almost there
In process pic…new spirit girl soon to take her first breath.
spray inks : collage : stamps : acrylics : charcoal pencil
Entries Tagged as 'Art'
Today…
i am ensconced in the studio
creating :: purging
finishing :: listening
dancing :: loving
in lieu of a life coach
i joined a new group.
we had our first meeting couple of weeks ago and i got assigned an accountability partner (woohoo! fanfare!)
nina and i met on sunday and we spent some time talking and chatting then…..3 hrs later (yikes!!)….remembered that we really needed to hash out our plan for holding each other accountable for the goals we’d each outlined for ourselves for 2012. that took up a whole 20 minutes, then we went back to talking for another hour (by that time hubby was probably thinking bout sending out the calvalry).
so, even tho i have researched life coaches and their prices and know exactly who i want to use, in lieu of the expense of a really good one, i will work with my AP and move F O R W A R D on my own….for now at least.
yup….this girl has plans.
~~ in other news ~~
i’ve uploaded a new print to the shop. it’s from one of my fav paintings. go check it out.
as you unfold…
” As you unfold as an artist,
just keep on,
quietly and earnestly,
growing
through all that happens to you.
You cannot disrupt
this process
more violently
than by looking
outside yourself for answers
that may only be found
by attending
to your innermost feelings … “
- rainer maria rilke
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~
just something for me to remember as i walk this path that has chosen me
G
faces…
they are reflections of our experience, emotions and character – so says artist Beth Billups.
i totally agree. which is why i choose to paint them. women’s faces in particular intrigue me.
in her you can see and feel the strength, the tenacity, the resilience, the commitment, the glow, the empathetic listener, the dreamer, the seeker, the soother, the mother, the survivor. i love all these things and more about who we are as women.
“Untapped Possibilities”
i was, however, so very scared of painting eyes because, you see, the eyes express everything, if you look close enough. and my first attempts were…..ehhh…..
poor thing looks beyond scared
i tried a couple more times and then decided, instead of painting them open, i chose to show the spiritual side of women (my spirit girls) with eyes closed, almost in a meditative state, and loved how they were turning out.
but at some point i knew that i would have to venture down that path. i’ve made a few more attempts recently and, with a little more practice, who knows…..my girls will either be life long soul searchers (eyes closed) or expressive seekers (eyes wide open).
and the story continues…
toodles all,
G
me : here : now
~ original sold...prints available on etsy ~
i’ve been trying to think of reasons why i am drawn to mixed media and painting in particular and, after some thought, this is what came to mind (plus a sprinkling of recent paintings)…
~ i feel at home with this medium…..i feel so comfortable and connected with acrylic paints and the papers i work with
~ i like that the result of any session in my studio is almost immediate gratification….whether 10 minutes or 2 hrs
~ i feel that my true self is being expressed…….especially thru my spirit girl paintings
~ i get to play AND get messy (i mean that literally…..all in the guise of work…ha!
toodles all,
G
girl play
today was so nice.
i spent the the day with some of my favorite peeps. there was laughter and talking and eating and sitting in a space of contentment and friendship.
we hadn’t met, all of us, for some time…schedules. and family commitments and life interrupting….but today we came together and resolved to recommit to us, to the pandoras once again.
Today was ornament day at delane’s. since Christmas is only a few weeks away, we each came with an ornament to share, bringing enough materials for each of us to make one ornament.
i was torn between two so brought both…both really easy to make. for the first one you cut fabric {i used Onasburg fabric} into squares, spread glue all over and punched into a styroform ball. love it!
susan working on her fabric ornament
rachel preparing her fabric
delane showcase her finished ornament…circles cut from scrapbook paper, folded in half, glued together and hung with a piece of ribbon….beautiful.
she glued and glittered all the edges and that just made the whole thing pop (not shown).
rachel’s ornament to share used string, glue and a balloon. we figured out that it takes a lot more time to dry than the directions prescribed so only a few of us got these finished. here’s michele painting glue on her strung balloon.
and susan’s almost finished one, rolled in green glitter. when the glue has dried you pop the balloon to remove it. we thought it would look real good with a few of them across a table or mantel with a battery operated light in the center or twinkle lights bunched up in its center. 
we got such a kick out of her green glittered fingers….look at that gorgeous green colour!
i didn’t get to take a pic of any of delane’e ornament project….she bought clear glass ornaments, coated the inside with a small of amount of Pledge floor cleaner then tipped fine glitter into the opening coating all surfaces.
i worked on the project susan brought. she needle felted some wool and roving, stuck in a dryer and brought the finished ball for us to stitch. wool usually makes me crazy itchy but this one i had a ball stitching.
delane made a delicious chicken corn chowder soup for lunch with homemade bread and i enjoyed it so much i forgot to take a before pick but here’s the good-to-the-last-drop after shot…..hee hee.
we had special company while we worked….she played and talked and even slept a little. it was rachel’s daughter {and delane’s grandaughter} kiyah. what a sweetie she is!!!
toodles,
G
sometimes we forget…
that
…as creatives
…as artists
…as seekers of beauty and light
….as writers of our own stories
…that we are worth the time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
this video by jan phillips speaks this truth so eloquently
embedded by Embedded Video
toodles,
G
i think i could be a groupie
because….
i am achingly drawn to the work of erin ashley.
can I tell you – like OMG triple fold! my heart did a little pitter patter then a big honking somersault.
first of all her work is all about
colour, colour and more colour
‘sweet karma’s kiss’
and
abstract bits of deliciousness all over the larger than life canvases,
creative, deliberate dances of movement,
depths of richness in layers that stir the soul
that if they filled all the walls in a room i would feel surrounded by light and love and touches of harmony so sweet and melodic.
seriously….can you believe i am this gaga? Honestly?
one of my many fav’s is ‘rush hour taxi’
‘rush hour taxi’
those swirling bits of sunshine yellows and moody greys that have you swaying to their own crazy beat..
it’s like sitting in a nightclub listening to upbeat bits of jazz with it’s own downturn of the blues in overtones…nice
other pieces of erin’s art includes…
‘mellow yellow‘ ‘summer jasmine‘ ‘blue monday‘
‘whispering souls 2‘ ‘lover’s rock‘ ‘heart of glass‘
the piece ‘metro mix‘ started it all.
i saw it on pinterest (that sneak-up-on-you-OH-so-addictive site) and posted it to my ‘fab ART’ board. as is usual, you get a msg saying that someone likes or has repined your post. i click and pin so much (remember? addiction- in full stream) that i had to go back and be reminded of what my new follower likes, and that’s how the love-soaked infatuation with erin ashely’s art began.
and i’m not giving it up!
go on…take a peek at the her eye candy
and do some drooling yourself
toodles, all,
G
cUtting & sTitChing
for the past few weeks i’ve been busy cutting and stitching new coptic bound journals for the shop. these new designs, so bright and cheery, are a limited edition that i’m calling “The Lauren Collection“.
each journal is made using a section of one my favorite hand dyed fabrics, one i call the ‘melody fab’ after one of my fav quit artists Melody Johnson. she uses the bright, pure colours that i especially love myself.
hand dyed before
and after
i know, you’re thinking how the heck can she cut that up and look at the mess she’s got left!
nah…i dyed this piece last year so i had a long time to admire it, caress it and fall in love with the gorgeous colour over and over again. i came across it in my fabric closet recently (yes i have that much fabric…don’t hate!) as i was looking for some inspiration and, when i spied it, I immediately knew what it had to become.
if you check my etsy store with the cut out pic above you can see the exact sections each journal was cut from. i love, love love that! (why??? i haven’t the foggiest but am going with the happy place it puts me in) i’ve finished four of the 7 i can get from this piece of fabric (plus another {“be the light“} that pulled me into finishing it before I completed the others).
i’m also working on some vintage-like christmas journals/albums that i’ll be adding to my shop in a couple of weeks — waiting for the paper to arrive – these will be december daily journals that i think are such a fantastic idea!
omg….the creative juices are flowing and can’t get ideas outta my head and made fast enough.
toodles all,
G
