All sorrows divided are made lighter

This is one of the largest formats I ever 'attacked' and it looks so tiny here on the blog. It has layers and layers of panting, collage, textures, transfers, transparencies... There are details that only I know are there, and some that peek through if you look closely. Actually, you can get a better look if you click on the picture or even closer on etsy.

I've been tagged!

Sharon (glitterangel) tagged me to list 7 random things about myself.
1. I sleep on a buckwheat hull pillow. For me it is the comfiest thing in the world. The rest of my family doesn't agree with that... so they have regular pillows.
2. I lived on all continents except Australia (and Antarctica). Of course, my dream is to visit Australia.
3. I am seriously afraid of doctors and hope to never have to see them during my lifetime.
4. I worked one year as a school teacher. Loved the children. Not so much the parents.
5. I definitely need a haircut, but have no idea where to find a hairdresser that knows how to tame hair and leave it wild at the same time.
6. I used to be a very good piano player. Now my fingers are pretty rusty... but I can still play.
7. I cook every single day and love it. I even have a secret food blog. Right now, I am mid-way on a detox program where I don't eat anything. For the last 5 days I only drank a mixture of water, lemons, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. I love it and don't mind a bit cooking full meals for my husband and kids...
One more thing - I can't tag anyone... I'm sorry. I'm the one that breaks chain letters, tags and stuff like that because I can't forward it to someone if I'm not sure that they want to do it. So, please - anyone who reads this and wants to write 7 random things about themselves - please consider yourself tagged, write it and let me know where to look!

Artwords - Woman

Inspiration comes from many places. I recently purchased some sweet lamp work beads and was anxiously waiting to receive them. While the beads were lovely, something else caught my eye. The envelope! What made the envelope special were the words that seller wrote:

"Fragile.
Please don't crush."
They spoke to me! Such a simple way to describe the way I feel sometimes. Don't we all feel like that in certain moments? I cut up the envelope and used the words on a canvas.

available on etsy

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post. It is so wonderful to feel the support and understanding from like-minded people. Wouldn't it be great if we could all meet to drink wine, eat chocolates and play art in George Clooney's villa?

MY BIG NEWS!!!

I have been holding a secret for a couple of months and waiting for the perfect time and perfect way to share... I also mentioned that I have another journal and that I'll show it in a separate post. Well - the two things go together.

I have been asked to teach a week-long workshop in Italy!!! In a wonderful village in Tuscany, with wine and chocolate tastings, museum visits, field trips... How lucky can a girl get?
I went into that deep, internal, creative place that we all have and dreamed up a workshop that sums all the things I love the most in mixed media and came up with this journal. It combines many things, techniques, materials, textures... fun stuff. The link to my "Mixed Media Playground" workshop is here. There are many links on that page, so here is a shortcut to the journal.

I really hope that you like it.
Can you imagine creating under the Tuscan sun? Sounds like a dream to me....

My journals

I read "Anne Frank's Diary" when I was in third grade... and I have been writing journals ever since. I have written entries about how I found a doll that my mom bought and hid (to give me for Christmas), entries about first loves, frustrations with myself, easy successes in school, not so easy relations with friends, book excerpts, lists of songs, dreams, sadnesses... Few days after I met my (future) husband, he said (with a smile) that I should stop writing journals, because there is not enough paper in the world or time for writing all that we'll do together... We've been together 23 years. I guess that he was right. And yes - I did stop writing everyday entries... but never stopped having a journal. Or more than one...
I have journals for many different purposes and I love them all. Here are my favorite, black moleskins. So simple on the outside... one would never guess what's inside.
I use one of my moleskins when I travel or when I have something important that I want to record. On the following picture is my entry about ArtFest (how I received the welcome package and decided not to go... that's why there is a photo of me when I was little); then there is a description of classes I took at Art&Soul, and finally the last workshop with Kelly Kilmer. Just looking at those pages takes me back to the day I wrote them and I can remember everything.
My other moleskin is less colorful. It lives in my bag and goes everywhere with me. Usually I write in it when I'm waiting for Hana to finish a class or something similar. Sometimes I write in it outside.... in a middle of a walk or something like that. On rare occasions I decide to try and sketch Hana while she's playing tennis (on the following photo), but I'm so bad at it, so I don't do it often.

I do have a real sketch book:

Sometimes I get books about sketching from the library. Unfortunately, I never spend enough time studying them... but when I do, this is where I play:
I have another, huge book, where I write whatever I want. I don't censor my thoughts in this journal because I plan to eventually tear out the pages and throw them away. They are not something I want to keep or read again. I started using this journal for my 'morning pages', but they turned to be - 'any time I need to vent' pages:
Then there is my plain looking art journal with big white sturdy pages.
Usually I use it when I'm frustrated and want to create something, but am not sure what... I start painting those pages and magically the result always makes me happy. I am currently not working on the left pages, but I think I'll go back and fill them in... or maybe I won't.... I don't know.
I have another journal... (can you believe it?)... but I'll write about it tomorrow. So, what prompted me to show my journals? The fact that I received one from my dear friend Connie. Not only did she create a lovely journal for me, she incorporated on the cover page bits and pieces of things that represent our friendship and the art adventures we shared. I was very touched when I read about it in her blog entry... and even more when I actually received the journal.
Do you think that I don't need another journal? Wrong. I do need one. And I wanted one for a while.... I never had a gratitude journal, never thought I needed one. Well... I do. I have been feeling really down (like black/gray/depressed/confused down) much longer than my normal PMS time and I think I need to count my blessings, to write and recognize all the good things that surround me. What could be better for recording those good energy thoughts than a gift from a friend (thank you Connie)?
I would love to peek in your journals... Leave me a comment and a link if you're willing to share. :-)

Hope

Thinking....

I've been reading about the 'Thinking blog' award for the last couple of days and couldn't help but feel like in school "poor me... no one loves me..." and then the one and only Chel came to save me from self-pity and I'm a part of the group now! Thanks Chel!
I should now nominate five people.... not an easy thing because I read more than 50 blogs. All blogs on my bloglist are there for a simple reason - I like the people that are writing them for various reasons. I decided that it would be the easiest if I mentioned bloggers that don't even know that they are very important to me. So, here is my list:
Marie-Dom
A Walk in My Shoes
Lilian
Chronicles of Me
Ink on My Fingers
Smart? A good way to avoid listing five of my blogging friends and missing all the others... Click on any of the above links for truthful, touching, wonderful post.

Tree cutout

Here are my new journal pages. I don't know if it shows well on the photo - I cut out a tree silhouette in the middle page, so different images peek through if you turn it to the left or right side.I played with flower petals, distress embossing powder, transparencies and Golden self-leveling gel.... and as a result got some pretty interesting texture (that unfortunately you can't see on the scan).

The tree cutout is heavily textured, so it is a nice contrast to the shiny page beneath.This was fun! Maybe my dry spell if gone....

Stitched cards

I'm still suffering from a lack of focus, energy, creative block... however I call it - I don't like it. I spent hours and hours yesterday cleaning my work space. I went through all the big and little drawers, papers, paints... I even threw away some work that I hated but kept for who knows what reason... I hoped that that will help me. In a way it did... My clean table looked very inviting, but when I sat at it today - I had no idea what to do. That is highly unusual for me...
So rather than whining and complaining I decided to do something.... anything. I saw a card I recently received from Sharon and that gave me the push to play. It was fun and at least I accomplished something.
Other than that - my friend Connie and I signed up for Micheal deMeng's class in June! I can't believe that he will be teaching a class in Berkeley and that I'll have an opportunity to learn some of his techniques!!!

Feeling sad....

Not me. Really. I'm fine. It's this girl... Doesn't she look sad?ACEO on eBay

Thank you for the thoughtful comments! Cro for the love, Tejae for the compliments and Janet for the quote. I agree with it completely. Actually, I was thinking about it yesterday while making my "couch potato" journal entry... thinking about the law of attraction and whether I'll be more miserable if I write all those things... It turned out that it felt so good to let them out and see them on paper. I felt 100% better after it and then started thinking the 'good future' thoughts. For me it is simple - planning the time for exercise and then doing it. It helps every time. My energy level goes up, I feel better about myself and everything is brighter again. If it is so simple, why is it so difficult to do it every day?

Couch Potato

Trying something new

I'm trying to use my backgrounds and collages combined with the wonders of Photoshop. That program is magical! I have been using it for years and don't think I even scratched the surface of possibilities. It's difficult to know when to stop. I hope to learn that more is not always more... This is how I think my collages would look framed on a wall. They are on etsy (in case anyone's interested).

Learn to be what you are...

...and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.

Weird creatures in my journal, and a lesson I need to learn.

Happy April! (one day late)

I love April! I think that it is my favorite month of the year. Maybe it's the weather, the fresh shades of green, strawberries that you can smell and taste... longer days? This is how I spent the day:

I did a workout that I found online here.
It showed me that I really need to move more and sit in front of the computer less...
I made meringue cookies.
Three egg whites and some sugar and my daughter thinks I'm the best cook in the world.

I sketched birds while talking to my mom on the phone. Then pulled out my messy watercolors and created some bird cards. Can you see that there's something wrong with my pen? I lost it last year... It fell on the heating thing under my desk and slowly melted away... I'm so happy that it didn't start a fire and that now I have a very uniquely shaped pen...People are slowly returning from ArtFest... They sound very happy. I can't wait to read more about their experiences. I was all signed up for ArtFest and chickened out... Next year, maybe...

Journal pages

I just woke up from a 2 hour afternoon nap... The whole family watched "Flushed away" except - me. I made a mistake to lay down and that was the end of the 'watching' part. Oh well... what can you do... My dh made me a cup of coffee, told me everything that happened in the movie, so all is good. And - I had time to list my journal on eBay! Here are some pages:

Speak to me in colors

I spent several blissful days in complete paper/paint chaos! There was "stuff" everywhere... my tables were overflowing and the floor became a place where you had to maneuver rather than walk. So wonderful! Still under the influence of Kelly Kilmer's workshop, I just had to make a colorful journal. I bought some great paper from her and decided that it would be better to use it, than to hide it for "one day". The finished journal almost feels like a board book...While I was in that mood, I pulled out the collage sheets that I have been also saving and just had a blast with all of them. If you are interested, I used images from Nancy, Anahata, Karyn Gartel and my own.

Time to clean...... :-)