Entries Tagged as: passion

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!

Love Note

February 14th, 2011, Comments (10)

Today, I want to speak to a special passion, the love I have for the hubster, the most amazing man I've ever met. Even though we've been together for 10 years, in the last year, I've grown to love him more than ever.

So on Valentine's Day, this is a little love note to my handsome husband, the father of our little girl, a man who brings out the best in me, supports me in everything I do, and makes me laugh every day.

I love you more than words can say, more than images can express. You are an amazing person and I adore you. So glad we're together and I look forward to many more special moments, days, and years ahead. xox

New Passions

February 12th, 2011, Comments (11)

I've become slightly obsessed with a couple new creative outlets. Things tend to come in waves with me, but for right now I'm feeling passionate about sewing and Instagram. How fun to have these new means of expression and creativity!

Sewing has been a good lesson for me in accepting imperfection, laughing and going ahead anyway. I think if I was too much of a perfectionist about it, I would have given up 500 times already. As I was making this latest project, a sweet little hoodie for baby from Anna Maria Horner's book, there were a lot of little mistakes made. The sleeves were hard to attach, I'm not always the best at sewing in a straight line, and I had to re-do a few things. I remember at one point thinking, "Um, I'm not sure this is going to look anything like a jacket at the end."

But I kept going, and magically at the end of it all, there was a sweet little baby jacket that I'm immensely proud of. I asked my blue bear to model it for me and he happily agreed.

Instagram (an iphone app) is another creative tool I've been enjoying. All the pictures above were taken with Instagram (if you join, I'm there as leah_art.) There's something about snapping pictures throughout the day that wakes you up to the tiny moments of beauty all around you. I love that. And it's fun to see the tiny moments captured in others' days as well. Times like this make me madly in love with technology and all it has to offer for creativity and connections.

Are there any new creative passions in your life this month?

Passionate Reading

February 9th, 2011, Comments (16)

As I was thinking about the Passion theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge, I looked up at my bookshelf and saw lots of inspiration there, so I thought I'd share! Here are just a few of my favorite reads that inspire passion in me, that are written with a certain firey passion, and/or encourage living a passionate life.

Ok, this one is top of the list for passion: The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting Your Divine Spark by Sera Beak. While this book might not be for everyone, I loved it. It's a book about spirituality that's got a great feminine vibe to it and it's written with great energy and a sense of humor. It's all about asking yourself meaningful questions, understanding more about what makes you tick, living with arms wide open, and "releasing your divinity into the world." The author also has a great website and blog: Spiritual Cowgirl.

Next up, is a book by SARK. I remember reading Succulent Wild Woman: Dancing with your Wonderf-Full Self and wanting to give the book to every woman I knew. It's juicy and delightful, bold and funny. SARK describes a succulent wild woman as, "A woman of any age who feels free to fully express herself in every dimension of her life." Sound good? The book goes own to talk about how to bring more of this wild succulence into your life with activities, drawings, and stories. She's a great storyteller.

I love this quote from a big new free happy unusual life by Nina Wise: "Creativity is about our capacity to experience the core of our being and the full range of our humanness." Yum! This book is all about connecting with yourself, your creativity, with others, and with life in general in a more playful, creative way. My copy is totally marked up with words and doodles. It's a one of my favorites.

Another favorite is The Book of Awakening, it's a daybook written by Mark Depo. The essays are amazing, but I'm mentioning it in this post because the writing has a certain passion in it, possibly informed by the author's relationship with life and death, as he wrote this while recovering from cancer.

It strikes me that most of these books have a certain spiritual edge to them. How interesting!

Anyway, I'm curious, what are some of your favorite passionate reads?

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.

Creative Every Day Theme for February: Passion

January 25th, 2011, Comments (23)

At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. For the month of February 2011, the theme will be Passion.

As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it inspires you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between. You can sign up for the 2011 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime. More info can be found here and the sign-up page is here.

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:

  • *What is the color of passion? Mix a color and paint with it.
  • *Write freely about your passions.
  • *Cook a passion-filled meal. Serve it to someone you love.
  • *Move with passion as you create.
  • *Try doing everything with passion for one day.
  • *Share your favorite passions with someone else. Teach them what you love about it.
  • *Return to the things you were passionate about as a child.
  • *Express your passion for a loved one in a piece of art.
  • *What are you most passionate about? How can you have more of it in your life?

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!

Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we'd be truly dead. ~Joss Whedon

p.s. The art above is adapted from my painting, Heartland.