Quote of The Day

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Energy Vampires Paint Party Friday

A Birthday Card created for my friend. The girl appeared out of the paint! 
I think she must be sad about all the unrest in the world. 
My heart goes out to those in Boston and Waco as they grieve their losses.
Here in Canada I too had a melt down when I heard about Boston....so sad.
Energy  Vampires, a topic Cupcake, and a few friends discussed the other day!   Complaining how family members had sucked them dry of energy to the point that they needed a nap! Cupcake concurred, but  explained how a gathering of forty of her in-laws  actually energized her. A calm jovial crowd can be revitalizing for me too!! While a busy rambunctious crowd  of four can do the very opposite!
Loud background music while I'm trying to converse, constant  interruptions during the day, arguments, ignorant confrontations, negativity, physical pain and mean people  are all  energy vampires for me! Once I recognized how those things affect me, it's been easier to avoid them.
Confused House Slaves

For years my life was a constant bustle with an endless list of to-dos and little sleep. As a kid I was my mothers house slave, after I got married, my own house slave!! Big fat energy Vampire there!! As a single mom, I was an even bigger house slave... A few aches and pains later I am no longer a house slave! Which can be an even a bigger energy Vampire... cuz I really hate messes.

But I do feel grateful being able to  enjoy more creative moments!  
Digital Pink House Slaves
Small talk, should be easy, right? For me, not so much!! It's an energy Vampire!! If I have to requisition  unnatural small talk from another,  I panic. It's just not my forte. I prefer  silence or music. A place where ideas bloom.

Detoxing House Slaves

Meaty  intimate talk about love, life and differing perspectives gets my creative juices flowing! I enjoy non threatening  diverse opinions that I can mill over and learn from! I love connecting with others to  learn  something new and interesting, to bring away new ideas, varied perspectives, not petty judgements. When I feel connected it replenishes my energy, and in turn my creativity!

I had a fairly secure life as a child still there was lot of mood chaos and criticism. Trust me I tried so hard to please to no avail. My mother was an energy vampire and I was a little house slave who grew  into a very very very big house slave!!
Vibrant House Slaves
  My  presence alone, without speaking   can be a bit energy vampirish!!  However my daughter was never a house slave, I kept criticism  at bay supporting certain teenage trends. And I'm still friends with her!!! Yeah me!!
Resigned House Slaves
What are your energy Vampires? Which ones can you deduct from your life to make more room for creativity and other things you LOVE? 

Make sure to visit Paint Party Friday and enjoy the diverse collection of artists!!
Also joined Eclectic Paperie for the first time!! The theme is flowers! 
Linked to Artist in Blogland 
Dutch Dare Card Challenges 

63 comments:

Netty said...

Great story as ever.....love your vampire girl and those House slaves are pure genius. Happy PPF, Annette x

GlorV1 said...

Love your house slaves. They all seem pretty peppy to me. Love the colors as always. Happy PPF!

sharon said...

Oh I love your house slaves, yeah I was once a house slave, but broke the chains and soared!

Marji said...

First off... love the artwork!!! Second, I totally hear you about energy vampires. I've met them and its totally exhausting!! takes me days to recover. Best to keep clear if life allows that. that's for sure.

Ginny said...

Your birthday card is beautiful. I am sure your friend will love it.

I used to needlessly worry about things I had no control over. That is definitely an energy vampire. Now, I concentrate on the positive things that life has to offer and the energy flows.

denthe said...

energy vampires .... I like that word! There are lots of those, and I try to stay away from them, which is not always easy. My biggest energy vampire is an endless to-do-list .... I really need some better timemanagement in my life :-) Love your girl, and the houseslaves are hilarious. Love them!

www.dorissdaughter.com said...

Great interpretation of "House Slaves" I spend a lot of time indoors but I don't let the energy vampires in and the worries of housework can wait until I've finished my painting!!

Rosie said...

So wonderful artwork.

Happy PPF and have a wonderful weekend

Tracey FK said...

I do like that term energy vampires... great descriptor... I went through a bit of a vampire slaying last year and cleared out a lot of the time thieves and energy sappers... and life is pretty good... I have to say that scrubbing the shower does my head in like nothing else... but I hate when they are anything but sparkling so they are necessary vampire... can't really think of any others to tell you the truth... great post... you always get me thinking
T xx
ps Sinus is whipping up a lovely stuffed snapper for dinner as I type so he got the hint from your comment... well done you... hope its edible... he hasn't the best track record!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the thoughts about Boston...my son's friend worked with the young gal who was lost, the world is small and we need to be a positive good in it. Waco too, wow, that was a shocker. I love your pieces and your talk about energy vampires....I can relate as I think most women can, been a single Mom too at one time and know how much work that is. Time to move those vampires out of the way for good and surround ourselves with the positive people. Happy PPF. xox

froebelsternchen said...

Oh my gosh!
F+A+N+T+A+S+T+I+C!

Happy PPF!
Susi
from
monthly challengeblog
ART-JOURNAL-JOURNEY

Valerie-Jael said...

Another fantastic post! Valerie

soulbrush said...

okay you did it- those house slaves made me 'giggle' so hard i nearly choked on my breakfast. You rock gal! Happy PPF.

Anne Manda said...

Wonderful post! House slaves are so fun and original in their many moods and the sad girl is beautiful! <3

Lorraine said...

great happy paintings happy ppf

AM Zafaran said...

Love the metaphors! And your creations! I am in the process of getting rid of energy vampires who sap my energy... trying to jump out of being a slave to others expectations!

Erika said...

I love the Expression of your energy Vampire. She is looking perfect !
Your slaves are fantastic too. Very cool idea :)
Happy PPF and hugs
Erika

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

I love the softness of your lady with the blooming hair! The subtle colors are a delight to the eye. As to your question, although I have very good social skills and can interact in large groups with ease, it totally drains me. That's why I literally need time to work in my art studio alone so that I can recharge. Even during family gatherings, which I love, I need to have time with my artwork to survive. That's why I travel with art supplies. Have a great week, my friend!

Dianne said...

Beautiful card you made, and those "house people" made me smile...love their crazy socks! as for energy vampires, I avoid them. and I never claimed to be a good housekeeper either! happy PPR!

Linda Kunsman said...

Your portrait at the top is really lovely. And your house slaves-very creative-love em!!! Oh I have done some dark journal pages on energy vampires some yrs. ago. And even now when I look back at them once in awhile I get sad thinking I allowed myself in those positions and allowed the vampires to suck me dry. But they were valuable lessons learned. I also had hubby read the book "Toxic Parents" after I'd read it and it was immensely helpful :) Happy PPF my friend!

Ivy said...

Ah, energy vampires, I know them well! Love your art this week. HPPF!

PaintingWrite said...

another thought provoking post! I refer to them as emotional vampires but I am guessing it's the same thing. I used to have a friend who was an emotional vampire - she totally sucked the joy out of life. When things were going good for me she resented it and failed to be happy for me. I constantly felt as though I was walking on egg shells in case I upset her and if she was in a bad mood always felt guilty that I had done something wrong (when realistically I knew I hadn't). Eventaully when she hinted I was a bad friend because I wanted to spend all my time with my husband (then my boyfriend) before he went away to the Falklands for 6 months with the army I realised I had had enough of keeping a friendship that sucked me dry and simply cut her loose. It was truly liberating! I totally agree with you about making small talk with folk who you have to drag conversation out of - it is something I hate. I'd sooner have silence but not if it's one of those uncomfortable silences where you are desperately trying to think of something to talk about. Funny how with some people it's like that but with others the conversations just flow!

Paper rainbow said...

Ha Ha, I am no longer a house slave! I have escaped, my children have left home and I now choose to live in mess ( well realitive mess )Work has taken over as my energy vampire, that and the lonnnnng winter, hoping for a bit of warmth soon ...great post!! Thanks for dropping by my place :)

Unknown said...

I love those houseslaves. I think they are staring at me accusingly because I need to reload the dishwasher...

Victoria said...

Gorgeous art..the card is stunning..her eyes so magical and gentle too..she is divine..awesome! Love your house slaves and all colorful characters..really intriguing .and all that you shared!Shine on and bright..and banish those E-V's!
Wishing you a fab wkd! Thanks again for a brilliant post!
Happy PPf!

Sending love and peace to all those hurt by these sad tragedies..thanks for your thoughtful words!
Victoria

Ilona Heimböckel said...

You come up with such incredible words: house slaves but especially energy vampire, what expression! Well I'm afraid I'm a bit of both from time to time. Not nice, when I think about it just now, but I'm working on it, to become a more generous spirit to be with, when times are tough. It can be difficult to be the nice spirit always.

Wonderful illustrations for the day/post!

Happy PPF and

Hugs Ilona

Unknown said...

Energetic vampires do exist unfortunately or not. Very interesting and honest post and very original art. Thank you for sharing. Have a great PPF!!!

PiaRom said...

Your stories are always amazing and so much fun to read ;) I adore your houseslaves, they are gorgeous!! ♥ Conny
http://piaromsartjournaling.blogspot.de

Faye said...

Beautiful portrait for the birthday card, Sherrie. I am sincerely hoping the house cleaning police don't come and haul me away. I do not like messes either so things look fairly neat. Beware if you open a cabinet door. (Think Fibber McGee and Molly of the really olden days) I need to try to do a real spring housecleaning.

Christine said...

Lovely card for your friend! I'm a house slave.

Anonymous said...

House slave are wonderfully creative and great post ~ love your lady with the beautiful face and hair ~ your art style is so delightful! Happy Weekend ^_^

Anonymous said...

House slave are wonderfully creative and great post ~ love your lady with the beautiful face and hair ~ your art style is so delightful! Happy Weekend ^_^

Anonymous said...

Your house slaves are so creative and dazzling and your lady is beautiful with here lovely eyes and hair ~ Great art style ~ Happy Weekend ^_^

Elisa said...

another lovely post giggles. I especially love this: I love connecting with others to learn something new and interesting, to bring away new ideas, varied perspectives, not petty judgements. When I feel connected it replenishes my energy, and in turn my creativity! Can i post this on my fb page? With your name of course.

Love your illustrations!

Ritu Dua said...

A vibrant post...the art and the words do touch my heart...I am not scare of depths but of shallow living...it hampers creativity !

JKW said...

Interesting way to put it, yep, I was my mother's house slave and she was an energy vampire. I loved family growing up, we never knew who would stop by on Sunday's for dinner. . . made for a wonderful day. Grandmother always expected company. I miss those days when family always got together. Love your art. Blessings, Janet PPF

bellefrogworks said...

You are an introvert (do not read shy) with a creative and thoughtful heart. I love the concept of energy vampires. I guess the vampires that suck the most energy from me are those that lie to me. Your house slaves are great - I was once one as well. I do not "like" mess - but I've learned to live with some. Your flower girl is lovely and has such a sad (wistful?) expression. Lovely post! HPPF

Maria Ontiveros said...

I love these - so unique!! Happy PPF!
Rinda

Unknown said...

This post is really great. There are a lot of energy suckers around and for some reason my dog is one of them! Not much to do to change that. But, I do love him to pieces when he's not being a turd! haha

I really think that my favorite is the detoxing house slaves. Very interesting!

Joy Murray said...

Love this post! I learned sometime in my 30s that there were "creativity vampires." Also there are those dark cloud to every silver lining people. I have broken my addiction to house cleaning now, but loved your house-slaves. The card is so sweet. I think the world is reeling from Boston's tragedy. Thanks for carrying on and bringing much needed humor and perspective into our lives.

DVArtist said...

Anything with vampires no matter what is good for me. I love your art. It is bright, inspirational, and full of life.
Nicole/Beadwright

Kristin said...

YES! Avoiding negativity is a good one! And I know you must - as you are always so positive, which I love :) Your cupcake is a lucky girl :)
Great art too BTW, and I love your Illustration Friday piece below too, xoxo
OH! And yesssss, do check out the book - I know you will love it!

SAMARA said...

Wow Gigs, what a powerful post! I know these as emotional vampires, people who suck you dry of all your energy. Yup...your last paragraph of the intimate talk...me too. and that small talk - yuk!!!! boring!!! rather be reclusive. your houseslaves just say it all and your womyn is so serene and gorgeous yet full of emotion and could be also around energy vampires but hiding it! hard to say...it would be interesting to se what you have to say about it. she is gorgeous though, and your creativity is enormous! i am so glad I am here. {heart} samara

minnemie said...

Great post. Your depiction of the house slaves are so excellent! Love especially the resigned house slaves' stockings! They may be resigned to whatever, but coming into their won with those fashion statements:-) I am with you on small talk... exhausting. But let's dig deep en really get down to who we are and what makes life both hard and beautiful, and I am fully energized.

morning prayer blog said...

I'm brand new to PPF and loved your whimsy and quirkiness and the story you told. thanks.
I'm at morningprayerblog.blogspot.com

Ayala Art said...

Your house-people are awesome hehehe Even if the feeling behind them is not so great. I love how you have them in different colors ♥

Annabelle said...

Energy Vampires ~ I believe we all are sometimes bound, restricted and depleted of positive energy from
negative energies.This is excellent , luv it!

Rhonda Halushka said...

Love the house slaves! LOL

Viola said...

What a lovely face that reveals between the flowers! A sad facial expression..
and yes, me too, I was sad to hear on the news lately. let's go together for a happy world! filled with green leaves and fresh air and love.
:)

Carola Bartz said...

Your artwork is truly amazing.
My dad is a huge energy vampire for me. Sometimes I am my worst energy vampire, ugh!!! And small talk? I am not good at it either and am certainly no friend of it.

K J D said...

Great post and fantastic art too.

I avoid energy vampires and people generally who don't make me feel happy! Who needs them?

Karen x

Marjie Kemper said...

So glad you joined us at eclectic Paperie with your fine haired lady... the flowers are fabulous!

Laura said...

Fabulous artwork as ever and such inventive labels for "house slaves" and "energy vampires".

Tam Hess said...

What adorable art...I love that art program you used for your header, isn't it wonderful the awesome stuff you can create it's just so much fun I'm in love!!

janice smith said...

Hello hello! Wonderful artwork this week! As much as I am in love with your bright colors I am also intrigued by your black and white version of the girl on the birthday card. The eyes in both versions have me mesmerized. The idea of energy vampires is intriguing. I believe my main creativity drain these days is unnecessary drama.

jane said...

Love your house slave people! So clever :)
I'm very much an introvert (made worse by years in bed with CFS), and almost any social event can leave me drained and exhausted.
I know exactly what you mean about energy vampires, too. I've definitely known a few over the years.
I tend to recognise them early on now and do my best to avoid, but they still get me from time to time :)

Šolanje na domu-Waldorf said...

Love your human houses. :) I'm usually pretty good at avoiding vampires. :) I must say I don't attract them but if I do come upon one I pretty quickly distance myself from them. I can't think of any family member that I would consider an emotional vampire.

Anonymous said...

WOW, what a great post! and your artwork... Just AMAZING!!

Unfortunately we always find that kind of people, they absorb our energy instantly. The only thing we have to do is not allow them in our life... which is kind of hard.

:S

Have an amazing day!
Nora

lorik said...

Interesting reading and exciting art. I like your digital pink - creative - house slaves best -it think it is the socks!!:)) the house slaves at least seem determined and strong in a way - the pink girl with the flowers looks sooo sad.

I too don't like small talk (can't do it! unless I am feeling in a silly mood) and cannot bear loud background music -eg, in a cafe - when I am trying to talk to someone.
Great post:)

J C said...

Girl, your energy vampire post and the art to go with it is totally awesome and spot on! Wonderful words! Fantastic insight! A lot more people need to read this.

I like silence and music too. :)

kat said...

Oh this one is a good one, I like your term "energy vampires" and your art is always so great to go with it! I need my space, time alone, I love being with my husband and children. Being amongst too many people though doesn't do me any good, I love my family very much, last week-end we spent time altogether, we were 11 in all. I love being with them all individually, but I find that altogether there can be too much stress and nervousness. I'm sensitive to this, I like things to flow, no need to make big deals out of nothing, unnecessary dramas. I'm peaceful and around too much nervous energy I can feel affected, so I prefer intimate moments with family and friends.

Tracy said...

Oh your lady is...Beautiful with her lovely flowing hair...love the flowers!
Thanks for joining us over at eclectic Paperie and good luck.
Hugs
Tracy
xoxo

Lucy said...

sher..I've been using this expression too! boy, we are in tune even when we're out of tune. I have ONE energy vampire in some of my zumba classes and it's amazing how draining she is! I sent an email to all with a link to oprahs webpage about them...hoping she would get the hint and try to be more positive! No such luck! we need to wear some freaking garlic around our necks. miss your words and love popping it. OH..and WOW.. you've built up many readers!! (smart people!!) your comment box is blowing up! so so awesome! love u! xox

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...