll under a falling bridge

I love how Alexis talks about her work. Of Take my Hand, which depicts an elven woman in a purple dress turning back toward the watcher and offering a delicate hand, she says, "Just a cool idea I had one night. I like her hair!!!! That's a portal in front of her by the way!! Take her hand and see where it leads you!! :D" I'm like, "Yeah!! I like her hair, too!! Let's go!!!!!"

When was the last time you were so fearless or enthusiastic an artist? I've taken to sitting down to my work-in-progress with a labored sigh, eyeing it suspiciously as though it's actually brilliant but is holding out on me because it's a jerk.  But maybe it just needs to feel a few more exclamation points in my voice.

If you're interested in seeing more of Alexis's work, her collection can be found here: http://www.elfwood.com/~vivienrules