Entries Tagged as: intuition
Talking to Trees
November 3rd, 2011, Comments (11)
Today I managed to start a piece, while holding Annabelle. Talk about multi-tasking! I held her, while wetting a piece of paper and dropping some ink and paint on the page. Later, while she napped, I came back to the page, looked for what I saw in the ink/paint droppings and started an intuitive drawing.
What came was a woman, speaking in tree language, while resting on the moon. Again, I think I'm working off my night-time nursing!
I'll be honest and say that I'm struggling a bit to keep up with art-making, running the challenge, keeping up with emails, and taking care of Annabelle, while being sleep-deprived. Today, I got whopped with a monster-migraine. I need to find more ways to take my own advice and make it doable for me, so I don't crash and burn! At the same time, this is good experience in finding ways to make it work, make it manageable and keep on creating. And I'm grateful for the push.
In other news, my 2012 Calendar is now ready for pre-order! This year I'm filling the calendar with twelve of my favorite pieces. If you're interested, please order by 11/20 to guarantee holiday delivery. As a special bonus, if you order by 11/20, I'll add a drawing to your birthday (or the birthday of your recipient) in the calendar. You can purchase the calendar here.
Being BIG, a Guest Post by Jennifer Lee
May 20th, 2011, Comments (6)
“Be BIG!” my high school speech coach used to say to me as I practiced my dramatic interpretation pieces for competition. He’d encourage me to take a wider stance, project my naturally quiet voice, and stand up straight. Those were great tips for delivering a more convincing and engaging speech, but I think what he was really trying to teach me all those years ago was to have confidence in myself and to own my own power.
Being BIG, taking up space, and being seen can be very vulnerable and scary.
When I first started intuitive painting, I only painted on single sheets of paper. Until one day, I saw an image emerge above my sheet of paper and I needed to add another page to paint it. Over the course of several months, the painting grew to three sheets, then six, and ultimately to 18 sheets to create a wall-sized, crazy painting. Each time I realized that the painting needed more space, I would call my painting teacher Chris over and I’d then proceed to whine, pout, or stall… whatever I could do to resist letting the painting get bigger because it made me very uncomfortable.
I felt bad if other students in the studio had to move their stations because my painting was too big, I felt like a burden if I had to ask other people to help me add more paper or pin this unwieldy monstrosity to the wall, and I felt like I was being super obnoxious for having a painting that was so in-your-face ginormous (like, um who does she think she is?!). And mostly, I was shocked that I had so much bigness in me. But to see it spread out in front of me in bright, bold colors, I couldn’t hide from it.
Obviously this was my learning edge because every intuitive painting I’ve done since then has been huge. In fact, now it is part of my process to paint big. I love the feeling of being in front of a wall and moving my paint brush all the way across it, adding in color and shapes with abandon, and letting my whole body get into the experience. I get to stretch myself literally and figuratively. It’s freeing, wildly expressive, and oh-so satisfying.
I even realized that I love that feeling of standing up and moving things around a big wall so much that now I do my planning that way. In my office I have an entire wall dedicated to a huge calendar. I stand in front of it and write my goals and to-dos on sticky notes and it helps me connect with my big vision.
Let the big theme remind you that when you allow yourself to be big and take up space you’re honoring all of who you really are!
Jennifer Lee, the founder of Artizen Coaching and author of The Right-Brain Business Plan, spent a decade climbing the corporate ladder before pursuing her creative dreams. Through her courses, coaching, products, and writing, she empowers others to follow their passions.
Heart Strings on the Water
February 23rd, 2011, Comments (18)
This was fun. I decided to start painting intuitively with Passion in mind. I chose colors and music to listen to with this in mind. I started simply painting in a passionate manner. Then I stepped away to let it dry and came back later in the day. The bit of yellow in the center of a red/blue landscape, made me think of a heart at sea, so I painted in the boat around it. A larger bright spot made me think of the moon, so I made that more clear. I played with the waves and sky and eventually saw a whale beneath the surface.
I think the red string has something to do with heart strings and an umbilical cord, blood lines and life. Whales are always loaded with symbolism for me, so I'm not surprised to see one pop up here.
I enjoyed painting with passion in mind! And I look forward to seeing more of your passionate creations!
Lit From Within
February 2nd, 2011, Comments (34)
I had this idea in my head last month and it seemed like a good transition from the month of Cosmos to the month of Passion. My original idea was quite different from what came out though.
In my head, the idea was one of a woman being lit from within by stars. But as I started painting, I wanted something more colorful. And then this afternoon, I checked something online and saw that the Chinese New Year starts tomorrow (the year of the Rabbit) and suddenly knew I wanted rabbits in the image. I saw it as three rabbits jumping over her. The white trees were a last minute addition.
So the image I ended with is quite different from where it started, but the idea is the same. I see it as representing how when you shine you own light (your passion, your you-ness, your creativity) out into the world, it encourages others to do the same.
Full Wolf Moon and Other Goodies
January 19th, 2011, Comments (9)
With tonight being the Full Wolf Moon, I sat down after dinner to make a dreamboard, something I used to do with collaged images, but in the last year or so I have enjoyed drawing or painting them. I thought it was a good thing to share during the month of cosmos! In this one, I intuitively drew a tree growing from a wolf, with the various branches holding things I want to manifest, such as a healthy body and baby. Have you made a dreamboard for the full moon before? You can find out more about them from the amazing, Jamie Ridler.
I've got a couple other goodies to share too!
1. The lovely and talented, Liv Lane is celebrating the one year anniversary of her Happy HeART giveaways and to help her celebrate, I'm giving away one of my prints! All you have to do is stop by and leave a comment here.
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2. My calendar publisher offered me a great discount after the holidays, so I picked up some more, so I could pass the savings on to you! While they last, you can grab one of my 2011 calendars for half off! And if you'd like a drawing on your birthday in the calendar, simply order a second item (greeting card, print, or original art.)
3. The Soul Art TV series of interviews of Creative Revolutionaries has been so fun to watch! If you haven't checked them out yet, you can sign up here (they're free) and get a whole bunch of free gifts in the process! I'll let you know when my interview is up.
Night Dance
January 3rd, 2011, Comments (15)
If you're looking for this week's check-in, I posted it a little early, on Saturday, because I thought it would be nice to have a check-in begin at the start of the year. After this week, the check-ins will return to Mondays.
I'm loving the excitement and enthusiasm around the Creative Every Day Challenge this year (you can sign up anytime!) Keep on sharing, encouraging each other, and creating freely. It's going to be a great year!
With the piece to the right, I started playing intuitively with a piece of 6"x12" canvas paper that I wet, then dripped magenta and blank ink onto it, letting it spread and move on the page. As I worked, I thought about the cosmos theme and it felt like I was creating a mini milky way.
I let that dry and then came back to it later. I saw a figure dancing, so I brought that out with a bit of acrylic paint. I put on a podcast about prenatal dance while I painted, so that was great background for this pink dancer!
Homecoming
November 30th, 2010, Comments (36)
For Day 30 of Art Every Day Month, I played again with fluid acrylics on watercolor paper. I started to feel like the last few days have been pages of a story that I don't know the end to. By creating intuitively, I didn't know what the next page was going to hold, but they still seemed to tie together into a story. It was fun being surprised by what came next each day. I'm calling this one "Homecoming" and it's about 10"x9".
This month has been the fastest moving Art Every Day Month for me yet! It truly flew by! I so appreciate the wonderful energy created by this great group. And while I'm ready for a break from posting every day, I will miss it. Thank goodness we get to do it again next year!
In the meantime, there's still the Creative Every Day Challenge. Tomorrow, I'll have a post about December's optional theme of "Air." And I'll also be posting later this week about the 2011 Creative Every Day Challenge and how you can sign-up and join in.
Purple Forest
November 29th, 2010, Comments (22)
For day 29 of Art Every Day Month, I wanted to play on watercolor paper and fluid acrylics again. I had a totally different idea in mind when I started, but after I got going, I had to follow where the art took me, which was to this purple forest! It's about 10"x11".
I can hardly believe the month is coming to an end! This one totally flew by. I'll say thank you to all you amazing creatives tomorrow, but in the meantime, I hope the final day of Art Every Day Month is a beautiful one for you!
Red at Night
November 28th, 2010, Comments (32)
For day 28 of Art Every Day Month, I was back in my studio and feeling like playing. I worked with fluid acrylics on wet watercolor paper, sprinkled on some salt, and then let it dry. I looked for an image in it after, and then painted and drew in the figure, moon, and stars. It's about 7"x9."
Inkblot Twins
November 27th, 2010, Comments (14)
I'm totally tuckered out from family time and I'm still in my pajamas today, surrounded by cuddly kitties who are happy to have us home. I'm enjoying these little inkblots though. It had been awhile since I'd done them and I forgot just how fun they are! So for day 27 of Art Every Day Month, here's another inkblot of a pair of Twins, in lovely dresses.
