What an incredible year it has been! I am so blessed by the new friends and inspiration I’ve found through blogging. This year was full of discoveries for me. I discovered cookies as a canvas and it has changed the way I think. I have discovered lots of new friends who cheer me on and give so much encouragement it boggles my mind.
I look back at this year when I created my Arty McGoo facebook page specifically as a defining moment. It asks you to classify yourself. There were several options that I contemplated like: personal blog and food. I saw the option of “artist” but I shied away from it. I can’t call myself that! I almost chose personal blog, but something made me click that scary word instead. ARTIST. . . you know what happened? Nobody laughed! Nobody sent me an email asking me to rescind my decision. Nobody told me that they actually were an artist and that it offended them that I used that term for myself. Someone DID ask me if I had an art degree and it scared me for about a half a second until I realized it was a compliment and not a verification of my status.
You know what else happened? People started “liking” my page! They started commenting on my creations on facebook and here on my blog! People started calling me an ARTIST! People I admire and looked to for inspiration were admiring MY work! What a thrill! (Have I used enough exclamation points to illustrate the fact that all of these things excited me?!!!! and continue to excite me?!! )
I just wanted to say: THANK YOU! I realize how lucky I am. I’m just a girl (so I’m 33, but who’s counting?!) who has a passion for painting on cookies but never imagined that would be of interest to anybody else. I so appreciate every comment and email I get and I love being able to answer questions for people who are trying out this painting on cookies adventure with me. It really touches me to think I might have inspired someone!
Someone asked me the other day “What do you do?” and you know what I told them (with only a trace of trepidation)? “I am an artist.”
I can’t wait to see what next year brings. I am full of hope and ideas and excitement for things to come. I hope you can find beauty and meaning in your family gatherings and traditions as you celebrate this year. We celebrate Christmas so I made these Christmas greeting cookies, but I also wish you a very Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and hope they are magical! See you next year!
You are most certainly an artist, a very talented and a very humble one, be your canvas a sugar cookie or anything else.
V is for Very Spectacular 🙂 Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family. So glad I was introduced to your blog…have never looked back since. All the best to you in 2012.
My brother was standing beside me when I pulled this up, and he said, WOW…I think that says it all!
My letter for you this Christmas is A….A for AN AMAZING ARTIST!!! If you have never heard of Joseph Campbell you should look him up, he is an interesting philosopher/sociologist….one if his great lines is about following your passions…here it is: “If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!
You are amazingly talented. I love admiring every single one of your creations and am so glad that you share your cookie art with all of us. Merry Christmas!
I am glad you chose artist and stepped out bravely to share. I often think – she should be painting on canvas so it can be preserved – but then again if cookies are your passion, why not! But it is still definitely art, even if it ends up in peoples' tummies LOL! I still think of those Polaroid photo cookies you did – definitely your work has inspired me in so many ways – a used-to-be artist who wants to find my way back now that my kids are older. And along with canvases, I want to try cookies too! I want to make and share things that make others feel the way your cookies make me feel. My girls to this day brag on the cookies you painted for them of things Chinese and tell people about them and show them the photos of them. Art comes in so many forms – it is simply something someone creates that brings joy to others – your work most definitely qualifies for that way up high on the scale!
Liz, Not "only" an amazing artist, but an amazing person as well! Here's to 2012 and getting together again, my friend!:) XO, Sue
Liz, I'm so glad you chose to share your journey. Your work is incredible and inspiring. Because of you I've also started painting on some of my cookies and I love it. You are an artist in every sense. My youngest told someone the other day that her mommy was a cake artist and I loved it because be it in fondant or on a cookie decorating cake and cookies is art. Please keep sharing and inspiring!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and I can't wait to see what inspiration you bring in 2012.
I am super excited that I found your blog, and I can wait too see what next year brings. Have an amazing Christmas.
Heather
Every time I open your blog post, I find myself saying OUTLOUD "WOW". Your cookies are so amazing, just like you, the ARTIST, Liz. You're beauty and creativity blow me away every time I open up your blog. Thank you for sharing your incredible cookies this year. It's been so much fun getting to know you!
You are truly amazing! I am glad you see what everyone else has known for a while!
Jamie
WOW! U R AMAZING!
!Que maravilla! pero tu eres una artista ¿no? porque dibujar esos dibujos en una galleta….. tienes que ser una artista. Saludos
wow…it makes me sad that you didn't know you're an artist. If you're not an artist, what does that make all the others who are not even in your stratosphere of talent?? I'm so glad you've eventually embraced the title.
Happy New Year 🙂
I knew this all the time. I have smarty pants and i wear them, hence I know stuff!
I don't even think amazing quite covers it. WOW!!! I'm in awe! Now I'm off to like you on FB =o)
Awww this is quite amazing! I love your creations and all… Lovely sharing them 🙂
Here's my heartfelt Christmas wishes to you and your family. Keep sharing your creations. 🙂
Hi Liz,
I decided to go look at some of your older blog posts, and randomly found this one. I agree, it is REALLY hard at first to claim the title of "Artist"! I had to look it up inn the dictionary a few years ago, and then I wrote it out for a few of my artist friends, (we meet once a month), and tried to get them to claim it! I still feel weird saying it! But I DO. You GO girl! See you at Cookie Con!
It's really nice to read this and to see that you've got so far today! 81k fans, and you have every reason to be even better! Keep up the good worik