Day 15 - the evolution of a painting

I spoke in an earlier post of taking progression photos of my art. I love to capture each stage and I love looking back to see how it all came to be. I love to see the way a painting evolves, changing with each layer, becoming more unique with each brush stroke, each splash of ink or paint, each wash of colour, each highlight and shadow. 

I particularly love this style of painting, which I learned from the amazing Tracy Verdugo, and I would recommend that if you ever have a chance to paint with Tracy you do it. 

I love the whole process. For me, these paintings are totally intuitive and, while I may have an idea of the colours I would like to use or if have inspiration from a photo I have taken, I still never know exactly what the finished painting will look like till the end. I don't have a recipe for mixing colours that I use. Most of the time they are mixed on the canvas as I use them.

This is a 1.5m x 0.6m painting that I have just finished this week for a dear friend.

 

the first layers

  some serious drippage

 

  

 

 

 The finished painting

All it needs is a few coats of varnish and it's ready to hang.

Namaste

Lee

Day 13 - busy means you're alive, right?

Are you busy all the time or do you have spare time to just sit and 'be'?

Do you multi task or do you do one task at a time?

Me? I seem to be busy all the time, I often multi-task. Often words like 'not enough hours in the day' fall from my lips, run around in my head and invade my quiet time. It's not that I don't enjoy sitting and just relaxing, I just can't seem to say no to adding things to my to-do list or finding something to occupy my time. I like my art time, although I never seem to get to my studio as often as I would like. I like my time to read although the list of books in my tbr list is growing by the day. I enjoy my meditation time but always seem to be squeezing it in to my day. I like being busy, it makes me feel alive, useful and like I'm not wasting time, because you only live once, right?

 We all search for that elusive 'balance' , the work-life, social balance, the productive time vs relaxation time balance. We spend so much time working out how to get the balance that we are back at square one with no time to spare. The mind gets overloaded and you end up doing nothing.

When did you just do one thing at a time? My mornings before work involve reading while eating my breakfast, planning my shopping list, reviewing my diary for the week ahead. The other night I was having my nightly cuppa while catching up on my art video watching, reading a novel, watching tv. Now how can you really take all that in the way it is supposed to be experienced? Not very well, let me tell you. 

Time to choose consciously how I spend my time.

Speaking of time; it is time, in my mind, for this winter to end. I've had enough of the cold, the rain and the wind keeping me awake at night. Bring on spring, the renewal season, the season of growth, the glorious colours of flowers blooming and the sounds of life all around us.

Namaste

Lee

Day 5 - Just relax

So the verdict on my voice - stress. My specialist said that the virus kicked the laryngitis into gear but the stress is keeping my voice at bay. So time to reintroduce my meditation practices that I had so carelessly set aside and concentrate on reducing the stress.

One of  the things that has stressed me out over the last couple of months is the fact that I cannot get to my art time as much as I would like, because of various things in my world outside art. 

Art for me is a stress release, a meditation of sorts, a grounding, centering practice and quite frankly if I don't get it on a regular basis, I become antsy, grumpy and lost. If you are not careful this can sneak up on you as it has done with me. I ignored the little nudges that the universe was giving me and then when I wouldn't listen and do something about it, the universe sucker punched me into sitting up and taking notice.

Some things should not be an option and quite time meditating, and arting on a regular basis (daily if I can) are two of those things. You realise that these things keep you going, they keep you healthy, they keep you sane. Everybody has their own activities that do this for them, the important thing is that you work out what they are and prioritise them before you health is compromised.

So in the theme of relaxation, meditation and rejuvination I am sharing a few of my paintings that make me feel serene. I love Buddhas and the peace that they represent.
These little guys have yet to find a resting place in my house.....

 these three hang in my family room.

 Namaste
Lee

Day 3 Blogalong - progress

It's a blustery cold day here in Melbourne. Who wants to be outside in that when you could be tucked up in your studio, heater on, music blaring on your ipod, no-one home to disturb you, and a table full of new paints and a large canvas waiting to be finished, not me. 

I do look forward to Saturdays on my own so I can indulge in my creative passion. Today it was putting another layer or two on a commission that I am doing for a friend. Still a way to go but I have gotten into the habit of taking photographs along the way of my paintings to use as backgrounds or inspiration later on. Do you take progress photos of your paintings or art journal spreads?

Hope you are having a blessed weekend

Namaste

Lee

Joy Jam

I am joining in on your heART makes a difference Joy Jam this week. It is all about being aware of what gave you joy during the week, helping us to see more joy by noticing the little things and being grateful for them. Putting you in this state of awareness allows more joy in to your life.

For the Friday Joy Jam we have to list 3 to 5 things that gave us joy this week so here is my list.

- getting my submissions finished and sent off by the deadline for an interstate conference next year. I was stressed that I wouldn't get it done but at the last minute everything came together and I was so happy that it worked out.

- spending time with good friends celebrating her milestone birthday. Appreciating the friendships in our lives is a really important thing to me. We had a great night and I am grateful for all the friends in my life.

- being able to sit out in the sunshine this week and soak in life. Sitting by a friend's pool, sipping champagne, not rushing to be somewhere or get something done, just relaxing and soaking in the moment of great weather and great company.

- making a batch of the best ever gluten free banana and choc chip muffins. Well what more can i say, I am going to share this recipe this week because it is so outrageously good.

- catching up with a faraway girlfriend on the phone. you may remember a recent post where I caught up with my bridesmaid of 24 years ago at my school reunion weekend in Sydney. We message each other on Facebook regularly but it is so good to speak over the phone. 

So what brought you joy this week?
Do you take time at the end of the week (or more often) to notice what gave you joy?
It is a really satisfying practice, you should try it.

Have a great day everyone

Namaste
Lee