Silly Sunday Giveaway ..

I have been wanting to do a giveaway for awhile .I decided to give away 30 days of silliness! I saw this class by Carla Sonheim and I knew this was it! For 30 days you get a daily dose of silliness sent to you in an email from Carla that will include a link to a downloadable pdf inviting you to loosen up and play . We can all use a little silliness in our lives . All you have to do for a chance to win is blog about Carla's Class and my giveaway and then leave me a comment. Lets get silly together! I will draw the winner next Sunday, September 5th.

Good Luck !

(if you don't have a blog you can still enter just leave me a comment letting me know.)

Tonights play..

Actually I didn't feel like playing tonight but I did it anyway . I decided to try a technique that Jane Royal from Painted heart Studio was kind enough to post a step by step on . I love the texture from the tissue paper . I went a little crazy, but oh well . I will definitely try this again . Jane , thank you and I love your work .

And Guess what ? Tomorrow I am going to do my first ever Giveaway . I have been wanting to do something for awhile but this just seemed right , so come by tomorrow for details!

Are You an Artist?

Today I read a post that sat like a rock in my gut . It brought up alot of feelings and thoughts . The post I read, was from someone who attended her local art fair and was struck by the lack of "real" art. Which led me to wonder what real art is ? At what point can you call yourself an artist? The post talked about the journey of an artist to overcome self doubt and failure only to have no guarantee of making" real" art . So what keeps a person striving to create ? What measures your success as an artist? Her belief was that art is also about communication . I agree with this but even if you as an artist can communicate your idea onto a canvas there is no guarantee how your viewer will perceive it. Our perception of our world differs . What we perceive as art differs. I asked my 15 year old what her definition of an artist is . She responded with total confidence that she herself was an artist. I responded " but you don't draw " she replied "I am an artist because of my love of music and I write songs and we all are artists inside". She said this with such belief in herself. So at what point do we begin to doubt our abilities ? Do we need an art degree or do we need to sell our art to become a "real " artist? What is" it" ? I signed up for my very first art class here at home . I will be going once a week starting next week to learn some of the fundamentals . I am doing this so that I can progress in my artistic ability . I am a beginner who only started to draw for the first time ever this year . When I create I really do work to the best of my ability with the knowledge that I have . Is that not enough ?

So leave me a comment . I want to hear your opinion on this .

The Secret lives of Princesses and a sketch ..

My sketch for tonight .

This evening as I was sketching the Ups truck came and I was expecting a few supplies that I bought on ebay. I went downstairs to get the package and on top was a Barnes and Nobel box.I thought that was odd since I have a nook and hadn't ordered a real book in a little while . I opened the box to find a gift from my mom and her partner .An early Birthday Present!! I was surprised ! I am usually hard to surprise because I buy my own gifts and have even been known to order my own birthday cake .

You want to know what it was? it was this . Just look at the illustrations. The book is even more beautiful in person .It is a treasure trove of inspiration ! I love the illustrator. Anyway , I thought I would share .

My sketch for tonight..

A sketch ..

I have been trying to spend a least a few hours sketching every night. I loved doing this one because as I have said before I could sit and just shade and shade. This sketch was actually inspired by a photo of someone I know .I actually like it:)

a place to call your own

"I wanted a place where I could wake up and look out a window and see the mountainside across the clove, a place that felt like a secret tree house, a place all my own." - Sandy Foster

Oh , how I can relate . You have to read the Fosters article here . I really loved the story and it reminded me how a dream can happen even on a limited budget. I loved the photo of her in those pink wellies , I think it shows her spunk .Her blog is here . I am so in love with this little cottage. My husband and I are working on getting our house on the market . We have 5.5 acres near our present home . We are wanting to pair down our lives some without a mortgage so that we can both do more things we love. When I saw this cottage an idea was born . I have seen many little cottages I like and used to save pictures on my computer . I have a perfect little spot in the woods for a cottage on our other land . Wouldn't it be a wonderful place to read and draw ? I love solitude . What about you ? Wouldn't you love a little space of your own ?

Do what you love .

image courtesy of Kat Ostrow
"You could be doing other things,but do those things that you want to do "

Last night I sat at a table painting a background for a class I was taking online. I was slapping acrylic paint onto the watercolor paper when I realized , I am not enjoying this . I stopped . I thought, why are you doing what you do not enjoy ? I asked myself "What do you enjoy "? The answer came easily , I enjoy sketching in graphite . I love the shading process. I pulled out my pencils and did a sketch using my pencils . No , it wasn't great but as I was sketching I enjoyed it . I took out a few conte crayons added a little color , smudged with my fingers and still I felt joy in the process. As you know from previous postings I have taken and am taking online art classes with a variety of teachers . I always learn something . Most concentrate on mixed media techniques and wet media . Sometimes wet medias frustrate me . I, like alot of others, seem to be searching for a niche . A little place in the art world . A place where we can find our own style . As I processed all of this last night , I thought about why I create art . I thought about what I want to express and what would make me feel like an artist .The Answer - To create something that I am pleased with . If I were creating or forcing a process for someone else, I don't think I would want to create. Then a sentence that I have heard from many artists over and over entered my mind "it's about process not product" . I get it ! when I was told this the first time , I thought yeah right , whatever, but for the first time I understand this.

Then I thought about other artists who's work I am drawn to and why . One that came to mind was Kat Ostrow . I remember the first time I saw her work online . I loved her work and as I think about why , I know that alot of it is the freedom and impulse I see in her work . I love all the lines . I wrote her once and she was so kind . I expressed to her how frustrated I was and how I wished to find my own style . I remember that she told me that if I could ever just let go and draw from a reaction to what I see I would probably find what I was searching for . Smart Lady Huh? I hope you will visit her to see more of her work and I love the way she shares process on her blog. Last night I also googled other artists who worked in a style I was drawn to . I was led here . I found her because of one of her portrait images . Again , I thought, "what is it I am drawn to in her work?" . It was about the softness , the lines . I also emailed her and got a very kind email from her that was very helpful . I want to say how wonderful I think it is when an artist will actually reach out and answer your questions . I know it takes time and I am very grateful . So based on this I have decided that I am going to spend more time exploring semi dry mediums and doing what I enjoy. Maybe if I take the time to listen I will find what I am looking for . What about you ? Are you enjoying what you are doing ?

p.s I am heading to Dick Blick to indulge myself a little (maybe alot) ;)

healing and friendship

Sometimes as I am visiting the blog world I will hear the same message over and over . Little snippets in different places but all with the same message. A message that I feel I am meant to hear. This time the message that I see repeating itself is about healing and friendship. I think I have mentioned it before but I am happy to see some new art classes embracing healing as part of the class. For alot of us when we create we are met with resistance inside ourselves . Lots of negative voices saying all kinds of unkind things. The one thing I am learning is that in order to really create authentically and to be creative at our best we need to learn to let go . To let go of expectation and judgement . For me ,this is always hard, but I really do think that it is the key to finding my own unique style . I believe that slowing down and losing myself in the process and not the outcome is the way to heal . I know that I have struggled this year with things outside of art . I have seen my fellow bloggers struggling . We all want and need support to heal . We want to be "OK".Which leads me to the next part. Friendship. If you have friendships who support you and share your love of art , count your blessings. I am going to be very honest here and say that I find it very hard to find loving nurturing friends where I live. I am not saying they don't exist. I would love to have some girlfriends who could share my love of art supplies and who I could just sit together with and create. This is why I rely heavily on my online support system and friendships. What about you ? Recently, as I was cruising the Internet I found this post . It is about finding a tribe of people who support you. I hope you will find time to read it . I think as artist we should show support for one another . I appreciate those of you who support and inspire me . I consider you part of my tribe. I also want to Be a support . I really love seeing the work of all my creative friends out there. I believe that if we support each other and share there is wonderful healing power in that . Art heals right?

I also want to bring your attention again to Juliette Crane . I love her new post on" how art heals and the beauty of friendship ". I hope you will have a chance to visit her.

How are you healing and connecting?

Lets Face it !

As I have mentioned before I love online classes and especially those involving faces. I have never taken a class with Jodi Ohl but I would love to . You could win this class. Go check it out here for a chance to win !

Back to school?

I am so excited about the classes I am seeing online. If you have never taken an online class, you should! I love workshops. No hassle and you work at your own pace . I really believe that being creative is something that we all were born to do and it is so healing and good for your soul . For some reason when we start to be creative in the form of artwork we are met with our fears .Right away they make theirselves known . We compare ourselves , judge ourselves , ridicule . I love that alot of the new classes and teachers are focusing on these issues as well . I know for me , judging only hinders my ability to be creative and it takes the fun away. I wonder why Art isn't a bigger part of our lives?
I love this post by Juliette Crane where she talks about courage. She says that creativity is a "constant discovery and unraveling of ourselves".Her blog is wonderful and worth a visit . She is also having a giveaway . So check her out!
Now onto Classes...
World of Whimsy 2 , Tamara is such a wonderful teacher and her views are so healing. I am currently taking this class . She is also going to be offering a FREE course called" The heart of art" you can learn about it here . I think it is so loving of her to offer it .
Mixed Media Faces is a class with Monica Zuniga . I just signed up for it . Monica is another very loving teacher that focuses on creating without judgement . I have taken many many classes with her and I can't say enough about her.
Painting Free with Wyanne , I am so excited to see Wyanne offering this class. She is awesome! notice again that this class focuses on freeing yourself up:)
Towers and Turrets, I was so excited when I saw this Promo . I love the name and I have been wanting to take a class with Sharon for awhile.
So what do you think? Are you ready to go back to school?