Sunday Swoon

Well, it is acutally Monday here but it is still Sunday somewhere so I have just made it into the Sunday Swoon post on Effy's Blog. Each week Effy posts something in her creative world that made her swoon and encourages others to do the same and link to each other so we can share in all that lovely swoonworthyiness (yes, that word is in 'my' dictionary)

My Swoon-worthy moment this past week came from an art class that I taught on Saturday. Here is the original painting

I had a wonderful group of ladies in my class who were all willing to put aside any pre-conceived ideas of where they thought this class was headed and just let go and go with the flow of the journey. Some were seasoned painters, some had been in my art journaling classes for a while but had not tried this style of painting. All were eager to paint and create, and in the end, that is all that matters. A lot of the time we can tie ourselves in knots with the expectations we place on ourselves instead of just surrendering to the process, being open to all and any eventualities.

 I was introduced to this style of painting when I went to a wonderful weekend workshop with Tracy Verdugo over a year ago and she taught me to give in to what my soul wanted to create and step out of my overactive mind controlling the situation. Together with my art journaling, of which Effy is a huge inspiration, it is the most enjoyable way I paint nowadays.

The paints we were using in this class are the new Atelier Free Flow paints. I love them because of their vibrancy, even when dripping and spraying, their consistency and the way they flow. They are my paint of choice and if you want to know more about them or where to get them you can visit the Chroma Australia website here.

Now to why this class this week was so swoon-worthy to me.

Well, quite simply, it was the perfect way to spend the day. I could have sat there long into the night painting and talking.

I love teaching, I love sharing what I have learned, I love the friendships I have made through teaching, I love the friendships that are strengthened through art classes and I love being in a group of like-minded souls creating our little butts off. Hopefully, while doing this, I can inspire others along the way. To see the smile of achievement on someone's face after you have taught them something is one of my greatest sources of joy and I got to see that on Saturday. 

Hope you found something to swoon about in your week

Namaste

Lee

two in one week!

Well, I don't blog for ages, then I post 2 in one week. One word for that isn't there..... random. Yep that's how I go sometimes and this month has been no different. I am actually sharing this weeks Book of Days spread during this week. I know, shock, horror! I'm also sharing a painting I delivered to it's new home last weekend.

 First the new painting. I was given a colour palette by my client and a general theme of what they wanted and this is the finished canvas. I really love the light airy colours. It was a bigger canvas, measuring 1.8 x 0.6m.. I really loved it and so did it's owner.  I really love painting these long canvases and it has me wanting one in my own house now.

This week for me it was all about being in the moment and finding little Joy Moments each day.

The prompt for this week was to use fabric in our spread. 

I used the Atelier Free Flow paints and I started with a brush blended background of Pthalo Green, Cadmium Yellow Medium and Titanium White.

Then I used one of the new Scrap Fx stamps, Ruffled Feather, with Titanium white and also just spritzed with plain water to create texture in the background.

I always tell my students to save everything in case they can use it in their art journals. I see them roll their eyes, listening to me telling them to save crazy stuff, wondering when they could use 'that' again. Well as I was sitting at my desk I was wondering what sort of fabric I wanted to use, looking around for inspiration and my eyes landed on some scrunched up dried, used baby wipes.

 Well, baby wipes are a type of fabric aren't they, so that is where I started. I decided that I didn't want to rip them up and saw my Big Shot machine sitting idly by, not having been used for a long time, so out it came with some Spellbinders die's. I cut out circles and dragonflies and began my spread.

 We had some lovely sunshine this week so I sat out and doodled around the circles and labeled them with the days of the week.

Of course I used by favourite journaling pen, the White Signo, and the purple Aqualip for the title and some doodling. The Aqualips are fast becoming my go to pens for titles now. They flow so easily and dry with a nice glossy finish.

Each day, at the end of recording that day's happenings, I wrote a Joy moment, one moment from each day that gave me joy. No matter how small there is always something that gives you joy on any given day. It can be as simple as my Monday Joy moment of finally curling up on my bead with a good book after a long day at work. Do you look for joy moments in your day?

Registration for the next session of Book of Days is open on October 15th. Sign up for Effy's newsletter so you don't miss out.

Life is a Precious thing....

Life is Precious

Life is Beautiful

Life is to be Treasured

Life is Short.....

This weeks post is all about life, how you respect it, how you take time to appreciate the little things, how you spend your precious time living the life that you imagined.

My Book Of Days spread is from a couple of weeks ago and had that theme running all the way through it. There ended up being reminders of it every day, a common theme of appreciating life and living it to the fullest and remembering those who are no longer physically with us.

It is a simple spread. The prompt was to paint in journaling blocks for the week ahead, making it super easy to just fill it in as you go. I loved it!

The background is all made up of leftover paint on my palette from another earlier spread and a painting that I had started. Not ever one to waste things, I used it on this spread. All the marks I made were using found objects around my studio like corrugated cardboard and bubble wrap and various pens and paintbrushes. the journaling blocks were first blocked in in Titanium White and then the colour lightly painted over it, mixing in a bit of white and leaving it shabby, doodled around the outside of each block and then filled in each day with a white Signo. Easy peasy.

 On another note, during that week, I flew up to Sydney to teach two classes with these wonderful ladies. On the Saturday I taught my Blue Lotus

and then on the Sunday I taught 2 art journal classes on a canvas board.

I was also able to catch up with one of my dearest friends' on the Saturday night, so it was a really quick but meaningful visit all round. 

This weekend once again reminded me how lucky I am to be able to teach and share what I am most passionate about. It reminded me that when we all share that common passion, great things can be achieved, friendships forged and strengthened and our lives are so enriched by the experience. It reminded me the value of true friendship, the precious time we have with them and how we must vow to make each day precious.