Painting Intuitively with a Deliberate Outcome

If you've ever stepped into a Hobby Lobby, Michaels or any art studio, they all have something in common: a distinct smell that captures you as you walk in. Maybe you associate it with being creative, maybe you associate it with a memory of some sort. For me, there's nothing like walking into my home studio or my classroom every morning--the smell of whatever I'm working with at the time greets me and the creative juices start flowing.

This past weekend I spent several hours in my home studio creating a new pieces of artwork. The time flew by--I was left with my thoughts and my paintbrush. My mind turned to an article I read recently about how painting, and different methods of mark making relieve emotions such as stress, anxiety, frustration, and even joy.

Different colors can evoke different emotions. Part of painting is being intuitive and doing what "feels" good. Some intuitive painters don't really care about the outcome of a painting--they paint entirely for the process, making different marks and using certain colors because they're drawn to those in the moment.

Personally, I greatly care about the outcome of my paintings. I've tried the carefree finish process and it seems unsettling, detached and makes me uncomfortable. I like my paintings to have a purpose and a cohesive design at the end of my painting process. Recently I have been experimenting a bit with putting unexpected colors and expressive brush strokes on all of my work so my entire body of work looks connected, colorful and alive.

These pictures show a very select few paintings from my recent body of work, focusing almost entirely on colorful fowl. Enjoy!

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index card-a-day 2016 | preventing stagnancy in artwork

I am now 41 days into the Index Card-A-Day Creative Challenge.
I've started this challenge twice before. The furthest I've ever been is 5 days. I was committed to it this year.

I've often read and heard that if you do something for 21 days it becomes a habit. I don't believe this is necessarily true for art. Some days I do forget to do my ICAD, and I do feel a sense of unsettlement, but to say that creating something awesome every day is a habit just doesn't hold true for me.

There are days where my creative juices are flowing and I create something really amazing. Some days it's a struggle to even figure out what I'm doing and things look muddled, messy and confusing.
The most important part of this challenge for me has been just making sure if I miss a day, I complete it the following day, on top of that day's prompt.
I have found it really interesting how my artwork is so related to my mood and attitude. On days where my house is clean, I'm happy and my children are well-behaved, I make beautiful works with thoughtful compositions and unique elements. On days where I'm kind of out of it, in a funk or my house is a disaster, I create things that are similar--just not that great.

My biggest pet peeve with this prompt comes from the Facebook group and people not following the prompts. I know the creator of this challenge says that the prompts are totally optional, but I feel like sticking with the prompt encourages MORE creativity. Some days I wonder "what the heck?" when I read the prompt--like the day the prompt was "Space Invaders." But by sticking to the prompt and making my brain create something related to it, I'm growing as an artist. 

To keep myself motivated throughout this challenge and continuing to create interesting works that I'm excited about, I have done the following:
Collected papers. A LOT of my work is collage which I then embellish. I always find old scrapbook 6x6 packs that I love using whenever I'm cleaning rooms of my house. I'm a paper hoarder!

Made a list of things I want to work on.  I noticed my writing was becoming poor, so I took a few days and worked on writing on my ICADs.

Learned from others. I love the Facebook group that I belong to for ICAD because there are some truly great artists coming together and I value different artists for what they excel at; whether that be lettering, awesome collage, beautiful illustration or use of color. I am always making mental notes of what I love about their artwork and implementing my own version of that into my works.


So that's how I'm doing thus far. Only about 20 more days left and I plan to go out with a bang!

Here are a few of my cards for your viewing pleasure:

I really liked this until I took this picture and realized I didn't draw the front line on my cube correctly. Agh! 

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engaged with integrity

Anyone that knows me well definitely understands how unorganized I am. I carry a planner with me at all times and I have to have my days meticulously planned out, or I'll end up doing this-that-and-the-other all day. I am easily side-tracked while doing tasks, and am the queen of clutter! 

With two little gals at home, I have discovered it's SUPER hard for me to keep our home organized. (My art studio room is another story...yikes!) 
ENTER: Thirty-One!

I had all but sworn off direct sales companies completely. I'm so tired of people who I don't really know sending me messages on Facebook asking me to join their team. I feel like it's 100% about recruiting and 0% about the product.
But I honestly and truly LOVE Thirty-One. I've been a "bag lady" forever. Even when I owned my boutique, placing my purse orders was ALWAYS my favorite!

This is what my home aspires to look like--everything organized, neatly in it's labeled place! 

I love that Thirty-One was founded by a Christian woman who promotes relationships and has her company's roots embedded in my own Christian faith. The name of the company, "Thirty-One," comes from Proverbs 31--about being a Virtuous woman. I can get behind a company like that. 

So many of the direct sales companies I know of are rooted in greed. I want to feel GOOD about what I'm selling and the products I'm buying. For example, I LOVED Usborne books. So much so that I signed up so I could get them cheaper for my girls...but the company is so focused on "recruit this person," "have people join your team," that I feel they lost sight of working for the customer, and the quality of the books went meh. 

This is my favorite Thirty-One bag. I used it as my "teacher tote" during the spring semester!
Zip-Top Organizing Utility Tote

I also love that Thirty-One bags are customizable and embroiderable. I adore embroidery. Embroider and personalize all the things, please! 

So if you're interested in Thirty-One, I think that's fantastic. Here's MY LINK! 

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Creative15 WEEK 1 - Lemons

This week, the prompt for the creative art journaling challenge I'm participating in this summer was LEMONS.
I had done a lemonade spread just a couple weeks ago, so I wanted to take this a completely different direction.

Here's what I came up with:

I put a spin on this work by working vertically with my journal instead of the traditional horizontal layout.

I used Golden Acrylics, Graphite Pencils, Sharpies, Oil Pastel, Crayons, Recycled Paper, Sequins and glue to create this layout.


Don't forget, it's not too late for you to join us for the Big Bold Art Journaling Creative15! Just join this Facebook group HERE!

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Big BOLD Art Journaling + CREATIVE15 challenge

Several days ago I told you I'd have an exciting announcement regarding art journaling. Today's the day, people!

I am always looking for ways to stay busy, creative and inspired over the summer months. Last year I participated in an online watercolor class, but I found the woman who hosted it to be a bit too pushy about combining yoga, spirituality and the religion of Hindu with the simple act of painting. I couldn't stay dedicated to the daily paintings because of my busy schedule--I would fall behind and then it was hard to get motivated to start again and catch up.

I like things to be fun. I like them to be lighthearted and most of all, I like them to inspire me to create!

Because of this, I have created Big BOLD Art Journaling--a Facebook group which just took roots online TODAY! Big BOLD Art Journaling will serve as a platform on which I'll share tips, tricks, pictures and more--all centered around art journaling. It's meant to be everything I love about "arting"--inspiring, fun, creative. A mecca for we, the creative types!

Perhaps the most important aspect of the Big BOLD Art Journaling Facebook page is that via the page, I'll be hosting a summer challenge called the Creative15.

What is the Creative15? 
Creative15 is a set of 15 one-word prompts that are meant to inspire.
There's 1 theme a week. Use 1 theme per spread.
I will create a folder each week in which you can share your theme-based spread.

At the culmination of the summer--on or around August 13th--a winner* will be drawn to win an art journaling prize package. (More on this prize later.)

*To be eligible to win the prize, artists MUST enter at least 8 of the theme-based weekly challenges.

If you haven't already done so, head over to Facebook NOW and join the group. Fun will be had, inspiration will be shared.

Big BOLD Art Journaling Facebook Group 

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art journaling

If you're a frequent visitor to my blog, you may have noticed I've added a new page up there at the top-- Art Journaling!

I am a love of art journaling and have been for many, many years. I find it therapeutic, exciting, and a perfect time to play with different and new medias.

There are few things better than opening a brand new blank journal and spreading paint across a fresh page. Nothing in the world is quite as exciting to look at as a journal filled with textural, mixed-media pages. 

I am a lover of art journaling and have been for many, many years. I find it therapeutic, exciting, and a perfect time to play with different and new medias.

Make sure you click on that link up there at the top so you can indeed learn a little bit more about art journaling--from the supplies, to the process, and a few things in-between.

Additionally, on May 19th, I'm going to be divulging an exciting announcement for Summer 2016 related to art journaling.

In the meantime, check out my Art Journaling board on Pinterest HERE. And create a board of your own! Be inspired. Live boldy. Create daily.





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Great Bend Art and Wine Walk

Greetings! It's been several moons since I've had time to create a thoughtful post, but I certainly have a reason for this: I've been hard at work creating pieces for my latest show--the Great Bend Art and Wine Walk. 

The Art and Wine Walk was held on Friday, May 6th from 4-7p.m. I was lucky enough to be inside Beautiful Beginnings Boutique, nestled among some amazing prom dresses that provided a color-saturated background for my equally colorful paintings. 

The event was a great deal of fun--I love the opportunity to talk with people, network and converse about my paintings. The two most interesting things I heard while speaking with people were: 

"How do you DO that? It's just stuff on a canvas and it looks like a rooster!" 

and, by far my favorite thing, from a fellow artist : "Your paintings look like you...they're so bright and fun."  

I've never done a real booth event with my artwork for a couple different reasons. The first is that I become so engaged in the process that I really fall in love with my paintings, so I never want to part with them.  Additionally, my relationship with painting is ever-evolving and until this point, I haven't felt as if my skill were refined enough to ask money for my paintings. 

Here are a few images of my booth at the event. If you're interested in something, please feel free to contact me and we can talk more about it! 

For the show, I also made prints of my roosters. Prints are $12 each. One of the birds is missing from this set, but I do have all 6 roosters available.

Have a happy Monday!

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