I am so excited to share with you that I will be launching my first solo art course today called 'How Does Your Garden Grow?'. Check out the course HERE
'Early Bird Special' Get the course for $47 instead of $57
Until 8th August 2021
We will take a walk in the garden, taking inspiration from the flowers and the leaves and then use them to inform some of the shapes, colors and marks that we will use in our creative art piece. I will then show you how to create a background and develop it to find an image we can build on and use additional marks, shapes and symbols on the page.
I have included lots of goodies to download as part of the course: -
Course handbook
12 Page coloring book,
12 Page mixed media background images,
9 Stamp Images
14 Garden images
A Bonus video on creating backgrounds
Two A4 art prints - downloadable
1.5 hours of workshop going through the steps for creating your final image.
All the videos and images are yours to download and keep and you can take at your own pace.
All the skills that you will learn are transferable and it is a great idea to re-create the lesson using different mediums
I would love to have you join me on the course! You can get it at the 'Early Bird Special' of $47 until 8th August 2021
I caught up with Nathalie Kalbach host of the Creative JumpStart for an interview and we had a great time. I share a bit about my journey and inspiration, you can catch the video below.
I hope that you will join us for the Creative JumpStart sessions which begin on January 1st 2020. It is an opportunity for you to jumpstart your creativity and create more wellbeing in your life.
Join 45 Artists from a variety of backgrounds sharing their inspiration and insights - what can you do in 10 minutes? They will show you just what and more. It will be a fantastic time.
Welcome, I am excited to share with you the FREE Life Book Taster Sessions. I hope you will join me for some amazing & Free Life Book Taster Sessions which begin on September 28th!
This is my lesson lots of creative play
Do you want to learn how to create more well-being in your life?
Do you want to create, express, develop and grow?
Do you want to play with paints, get messy with collage, enjoy mark making and drawing?
Do you want more hints and tips on how to use your creativity to become a happier person?
I am so thrilled to share with you that I will be one of the guest teachers on the the Mixed Media Play Date hosted by Tiare Smith. As teachers we all want to help you put PLAY in your art and your day!
Tiare has assembled an AMAZING group of artist instructors to do just that, and we are gonna fill your creative wells with inspiring ideas, Fun, JOY and gratitude!
The Mixed Media Play Date - a new mixed media collaboration will bring you endless inspiration, fun, freedom in your creativity and a community like no other. I have taught on a number of courses hosted by Tiare Smith, and you are guaranteed to come out of your comfort zone, find your happy places and pick up so many hints and tips and fun from day one.
There will also be LIVE STREAMED MIXED MEDIA PLAY DATES
We all worry about finding enough time to create, and our inner critics voice can often get overwhelming, but as your guides we are here to help you tune into your inner voice, guide you as you see new things in your art and creativity, we will be your companions, supporters and cheer leaders, it will be a friendly place for you to be yourself and thrive!
Daily Giveaways!!!
Do you want to WIN A FREE Year Long Spot on this Online Course with Us?
To enter (each action gives you an additional chance to be entered):
Share this blog post and use #amandatrought so I can find it
Contest closes Monday 26th November at Midnight (AST)
Each day up to December 1, Tiare will be introducing you to a different Artist Instructor, and we will be making daily giveaways, so you will have extra opportunities to win a spot by visiting each artist!!
I will be sharing more about the course and share some hints and tips on the 21st November and over the next 7 days. So be sure to check back HERE to have an extra chance to
You will get lots of additional yumminess from me to help you on your Art Journal journey. I have put together a range of things to help you get started on backgrounds - free downloadable and videos to guide you, prompts and tips to encourage you and I have also included 4 Recycled Art Journals for you to make
5 Backgrounds for your Art Journal
A series of 5 Art Journal Backgrounds for you to download and use in your own Art Journals. I have also included additional pages of quotes and encouraging words.
4 Handmade Recycled Journala
4 Handmade Recycled Art Journals for you to make. These are 4 very different Art Journals with the key being using recycled materials. You get to make a Handbag Art Journal, a Cereal Bag Art Journal, Recycled Card Journal and a Toilet Roll Tube Art Journal.
31 Art Journal Prompts
5 Weeks worth of prompts and tips for working in your Art Journal. You can download and print these off as mini posters for your creative space.
5 Art Journal Background Videos
Do you find it hard to think about what to do with your backgrounds or how to start. I include 5 different ways in which you can approach your background. Creative play is an important part of your approach. These videos are yours to download and keep forever! I am also going to add a FREE Surprise gift as a way of saying Thank You!!
So what are you waiting for! I would love you to come and join us. Sign Up HERE and get your Free Art Bundle Series 1 ***************************************************** STOP PRESS -- STOP PRESS -- STOP PRESS *****************************************************
You can also purchase the Art Journal Series 1 Bundle Separately at below a low cost of $30 I will still add the Free Surprise Gift!
The session that Tiare did as part of the online Course BADASS Art Journal was great fun. It is so amazing how you can add just a few simple colors, allow your imagination to run away and you can be so surprised by the results.
After adding the color I embellished mine with doodling. It is such a relaxing pastime you have to try it if you haven't already.
When your involved in creative play there is so much power that comes from the activity. It is a healing one that can be done at any time, not just with the arts but any other activity that allows you to let your creative sparks fly.
The sentiment used 'Bloom' for me is about not being afraid to shine your light, and grow in your creative pursuits, so go ahead and Bloom!
I am really pleased to share with you my lesson on the BADASS Art Journal course, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I wanted to show how you could use a surface that you may have not thought of using to create a piece that can be an encouragement while you do it.
I worked on a large playing card and wanted to create cards that you could use and write something that when you look at it on a later date you can be inspired and reminded of what you wanted to achieve.
I also wanted to use words that you could see that would provide instant encouragement. You also have the different layers and textures that go to show us the many different areas of our lives that we work on.
It was also great to see what the students came up with, each beautiful in their own way and so unique.
Here is a small selection of the students work, I will be sharing more at a later date.
It is always great to see how students develop, grow and step out of their comfort zone to find that place where they will allow their creativity to fly. I have another course that I will be teaching on called Hacking the Color Wheel. It is split into two sessions and I will be teaching on the 2nd session. You can purchase the sessions individually or buy a bundle, which is more economical, and you get to see all 14 teachers on the rest of the course.
Embracing all parts of me and surrounded by miracles - Art Journal Page
I found a couple of passports photos of myself recently and I was criticizing them because I felt that the man who took the picture could have done better.
I don't like throwing photos away unless they are blurry, so decided that I would incorporate them into a journal page.
As I began to think about what I didn't like about the photographs I realized that it wasn't the photo but my criticism was aimed at myself. I decided that I needed to show myself some love.
What I started to remind myself was that I needed to embrace all the parts of me and focus on all the great parts, no one is perfect, we all have something we feel needs working on.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of the sessions that I have done, as we come to the end of the teaching.
No one is perfect and we learn as we grow older that we have to give and take and apply a bit of grace in all circumstances. Each one of us has a unique superpower, not one that may be recognized by the world but one that in a crisis comes into action for a friend in need.
When was the last time you showed up as a super hero in your own life and save yourself, and stop focusing on things you feel are not right?
I am so excited to share this with you, but I will be teaching on this course Hacking the Color Wheel, hosted by Kiala Givehand
There is an early bird discount and a two bundle offer. The course is split into two sessions and I will be teaching in Session 2, coming out later this year.
I have shared more on my Mixed media Art site so mosey on over there if you would like to know a bit more. Over the coming months I will be giving you some tasters, hints and tips how you can get your creative juices flowing and get the most out of my class. I will also be doing a giveaway for those who are signed up to my mailing list for one spot in session 2, and loads of other goodies if your on the mailing list.
As ever looking forward to working with you and sharing some more exciting things that are in the pipeline.
Welcome to today's Art Journal page for the One BADASS Art Journal Course. One of the things that I really like about the course is that despite being one of the teachers I can play along as well like one of the students. Each teacher is bringing their own style and it is great to try out the techniques they use and see what elements of it that you might incorporate into your own way of creating. Tiare brought this lesson, and I took elements of the session and added my own spice.
I like the simplicity of creating these characters, and I kept the colors simple as well, playing about with the background before finding the characters that wanted to be represented on the page.
Having a close circle of friends that you can call on is important and the next journal page brought to mind a friend who sadly passed away, and we had known each other from our teenage years.
Friendships in Time
We thought we would grow old seeing each others grandchildren, we were there for each other over the years - Barbara was a dear friend who told it like it is and always had your back.
She became the friend she wanted to have......
In loving my sisters I am reminded to love myself equally. We can often forget ourselves in the mix of taking care of others, but we have to show ourselves love, understanding and patience.
We have to remember to listen and not break our promises to ourselves. It all starts and ends with love.
She became the friend she wanted to have in her life and started to love herself. Come back next week to see what I have done
Welcome to my interpretation of the class led by Cristin Stephenson in the BADASS Art Journal Class. For this class as with the others I did 3 pages, one double spread and then two that came after that could either follow the same theme that I had worked with in the main page or be totally different.
Magic at midnight
For my main page below I started out with random shapes on the page, then as I thought about the late night conversations the song 'Dancing in the Moonlight' by Thin Lizzy came to mind
That connection with the moon, the music, and the sea also came in as well. My characters that came out on the page seem to want to go on an adventure, perhaps a Thelma and Louise type of adventure in a car on a raft on the ocean with the music blazing...and free.... who knows
Adventure awaits
Some times you have to take that leap of faith, not knowing how everything is going to work out. Some times we prevent ourselves from doing things because of fear. It is either we fear failing or we fear changing and things working out so we don't fit in our neat little boxes. Fear to laugh and be yourself, fear to say yes to something or no.
Follow your dreams
Listening to a speaker called Lisa Nicols she was talking about her life and saying that fear can paralyze you and that you should use it instead as your fuel to get you to where you want to go. We can sometimes fear using a particular art material, or fear that creative play because of what might reveal about you. You can put anything in there that you might be feeling fearful about, and think about what the worse that could happen.
It is time to let go, step out, step into but make that change! This page then came out of all of that, she chose to step out and be who she knew she could be, she stepped out and is 'Dancing' as well, not worried who might be looking or that 'its always been done this way' or about anything else that could get in the way.
Come join me next Friday and see how I interpreted the next lesson
Realityarts - Creativity Book Shop - Some really great titles for you to dive in
Creative Resources
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