Humility Is the Foundation of All Virtues- Baltimore Digital Artist

About this image: Remember I talked about that one day last week where the sun was actually out and I took a walk with the kids? Since then, it has been gray, dreary, dark, and downright depressing. Truthfully, this has been one of the longest stretches of dreariness I can remember. So, I have resorted to going back to that day for some inspiration, warmth, and sunshine; otherwise, I doesn't look like I will be getting any. Where I live there are so many awesome rural buildings. I love buildings that show a bit of wear and tear on the outside yet have the strength and resilience to be standing strong in the face of utter destruction. I find it inspirational in my journey for my health and rather metaphoric to remember that although on the outside, my physical body may take a beating, my soul, the foundation of my being is standing strong, weathering the storm.

Please consider heading out tonight to Havre de Grace to enjoy the opening reception of the Winter Blitz art show from 7-9PM at Arts By the Bay Gallery. I will be working but I will also have 5 pieces hanging (one of which is on the cover and featured in the upcoming issue of Somerset Digital Studio magazine), photographing the show for promotions, and I will be mingling/chatting with our guests! So, stop in for a good time and good art!  Hope to see you there!

Have a beautiful weekend. I will see you here on Monday. xo  Go Falcons! :)

xo

Memory- Digital Art by Tracey Grumbach

Wow, do we have a lot to catch up on! I've been gone for quite a while, completely swamped in life. Many wonderful things have happened, although the process of all of that has been overwhelmingly stressful. I don't seem to be juggling stress very well these days...not sure why. I'm just a bundle of nervous energy and I am ready to feel settled again.

Professionally, I am excited to catch you up on what has been happening.  First, I am thrilled that several Instagram hubs have recently featured my art. It is always an extreme honor to have others like and share my work. Unfortunately, this has also led to an increase in people stealing my images and calling them their own. Not a stress I would like to deal with!

Second, I am thrilled to announce that the feature artwork and article I am writing for Somerset Digital Studio has been submitted and approved ahead of deadline! That was a huge relief to get off my plate. Now, I just need to wait for the editors to send me PDF proofs of the layout in mid-January before it goes to print. The magazine will hit newsstands on March 1!

I am also proud to say that one of my creations, We Are the Moon, has been featured in a Mobile Art Showcase on Flickr. I have also been invited by Joanne Carter, a well respected photographer and mobile art artist, to join a comprehensive Artist Directory of mobile/digital artists. It is quite an honor to be asked to join this list of amazing artists! I am currently working on getting all my images and biography to her now!

Also, I have been informed that I will be the Featured Artist at Arts By the Bay Gallery for the show opening in April 2017! I am so excited because the show will last through June, which means I can once again hold my fundraiser for Lyme Disease Awareness Month in May! So, be looking for more information on that coming in the months ahead!

Thank you to all who constantly support me and my art. I've sold many pieces lately and I can't describe how it feels to know you like my art enough to purchase it for your homes. It truly is a dream come true.

I am hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are staying snug and warm while preparing for the winter holidays. God bless...

xo

Autumn Vineyard- Virginia Landscapes

The vineyard at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia

It's funny how if you make a dream board and really focus positive energy into putting your work and your story out into the universe, it eventually comes back. This past summer I reached out to several publications about writing articles or publishing my digital art and slowly but surely those seeds I have planted months ago are coming to fruition. In October, one of my digital art pieces landed on the cover of a local newspaper. Then, over the course of about three weeks, three different Instagram hubs have featured four of my creations. Every time I am notified it is like Christmas morning and I feel so honored that people are enjoying my work. But what happened last night was a dream...

Last night I received an email from Somerset Digital Studio magazine.  This is a well respected publication in the digital art world and it's 144 pages are just delicious to read through every issue. Here is a description from the website of the magazine:

Somerset Digital Studio showcases some of the best digitally created artwork around, and these breathtaking samples of scrapbook pages, ATCs, and collages will have readers joining in this growing trend of creating digitally altered artwork in no time. Each of the 144 lush, full color pages found in every issue contain captivating feature articles, a full gallery of digital eye candy, a digital dictionary, software comparison chart, digital tutorial, and more. 

The email contained 6 of my images that an editor for the magazine saw on my website and wanted to publish. In addition, they asked me to write a feature article for the Spring 2017 issue, describing the artistic process and techniques I use in my work. I was so honored and thrilled!  This magazine is only published twice a year so it is highly competitive to have your work featured!  My deadline is December 12 and the issue will be on newsstands on March 1, 2017!  I know I can rise to the challenge and do this and I am so ecstatic for the opportunity to be a part of such a great publication.

In addition to this wonderful news, I found out that I will be the Featured Artist at Arts By the Bay Gallery for the April-June 2017 show! This means I have prime wall space in the gallery and can hang as many pieces as I'd like in that space! I am hoping this opens more opportunity to be published in local publications and be interviewed with local media. My goal in the exposure of my art is allow me to tell my story about surviving Chronic Lyme disease in the hopes of helping others in the process. In addition, I am working on setting up a fun event in May 2017 for Lyme Disease Awareness Month at the gallery where a portion of the proceeds from the sale of my art will be going back into the local chapter of NatCapLyme, which runs a support group for Lyme patients and their loved ones in my area!  There is so much going on I feel a bit overwhelmed, but it is a delicious drowning...

Thank you so much to all of you out there who support me day in and day out. Friends, family, artists, patrons of my work, and other bloggers. You all help me have the confidence and drive to do what I do and I am truly appreciative. When I reach wonderful milestones in my career as a digital artist, I love to share it with all of you because I feel like you all have helped put me in a position to reach my dreams. Thank you.

I am heading out of town tomorrow morning with my oldest daughter to visit my cousins in St. Louis whose children were in a tragic, horrific car accident about three weeks ago. I've been needing to get there to support my cousins and do what I can to encourage them. I may or may not be posting during this time. If I have time, I will set up a few pre-posts to go up each day, but if not, I am not going to stress over it. I will see what I have time for.

Sending Happy Thanksgiving love to everyone now just in case I don't have a chance to blog this week. Be safe and have a wonderful time with family. Please pray for a safe passage for my daughter and I...it is a long drive from Baltimore to St. Louis. And please continue to pray for my cousin's children who are recovering from devastating traumatic brain injuries.

xo

Proofing the Spreads

I had a totally surreal moment when I received the magazine spread in an email yesterday for proofing. I have waited for this moment for so long...to be published, not only my art but also my words, in a reputable, beautiful, magazine for art and blogging enthusiasts. I was so excited just seeing the PDF of how the format will look...6 pages filled with words and art that came straight from my heart, telling about my father's death and the diagnosis of my Lyme disease.  

I purposefully left the images of the layout small so you'll have to wait until the winter issue hits the newsstand on November 1st to read it!  I know I will be visiting the bookstore that day and buying several copies! I really wish my father were alive to see this moment. He was always proud of me no matter what, but I would love to share this moment with him. My mom and my family have been my biggest supporters and cheerleaders all along and when a moment presents itself like this one, it makes me happy to make them proud!

The magazine is getting ready to go to print, so they are doing last minute edits. The editor said they may make a few minor tweaks to this layout, but no major things should be changed.  Thanks to everyone who has supported me along this amazing journey. It has been filled with so many sad moments but also joyous moments. So many of you have been there to hold my hand when times were tough and to pat me on the back with words of encouragement when I took leaps of faith. Thank you.

Thank you also, in advance, for coming out to the opening of my art show at The Gallery at 122 Main in Elkton Maryland on Friday, October 2, 2015 from 5PM-8PM. I would be thrilled to greet you and chat with you there! You will see 20+ pieces of my art and photography displayed and a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of my art/photographs will go to the National Capital Lyme Association to support their mission of furthering Lyme (and other tick born illnesses) research, education, support, and advocacy (at both the state and federal levels.) This organization will be on hand at the reception with information, brochures, and a display table helping us get the word out about Lyme to the public! I would LOVE your support! Please pass the word and make a night of it! I would love the opportunity to tell my story and encourage others in their battle against this horrible disease!  If you are unable to attend the event, but would be interested in purchasing a piece of art or making a donation to National Capital Lyme Association, please contact me directly using the contact button on my blog.

Also, head out this Saturday from 11AM-3PM to Arts By the Bay Gallery in beautiful Havre de Grace, Maryland.  I have some pieces showing there and I will be working during that time...so stop in and say hello!

Hugs to all! <3

Finding Some Separation

Compartmentalizing my life into definable sections has always been difficult for me. My work affects my family and and my family affects my work. My illness affects every aspect of my life. So that is why I've blogged about art, my family, homeschooling, and chronic Lyme here on this blog even though each topic is very different. I've decided, though, that many of you who visit are interested in art, not necessarily homeschooling, although some of you are interested in both. So, I've started a new blog (good grief, what am I thinking?) specifically about homeschooling. I will be writing about my adventures with my twin second graders as we figure out homeschooling together on a blog called Nine Acres Academy: A Homeschool MisAdventure (under construction). That way if you are here to read about art and/or Lyme, you won't have to filter through all of my homeschooling talk. If you are not interested in those things but are curious about the kids and what we are doing here at home, you can check out the other blog. Of course, if both interest you, then you can read along with both. ;) I will link this blog with the other and vice versa so that you can toggle back and forth between the two. Check back in a few days and I hope to have everything up and running.

With that said, a lot is going on professionally right now. As you know, This Side of Forever (this blog) will be featured in Stampington and Company's Artful Blogging magazine fall issue. Several of my digital art pieces and a written article by me will be featured. In addition, I will be having a solo show at The Gallery at 122 Main in beautiful Elkton during the month of October. I hope, for that show, to be partnering with Harford Lyme Advocates, a chapter of the National Capital Lyme and Tick Born Diseases Association that serves Harford and surrounding counties to support those affected by Lyme and to help bring awareness to this growing epidemic. Part of the proceeds from this show will be going back to the local Lyme community! Discussions are still underway as far as the details but I am thrilled at being able to give back and raise awareness about this terrible disease. You all know I suffer from chronic Lyme as well as two co-infections so this is a cause very close to my heart. I will be showing some photography as well as some digital artwork (final decisions about pieces have not been made at this point) in that show. I am very much looking forward to both opportunities!

Because I have been homeschooling, I haven't had as much time for digital art, but I am still working behind the scenes!  I am currently working on a concept using this beautiful vintage photo (that I have colorized here). It has been a pleasure working on this next piece and I am looking forward to completing her. She will end up being a digital collage painting, so I still have a long way to go! The concept is still in development, but I feel a connection to her already.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  I will be working on this piece this evening, so maybe in the next few days she will be ready for her big reveal!  I am also working on the first post to my homeschooling blog, so be sure to check that out too if you are interested. Hugs to all.  xo