It's not what you look at...

When you draw you are supposed to draw what you SEE, not what you THINK you see. I struggled yesterday with a painting... I just couldn't draw the face in the 3/4 view and it was frustrating. The sad looking canvas is sitting by the side, waiting for my to gather courage to attack it again. In the meanwhile I played again with my ATC digital kit and made more cards. It was very addictive, and therapeutic after a painting flop.

This one was fun - three friends on one little card.

So was this one - punched circles, butterfly wings, crayons and gesso and positive words.

Here is a message for me - Try it one more time.

Yes, I'll give my painting a chance and try again today to make it look the way I want it.

Try printing your own art and re-creating it... it's relaxing and interesting.

Look at these two: same image, two different looks and numerous more ways to make it look original.

I loved seeing this.

StampingMathilda used my image and created a unique card (her blog is beautiful, well worth a visit).

Have a happy day! I am going to attack my canvas (I'll show before/after if it works out).

xo

Missed opportunity

A little over a year ago, I received a fantastic email from the Senior Managing Editor of Art Journaling, in which she informed me that my journal was selected to appear in their publication. They gave the title to my future article: "My Journal is my Canvas". Of course, I did a happy dance and couldn't have been more excited.

Unfortunately, at that time I was very overworked at my day job and didn't have the energy or mindset to write anything. As my deadline was coming about, I wrote an email of apology and said that I just can't write the article. They were kind and understanding, told me that I can write it whenever I can...

The sad truth is that even when my work stopped being so demanding, I couldn't write the article. I started several times and nothing that I wrote made any sense. Whatever it is that I feel at the moment, or whatever I want to express - I do it on the paper of my journal, or in my paintings. I am not a writer - therefore I paint...  So, I didn't write the article, and now - one year after the happy email - I received a box with my journal in it.

I probably wouldn't write about this on my blog if they didn't leave several pieces of tissue paper in my journal. That intrigued me. My guess is that they placed them on the pages they were thinking to use in the article. I find that interesting). 
The following pictures shows 4 spreads, or 8 pages of my journal. 

They do seem to work as a spread, but were painted separately. I wonder if all of them would have been printed or just some.... and would that represent my journal well... maybe.

Anyway, it's nice to have my journal back. I loved looking at my old work. And the moral of the story is, I guess - don't wish to be published if you can't write 750 words about your work. Also - if you do wish to be published - approach the publishers, send your work and wait to do a happy dance when you receive an email back from them (it's really lovely seeing your work in a glossy publication).

Creating trading cards, new video

I always have fun when I am in my studio, but yesterday was special.

It was a rainy day and I spent several hours lost in my world.

I used to create hundreds of ACEO cards.

It is such a quick way to make something meaningful and cute.

For a long time any size larger than 2.5"x3." was "huge" and intimidating.

 

I printed out the images, pulled out my "toys" and embellishments....

Found out that I have three glue sticks and that all three are completely dry and useless....

I put a dunce hat on something for the first time in two years...

A bird wanted it too...

I also used a different camera to record my play-time. I think the quality is better than my previous video. If I could only remember to tie my hair so that it doesn't hide what I'm doing... If you want to see how my working space got messier and smaller while these cards came to life, take a look at the video. I hope you'll enjoy it.
xo

Sharing...

Sharing the beauty of my day with you....

Don't they look like little fairy beds? So adorable....

I hope you enjoyed visiting San Francisco Conservatory of the Flowers with me. On such a gray day this was a welcome experience of colors, shapes and textures... Now, what will inspire the next painting? Polka-dot leaves, fairy houses, colorful flowers? 

Different

Change yourself and your work will seem different. -Norman Vincent Peale 

I painted this lady and her cat in a way that I never did it before. Was it laziness or willingness to experiment - I'm not sure. I didn't mix the skin color (or any other color) on my palette. I used colors straight from the tube on the paper and mixed them while quickly painting with a very scruffy brush. You can see the red, yellow, blue and white... I deliberately left them unblended at places. It was interesting. She looked very weird at moments, but at the end - I like the result. Try it! There is nothing like feeling completely free, enjoying the process and not having any expectations. Lovely feeling.

Happy weekend!

Inspiration

Inspiration comes from different places. For example - yesterday I visited the farmers market because I love green markets and because we were scary low on fresh produce.

 As you can see, I brought back a whole lot of fall colors (and yummy things to eat).

Looking at all the pretty colors made me want to paint with them too, so I chose six colors + white, found a piece of wood and started.

The colors on my palette are: Hookers Green Hue, Pyrrole Red, Hansa Yellow Medium, Green Gold, Transparent Red Iron Oxide, C.P. Cadmium Orange.

I was happily painting, thinking that I will stay with the calm tones and a simple background (for a change), when a collage sheet that I recently made called me....

I cut up some parts...

...combined them, painted washes of color over, played and enjoyed the process.

So, there it is.....
Inspiration is interesting - shows up anywhere and leads us to follow interesting roads.  From a visit to farmers market to a messy table with images in hand's reach... I had a fun afternoon and finished a painting.

I created several digital collage sheets from my original paintings. If you would like to play and use them in your art visit my etsy shop. I will be adding more (and probably incorporating more in my paintings and journal pages).

Happy November

Gratitude is the best atitude - Author Unknown
Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve.
 You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I decided that this November is going to be my power month. There are many things running through my mind, some of which I expressed through words in my painting of a night angel.

Kindness, forgiveness, grace, gratitude, compassion..... not bad things to focus on (I think).

Wishing us all a happy, creative November!