Growth

I saw this  as I was walking to my art session with the elderly and it looked quite unusual as it appeared as if it were growing like a plant along the wall, but obviously its barbed wire. 

This got me to thinking how often we can feel that we are growing in a particular area or have learnt from a situation but we are restricted in our growth either because we have stopped seeing the possibilities or we have taken on board all of the negative that can often come our way and choke a great idea out of us.

We could also look at how we protect our ideas. Sometimes it's necessary to put a protective layer around it in its' early nurturing stages so that it doesn't get trampled and pulled apart and so the barbed wire might be useful in this type of situation.

When our ideas are nurtured and cared for they have plenty of time to grow and develop despite the environment.

Contemplation

Can't believe we are nearly a quarter of the way through the year.  Clocks go forward tonight and we loose an hour, I'm really looking forward to the lighter evenings.  So much has been going on its going to take a few posts to get up to speed.  I have been focussing on producing some paintings for an exhibition I am planning further down in the year.  I also have a lot of work that needs to be uploaded on to my website.  When you are self employed you have to be proficient in a number of areas.  I wanted to share with you a mini break I had in spain (marbella) in February. It was a lovely little break and allowed me much time to reflect and do some art work.  This was mainly because it rained all the time we were there and so for me it was ideal, I was forced to get my thoughts and images on paper.  There were a couple of hours on 2 of the days where we had some sunshine, I had really appreciated the time spent as we often can find a number of other things we must fill our time with and then moan about not having enough time.  I found it challenging at first as I am used to snatching the time.  I allowed myself to basque in the extra time and made sure that every day for the 4 days of the break I spent some time on me and working through some of the ideas that I had been working on - at the end of the day no one will give you the time, you have to take it for yourself.......

New Year - resolution fantasy or reality?

Firstly, Happy New Year

If you could imagine the ideal life/work, lifestyle what would it be? What type of relationships would you have in your life? Where would you travel? What would your job be? I asked myself that question and made a list of things . When I looked back on all of the things on the list I realised that each one on the list were all achievable now and I wouldn't have to wait till that ideal time, place or the right people to start. What it required me to do was think out of the box, and look at them in different settings, parts of the world, break them down to achievable chunks, put a time frame, make myself accountable - telling a friend etc.

My list looked like this:

• My job/working environment - Being self employed, working all over the world in exotic places,
• Having a studio and gallery representation
• My health - eating the right food and loosing weight
• Improving relationships with friends and family
• Travelling - holiday more than twice a year
• Home environment 6 bed room house with a studio to do my art, large garden, and a granny flat for my elderly mother - maybe in the uk or abroad - Why limit yourself to the UK if you went further afield you might get more floor space for your money.

 

With the new year here and everyone making resolutions, some even breaking them already, what can be done differently to get the result you want? If loosing weight is on your list what have you done so far ? Rather than wait for the end of the week , go for a half hour walk today, join the gym this week rather than next week.

Look at each goal and think what small steps you can do to make it a reality. Think of ways to keep a check on yourself and keep yourself motivated by giving yourself rewards along the way. On a monthly basis do this exercise to see how your getting on.

What could you do to make more time to pursue what made the most of your talents and abilities while earning a living. The thing to remember is to remain flexible. How many ways can you achieve your goals? Will changing the environment or people make a difference? Set yourself a time frame and as you start achieving certain goals make new ones that you can follow.

 

Sketch Books

As a mixed media artist I have always loved paper and the different varieties and weights you can get. I found it hard to make a mark on those crisp pages of my sketch books and I used to draw my ideas on a variety of bits of paper and grew frustrated when it came to following ideas through , but refused to see that it was my resistance and misinterpretation of how I should used a sketch book that was really the problem. Knowing that using a sketch book would enhance my creative process I decided to make my sketch books work for me now use my books several different ways.

I decided to make a series of different sketch books which would allow me to continue to work in a way that I felt was allowing me to keep my creativity flowing, but kept more order over how the ideas were stored. Each book has its own feel, and purpose. I have 3 sizes of books that I use to allow me the flexibility I needed in jotting down ideas, but allowed my work to remain together and made it easier to follow through ideas

Mini books (3x6) This size makes use of the loose or scrap pieces of paper that you may have lying around - these are 5 pieces of card either stapled or sewn together with a cover decorated in scraps of handmade paper that might be too small to use in a piece of work. I make them with mini pockets for putting in additional samples. I usually have more than one book on the go which gives me the flexibility in following particular themes/ideas in the different books at the same time. I carry a few of these around with me - they are light, easy to make and use. I use them to jot down quick ideas or things that have caught my eye - sketching the designs out, using water colours, collage and any other colour ideas depending on what I'm working on.


5x5 books - These books are used to follow up an idea, I make the books in accordion style and there are usually 7 or 8 pages to work with. The paper on these books are water colour paper 240 gms which allows for the use of paint and anything you want to stick in it, or sew in it and because of the design you can attach additional pages to it, the cover is made using recycled cardboard from packaging or boxes.

A4 books - I use the A4 size book if I am working on something that incorporates a lot of detail or if I am working on a portrait. I can also use information that I have been working on in the smaller booksonce I am happy with the idea in the 5x5 journal I will put together the finished idea I'm going with in an A4 book, and you also have the reference and thought process in the small books this also leaves room for additional ideas to flow at a later time.