{setting sail on my little boat}

On Tuesday, Tina and I headed to the other side of Phoenix for a mixed-media get together started by the amazing Dina. Despite getting a bit turned around on our way there, Tina and I made it to the little scrapbooking/mixed-media supply shop hosting the group.

And what fun was to be had!

 

Photo by Tina. Aren't you glad you're not the only one that takes over the table when working in your journal?

Three tables, women with paint, brownies on the counter, laughter in the air. We all pulled out our journals -- a myriad of kinds, some made the weekend before in Kelly Kilmer’s classes, others started during a class of Dina’s, full of paint or paper or tape -- introduced ourselves, and got to play.

We shared supplies, showed others new things they could try, got ink all over our hands. I finally found a place that could refill my Copic markers. There were baskets of colored waxed linen thread, paints and papers and inks and stamps. Racks of beautiful large sheets of paper along a wall.

 

Pic by Tina. I'm in purple. I really want one of those little lab-coat thingies...it would have saved mine and Tina's shirts...

But the fun was to be had simply laughing, creating, and chatting with other women who have the same loves. Who read the same magazines and blogs, who want to expand their artistic abilities through experimentation and community. We all had different styles and experience levels, and yet in that room, we were all the same. Just women having fun creating art.

my page from that night. i went a little overboard with the glimmer.

I took the time to chat about my most recent issues and what I should do. I think most of the video workshop I’ve written came from conversations a few months ago, and I went forward off my own passion -- something I don’t regret. But as I sat through the first week of it being announced, I found a black cloud gathering above my head. I wasn’t having fun. After the stress of the website and blog (and the time loss from a massive migraine), I needed a release, and wasn’t finding it.

It took a lot of advice, letters from friends and strangers, and some soul searching to really figure out where I am and where I want to be. I’ve had the amazing luck of now working with some women to design banners and blogs for them (and I have never felt so valued and capable before!), but have missed the play. I think the other night reminded me of that.

So I’m putting the video workshop on the back burner. It’ll be self-paced and available later this spring, but for now, I’m following my joy and developing and writing the art journaling workshop I’ve had in mind since October. I’m even pitching it to be taught here in town. I’m painting weekly and making journals just for fun (and throwing them on Etsy as they roll out of the Closet Studio). There are tons of projects and opportunities going on here behind the scenes.

In planning on offering my little class from the first round of 21 Secrets (for $10!), I discovered a way to create a social network like a Ning site here on my own server, and have bold ideas on where such a place could go. Clubs and classes and secret things! I need to get back to my roots, to who I am and the art I love to create.

And I feel less fear twisting my stomach in writing this than the month I spent working on the video workshop.

So bear with me as things continue to morph and grow and expand and take shape. I’ve set sail on my little boat, but this time, I’ve got a sat-phone and some amazing friends on speed dial.

{a full plate just before the next step}

I’m writing this from my comfy chair. It’s a spot I’ve always found soothing, the first place I go when not feeling well or particularly inspired, when I’ve got a bowl of ice cream or want to cuddle with a puppy. I can curl just right to write in my journal or shift to the side to make just enough room for a box of paint. I love sitting here and working, out in the open where I can intersect with the others I live with and the dogs that snuggle to our warmth.

My plate, as of late, has been incredibly full, and this chair has stood empty as I ran around, trying to get so many things done in a day. My days have been so ordered, I had to break the rules in order to work on my painting yesterday.

And it felt wonderful.

But I ran back to my responsibilities afterwards, and filmed my usual Tuesday video. I’m going to be honest with you - I got bored while editing it. It was forced and dry and lacking art because I had too much on my mind, other things I had to get done. It had become an item on a checklist.

My plate is too full. I will tell you why: I am working on something amazing and new! A workshop I hope will bring so many to the joys of film and editing and help open up the internet to all the amazing art we are all creating. A new venture in my life to help others create online workshops that wow while presenting clear, dynamic content. A web portfolio of my work. And a new birth for this blog.

So I’ll see you all back here on Monday, January 31st for a major reveal of the next stage in my creative and professional life. I hope you’ll join me!

(I will, of course, be posting the last 2 weeks of Points of Two.)

{yet high in the clouds (#reverb10 - 4)}

December 4 – Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? 

When I lost my job, I threw myself into my art. While I’d come to art in an enchanted kind of way, learning from memories of my mother and I painting on the kitchen table when I was seven or eight, I approached it in mostly the same manner I do anything - a perfectionist’s eye. This isn’t a reiteration of day two’s theme, that I get in my own way, but rather a statement of fact. Art came to me when I was still in college, stayed with me along the string of jobs I took after graduation, held my hand as I decided to leave corporate life for various part time jobs centered around things I loved - creativity, books, conversation.

Being self-taught meant I followed along the edge of the rules, learning most of them from others. I copied what I loved, I read books, watched videos, kept a narrow view of what could be done based on what had already been attempted by others more learned or experienced than me.

I had begun to open up to the wonder and splendor of the world during college, when, walking down the wide sidewalks of downtown Chicago to classes, I had to slow down. There was no choice - my bursitis had gotten worse, sending tendrils of pain through the joint and down my leg, sometimes so bad, I’d walk with a limp. My knees ached. While others my age could walk fast and run bits and had boundless energy, I took naps during the day, moved slower, left classes early because I couldn’t stand to sit at a desk for longer than an hour.

Sure, I was playful and fun and laughed, but there was always this undertow of despair and sadness lurking under the surface. I struggled - hell, I still struggle! But I had yet to really go into myself and figure things out.

And then, I was drifting. Aimless. So I created and read and relaxed. Allowed, even praised the slower pace in my life. I no longer had days spent in bed, crying because I couldn’t move. I no longer felt my life consisted of work and rest as it often had before. And while things were hard and prescriptions expensive, I let myself grow some roots and be.

I began meditating again. Reconnecting with the Divine. Admitting I’m not in the driver’s seat on this crazy ride. I was loose yet connected. Grounded yet high in the clouds.

And I stopped reading those tutorial books and looking at the art of others and everything else I’d been using as a guide for my creativity. I started to experiment. To keep a log-book of what I discovered. I learned that there is no end to the imagination. Or the heart.

I reconnected with friends. Laughed and shared meals and amazed myself with the things I thought up. No longer limited by what had come before, I spread my wings and tried new things. Not just artistically, but socially. And with foods! And experiences!

I kept my chin up and noticed the clouds in the sky. The shadows buildings cast. I’m reminded on something I read about how the autistic mind works - non-autistics see what they’re used to, what has a mold in their head. Autistics see what is. They see those ships on the horizon because they don’t have filters like others do. And this year, I decided I wanted to see those ships. I wanted to see something and wonder how it could be different. How it could exist. Where else it could go. What else it could do.

And as I drove across the world, through thick forests beginning to shift and change, across great plains with windmills in the distances, to a land vastly different than I was used to, I was overcome with the wonder of the world I live in.

Call me silly, but I don’t want to change a thing.

{the experiments journal #3: the finished big canvas & fabric edging for a journal page!}

I love that I'm using these videos as a visual documentation of many of my experiments. I get an idea, thinking it out, and then film me trying it out. These are not perfect, polished bits -- they're the real deal, the raw creativity that happens almost every day. 

*Disclaimer: My actual sewing for journals, etc, is much, much neater! 

I added the blue fabric patch after the video was over. Here's a few lovely glamor shots. 

I also sipped a glass of wine while admiring my finished painting! It's the largest I've ever done, and am already thinking about my next one!

The colors are much richer/diverse than in the photo. I'm still working out how PS5 works on a PC (oh, how I miss my Mac!). 

And I love this detail shot, how the writing is coming through the layers! Oh, I just love what I've managed to create! This, too, is available. 

Tomorrow is a full day full of friendship, as is Thursday! I'm a lucky woman to be meeting with such fun and creative ladies over the next 2 weeks!

{the experiments journal #1}

I used to love vlogging! And while I'm without proper video equipment, I thought, "Why not just play?" So I did just that. Which is why this series is called The Experiments Book. Taking a cue from the book I created to try new things in, this weekly vlog series will be about me playing with new things -- from discovering awesome papers to mixing inks, follow along with my artful adventures!

{a chicago & artist love letter}

taken on State St. in downtown Chicago

When Dawn got in my car on Thursday, us meeting in person for the first time, it felt...right. I expected some kind of, not discomfort, but an acknowledgement that, while I’d spoken to this person on the phone, Skype, and via email for years, I’d never physically shared the same space with her.

But when I drove up and she jumped in, it felt like we’d been getting together for years. There was no awkwardness, no adjustment phase, just two girls going out to have some fun!

There are just some people you click with, that get you and you get them. What’s lovely about Dawn and mine’s friendship (and this is only one example out of many!) is that we both bring different things to the table artistically. Sure, we overlap in areas, but I still have so much I can learn from her and her from me (hopefully!). Our styles aren’t really the same, the supplies we love are different, but our approach to art and journaling aligns perfectly.

Thursday was spent in downtown Chicago, at a huge 2-story Blick, then over to the first Paper Source. We caught a yummy lunch in-between and I introduced her to Frango mints (the best chocolate mints, still made by Macy’s, but a Marshall Fields original). We drank Starbucks together and chatted about life and art and family while trying to get through rush-hour traffic.

But on Friday, during the Artist’s Vendor’s Fair, she truly shined. It was in the way she smiled at a little girl looking at the Doodle Diaries. How she was patient when students came up to ask what they could look forward to the next morning, at her first class — the first she was to teach in-person.

I loved being able to show her around, to help, to be there for her, especially since I’ll be leaving Chicago, the city I was born in, went to college in, have walked through. Being able to share it just before I left really cemented how much I’ll miss this place despite hating the snow and weather. There’s a lot of history here — both sides of my family are from here, have deep ties to the city we call home — and while most is good, there’s just enough negativity to drive us across the country.

Maybe I’ve romanticized this place. Perhaps it is nothing more than metal and glass climbing towards the sky, highways and tollways twisting across the landscape like slithering grey snakes. I love how the sky can be a perfect blue with white clouds. The forests kept in their fenced preserves. The old buildings and streets I can rattle off in order. The giant library I lived next to, gargoyles protecting knowledge from the roof.

And I was able to share a slice of that with a friend I feel I’ve known my entire life. My last gifting of the city I know and love before I put it behind me and head towards the sun — and, ironically, the same city Dawn lives in.

For now, I’m happy and hopeful and grateful for the two days I spent in the company of an artist friend. 

{the small art pen-pal swap!}



Who doesn’t like getting mail? The Small Art Pen-Pal Swap aims to give you a little more when trading lovely artwork — an introduction to a new friend.

By pairing small works of art with letters from the heart, this swap gives you that giddy feeling we remember from summers past, of those letters arriving without announcement from someplace far away. In this internet age, it’s so thrilling to get something written on paper, the essence of the person in each stroke of the pen. Forget the instant ping of an incoming email — letters written by hand have more to offer!

This swap has two parts:

Create a piece of art.

 It can be any of the following:

ATC
Tag
Journal Page

Pretty much anything 6”x6” and under and flat.

(No canvases or boxes, unless you’re okay with paying extra postage.)

Write a letter.

Be encouraging. Write about life lessons you’ve learned, tips and tricks dealing with art and life, send a favorite recipe. Your letter doesn’t have to be about art, but it should be uplifting and loving.

As part of the sign-up process, you’ll give in your blog/Flickr address, as well as the answers to some questions designed to help you figure out what type of art they’d like, as well as guide you in writing your letter. I will try my best to pair people up with those they don’t know, either at all or very well so that you’re making a new friend.

How it works:

Fill out the following form. All the information comes to me directly and will be shared only with your new pal. I won’t use the info for anything other than this swap, and will delete it when we’ve concluded things.

Sign-ups close August 30th!

After sign-ups are closed, you will receive an email with the name and information of your partner. Don’t contact them or let them know you are their special Mail Faerie! This is more fun if the letter & art come as a complete surprise!

You will have until September 20th to complete and mail off your letter. Please contact me when your package has gone out so I can keep track of things.

PLEASE only sign up if you can finish this project by the deadline. We don’t want anyone to go without a mail present! If you need an extension for an unforeseen reason, please email ME so I can communicate with your partner without giving away the surprise.

Take photos of you with your beautiful letter! On September 27th, I’ll post all the wonderful images for all to see!

Questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask!

Sign Ups are now closed!

Once you're signed up, why not grab a badge for your blog? 

{how kira got her mojo back}

It’s no secret that, for the last few weeks, I’ve been working more on the computer than in my journals or on canvas — packing up most of your supplies and losing desk space will do that to you — only pulling them out for Tuesday Vlog sessions or my weekly page for Points of Two. I can’t say it’s been entirely due to circumstance, as stress would be a more motivating force when it comes to art; instead, I’ve just been tired. My legs have been giving me more issues that normal, meaning I haven’t been sleeping very much, and sitting in a chair and pulling out papers and painting has seemed daunting.

And I haven’t been all that inspired, I guess. Maybe long to-do lists are the kryptonite to creative impulses — how could I take time to play when I still had so much to do?

Being a holiday weekend, I decided to take the time off, gather supplies in an old, discarded Easter basket, and head outside to try and journal.

And OMG, did it work! I spent the last three days outside working in two journals, switching back and forth between layers, not wanting to lose the flow while things dried. You see, on Thursday, I ventured to Michael’s and bought a little cheap pan watercolor set — who knew all the great things you could do with them? And with less mess? And with fun effects?

I just had to keep playing and making backgrounds, and then play with tape and new ways of writing inspired by a sign at Starbucks and papers and doodles and bits. I made a MESS. I made other people come out and play with me. I got spray paint in the sand. And sand on my pages.

Now I want to doodle and draw and paint some more and get stencils and make messes and find stick-on letters and new white paint and just keep going keep going until I drop...