EG.com reincarnated. Again.
Like that shirt I’m wearing? Click on the photo & it’ll take you to their site.
I’m just going to say it. I’ve owned emilygaiser.com for a long time and it’s never really remained a focus once I’ve started it up. I straight-up failed to utilize it. However, the past few years have held so much!! Not just for me, but for the entire world. We’ve been challenged to grow and adapt - at the same time! - like never before…. at least in my lifetime. Historically speaking, I’ve shared mostly on Facebook and Instagram’s platforms instead of here. One of the things that I’ve been encouraged to do professionally, though, is to own my content. It makes more sense than ever for me to funnel my thoughts and writing through my own space instead of a social media entity that I have no control over.
The other part of this is, during isolation in 2020 I struggled to find my words in writing. I struggled in a LOT of ways - like many of you - but I had never experienced complete writer’s block. I was having emotions and experiences that I desperately needed to work through on the page, but nothing would come. Thankfully, painting - and art in general - stepped in!!!
I had been feeling a tug to create and express with paint for a few years, actually. However, our 1400 square foot home didn’t really have a place that could accommodate messes that stayed out all the time. Then in January of ‘20 we made a fortuitous decision to store our dining room table (that we rarely used) and take better advantage of that space. The result, after a bit of rearranging, was an empty spare bedroom that could be “my” space. So, when I needed it the most, I had a place to begin painting.
I’m sure I would have made it through, but in many ways I feel like art saved me last year. I was turning out a heavy volume of work and I honestly started running out of room. I was hesitant to share my paintings with people when I was still figuring it out, but I opened an art-specific account on Instagram, and as I improved, my following grew. After a while I felt like I found my style and eventually felt like sharing my art with more people that I knew. I opened an online gallery through Artwork Archive and to my surprise sold several paintings quickly.
Now I’ve been painting for right at a year, and a couple of weeks ago I had a fantastic opportunity fall into my lap. Martha Richardson of Iyengar Yoga Studio Of Little Rock was interested in subleasing a little over 200 square feet in the back of her studio space. It has already been a huge gift and one of the biggest benefits is her willingness - encouragement, even! - to use ALL of the space to display my work and even hold events when I want to!!!
Therefore, my plan is to host my very first open studio night during what most of us know as “First Thursdays” in Hillcrest. Yay!!
Once I decided that, of course, I realized how big my list of to-dos really was! The biggest hurdle wasn’t finishing and varnishing paintings, spreading the word, or on-site logistics of any kind. The biggest hurdle to clear was to have a decent website up and running so that I don’t waste the opportunity to connect long-term with new friends. So here I am piecing together a website that represents the multi-faceted being that I am. LOL! If you think that that’s an overstatement, then just check out the contact page on this site!
I embrace it all, though. This will continue to be a work in progress, but I’m glad to have a place to welcome you into what I do and who I am. ALL of it. I hope that you find things here that bring you joy, challenge you to grow, connect you with new people, and encourage you to be your own wonderful, multi-faceted being - TO THE FULLEST.
I have a newsletter sign up sheet to make sure that you stay up to date on anything that’s happening here, site-wide. I have a Collectors’ Club email list for my art - OH WAIT! I failed to mention that I have always signed my art with my middle name, Athen; even on my drawings as a teen. When I release new art to my gallery store, Collectors’ Club members get exclusive access to view and purchase my work for TWO DAYS! Be sure to sign up for that, here!
As for staying connected with everything else, I line that out on my Connect page. Get the updates newsletter, join the Collectors’ Club, find me on all of the socials, start an activity streak with us, join the Successfully Bold Community (which is still in creation, but a definite piece of the whole), find out about our estate sale business, cheer on the Seahawks, geek out about guitars with John, and more!
We plan on having fun, so I hope that you join us going forward. Thanks so much for visiting, and I’ll see you soon!
Em⭐️
Oh, one more thing: In an effort to give visitors things to read on this shiny new blog of mine, and to help you become familiar with what I’m all about, I unceremoniously plugged in some posts from my fb & ig. Going forward, I’m going to try to mirror my posts here onto Facebook. Sometimes I’ll do that with an Instagram post too. We’ll see how the logistics of that go… but for now, you’ve got some things to read! 😁