Kalaya Steede

For the past few months I found myself without my muse. Where did all the creativity go? Here is a typical day for me. 10am-6pm in the studio no matter if I have an idea or not.  When my friends would call and say, "hey come out and play" or my mom, "I'll take you to lunch". A free lunch people!!! I would be like, no I can't.  I really gotta focus and make things for the upcoming holiday season.  I'm so behind.  Blah, blah, blah. But, then I would just sit in the studio and stare off into space without a single clue. It then dawned on me that I was not living. I was not in the show or even watching the show. I was cut off! So I finished my brooch. 'Nut' - brooch, Arizona turquoise, handmade rivets, broken tail light And met mi amor and mi amigos for supper and then went to a Nick Cave concert. I did not have a clue who Nick Cave was and was not really in the mood for it but I went. And then Cave took the stage and I was...

Yours is to live it, not to reveal it. ~Helen Luke Sometimes I get caught up in the game.  The game of striving for importance.   What do I mean by this?   Well...as a kid I fantasized about being important, famous, or even rich.  I think for the most part we are taught that self-importance comes with having a great job (that pays well), a big house, nice car, and even kids.  These are some examples of success. So it is not a mystery when this feeling crosses over into my art.  Sometimes I feel the need to think about what will sell.  To make pieces that EVERYONE will love and want but is this the objective in being an artist?  It is quite difficult to be in the minds of others and then trying to make things that the public would like but you yourself do not like at all! So when I make certain pieces, that I have a blast making, but know in my heart that the general public would not like I feel guilty.  I say to myself that...