Experiments In Color & Magic

I find certain magic happens in those last minutes we're in our art spaces - when there's paint left on the palette that we just can't waste, paper we'd usually never use but have close by, when there isn't much time left and we want to squeeze out the most creative juice we can before playtime is over. 

If you follow my Instagram feed (or Facebook), you get a little peek into my process (and usually the mess I make while playing!); I take a LOT of pictures while working - to gain perspective on what I'm doing, to document the process so I can repeat it, and yes...to have blog photos!  

Anyway, over the next week, I'll be sharing the work I've been giddy over - stuff I look at when I'm done and can't help but smile. It's awesome when we create art journal pages we love, but it's brilliant when we can't stop making more!  

I decided to stick with a set color palette for two sessions. Why? To see all the different ways I could incorporate the colors! I wanted to see how they behave as part of my own little class on color theory and experimentation!  

Here are the colors I used:

neon red/teal green/bright aqua green/yellow ocher/dark titanium white/white

Oh, and to paint with? Catalyst tools! Just the small and medium of the grey tools, and the blue wedge. That's it!  

Here are some progress shots of my first experiments with this all! 

And here are two finished paintings! Final details were added with gouache & I pulled out the silver leaf! I was working on ledger paper and half-finished canvases in the studio...and don't be afraid to mess something up in order to keep playing! 

Both are available, and I'll be making prints soon! 

Friday, I'll have more eye candy for you all!  

On Searching Within for What to Paint

Here is a piece of advice I’ve read in two books lately: 

Create what you know.

I’m sure you’ve heard the advice given to writers. Write what you know. But have you applied that to your own art and journals? 

I haven’t. Heck, I haven’t even taken an inventory. What subjects/people/things do I know the most about? What have I studied? What lights up my imagination? What was I drawn to before art became my obsession/passion? 

(And don’t worry about that word obsession. Having a healthy obsession with your work, with your journal, is a good thing.) 

So I sat down to figure it out. 

(This list remains a work in progress.) 

And thus, when asked what I would paint on the little ceramic piece I’d created a background on, I said, 

“A unicorn. I love unicorns, so why the heck aren’t I painting them?” 

And I did. 

What do you love? What are you an authority on? Why aren’t you painting/writing that? 

I am considering making more of these. How cute, right? I want to paint more of the things I loved in childhood, that fly through my dreams, that are full of magic. What are our unicorns these days? What is YOUR unicorn? 

Are You a Creative Warrior?

I've been spending my time in this post-Christmas no-man's-land before the new year begins working on the details, notes, and content for this very special, and very dear to my heart project, the Creative Warriors Circle. 

As I opened myself up for friendship and companionship in 2012, I found myself attracting understanding, empathetic, kind people. The ones that wouldn't judge me for my chronic illness, and in fact, helped me accept self-care and limits. 

I wanted to combine this magic with the next phase for Art Journal Diary -- a year-long exploration into our journals, supplies, techniques, & Wild Hearts to come out with solid ideas, schedules, planning, and next steps to achieve good health and happiness.

I've made an entire page about this year-long and ultra-affordable circle, where you can get your questions answered. But don't wait too long -- we're already chatting, & I'm uploading new content every day!

This is the first page we'll be creating once January 1st comes along. This project is SO going to help so many, and my heart is BURSTING with the possibilities and changes this circle is going to create in your lives. I truly love when a project comes from the heart, and KNOW deep within that this is for YOU!

Aravaipa Canyon Love Letter

Oh, my darlings, I have so much to share with you! My computer is full of photos, from my last bookbinding class, to the amazing results of the mixed-media portrait class I taught at my first retreat....but for today, for the magic of 12-12-12, I thought I'd share the magic of Aravaipa Canyon, where the retreat was held. It's a magical land where no cell phones, iPads, or internet work, and you're forced to take pause and really connect with the others around you, as well as yourself. 

The ranch is reached by driving along a dirt road, mostly one-lane, up and around the mountains of the range. I was so glad to own a 4-wheel drive vehicle!

This was taken on the way out, but can you see the other side of the road? *laughs* I was cackling and giggling with joy when I drove through the creek to reach the ranch, and then again on the way out. The road's to the left, after you drive through. (I had to back up and speed up after I took this photo, as my passenger reminded me I needed speed to get through the foot-to-foot-and-a-half deep creek!)

There is a forest out there, up and down the mountains, where I swear, faeries dance with the spirits of native americans still dwelling in the forests and mountains of their people. 

Can you imagine them, here, on these mushrooms growing from the side of a tree?

Spinning webs around these dormant branches? 

There's a stone labyrinth out there, that takes longer than you think to get around, with a little alter in the center. I was reminded that these circular labyrinths used to represent the womb of a woman, back in ancient times, and all her creative potential. How we have to navigate through the twists and turns of life in order to create. 

In a place like this, how could I not take pause and go Still? I'd found autumn at last!

And then, I'd look up, and be reminded that we were in the middle of a desert. Those mesas and saguaro, so ancient - did you know they don't get their first arm until they're 100 years old? 

We hiked through the woods and suddenly, came out upon this beautiful vista, this part of the creek where the banks were covered in long grass, where the breeze was gentle and the trees swayed and rained down leaves on us as we lay down for a little nap... (This is my favorite shot; who would have thought I'd be taking photos like this when I started playing a couple years ago?)

It was as if the creek made space for all of us, letting us rest. The water was cool and clear, and I splashed in it, watching the droplets reflect the midday sunlight like snowflakes or glitter falling to earth. 

Our view. I suddenly was in love with Arizona.

I felt full of magic. 

I then went back, back to the world, and gathered up that magic to spread to my students, encouraging them to draw and paint and find the same joy I do in moving around paint and pencils and marks. I'll share all that tomorrow. For today, reflect on Stillness, on Wishes and Dream and Imagination. On Magic in your life, in Deep Play, in Calm.

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

I'm curating this week on Crescendoh, sharing a new Art Saves story about how art got me through panic attacks and changes after my concussion, and sharing my favorite links on the web. 

Check me out on this week's podcast of Adventures in Arting with Julie Balzer! I'm interviewed with my dear friend Roben-Marie.