Night bloom

I had an urge to paint - a pulling from my soul. PAINT, PAINT, PAINT it shouted and screamed at me as I lay in bed swamped under a blanket of insomnia and with a head fugged with a cold virus.

And I tried, I really did. But the hours ticked away, the day job beckoned and the days drifted...

And then, finally last night I got paintbrush to paper and it all flooded out. Nothing profound or earth shattering but a creation of sorts. Buds became flowers and seeds grew to bloom - a meadow of floral sunshine danced across the page.

And then, for the first time in days I finally banished the night time demons that had been keeping me awake. I slept long and deep. Coincidence?

Next time I listen to my Muse - she clearly knows best!

This piece I'm sharing here was one of my favourites from last night's prolific spree. Blobs on a page that I'd used to mop up a surplus of paint from another piece grew into a painting in their own right and the title (which just jumped out at me) particularly appropriate!

Wild at Heart

I want to cry. I'm just bursting with emotion and it requires release. But don't worry, these tears are not those of sadness, but more of a sense of overwhelm that comes from experiencing the joy of untold beauty. All I have been doing to kindle this outburst of passion  is simply immerse myself in beautiful art on Pinterest.

There's so much inspiration out there that it fills my heart, fuels my desires and creates a longing to dive into a vat of paint then roll about over canvas. To squirt, smudge, tweak. To add detail, texture and crazy, wildly abandoned lines.

Art does something to me. How can the placement of line and colour on paper bring out such emotion? Perhaps it is because we see something of the soul of the artist. We are given a free pass into their imagination and this triggers a response in our own and forges a connection, an awakening.

Sometimes this makes me feel inadequate, a small dot in the pontilism of great art; but I try to just let it lift me on an inspiration thermal until the metaphors all become too much!

I just paused in writing this to read Kelly Rae Roberts story that she is sharing as part of the Hello Soul. Hello Business course. Reading of her realisation that Art would be her future and then seeing the fairy tale unfold just goes to prove that magic does happen to all of us if we just push ourselves out there and do a bit of personal wand-waving to make it happen.

I have known for but a short time that art resides in my soul. I often wonder how could I have left it dormant for so long? But then, maybe I just wasn't ready to embrace it. I know that it will always be a part of me and that creativity will be how I earn my living. I might not be making money as an artist but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

I have already alluded to some exciting news regarding an upcoming creative venture (you can sign up to be in on the news first at the top of my blog). Although I'm not quite ready to share all the details, I am a worker bee in the background preparing to unleash something for the creative soul in the next month or so. I am getting very excited and itching to tell you, but I want to wait until I am properly organised and decisions have been made. My branding is being created as we speak and thoughts of this project fill my every waking hour.

This week I am guest hosting on The Butterfly Effect. Weeks ago I determined on theme of Wild at Heart and I created this painting as a base from which I added more digital work. Today she feels particularly appropriate as I bare my soul to art and let the seeds in my heart take root and begin to grow.

The heart is more than life-giving pumping organ. It houses the portal to our soul from where our every emotion is wont to try and escape.

How wild is your heart?

A moment

In the last couple of  years I have amassed a steadily growing collection of books on art and creativity, mixed in with a few copies of gorgeous Stampington magazines and copies of Uppercase - I've even read some of them.

I found myself enjoying a 'moment' a few nights ago. I had gathered a stash of these weighty tomes from various points around the house where they had accompanied me on my thoughtful meanderings. As I was about to return them to their home in my bedroom, that little dreamer inside me (who hates tidying up) thought my time would be better spent having another browse.

So, I sat on my fluffy marshmallow duvet surrounded by the paintings of Waterhouse and Froud and instruction and inspiration from my art heroes. I sank into a deep bliss of contentment. Art makes me happy. Books make me happy. Life is good.

Sweet treasures

I am slowly getting round to posting about some delightful treasures that came my way via the incredible artists I meet in Bloglandia. Their talents and passion fuel and ignite my own. Their accomplishments help fire me to set and achieve my goals too.

Right now art is my burning passion. It feeds my soul with delicious, energy-giving morsels. I love to look, touch and create. I also know that it doesn't matter what becomes of each painting. It has been the journey through the creative process that has worked its magic deep inside of me.

Sometimes I feel the pain and angst when the paintings don't speak to me. They just lie there on the paper with dull features and won't help weave the magic. But then I live for the others, when I make something that laughs, dances and sings across the page. Which prompts wonderful sharing people to comment that they like it, that it speaks to them too. I think that's why I like to paint my girls. To watch their features slowly form and their eyes gaze out at me trying to reflect their story.

I know with every ounce of certainty that without this online community of artists I stumbled upon two years ago that this would never have happened. The supportive comments and emails, the online courses and creative challenges, the friendship and encouragement were just the spurs I needed. I may not be selling hundreds of paintings, have a licensing agreement or written a book about Mixed Media (YET!); but I think I can finally say that I AM AN ARTIST.

So thank you one and all.

And now, after going off at a tangent, I will finally get back to the point of this post. To thank Natasha May, Sheree Wagner and Heather Stillufsen for the treasures they shared with me - the little goodies that dropped through the letterbox with a Bloglandia postmark.

And the 'Sweet' part of this post header - well it is Sweet Saturday and what a perfect opportunity to share my sweet treasured gifts and friendships.

Slave to the keyboard

No paint has touched these fingers since the weekend... Alas I am but a shadow of my former self (well, actually I think I've put on a pound or two, but we'll gloss over that...).

I am a slave to the keyboard these days, but the writing is paying off as some award submissions I've written for one of my clients have made the finals - that's two this week, plus the one we actually won last week. Not that I'm bragging or anything, but if anyone reading needs an award submission penned, then I'm your gal! (A bit of self-promotion is a rarity on this site, so I'm going to go for it).

Last weekend did however see much paint underneath fingernails and accidentally rubbed into the carpet. I finished my peacock - who turned out to be one angry-looking bird - and had a little play with one of my Flora paintings (from the workshop I took). This one had a mermaid face in an earlier layer but she got washed away. Faces seem determined to reappear. Still very much work in progress.

The face obviously needs more work. I'm contemplating adding another flower, or just making this one bigger. What do you think? Or, maybe, the flower should become a balloon.... Decisions decisions.

I've joined Pinterest this week too. Compiling a board of inspirational artists I love. Take a peek. Will no doubt be adding more after my browse around Paint Party Friday this week.

Under their wing

I've lost count of the number of online art classes I've taken in the last year or so. I've learnt so much from them and would probably count them as a little addiction. Before I finish the current one, I'm planning the next or dreaming over technique or inspiration books. Frankly I just can't get enough.

I took some time yesterday to think why that was and the reason came to me in a flash (of paint naturally - crimson acrylic to be specific). I want my own personal teacher! One that sits next to me in the same room and shows me where I am going wrong (and indeed right!). One that teaches me technique by live demonstration so I can stop and pester with questions - all the Whys and Hows that I like! I'd love someone to push me so hard I teeter on the brink but at the same time produce my best work.

Right now I feel like I'm trying to catch up on 20 years of missed opportunity; cramming all that learning into as short a space of time as possible.

Where can I find such a person? Could I ever afford them? I'd love to go back and study art full time but that's just not possible. It's a shame because I am ready for it now... I understand... I feel the pull, the tugs at my soul. My Muse would love it too.

Do you think instead that the ghosts of Van Gogh, Klimt or JW Waterhouse might fancy taking up residence with me for a while? Full board and lodging in return for a lesson or two??

Perhaps Mucha could have helped with this! Nearly finished homework for my Willowing class (just need to take a touch of the undead out of her skin tone). Mucha - if you're listening - I had serious trouble with her hands - I rushed them - and had to give her a couple of nurturing hearts to hold... with her grey arms. What would you have done oh wise one?

PS - That's not a zebra in the bottom left corner, but merely my slippered foot holding the painting down in the wild wind. Taking photos outside seemed like a good idea at the time until she took off for a tour around the garden!

The eyes are the window to the soul

You may recognise this eye - it's my profile picture. I don't know why it has never occurred to me to draw it before. The sketch is sitting in front of me now. It seems strange to be staring into your own eye; a part of you that says so much about you, yet you rarely see yourself. When that photo was taken my soul was a little lost. Did I capture that? Can you see into my soul? What else can you see?

This piece, although intended for The Three Muses 'quote or quip' challenge, is also a bit of homework for my Suzi Blu Goddess & Poet portrait class. What a wonderful teacher she is, I could watch and listen all night. Personally I think that all artists should wear feathered hats at least once a day and dance around with parasols. There's something else I adore about Suzi - it's her recording studio aka bedroom. The room is a tip! I can just hear my Mum tutting "you think she'd have tidied up, fancy filming with all that mess..." Don't listen Suzi! I love you just the way you are!!!

I had planned to working some more on this and incorporating the quotation, giving it some colour... but time ran away (through an open window!)

We must take the current when it serves

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.
William Shakespeare (from Julius Caesar)

What a wonderful thought from the old bard and such a simple philosophy given such poetic treatment - he was a clever fellow wasn't he? I thought I'd find a nice seaworthy quote to float alongside my art today and this one splashed me right in the face as soon as I started looking.

Don't you just love the sea? This piece reminds me of my holiday last summer in Cornwall. When I read that the Three Muses challenge for this week was 'water' I knew I had to stretch myself and attempt what I've always found impossible - crashing waves. Lick your lips... Can you taste the salt spray? It's a bit of wild day on this stretch of coastline. I don't like the look of those clouds...

I bought two large canvas boards a week or so ago and they'd sat in my lounge all white and pristine for too long. One became The Mad Hatter and the second this. Can I let you into a secret? I'm a bit pleased with it. I love the texture, brooding sky and churning water. I got nice and sticky glueing and moulding tissue paper for that rugged effect. I also threw in a little bit of that old book I'm slowly ripping to shreds. Most is covered up with paint, but if you get in close you might just snatch a word or two. I used a palette knife for much of it too which is new for me and made me feel like a proper artist!

I like to create art that gives you something different depending on where you view it from. From a distance I hope this shows the power of the sea, the crashing waves and heavy looming sky. Then, close up are the little hidden secrets, words floating in the waves whispering stories onto the shore and tiny fragments of colour.

Perhaps this is a bit like me. From a distance I may appear as one thing, but get to know me, bring me close and take a peek into my soul and you'll find out so much more.

How very deep and philosophical for a Monday evening!

Accidental Art - a Challenge!

Sometimes we labour for hours over a piece, only to screw it up or paint over it in disgust. Other occasions see the paint float across the canvas as if Turner was holding the brush. Then there's those pieces that just appear almost by themselves, like this one.

What do you see? I absolutely love the layers in this piece. Is it perhaps a view through a rainy car window in the city at night? A wild party at the paint factory?

Nah, it's none of those... It's my palette paper after a spot of art journling - working off excess paint from the brayer! And yes, I was happier with this than the journal page!

Might make a good art challenge - especially one over the Christmas period when we are all so busy with other stuff. Go on, share with me your accidental art and let's see what is lurking in the cupboards and drawers! Can't wait...

It's only art...

... but I like it!

I was enthralled by a wonderful piece of television. No, it wasn't Jordan picking cockroaches out of her cleavage or Sam Fox balancing a large and very alive water spider on her tongue... It was culture darlings, of the kind that you can only trust the BBC to produce.

OK, I admit the 'I'm a Celebrity who needs a bit of publicity so I'll allow myself to get tortured on TV for three weeks' was rather tempting, because sometimes you do have to indulge in a little trash, just so you put things in perspective. However, 'Art on your walls' was just lovely!

Little Sue Perkins took us on a journey of nostalgia from the sitting rooms of our grandparents in the 1950s to IKEA just last weekend. This was a programme celebrating art for the masses, as interior design, escapism and joyful sentimentality. You might love looking at a sheep in formaldahyde in a gallery, but over the back of your sofa? I think not. We prefer the windswept branches of a silvered tree on a white beach or the hypnotic sunset over Ullswater.

This mass-produced art selling by the canvas-load is giving birth to a whole new breed of artist. What's so special about them? Well, they're still alive for one thing which is a novelty and making a tonne of money which is another!

The programme paints an evocative picture of our childhood visits to Nan's with a Tretchikoff exotic lady with a strange tinge to her face giving a bit of colour to the woodchip. Then it took me to student digs where our poster choice indicated our tribe. This put you very clearly into the camps of those you either had something in common with or, more likely, wanted to be a part of. Coming from small-town-in-the-Midlands-that-nobody-has-heard-of put me at a distinct disadvantage on day 1. Your choice of cheap art from Athena (or even cheaper knocked off from street traders) was a statement about YOU. Were you, like Sue a Betty Blue? Or did you favour the political statement perhaps? My romance was more traditional. I think I might still have this poster somewhere - a little tattered and frayed but I was too unwilling to part with it - a little episode of my history! Oh how I longed to be passionately kissed by a tall, dark & handsome man on the Champs D'Elysse!

So, what did I take from this programme? A reminder of my Nan's hallway. Memories of bug-eyed children looking sadly down at me from 1970s portraits. The reminder that to be cool, you really have to be French. And the lesson that what defines art is up to you. It's what gives meaning and pleasure to your soul and opens a window to another world.

Oh yes, and a new item for my 'to do' list. Create some very marketable art and sell it to The Art Group - these are the people that fill IKEA, Argos and B&Q with affordable art and make the artists a fortune in the process and guess what.... they are based about 2 miles away from my studio (aka dining room table)! Serendipity??