Miss Angie

Patricia Alexandra Creative Custom Art Giveaway



Patricia Alexandra Creative is a blog I've only recently become acquainted with, but I'm glad that I did. She's an intelligent, well-traveled, artsy girl who lives only a few blocks from me! (Coffee date soon, OK Patricia?) Can I just say I LOVE her art? I also love that she's offering one lovely reader of My So-Called Chaos a custom piece. Just look at the gorgeous works in the giveaway image above-stunning.
But first... Let's get to know her a little bit better... I've asked her some questions:
How did you get started blogging? Why did you start blogging? My first "real" blog was back in the MySpace days. (holla) After the MySpace plane crashed, burned, and someone dug it up and re-burned the ashes, I moved to Blogger. I've had a private blog for years, but this is my first "public" blog.
You love Sweden, tell us how that love began: My mom talked about Sweden with a traveler's love and curiosity. I never imagined I would go until I met an online friend there; we talked for years and my fascination grew. Eventually I landed a job! And a boyfriend.

Wreta and Ruins Pt. 1
What was your favorite part about Sweden when you were there?
The boyfriend! No, but seriously? The forwardness of the culture. There was no slut-shaming, no religious stigmas, no "fight" for equal rights. Things were progressive. Swedes balked at things like our wages, our work hours, our "vacation" time, our harmful food ingredients, our healthcare. As a socially liberal atheist, I was impressed, and felt at home.

Other than that? Swedish forests, picking blueberries, the beautiful Baltic. It really is a fairy tale dreamland.
Did you like being an Au Pair? Is it something you'd do again?
I struggled with being an au pair because I never had a traditional family to begin with. I felt very smothered and invaded, and had a lot of foster care flashbacks. Luckily the family and I overcame these fears together, but I think things would have been much different had it been with another family. They are wonderful people and au pairing was an amazing experience. All in all I think au pairing is better for someone a bit younger (I was 25) and it's a great way to find oneself. I wouldn't do it again simply because the stress of moving, being a part of another family, and not "paying my own bills" is something too hard for me to handle for the 18th time.
What inspires your art?
The psychedelic images I had as a kid. For whatever reason, most of my childhood thoughts were in these really acidic, lucid, not-quite-realistic landscapes. Any landscape I paint is somehow reminiscent of that time, it's like a younger version of me exists somewhere between my eyes, the paintbrush, and the paper.

Portraits are a different thing; I have always been an uncanny 'reader' of people and emotion, and something about the nuanced expressions of people--that glimmer in their eye, the slightly curled lip, the tilt of the chin--really inspires me beyond anything else. I have a very special, separate love for portraits and honestly I should probably do them more often. It just takes the 'right face' to make me inspired.

Createspiration: Watercolor Portrait
What is one of your biggest dreams, and how are you working to get there?
More than anything I want to be a published author. As in, paper books, by a publishing company. I write often, and I got over a huge hurdle by publishing a small ebook--a guide for foster care. I plan on making another self-published book this fall, and eventually I will finish my novel-in-the-making. I have a lot of self confidence in my own writing, but a ridiculous fear of rejection, which has held me back for years.
What is one thing you want to accomplish in 2014?
My entire life has been me telling myself I'm not good enough to sell art, to make art, to be a crafty person. In 2013 I conquered that fear of not loving myself, and so 2014 is hopefully going to be my 'creative year to shine.' I have a whole laundry list in the works; an art shop, a jewelry shop, a cake decorating business, another ebook....I'M GOING TO VOMIT CREATIVITY
Tell us a little bit about Henri-how you two met, what he's like, etc.:
I was supposed to meet up with Henri (he was a curious friend-of-a-friend who wanted to see a REAL LIVE AMERICAN) in 2012 during my Swedish visit then, but I got absurdly sick and cancelled the fika. So we started talking on Facebook and Skype instead, and he was a great friend to me. It barely occurred to me that he could be anything else, until I got my Swedish job and met him in person. And something was just there. This was my friend, this was the guy I talked to every day; someone mature and quiet and funny, who in person was additionally handsome and tall and had the sweetest and most mischievous smile I'd ever seen.
Henri and I are opposite in so many ways: I'm loud, he's quiet. I'm cranky, he's calm. I'm unstable, he's the absolute definition of stable. I'm from poverty, he's from privilege. I think I bring excitement, emotion, and adventure to him, and he brings reason, logic, and a safe place to me. We need each other in those ways. We also both love being hermits, being introverts, playing Fallout, and being extremely politically incorrect.

First Snow! Am I Not Nice? Oh God, I'm Migrating. And a mini-epiphany.
Giveaway Open Worldwide - Ends 4/22/14 at 12AM
One lucky reader will win a custom piece of art from Patricia Alexandra Creative.
It can be scenery, a portrait, or anything-you pick!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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