Doily Heaven

I bought a few vintage doilies on ebay and etsy recently. They are so much fun to use for texturing backgrounds.

There has been a creative burst and a new painting is emerging with these...

Lots of gratitude and happiness!

Tea Motif!

There hasn't been a lot of time for creating lately, but with stolen moments here and there I've had some fun extending my tea motif to greeting cards and more paintings. New supplies have added to the fun.

I ripped up yogi egyptian licorice mint tea pouches for these ones. 

I've been experimenting with adhering glitter so it's really on there & doesn't shake off easily. It seems Golden regular gel medium and workable fixatif are the magic combo.

Isn't it neat to see how far a motif can go?

Happy V-Day!

I used to feel Valentine's day was a manufactured holiday. Now I've really come to love it. It's a day we can give ourselves permission to stop the chaos and simply enjoy each other. It's fun teaching our young son that it's a day about showing others we love them, and thinking about others before ourselves. We made valentines for his friends and preschool teachers and special heart cookies with sprinkles (gluten free, but still yummy). He was pretty thrilled with it all.

I hope you and your loved ones have a great Valentine's day!

Creative Happenings

Creative happenings around here lately: I finished my surrender girl - she has come alive with rosy cheeks and a beaded scarf floating in the breeze. I'm really happy with how this piece turned out, and the process was wonderful – such a journey of personal introspection.

I've been experimenting with mounting my art prints onto wood blocks/panels. I'm giving each one a unique hand-finished touch including book paper sides, stamping/ ribbon/ glitter etc added after the print is mounted. I love this because it gives them that unique feel of an original. Also, I've done a bit more hand-carving of my own stamps. The one pictured here is a simple scallop stamp for edging. Fun. 

I love integrating small jewels, buttons and other 3D embellishments into my art. Here are a few new ones I've collected and am playing around with.

Creative play is such a big part of my soul-time. I love experimenting with new things and letting the process unfold organically. My studio is usually a mad mess after the creative storm, and I feel ALIVE! It's a beautiful thing. I bet you know exactly what I mean.

With creative energy and happiness,

Teacups!

A neat little number I'm working on right now. Teacups. Designed digitally with pen tablet, then turning them into motifs, making my own papers, and using them in my art. 

Illustrations from the heart

My latest creative explorations, hand-illustrated with my wacom intuos pen tablet.

One minute I was on task, working on an illustration project, and the next this lovely creature and these inspirations and textures were pouring out of me. When creativity hits I can't turn my back! They print really nicely too – I just did a few high quality runs. I think they'll be fun to carry in my shop.

Work is flowing right now, with lots of fun and inspiring design projects filling my days. Isn't it a great feeling when things are aligned? If only for a brief moment, we must enjoy it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

p.s. it's friday! That means it's time to check out all the posts from other creatives in the "Fearless Fridays" clan. Supporting each other to overcome our fears and pursue our dreams.

Studio Refresh

I'm so excited to share my studio improvements with you! 

A bit of background – I'm working towards doing reproductions of my art and opening an Etsy shop, and over the months it became clear that my current studio layout wasn't supporting this goal as well as it could be. In the past most of my art has been large scale, and I used an easel when I painted (a beautiful hand-crafted easel made by my talented husband by the way). But in the last year I've shifted to smaller canvases and more mixed media elements. I needed a dedicated flat surface to work on, and a dedicated area for printing and shipping prep. 

So I put my easel away (for now) and brought in a big long table to work at. It's really simple, but that's all I need. I'm working on getting everything organized now, and I'm thrilled to have all this surface space separated out from my design work area. At the same time there is some fear there too – making these changes means I'm moving closer to my goal. What if I'm not good enough? Well, we'll leave that thought for now and in the meantime I'll continue on, growing my passion and creating beauty! Next step is to do an inspired art evening with one of my great artist friends. There's plenty of room for two.

See photos of my studio before – http://redpearcreative.blogspot.ca/2012/10/my-cozy-attic-studio.html


Here's to taking small steps to overcome our fears and reach for our dreams! Every little step adds up. What are you working on? Leave me a comment below and tell me about it.

p.s. check out more posts on the topic of fear, from other creatives in the "fearless fridays" blog group:

Port Townsend Art Retreat

Since the new year hit I've had my head down, brewing new designs for all my wonderful clients. Today as I was working away I popped over to my email for a quick second and voila, there in my inbox sat an invitation to the Sugar & Spice Art Retreat in Port Townsend, Washington!  It looks amazing. A quaint Victorian town on the water, and three phenomenal artists teaching over three days – Danielle Daniel, Juliette Crane, and Mindy Lacefield. These lovely mixed media artists have come onto my radar in the last year and are all incredibly talented and soulful in their work. I admire them so, and would be delighted to spend a handful of days learning from them in-person! How neat is that?

So, a new goal is set. I yearn to go to this retreat. I've dreamed about some of the retreats offered in exotic places like Morocco and the South of France, but it just hasn't been a reality for me yet. I have a small son at home, and a fabulous group of clients counting on me, so it's been hard to wrap my head around traveling too far. Port Townsend is ideal for a gal like me who just loves Victorian architecture and a small quaint town setting. And did I mention not too far from home?

The dreaming and planning begins!

My Very Inspiring Blogger Nomination

Thank you to Jean Wagner at jeanfwagner.blogspot.ca for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I am delighted and honoured.

Per the rules of the game, here are some tidbits about me, and my own nominations of other bloggers for the award:
 

7 Things You Might Not Know About Me:

1.   I wholeheartedly believe in simple living.

2.   Without hope there's not much else.

3.   I love hiking in lush vibrant nature, especially with my husband and son.

4.   I need equal parts of spontaneity and organization.

5.   I am happiest when I am creating something.

6.   I'm yearning to travel to India and Morocco next - the colours, textures and patterns are calling to me.

7.  Sleep… nine hours just isn't enough.


My Chosen 15 Creatives Who I Nominate For the Very Inspiring Blogger Award:

1. Danita - http://danitaart.blogspot.ca

2. Stephanie Ryan - http://www.stephanieryandesign.com/blog/

3. Amanda Blake-Soule, Soule Mama - http://soulemama.typepad.com/

4. The Minimalists - http://www.theminimalists.com/

5. Melissa Thorpe, Hilltop Haus Frau - http://hilltophausfrau.blogspot.ca

6. Reni, Bliss and Tell - http://www.blissandtellblog.com/blog/

7. Christy Tomlinson - http://christytomlinson.typepad.com/

8. Curly Girl Design - http://www.curlygirldesign.com/blog/

9. Anahata Katkin - http://anahata.typepad.com/

10. Christina Minasian - http://christinaminasian.blogspot.ca

11. Tiffany, Fancy Farmgirl - http://www.thefancyfarmgirl.com/

12. Hannah Marcotti - http://hannahmarcotti.com

13. Alisa Steady Art - http://alisasteadyart.blogspot.ca

14. Juliette Crane - http://juliettecrane.blogspot.ca/

15. Carolyn Rubenstein - http://carolynrubenstein.com/blog/

16. Valeri Blossom - http://awesomama.blogspot.ca

17. Kelly Rae Roberts -  http://kellyraeroberts.blogspot.ca/


I tried to stop at 15, but there are so many bloggers I am inspired by... it was tough to narrow it down.


Rules for Accepting the Very Inspiring Blogger Award
1.  Display the award logo on your blog.       
2.  Link back to the person who nominated you.     
3.  State 7 things about yourself. (see below)
4.  Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them. (see below)
5.  Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.  

Cheers,

A New Year and Gratitude

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm excited to be starting a fresh new year, to dig in to new challenges, to create beauty. I'm ready to feel my soul grow again this year.

Last year was a big one for me. My son turned 3, and I came out of my parent-focused shell. I launched myself onto a creative growth path that has been quietly dancing around to me for years (for most of my life I guess, I just wasn't quite ready to understand what it all meant). I just knew that it was time. Time to find my creative self, to trust my instincts, to follow those callings and leap towards everything that felt right to me. I did just that. I put logic aside. I sacrificed a lot. And I felt alive for the first time in years. Over the next six months I took two online mixed media courses, a creative business class, started blogging about my journey, designed and launched a new and improved website for my creative business, launched a company page on facebook, painted more than I have in the last 5 years, started exploring doing prints of my art, and am now I am working towards opening an Etsy shop to sell my art & reproductions. I have come alive. I am buzzing with creativity, calm with strong confidence, quiet as I listen to myself and trust that I know the way, and grateful for this life I am creating.

I am serious, excited and scared.

I've only ever felt whole when I was creating. As a youngster I lived on a rural acreage, immersed in nature, usually alone and outdoors. I had a vivid imagination and was always working on something. I started with drawing, gluing, crafting, doodling and storytelling. My dad got me started painting when I was about 5. Then handmade floral jewelry and hair clips when I was about 8. Then it was book-making, book-marks, art cards. Then as a pre-teen I was writing stories; mostly unfinished novels. I figure skated, took dance lessons. And through it all I was painting. I took every art-related opportunity that was available to me in a small town, and I relished in every lesson. I danced, skated, glued, pasted, brushed, wrote. It poured out of me. I distinctly remember feeling more at home in my high school art room than anywhere else.

And when I grew up I tried to keep art at the centre of my life but slowly it drifted off to the periphery. It was a once-in-a-while hobby. My design work is wonderfully creative, but still something was always missing in my life. I traveled and explored and tried to fill that quiet void, but it wasn't until last summer that my life exploded with the joy I always knew was waiting. I had been admiring the works of Anahata Katkin and Papaya Art for a few years and then one day in the late spring of 2012 I looked up their website on a whim. It led me to a whole new world of art - mixed media art -and my world immediately expanded, as though I had taken a huge breath. I knew instantly that I had found my place. It was then my mixed media art course with Danita, and a book called Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts that had me riveted and in no time I was changing the whole course of my life, knowing with complete certainty that this with the path for me.

And here I am today. Embarking on a new year, ready for all that it brings and feeling grateful. And feeling, finally, at home.

With renewed energy, and gratitude, thank you for sharing this experience with me.