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We will be singing for the whole world and I do not sing

October 9th, 2014

We will be singing for the whole world and I do not sing

Saturday, October 4, 2014, we will be on TV singing for the afternoon session of General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You can also pick it up on lds.org. It starts at 2:00 pm Mountain Standard time. Look for us. The whole world will be watching! We'll be singing with other people from the Tooele Valley in the LDS Conference Center. Luckily all the people around me sing beautifully so I will be OK! As I have practiced all the songs, probably twice as much as anyone else because, like I said, I don't sing...I have been overcome with emotion. "No tender voice like thine..." I love my Savior more than I understand. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to share my testimony with the whole world through song. My sweet husband also gets to sing in conference, so look for him too.

"O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth..." - Alma 29:1 The Book of Mormon

"I know that my Redeemer lives....."

April Gailey Photography
Charles Jay Autry, my extremely handsome husband. He had to shave of the facial hair to sing in General Conference so don't look for the goatee and mustache.
April Gailey Photography
Most recent decent photo of me, taken by my daughter April Gailey... She took my photo class in High School and is now an accomplished professional photographer. April Gailey Photography

Sun, Sunsets, Sunrises, Sunflowers and The Sun of God

October 9th, 2014

Sun, Sunsets, Sunrises, Sunflowers and The Sun of God

Do you like to create in series? I do! It seems that is what the Art Gallery's like, and it's what I feel really helps an emerging artist make a clear and strong statement. I'd love to explore the theme of a 'theme' in your art more thoroughly. Tell me, what theme's have you painted, created, or collected? My daughter Rachel collects ladybug stuff and things. It's so easy to create and buy for her! She loves gifts and I love to give them. I'm always on a quest for ladybug cool stuff! It makes her smile...me too!

Lady bug example
Little Nola Jean Harris, born May 5, 2014 and wrapped in a LadyBug blanket...
I began a sunflower theme 20 years ago. Acting as a Chaperone for a high school field trip filled with Granger High Schools best artists, (a very tame group) I sat alone. School busses are noisy places and not conducive to chatting anyway, so I pulled out my 'something to write with and something to write on' that I had in my bag. Out of the blue...came a good idea. I had previously looked at sunflower designs at the store, and realized there was only one basic boring design available. So, sunflowers became my first real series...I wondered how long it would last. I have created sunflower art in many mediums. I've done sunflowers in ceramics, stained glass, watercolor, oil, graphite, photography, and planted gobs and tons of sunflowers in my yard and garden. Creating sunflowers is quite easy for me now, with lots of miles on my paint brush. And I still love them! I'm partial to Russian Giant Sunflowers now. I grew them in rows this summer, along my courtyard.

Russian Sunflowers
They're all gone now, but sunflowers like this one were all along my courtyard this summer. It was glorious to behold!
Other themes I have explored include sunsets and sunrises. The sky is so inspiring! I love crazy storms and driving into the sunset. I live by the Great Salt Lake, and the sunrises and sunsets over it never cease to amaze me. So, wa-la another theme I've painted and still am, behind my LDS temple paintings. As I've considered God's most beautiful creations, human beings, I have taught myself to paint beautiful accurate portraits, first using my porcelain doll collection, then joining the Portrait Society of America and learning from true professionals. I love love love to paint! From life, from photos, from my lovely dolls, or from my imagination, I live to paint!!! Atheists and non believers mystify me. Alma says it for me here: From the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ

Alma 30:44 (this is the prophet Alma talking with Korihor, an anti-Christ)

44 But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

My husband and I will share our testimony of Jesus Christ through song with 363 other good people from the Tooele Valley, tomorrow, October 4th at 2:00 pm in the 184th Semi-annual World Wide General Conference, I pray that our combined testimony will strengthen yours. "Let all that breathe praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost"... is a line from our opening song. I hope all my paintings also testify of the reality of God and his majesty! Don't forget to tell me about your theme, series, and also your testimony!

Today Is My Long Lost Childs Birthday

September 8th, 2014

Today Is My Long Lost Childs Birthday

Camille Joan Autry Dingfield
This is my beautiful Cami on her wedding day. February 29, 2008
Leap year...go figure!
Cami
I painted this of Cami, (she was the originator of selfies...) when she was in high school. She didn't get to go to prom and seemed uncharacteristically fine with that. Her date got grounded.
Cami would have been 25 years old today if she had not made the decision to end her life on April 8, 2011. Hardest event of my entire life and all her family, including her husband Robert whom she loved dearly. My Savior cried with us that day, and again today. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have had her as my child for a mere 21 years. She was born laughing, and always handled hard things with a touch of dark humor. As she grew older many health challenges plagued her, mostly tummy aches that today I believe was a gluten intolerance and the need for real food. Add to the health challenges, a sad spirit that longed for perfection but had no idea where to start.

I tried to attach the song by Mindy Gledhill called 'Long Lost Child' but failed. This beautiful song always reminds me of Cami and her challenges. I love her so, and miss her so much today. We went to her headstone at the cemetery and put a fresh bouquet of red roses surrounded by white daisies. When the Resurrection flowers are ready, I will divide the bulbs and plant some at her headstone.

Beautifully wild, long lost child.

Today I will spend the rest of the day painting and hopefully finishing another image of the Resurrection flowers that always seem to poke their heads out of the ground and bloom on her birthday.

Resurrection Flowers
I painted this in 2012 when they bloomed for the first time. These lovely delicate perennial flowers seem to bloom every Sept 4th on Cami's birthday. The bulbs were a gift from my sister on the day of Cami's funeral. My grandson, Hunter, helped me plant them after the funeral services were over.
Resurrections flowers
This is an unfinished painting that I will finish today in honor of my sweet daughter.

The Profitable Artist SMART Goal setting

September 2nd, 2014

The Profitable Artist SMART Goal setting

S: Specific - The goal should identify a specific action or event that will take place.

M: Measurable - The goal and its benefits should be quantifiable (whatever that means...$)

A: Achievable - The goal should be attainable given available resources

R: Realistic - The goal should require you to stretch some, but all the likelihood of success. Your ultimate goal is to succeed at whatever you set out to do.

T: Timely - The goal should state the time period in which it will be accomplished

Sigh. Uggh. This is the hard stuff here.

Tips:

*Develop several goals. A list of 5 to 7 items gives you several thing to work on over a period of time. Too many portends failure.

*Attach a date to each goal. State what you intend to accomplish and by when. A good list should include some short-term and some long-term objectives.

*Be specific.

*Write down your objectives and put them where you will see them. The more often you read your list, the more results you get.

*Review and revise your list. Experiment with different ways of stating your goals. Goal-setting improves with practice, so play around with it.

OK. Here goes.

Identify your goal: My current goal is to receive at least 2 commissioned Temple paintings from the 60 new contacts I got at the La Caille Bridal Expo I spent $600.00 and several hours obtaining.

Outline all potential obstacles or concerns: Well, so far I have emailed all 60 brides, and looked for them on Facebook. I have one potential client so far. I'm waiting for her to tell me when I can drive out and meet with her and her fiancé to plan the project. I'm thinking I should text all of them also. Many young people do not use email anymore, but texting is almost universal with that age group.

Steps:

1. Clean up my contact list....yikes! It's a royal mess. I had the guy at the Apple store sync iCloud with my iPhone and my iMac and ended up with a ridiculous contact list...I may delete the whole list and start over manually.

2. Put all the brides in my contact list, and then text them all with an invitation to receive a beautiful temple painting as a wedding decoration at their reception, that will increase in value, both monetarily and spiritually as it will also serve as a reminder that their eternal vows are beyond value.

3. Order cards from fineartamerica, and one month before date of their wedding send them a lovely card to remind them of my services and congratulate them again on their wedding plans.

Well, that wasn't so hard after all...I can get that all done tomorrow maybe. So, now it is time to set the next smart goal since I do not plan on creating another blog until next Sunday.

Observation: After Monday's craziness...Monday's are always crazy, Sundays seems to be a goal setting day for me always. First I spend 4 hours at church and get all kinds of advise on what I should do, and I write it all in my church journal. I find myself feeling positive and excited while there, but a bit overwhelmed when I get home and begin planning my week. And then Monday comes...and I think I have to get it all done on Monday. I have to vocally speak to myself and say "You have all week to do all this stuff-one thing at a time! Breath! Breath! Breath deeper! Yoga is the best thing I do for myself each day, especially Mondays! (whoops, rabbit trail)

My next goal: Find a photo of the temple I want to draw, hopefully one I took. It has to be recognizable as a specific temple. It does not have to be the whole temple. It has to be a great composition. I have to be able to put a couple in front, in the foreground after the entire temple is painted. I will paint the temple as a finished painting, photograph it carefully, and then post it on fineartamerica. Then I can sell prints of the temple without the personalization. I will also keep the pattern that I draw so I can paint the same temple again if necessary. (For a new commission of the same temple.)

Steps:

1. Transfer only the best photos (particularly Temples) from my older external hard drives. (This may take the rest of the week)

2. Chose one...make a decision. Then draw it carefully.

3. (Process) Paint the background in watercolor on the 24 x 36 Fredrix watercolor board. Check YouTube for tutorials about pouring on watercolor...the texture of the watercolor board does not respond like watercolor paper. I've already scrubbed off a sky I painted and am ready to start over. When I absolutely love the sky I will apply clear gesso over it, seal the edges also, and than transfer the drawing. Then I will seal the drawing with another coat of clear gesso. Begin oil painting either the SLC Temple or the Oquirrh Mountain temple regardless of obtaining a commission. My panel is 24x36 and just waiting for a beautiful temple painting!

I am so excited! I can hardly wait till Tuesday!!! But wait...if I get some commissions I'll have to do some traveling and meeting with clients...wouldn't be such a bad diversion.

It's such a fun challenge-being my own boss!

1st Attempt At A Mission Statement

September 2nd, 2014

1st Attempt At A Mission Statement

Today I want to revisit my Mission Statement. I worked on it a few times, but it all sounded like a vision statement to me so I haven't actually blogged about it yet. I'm an Artist, so I've written lots of Artist Statements...but those are more specific to a certain painting or a series of paintings.

No matter what I decide to create as I apply my artistic skills to convey an idea, it must be uplifting, encouraging, and radiant.

As I was driving into Salt Lake City, Utah for a day at Local Colors Art Gallery, I was overwhelmed with the way the morning light penetrated heavy cloud cover over Salt Air. Salt Air is not a temple, but as I viewed it I received a spiritual conviction in my heart that I wanted to paint LDS Temples---all of them!

MISSION STATEMENT~I want to provide lovely oil paintings of temples for the whole world. I want them to be so inspiring that every LDS home will want a print. The resplendent beauty of each Temple hanging on the walls of Saints all over the world will bring the Spirit of Christ into the living rooms and hearts of followers of Christ.

If you read my vision statement you know that I am an idealist to the core. Lofty goals are part of my character. Realists don't relate to me very well...C'est la vie!

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Mission Statement-revision

September 2nd, 2014

Mission Statement-revision

Last week I worked on a mission statement, and asked for feedback from my friends. So, here's the revision.

MISSION STATEMENT~ By painting temples, I want to show the whole world the true beauty and purpose of temples: joy, protection, progress, and eventual return as family units to His glorious presence. The resplendent beauty of each Temple painting, hanging on the walls of Saints all over the world will bring the Spirit of Christ into the homes and hearts of His children.

Soon I will bring all these posts together, and have a business plan I feel confident and comfortable with. This post is short and sweet, and as always, I love feedback!

What can I start saying NO to?

September 2nd, 2014

What can I start saying NO to?

Smart Goals reviewed and refined:

Ok, so I re-read my first try at a Smart goal, and the goal I thought I could finish in one day, Monday August 3, (I can get that all done tomorrow, maybe) still remains unfinished.

My current goal is to receive at least 2 commissioned Temple paintings from the 60+ new contacts I got at the La Caille Bridal Expo I spent $600.00 and several hours obtaining.

Potential obstacles or concerns:

1. Well, so far I have emailed all 60 brides, and looked for them on Facebook. Not many responses at all.

2. I have one client so far. I will meet with Sara and Francisco on Aug 27 to do a photo shoot at the Mt. Timpanogus Temple. They want an 8x10 for the sign-in table at their reception.

3. Diversions have accumulated: I did a Plein Air event Saturday the 16th, painting remains unfinished and it is so enticing...I really want to finish it. Plein Air competition event scheduled on August 23rd. I paid for 3 entries, which means I have three little landscapes to do next weekend.

4. Funeral tomorrow, Stansbury Art and Lit Society meeting on Tuesday, Budgeting payday (this is really hard stuff for me and takes several hours) on Wednesday, Fiona's birthday party Friday, Sat Sun and Monday to do three plain air paintings and then deliver paintings to Local Colors on Monday.

5. Viola Recital next month, need to practice a lot, Singing in the Choir for General Conference on October 4, and then the next week Messiah practice starts so Sunday nights will be busy from next week until Christmas. Christmas gift paintings planned...hmmm. Always too much to do. What do I need to start saying NO to?

6. And I plan on substitute teaching?....go figure! And there is the yard and housework, exercising and showering....

Business TO DO list:

1. Text all of the brides. Many young people do not use email anymore, but texting is almost universal with that age group.

2. Put all the brides in my contact list, (I'm on the M's.) and then text them all with an invitation to receive a beautiful temple painting as a wedding decoration at their reception, that will increase in value, both monetarily and spiritually as it will also serve as a reminder that their eternal vows are beyond value.

3. Order cards from fineartamerica.com, or got print.net (check prices) and one month before date of their wedding send them a lovely card to remind them of my services and congratulate them again on their wedding plans.

Painting TO DO list:

(My process: Find a photo of the temple I want to draw, hopefully one I took. It can be someone else's photo, as long as they give me permission to use it. It has to be recognizable as a specific temple. It does not have to be the whole temple. It has to be a great composition. I have to be able to put a couple in front, in the foreground after the entire temple is painted. I will paint the temple as a finished painting, photograph it carefully, and then post it on my website. Then I can sell prints of the temple without the personalization. I will also keep the pattern that I draw so I can paint the same temple again if necessary. (For a new commission of the same temple.))

Steps:

1. Transfer only the best photos (particularly Temples) from my older external hard drives.

2. Chose one...make a decision. Then draw it carefully. (as of today, August 17, I have 2 drawn, and one more on the drawing board)

a. Oquirrh Mountain Temple is drawn, and ready to transfer to the 24 x 36 Fredrix cradled watercolor panal. Background (3rd try, I scrubbed it off twice) is ready to gesso. (I sprayed it with printer ink!!!) I'm so excited!

b. Snowflake AZ Temple is drawn and ready to transfer as soon as the sky is dry. Stormy sky, With the temple glowing in front of the storm is the concept. Name: Stand Ye in Holy Places 16x20

c. Snowflake AZ temple nearly finished on a 5x7 Fredrix panel. Watercolor sky, clear gesso, and the temple in oil.

d. Drawing of St. George Temple is started. (it's the one Sara and Francisco want)

3. Apply clear gesso over the sky, seal the edges also, and than transfer the drawing. Then I will seal the drawing with another coat of clear gesso. Begin oil painting the Oquirrh Mountain temple regardless of obtaining a commission.

It's such a fun challenge-being my own boss!

The Profitable Artist...SWOT...Strengths

July 13th, 2014

The Profitable Artist...SWOT...Strengths

SWOT: (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

This could get a bit personal…I’m uncomfortable being an open book, but here goes. I will only list the strengths on this blog. My next blog I’ll cover my weaknesses and so on.

Strengths:

Patience, with myself, others, and the artistic process

After teaching art for 24 years I have a wealth of knowledge about art, and more importantly, I have connections, and know how to find answers to any question I encounter in my artistic journey

I am ambitious, determined and passionate about creating my own Profitable Art business

I love my new business cards and direction

Understanding how to create a great painting is a never ending process, but one I love and feel I am becoming accomplished at.

Writing and communicating about my art is fun to do, and I love sharing it.

I am teachable…always listening and learning new concepts, wherever I find them

I have great technology tools. I have a new iMac computer that I am becoming comfortable with, a new iPone, and an iPad. I also have the opportunity to take classes at the Apple store and they have helped me a lot. I still have a lot to learn of course.

Most importantly…I have faith in my own ability, and my own relationship with God, trusting that any obstacle I encounter can be overcome with prayer, and action. I’m not afraid to work hard!

I challenge you to follow my blogs and determine your own reasons, purposes, and goals that will lead you to be a more profitable artist.

The Profitable Artist...SWOT...Weaknesses

July 13th, 2014

The Profitable Artist...SWOT...Weaknesses

Last week I blogged about some of my strengths, as difficult as that was I'm having a harder time posting my weakness list, it's a lot longer. Some of that list will remain written in my personal journal, but there are a few I'm comfortable sharing...

In my list of strengths I mentioned that I am a very patient person, but patience sometimes bumps into a deadline, and often at the end of a painting I rush and cut corners. I discovered this weakness a long time ago, and being aware of this tendency has helped me do better.

Obviously it is better to do things correctly the first time, that is the true shortcut, but I do have a shortcut mentality when I want to get something checked off my to-do list and move on. I should make myself a visual sign that says "Shortcuts are the long way around. Taking shortcuts cuts you short!" There's nothing more frustrating than having to redraw or repaint something because I am not satisfied with the results. Believe me, I've relearned this principle many times!

I am a people pleaser. I want everyone to be happy, and will sometimes do things for others that they can and should do for themselves.

Another serious weakness is saying "NO" to activities and things I would like to accomplish or participate in that will not further my business goals. I find it easy to get very busy doing stuff that isn't very important. Sometimes I can get lost in a novel, or rearranging a little corner of my home, when I need to be painting. I have a lot of other hobbies and interests. Stuff like that.

Creativity sometimes gets in my way...trying new things can be important at times, but sometimes you just have to quit trying new things and stick to your business plan! Cuz it's a good one!

Business plan blogs are coming!




The Profitable Artist...SWOT...Opportunities

July 13th, 2014

The Profitable Artist...SWOT...Opportunities

More on SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analyzing my business opportunity, opportunities: Ok, without going over my business plan here, and my goals...that's for another day. Opportunities and ideas are endless. Carving out my own niche has meant sacrificing many things I could do...I've had to pick my favorite medium, (oil paint) and then my favorite way to paint, (Realism) and then my favorite theme or themes.


Here I will just list some opportunities for growing my little little business:

1. Business building workshop at the Apple Store where I bought this wonderful iMac I'm enjoying (most of the time, I have a lot to learn)

2. My fineartamerica website jane-autry.artistwebsites.com

3. facebook.com/daisyjaneautry

4. Wordpress blog sight - nilajaneautry.com

5. Wedding Expos: I have a booth this Saturday, July 19, 2014 at the La Caille

6. Stansbury Art and Literature Society (a local group of artists I belong to)

7. Portrait Society of America - I'm a member

8. Gallery representation opportunities

9. Many wonderful Artist friends

10. Lots of Art contests

11. The Whole World, if I can figure out how to get my name and work out there!

12. ??????????? This list will grow.Autry-J-Still-Life

 

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