Hidden Meaning

I had planned on posting earlier today but I’ve been nursing a stupid migraine all day today and my head is still killing me…but I can’t sleep so I might as well write, right?

I’ve been so loving painting and doing my little mixed-media pieces lately that my art journal has began to feel lonely and abandoned. I love my art journals so I couldn’t let it go on feeling that way and spent some time with it this past week. A little here and a little there. I can’t leave it left alone in the corner ever again…all I have to do is give it a little attention each day and it will be happy (and so will I.)

I created this one by scraping yellows and blues onto the background with a palette knife and I just adore how the colors came out.  The clock is on transparency paper (from a Tim Holtz mask package), the quote is one I found that really speaks for me…be sure to click on the pic so you can read the quote.

On the other page, the girl reminds me of me…not in looks but more in how one dimensional she looks but there is actually real depth to her if you peer long enough. And the card above her head, well it hides my secret journaling, as you can see here (although I blurred it out)…

I guess I need to paint or collage on the back of my “hiding flap” but I haven’t gotten around to that, yet. I will though.

This one was just brought about because I fell in love with the bright colors of the tea cups (a magazine pic I found in “W".) The journaling is just thoughts that I’ve had about art roaming around in my head.

I’ve also made myself a promise that I am going to create one piece of art, start to finish, each day…come hell or high water.  I’ve been off work for weeks and I am creating but not as much as I want to and not near as much as I thought I would. I am the only one that can change that and I am, period.

Oh, and I’m sure you’ve noticed the changes around my blog…the new header, new buttons, etc. I’m playing around with doing some graphic design so if you need a new header or buttons or whatever, give me a yell…I’d love to help you out.

Now, I think I’m going to nurse my headache and try to get some rest. I have a busy day of creating ahead of me tomorrow.

Peace & Love,
Barb

Southern Perfection

I’m quite sure that y’all all know that I’m truly a Southern girl…born, raised and lived in the South my whole life.  One thing about us Southerners is that we, at least 99% of us, love our sweet tea (and the other 1% are figured to be infiltrators from north of the Mason-Dixon, but that’s neither here nor there. LOL) None of that hot tea with lemon or honey kinda stuff for us…we want the real thing! A big ol’ glass full of ice and that golden brown elixir sweetened to perfection with nothing but real sugar.

And don’t try putting mint sprigs in there or flavoring our tea with strawberries or raspberries, either…we’re purists and want our tea to taste like tea, not fruit juice. Although there are a few out there that like lemon in their iced tea, I am not one of them…just give me mine straight up.

Yes, that is the epitome of southern living…sweet tea.

Now, being diabetic, I don’t indulge myself in sweet tea very often but sometimes the urge, the absolute yearning for a huge glass of that heavenly brew gets so strong that I just can’t resist, so I give in to it.  Today is one of those days.  I make some of the best sweet tea there ever was, if I do say so myself, thanks to my Momma and I am looking forward to an icy cold glass with supper tonight.

If only I had thought to make cornbread and had some fresh tomatoes to slice with our meal it would really be southern heaven.

Tell me, what is it that epitomizes where you are from the way sweet tea does for me? What do you yearn for when you need a taste of home?

Peace & Love,
Barb

Petty Much?

There’s been something bothering me for a while now…just nagging at me here and there and as much as I’d like to think I’m above letting the little things bother me, truth is that I’m not. I still have a bit of that 16 year old girl in high school burrowed up inside of me somewhere and she comes out on occasions; this is one of those occasions.

There are people in the art community that I have known online, have taken classes from, exchanged emails with, even gone so far as promoting their art-work and workshops and generally thought I have been a good “friend” to…and yet, once their stuff (for lack of a better term) has taken off and they are idolized by the masses, it’s as though they don’t know me anymore. It’s as though if I’m not lining their pockets by taking their latest class or whatever else they’re hawking at the present moment then they can’t be bothered with even acknowledging you; you’re no longer in their favor.

What’s up with that?

And yes, I know I am probably being petty here but that’s okay, I’m human so I’m allowed.

I also know that I am sporadic online…I blog and twitter and facebook all very sporadically but that is because I try to create art every single day and it can be hard since I’m dealing with chronic illnesses and  trying to earn money through Etsy and Ebay since I can’t work anymore. But if I take the time to stop by your blog or your facebook and leave a note that says Hi, I’ve missed talking to you or whatever and you delete it, what does that say about what you think of me? Or what if I take the time to promote your latest online endeavor and you can’t even take two seconds to say thanks?

I just don’t get it.

Am I the only one that this sort of thing is/has happened to?  I hate feeling like I’m being a petty child but it hurts my feelings and makes me feel used and angry.

If I have done anything even remotely resembling this kind of thing to any of you, please let me know…I don’t EVER want to be that kind of person. Ever!

Off my soapbox now…
~Barb~

What’s Your Creative Style?

 

Thanks to Christine Clemmensen, I found a little test on Psychologies.co.uk that is said to determine your creative style.  Well, I couldn’t resist and here’s what it says is my creative style:

Creativity is a release

For you, creativity is first and foremost a form of expression: it creates a special link between the internal and external worlds. It allows you to get a grasp of your powerful emotions, by molding them into a physical form. In fact, the most important thing for you is to be able to release your emotions. You need to be able to touch them or look at them in concrete form, and to do that you have to find a way to make them come alive. This is how your desires and anxieties take shape.

Keeping things bottled up creates a tension that can only be resolved once you have expressed how you feel. This means you have to be strong enough not to let yourself get swept away by chaotic impulses; if you turn your creative urges on everyday life — making a picnic, singing to the baby, choosing what to wear — you can express yourself while staying rooted in reality.

Creativity is principally cathartic. It relieves a deep need, an almost primal, archaic impulse. For you, being creative is about having the power to give form to something you feel, to those deep personal issues that are often raw and disorganized. For these reasons you are usually attracted to art that demands physicality, that allows you to express what’s inside, and that unites spontaneity, strength, freedom, power and movement.

Wow, talk about hitting the nail on the head! That so feels like me and exactly how I feel about my art and why I create.

I can’t dispute one word this says…I am just so impressed!

Go and take and see what it says about you (you can find the quiz HERE)…then I hope you’ll come back and leave me a comment and let me know if yours fits you as well as I feel like mine fits me. I’m so curious to see!

Peace & Love,
Barb

Supply Saturday 1.7

Because of the wonderful 30 Journals 30 Days last Saturday, I missed yet another Supply Saturday…it wasn’t for lack of being around, I just felt like the 30 Journals 30 Days post was important so I let it be my focus last weekend.

It’s a new weekend though and time for another edition of Supply Saturday so let’s get at the goodies…

Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers by Ranger– I’m not much for gadgety supplies but after coming across these, I have had to amend my  distaste for trying “gadgety” things. I read on someone’s (I believe it was Pam Garrison but I might be wrong) blog one time that they liked to put acrylic paint with a little water in empty bingo dauber bottles and use them to smoosh paint on their work. That idea stuck with me but I couldn’t ever find any empty bingo daubers to buy so I had to put the idea on the back burner. It was that idea that made me want to try the Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers since that idea seemed similar to what Ranger was offering, already fixed up and ready to go. A purchase on Ebay brought me four sets of three dabbers and I found that I really like them. As for the paint that is contained in the dabbers, it’s a fair (not great, by any means) quality acrylic paint and comes in 39 colors. It’s not really the paint that I’m so enamored with but rather the delivery method, through the spongy dabber. It makes applying paint through stencils, on edges (although it says not to rub the dabber sponge across your work, I do it anyway), and just to spread and smoosh the paint in a different way than with a brush or your fingers. The paint really isn’t the best quality and is easily washed or worked away so you’re not getting a Golden’s quality paint with these but they are fun to play with and different way to paint. So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I give the Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers by Ranger a score of 6. (Note: if the quality of the paint was improved, I would score them much higher but even with the quality of the paint lacking, they’re still worth trying out.)

Sukura Gelly Roll Glaze Pens – I have to admit, I am a pen addict. I love having tons of choices when it comes time to write or letter in my art journals or when I want to add some doodling to any art piece I’m working on at the moment. I’ve tried the cheapo gel pens you can get at the dollar store and they are fun for adding some color to your pages but they are not good for writing over glues, acrylic paints or mediums or really for writing on anything other than straight, plain papers. When you want to add color and dimension to your pages or your art piece, reaching for any Sukura pen is the way to go…and the Gelly Rolls are some of my very favorites, especially the Glaze.  The lines that these great pens lay down is .7 mm wide so it lays a good bit of color on the page, and the lines are raised adding a 3 dimensional quality with a wonderful glossy finish. You can even write on glass with them, how cool is that? When it comes to color, they come in lots of beautiful colors and can also be purchased in sets that just can’t be beat. I’ve used them to write on almost every surface you can imagine, from glues and gel mediums, to acrylic paints, to spray painted surfaces, and they come through for me every time. Like other pens, they will not write on oil or watercolor pastels without skipping (and those things also clog your pens, so be careful) but you’re not going to find much that will write on those surface treatments. Bottom line? I adore the Gelly Roll Glaze Pens by Sukura so, on a scale of 1 to 10, I give them a 10…they are the epitome of a great product.

There you have it, this weeks Supply Saturday…full of color this week, now that I look at it. I guess I was just in a colorful mood this evening.

On the subject of supplies, if you’re in the market for Sharpie Water-based Paint Pens, I have lots listed in my Etsy…13 color sets, 10 color sets, a set with ultra fine line gold & silver, as well as a set that has black & white. Just a little reminder for those of you that might be in the market for some…besides, the black & white and the gold & silver sets are both new.

I hope your weekend is going great. Back with more soon…

Peace & Love,
Barb

Loneliness vs. Solitude

“Language…has created the word “loneliness
to express the pain of being alone.
And it has created the word “solitude”
to express the glory of being alone.”
~Paul Tillich

That has to be one of my very favorite quotes ever. It speaks to so much of what I think and feel; it embraces the way in which we see anything in life. We can always choose to see things in the best (or worst) light possible but that choice is always up to us.

This morning as I was reading my regular blog list, the wonderful Kelly Kilmer shared this wonderful, beautiful video (thank you, Kelly.) Since it speaks to much of what that favorite quote of mine from up there is about, I wanted to share it with you all, too.  I hope you get half as much out of it as I have…and am.

Watch it, or be like me and watch it over and over. It’s really that good.

Maybe it will speak to your soul the way it spoke to mine this morning.

Here’s wishing you peaceful solitude.

Peace & Love,
Barb

Simplifying Life

I’m not very good company right now so I have pulled back into myself for a bit. I’m not on Twitter or Facebook or even around here as much as usual.  

It’s taking all my energy and I’m doing all I can to try and simplify my life and my heart and my head. I’m taking time to relax, to paint and sew, to celebrate my sister’s birthday with her (above is the bible cover I made for her), to organized my supplies. Taking time to reflect on what it is that I want and where I want to go…literally and figuratively.

I’m enjoying the simple things like fresh watermelon and afternoon naps, mowing the yard and the simple act of doing laundry (once my nemesis but I’m finding joy in it these days, believe it or not), spending time alone reading and thinking, not feeling rushed about anything and doing all I can to find some peace in an otherwise chaotic household.

These things would explain why I’m a bit absent around here. I really meant to do a Supply Saturday post but 30 Journals 30 Days was a Saturday post and then I got a bit lost in my own little world so I hope you’ll all forgive me.

I am spending time working on my class I’m going to offer, putting work into my art journaling Zine, and playing in my Art Journal. It’s always my safe haven.

I’m not sure why I feel so unlike myself other than having my oldest daughter and grandboy living with us has really pushed my sanity to the edge and I’m doing all I can to hold on at the moment.

Bear with me. This can’t last forever.

Right?

Peace & Love,
Barb