Podcast Episode 123 - Revelation (Creating in Faith )

Over the past few weeks I had been trying to push myself for change.  There are many things I want to accomplish and many changes that have to be made so that these things can come into fruition.  I shared in my post previously about staring fear in the face and acknowledging your feelings, and that is exactly what I have been trying to do!.  I am not and would never say that it is an easy feat, it isn't, it is not an overnight thing either.  There are somethings that I find easier to do than others.  When it comes to the practical sides of planning and sorting out others I find this much easier to deal with than if I were to do the same thing for myself.  

Listen to the podcast clicking the link above or HERE .  Think about the following:

• What changes in your life are you trying to make
• what words of wisdom have you been given along the way
• What words of wisdom would you give yourself 10 years ago.
• Who are you comparing yourself to? - remember that you are on different parts of the journey
• Who do you admire in your field 
• What advice would you give yourself in 10 years?

This 'perfect', 'got it all together' person doesn't and will never exist.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and at some point we will all have a moment when we release an offering in the world that might be less than perfect - so what - we pick ourselves up, we have taken that important step, we learn from it and then we move on.  This is so much better than to not have tried at all and be asking yourself "what if".

Think about what your strengths are and how you are going to be moving forward, ask those difficult questions and think about how you will encourage yourself to get out of your comfort zone more often.

Check out the previous Realityarts Podcast recordings on Wednesdays its Arts and Wellness topics and on Friday it is the Inspirational shorts to set you up for the weekend.  





Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Art Journal Page - Dream, Create, Enjoy!

Mixed Media Art Journal Page - Amanda Trought

I created this Art Journal page in my Gratitude's and Celebration Journal, a journal that I spent time in weekly creating a page and writing out the things I was grateful for that week. It is so important to spend time in reflection, thinking about where you are going, where you are and where you have come from. 

Check out the Video below:

It is important to focus on the things you are grateful for and appreciate, the very things we sometimes take for granted helps lift our spirits and encourage us to move forward in many different ways.

The page was created from that 'dreaded blank page' and we can often get hung up about not knowing what to create, and then allow the 'blank page syndrome, to take hold of us. How do you approach your blank pages? With Fear? or with delight in a new adventure?

Playing with the page meant that applying colour and washi tape and not over think it, the only thing you need to focus on is applying something to the page.

I then added additional layers including stencils, stamps, again just playing on the page with supplies - you will never look at the blank page again in the same way!

I approach each and every surface as an adventure! It is alright to walk away from the page and you don't have to do everything in one sitting.  I came back and then added the image and additional stamps.

Go find your blank page and take some time to play.

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Inspirational Shorts - Humility

Humility

Inspirational Shorts are a great way for you to get a quick creative reminder at how precious and loved you are.  There is also a need to remind yourself that you have to love yourself unconditionally, with all your faults - no body is perfect despite what they are telling you.  Today's word is Humility, you can listen to the recording on the Podcast below, and also read it to confirm what your heart already knows

Today is a great day for starting over, there is no weakness in change, it shows great strength. You have to have faith and believe that growth will take place, worry not about what others will do or say, but fix your mind on where you must begin and the journey you will take, you hold the keys!

I hope that you have found something that you can take away in the recording today to inspire and motivate you to be all you dream you to be and more!  One day, one action at a time.  Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Chocolate Rain - Review - 100 Ideas for a Creative Approach to Activities in Dementia Care

Welcome to the blog today.  I am reviewing the book called Chocolate Rain - 100 Ideas for a Creative Approach to Activities in Dementia Care.  I found the book to be a great resource and definitely one that you should have on your bookshelf, and be your 'go-to' resource.  I will be updating with the video if you would like to see the chapters and get a feel for the book.

As well as a key resource the book also encourages you to create a list of your own activities and the chapters help you in achieving this.  You don't have to be actively creative to develop the ideas in this book, but high chances are you will end up creative and that's great!

Check out the podcast episode where I talk about the book and share some of my own experience being an artist and carer and developing art workshops and also looking at the impact that art and creativity has on our health and well-being.

 The book is called Chocolate Rain

The book is filled with some really great tips and ideas, and gets you thinking about the things you are doing and how you can be more mindful with someone who may be at varying stages of the disease.  The arts have always played a key role in impacting on healthcare situations in the home or in a care setting, and there are a variety of organisations that work with artists from a variety of disciplines to deliver sessions - from the arts to music, dance, drama and more.

Check out the 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 interact with other organisations and individuals working in and around the NHS.

Inspirational Shorts - Encouraging words for your week - Diversity

Welcome to the blog.  On my podcast today, while slightly late I posted an episode of Inspirational Shorts with the title Diversity, and also included some encouragement to help you go about your coming week.  We all need some encouragement from time to time, reminders of how far we have come, how precious we are and not to give up on ourselves.  I hope this short recording serves as the encouragement that comes just at the right time for you.

The title Diversity is a word 'just in time' or 'for this particular time' and it is for you to think about what that word means to you, the things that you are doing, does it remind you to do something, change something.  Does the word speak to your personal life or business life or both.  Take the encouraging words below as a reminder, and every now and then over the course of the week give yourself a reminder as you listen to the recording.

You are precious, a gift, you touch the heart of many. So many miracles have come from you - through your smile your warmth, your heart. Keep believing, patience is the key that comes in many forms and you hold the key to unlock the many blessings that are waiting for you. Everything will come together for good at the right time

Do remember to check out some of the links on the blog, check out my YouTube channel for encouraging videos to assist you in your creative journey.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

The Print Exhibition 2019

The Print 2019 Exhibition opened at the Grove Gallery, Limegrove Lifestyle Centre.

Met up with some Old Friends and connected with some new ones, both Artists and appreciators of art.  I feel that we are all creative and use it in different ways whether we see in numbers, colours, patterns and every thing else. 

I spoke to an economist on the night who talked about understanding the mind of an artist and their inspiration to create - I was sharing that the way I often work is to lay down colours and see what forms and figures emerge - I thought everyone saw the shapes.  

How do you create, do you relate to seeing shapes, forms and patterns in your work?

The young man said he had never experienced looking at a design or pattern and seeing figures but that he loved numbers and saw the patterns in numbers, that there for me speaks of the way each of us use creativity to express in some way.

Some lovely work on display and it is always great to meet new artists and see how they are motivated to create.

Let me know if you get to attend the Print Exhibition, it is on until 17th August, also check out some of the other videos on Exhibitions in Barbados on my YouTube Channel.

If you are interested in taking a digital creative course Bluprint have an offer of 30 Days of Classes for $1

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Inspirational Shorts - Authenticity

Welcome to this week's Friday Podcast - Episode 113.

Authenticity 

The doors are opening, are you ready to walk through? The time is coming - you have put in the hard work, you stayed up late and got up early, you made the sacrifices and carried on making your mark despite the circumstances. The time has come for you to look back at where you came from, look at all your achievements, no matter how small, you have come a long way!  Be proud of what you have achieved, be proud of your authenticity.

*  *  *

I thought I would give you an insight for the weekends, and prepare you for Mondays.  These Friday podcasts will be typically under 3 minutes, and just a pit stop.

Each Friday I share with you an insight or revelation and I hope that It will bless you as it blesses me.  Today it is to encourage you to go out and do some exercise, in whatever way you want to do it. have a journal or art journal handy, so that you can either make notes or create something from what inspires you. 

You can check me out on the following platforms,

Amanda Trought on Social Media (Realityarts):

www.youtube.com/amandatrought 

www.twitter.com/Realityarts 

www.instagram.com/realityarts/ 

www.facebook.com/realityartss/ 

Longing - Creating in Faith

Welcome to Creating in Faith.  I am now sharing these posts on my podcast with additional insights and you can listen to the podcast below.  There are also some great comments that were made on the original post which also adds some insight to the topic and may be able to bless you.

There are many things if we think about them carefully that we long for.  Some are to make us feel better within ourselves, some for the benefit of other people.  I have come to know and experienced the longing that stirs deep within and that feels like it cannot be remedied - found hand in hand with loss.

 

In my younger days I had many desires, I would have been convinced that some of which I could not live without, and thinking about them now see them as trivial and unimportant. My maturity makes sense of the world and understands how views, and desires change, and in my youth often with the wind.

My thoughts on longing are around the loss of a loved ones - a child, father, best friend and more recently brother.  You wonder how much your heart can take, never for one minute thinking that you will have to bear the callouses of yet another loss.  My longing is wrapped up in wanting to see them again, to say those words that never got said, to feel their presence one more time, to stop for a moment the ache, that dull ache which rests deep within.  There are momentary distractions and life feels like normal, you can breath again and sometimes laugh.  Then you remember, something missing, something you took for granted that it would always be there but you realise a hole remains.  Is it a round peg or a square, whatever shape it is it feels as if there is nothing that can fill it. 

Time they say is a healer it gets better.  I can say that I still wonder what my son Cairo who would be turning 24 this year would be accomplishing and what adventures he would have got up to.  My dad would have been in his 80's there was still so much wisdom untapped and how he would have had so much fun with his grandchildren.  Barbara spurred me on in my journey as an artist we shared much laughter and supported each other, and now my Brother Robert.  I think of him constantly wondering how I can use my creativity to take away the ache, knowing that he would expect me to do all the things I shared with him from my hopes and dreams.  

The longing doesn't go away I guess my you find different ways to respond, and my creativity allows me to say those things I still want to say, and when I don't know what or how I should feel I just stay still and listen.

My faith helps me to put one foot in front of the other taking one day, one thought, one step at a time.  My creativity is helping me to say those things that I need to say whether it is a painting, piece of writing, poetry or something that I have created.  They go hand in hand bridging the gap between the words unsaid, mutterings and groans from the heart, laughter and tears on the opposite sides of the same coin and the understanding that has come over time.

There will always be a longing, we can't hide or pretend.  Some days it will be easier, and others not so easy.  We learn to embrace, to share the memories, to talk about our loved ones as if they are in the next room.  We remember them the good and bad times, the tests and the triumphs and we keep taking those steps reminded of the fragility and remembering to laugh....

Do some work in your art journal and see what areas you want to focus on and express either through colour, words, song, photographs and more.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Inspirational Shorts Episodes

Welcome to the Blog today where I share with you my latest podcasts.  I thought I would share with you some of the recordings from the most recent Inspirational Shorts.  Of course every episode is note worthy, but I wanted to make sure that you got your inspirational shot for the weekend.  We have such fast pace lives that it seems as if we only have minutes to 'Get the job done'!

Inspirational shorts is a 2 minute inspirational creative snack, that you can have on a weekly basis.  When you have more time, stop by the podcast on Mondays for some 'Creating in Faith, touching on why we do some of the things we do, and the Arts and Wellness Wednesdays, putting creativity in our lives, looking at what we can do/are doing as artists.  Let me know which one speaks to your creative spirit.

Episode 110

We all have something to be grateful for, and often those very small things that go unnoticed can mean the world of good for others.

Episode 109

Within this episode I talk about Forgiveness, the way that we move on, and sometimes the one that we find the hardest to forgive is ourselves.

Episode 106

The topic for this one is something that I am constantly reminding myself about and that is investing in my health.  We ask our bodies to do so much for us and we can treat it rather shabbily.  What have you done today that invested in your health?  I went to the beach, and it was a long time coming.  One of the bathers remarked that it looked as if I was in heaven, and for that moment It felt so good being in the water, it came close to heaven as I gazed out into the blue waters.  Think about what you are doing to invest in your health on a daily basis and let me know.  You can listen to the recording below.

Episode 103

In Episode 103 of the Podcast I shared about courage, and it is a gentle reminder, each week to step out of your comfort zone and just start.  You can listen by clicking on the image

What do you need courage for - where should I begin now?

Let me know how you get on and while you are at it you might choose to listen to some of the other episodes.  Do you have a creative topic that you would like some information about, are you stuck trying to find which creative turn to make.  Connect with me and I may be able to create a video or episode that speaks to an area that you are passionate about.

Take care for now and stay blessed.

100 Pastel Paintings - I Did It!!!

I have got to the end of the 100 Day Project, where I posted daily pastel paintings on my Instagram.

Check out the video below and see all 100.  I also share about the course I will be running, register your interest HERE to be notified.  And I also have the link to prints below if you would like to order prints, cards and more

It feels weird coming to the end, though in comparison to all the things that I had to do it was a small percentage, it actually feels like a big chunk has gone.  Anyway, the work continues.  I had a lovely time working with the pastels, and would love to try some other brands at some point.

The pastels that I worked with were:

Conte - hard pastel pencils

Rowney - soft pastels, Nouvel Carre - hard pastels

Rembrandt - soft pastels

Royal Langnickle - hard pastels

You can check them out on Amazon and see a range of other brands of pastels there as well.  Here are the paintings in the Series. 

I am very proud of the paintings from the very first one where I was just playing to the last painting where you can see the confidence in the pastels. 

I am working on a course for those who want to learn some beginning hints and tips for working and playing with pastels.  Register Your Interest HERE and I will let you know when the course will be ready.

 I have Prints available of the images, so you can get the images in a variety of forms to suit all price points.

Check out some of the designs this is the print, which can be different sizes

Pastel Prints

On some of my art I have created prints on clothes and other merchandise.  Check the link above.

Moringa Seed Design 

This is a new journey for me so I look forward to welcoming you along with me.  Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Playing with Pastels - 73 - 80

Playing with Pastels - Numbers - 73 - 80

Welcome to the series of images for the next 100 Days of Pastels as part of the 100 Day Project.

I am now getting into the home stretch with these next paintings which number 73 to 80.  I hope that whatever challenges you decided to do you have been able to stay the course.

Here is the video bonus for this painting

If you see any of the paintings that you would like to own as prints please let me know.  If you are new to pastels and want to learn more I also have a mini course coming out, sign up to my mailing list HERE so that you can receive the information when it comes out! 

Stay blessed, will be sharing some more video examples for you to get started as well.