january journaling...and paper infatuation

i wish i could say that i kept up with the weekly challenge that i took to journal throughout the month of january.

i did spend time in the studio, and that can sometimes be a luxury. there are only a few pieces to post from the challenge. one of the weeks' challenge was to create work inspired by past famous artists. my completed piece was inspired by basquiat this was pure easy fun. drizzled medium, painting with both brushes and fingers, random papers and marks on the page. hmmm....is this what it feels like to create with abandon? No worries about the outcome? note to self...more creative abandon. another one of the weeks challenge was to use mixed media. for me, that is what it is all about.

(this little bee kept showing up on the page)

have i mentioned before that i love papers? papers from old books and vintage magazines. fabulously printed 'scrapbook' papers mixed with my own painted papers. papers with words and patterns, paper stamps and pictures. ...and cutting and pasting. i can get lost digging through papers, cutting and arranging just so. i might be spending too much time with my papers.

i've decided not to beat myself up about the january journal pages. que sera sera

january journaling

the january days of journaling that was initiated by misty has begun again. i haven't exactly kept up like i did last year... but i am happy to have a few pieces done from last weeks theme. misty encourages a new theme to use as a starting point for the journal pages. last week, it was to use photos you've taken and incorporating them into your work. the first two pieces were using photos i took in vermont last september. i love having a starting point of inspiration. sometimes it's music or a photo or a poem or several things moving you in the moment. the third piece came about friday night after hearing this song by dido. it's been magical and fun being in the studio more over the last month. i wish it was where i could go everyday... and now that life has settled a little (probably shouldn't even speak those words as it could invite some gremlin in) i plan on being in the studio much much more. i had to put away the journal pages to try and finish the painting that i started for my son before Christmas. he loves bull terrier dogs and plans to have one someday. an early photo of the painting in a half completed stage. it made my boy smile which was exactly what i was after

Happy New Year

feeling a little beat up and rusty today after a really fun new years' eve. i'm keeping a little decoration on as i toast and welcome new experiences with open eyes, mind and heart it's been a quiet new years day as i get ready to rev up my engines... i hope yours was sweet.

squam

do you see it? do you see the godlight shining down on a little piece of heaven on earth? rockywolddeephaven camp in holderness, new hampshire. this is where artists were called to meet so that they could play, and laugh, and make new friends, and eat a lot, and maybe open up their souls to whatever was calling them. like the loon calling for it's love on that big beautiful lake.... okaaayyy...i was on a roll there, but it just got too corny (and i can use the word corny because i just came back from camp). i mean, i absolutely loved waking up to the sound of loons calling and the water lapping on the shore right outside my window. but i also woke up each morning and tried to figure out how i could get a shower, put make up on ( i know...why?), and get dressed without freezing my ass off. all without coffee. squam really gave me so much, maybe so much that it's taken two weeks and i am still contemplating all that its meant to me. but i think that must be a good thing. i really needed to be there and witness the energy of so many women (and a few men) who were on fire for their artistic passion. it was crazy good in that sense. i found myself quiet a lot of the time, and i just had to soak it in and i couldn't process it all. there is much still lingering in my heart - the women i made friends with, the teachers who gave so well, and the unquenchable need to create.

thanks squam, and elizabeth, and girl friends, and loons on the lake...xoxo

well, it's about time

and i cannot believe the time that has passed. i never intended to drop off the face of my blog...i just got so busy with the details of life. we moved into a new home, which meant fixing up and selling the one we'd lived in for 16 years. so many memories...such sweet memories of raising g. there. but it was time to move forward. finally, the new place is starting to feel like home. the rooms are painted. ...the studio is still not unpacked. the new house had sapped all of my creative juices. except for a painting that was commissioned by a friend, i hadn't touched a tube of paint in months. this big guy was started back in march, but finally made it's way to a new home recently. but then there was squam. i just returned home from this artist retreat in new hampshire (and an extended trip through vermont). i'm really still trying to process all that the retreat was...how it affected me, and what it all means now. what next? as i sort through this...more to come. but i am ready to unpack the studio.

Happy Mother's Day

What a blessed role it is to be a mother, what a cherished gift to have one.... I love you MOM!

looking for an answer

i have not made time at my table, with my paints listening to music as my hands move to create why do i let other things get in the way, take up my time why don't i answer the call of my heart when it is all i want to do?