sunshine in the art community

Come Alive by Sunshine Barlowe Lewis

I featured a painting entitled Be True by a fellow Etsy seller, Sunshine Barlowe Lewis, in a blog posting back in December. Since then I have emailed with Sunshine quite a few times, exchanging advice about blogging, compliments, encouragement and an art-swapping agreement.

In a recent email Sunshine said: "Thanks for your encouragement. I'm amazed at how open, honest and helpful most people seem to be in the art community. It blows me away. " Those words really got me thinking! I've encountered the same kindness from other artists and Etsy sellers when I've approached them for information, advice or to let them know I've featured them on my blog. It's really overwhelming to experience the immense gratitude artists have for one another! I have a hunch it has to do with the greater level of emotion and openness it takes to create art in general.

Something I truly enjoy about the art community is finding artists that I seem to have everything in common with, and finding artists that I have nothing in common with. Both are so interesting and inspirational. One such example is Sunshine! I was originally drawn to her Etsy shop because all her paintings include trees. If you've been reading my blog long enough, you know trees are my favorite part of nature! I am obsessed with trees....I even used them as the theme for my wedding.

Recently Sunshine featured her favorite Lola Rain print on her blog and I fell in love with her work even more after clicking through all the pages on her blog. She just started blogging, but I hope she keeps at it because her style is very Lola Rain! Check her out...if you like my style and art, you'll love hers!