{"id":661,"date":"2017-12-29T01:00:07","date_gmt":"2017-12-29T01:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/wordpress\/?p=661"},"modified":"2017-12-09T23:25:49","modified_gmt":"2017-12-09T23:25:49","slug":"the-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/the-last-year\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Do you like growth? I do. I am always looking for ways to improve. I tinker with systems.<br \/>\nI want things better. One of the hardest areas to accept for me in the growth department is<br \/>\nlooking back at what I created the year before. I know many people feel this way about their<br \/>\ncreations. Many artists won&#8217;t even look at their past stuff because it is too embarrassing for<br \/>\nthem, or because they pivoted and they now work in a different medium or style.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ah, let&#8217;s accept it. Growth is good in whatever area of life we are discussing!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I rarely get to showcase things I am working on or have experimented with, so I thought I would<br \/>\ndo that for the end of this year. Not only have I been working on my Skittles book, and brainstorming<br \/>\nbook three, I have been trying out some new artistic techniques. Here is a showcase of some of my projects.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"jetpack-slideshow-noscript robots-nocontent\">This slideshow requires JavaScript.<\/p><div id=\"gallery-661-1-slideshow\" class=\"jetpack-slideshow-window jetpack-slideshow jetpack-slideshow-black\" data-trans=\"fade\" data-autostart=\"1\" data-gallery=\"[{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-13.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;666&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and Christian artist Fine art showcase 12&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Abstract Christian Fine Art ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-15.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;667&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and Christian artist Fine art showcase 15&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Bold and loose by L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-20jpg.jpg?fit=267%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;673&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and Christian artist Fine art showcase 2017 num&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;One of my personal projects is to make a Fine Art piece for each of my children. This is one of my middle girls. ~ L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-6.jpg?fit=400%2C500\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;676&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and artist of Christian fine art and books 1&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;I enjoy working with portraits. I believe everyone should have a fine art picture of themselves. ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-7.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;690&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and artist Christian fine art 5&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The changing of seasons impacts us all. It\\u0026#8217;s always good to reflect in those times at where you are and where you want to go. ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-12.jpg?fit=400%2C267\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;665&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and artist of Christian fine art and books show&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;I love it when I can make a fine art picture that tells a story. I want to go and explore it. ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-18.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;674&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A. James author and Christian artist Fine Art showcase 18&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The simple things of God hold so much beauty. Fall blessings. Christian Fine art. ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-10.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;682&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A. James author and artist of Christian Fine art and books sho&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;I have been working on making an image that I felt signified where I have been in the last year. Fine Art can hold many meanings for the artist. ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-16.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;680&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and Christian artist fine art showcase 16&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The beauty of God\\u0026#8217;s world shines in all creation. Fine art by L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-1.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;669&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James Fine Art&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;This flower was turned into something new. So like many of us. Fine Art by L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-2.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;670&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A. James artist, author, inspirational Christian fine art 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;God\\u0026#8217;s beauty is everywhere. It continually tells of his love for us. Fine Art by L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-14.jpg?fit=400%2C267\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;681&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and Christian artist fine art showcase 14&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Abstract Christian Fine Art ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-3.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;679&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A. James Author and Artist Christian Inspirational Fine Art 3&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The little birds speak of God\\u0026#8217;s care, and they are a continually reminder of his care for us. Fine Art by L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-4.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;675&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and artist Inspirational Christian Fine Art&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The cardinals visit me three times a day. This is one of my favorite males. Fine Art by L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-5.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;671&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James Author and Artist of Christian inspirational books and&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;This little fellow was a captive I encountered one fall day. He was hostage (held by a little rope), yet he didn\\u0026#8217;t realize it was to save his life. Meaning always exists within Fine Art. ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-9.jpg?fit=400%2C500\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;677&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and artist of Christian Fine Art showcase 8&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The story of elephants is deep. They are one of God\\u0026#8217;s wonders. ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-17.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;678&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and Christian artist Fine Art showcase 2017 17&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Many people overlook the little things in life, yet in those little things, I believe God speaks. Fine Art by L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-11.jpg?fit=400%2C267\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;668&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and artist of Christian Fine art and books show&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;To every season there comes hope. Fine art by L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-8.jpg?fit=400%2C267\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;672&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and artist Christian Fine art showcase 7&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The endangered animals touch my heart. It seems those following after God are in a similar boat sometimes. Fine Art by L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-19.jpg?fit=400%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;664&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A.James author and Christian artist Fine art showcase 19&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;What can art say to you? If you look think deeply there is a message. ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/L.A.James-author-artist-inspirational-art-21jpg.jpg?fit=320%2C400\\u0026ssl=1&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;663&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;L.A. James author and Christian Artist Fine Art Showcase Emma th&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;One of my favorite dogs is the poodle. I enjoy showcasing them as fine art. ~L.A. James&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}]\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you like growth? I do. I am always looking for ways to improve. I tinker with systems. I want things better. One of the hardest areas to accept for me in the growth department is looking back at what &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/the-last-year\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,26,13,6,21,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-behind-the-curtain","category-creative","category-digital-art","category-fine-art","category-products-in-the-store"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/December-29-2017-The-Last-Year-L.A.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5khoZ-aF","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":691,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions\/691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswritinganddesign.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}