Creativity and Healing - with Larissa Russel and Amanda Trought

I recently joined Larissa Russell of Creative U and we spoke about the healing power of creativity you can listen HERE or catch the video below

Watch the Video of the session

 

Creating in Faith - Stillness

 

Think about what the word 'Stillness' means to you, and how it manifests for you in your day to day.

This episode is about how we go about having some stillness in our lives and find those moments where we can focus on the things that need to be done.  We have to also think about how we are going to use if for our benefit and navigate our creative walk.

Stillness brings calm, healing and nurturing enabling us to clarify things that may have been on our minds

What does the word bring up for you, and when was the last time you took some time out to be still?

Creating in Faith - Word for the Week - Blissful Ambition

 

The latest episodes of the words for Today on Creating in Faith is available on the podcast where the words shared are Blissful and Ambition. 

When you think about your creativity do you ever think about how it makes you feel or what you want to do with it.  Many of us find that creativity has a therapeutic effect on our health and well being and it is an integral part of their day to day.  There is also the need for many artists to look at ways in which they can earn from their creative project.

How do you see your growth and development progressing.

You can listen to the Podcast for Blissful HERE and Ambition HERE or click on the link below

Red Wall Hanging and Slow Stitching

 

In the video below I share with you some of the processes behind creating this wall hanging and you also get a look behind the motivation and thinking that went into creating this piece.

It uses a variety of elements not normally placed together and also includes areas of slow stitching and embroidery stitches.

It also has cotton that has been grown from my garden woven within it

And also includes sculptural elements and beading

Let me know what you are working on and share with me on instagram @realityarts

Stitched Meditations - Boro Shasheko Stitching

 

In this video I share with you some of the processes used for creating this wall hanging, it uses some of the techniques known as Boro Shasheko also Slow Stitching.

I created on several small pieces to begin with and then brought them together.

The pieces of material all were recycled and they have their own story to tell.  Let me know if you have ever used the stitches in your own work.

It is a very meditative piece and I also added a number of additional elements and sculptural pieces onto it.  I also used Moringa wood harvested from my garden as sculptural hangings at the base of the wall hanging.  Thank you for taking time out to watch the video.

Arts and Wellness Cafe - Hit the Ground Running - its 2021!

How have you been getting on so far with 2021 off to a start of sorts we find our self half way through the month already!

Here are two of the Arts and Wellness Videos I have shared so far and in this one I consider the season that we are in, or that you find yourself in.

I share some insights in these videos and hope that you find moments of inspiration and maybe a few ah ha moments filled with a touch of laughter here and there.

What Season are you in?

As 2021 continue have you taken a step towards knowing exactly what season creatively you are really in.

It's 2021

What plans have you made for your year ahead?

Enjoy, Stay blessed

Belief - Creating in Faith - Realityarts Podcast

 

Creating in Faith - Belief

 

Thank you for joining me.  Check out the podcast episode for today and also take a look at some of the courses linked below.  We are now in Season 3 of Creating in Faith and I would like to thank all of those over the last 2 years that took time out to listen to the different episodes, it was most appreciated.

Today's word is: Belief 

Creating In Faith Encouraging Recordings are to bless and inspire you to be the best of yourself. It can be really great to pull out your art journal/Journal and express what comes up for you either with images and colour, with words or with both. Check out the weekly and monthly videos to help you spend more time in your art journal. 

There are some courses that I want to remind you to check out that I am teaching on:  

Life Book 2021 

Life Book 7 Day Replay Sessions (FREE)

Creative Jumpstart 2021

One BADASS Art Journal

Loving Healing Creating Summit 

Check me out as well on the following:

YouTube www.youtube.com/amandatrought 

Blog - realityarts-creativity.blogspot.com Patreon Blog - www.patreon.com/realityarts Twitter - www.twitter.com/Realityarts Instagram www.instagram.com/realityarts/ Facebook www.facebook.com/realityartss/ 

Check out some encouraging boards on Pinterest @realityarts ******************************************** 

Artwork available from the title image HERE 

I also have an Arts and Health NHS Network for information on activities and organisations working in the field. You are welcome to join, it is a FREE resource and if you have any activities or want to talk about your work you are welcome to send me the information and I will see that it gets uploaded. You can create your own profile on the network and connect with others who are passionate about the arts in health too.

Loving Healing Creating Summit

 

I have been asked to be a presenter on the Loving Healing Creating Summit.  There are a great line up of presenters coming from a range of disciplines all looking at the way that creativity can impact on our health and well being.

 

Larissa Russell of Creative U invited me to join her in the online summit Loving-Healing-Creating   Larissa and I along with 24 other presenters have created an amazing online experience to push you a little further in your personal healing using different aspects of creativity.

 

Together we are sharing many different ways of healing with creativity... best advice from experts on healing with creativity all in one place… … and it’s FREE for you!

 

In the Loving-Healing-Creating Summit, you’ll find courses to support you in your healing.

 

Courses like:

• Guided Meditation Painting

• Personal Expression in an Art Journal

• Self Portrait Vision Board

• Affirmation Cards

• Movement to Inspire Creativity

• and more!

 

I am excited to share a sneak peek of my session with you which looks at ways to create layers in mixed media art and identify encouraging words that you can use in your creative adventure.

Lots of yummy colour and mark making

Hurry and register for this free event as time is limited, Free access is from February 2-14, 2020.

You can also get unlimited access for only $47 USD (early bird special until Feb 1) CLICK HERE for more information. Looking forward to having you join us.

CATAPULT DAY - Caribbean Creatives Online

 I am the proud Recipient of two CATAPULT awards and have been sharing some of my work online, looking at the art and the processes that I use.  You can check out the videos below:

In this video I share with you the process I use with my fabric art and use of embellishments.

 In this next video you get to see some more of my work in my studio and some of the projects that I have been working on.

I would love you to join me, if you have any questions about any of my work please leave a comment.  You can also join us today as all the creatives are getting together and it will be streamed on YouTube

You can check it out HERE

A big thanks goes out to the following and you can check out their links on Instagram: 

CATAPULT - @catapultartscarib

American Friends ofJamaica - @afjcares

Kingston Creative - @kingstoncreativejm

Fresh Milk Barbados - @freshmilkbarbados

I am Teaching with Creative JumpStart (CJS) 2021

I'm excited to announce that I'll be teaching with Creative JumpStart (CJS) 2021. 

This year Creative JumpStart is celebrating its 10th Anniversary and is bigger than ever!  It is a one-of-a-kind online workshop hosted by Nathalie Kalbach, designed to kick your creativity into high gear in the New Year. 

Starting on January 1st 2021, each day a new video lesson will go live in the classroom. As this is the special 10th Anniversary Edition, Creative JumpStart includes 45 different mixed media artists and videos will go up through February 14th. Participants get access to 45 downloadable videos from 45 featured artists, called “JumpStarters.”  I have a fantastic class lined up for you and I will share more over the next few days!!

You'll learn an amazing amount of techniques, discover new materials, gain new ones in the giveaways from our sponsors and connect with other artists and crafters. 

Check this out!:

Head on over to Nathalie's site to learn more and sign up: https://bit.ly/CJSat2021 or Click HERE 

What you get and Cost

With Creative JumpStart 2021 you will get 45 videos - over 8 hours worth of video content - for just $49 USD if you sign up by November 30th 2020 at 11:59 pm EST. Afterwards it will be $59 USD through December 4th, 2020, and $69 USD until December 31st 2020, before it goes to its normal sale price of $89 USD on January 1st 2021.

So what are you waiting for? Jump in with us! Sign up here at:

https://bit.ly/CJSat2021 or Click HERE 

Join me on Patreon

Arts and Wellness Café - Abundance

 

What ways do you feel abundant and how would you express it in a creative way.  Come and join me in the Arts and Wellness Café

I am teaching on the BADASS Art Journal Course!

Great News I am thrilled to let you know that I am a Guest Teacher on One BADASS Art Journal 2021!  It is great to be able to teach alongside a group of AMAZING artist instructors!  

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

I have been teaching on the course for the past few years and we always have a lot of fun.  And even MORE exciting news is that I can give away a spot in this amazing creative community. 

If you have never heard of the One BADASS Art Journal course then let me tell you a bit more:

One BADASS Art Journal is designed to inspire you to create, to learn, to feel confident and provide you with the tools, techniques and inspiration needed to feel fantastic every day that you make art!  Hosted by Tiare Smith, you’ll be immersed in happiness, gratitude and fun from day one!

Registration opens on December 1, 2020, and the fun will begin February 1, 2021.  Be sure to bookmark this page HERE. so you can join the moment it goes on sale.

I am giving away a spot on One BADASS Art Journal 2021 to 1 lucky person! Entering is easy, You can get 4 opportunities to enter by:

• Joining my mailing list   For additional chances:
• Follow me on Instagram - Leave a comment on one of the posts
• Subscribe to my YouTube Channel and leave a comment
• You can get also get a bonus entry HERE

Closing date for the giveaway Saturday 28th November 2020 10pm AST

Winner will be contacted via email by December 1, 2020.

One BADASS Art Journal 2021 - Click Here

 

Art and Wellness Café - Wealthy and Healthy

 

Join me in the Arts and Wellness Café  What is it about your creative practice are you taking for granted?  Are you undervaluing an area or over valuing it?  If you had to drop one of the things that you were doing because it no longer served you what would it be?  

Are you holding on to things because 'you have always done it that way'  I would love you to share what you feel one of your strengths are, it sometimes helps to remind ourselves of what we have with us all the time and celebrate those strengths.

Check out previous episodes

What's Love Got to do with it

Hopeful

Stitched Projects - Wall Hanging

 

Here is one of my recently finished stitched wall hangings.

It is a mixed media piece that includes fabrics, beading, slow stitching and Moringa Wood that has been harvested from my garden and then wood burned.

The nature of the piece encourages reflection.  The stitching by hand encourages you to slow down, the addition of seed beads and jewelry embellishments sets the whole piece off.

I find the stitching to be very therapeutic as well as selecting the threads and the embellishments that want to be added.

The wood that is harvest from the garden has to be stripped first, then dried before it can be wood burned. This piece is available for sale and I will be adding it to my website if you would like to welcome it into your home.

Thank you for joining me, Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Art Journal Page - Gesso, collage and doodles -

I thought that I would share the clip of this video which goes into a bit more information about the image.  I was inspired by Taster Session artist Eulalia Majia who is one of the teachers with me on the Life Book 2021. 

My version of the Dragon Fly

I love creating faces and usually see faces or scenes in most of my backgrounds, so I incorporated that and did a small version of the dragonfly that Eulalia shared.  We currently have quite a few variety of dragon fly in our garden, as it it the rainy season and that usually brings a lot of mosquitoes

This is another figure that I did but she still needs to be completed.  I hope you enjoy.

Sign up for Life Book 2021 HERE

20% off - use code FEELHAPPY20

Join me on Patreon

Arts and Wellness Café - Hopeful Extended

Arts and Wellness Café

Join me in the studio for Arts and Wellness Café where we look at more ways in which 'Hopeful' impacts on you health and well-being.  

I also share with you two short process videos so that you can look at playing with backgrounds, just using Inktense pencils, collage paper in a journal, you can apply colour to the page and use it when you only have a short time to play.

Creating pages in your Art Journal Add colours to the page and activate!

I also catch up with some of the Life Book taster sessions, it is great to be able to see what the other teachers did for their sessions and here is one that I was able to do Inspired by Eulalia Mejia creating the backgrounds, using gesso and going in a mark making on figures, the one below is what we did in the classroom.  

Here is the the one below that I was able to do, it is a lovely exercise and very therapeutic as well with all the mark making.

If you would like to register for Life Book CLICK HERE

Use the code FEELHAPPY20 to get the 20% off at the checkout, you will also get all the taster sessions as well!