Entries Tagged as: intuition
One Theme Flows to the Next
April 28th, 2010, Comments (13)
Wow, what a fun time of year to focus on the senses. I think my senses are already on high alert in Spring, especially as I've gotten older. Summer has always been my favorite month (I love the warmer weather, my b-day is in July, and summer used to mean vacation!), but in the last few years, I've been especially enamored with Spring. I can't get enough of its young, green, flirty ways. I've been especially loving the flowering trees all around this new neighborhood I'm living in, the young birds visiting our yard (cardinals, blue jays, robins, and a woodpecker, among others), and just being outside. When I was feeling a bit funky on Monday, I took a long walk through the woods and snapped these pictures. Doesn't the path look mysterious? And then below, another mysterious looking picture of the sun reflected in a bog. It felt like I was looking into the moonlit sky, a through-the-looking-glass kind of image.
The senses theme this month also seems to lead perfectly into the theme of Intuition for May. A bunch of people mentioned Intuition or their sixth sense in the comments this month, so I sort of hinted about the upcoming theme here and there. I could barely contain myself from shouting, "Yes, you're right on the money, Intuition is next!" Hehe. I'm terrible at keeping secrets.
I love the way one theme has flowed seamlessly to the next this year. But really, getting in touch with your senses is a great way to tap into your intuition. And speaking of Intuition, today I have a guest post about creating sanctuary to help discover your purpose over at Intuitive Guide, Bridget Pilloud's fabulous blog. I've taken a Chakralicious class from Bridget and think she's just awesome. And I'll be sharing much more about Bridget next month, so stay tuned!
Creative Every Day Theme for May: Intuition
April 26th, 2010, Comments (21)
At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. May 2010's theme will be: Intuition.
As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it sparks you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between.
I'm thinking of this theme in terms of exploring your intuition in creative ways, writing about it, and making intuitive art. There are endless ways you can play with the theme and I'm open to any interpretation.
I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:
- *Explore what following your intuition has meant to you in writing.
- *Let the your intuition be your guide as you choose materials for a collage.
- *Try intuitive painting.
- *Follow your gut as you make choices in your day.
- *Notice if you have any intuitive nudges to try a new medium and then go for it!
- *Let your body move intuitively to music.
- *Do some drawings with your eyes closed, open your eyes, and notice what you see in your scribbles.
- *Begin a creation with no plan in mind. Let your intuition guide you to the medium, the first stroke, the next step.
- *Spend some time getting still to re-connect with your still, small inner voice.
How to use the CED themes:
If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.
Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.
And have fun with it!
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us. ~R.W. Emerson
p.s. The art above was adapted from my painting, "Lantern" which is available here.
Storytelling & Collage: A chat with Kathryn Antyr
March 17th, 2010, Comments (53)
I'm so excited to be able to share this chat with the super sweet and creative, Kathryn Antyr! I've known Kathryn through the world of blogging for some time now, but this was the first time we'd had a chance to speak. And oh, was it fun! Kathryn is bursting with wisdom and insights about the creative process and the magic of telling stories through art.
I could relate so much to her collage-making process of letting go and allowing intuitive feelings to guide the process. I loved the way she talked about using art to re-tell our stories and I also loved how Kathryn is using the Hero's Journey as a framework in her Storytelling + Collage online workshop, What a beautiful idea!
Learn more about Kathryn's beautiful process by listening in to the interview below. Click the link below to listen or right-click (ctrl-click on a Mac) to save it to your computer and listen to later.
*Giveaway!* Kathryn has generously offered to give away one spot in her upcoming Storytelling + Collage online workshop! Leave a comment on this post by Sunday March 21st at noon EDT to enter and I'll announce the winner on Monday the 22nd. Good luck!
You can learn more about Kathryn on her blogs Collage Diva and True North Arts.You can also follow Kathryn on Twitter, @truenortharts. The collages in this post are all by Kathryn Antyr.
Thank you, Kathryn!
The giveaway is now closed! Thank you for entering! I will announce the winner tomorrow (Monday, the 22nd.)
Winter Roots
February 5th, 2010, Comments (39)
Some home related art. I started with a very vague image in my mind with layers, red, and houses, and then, following my intuition, it went in a completely different direction with lots of trees and roots. I'm calling it "Winter Roots."
Body talk with Goddess Leonie
January 12th, 2010, Comments (12)
Late last week, I had the opportunity to chat with the beautiful Goddess Leonie about the body and some of the fabulous things she's up to in the world. I love how we're able to chat like this from opposite ends of the world (I'm on the east coast of the U.S. and Leonie is in Australia.) And I loved seeing our opposites in the seasons (summer for her, winter for me) and our dark and light hair. Why I get such a kick out of these things, I'm not sure, but I do! It was like a little video yin-yang!
The sound is a little wonky (not matching our lips) in the first part of our chat, but it gets better. And it's worth listening to to hear Leonie's great tips about connecting with the body. Plus, you'll get to see two cat cameos (aka video bombers.) 
To drink in more of Leonie's awesomeness, I highly recommend checking out her Creating Your Goddess Year Planner and Workbook. It's 40 beautifully illustrated pages that you can download and print at home and use to bring closure to your 2009 and plan your amazing 2010.
Leonie's also got some courses starting up soon, including the Radiant Goddess e-course (which you can purchase with the Goddess Planner for a discount) and the Creative Goddess e-course (both of which start up on January 17th.) And you can always find Leonie on her beautiful blog, Goddess Guidebook.
Body Shadows In Progress
January 7th, 2010, Comments (12)
So, yesterday I shared a video of me using body shadows to trace shapes on a piece of paper and today I began playing with paint and gel medium in those shapes. I had to stop at one point when I managed to splatter purple paint all over myself. Doh! I've been letting it sit like this and noticing what I see in it now. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a whale shape at one point. But when I turned it around, that same shape looked just like a bird's head.
Where's this going? I don't know! It might go nowhere at all. But I enjoy playing in this way, letting things happen, and then looking to see what comes up as I work. It's a fun, intuitive process that leads to interesting things that I wouldn't necessarily come up with if I planned it all out. I'll keep you updated as it progresses.
And be sure to check in tomorrow for an interview with the fantabulous Jamie Ridler about creativity and the body!
Chair Tree
November 30th, 2009, Comments (23)
I'm not sure how I feel about this piece, but what I do like is the chairs in the tree. I imagine it's a tree that just sprouts chairs, instead of leaves and the one on the ground is one that was shed, like a fall leaf. Perhaps I'll play with it more later, but for now it's at a stopping point. It may grow on me too. This was another intuitively created piece with layers of rice paper over collage with ink and acrylic paint on 6"x6" clayboard.
Have you looked back over what you created this month? Last night, I looked at the Flickr album I created for this year's Art Every Day Month to see if there were any common themes. There were some that have been constant themes for me over time such as trees, birds, the female figure, and cats. And there were some that had returned after a hiatus, like bears and houses. And some that were totally new, like chairs and silhouettes. I feel like I can read my mood and the things that happened over the course of the month just by looking over this group of images. Have you had any common themes in your work this month? How does it reflect how the month was for you?
Tomorrow, we move into December and I've got loads to keep me busy, but I will be posting here and there about the Creative Every Day Challenge theme of the month, Recycle. I'll also be returning to a weekly check-in post for the challenge, where folks can share links to the creative acts they're up to. And by Wednesday, I'll have a sign-up form for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge.
Thanks again to all the Art Every Day Month participants and all those who followed along with us. Your creativity, support of each other, and loving energy has been so incredibly inspiring!!
p.s. Today's the last day to order my 2010 Calendar and get a drawing on your birth date! (You can still order the calendar after today, but today's the last day to get the drawing and guaranteed delivery before Christmas. And I do sell out of the calendars.)
Chairs in a Row
November 29th, 2009, Comments (24)
I traced the silhouette of this woman onto rice paper last night, but today I came back to it and traced a series of chairs, which got me all excited. Again, I collaged and painted on a 6"x6" clayboard surface, using bits from my collection, things I intuitively grabbed that seemed right in the moment. One scrap looked like it was the shape in the house, so I played with that. I had a piece of rice paper cut in the shape of a eucalyptus that I'd written on months ago, but not used in anything. It seemed like the right time to use it here. Stamps and stamped images of ferns came into play as well. Then I lay the rice paper image over it, using a soft gel medium to bring it together. I love the translucent quality of the rice paper and the way the drawings sit on top of it. I've always been a fan of layers, the way it mimics how layered things are in real life.
I'm so enjoying the rice paper at the moment. I love when a material thrills me and I know I'll be playing with it for awhile until the next medium makes me giddy. It's a good place to be, feeling the joy of materials, feeling in the flow.
I was feeling a big sluggish the last week, although I kept plodding through. Flow in creativity comes in cycles for me and I've come to accept that. Sometimes a down period means I do other things like reading or research, re-stocking the well as Julia Cameron puts it in The Artist's Way. And other times, like during Art Every Day Month, I keep plodding through, knowing that the spark will fire again, if I just keep patiently putting mark to paper. Often times, I don't think the spark has returned to me, until I've already begun, like last night, which makes me glad for those times when I kept plodding through. But other times, a break feels necessary. Neither way is wrong or right. Knowing that both ways of returning to my work can be fruitful helps me come back without judging myself in the process.
What helps you come back to your creativity after a slow period? Are there any sparks happening right now for you?
Poppy Rain
November 28th, 2009, Comments (16)
The funny thing is, I didn't feel much like making art when I got home. I was tired from a full day of traveling and from a very long week, but once again, I'm so glad I did sit down to create.
I had so much fun and things were just flowing as I played intuitively with collage, rice paper, ink, colored pencil, and paint on this 6"x6" mixed-media piece. I used a piece of clayboard as my surface (which is great for collage) and began with scraps I had handy. I randomly had the idea to trace a silhouette of a woman from an Anthropologie catalog onto rice paper along with some circles and then collage them over the collage I'd started on the clayboard. I moved things about, creating this image I was pleased with. Then I came back to it later and created the clouds with Inktense water soluble colored pencils.
I love the way it came together and how it fits my mood although I couldn't explain to you why. I think it says it visually and that's enough for me at the moment.
So glad to be home. So much to catch up on!
Gray Skies
November 19th, 2009, Comments (41)
Today, in an attempt to clear up some majorly clogged ears, I took a decongestant and now I'm totally fuzzy headed and my ears are still clogged. Oy! lol. Perhaps the fuzzy headedness is where the gray came from today or perhaps it's the gray weather. I took a walk outside before I painted and the sky seemed so heavy with grayness.
I sat down with watercolor paper and a bottle of ink and began to play. I love dropping ink and drawing into little puddles of water on paper. The way the ink flows suggests shapes (today the trees, bird, and clouds.) It was relaxing.
Now, I'm off to take a hot shower, in another attempt to clear up my sinuses, before meeting up with some friends I met doing the Mondo Beyondo class this fall. We're to sit around, eat soup, and read to each other. How lovely is that? I only hope I'll be able to hear them.
