Cowboy's Sweetheart

“The Rebel” © Deb Trotter ~ “Cowboy’s Sweetheart” Artist

I confess. I am a rebel. I guess many artists fall under that category – but I come by it naturally.

I don’t generally adhere to rules. Don’t like to be told I can’t DO something. Don’t like to follow the crowd – the latest trends – the “you MUST have one of these” hard sells.

If the latest trend is orange – and I don’t look good in orange, don’t like the acidity of orange juice, and would rather be put out to pasture than paint my bathroom orange – then no one or nothing is going to manipulate me into thinking I should put orange in my house.

In fact, I am so stubborn about this that I would probably even refuse to place a bowl of luscious navel oranges on my kitchen table just to be cool.  (Not unless I could stamp “Rebel” on each of them as a graphic “Deb Trotter” statement.)

I supposed that’s an odd admission for someone who licenses to manufacturers. And I’ll admit, when I’ve worked really hard on a design full of rich earth tones (duh – what did I just say about orange?) – and a client tells me that they want pink and purple instead – it’s kind of hard to take. Especially when the art is Cowgirl related.

It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea of a vintage cowgirl wearing a pink cowboy hat and a purple rawhide skirt. But I’ve learned to deal with it – and have come to realize that the challenge really stretches my creativity – and helps me think outside that tooled leather box where I store my pencils and paintbrushes.

So imagine my surprise – when finally getting the A-Okay from my ever-so-careful-with-money hubby, John – that at LAST I can  remodel our house … and design a new Art Studio …. that I find myself embracing the latest color trends. Turquoise. Continue reading →