{a whole bunch of little things...}

Phew! Working on the netbook is the most frustrating thing of my day thus far. It takes FOREVER for things to load...it took 15 minutes to start up properly! But until my tech support arrives, I'm without my lovely, pretty desktop. *pets silent machine* I did take over one of my monitors so I can at least post; the tiny screen may be great for writing and surfing the net on the go, but the entry box for Squarespace on it is MAYBE three lines long...*sigh*

So, some quick updates and eye-candy are in order! 

First! I made a little vid with the netbook. I don't have my editing software on here, but wanted to play with a camera angle so....here you go! 

(I actually posted it on Saturday...after waiting an hour and a half for it to save!)

Second! 

I've put two original paintings up on Etsy. I've been prompted, seperatly, by two friends to do this, so I'm closing my eyes and putting it out there and am forgetting about it. I'm trying to value myself and my artwork more and this is one way of doing that. 

(roadblocks & strengths on Etsy)

(when our hearts are full on Etsy)

Third! I've been using my Tumblr as a photoblog, since it's super easy to snap and post from my cell phone (whereas Squarespace doesn't have an Android app yet!). I try to post once a day, something I'm working on or the view of my desk...stuff like that! 

Here's the address again: Journal Girl Loves...

I'm kinda taking this time without the constant hum of my desktop running in the background to stay off the internet and really create. I grabbed a good book from the used bookstore, have my sliding door open, and just got a box of goodies -- a nice, big order from the Shoppe at Stampington. So this girl will be off creating and playing and relaxing. I call this Creative Rejuvination and often come back from such breaks with tons of new ideas and stuff to share with you! 

I'll be back tomorrow with snapshots! For today, enjoy some yummy trims. Mmmm! 

PS. If you need something from me, please send an email! I don't have my pretty organized mail program right now, so I will admit I'm behind on things! Don't feel like you're being a pest -- I appreciate the help so I can help you!

{when our hearts are full, indeed!}

"when our hearts are full"

12"x10" mixed-media on canvas

My latest painting, three weeks in the making. I've already bought more canvases to keep going. This was a hard one to share, as I always want to live up to the compliments I've been given on past work. O.o

I just adore her. I gave her pink hair, which seems to be a trend of some kind with my work as of late.

What I can't believe is that I doodled this one while watching TV the other night! Who would have thought I'd be able to play around with a pencil in my journal and draw things that actually please me?

Not me!

So keep working, darlings! Six years ago, I was a college student majoring in TV production. And now, I'm living the artful life! It just takes determination, love, joy, and a spirit of adventure. You can do it! Promise!

And now, I'm going to take my own advice and get off the computer and get creating!

{artful charity, Q&A, & more!}

All right, darlings, we have a lot of ground to cover today!

First order of business…

me & meg at Ritsurin Park in Takamatsu, Japan. 2005.

I have this box in the corner of my studio space. It’s full of paintings I created between 2008 - 2010. I used to worry about not having enough pieces finished to have some sort of portfolio, and now look how many canvases I have!

The other night, I had a thought. It went something like this.

“I really want to help Japan, but have no money to give.”

“You should find the funds somewhere.”

“What about that box of paintings? Chrysti did charity work with paintings on Facebook, didn’t she?”

“OMG, I could sell the paintings and raise funds!”

(I would love to tell you there was only one speaker there, but I think we all know, at least at this point, that I’m the type of girl who has conversations with herself. ;) )

I’ve created an album on my Facebook Page and filled it with a bunch of paintings. There are pieces ranging from $10 to $150, and 70% of all the funds raised will be donated to the Red Cross. See? I can just text them a bunch of times — except I’ve read that the donations from cell phones don’t ACTUALLY get there until, and here’s the kicker, the bills are paid.

Yeah. Headdesk, anyone?

So I’ll be donating directly with the funds raised by painting sales.

I see it as a win-win-win situation: I gain more room in the studio & actually do something to help in the wake of all that’s happening, you donate money, and you get a painting to hang in your home. Oh, and add another win to that because the people in Japan affected by everything will also get some help! Win-win-win-win.

You’ve gotta like those odds!

Check out the album over on Facebook and see if there’s anything you like. Because the pieces are all kinds of sizes, I’m calculating postage after purchase so I can put in exact details to give you the best price. I can also take the paintings off the frames for a few of them, and send them rolled along with the disassembled frame. Your choice.

—

Next! I’ve started using my Tumblr account again, if only to spout random inspiration and photos at you, as well as answer questions. Here’s what I’ve answered this week:


Sure could use some advice as to how to let go of my expectation of the project and just create.

How do you pick a subject to start a journal page, and how do you determine what materials to use to create that page?

What is your favorite pen and why? ^^

Do you always make your own journals? If so, what kind of paper is your favorite? And, if you buy them, what kind is your favorite and why?

Do you have a question? Head on over and ask it. I’ll get to it ASAP!

—

The Button Journal workshop’s open and has it’s first few students. I’m getting GREAT feedback on the process, and hope you’ll come join us.

Won’t you? For $20, it’s a steal!

—

And last but not least, Nolwenn, a dear friend and one of my blog’s sponsors has opened her Etsy shop! Go over and take a look at her darling paintings! 

{getting lost in translation}

I had this whole post lined up for today, glamor shots of various projects on my desk at the moment, each swirling with color and intent. They’re not the for-fun pages I’ve created for the past five years, those explorations in the studio that lead me to where I am now; instead, each is being created for a specific purpose, a plan in place up in the air somewhere that I’m clinging to like a child tethered to a kite in a thunderstorm.

And saying all this, I’ve been in incredibly high spirits lately.

But yes, intent. I feel as though I have something to say. Instead of letting emotion spill onto the page and hoping others can pick it up, I have thoughts and words and meanings and lessons I want to convey, except now I’m having some sort of speech problem, much like when I try, after being out of college for five years, to construct a sentence in Japanese.

すみませんわたしはまいご…

Befitting, as I received a letter today that says, on a collage:

Dear Samie,

Your art is awesome and so are you!

Love, Erica

A beautiful piece of art, with a letter attached, and I had tears in my eyes as I read it. Who would have thought I’d ever receive anything like this 5 years ago when I began teaching myself to draw?

I want to tell stories. I always have. Ever since I was ten years old and wrote the saga of a girl on the Oregon Trail for class, I’ve been addicted to telling stories. Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I have a perchance for little fan stories (and if not, there’s nothing to see here, move along *innocent whistle*). And lately, each painting I work on tells me a story about myself, and seems to be transforming me, a bit at a time, into something new.

Shiny, but worn on the edges.

A couple weeks ago, I was lamenting about how I didn’t have much money. Which is true, and a naturally reoccurring pity-fest in my life, except this time, I realized what the problem was.

Me.

I’d become my own roadblock. I couldn’t blame the world or the internet or anything but myself. I’d been doing things without really producing anything, creating without making a single thing. And my stories were getting angry, being all bottled up inside, words craving to get out. So I began writing. I’d write in the morning or late at night. I wrote, a few days ago, well past midnight, having shot up out of bed with words floating across my sight.

And these pages. These paintings and journal pages, they’re beginning to take on the same effect. I’ll work late at night or early or instead of watching favorite shows on TV (which is almost unheard of). They’re telling me stories and I have no control over what the endings are. They simply are.

This one, though, has me befuddled. I feel not disappointed in it, but that, after what’s been said about the two before it, that I’m the disappointing one. Except I see this story in there, this beauty no one may ever see because they weren’t there. And I wish my grammar was better or something, because now I have another canvas, another journal and bits of me, and I’m getting lost in translation.

Or am I?

Wild, random thoughts can be dangerous. I think the perfect remedy for this is to go create more pages for my new class and hope I can string words together better on the page. Because I have all this love and desire to share and help others unlock, and if I can’t, if I’m not saying it right, well, wouldn’t that just suck?

I'm not down, just reflective. Sitting on the edge of a hill, not knowing what's past the next one, just that it's gonna rock.

{sunday in the studio}

I spent the day giving my art journal some much-needed attention. 

This is the girl I sketched last week, filled in with paint, glittery ink, and paper. 

Pulled out some paper to collage, which I haven't done in even longer!

Also? Applying gesso with a palette knife? Fantastic!

This week's painting, in-progress. 

Naturally, I had to knife some gesso in my journal as well!

And here's a beautiful reason to not clean off your stencils after each use. ;)

{sometimes, working without a plan is the best plan!}

'in prayer' 24"x18" mixed-media on board

This one took me 2 1/2 weeks to finish, but here she is!

For me, this was a new experience. I'm used to going about things a certain way, of crafting my layers intuitively but having an overall idea in mind. With this, that seemed to float out the window while I was working, and at one point, I had to sit back and let her settle for a bit before getting back to her.

She started at a very different place -- one of dejection and sorrow -- and blossomed into a woman in prayer as the world takes shape around her. The leaves on the left were doodled one night with Copic markers, and the papers in the flowers were made while out creating last week.

I think, with this one, I was exploring color and brushstrokes just as much as I was cheering myself up. I love how paint looks when spread with a small brush, and it was something I hadn't done in awhile. And while I painted, I began to feel better and better about things. In fact, the words I originally wrote with paint are all covered up. Amazing how something like a painting can transform you.

Of course, to stay on track with my 1 painting a week goal, I won't be able to pull off my now-loved larger paintings; my canvas for this week is 9"x12", and I'm excited to get started because I have NO idea what to paint! But I'm back in the swing of things -- working in my journal, getting samples and projects finished, doing design work for others -- and am happy letting things develop as they will. Wu wei, remember?

My other accomplishment today was FINALLY setting up an online classroom site for myself. I didn't want to pay for Ning, so I went through a very frustrating 2 days of trying to get software to work, and at the last minute, found something that's easy to use and perfect for what I'm doing. Easy-peasy is my motto!

With the WISH Journal Workshop now being about a year old, I have reduced the price to $10. Yep! Get full access to all the materials and make your own pretty journal for just $10.

I've also ported over my workshop from 21 Secrets. It's all about getting started journaling on loose canvas, and if you missed 21 Secrets, you can now get this little workshop for just $10, too! 

This is all groundwork for my next art journaling workshop (coming out in March) as well as this little idea I have about starting a kit club of my own. I'm working out the details, but it'll be a mix of digital & mailed items, videos, resources, and fun bits. I think that'd be awesome, don't you? Who doesn't like getting a little extra. And on the theme we're seeing here, it'll be something like $10-$15 a project, and you can sign up for any month whenever you want.

(If you have a Workshop Ticket, you'll be getting log-in information either tonight or tomorrow, for the new site!)

I figure, I have all these ideas in my head, I should start taking them seriously and sharing them with the world!

Tomorrow, I'm totally filming a video, by the way, all about my love affair with Collage Pauge. I was playing around yesterday and actually made a cool effect with it -- after a year of using it, I'm still figuring out new things it can do!

♥, samie kira

{the magic of community}

A few weeks ago, Nolwenn and I were chatting on MSN, talking about our paintings and how we’d like to do more. This was just about the time Points of Two was ending, and I’d be without a weekly challenge in my life for the first time in a year.

Did you know it takes about 20 days to form a habit? If you can stick with it for that long, it’ll stick with you. Imagine an entire year of creating journal pages...of having some sort of challenge and accountability to get some art done! Some weeks, doing my page for Points of Two was the only art or journaling I did that entire week, and was thankful for the reminder to be calm, create, and center.

As our conversation continued, I thought, “Why not have a weekly painting challenge for us?”

Nolwenn jumped on the idea.

And then I posted to the Facebook group and had some lovelies ask if they, too, could get in on the action.

The group isn’t structured or rigid. In fact, I didn’t finish a painting last week. But here’s the magic part: I worked on one. It’s sitting next to my desk, almost finished, and I can’t wait to get back to it and post my progress to our little group.

We’ve only been together for 2 weeks, but already, there are some amazing things happening. People are pulling out old, unfinished work and breathing in new life. Others are going out on a limb and declaring themselves artists through the little paintings they do. There are no rules, no consequences if you don’t finish. But the environment — of posting photos and getting real, honest feedback — is helping us all grow, become more confident, and really trying new things.

So I wanted to post some photos of finished paintings we’ve done. And if you want to join, let me know — it’s a Facebook group, so I have to have you friended on my personal account, or really, any of the members’ personal accounts, to add you. But it’s so much fun!

by Melissa Peacock

by Stephanie Gates

by Tia Wahl

by Beth Lunny

by Nolwenn

They say in order to make art, you have to make a lot of it. So we're going for 52 in a year. Crazy? Maybe. But hey -- at least we're getting past our fears, declaring ourselves, and doing it.

What could you get done, if you really put your mind to it?

{a new wellspring of creativity and joy}

This new environment has birthed in me a new way of seeing and being.

My journal has become a repository of my new life in the desert. A living record of my days - notes and directions and phone numbers and sketches and colors and experiments and days of fun with new friends.

But not only that. Being here has relaxed me. Allowed me the time to get away from expectation, from the need to do something now or create something or make make make! I've spent my days exploring me, going farther, deeper, and have discovered a new wellspring of creativity and joy.

For the first time, I'm doing series studies. My journal pages are filled with color experiments, shapes that change as I become more comfortable, my strokes more or less controlled, my palette changing here and there. I am in love with my journaling again, in a way I have never experienced before.

The feathers series is almost complete. I can feel it coming to a close. Each reminds me of an emotion or a scene, and I marvel at how much I can feel from such simple pieces of art. I am learning what colors I like with each other and those I don't. Learning how to use color in a way that pleases me.

I am finally ready to see what others around me see - that I am an artist and have something to offer. When I speak, there are people there ready to listen.

Watch the progression, from beginning to now:

"growth"

"through the desert with the top down"

"flying over the ocean"

"the colors of sunlight"

What will the last two hold?

***

This series will be available as prints next week.