Hello Steemit! So excited to be here with you all! My name is Kara Elizabeth.
I grew up around the ocean - with surfing and sailing being a big part of my life. I've recently been able to jump back into sailing and it has been such a joy. (Getting back to surfing is next on my list!)
My brother, @lukestokes got me excited about joining up with Steemit to share my art and my stories. I was so amazed by the concept of Steemit. What an incredible way to start building something that has the possibility to create change and build connection at the same time. I was totally on-board and joined. Then I immediately got cold feet and didn't post anything! Fear and second guessing took over. But today, I'm finally brave enough to share!
So here are some photos and little tidbits to give you a little feel for who I am, and who I am becoming.
Painting & Art
For as long as I can remember I've loved to draw and paint. Both my dad and my mom were really inspirational in their drawing abilities. I decided that I wanted to develop this family trait, and grow as an artist. Eventually (through lots of outside encouragement), I pursued this dream and got an art degree. I'm super stoked because this year I was asked to join an art Gallery in Laguna Beach, California, which is a life dream.
Friends and customers often ask me to paint pictures of special moments or things they love. This is a painting I created for a customer who had visited Alaska and wanted something special to remember that trip. She asked me to paint a little fox for her too!
Design & Landscaping
Transforming outdoor areas into beautiful and connecting spaces is one of my passions, and I've turned that into a career/company, which has been such a blessing. I create all kinds of designs, small and large, you name it. I've seen what an impact this can have on people's quality of life and that gets me excited about helping people transform their yards (or even a balcony or a borrowed area of dirt!)
Good Eats
I'm always creating new recipes and improvising in the kitchen. I love fresh, good quality food. I've grown a lot of our food over the years (we've even raised chickens for eggs, and rabbits for adding fertilizer [aka, rabbit poop, haha!] to the soil – all in a suburban neighborhood!) And I like to support local farmers when we can. I'm looking forward to sharing recipes and food related goodness here.
Personal, Spiritual
I have a deeply spiritual side of me, and I'm continually working on learning how to have greater love. I want to become more alive and unafraid. I've lived through my share of tragedies (loss of home, loss of parents, loss of child, brain tumor surgery, to name the big ones), and I still have a huge sense of hope and an incredible thankfulness for this crazy, beautiful thing called life!
Welcome !
Thank you!
You're so nice for commenting on this post. For that, I gave you a vote!
Thanks; I try to be kind with everyone I interact with and treat them with the same respect that I would want to be treated with. I think it's a good way to live, and people generally respond pretty nicely back. Makes for a much less stressful life! Thanks for the vote. That's cool.
Nice art!
Thank you for letting me know that you liked it! I appreciate that.
Niice art! Check this out @catherinegairard! Steemit is full of artists ^^
Holy popular Batman what a great post .
Oh my gosh, I'm totally laughing and happy right now! I love the way you wrote that!!! Awesome. Looks like you've got some cool creative/musical stuff going on. I liked your lyrics in the recent competition you were in. Looking forward to hearing more..
Awesome, I'm glad you like it! Thank you for telling me and for sharing it with a friend. I love to see the creative things that people are working on. So enjoying this creative and vibrant community.
Beautiful art & design! @KaraElizabeth
Welcome, once again to @Steemit, Kara Elizabeth
@LukeStokes has been an inspiration to me & the community.
Wow this is incredible. Such a professional post!
Why thank you so much! I've always enjoyed writing and photography, so it was fun to be able to share both here. I use a lot of photos I take for my art and garden businesses, so it's nice to know I'm on the right track. Thanks for sharing!
Welcome! Any sister of @lukestokes is a friend of mine! I love your artwork and I look forward to seeing more of it here.
Thanks Sean! :)
Wow, thanks for the beautiful welcome, Sean! So glad to finally be in @lukestokes world! We've been talking about it for so long, and he's been telling me about all the things he's been learning and how he's grown. I'm glad that I finally jumped in too.
I noticed that you have yoga as an interest on your profile. I have been practicing yoga for the past two years or so, and all I can say is "transformation". I feel like a secret super hero because of the strength I've gained through consistently practicing. I'm constantly amazed by it.
Thanks again for the welcome. All the best!
Wow! Quite amazing work!
Sweet! Thank you so much! So cool to hear.
really great paintings @karaelizabeth, and welcome to STEEMIT! I look forward to "appreciating" your watery landscapes and other artwork as well! 😀
A very big thank you for your welcome and compliments on my artwork. That means a lot to me. I've got another two posts in the works and many more to follow. So happy to be here.
well, I look forward to seeing them, bring 'em on! :)
welcome Kara Elizabeth ... great having you here. So lloking forward for your upcoming posts... I really do hope they going to be as exiciting as this little preview you just have given to us.
warm regards
Thank you for the wonderful welcome! I'm working on some fun new posts today, and just loving the process! So many great things to share.
I love your colorful profile image and startup business! My mom used to make the most amazing flavored liquours with sweet berries and herbs - your photo reminds me of that. I wish I was in Germany to support you! I've traveled through Germany and stayed with a family there that grew most of their own food - so inspiring for me. I hope to return again some day. May you have rich success with your lovely new endeavor.
Thank you for the kind words, dear ... lets make this a fun place to be for everyone. I wish you all the best of luck here on steemit :) huggs
btw: upped & resteemed so all of us can get a chance seing quality content :)
Thank you so much for the great vote of confidence! I'm honored.
Welcome to the community!:)
Thank you for the welcome! Definitely appreciated.
Welcome, amazing art work!
Upvoted and resteemed. You draw and paint beautiful pictures. Highly appreciated. Welcome!
So glad you appreciated the post. Makes me feel great. Thanks for taking the time to comment and for the support. I'm thankful for it!
I have just joined Steemit and came upon this post whilst looking through introductory posts. Very impressed by your art and your story and am looking forward to seeing more :)
Love from Edinburgh, Scotland!
Janine xo
Oh you're from Edinburgh, Scottland! That's one of my favorite places in the world! So lovely. I went through Edinburgh on one of my most amazing and life changing adventures. And then I had the pleasure to visit another time with the love of my life and two of my favorite people. It will always have a wonderful spot in my heart.
Thank you for your kind words about my first post. I'm already really enjoying being here, and sharing and learning. I'm getting to connect with wonderful people from all over the world - and here you are bringing up warm and wonderful memories for me. Thank you for your kindness and for taking the time to say hello. So nice to meet you.
P.S. I looked at your page and I love the recent photo you took of those three friends holding hands with the sunlight coming through. (And we soak a lot of our tree nuts and seeds too! ) It might be too early to tell, but we may be kindred spirits!
I love hearing this. There is something about this city that attracts experiences like that. Chance meetings or situations that have a heartfelt significance.
Are you living in California now?
My husband is from Dallas, Texas but we are living together in Edinburgh. Still we visit the States quite often and have been to California a few times together to go to Santa Monica and meet with a man who he has been filming for about ten years now called Tachowa Covington. He lived in a water tower on Santa Monica Pier, off the grid, hidden from society then English Graffiti artist Banksy tagged his tank and then his whole life changed. Anyway, that's my connection to California :)
I was just looking for inspiration to do my welcome and I've gotta say - thank you for being so open and sharing who you are! I love the garden designs concept - that's not something that comes easily to me but I love gardening. My stuff ends up looking a bit messy and unplanned haha. It needs the eye of an artist - will follow and wait on the book :)
I looked up you introduction post and commented there too. You live in a beautiful area! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your posts.
Thank you for your really kind words about my intro post. Very kind of you. I'm looking forward to posting and sharing more. I'll keep you posted on the book. Making progress bit by bit.
@karaelizabeth WoW, I love your intro. Super happy to find someone like you. Thanx for listening to your brother lol I'm also in SoCal. You will soon find out how fun and great it is to be part of the Steemit community. Is definitely a great place to share your passion :D Following!
Welcome Home :)
Hi there! Nice to meet another SoCal steemian (if that's what you call it? I'm still learning the lingo, haha!) Looks like you are having a lot of fun on steemit too. I think when we share our passion helps ignite others. Thanks for following and the welcome home!
Welcome Kara, Welcome. Looking forward to seeing you posts.Followed, upvoted and resteemed.
nice comment sir. keep it up
Wow, excellent. Thank you for the support and welcome. I'm so happy to be here.
Welcome to Steemit
Thanks for the welcome.
Welcome to the steemit family! Looking forward to your art and good foods ;)
Thank you for the welcome! Looks like you have lots of wonderful "good food" posts. Excellent!
Welcome To Steemit!
You are really going to like it here. This is a unique place where there is no competition. Instead, we all work to build success by helping each other out. The best way to grow is to build Steem Power and vote to reward other authors.
This is a great place to network with other people from all over the world. If you continually post great content you will grow a following in no time and start making some nice author rewards.
I encourage you to take the time to search for other posts that interest you and upvote them. Also, start following authors that post good content and upvote them as well. Make some friends and you will be well on your way to earning some nice curation rewards and growing your following!
Best Of Luck!
Spencer Coffman
My Latest Article: Prioritize Your Life
Hi Spencer! That's great advice that I intend to follow. I'm excited about exploring, voting for great content, and having good conversations.
I'm loving that there are so many diverse people from all over the world on Steemit. I love to travel and explore new places and connect with new people, so this is exactly the kind of place I want to be (and I can explore in my pajamas if I want to!)
Thanks for taking the time to comment and share some great advice. I definitely appreciate it!
You're Welcome! You are right. This is an incredibly diverse place with people from all over the world. It is great because you can hop on at anytime no matter where you are or what you're wearing. As long as you have internet :).
I look forward to seeing you progress here on Steemit. I have no doubt you'll do very well.
See My Latest Post
Right on Kara, welcome to Steemit and stoked to see where your adventures lead! Would love to hear more about creating a garden perfect for me (or anyone) and I'm ultra-psyched to see you get back into surfing. Any sport where we ride earth energy is rad! Again, welcome!
Thanks so much!! I'm super stoked to be able to pursue the things I love. And very excited that I'm finally sharing those things in a broader way. Yes, the ocean and surfing have been calling to me. I'm going to be carving out some free time here soon, so surfing here I come! I love that - "we ride earth energy". Cool description.
I read your article on Sugar Overdose - great post! I can so relate. I left you a comment and gave you an upvote. Nice work.
Excellent, psyched to have you on board. To earth energy & art! :)
Welcome! Glad you can bring your multitude of talents to this platform. Enjoy!
Thank you, Ben. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment. I'm excited to share the things that I love and am passionate about.
I went over to your blog and watched your recent video on on credibility and expanding your influence - very well said. I completely agree that living a full life with integrity and a definite sense of purpose or mission have a huge part to play in our connection and credibility with others.
Congrats on a wonderful life.
Thanks so much. I've definitely been through my ups and downs - beautiful times, dark times, joyful times. I'm so thankful that I didn't give up during the hard times so that I can enjoy the beautiful times all the more!
Hi! Welcomme to Steemit! ;)
Nice Drawings
Follow Me if you Want!
nice to mee too @karaelizabeth
Amazing and very interessing post thank you for sharing
resteemed and shared in the steemit
I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for your kind words, and shares!
Hello there fellow artist! =D Im new here as well so nice to meet ya! I'm gonna give you a follow and if you get a chance be sure to check out my art on my page also ^_^ -Nycto
Hi there. Wow, you've really developed your talent working with figures. That takes a lot of work. Very cool. I liked the face you created in your "first study of the new year". Looks like you're having a lot of fun! Thanks for the hello!
Hi Kara! Your paintings are absolutely stunning -- the detail on the pebbles especially is magnificent. Your brother @lukestokes is great, glad he's convinced you on Steemit! I've only been here for a short period of time but I've been really moved by the community. There aren't many places left on the web that still feel like somewhere you can be genuine, and this is one of them for me so far :) Hope you enjoy Steemit and all it has to offer! - Lex
Hi there! Thank you so much for your incredibly kind words about my paintings! Makes me feel great. It's nice to be at a place in my painting that I can make things look the way I want them to. Very satisfying!
I'm seeing quite a level of authenticity and people responding in a genuine way here as well. It makes me feel like I can just be who I am. That is pretty liberating in and of itself.
I keep hearing awesome things about my brother. It's really fun to see that and to be able to jump into his world and see more of what he has been up to. Thanks for sharing! I appreciate it!
@karaelizabeth I'm amazed to see your paintings. They come alive, almost as if they could jump out at me from the system. Please enter for many of the painting competitions on Steemit and I'm sure you'll be a regular winner.
Please note that I'm following you already so I can track your performance and enjoy your success. Cheers.
This is probably one of the best compliments I've ever gotten about my artwork! Thank you so much.
Very cool about the painting competitions on Steemit - I'm new at this so I didn't know they had them. I'm excited about that. I'll have to research how to find out about them.
So cool that you're following me; I'm excited to start working on my next post and to share more art. Your comments made my day!
Impressive introduction! Beautiful art and I sense your spirituality wonderfully colors your landscape designs. My wife and I have created a woodland garden in the suburbs that serves as an "oasis" for people, pollinators, birds and squirrels! Your designs here show that same connectedness. I look forward to seeing more!!!
defd5a9fac4b4249-photo.jpeg
Oh, that photo is gorgeous! Melts my soul! You are spot on about the spirituality - it is a big part of everything I do, because it is who I am inside - and that is always going to come out (even in ways we don't always understand) I love your approach to creating your woodland garden. I wish I could just sit in it and enjoy the stillness, the beauty and the life. Thank you for a beautiful welcome. My heart is happy right now.
My daughter will love your work. I followed you, and now she will too. She is 15, and drew this for me with colored pencil as her AP project. Art will always have a place in my heart because of my daughter , Anastasia:)
Lovely! I love the outline as well as the detail. Nicely done. Tell Anastasia that, first off, I love her name (so beautiful!), and to keep at it and have fun. I think if we can do that we can be lifelong artists and enjoy the journey. Thank you for sharing her art with me.
Beautiful artwork, you are very talented.
Looks like you have a lot to contribute to the steem community, can't wait to see more.
Have a fantastic day!
So nice of you to say. That makes me happy to hear. I'm excited to share more - SO much to say and to post! Thanks again for commenting.
Great work
Thanks!
Your paintings are awesome, as are the landscaping and the food too. Keep up the good work!
Wow, thanks so much for your comments! Very encouraging.
Love your paintings! Great introductory post - welcome to Steemit! :)
I love your photos! Incredibly gorgeous! I'm following you now, and am so looking forward to seeing more. If you'd be open to it, I think it would be fun to turn one of your photos into a painting.
Thanks for the welcome and kind words!
Thank you for the positive feedback and the follow - and I love the idea of turning a photo into a painting - I'm totally open to that! :D
Awesome! So cool. I'm going to do even more browsing through your photos, and I'll keep you posted. Thanks!!
Awesome! Most of mine are on derekkind.com and Instagram: @derekkind
Wow... Amazing..
Cool, thank you!
Nice welcome eli
Thanks so much. Love the nickname!
Your paintings with the rocks, (For lack of a better word) rocks! Beautifully well done stones. Its really impressive.
Oh I love that - the rocks, rock! Thanks so much!
I had a lot of fun creating them and adding all the color and the detail. It's fun to share here. Thanks for commenting. It means a lot to me.
Very nice post, very nice art 👍
Excellent! Glad you liked both.
Wow, "I'm an artist, landscape designer, writer, and fledgling musician. I love to make great food, and I love adventures." all these in one person.
I am glad you stopped second guessing yourself and finally became brave. Now that your braveness has earned you a chance in recreating people's special moments, your place in their stories will never fade.
Just so you know, I love fresh and quality food too, I mean, who doesn't?
I always joke that I wish I had 5 more lives to live because I have so many things I love to do! Since I've just got this one, I'm making the most of it! Savoring the little things and planning for the big adventures.
I'm so glad that I've finally gotten brave in this area too. I was worried about other people's potential negative comments, and I let that fear stop me. I'm finally at a place where I'm OK, even if people don't like what I'm about. I'm loving what I'm doing and excited to be able to share that.
I love what you wrote "your place in their stories will never fade". That is beautiful. And worth overcoming my fears for. Thank you for sharing it with me!
And you made me laugh about the "fresh, quality food"! I've had people look at me funny when I was all excited about my fresh greens or chicken eggs (I've even had someone tell me they'd rather not eat a fresh home raised egg), so I figured it was worth saying that I like fresh, real, good stuff! Glad that I'm in good company!!!
Welcome to Steemit !
I hope you enjoy as you invest your time, effort and ideas here in the platform. It may take patience to build upvote from Steemians just don't expect too much because at the end all your post will be worth it. I tell you this for I have been here for a while since then it made some adjustments in my life. I love it here and may likewise with you.
Love,
@carpieeew
I agree with you - "at the end all your post(s) will be worth it". Putting time in to share what you love and creating good content is a great thing. And very few things happen overnight. Most things that have real value take time to create and develop. I think posting for the pleasure of sharing and connecting is one of the best motivations because it isn't dependent on factors out of our control. We can feel satisfied knowing that we've done a quality post and made something good. Thanks for the welcome!
I saw a post by your brother a while back when they were visiting the galery where you were showing your paintings and already saw your skill back then but the close ups confirm it.
and any surfer has to be a good person (at least thats what i like to think)
welcome on board with steem
Oh that's so cool! We had such a fun evening that night - at the gallery, eating dinner and exploring Laguna together. It felt like something really special to enjoy with people I love. I feel so blessed! And thank you so much for the compliments on the paintings! Makes me feel great.
I think there are a lot of awesome people that surf. Getting into the water and being moved by something larger than you - that's magical. It makes you stoked and that's contagious.
We just recently moved close to the beach again, so I'm excited to get back into the water.
Congratulations @karaelizabeth, this post is the forth most rewarded post (based on pending payouts) in the last 12 hours written by a Newbie account holder (accounts that hold between 0.01 and 0.1 Mega Vests). The total number of posts by newbie account holders during this period was 3908 and the total pending payments to posts in this category was $3108.97. To see the full list of highest paid posts across all accounts categories, click here.
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Hi there! Wow, you're pretty amazing in your analytics - I'm seriously impressed. What a cool value you're adding for people - something that would be difficult to track down if done individually. Nice job. Thanks for sharing; and how cool that this post is fourth most rewarded! Makes me feel like I'm on the right track. And I know it totally depends on the day and who happens to see it and all that, but it still feels cool for a first post!
Dang! Your art is amazing. Glad that @lukestokes got you on the platform, we're lucky to have you :)
~ Kevin
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Your gardening, homesteading adventures sound right up my alley - I've been growing food since I was a kid. Super cool - I've followed you to keep up on what you're up to. Looking forward to reading some of your posts.
Wow @karaelizabeth it seems you've lived quite a life, both ups and downs. Glad to see you have stayed strong. Welcome to Steemit! I'm also on a spiritual journey though my life started very much with anti-spiritual as I was not aware of the connection we all share. There's a lot of people here I've found that are spiritual and many never had any one to connect to in 'real life', so maybe there is just something about this place that brings people together.
Your paintings are fantastic and it's what drew me to your post, both as and artist myself and a promoter of art. If you're interested I'd really love to feature your artwork soon in our Steemit Art Register posts 😊
Hi there! Thanks for the welcome and sharing a little of your story. I think there is something unique about this space too. Something about it makes me want to post and share. It's an interesting mix of being anonymous in some ways,(especially when you're starting off), but being very known in others. You can connect with people you know and with complete strangers at the same time. I'm really drawn to it.
Thank you for the compliments on my artwork. I'm really stoked that you enjoyed them. I'd love to be a part of the Steemit Art register posts. That would be excellent. It looks like you have a very worthwhile effort going on there. Thank you so much. Looking forward to future connection!
Hi @karaelizabeth welcome to Steemit! It's a lovely introduction of yourself and therefore I wanted to say hello! I haven't been to Steemit for some time but I'm making an effort to do so in 2018 and to post regularly. I noticed that you have quite a creative flair with Fine Arts...I grew up with drawing, painting and illustrating in my elementary, high school and post-secondary years, and I totally admire your talents and hard work. I added you as a Steemit follower, hope you enjoy my contents and let's stay connected :)
Hi there! Thanks for connecting with me - sounds like we have the creative art background in common. I'll be working to post regularly too, so hopefully we can support each other's efforts, and continue to grow and learn.
Thanks @karaelizabeth~ Looking forward to your upcoming posts! Hope you enjoy my old and upcoming posts as well
You have a clear and colorful style and I've followed you because I can't wait to see more! Congratulation on being invited into the gallery in Laguna Beach, it's such a nice area with so many nice restaurants and galleries.
Very cool! Thank you. I've been so excited about the gallery thing. The first time I drove down there I had the hugest smile ever, and my face actually hurt by the time I got there because I had been smiling so much! I love that area too. It inspires me. It was actually where I had my very first art lessons. This amazing artist taught me regular art lessons for free because she believed in me as an artist. Such a cool thing to be full circle and be in a gallery there. And over the past few years I've taught art to huge groups of elementary students for free - it's a beautiful thing; this full circle.
Wow that is really amazing and full circle with a cherry on top. From student to teacher and featured in a gallery as well! I spent a lot of my life growing up in Southern California (San Diego area) and I miss many aspects, such as the beaches, weather, boundless activities, etc. But on the other hand small town life in a smaller community surrounded by mountains, lakes and rivers has it's advantages too :) By the way, I'm an artist too and if you get a chance I'd love to hear your thoughts! Congratulations again and say hi to the ocean for me!
Welcome, Kara! I am going to follow you as everything you've said in this post speaks to me! I love your paintings! I like to paint too- though I only have a "half" of an art degree lol I am getting back into it. I don't have nearly the skills that you do though.
I am super fascinated by your garden/yard design work! I can't wait to see more posts about it. I have wondered about getting into that kind of thing myself but wouldn't know where to start!
In any case, welcome! You have nothing to be afraid of!I will share your post so some of the nice people I know can check you out too!
Cheers!
Hello and thank you for the welcome! I love that what I've said speaks to you. That makes my heart happy.
So glad that you are getting back into painting. Your whale painting that you posted is lovely! You've got beautiful skills from what I see!
I'm definitely looking forward to sharing more of my garden design work. That part of my life has been constantly growing - a huge joy and lots of challenge too. It's stretching me in lots of good ways and has created a lot of growth in me as a person and an artist.
I really love your style of photography that you've been posting. I like the up-close interest shots. I'd like to do more paintings like that - you're inspiring me.
Thanks for sharing my post. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work too. Thanks again for connecting.
@karaelizabeth These paintings are amazing! wow!, Ive literally just started to get into painting at the moment and yours will inspire me to carry on when my paintings look like potatoes. Welcome to Steemit btw
Haha! I should show you some of my paintings at different stages of my life - you would laugh! I love that you're carrying on. I remember being so frustrated at different points early on because what I imagined in my mind wasn't on the paper. Just by keeping at it, not giving up, and getting help from people who were way beyond me, I have been able to grow so much. There is such an amazing satisfaction from being able to paint what you see in your mind and have it work out. You'll get there! It's a fun journey. Share with me as you go! I'd love to see your process.
All the best!
Hi Kara,
I am very new to steemit. Infact, this is my first response in steemit. Your introduction is amazing. This shows how artistic you are. I like all your paintings. I wish you all the very best.
How awesome that I get to see your very first response on steemit! That is excellent! I think we should celebrate. I just upvoted your very first response Woo hoo! (not that it gives you anything $ wise, since I'm new; but I wanted to show my support! LOL.) Thank you for the kind words about my introduction. I really wanted it to be quality and show the things that I love, and a bit about who I am. Thank you for the well wishes! I wish you all the best too. Enjoy and have fun!
Thank you so much. I always have a passion for paintings and art I think is the gift from God. So in that sense, you are a very gifted person. Keep it up.
Welcome on board and thank you for your beautiful introduction!
Thanks for the welcome, from one passionate soul to another!
Awesome work!! keep the art coming!
Wow, thanks so much for the encouragement @victorcalceta ! I've got lots more fun art to post, and new paintings in the works!