Unintended Consequences

When I began my journey of creating 100 pieces centered on women, I chose the ambiguous word "making" to give myself the freedom to use any medium that seemed interesting. I've learned to draw a recognizable female face, both with realism and abstraction in pencil, pen, marker and various types of paint. I've begun to explore highlighting and shadowing to bring dimension. I've grown in confidence as well as skill.

These outcomes I expected.

What I didn't expect was how my day now feels incomplete without creating some kind of lady, how 100 days passes in a heartbeat, how quickly one can assemble a body of work, and how I could easily spend the next year exploring this theme.

But 10 days ago my paintbrush introduced me to my growing tribe of Gaudy Ladies. Who knew I had such joy and delight and color inside me? I can barely wait to get into the studio to see who my brush will create next. What an adventure!

Would I have found them without first doing the 80+ pieces that came before? Who knows. And that no longer matters to me. I'm having the time of my life with these colorful women!

I share all this with you, Precious One, because your own version of my Gaudy Ladies hides inside you wanting to be discovered. Your "ladies" might be songs or dance moves or photographs or poems or stories or flower beds or teachings or massive weights moved or clothes made or closets ordered or books read or any number of skills. You need only choose a task to practice regularly. Your heart is probably giving you hints where to start. Your Creator is faithfully giving you clues on your genre.

I think you may already know where to begin. And what begins as a chore might just develop into incredible joy. Really.

Don't be afraid; dare to follow your heart. Share your task with one other person daily.  Sometimes the accountability of texting an image daily was the only thing that kept me creating!

You truly do have it in you. I believe in the process and I believe in you.

Because I love you. Bunches.

Design Elements in Red

My one and only sister is a physically fit, stylishly-dressed woman who could easily pass for an older sister to either of her two grown daughters. Her career in the fashion industry keeps her style sense current. She and her husband are coming from Phoenix to hear the Professor's band, Half Throttle, play at the Main Street Bar & Grill on Saturday. Should be good times.

I love it when she comes because I  get my hair trimmed, slap polish on my toenails if the season calls for it and give my house a thorough cleaning, not necessarily in that order. Procrastinating this morning, I decided instead to make her a little gift. Her signature color is a bright coral-red. A few months ago I found 2 gently-used and 3 brand-new tee shirts in her color at Goodwill. I had planned then to put them together into a skirt for her. So today, rather than fill the house with the smell of a pedicure or cleaning supplies, I pulled out my shiny, new serger and cut up tee shirts.

After cutting these 2 apart, I realized they were not as fine a knit as the other 3 solid colored ones. Fodder for another project.

I had removed the glitter-decorated section from the fronts of the other 3 shirts and washed them months ago. Today, setting aside the detached sleeves, I cut the remaining body of each shirt into 3 of the 4 pieces needed before realizing I didn't have enough fabric left to make the skirt! I nearly gave up at this point until remembering the 6 detached sleeves piled beside the serger. Piecing these long sleeves together, I created enough fabric to cut another piece for the skirt front and the waistband.
Here is the finished "reversible" skirt.

 Did I mention that I'd never previously made anything with my serger?

Notice the interesting design lines created by my need to piece fabric.  I often say that mistakes and lack are often the place where creativity is born. Today that was certainly the case.

And here's what the other side looks like. I'll let you know how my sister liked it.

Procrastination Habits

I like thinking about change, planning for change, talking about making changes. I enjoy the idea of changing. But when it comes right down to actually making a change, I get side-tracked. Instead of meeting the change head on, I find myself dreaming up a class to teach or beginning a new project.

I'll give you an example. When the time came to step out of my comfort zone and promote paintings, greeting cards and ARTformation Cards, I turned to sewing. When the sewing projects approached completion, I began needle felting an old wool coat.

I end up with some lovely projects, but the first task doesn't get done in a timely fashion.

The Professor and I are currently planning to move from the idyllic condo we have called home for the past 6 years. Sadly, I seem to be up to my old tricks of procrastination. Rather than packing our life  into the stacks of boxes it will take to move us to our next location,

I contacted a local store about selling my ARTformations and line of inspirational greeting cards.

And wrote this post.

Check It Off the Bucket List

   Coming from the hippie generation of large outdoor rock concerts and street festivals, I have always enjoyed browsing the offerings of other artists at art festivals. My favorites include the Tempe Festival of the Arts in Arizona, and the Anacortes Arts Festival in Washington among many others. And I have secretly envied the select group of artists chosen to participate. The selection process involves not only the application fee, but a sampling of your work, an artist statement and photos of your beautifully appointed booth. Add to that the contract the artist signs which promises to have inventory available throughout the duration of the festival. Needless to say, many artists are turned away and many never begin the process.
   Until recently, I fell into the latter group in spite of my desire to one day be one of those productive and brave artists. Imagine my surprise when I was chosen to participate in the Holiday Festival of the Arts here in Bellingham. In a community of gifted artists, this festival represents some of the best and is where I have purchased gifts each December.

   So come by the Honor Your Journey booth nestled near the center of the building. I'm offering affordably-priced, hand-painted, wire-bound journals, inspirational greeting cards and photo prints. And the ARTformations (Inspiration-in-a-Bag) are being offered for the first time. For those of you who have followed this blog have heard the idea, but now you can try them out.

Both Sets of ARTformations displayed at the Holiday Festival of the Arts

Close-up of ARTformations with suction hook

Replacing Mona Lisa

I went to visit my family this spring and while taking out the trash, I discovered a treasure. In the dumpster. Someone had either redecorated or possibly evicted someone with Pop Art tastes, disposing of his graphic interpretation of Mona Lisa done in oranges and poison greens. The canvas was probably 36x40. SCORE!! I was going to be in town 3 weeks and was beginning to miss studio messes. Unfortunately, no one I knew in town had any painting supplies. However, I did plan a visit to my friend, The Visionary, in a town 3 hours away and I thought she might at least have some house paint I could prept the canvas with. I dragged Mona Lisa along on the visit and returned a week later with a relatively covered canvas ready for my use. But if you look closely, you might be able to see the 4 famed faces I brushed over.

As I had no paints, I determined to work out a shape of a large butterfly using torn newspaper to fill in the negative space. Butterflies are my mother's passion and the final piece would stay behind and hang over the door to the patio.

Once a vague butterfly shape  had been collaged onto the prepared canvas, Mom and I went through her wrapping paper stash, pulling colors she prefers for her house. We also went to the craft store and purchased pack of tissue paper. From this found and purchased paper, a butterfly emerged.

The final touches included some stray tissue and a meandering flight line.

A Little Bit of Whimsey

Inspired by Giselle's shirt the other day, I decided to do a few covers with colorful flowers.

My first interpretation with a new medium, oil sticks, yielded  the above. And remembering that every piece of art has its ugly stage, I moved on, creating a couple of graphic floral covers and coordinating striped backs.

The oil sticks go on creamy and blend beautifully with fingers. The colors were rich and bright. I was in hog heaven!

I'm thinking this will be my new favorite medium, but who knows? Later this week I'll be working with glazes and molding paste. I do tend to be fickle and love whichever medium I'm with...

Studio Expansion

After the incident yesterday with oil paint sticks and the carpet, the Professor has decided to put down a canvas drop cloth in the living room to match its twin in the studio/dining-room. Seems he doesn't trust me not to drop oil sticks or their shavings onto the carpet again. He's usually right about these things anyway. I'm just grateful our carpet is nearly the same color as the drop cloth, at least initially. I suppose if we owned this place it wouldn't be such a big deal.

In preparation for both the Fire Belles Christmas and the Allied Arts Christmas Festival (yes, I got in!), my living-room has begun to look like a factory. A table liberated from storage has taken up residence behind a chair providing an extra surface above and storage beneath for the  mountains of paper needed to fill my ever-increasing collection of journals. A tower of 12x12 canvasses are snugged in under there as well.

Dining table now has a 2nd tier for drying created with an extra table top and glass vases.

 And I am daily gaining stamina by simply showing up and playing in said factory. I can't wait to get started each morning at the drafting table.

And I fall into bed and sleep like a baby every night.Life is good.

Journals

Thanks to Julia Cameron and The Artist's Way, I journal in bed with my coffee most mornings. If you haven't yet read this classic creativity-boosting book, I urge you to do so this summer. You should be able to find it online or in your local used bookstore. Reading it transformed my life and I'd be surprised if it didn't do the same for you.

Anyway I dutifully write 3 pages longhand while sipping my morning coffee. Due to this practice and my basically frugal nature, I've been making my own journals for years. Originally I covered unlined composition books with pretty paper or fabric. But they would only last about a month and would not open flat the way a spiral-bound book would. So when I discovered the  Zutter Bind It All, I was hooked.  I've been cranking these wire-bound journals out for myself ever since.

Anyway, along with Artformation Cards, I've been making one-of-a-kind journals in a variety of sizes for sale/gifts lately. It obviously makes more sense for me to work in these smaller formats considering the current size of my studio, but I refuse to be completely sensible. I keep at least one larger piece in progress as well.

So I plan to have some reasonably-priced journals in various sizes available for some of the Holiday Boutiques this year. I'm thinking they'd make a great gift. I'll keep you posted as to where I'll be. If you are interested in seeing more, let me know. In the meantime, I'm having a blast playing with them.

Growing Truth & Creativity

Maybe five years ago I got an idea for something to assist people in visualizing truth in their lives and birthing (or growing) their dormant creativity. The idea came from the countless sticky notes I had on my bathroom mirror. I believe  many of us spend  more time applying negative labels to ourselves than we do positive.  After spending a lot of time working to replace my own negative labels with truth, I thought perhaps others might be able to benefit from from using these little tools. I call them Artformation Cards.

A set consists of 52 drilled cards with original art on both sides and a small suction hook. The set is designed to focus on one card per week. The weekly card can be affixed wherever would be most helpful. Mine, of course, are affixed to the bathroom mirror, but they could go anywhere. On one side of the cards has affirmations on it, one for each week of the year to be used in any order desired.

On the reverse side is a different activity to improve creativity.  Again, one card for each week. The activities are aimed at the Not-Yet-Practicing or Undiscovered Artist, but can easily be adapted for the already functioning artist.

It is my belief that no one is exempt from the ability to function creatively. And any life will be enhanced through creative growth. Thinking outside-the-box is a highly valued skill no matter what your occupation. Thinking creatively is another name for thinking outside-the-box. Artformation Cards are a tool for assisting one to experience the world creatively.

Sets will be available soon.

Despite Our Plans

Today is Thursday and again time to share with Sara over at Gitzen Girl what I've created this week. Although I've been working on a number of projects, the one I'm choosing to share happened quickly and without plan. Last weekend I thought I'd prepare a canvas while I was finishing my current piece. One way I like to add depth to my backgrounds is to add some black gesso in places without thinking too much about it. Once that layer is completely dry, I repeat the process with some Golden Titanium White and some Golden Titan Buff, allowing the canvas to dry completely between color application.

That said, the first coat, the black gesso, was drying on a canvas last Saturday when the Handsome Ginger and the Model stopped by. The Handsome Ginger stopped dead in his tracks in front of the drying canvas and declared it wonderful just as it was.


I disagreed strongly, explaining the plans I yet had for it. But, as usual, his opinion won out. As he stood there gazing at it, he did allow that I could throw a "sploosh" of blue and red ("primary colors only, thank you") across it. I lobbied for a dribble of yellow (primary, of course) as well. After the Professor and his visitors left the house, I set up a "throwing station" in the studio. Ringing the space with plastic, I had a lovely time making the final mess for him...


These days I truly love making messes, and this one now hangs happily in the their home. I called it Youth because it semed so certain of itself, so definitely black and white. Delightful how our creations take on personalities of their own despite of our well laid plans, isn't it?



How have you honored your own creative gift today? Go for it, my friend. You've got something in there just crying to be born!

Body Image Blocks

This past week I finished a project for my friend, the Psychologist. Her work in the area of one's unhealthy relationships with one’s own body and food is inspired. She takes a strongly sane position between the "Fat is fab, eat it if you see it" ladies and the "Strut your skeleton, starve yourself" girls. She's created a body of research on the subject that is remarkable. I thought I'd heard it all, but after 15 minutes listening to her input on the topic, I was surprised to have learned a few things. (Did you know, for instance, that every cell in the body is renewed in a year? So, who do I want to be next year?) I've put attending her Clean Eating Class on my Bucket list. Wise beyond her years, she is a knowledgeable and a caring therapist. (And she'll blush if she reads this.)

My task was to decorate some Jenga blocks with statements regarding body image. She called them cognitive disconnects, I believe. Her plan is to use them in a game she has created for her Body Image Workshop. Sadly, many of these statements have been my foundational truths. But as I carefully chose lettering, color and design for each individual block, I also had plenty of time to meditate, often squirming with discomfort I might add, on the statement.



As misery loves company, I thought I'd share a couple of them with you:








Bunk, wouldn't you say?

What have you created this week?

Surprising Response

Hope you missed me last week. I'd like to say that I just got busy, but that is not entirely truthful. I did work on some creative projects, but they were either unfinished by last Thursday or fall into the "Hush'Hush" category for one of you.

This week, however, has been thrillingly creative. New projects are brewing in a variety of media. My sister proposed interesting project involving silk and color and design. A new friend, Flame-lighter, shared a free write begging for a slide-show. Another friend, the Counselor, gave me some wooden block to adorn with truth and lies. Mother Mary, the Poetess, has partnered with me to create a children's book. All these projects have served to give my eyes new sparkle and put the bounce back in my step. Thank you all and I'll keep you posted.

On top of all this, I am reading a book by somatic psychologist, Christine Caldwell, entitled Getting Our Bodies Back which has been thought provoking. And no, it is not about getting rid of that "baby weight." This book seems to be the inspiration for this week's You Create project. After reading a chapter the other morning, I pulled out my crayons and journal and began to play a bit. The following image is one of the surprising results(surprising because I have never done anything remotely resembling this). No abstraction here...


Reminds me of a toned-down Matisse done in wax crayon.

What have you created today?