Featured Writer/Artist Site - Sugar & Spice Ain't Always Nice

Sugar & Spice Ain't Always Nice

Patricia Rathgeber

http://www.snsaintalwaysnice.com/

About Sugar & Spice Ain't Always Nice

My name is Patricia, friends call me Tricia. I am 28 years old from southern California. I'm married to Derrick and we have four children. I blog about my life, my thoughts and feelings. At times I can be crude and I don't have a filter, I tend to be blatantly honest. I might be a baker, but I don't sugar coat anything.

I am a writer, reader, runner, baker wife, mother, and Christian. I have Bipolar Type One, suffer from BPD, GAD, Severe Major Depression Disorder, OCD and ADD. I'm a recovering cutter. I am made of sugar and spice, but I ain't always nice. So expect the rantings of a Bipolar Superwoman.

You can also follow Patricia at these great sites:

http://www.facebook.com/SugarSpiceAintAlwaysNice

http://twitter.com/SugarNSpiceAAN

http://snsaintalwaysnice.blogspot.com/

http://snsaintalwaysnice.tumblr.com/

Email at: snsaintalwaysnice@gmail.com

The Angel of Death - by Derrick Rathgeber

The Angel of Death - by Derrick Rathgeber

The colored pencil illustration of my wife's beautiful poem. She really does bring out the best in me, and inspires my best work. Enjoy her poetry below.

Angel of Death
By Patricia Fernandez-Rathgeber

“Come dance in the moonlight, little sister.” He calls
The blades sheen reflects off my pale skin
His shadow grows up against the dark walls
As we dance, the darkness blends and I don’t know where he ends and I begin
A tear against the flesh gives way to liquid crimson
The blood, it streams down to the ground
I watch my life melt away, a stream that glistens
The silence is so loud even though there is no sound
He turns me, dips me and I feel faint
I float like a feather, so light weight
He kisses me, my metallic Saint
The taste of his victory over me, I’ve met my fate
The nirvana of the spins makes me drunk as I slowly lose life
His wings spread wide like a bird of prey with meat in his sight
I can’t refuse his kiss, no strife
Growing weak, I no longer put up a fight
I allow myself to fade in his arms
Taking it all in, my memories flash by so fast
Soaking up all his whispery charms
His kiss, the sin, is my very last.

Visit me on Facebook at http://Facebook.com/DerrickRathgeber

The Angel of Death - Day 4

The Angel of Death - Day 4

With the wings added the picture is already telling the story. Today I will be adding the background, and get to the lighting of the moon. The wings were a blend of black, dark grey, metallic silver, and white. I wanted to give it a dark feathery look, while adding the  glimpse of shape and personality to the wings. 

Visit http://derrickr.artist.cm for more. 

Success is not a Dollar Amount

I have come a very long way since I have started drawing again. I have a new website, my own blog page, and my artwork has been seen all over the world, and I am currently in a gallery here in Riverside until August.  To me I feel like I reached the top as an artist. The only thing that would make my journey complete would to be able to live off of my artwork. Being that I have yet to sell more than one print, I can honestly say that is not going to happen. In my entire art career I have only sold one original drawing, and one signed print for $20. Does that make my career in art a large failure?

The answer is heck no. I am sure there are plenty of artists out there who place their work on the web in hopes it will go viral, and sell 1,000s of prints, but only get 5 likes. And maybe you have placed your work in a showcase in hopes people will buy your piece, only to take your card and lose it. Believe me you are definitely not alone. I have found that there are a lot more artists in your position than you think. And each one is more discouraged and ready to quit than the next.  I know I wanted to quit myself quite a few times because my art just wasn’t selling like I wanted to.

Then I woke up one day realizing that I almost quit doing what I love because someone didn’t give me money for it. I felt like an idiot. I almost gave up a talent that others strive for because I was selfish and wanted money. All the new upcoming artists that came to me for help and questions were going to be sent away, and the people that subscribed to my website, and blog, social media sites because they enjoyed my work were no longer going to see it anymore. I almost let my kids down who look up to me because in their eyes I am the best artist in the world. To me that almost made me sick to my stomach that money became that important to me. Has the world broken me down so bad that money took a place hire than a talent that no money could ever buy?

So I decided that I would no longer see success measured with a dollar amount. And no one should. Have I made millions of my artwork? No. Have I hit over 100,000 likes on Facebook? Far from. What I have done is inspire young artists to continue bettering themselves. I made someone laugh with my Twisted Fate comic. My work has been seen by people all over the world without spending one dollar in advertising. I have shown people what you can do if you put your trust and patience in yourself, and really enjoy what you do. That is my greatest successes as an artist. If I can keep going, and push myself to finish piece after piece, comic after comic, share my drawing lessons online free, and just help others, then I feel I have reached a level that I didn’t know existed.

What defines you as an artist? Ask yourself why you started? Why do you love it so much? Why do you or did you want to quit? For me I started because I really enjoyed taking my imagination, and thoughts, then just laying them out all over the paper.  I love it now because I can see things that other people cannot. A gift to see colors that did not exist before and I can share them with all of you. It makes my day. I wanted to quit, well for a reason that wasn’t good enough because I am still here. I am still here drawing, coloring, and sharing it all with all of you, and I hope that as long as I continue to share what I have to give with you, that you return the favor .  I want to see all of your talents, because art, poetry, words, stories, imagination, it makes the world a much better place to live in and enjoy.  

"You are already successful because you picked up the pencil,  and made the world that much more beautiful."

Thank you for reading,

Till next time my friends.

The Angel of Death

Day 1: The Angel of Death - Pencil sketch. 

I started the drawing last night and finished the sketch late this afternoon. Today is usually my Free Day but I wanted to have this sketch ready to start coloring on Monday. This drawing is based on the original poem "Angel of Death" by Tricia Rathgeber. I cannot wait to see the color make this story come alive with emotion.

Like my Facebook page for updates on this piece. Http://Facebook.com/DerrickRathgeber