Famous Woman In History Featuring Maya Angelou

January 2013 Post Card Swap Featuring 

Maya Angelou

I belong to a wonderful Ning group called 

There's A Little Goddess In All Of Us

It's an inspiring group of ladies from around the world,

 a place to find goddesses, art, poetry, friendships and discussion.

I joined the monthly postcard swap a couple years ago to discover myself and as a way to heal through art. It was during a time in my life when I was home-bound due to my illness. 

Spending many hours at home and in bed left me longing for a sense of community and purpose.

I was very depressed, sad, and lonely; I'd spend most of my sleepless nights scavenging the net

for inspiration, friendship and a sense of belonging. I found it in an art chat room.

I had met Carol and a few of the other ladies in an on line art class called Art Heart and Healing

It was a free on line class which I used as a form of therapy.

There I was inspired to dig deep into my creative self and learn new techniques I never knew existed,

all the while of healing through the process of art.

 

The woman I've met in both of these Ning groups are filled with love, compassion and inspiration. 

Carol, our fearless hostess of the postcard swap shakes our world with a new topic every month.

We are encouraged to interpret each artist as we like, utilizing any medium to express our take on each topic.

I view each month as challenges to help me find my creative style and grow as an artist.

Each challenge teaches me new techniques as I learn about the featured artist.

Last year, the theme was famous artist. Each having a wide array of styles, most were new to me,

like: Di Grazia, Basquiat, Amedeo Modiglian and Freda.

Carol has opened my eyes and creative world. 

inspiring me to learned more about myself as an artist and refined my techniques as a result.

Each month a new topic is announced, I research and learn everything I can about it. It helps me to learn how they created their particular technique, form and style.

Some are more challenging then others, some take me several days to complete, some I whip off in no time; Each push my boundaries and are unique in their own way, becoming near and dear to my heart. 

Joining There's A Little Goddess In All Of Us  has been a true blessing.

Every month I receive little treasures in the mail from all walks of life, I call these fun mail. 

Is there anything more exciting  then receiving a handmade postcard from other artistes around the world... 

I think not! It makes opening the mail fun again...

Here is my take on our January's  "Famous Woman" postcard swap, 

I hope you'll find as much inspirations in my creations as I did in Maya's life's work.

 I decided to do a multimedia collage for 3 of my cards and a drawing for the last one.

For the 3 collage cards, I used magazines cuttings, watercolor paints, 

markers, napkins, and quotes from Maya Angelou.

I always like to draw the featured artist as my tribute to them. 

I used an ultra-fine Sharpe pen and markers.

Come check us out, I'm sure you'll enjoy our group as much as I do...

Until next time....love, hugs and many blessings to each of you!

XOXOXOXOX

PROJECTS I'VE DONE FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Kona

Our Giant Schnauzer... I painted these pictures for my son Zac for his 24th Birthday.

Zac and Kona had a special bond, they grew up together... Both paintings are done in watercolor.

If you would like me to paint one of your furry family favorites, 

send me an email .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Santa's Little Angel Elf  

Watercolor 11-2011

Hero's Among Us

I did an exchange with some ladies on Willowing.ning

Collage, Pen and Ink, Watercolor

The Elements of Art Journaling

 

The Elements of Art Journaling

How exciting, A wonderful opportunity for all... A journaling workshop is being offered by Effy over at Wild Precious Studio. 

This 6 week Course starts July1st. 

~*~*~*Sparkly Glitter*~*~*~

The Elements of Art Journaling is going to take you on a journey through earth, air, water, fire and spirit that will help you to create the most meaningful pages you possibly can. These pages will be beautiful. They will glow with your talent! They will shine with artistry and vibrancy and glorious colour!

Most importantly, these pages will be authentically, gorgeously, vibrantly and undeniably YOURS.

The art journal is more than just a collection of pretty pages, right? It is a snapshot of your very soul preserved forever in paint and glitter and kept like hidden treasure up on a shelf in your studio. It is a gritty, raw, love-oozing, self-reflective testimony! It is a dioxazine purple remembrance! A quinacridone nickel azo gold love letter! It is you – all of you – wrapped up in hemp twine or antique lace like a gift from the you of this present moment to the you of tomorrow.

When & Where

Registration is NOW OPEN! The classroom will be held in a private group within the gorgeous cyber-walls of Wild Precious Studio. There will be a fantastic PRE-CLASS PARTY but class won’t start until JULY 1, 2011. After the course is over the classroom itself will remain open for six more weeks to allow for catching up and downloading.

What Else?

The course will include videos & PDF's along with personal attention from Effy. everything you post will get her feedback. There will be a live chat every week for the duration of our ‘chapter’ weeks.

There are six ‘chapters’ but she will continue giving feedback on your work for a full eight weeks. The group itself will stay open for 12 weeks, and all course materials are yours to keep!

There will be 6 projects.  And one of those projects will be an altered composition book journal that we’ll make ourselves to keep all our TEAJ stuff in!

Mail Art ~Postcards ~ ATC's & Current Projects

I've had a lot of down time these past few weeks which has been great for making art. I use my art as a form of mental, spiritual and physical therapy. Even when I'm feeling my worst, I try to do something that makes my heart sing and others smile. Some days all I can do is cut...I've found that having a pair of scissors in every room (bathrooms) helps me to keep my mind off less pleasant things...ie: pain.

I cut up old magazines, broken discarded books, brochures, or other interesting items I find around town or given to me for my many collage projects. I have friends sending me old magazines from the late 1800's from around the world.  Currently I'm looking for anything Victorian, so if you have any to spare, please send them my way... especially anything with flowers.

 I believe that by bringing art into your life whether it's something your doing with your hands, listening to music, playing music, baking, putting your hands in the soil of your garden, or maybe even looking at others art,  seeing art in person, or in a magazine, out at a park or garden, museums, or art gallery's is very healing. It helps us connect to each other, helps us see life outside our self.

On days when I can't go any where, or don't feel much like doing anything...if I pick up one of my artistic magazines or books, I drift off to another place, sort of a mini artist date with myself. A sense of peace washes over me and I get lost in the art either by the act of doing or by the visual of seeing or listening. Cutting for my collages brings me up close and personal with each piece I cut. I've learned so many new things about the art of our world just by cutting up old discarded magazines...  All of which help ease my pain, make my day much brighter, and bring sunshine and warmth into my soul. It helps me to forget about my illness, my aches and pains and see the beauty of our world in a different light. There are even several different forms of therapy utilizing art as their source of healing world wide.

I challenge you to give it a try. spend one hour a day or even a week doing something artistic, something that you love, or something that brings a smile to your face and peace to your heart. Tell me how it makes you feel. Maybe there's something that you've always wanted to try, or something that you use to do in your old life... the one before marriage, kids, mortgages and bills... Maybe it's just allowing yourself to get lost in a CD, or hot bath or with a book that you've always wanted to read but have never found the time.  You can even get in an artist date by looking at someone's blog that gives you inspiration... like mine :)

My point is... do something, anything, as long as it makes your heart sing. Let yourself become a beginner again... let your spirit feel like a child filled with wonder and curiosity. You will be amazed at how it makes you feel. Share your story with me of your artistic adventure/artist date and I will send you one of my post cards...Give art a try!

Sharing my art with you brings happiness to my heart, mind and soul.  

Until next time, happy creating!

~Enjoy~

~♥~

ATC's I've created for my healing art group  here in Port Townsend

Flower Series

Postcards I've created for my Mail Art group 

from around the world

yes... they are going out tomorrow ladies...lol

 

Journal pages

Spring Challenge

Hello everyone, where has the month of May gone? It has been far too long since my last posting, that won't happen again. I've allowed too many things to get in my way, silence me, and distract me from what's really important in my life...

It's been a busy, busy past several weeks, with lots of healing, treatments, hospital visits, infections, rashes and too much down time. I always seem to be in catch-up mode... I do try to do something everyday that's artistic, it helps me to stay focused on the good in my life, and it also helps me to see all the love and beauty around me. Sort of picking myself up when my spirits and body are down.

One of the good things about the style of art I do is that I can do it in bed when I'm not feeling well, or while waiting for a doctor’s appointment, while getting my treatments sitting in a recliner at the hospital or just about any place I find myself with a small block of time. I always have my art bag ready to go, and when I'm home, its right by my side. My hubby teases me; he calls me "His wife the cutter." Because I always have a pair of scissors in hand and garbage can on my side. Some days it's all I do, cutting up magazines helps me to keep the focus off my pain and on the page. I tend to get lost in the art of cutting. I had to remind my hubby that he shouldn't say that too loudly, they might get the wrong idea....lol. When ever you hear "cutter" we all think of a person with a razor blade, knife, and scarred up skin. I can assure you, I am a good cutter, no skin is involved. One time I even had to show my doctor my arms and legs because when she asked both my hubby and I what I do to distract myself when I'm having a really bad day, my husband said...."She's a cutter... “Not thinking about the consequences of his statement. Most people wouldn't understand unless they too were a collage artist... We know who we are; we can be closet cutters together.

Here are some of my projects that I've been working on over the past two months when my body wouldn't allow me to do much of anything else. I did for a Challenge on willowing.ning for the Bunny challenge last Easter and then again for the Friendship Challenge in May because it fit both and they were back to back so I kind of got two done for the price of one...  It was also a gift to my son Jake for his 21st Birthday. It really meant a lot to paint my son's childhood best friends for him for his 21st birthday. I hope you enjoy it.

The Story of Hopper and Friends

I'd like to introduce Snowball, Hopper, Mousier and Maui... Hopper was a gift to my son Jacob the day he was born by his Papa. Snowball came when Jake started kindergarten; he didn't want Hopper to be alone so we went on a search for another friend. Mouser entered our family when Jake was in grade school, Mousier was so small he could go to school with Jake and hide in his school bag. Maui came to us 9 years ago; Jake became Maui's segregate Papa. He and Maui became inseparable...I think it was harder for Jake to leave Maui then it was for him to leave his Papa and me...lol.....

When Jake went away to school he decided that he needed to leave his friends in our care until they could be reunited when Jacob finishes college. So this was my way of reuniting them all until Jacob returns home to get his friends...
I was worried that my gift to Jake would embarrass him on his right of passage (21st) birthday, but he actually really loved it, not embarrassed at all by his mom's creation. It always feels so good when you can do something for someone and they love and appreciate you and your efforts.

For me, I've always loved receiving gifts that were made from the heart rather then something someone ran out and bought. It just has so much more meaning and thought behind it. Not that I didn't appreciate each and every gift I've ever received, but my home made ones are truly treasured. I still have a music box that I received in the 10th grade by one of my dear friends Janie, she hand painted the box with a poem she wrote just for me. I still wind up the music box whenever I'm down, it's sure to put a smile on my face each and every time.

I used watercolor on a wooden frame with marker out line and then sealed it a matte spay finish. I also made him a matching card.

~Enjoy~

  I've also recently worked on a few post card swaps, ATC's and Tag art swaps that I've mailed 

out to my friends around the world from Roses On My Table Here are a few that I've recently made:

Do you remember a time when you loved getting mail? When I was young I'd be the first out to the mail box to see what surprise awaited me, I'd even go as far as sit outside and wait for our mail man "Larry" to come walking down the street, I'd run up to him and almost beg for a letter from someone, somewhere in the world.

Then computers, emails and cell phones became our form of chosen worldwide communication and the art of letter writing and cards stopped coming, becoming more and more obsolete... only holidays or birthdays or a rare special occasion would warrant a real card. I wish all my bills would become obsolete, but they seem to continue to find their way to me no matter where I am.There's nothing more heartwarming then to receive a precious card in the mail.

In order to get some nice mail for a change, I  joined a couple different mail art groups, One is an ATC's  (Artist Trading Card) group, another is a Postcard Art group, and the last a Tag Art Swap group... Now... every month I get at least ten-twelve real cards, postcards, homemade cards or small little pay it forward gifts and treasures. It's so much better than the constant droves of bills and junk mail we normally get.

 I'd also like to share some of the wonderful cards I have received in return from my many different art groups. Almost daily I'm receiving a wonderful gift in the mail. It is so wonderful to have a postcard in the mail that is meant to cheer you up, inspire you, or just say hello from a friend from around the world. Normally these days I dread getting the mail with the mountains of medical bills I have piling up. But now knowing that there may be a wonderful gift waiting to brighten even the darkest of days, I'm excited once again.

If you’re tired of just receiving bills and junk mail in your mail box, I highly recommend joining an ATC group or Postcard swap group. It only takes you a few hours each month to make your cards to mail out, and in no time, you too will be receiving little bundles of joy.

 If you’re interested in getting started, drop me a line and I'll hook you up with the groups I'm in, or I'm sure you can put "mail art swap" into goggle where you'll find several.

I have met so many wonderful women from around the world who I now call my friends. We have started to learn about each other the old fashion way... in the form of a dying art ... the written word/letter writing. Let's get back to the basics and start writing letters again. Even if you only do one exchange per month, that's one more letter of inspiration than you're receiving now... give it a try, I'm sure you'll be hooked just like I am. I can't wait for my next set of postcards or tags to arrive; they should start trickling in any day now. If you'd like to be added to my list, send me a note.

This is what I've received so far

Until next time... and I promise it won't take me as long as it did to post this blog. 

Time just has a way of slipping away from me; some days I have to ask myself.... "Where did the time go?"

I hope spring has been good to you, and summer will bring you loads of warm healing sunshine filled with flower, and the gift of relaxation so you can work on some art, write some letters, mail a card or take some time for yourself and enjoy life.

Blessings to all, 

{{{{{{Love and hugs}}}}}}