Erased...

This is what I painted yesterday:

Usually when what I'm painting is not to my liking, whether on a page of my journal or canvas I continue painting until it surprises me and comes to life. Well, yesterday it just didn't happen. My layers looked more like cake icing than transparent washes, my color choices hurt my eyes, the girl was dull, the little bird looked like an evil creature... everything was wrong (and not in a good way). I worked hours and hours and nothing helped.  Luckily, Mr. Gesso is my friend. He put a veil of secrecy over my sad painting and a fresh canvas is waiting for me to attack it again.

I wasn't upset at all. It is so liberating to paint, enjoy the process, cover it up and start again. Can't wait!

Be who you are

This life is yours.

Be who you are.

You can do anything.

I really had fun painting this one. I got lost played with the textures and colors. I even pulled out my oil sticks to add some smoothness to it, and wax to finish and seal it. My friend Sharon lectured me many times how I must sign my work, and that when you sign it it means that it's finished.... so I thought about her, signed it and smiled.
It's been a while since I listed anything on etsy. As I closed my blog, I closed the little shop too. This is the first thing that I added back. If interested, you can find it here.

(Bernie in Aus - you made me feel great. Thank you!)

Crackled

Painting on black

From time to time I try painting on a black background. Like this little angel.
And this one.
Both were painted in my journal more than a month ago (when I was not blogging). Then yesterday I, once again, started painting on a black page and this girl showed up:
Sometimes I get surprised by the characters that emerge under my brush. I didn't expect this face... I don't think it even looks like the faces I paint. She reminded me of someone, but I couldn't figure out who.... and then this morning I saw this face:
Not the same but a bit similar... It's a face that I painted on a box a while ago. Also started on a black background. Maybe that's why they look a bit alike (to me).
After reconnecting to my box, I opened it and was welcomed by this sight:
YUM!!! My morning started with kisses, so chocolates were the next best thing. I wish you chocolate and kisses filled day too. (In case you would like to purchase my Believe-Imagine-Wish-Dream box, just send me an email).
One more thing. Some people paint brilliantly starting with black backgrounds. Jane DesRosier is one of them. She currently has an online workshop, where she demoes how she paints faces. An amazing thing to watch. You can see the beautiful promo video here.

Find the magic

It's been two weeks since I attended the workshops, and I'm still in an "I want to paint constantly" mode. I keep thinking about the fast and intuitive way Katie Kendrick paints. I think she finally made me understand that its okay not to finish a painting exactly as I think it should be. They never turn out perfect, and probably never will. But there is always that next piece of paper, canvas, wood.... where the magic of creating can start again.
So that's what I'm doing. Realizing that there is something magical in the possibility to express yourself with brushes and paint and finding time to do it.

Magic is everywhere. Happy weekend!

Listen close to your soul

Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.

Anne Sexton

I did and painted these two paintings.

My boy and girl

I received an email from my son this morning with pictures from a race he was part of this weekend. He participated in Trans-Tahoe Relay, the only swim race that crosses two state lines (I thought that was a fun fact). Teams swim 11.5 miles at an altitude of more than 6,200 feet. His team came second in their division, which is cool. But the best thing is that he said that he never experienced such freedom and joy swimming and is already looking forward for the next year. Probably too many pictures of him... but I can't help it. I can't stop looking at them.
Hana didn't have a race or anything like that, but we left her at a summer camp and I am thinking about her constantly and wondering if she's having an amazing time or if something is bothering her... This is a picture from a walk we took last week. It was a long walk, and she chatted constantly and excitingly about many things (especially the scary movie she saw the day before). The only silent time was when I took pictures.
I miss my kids so much. It's pretty amazing to me to realize that they are this big... I wrote a whole gushy, silly paragraph about it, but didn't really say anything that made sense so I deleted it. I think I'll spend the day staring at their pictures. Not sure that my boss will be happy with that (but we won't tell him)...

Mail art

I always have good intentions... I think of things to make for people, I sometimes even make them.... but rarely do I think, make and send in a respectful amount of time. Usually it is at least a year too late, and by that time I'm too embarrassed so I don't send anything at all.
Well, last week I was still on a creative 'high', so I managed to make some mail art and send Sharon a disk with pictures from our 'Artful Journey'.

I felt so proud of myself! Having good intentions is usually not enough.... following through works better.

Wonderful day!

It's Saturday! Weekend! Have a wonderful day! Today and every day...

Color

I can't believe that I missed many weeks of opportunity to splash color! I can't get enough of it now! Look how many colors I manage to put in a small space (that's not necessarily a good thing, but I enjoy it).

What did I learn recently? The face doesn't have to be proportional, or pretty, or make sense at all. Sometimes it's great to have a plan, a project that you want to make a certain way. Other times it's about the process... My journal is happy with this little lady living on its pages.

Workshop - day 2

Katie Kendrick's class was an exploration of playfulness, emotions, collage, intuitive painting. It was like you suddenly have the approval to do whatever you want. Like someone allowed us to use all crayons in the box, to finger paint, have fun.
I used my journal. The pages are one above the other, in a way that the funny creature is on top of her head. Why? I don't know. It seemed right. I really enjoyed this and plan to paint this way more often.

Workshop - day 1

In Judy Wise's class we explored plaster, texture, encaustics, transfers... all mixed together. I loved it! This is what I finished:

The play of texture and color is incredible. So many things you could do... So hard to decide...

This part was created with a blow torch! So much fun! And a bit scary...

Imagine the possibilities...

Hi and Welcome Back!

I wasn't planning to bring the blog back to life, but some things just HAVE TO be recorded and I'm so used to recording them on my blog that I decided to open it up again. Not only have a closed my blog, I was also preparing to sell most of my supplies and close the little studio, planing never to play art again. Thankfully, a "Wingkeeper" flew from Texas and saved me. She brought smiles, enthusiasm, understanding, kindness, knowledge and gifts. Look at the aprons! This is the first and the last time you'll see me in it. It belongs on a wall as a decoration, and is not meant to be splattered with paint (like she did).

We spent two days at workshops organized by very fabulous Cindy in Los Gatos, CA. Not only did she enable us to take classes with great teachers, she also took care that we have anything and everything we might wish for. It was worth going to just for the cookies and brownies she made...

Unfortunately, I didn't have luck with my cameras. All my iPhone photos got deleted, and the camera I took had wrong settings on... plus - I didn't bother to take too many of them. I was just in awe of being in presence of Judy Wise and Katie Kendrick that I really didn't want to waste time clicking the camera button too often. 

Both ladies are generous, sparkly, fun, warm, lovely and oh-so-talented! It was pure joy to watch them work. We had a chance to look (and touch) their journals, which was a very moving experience for me. As a fellow journaler I know how much of our feelings get mixed with the paints and paper and I could feel it from their pages. 

I loved every minute of it! It sparked back the creative fire. Now I plan to make something every day, fight the demons that tell me that it is not good enough or will never be good enough. It doesn't have to be. If I ever get back in the non-blogging, non-creating mood - would someone please come visit and talk some sense back into me?