Bloom - Saying It with Flowers

Saying It With Flowers

I thought I would say it with flowers today, and remind you how precious you are!  We often go about our day to day in a whirl and don't have time to take stock of what is going on around us, the people who have been there for us and have been such a blessing.

I thought I would take the time to say it with flowers and remind you that you are a gift and that you have so many beautiful qualities.

I thought that I would say it with flowers today and remind you what a pleasure it is to know you, to call you a friend and to be able to call on you in times of trouble, but also times of celebration!

I thought I would say it with flowers, we can be so busy sometimes that we forget those things that really matter, and can be here today but gone in a twinkling of an eye.  So I hope you now know just how much your love, treasured and adored!

Mixed media collage art on card.

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

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Embrace Your Art - 2016 Your Favorite Book and Non Dominant Hand

It is great to be one of the guest artists for the Embrace Your Art 2016 - Journal About Me .  My challenge was to think about my favorite book and use my non dominant hand to create my page.

One of my favorite books is called Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo by Ntozake Shange, about 3 sisters, all 3 creative in their own way.  

The book is a lovely read, and captures so well the creative gifts of the sisters, which is what I felt I wanted to capture on my page, and Ntozake Shange is a very talented writer.

The other challenge I had was to use my non dominant hand which for me is my left.  I love challenging myself especially using my left hand to create, and need to do it more as it enables you to see your work in a different way.

I used Inktense blocks and Art bars for the background, just getting some color down and then blended it with gesso, which muted some of the colors.

I then sketched a loose image, not being left handed the emphasis was on loose and focused on the impression of a figure standing rather than having to be an accurate representation of a figure

I then started to add some color using the inktense blocks and refine the image a bit more.

As I painted the background just came on its own, she was standing with her back to the ocean, and it was as if she was in that place where she refueled and got her creative perspective.

When drawing with your non dominant hand, don't try and be exact, continue to play, and focus on just having fun with the piece.

I imagined myself by the waters, just feeling the breeze blow about me and shutting my eyes to sensations and the sounds

I then added the finishing touches that nurture me in that creative space, the sun, the birds

Check out the full process in the video below and see the full art journal page done in the round.  Thanks for watching and remember to have fun!

Embrace Your Art 2016 runs every Friday for a whole year. Check out some of the challenges, and see some of the other guest artists and it is totally free to join!

Encouragement for today - What are you going to do about it?

Welcome to Wednesday!  I just wanted to encourage you on your journey today.  Sometimes the middle of the week can send you either way in your thinking.  You are either in the flow of things and really excited about where you are going on your journey.  The other end of the spectrum is to look at today and wander what on earth you have been doing, with half of the week nearly over and nothing to show for it!

Whatever your state of mind is today we all need encouragement, granted of different sorts.  I encourage those who have not yet recognized their abilities and skills and who may feel that it is just 'too late' to try something new or to step out.

At the end of the day time will pass (and I know I've said this before), but you will age whether you like it or not.  So why not look back and see all the things you accomplished 'at your age', the things you got to enjoy, the miracles that began to unfold in your life just because you said 'YES' to you and your creative journey.

Mixed Media Art - Amanda Trought, Realityarts

I hope whatever you decide or decided to do today utilized all of your abilities and you were able to identify new ways of working and opportunities for growth.

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Mixed Media Art page - Transformation Friday - Shona

I love creating artwork that begins one way and then goes through a total transformation.  I don't set out to draw a particular image, but allow the image to come out of the backgrounds.

Shona - Mixed media page - Every image has it's own story!

I did a video so that you can see the changes in sequence for this one, 

Check out this video

This is basically how it all starts off, from putting down materials on a page and then making the decision that you are going to tell the story.

A loose image appear and then built on, allowing yourself to be open and not bound by what you think it should look like.

If you keep pushing you start to see the image take place and the story begins

Not being afraid of change

Knowing that you will know when it is time to let go

For anything to grow you have to put in the work, nurture and water when necessary.  Creating is as important to me as my breath, it is part of who I am.

I take the time to refine, to bringing out the colors and allowing her to begin to tell her story, through her gaze, the expression on her face, until I can let go and let her stand in her own right and tell her story without any insecurities or doubt.

Mixed Media Art Page - Shona

Transformation Painting - Mixed Media Art - Pearl

I was slightly late in posting this, wanted to share another painting transformed from a background.  Check out the video of the process.  I had a lot of fun creating her

It is great what you can create from scrap papers.  You can see the shapes of the papers that went into creating the background.

But you can transform it any way you please.  And create a piece of Art that speaks to you, I've called her Pearl, as she loves wearing pearl necklaces.

Do check out some of my other art and videos.  Stay blessed and be a blessing.

29 Faces for February - Week 2 Roundup

On the round up for the second week, you will begin to see a slight theme running through some of these images.  They are part of a mini art journal that I have been working in, it is very simply made and I have really enjoyed painting within it. I will share at the end of the month how it was put together and more of each page.

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

 I decided to do something different for this face, very different

Day 13

Playing around with pen and ink

Day 14

Day 15

Although we are half way through you still have the opportunity to take part - use what you have and have fun creating.

You can check back here next week for the roundup or see each day on my Art Blog and hopefully be inspired to start creating and getting out those supplies!

Material Mondays - Fabric Wall Hangings - Love is the Key

It has been a while since I make one of these as they are quite detailed and there are so many different directions that I love working in as a mixed media artist.  I think that these satisfy the side of me that likes order, my left brain side that wants things organised and put in its place.

With each one I make I learn and experiment that much more in an attempt to encourage the tools to do what I am visioning in my mind.

Sourcing the embellishments and jewelry to use are also great fun, and then the placement of each is equally as important as selecting the colours to use in the overall composition.

The colours and the textures blending together all with a purpose, a story, thought or memory as the backdrop to the piece.

I have several more that I am working on that will be part of the 'Piece of Me' exhibition next year, and I look forward to telling you more about it soon.  

Next week I will be sharing with you ways in which you can use Chamois leather in your creative projects!

If your interested in learning new techniques check out Craftsy below.

  

Crochet, Knitting and much more! Every Monday on Material Mondays I share a project that involves either working with fabric in some way or crochet. If you want to learn how to crochet or work with fabric and a number of other courses, then check out Craftsy. For all new subscribers they have a selection of free online classes, and are always running a special offer on some of their fee paid classes.

Change can come - Painting Process

Have you ever started a painting and not liked where it was going, and felt dissatisfied that you wanted to take it into a new direction?  I have been practicing by working on old paintings that have not been completed for one reason or another, persevered and then tried to take them in a different direction.

It is not always easy, but if you persevere you'll get the look that you want.  That is also true for life, and any changes that you might want to make.  As you step out and continue to do so on a regular basis you'll see the difference that is made in the circumstances, it might not always be easy, but will be worth the effort.

Hope you enjoy this video, I really enjoyed making it.

Material Mondays - Painted fabric

Material Mondays - Painted Fabric

Welcome back to Monday Makes, it has been a while since I have posted what I have made either from fabric or crochet.  I have been busy in the background and will be sharing with you over the next few weeks, getting back on track

You can do many things with fabric, it is so versatile.  I decided to experiment, and took sari fabric which was quite sheer and sandwiched a piece of paper between two pieces of the material.

This meant that I was able to stiffen it up prior to working on it.  After letting it dry I painted with gesso and was then able to add an image.

I also added some journaling and beading on the body of the image and also as earrings

 It was great to experiment by adding the beads, and being fabric made it easy to sew.  I found that because the material was so sheer you needed to take extra care to add enough glue to the surfaces, which resulted in areas where it didn't stick properly.

A remedy would be to use these areas as a part of the decoration and sew additional beads to these parts, try to flatten by ironing them out or cut and reseal, which will probably be the most effective remedy.  I haven't quite decided what I will be using the decorated fabric painting for, and this will inform to a certain extent how prominent the areas look.

Painted and decorated fabric

Why not see what you can do with the fabric that you have and do something different with it.  Do let me know how you get on.

If you are considering learning how to crochet, or any other creative activity check out Craftsy online courses, at the moment they are doing a special offer on some of their classes, and they are offering some free mini courses. Click here. 

Have a blessed day, see you tomorrow for Tutorial Tuesday.