Thoughts & Pictures (on teaching & being joyous)

This week has been full of workshop filming, commission painting, and evidence that God sure has a wacky sense of humor.  

(All the pics in this post are from Summer Camp filming!) 

First, filming. This is the first time I'm filming WAY before class begins; I've had instances where all the raw footage was filmed and loaded before class started, but I've often spent the nights during class sessions editing video for the next day, pushing myself well past midnight to keep my posting time goals. 

And it takes a little bit of the fun out of it, to be honest. Especially for me, who has to balance activity and rest on such an unpredictable knife's edge, and who usually tumbles down on the wrong side and right into bed.

This year, I made a commitment to myself to deliver what I promise. This means living a more honest life with a word that can be trusted. I've made so many mistakes over the years as I tried to live and deliver like all those artists I admire -- cranking out classes or tons of content, blogging on a schedule, taking staged photos...all those things we see everyone doing. 

But I've learned we all just need to relax into our own flow, work when we can, and cherish those high energy days. It means saving things to be posted when I haven't been inspired for awhile, planning WAY ahead, and having content already written or filmed before offering off a class. 

I feel like this means I'm starting with the RIGHT kind of energy. That I'm 75% finished filming the class and just put it up for registration. It means less stress & more fun. It means I can add bonus content whenever I want, & have more time to devote to students. 

It means I can teach from my heart.

Second, is new commissions. I've been getting more and more of them as I continue evolving my new direction & style. The more I experiment and grow closer to the vulnerable center of my heart & God, the greater the blessings that have come to me. I adore painting and can't wait to get into the studio -- and now, having sold more paintings since March than I have...ever...has me diving deeper into my art journal practice and spreading paint on canvas when those journal pages jump out of all these little books I have. 

As for God and His wacky sense of humor? Well, I'm sure you know all about that. A gift fell in my lap last week that will make blogging and photographing my work and making videos so, so much easier! I'm typing this on a keyboard to my phone right now! This makes life easier for me, more comfortable, and less stressful. 

Which gives me more energy for paint & play & writing words. 

How have you brought yourself more in line with your own heart rhythm?  Where do you hold your stress? And how can doing things your own way help you get closer to a more joyous life?

With love,
Samie

(Who is always here to talk; I may take a couple days to reply, but am so, so here.)

Art Journal Summer Camp 2014 is almost here!

Yes, yes, here it is!!

I had so many students ask me to do camp again, so this is for you guys! I've infused some of my favorite techniques with all the new-ness in my art...for example, no paintbrushes! More vivid colors. Texture and collage and all sorts of fun! It's creating awesome new work that is easily accessible for everyone, no matter how long you've been art journaling!

I'm also offering packs of papers -- from my stash, painted papers, little foam stamps, camp stickers...

So why don't you hit the info page to learn more & I hope to see you soon!

Creating From the Heart

Summer camp lessons are being crafted. I'm following my heart and passions, teaching what I'd want to learn. Let's learn to experiment & be our own teachers. Let's prep at home and journal while we're out there in the world this summer. 

I want to mark good days with smiles and paint-covered hands and amazing experiences. I want to be loved for who I am, imperfections glowing along with faith.  

And more than that, I want all this for YOU. 

(I'll write up all the details for you tomorrow; when can you come to camp?) 

in the middle layers...

After I wrote my last post, I thought things were on their way back to normal (as I type, that word is up there, in the little text editing bar, white against black and so bold) and I'd be back in the studio painting my days away, working on my next online class or just writing in general. Things would even out and I'd be back to directing my sails. 

Except life isn't like that, when you get down to it. You can hope and pray and keep the faith, but sometimes, it's just a roller coaster of slightly-less-than-terrible things that pile up. I've been doing a lot of Soul Work as of late, attending a new church, and jumping into art-making-with-less-perfection. 

But I'm beginning to think we make our own normal. And learn how to roll with it with less resistance. So here's art and pics and fun stuff!

A couple of weeks ago, I started playing with the panorama feature on my iPhone, wanting to share my art-making experience (and I had to stand on a ladder to get this pic!).

Standing while painting means dancing and swaying and singing along. More room for my art journal and scrap paper and canvases. Reference images and stencils and my big box of often used acrylic paint colors. No paint brushes, though. Just tools and fingers and making marks. 

Here's my most recent favorite (you can see the middle layers in the pic above, with the gold triangles!).

My favorite part is in the lower left hand corner....that thick swirl of white and neon pink paint that looks like marbling. I think I stared at it for awhile before snapping pictures! It's raised and thick and yum! I just love painting in layers and layers of acrylics and making marks. I really wish you guys could see and feel my paintings and journal pages in person (and if you do meet me, feel free to run your hands over anything....I varnish for a reason!). 

I am trying to find a happy medium in my work -- between too much texture making things busy and too little making it flat -- and often work in my journals to play around. 

Also, white space. I've missed it as of late! 

I also posted this teaser image last week about this year's Art Journal Summer Camp! We're gonna make projects and learn techniques and have tons of fun! Last year's camp was a smashing success, so I know this year's will only be better. I'm filming this week (already blocked out some time!) and we should be up and running in July, with a second session in August. This class runs live, so clear some time for fun! 

gather up the bits you've dropped (& be stronger)

Wow. It's been 2 weeks since I updated. Life has been a crazy mix of difficulties & things out of left field. Sickness and craziness and death (three separate things!). Sobbing in a funeral home and holding hands as another deals with bleakness in their life. 

Art has been my life saver. It has been keeping me afloat, barely, with quickly sketched drawings and frantic messes made in the studio. Whatever I painted came out as an awful mess of color that mixed too much, and harsh, deep marks into the paint. I think I used the sharp point of a palette knife at some point to cut up pages in my journal. 

Life, grief, and stress are curious things. 

Last night, I wrote in my journal, "Fibromyalgia hates stress, but that's all I've been feeding her lately." 

And the night before, "My life feels like the thread stringing together odd moments." 

The thing no one tells you is what to do after. 

When all the stressors are gone and you've broken the surface and taken that deep gasp of air, when you're back on dry land...what do you do now? You're different than before, full of hard-learned lessons and new scars on your heart, and don't easily slot back into your own life. It's incredibly disjointing and causes a kind of emotional vertigo.

This morning, I stood in the kitchen, knowing I had to eat breakfast, but had no idea what to do with myself. My life has been care-taking and crying and holding hands, and now...now there are threads to pick back up, like paintings to list and emails to answer and classes to write and film. I need to head to the studio to get back into things and make notes, yet I feel not the numbness of the previous weeks, but the overwhelm of all that i dropped. The spinning plates have crashed, and I don't know how to put them back together. 

No, wait. I do. You sit down and gather all the splintered pieces and a tube of super glue and work one junction at a time, slowly, steadily, and try not to cut your fingers. And if you're lucky, and have friends who have weathered it all with you, they give you gloves to protect yourself from sharp edges. 

So that's what I'm going to do. Sit down, gather bits, squeeze on some glue, and remember that amazing quote that's given me so much peace: 

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are stronger at the broken places." - Ernest Hemingway

I certainly hope that's true. 

drawing with a ballpoint pen

One of the things I remember being stressed when I started keeping a visual journal was the need to use a pen. I started with the works of Danny Gregory and Dan Price, who captured the world around them with bold lines and fun handwriting. 

I've gotten into making sketches with pencil, as of late, and spending hours on them. My Red Storybook is full of half-finished pages because I simply didn't have enough time, or needed to move on. So the other day, I decided to just...doodle. Draw what was in my head. Not make perfect lines. Let things overlap. Be imperfect. 

And hell if I haven't been having fun! 

This weekend was very busy and very exhausting for me, and I was interrupted a lot. So I found my Ink Joy ballpoint pens and decided to work informally, scribbling in whatever moments I could grab. I had my white pen there for the eyes, and grabbed my Tombow markers to color things in at the end (since they are transparent and don't leak through paper). 

I'm excited to keep working this way, and make a whole sketchbook of these girl illustrations. I can't believe I locked myself into a box (do illustrations, color in with gouache) and only now allowed myself to do something different!

On becoming bigger and braver

Last week, I placed all the work I'd been creating on the floor and took a picture. I like to see the immediate environment around a group of pieces, as they'll usually share colors, symbols, or even bits of style that changes with each idea. I also like being able to answer the inevitable question of, "Oh, wow, you're an artist? What are you working on?" With one pic. 

Plus, I see how much I'm creating, and see where my attention has been and make changes if necessary.  

I wrote this thought in my journal while out for coffee and a bit of art journaling in public. I can't remember exactly what songs I was listening to, just that I felt a sudden swell of this need to be open more, with my heart and mind, because I feel a stronger, wiser girl lives within, under all the layers of muck. 

We all have secrets buried deep down inside. And not the kind that leads to treasure or arrests being made, but these internal morals and bedrocks of our personality that we feel we can't share with anyone because it wouldn't be accepted, or maybe it would be ignored. Maybe I'm looking for the word conviction - it is this enviable way of being that others carry so well.  

All I know is this: I feel like there's a blockage inside of me, and I know those secrets and truths that are blocking the way. I can recognize that some of them may not necessarily be accepted by society, and others terrify me as praying out loud does the first few times you do it. Even if no one else thinks it's embaressing, it is!

I hope I'm describing this somewhat well, because I don't know how to, really. I'll have to work on some doodles to see if I can make art to help. 

For example, I really want to become an artist advocate for those with chronic illnesses. I want to create art and support groups, get out there meeting others and really developing a program for us. I want to help others with TBI find their way back home through art. I want to fully emerce myself into my ME-NESS and really let it all out I a totally creative way. 

I'm getting there. In more ways than one. I'm currently working on my bravery (and new anxiety!) to really BE AN ARTIST and part of the community in the greater Phoenix area.  

That's why she has wings on her head. I'll be filling her in this weekend, my beacon. How do you want to be braver? I'd love to hear from you!

A batch of pretty paintings

I've decided I'm going to start listing new items in my Etsy shop on Fridays! Here's the batch going up tomorrow at 3pm PST. A couple already are reserved so make sure you don't miss out! 

ETA: They're up and going fast!