Entries from: May 2009
Diving Into Water Art
May 13th, 2009, Comments (20)
work in progress, dive deep
One of my favorite natural elements is water. It soothes and calms me in a way that I can't quite explain, but just know deep down. I can sit by a lake, river, or the ocean and immediately feel this rush of peace fill me up. I was inspired earlier this week to begin a painting with water in it, which made me think of the nature theme going on this month for the Creative Every Day Challenge.
I hadn't been thinking of nature in terms of the elements, there are so many ways to interpret the theme, but it could be fun in the future to divide the month up, so that each week focused on a different element. Maybe another year!
I mentioned on Twitter that I had to put aside something I was working on to begin this painting which was just itching to get out. Sometimes a bit of inspiration will come tapping on your shoulder and if you put it off, it will start tapping softly, then more vigorously, and then it will practically beat you senseless until you do something about it. So, yesterday, I began by laying down a collaged background on a tall, skinny wooden panel that I'd gessoed up first. I collaged layers of maps, architecture plans, textures, patterns, graph paper, and other bits. I chose the items intuitively based on the idea that is already in my head for this piece, which is diving deep. I've still got more to do with this piece, but I thought you might like to see it in progress.
In a bit of synchronicity, while on a walk today, I came upon a gorgeous lake that I didn't know about. There was on old stone bench in the cool shade where I was able to sit and watch the little windswept waves lap at the shoreline where two dogs displayed their Spring wildness and their owners picnicked in the grass nearby.
So lovely, so peaceful.
I felt surrounded by the elements then: the fierce hotness of the sun, the wind blowing my hair around, the tree branches shading me above while little bell shaped flowers played near my feet, and the sparkling water stretching out ahead. What could be better? How do the elements inspire you? Are you drawn to one more than another? Why do you think that is?
Perhaps you can play a bit with you favorite element in a bit of art or journal about the elements. Perhaps a poem will come tripping out or a short story. Keep your eye out for the elements this week and see what they might have to share with you.
Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program
May 11th, 2009, Comments (7)
If you've been following me here for awhile, you may know that I've taken many intutive painting classes. It is truly powerful, healing work. I highly, highly recommend the process for anyone looking to let go and create from their heart.
Because I love this type of work (and adore Chris), I'm so thrilled to tell you all about the Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program for women, led by my pal and fellow artist, Chris Zydel. If I can possibly connect one of you creative souls with her work or perhaps with this training program, then it will be even more beautiful!
Chris Zydel has been teaching expressive arts classes and leading sacred circle women's creativity groups, retreats, and workshops all over the world for over 30 years. She is now leading teacher training programs in the hope that these soulful expressive arts classes will be available in communties everywhere! Above all, Chris has the kindest, wisest heart you can imagine. Her classes create a safe space in which she guides others to express themselves from a place of deep intuition, authenticity, and freedom.
The teacher training program sounds utterly facsinating and I already know one friend of mine who is doing it! Chris is keeping the group small, so if you have any interest in leading groups through this type of work, please head over to Chris's website and contact her immediately!
In case you're curious, let me tell you more about this delicious and transformative program:
The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program will begin in 2009 and end in 2010. This program is designed to teach you how to use the process of Intuitive Painting, Group Process and Bodywork, Music and Movement to create a healing environment via classes, workshops, and retreats, to encourage people to manifest the best of who they are through the power of creative self expression.
It will be held at the Mountain Home Ranch Resort located in Calistoga, CA which is in the beautiful Napa Valley in Northern California. The training will be conducted as one 7 day intensive and three 5 day intensives (or 22 days of training) that will be held about 4 months apart over a one year period of time. Gourmet meals and dorm room occupancy lodging at the Mountain Home Ranch is included in the program fee.
Dates of the Intensives:
August 21-28, 2009
December 5-10, 2009
February 27 - March 4, 2010
May 30 - June 4, 2010
In addition to the hands on training, you will also receive:
- 4 individual coaching sessions with Chris Zydel.
- 3 group teleclasses where you can ask questions and get support.
- A Teacher Training manual
- Opportunities to assist Chris at her various workshops and retreats
Wow. I believe this would be such a powerful way to work as an artist, while making a fabulous living, and guiding others to connect to their creative hearts. If you have any questions about the process, please contact Chris and let her know.
The world needs more people creating from the deepest part of their souls! If you're feeling called to this type of work, go check out Chris's program. You can also learn more about Chris and her process though her blog and find all her wonderful offerings on her website, here.
CED Challenge Check-In: May 11th – May 17th
May 11th, 2009, Comments (17)
This weekly post is a place for CED participants to share their creative activities.
Ways to share: Leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a post (or posts) about your creative activities during the days of 5/11/09 - 5/17/09.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.)
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to.
Join in the Challenge: To find out more about the Creative Every Day Challenge check out the details here.
If you want to sign up to be a part of the challenge, leave a comment on this post or email me to let me know. When you contact me, please let me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants, which resides in the right sidebar (I can list you as your name or as a link to a blog if you have one. A blog is not required to participate!) Please email or comment to let me know you're participating before you start posting links in the comments or on the "Mr. Linky" widget.
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for May is nature. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month. You can find out more about how you can use the theme here.
Happy Creating!!
As I paint, I feel waves of energy flowing through me,
like the currents of the ocean.
My hands are guided by the creative force.
-Ruth Rhoten, artist
Recycled Yoga Mat Stamps and Stencils
May 9th, 2009, Comments (22)
While doing my office/studio space de-cluttering last week, I found that I was keeping two yoga mats behind the door. One I use regularly and love and the other, I never use and dislike. I was keeping the extra "just in case." Just in case of what? I don't know. Some kind of yoga emergency perhaps? At any rate, I realized that I really didn't need this extra yoga mat that I never liked or used. And I was about to toss it when I realized that I could put at least part of it to another use.
Using my eucalyptus branch, which I've been using as inspiration in my intuitive painting classes, I traced out the shape onto the yoga mat. I then cut it out with a pair of scissors which created a fabulous stencil and stamp with funky textures on both sides! Fun! I used another piece to make a smaller leaf shaped stencil and stamp, gathered some art supplies (acrylic paint, ink, and watercolor paper), and began to play.
The first one (above) was created with the stamp on an 18"x24" piece of watercolor paper. It was fun to play with these bright colors as I first laid down the stamps and then painted around them.
I then used the smaller stamp and stencil to create these smaller pieces (above and below.)
There are loads of materials you could use to make your own stamps or stencils, perhaps you have something gathering dust in the corner, like that yoga mat of mine, that would work or you could purchase a piece of art foam and cut one from that. Either way, stamps and stencils are a great way to play with shapes from Nature.
Tonight, I'm having dinner with my mom, step-dad, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and little brother to celebrate Mother's Day. I hope all you fabulous creative moms out there have a wonderful day!!
What the Full Flower Moon Can Teach You About Creativity
May 8th, 2009, Comments (11)
Today or tomorrow (depending on where you are in the world) marks the start of the Full Flower Moon (also known as the Full Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.) When I thought of the Creative Every Day Challenge's theme of Nature this month, one of the first things that sprang to mind was the moon.
moon under water
I'm a big fan of the moon. My astrological sign is cancer, but beyond that I'm just drawn to it. I love its rhythms and its beauty. The painting above is called "Moon Under Water" and can be purchased here. I dreamed of the moon under water one night, and when I first sketched the image of this painting, it inspired the following poem:
I dreamt last night
that the moon was under water,
not the whole of it,
just half,
as if she was too hot for this summer night
and decided to take a dip.
Finding it bracingly cold
and frighteningly vast in its darkness,
she kept her face dry and safe
above the water line.
But just the legs of the moon
were enough to give the ocean
an ethereal glow
that startled the fish from their slumber
which caused the waves to ripple and dance.
And when the stars moved in
for a better view
the surface lit up like a discoteque
and the air hummed
like a refridgerator late at night.
On a distant shore the waves lapped, lapped
on the rocks
marking the thumping heartbeat
of the skinny dipping moon,
shivering and alive.
Perhaps the glorious full moon will inspire some art in you this weekend, perhaps a poem will spring forth. The moon is also a constant reminder of the cycles of life which are much like the cycles of creativity. I spoke about these cycles with Jamie for the Your Creative Spark interview and I also wrote about them a bit here and here. It's important to remember that our creativity ebbs and flows and it's perfectly o.k. to experience downtimes. If we ride them like the waves, the whole experience is so much more smooth than if we fight them.
You could also play with the full moon by creating a Full Moon Dreamboard, which Jamie Ridler leads us through every month. These are similar to vision boards, but the idea is to create the vision of what you hope to bring into your life with each full moon. I painted a dreamboard for myself for the Full Pink Moon last month and it was a lovely experience.
Try this: When you reflect on the Full Flower Moon, what does it inspire in you? Perhaps some blossoming or blooming that is wanting to take place? Write, doodle, sketch, or paint whatever comes up.
I hope your weekend is full of inspiration and creativity and fun! In the meantime, go howl at the moon!
Creating Space for Creativity
May 7th, 2009, Comments (10)
Yesterday I took an Office Spa Day class with the super sweet, Jennifer Hofmann. This year I've done a lot of clutter clearing in my office/studio space and it's felt fabulous to unload so much. It's amazing to me how much clearing my physical space clears my mental space as well.
Ophelia
A few months ago, I spent a couple weeks doing a half-hour of clutter clearing every day. That worked well for awhile, but after I'd reached my goal of doing it for 2 weeks, I was ready for a break. The major advantage of doing clutter clearing at a regular time every day is that it takes the planning out of it. I just knew that at 11 am every day, I was going to spend 30 minutes doing this clutter clearing business and then it would be over. Small chunks of time is good. Planning a specific time is also good. But did I want to be doing that forever? No. So, I went back to occasional clutter clearing and maintenance and that was working fine for me, until I noticed that there were a couple areas I was avoiding. Sticky spots.
One of those spots was behind my office door. I keep my office/studio door open most of the time, so it provided this not-so-secret clutter hiding spot. And it was growing. The dust bunnies, an old Reebok step, two yoga mats, some old picture frames, a bunch of free cloth bags I got at various events, a dress....Oh, and did I mention the dust bunnies? Yeah, they were multiplying like crazy. Doesn't seem like a big deal perhaps, after all it was out of sight 90% of the time, but it was weighing on me. I knew it was there and it was also expanding to the point where I couldn't open the door all the way. At the rate it was going, there was soon going to be enough stuff "hidden" back there that I wasn't going to be able to open the door at all. Ack!
So, I'm learning when to ask for help and I knew that scheduling the time for an Office Spa Day (a fun, gentle way to clear some clutter in your space) would do the trick. Jennifer asks some excellent questions when it comes to clearing clutter including, "Does this (fill in your clutter item here) support who I am and where I'm going?" Asking this sort of question helps make it so much more clear and easy to get rid of the stuff that I've been unsure about what to do with.
I spent an hour cleaning out the space behind my door, getting rid of some crap behind my bookcase, and clearing off my inspiration board. And lo and behold, I can now open my office door. I immediately felt a sense of openness, both literally (the door can open all the way, yay!) and emotionally.
So, what does this have to do with creativity? Well, clearing space on occassion helps make room for new things to bloom, whether in your business, in your mind, or in your art. Physical space relates so much to our mental space. I find this happens with selling my art too. Even though I sometimes get a little sad when I sell a piece of art, I simultaneously love helping to brighten someone else's space with art and when I move art of my space, it helps make room for new art to be created. It has something to do with flow, keeping things moving, feeling expansiveness, openness, and room for possibility.
When you look around your creative space, do you see things that do not support you in you and your creativity? Try removing (tossing, storing, giving away) just a few things and see how it makes you feel. What might it open up for you?
More clutter-clearing resources:
- - Alison Marks, Inside Out Design Coaching: Alison has a great process for helping you get clear on the qualities you want in your home.
- - Lisa Baldwin, Divine Order: Also a total sweetheart, Lisa is a Clutter Coach who also teaches a fabulous de-cluttering e-course.
- - Shannon Wilkinson: A life coach, who I totally adore, teaches a DeClutter Happy Hour!
- - Sunny Schlenger: Life coach and author of Organizing for the Spirit, a great de-cluttering resource.
Wow, looking over this list I'm realizing that I must have a thing for de-cluttering specialists! Ha! I think it's because all these ladies have a super sweet, gentle way of approaching something that's especially sticky for me. Go check out what they have to offer and make some room for the creativity that's waiting to bloom.
Nature as a Stencil
May 5th, 2009, Comments (22)
Last week in my Intuitive Painting class, I was given two random colors on cards to work with. I mixed the colors and then used them to play with. I also had a few elements from nature to bounce off of. Truth is, I wasn't too excited about anything I created in class, but I knew that I could keep playing with the images and they were only beginnings. Back at home, I took one of the larger pieces and cropped it down to what I saw as the most interesting part of the painting (below). I'd done some work with texture and some hand-cut stencils to make the shapes there. I still want to play with it more.
The two colors I randomly selected were orange and green. The green you can see above. In the piece below, I started with light layers of orange and green using the natural forms I'd chosen. Again, I wasn't loving it. But sometimes not liking something you're working on frees you up to do something drastic that you might not have tried. Sometimes making something you consider "ugly", gives you permission to let go and experiment and stretch yourself in new ways.
Back at home, I took a eucalyptus branch and put it down on the orange/green painting. Then, using a spray bottle filled with some water and a bit of payne's gray acrylic paint, I sprayed over the painting using the eucalyptus plant as a kind of 3D stencil. I loved the way that looked. I then played with layering thin layers of the payne's gray over the painting, emphasizing parts of the shape I created, and continuing to play until I came to what you see below:
This can be great fun to try with any natural element. Try starting with a base of color, then lay down your natural element (try branches, flowers, leaves, grass, sea shells, etc..). Use a spray bottle (an old cleaning bottle could work or you can purchase a little spray bottle from an art supply store) and spray liberally over the surface, maybe spray more in some areas and less in others for variety. Lift up your natural elements and see what kind of shapes they left behind. You can use paint to emphasize or soften the shapes.
After, you could try putting the same items or different ones down in a new arrangement and spray again with the same or a different color. So many ways to play with this. See where it takes you!
Last night, I tried doing this on a white sheet of paper to start, spraying with the payne's gray again and then painting with a mix green-gold, white, and ultramarine blue. It feels very ethereal to me.
This another piece that could be cropped or maybe played with more or maybe is fine just as it is. I need to let it sit for awhile. Here's a detail:
I'm sure I'll be playing with natural elements as stencils again this month, perhaps in a new way. I'd love to see where it leads you, if you give it a try!
CED Challenge Check-in: May 4th – May 10th
May 4th, 2009, Comments (26)
This weekly post is a place for CED participants to share their creative activities.
Ways to share: Leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a post (or posts) about your creative activities during the days of 5/4/09 - 5/10/09.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.)
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to.
Join in the Challenge: To find out more about the Creative Every Day Challenge check out the details here.
If you want to sign up to be a part of the challenge, leave a comment on this post or email me to let me know. When you contact me, please let me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants, which resides in the right sidebar (I can list you as your name or as a link to a blog if you have one. A blog is not required to participate!) Please email or comment to let me know you're participating before you start posting links in the comments or on the "Mr. Linky" widget.
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for May is nature. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month. You can find out more about how you can use the theme here.
Happy Creating!!
Nature often holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal, and transformation in our lives. ~Mary Ann Brussat
p.s. Some behind the scenes web/server stuff has been happening in the last week which has meant that some of the newer CED participants haven't been added to the list of participants yet, but I'm working on it and they'll be up soon!
Artful Blogging Magazine
May 1st, 2009, Comments (42)
Yay! I'm so thrilled to say that I've got two articles in the the Summer edition of Artful Blogging Magazine which is available online or stores like your local Barnes & Noble today.
Since I first saw this publication, I hoped to someday be featured in their pages. It's simply gorgeous, full of color and inspiration and loads of great blogs to check out.
And now, here it is. So wonderful to see a goal materialize. You can see one of my paintings (Dreaming of the Seven Sisters) in the lower right corner of the cover.
The first article consist of an article from me about being Creative Every Day, illustrated with my art along with a partial blog post and the second is an interview with me about the Creative Every Day Challenge, illustrated with the art of Creative Every Day Challenge participants! Here are the first two spreads of my article.
And here are the spreads from the interview with me about the Creative Every Day Challenge which features the art of Creative Every Day participants. (I asked for some submissions before the article came out and the magazine editors chose from among them.)
The artists featured are Steve Emery, Rowena Murillo, Jim Doran, Tammy Vitale, Erin Prais-Hintz, Mary Stebbins Taitt, Karen Mowrey, and Shayla Perreault Newcomb. And there are also quotes from Emily Carson, Sherry Goodloe, and Aurora Fox! Thank you to all of you for sharing your art and words to help make my interview with Artful Blogging so special!! It means the world to me and wowzers, your work looks amazing on the glossy pages! I wish we could have featured all the CED participants, but that would take an encyclopedia!
And thank you to all the readers of this blog and all the participants of Creative Every Day for making this space so safe and so special. You all inspire me and have helped me grow as a person and an artist. I am eternally grateful.
Wishing you a wonderfully creative weekend!
p.s. We have entered the month of May and the totally optional theme is Nature! I've got lots of ideas about how to explore this theme and I look forward to seeing what you'll do with it!
p.p.s. Be sure to join in Jamie's Virtual Dance party today!!
