painting up a storm

I wanted to take this time to let you know what I've been up to.  Since I lost my job in January I have been spending more time in my studio.  I have set my intention to learn as much as I can in order to feel more confident to teach others.   I have been painting up a storm and learning many new techniques.   Unfortunately, I can not show you those pieces because I have been submitting to magazines.  When you do that they request that you do not post on the Internet.  Show and tell will have to wait for another day. :-(

I have 2 new artsy friends that I met at an art class and I've been sharing painting time with them.  Carol, and I have consistently been getting together at least once a week to create.  My desire is to surround myself with like minded people.  After working in an office all by myself for 14 years I am thirsty to be around uplifting and inspiring people.   This leads me to my 2nd intention - I am developing an artist community to surround myself with.   I want to strengthen my friendship with my artist friends I already have.  When you ladies read this call me and let's create something fun together. Linda Kinnman let's learn about ice resin since we already have all the stuff.   Linda Barutha wanna finish the joint compound piece you started?  Kelly Hoernig I just love hanging out with you and always learn so much.

In December I showed you  the 7x12 sheets I had completed.  Each one  begins as left over paint from  my brushes, tray, or whatever.  I just put the paint down on the art paper then finish it later.  I create art with abandon~I just paint without concern about the outcome.  I am gathering so many of these pages I decided to make a binder to put them in.  The first photo is the front of my journal. Fun-Fun-Fun!

What have you been up to?

Thanks for stopping by.

forgiveness

I came across this quote the other day and it just stuck with me.  So one morning before my meditation I made a list of all the people I feel had hurt or betrayed me.  Thanks goodness the list wasn't too terribly long.  I was still surprised at some of the names that showed up.  I went one step further and wrote down what I perceived they had done to me that hurt so much, that had caused me to hold onto resentment.  I'll be honest, by the time I was done writing my hand was extremely fatigued and I had used up alot of space in my journal.   This whole experience took me down memory lanes where I had resisted going and in some cases I cried, very hard.   It was difficult to relive, in my heart, the pain and sadness of what had happened, to revisit the friendships lost and the connections lost.  Yet I felt like this was exactly what I needed to do.  I took the time to, individually, forgive each and every person. This is when I cried the hardest.  I am aware that forgiveness doesn't mean that it's OK what the other person did, because it isn't.  I may or may not ever have a relationship with any of these people again and I am fine with that.  I am making a choice to no longer allow what happened to reside in my heart.  The truth is...we are all just people doing the best we can,  living and learning about life.  I know I have hurt people, too,  said things and done things that I am not proud of which is why I was #1 on my list of forgiveness.  I know that I am better today than I use to be and as time goes on, if I am vigilant,  I will be better tomorrow and all the days to come.

Later in the day I re-read my entry in my journal and I was blown away by what I learned.  Everyone, I mean everyone,  I had on list that I felt had wronged me actually had in actuality provided me with a valuable lesson.  I have always believed that "when the student is ready the teacher will appear"and that is what had happened.  Only in these times the teacher was disguised.

Thank You for the gift of being able to look deeper into my heart and for learning to let go.  The more I practice letting go of resentments the more room I will have in my heart for love.
                                     

48 Weeks with Donna Downey

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A few weeks ago I  posted about being on a fence about a decision I wanted to make.  It was rather I should sign up for a year long art class with Donna Downey or not.  To be honest with you, it was the cost of the class that was causing my hesitation.  But when I broke it down  each class came out to be about $15.00 per class.  It was then that I realized I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by.  

When I saw it like that, it was a no brainer.  

And you want to know what else... I get to keep all the lessons, forever.  So if I fall behind that's OK because I can download the classes or just stream them whenever time allows for me to do them.  My goal is to do one a week but we all know how life changes.  I may sound like an advertisement  but that is my enthusiasm coming thru.  For 3 years Donna offered Wednesdays Inspirations  that were free.  Go check her out and her style of teaching.  If she resonates with you come join 48 Weeks class with us and learn to create beautiful art.

Donna is one of my most favorite artist. I love the style in which she teaches.  She is not pretentious about being perfect or not making mistakes.  She often says something is wonkie or a hot mess.  She reinforces to  just keep moving forward and the piece will turn around.  This approach works for me.

I signed up for the class and I am loving it.  Let me show you the first project I did in her class.  I am working in a Moleskine that measure 16.5" x 23" when it is spread open.  Quite large for what I am accustomed to.

Cranky Old Man

I was reading face book today and I came across this story  (click the link) posted by Debbie Saporta. 
When I read this story I knew deep within my soul that this was a message to me.  I started sobbing.  I have been asking the Universe for guidance, writing about it in my journal, and practicing being quiet enough to hear the messages.  All the while the messages have been there.  

I've talked about my passions for the older generation to friends but I have never opened myself up so publicly like I am today.    I realize I am taking a risk by speaking my truth yet I have confidence that the timing is right.

I have this thing for senior citizens.  Ever since I can remember, even as a young person,  they have been special to me.  My mom knew this, so much so that when she passed away she had engraved in her tombstone as a reminder for me.

Most of my adult life I have either worked in a nursing home or have volunteered in one.   They haven't changed much since the first time I stepped foot into one.  I have empathy for the staff who works there.  Yes, I will admit that I even sometimes can loose my patience, too. In  my opinion, nursing homes are under staffed and under paid.    I speak often to my friends that when I go to a nursing home I don't want to be known as the little old lady who pees in her chair,  I want to be know for who I am.  That is exactly what this man is saying in his poem.   

I am profoundly aware of the change in me since I have let my creative spirit out to play.  I am convinced that it can do the same for other people, even more so for senior citizens.  I may discover more creative Late Bloomers.  ( I shake my head with amazement to realize I was receiving messages when I started this blog)  Here is what I want to do.  I want to teach art to seniors.  Not for the sake of becoming a Picasso or Rembrandt but instead to just tap into their creative nature and bring a little more brightness to their day.  Don't know where or how, I just feel that is what I am suppose to be doing.  Can't explain it any better than that!  Get this...back in November I   did this spread in my art journal 

Then I felt brave and I contacted a paint company and told them what I wanted to do and they sent me 248 bottles of paint, for free.  You see, all the messages are there I just need to stop trying to figure it all out (ego mind) and trust, then keep moving forward.  I know the right circumstance will present themselves and I will meet the right people to guide me.

Thanks Debbie Saporta for sharing this story.

2014 word

Happy New Year!

It was in 2012 that I discovered the power of choosing a word for the year.  Resolutions never seemed to work for me very long but a word had a powerful impact.  A word involves our thoughts which we can master and we all know what we think about, we bring about.

My word for 2012 was beginnings.  I was realizing that I had a passion and that was to follow my creative path. Because this venture was new to me most of the things I was experiencing was a beginning of something new.  I sure learned alot about myself that year.  In 2013 my word became cultivate, with all the things I was learning and all the new people I was meeting I wanted to grow.  And I did just that.  As I approached the new year  I pondered what my word would be and it came to me immediately. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind.

My word for 2014 is (drum roll please.....)

I will throw caution to the wind for whatever peaks my interest.  I am particularly going to saying YES to the Universe.  I truly believe that we all being guided by our intuition, our higher self, our spirit, Universe, God, or who/whatever you want  to call it.  Our responsibility is to listen and then follow.  My heart strings have pulled on me many times and for one reason or another (usually fear) I did not follow.  Now I will say YES.  This excites me beyond words. 

There are many people who have chosen words over resolutions.  What is your word?  I have been commissioned to work on several pieces of people who want to display their word as a reminder.  Here is my daughter's piece.  Tara recently shed 29 lbs. and gained a tremendous amount of self esteem.  I LOVE watching her sparkle again.  She was inspired by Katie Perry's song "Roar".   I did an acrylic transfer to the lion and added the words of the song slightly showing thru the lion.  

Do you have a word for 2014?  

completing unfinished projects

I am starting to feel a weight being lifted as I progress into completing my unfinished projects before the new year rolls in.  I am clearing the way for new adventures in 2014.  

When I create art and I have excess paint left over on my brush or whatever I put it in 1 of 2 places.  I have white craft paper on top of my desk that collects some paint.  I later will use this as wrapping paper.  It's actually quite cute!

OR

I take the extra paint and randomly apply it on a piece of 7x12 mixed media paper that I have prepped with gesso.  My idea was always to complete each sheet later on.  So I set forth my intention to finish them before the end of this year.  Well.... I have met my goal.  Here they are.  They started from excess paint and I used them to try to techniques, too.  I discovered when I painted these there was no fear about "making a mistake".  In fact, it was quite liberating.  I think I will continue with these in 2014.

it all began with a old cabinet door

A couple weeks ago I set an intention to finish projects I have started.  I just finished this one and wanted to share it with you.   It may need some tweaking so I'll hang in within view and eyeball it to see what else, if anything, needs to be done.

                              

Honestly, I am very excited with the end result!!!  I was a happy girl the whole while I worked on it.  There was so much attention to details rendered to this piece.  It all began with the foundation being an old cabinet door, this set the tone for what would later unfold.  The door measures 13.5" x 20.5".  I know I wanted to create something with a "vintage" feel to it.  Having the background as joint compound,  I textured then applied multiple layers of acrylic paint.  It's impossible to  appreciate the layers in this photo.   The vase is made from small apple sauce containers (go figure!)  that I cut in half, adhered together, then started adding layers of light molding paste.  I wanted the surface to appear aged and I believe I achieved that.  In sections of the vase it even looks cracked.  Yay!  Oh the lovely flowers... they are pieces of a doily that I cut up and shaped.  They turned out awesome!  I painted them with Pan Pastels because I wanted the color to be subtle and allow the original color of the doily to show thru.  I had chalk dust all over me when I was done but oh what joy it was!  

Magical things can happen 

when you let your creative spirit out to play!