Field Trip Time

Packed it all up and hit the road.

The prompt from class this week was to get out of the studio!

But take your supplies with you.

I went to a little pond where people come to walk their pups or just chill.. a very quiet neighborhood on a lazy Sunday.. You could hear the flops of the fish jumping for a tasty morsel on the pond's surface..

My Furry Assistant went along for the trip.. curling up in my lap while I worked, snapping at a bug here or there like a little fly trap..

I first tried playing with some soft pastels, something I haven't touched since college.. I love working with them, but the powder it puts off isn't ideal for a rental situation.. so I took advantage of being outdoors without any carpet to ruin..

For some reason I wasn't really able to Let Go, as I can in the studio. I think the nerves of the people nearby got to me.. so I tried to relax painting some trusty polkadots.. circles.. love em..

I did have one lady stop on the path infront of me and ask if she could come look.. which I thought was rather polite of her.. though I don't think she was too impressed by my circles considering the luscious view I was peering at... But I like 'em.

Overall, I believe it is certainly worth getting out of the studio once in a while, taking in the cool fall air, basking in the patches of sunlight spotting the grass..

And the quiet... oh the quiet.. that was worth it.

So, I challenge you, gather some supplies and go create outside..

Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns
in order to look at things in a different way. -- Edward de Bono

Paint Pushin'

A few weeks ago I made a piece that has been poking at me since..

This flower has been sitting to the side of the easel.. feeling extremely unfinished.. I had no idea where to go with it.. and it sure wasn't telling me where to go either.

So this past weekend I put it back on the easel.. and just went to 'paint pushin'..

I did have an attachment to the flower - so I was uneasy about possibly destroying how far I had gotten.. but then.. How was I to know if it couldn't get Better, if I didn't try?

So after many layers, and a rather big mess... I had something I am feeling MUCH better about now..

A little 'paint pushin' can go a long way..

'Rock' it out

So I spent some time playing with air drying clay. This was the first time really.

I've used Scupley before(the oven bake kind), and even took a few traditional pottery classes in college..

This stuff is super cool.. of course it probably isn't as rock hard set and sturdy as the traditional stuff.. but it IS just as fun.

Through a prompt from an online course I am taking.. I rocked out some Rocks..

Yes, you're probably thinking, just like my sweetie was.. Why would I make Rocks out of Clay?

Well.. Why not? A very non-threatening form.. making it easy to not fear 'perfection'.

I made a little family of 4 rocks. Making them all progressively smaller.


After playing with making some rocks.. I went old school.. remember rolling clay into long 'snakes'?

Well that is SO not easy. How did I do this when I was little?! My ropes did not turn out circular, moreso oval-ish. Maybe since we had weak little hands this came easier when we were little..

But after much diligence, I had enough coils to make a container.

Here are all the pieces mostly dried out:


After much deliberating.. I found a 'theme' for my rocks.. retro-ish.. well, for those who know me, that is noo surprise. I'm all about painting stuff Loud and Patterns..

However, incorporating that look into my household could use some help.. ha.


My little rock family all dolled up.. I am in love with them.. <3



This little dear will probably hold my long brushes.. since I doubt it's waterproof.. ha.

So.. go have some fun with some clay.. It's ok to be messy sometimes..

Have you heard??!

Ok - so here's my special shout out for the amazing class I am soooo excited for!

Dirty Footprints Studio has been rocking some awesome classes lately.. Personally I enjoyed rocking out BIG in Fearless Painting: BIG during the summer. And even joined in on the Art Journal Love Letters workshop and make some juicy juicy journal pages using some tips and techniques it offers.

BUT.. today..

I'm here to talk about...

Drum Roll....

21 Secrets.

What is this? Only probably the most awesome sounding oober juicy creative heart explosion out there!!

Can you tell I'm excited??

We're talking 21 Artists.. 21 Art Journaling Secrets baby!!

Where can you read more about this? Why right HERE.

Who's featured?

1. Well the hostest with the mostest Connie from Dirty Footprints Studio, of course.. I'm sure she will have LOTS more to inspire us all as she has been doing alll freaking summer!! Wooo!
2. There's also a few ladies I took BIG with taking on the Teacher role.. Tracie Hanson, Lisa Wilson, Lis Hofmann, Tami Chacon.. These ladies were wonderfully inspiring through BIG so I can't wait to see what they have in store for this worky shopy.
3. And my curiousity is also with Sarah Whitmore.. whom I have been peeking at through the Yahoo Soul Journaling group..

So.. scoot your little self over to the Dirty Footprints Studio on MONDAY, Sept 20. to sign up for this feast of creativity they are unleasing on us all!!

YEAAAA...

LOVE and CREATIVITY.

FEARLESS: Big - Week 1

This past Saturday I traveled home to visit family. Why do I mention this? Because I had some prime scribble time while I was there. I have a 4 year old niece that is very active with her crayons, scissors, and paper. She would say a shape and I would cut it out and we would scribble together to get it colored. I had already watched Connie's videos for this week so I let myself not worry about staying inside the lines or making things perfect. It was a fun to let loose... and I couldn't wait to get home and get started.

Life got in the way and Tuesday rolls around and I end up at the hardware store.. I had made plans to really commit myself to having a space to GET BIG!

We got some supplies - 1x2's and tempered hardboard.. and guess what it turned into..
A Gigantic "easel" - A whopping 6.5 Feet by 4 Feet.

That green square in the middle? That is a 8.5x11 Inch piece of paper. Yea.. it is BIG!

So thank you to my wonderful other half for making my BIG workarea!

Now onto the assignments..

I looked over the videos again before starting to work Wednesday night.

Tape up my paper..

and BOOM....

...Oh.. My... Gracious... big.. White.. BLANKNESS... I procrastinate another half hour before I manage to make myself stand infront of it.. brush in hand.. pallete of colors in the other..

And I make a mark... oooo.. ok... I can do this... I keep going.. Ugh. what a waste of paint.. NOOOO.. Go away you Mind Monster!!.. More color... More scribble...

At the beginning of each painting I feel myself not liking where it is going... but I don't stop.. I keep going...

So I kept on until I was satisfied with what I saw.. It was rather liberating to just scribble wildly.. paint dripping, sliding down the paper.. I didn't let those muddy colors stop me when they showed up either.. I felt resistance at first.. but the more I kept working, moving color, adding color.. the more natural it started to feel..

The line drawing I felt myself trying to work with it.. trying to get it to feel normal and free at first... but each time that Blank Paper was on my board.. I had to start over inside again... Fight the Mond Monster.. "This is dumb.. what a waste.. that looks messy.. your lines aren't even.. the colors are blending wrong"

That Thing was refusing to go away!! I had to keep going. I wasn't stopping.. Fine.. Blue doesn't look right. How about some light your lil A on Fire Pink, Mind Monster!!

The Line drawing felt much more relaxing and I was much more content with it by the time I found myself saying I was finished with it..

I moved on to the Shape Drawing...

Here - I chose a shape I don't tend to work with much.. the diamond.. No matter what I did to this thing.. nothing looked right.. at moments.. it would.. then I would look at it again and it would remind me of something you would see in a 16 year old's bedroom.. it reminded me of jeans for some reason.. This thing was dead silent.. I think it got mad at me.. I want to explore this one again most certainly.. and I think I know where it went wrong.. the diamond.

Upon showing this piece to my other half.. his first comment was.. "why a diamond? You KNOW you are all about circles!!" UGH! He was right!! What was I thinking? WHY did I fight my feeling and choose a shape I didn't feel passionate about?? I LOVE circles.. they show up in every other thing I make practically.. just look at my WreckThisJournal.. They were Every Where!

So in the end....

The Literal BIGness I still fought hard with.. this has always been a tough issue for me.. I find myself with two fights.. Mind Monster yelling.. and my utter Fear of BIGness.

The good news? Once I get past the first baby step of the Big fear.. I'm good.. then it is just hushing Mind Monster.. That thing has been active for too long, so I think it will just take more effort to hush it...

I'm so glad everyone has had such fun this week.. and made such progress.. I'll catch you!

Let's get better.. Get Bolder.. get BIGGER!

Something to think about...

Just a few more days until BIG starts. I've been anxious to get started. I've been thinking about the last time I did a large scale work. It probably has been 10 years. It was a mural on the outside of a building.. I never found any pictures of it.. It isn't there anymore.. It didn't last long. The business changed and the painting was painted over a boring neutral color.

The original mural my mother and I worked on. It had numerous birds intertwined in vines. I remember especially a pair of love birds I painted at the very top.

That mural experience seems to have fallen into solely the destruction.. I have to wonder if part of my fear of painting BIG has to do with the fact that nothing I've done BIG has survived.. All my highschool projects I tended to go above and beyond and BIG.. and they all ended up tossed..

I do think of one lonely painting every once in a while.. It was 18x24.. A former highschool history teacher asked to keep it and have it framed. It was an illustration of the Black Plague that I did to go along with a paper I wrote. She also kept a giant map I made of Europe, probably 5 ft x 4ft, made of felt. I've always been thankful for that teacher's interest in my work..

So now I sit here thinking about those two pieces that have survived.. they are out there somewhere.. perhaps used as teaching aids in lessons..

And yet every time I stare at a piece of paper or canvas.. I look up at the quote above.. Reminding me that it's ok to move forward and just make a single mark..

I don't want to be scared of the whiteness anymore..

Answering BIG Questions

So before the FEARLESS Painting: BIG gets started next week, Connie, the host of the workshop wanted the tribe to answer some questions.

Here we go.

Question One. What does going BIG look and feel like to me?
-- BIG at first seems overwhelming and scary. I've always been hesitant to work on a grand scale. It also looks inviting, knowing the support of others will be nearby. Knowing this isn't an impossible task, no one expects perfection.

Question Two. What scares me about BIG?
-- When I look at a large white canvas, I fear destroying it. I fear ruining the pristine crispness of the white with something that ends up muddy and uninviting. I've posted a quote in my workspace to help with this fear. "Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction. - Pablo Picasso" I use this to remind myself that I'll never take a leap forwards without making that first step.

Question Three. What excites me about BIG?
-- I imagine the freedom that will come along with not confining myself to small pieces. Like Connie said, I have to stop hiding behind the little pieces. I am excited to move around and really involve my Whole self in the piece as it speaks. I look forward to having the piece speak and being able to follow along without fear of judgement.

Question Four. What BIG things in my life have I already done?
-- I have taken an extra bedroom to dedicate to the arts. When I had limited space, or had to drag everything out to work, I used it as an excuse to not make anything at all. Now I can't use that - I have this space I can escape to and wait to see what happens.

Question Five. What BIG things do I dream of doing?
-- I wait for those moments that I can't Wait to step foot in my space. The moments where I lost track of time while working on something I am truly passionate about.


So these are the things I'm thinking about while waiting on the course to start. I'm getting excited.. gathering supplies.. anxious to get started..

anxious to see what happens..

Let's get started

Here I am, ready to get started on my new painting adventure. FEARLESS painting, BIG workshop, hosted by Connie H from http://www.dirtyfootprints-studio.com/.. More to come!