open

this is my gentle aim for this little break i am taking... 


quote from here 

perhaps i'll have fairy dust between my toes when i get back ;) 

around here



 one tiny long stitch journal done. 


and 


extreme measure for intense heat by Pax ;) 

making

i love making journals.



at the end of this week i'm going on a retreat i know very little about, 
except that it is with amazing people,
it's called "Away with the Fairies", 
it's in a magical corner of South Africa 
and 
we are going to work with horses.
(and my whole being was telling me to go) 

oh and we have to bring a little gift. 

and this is how all this fits together:  

in one creative outburst i am:

- making something i love
- doing one of the Make/Do art workshop assignment
and 
- making a pretty handmade gift 
(i love giving something i've made)

vision


i didn't get to art as much as i wanted this week. 
i got sick last monday,  a nasty bronchitis that i just couldn't shake it off.
but i did manage to work on my vision board 
as part of Make/Do art workshop
and i loved it. 



the word


so this is my word for 2016: OPEN. 

at first i had the word "explore" 
and then just like that OPEN made it's way into my psyche and wouldn't leave. 

to be honest, right now, i wish i had kept "explore". 
i'm having a hard time getting acquainted with OPEN.
here i am trying to figure out why: 

- firstly because it feels like a passive word, 
not doing,  just being open, 
and i realise how much i value doing. 
it's a big part of my persona, my worthiness, the way i show up 
in the world. 

- secondly being OPEN is not really my natural state. 
you probably wouldn't think so if you met me, i can be pretty 
outgoing and engaging but it takes me a long time to really trust 
and open my shell up to someone. 
also i am a loner and an introvert so my private and alone time
is sacred to me, that is how i recharge. 

- thirdly OPEN feels very vulnerable... like there is nowhere to hide, 
no escape plan.

of course "explore" could have been more fun.
but i can feel how OPEN is challenging me already, 
pushing my boundaries, 
making me expand. 
and ultimately this is what i want, to be OPEN to new possibilities, 
to possibilities i haven't even imagined yet... 
to grow, to explore, to learn. 

so i will stay with it and be all i can to honour this word this year. 



OPEN, onward.

playing...

yesterday Misty Mawn's online class 
MAKE/DO art started 
and her introduction videos were so full of
fun and playfulness, 
they just put a pep in my step...


i had to play as well, 
with selfies, stripes, some apps and introducing myself...



handmade "spectacles",

apps used: 
pictapgo, (and old time favourite)
over, (to add text) 
superimpose, (to layer - not really user friendly in my opinion) 

of course i couldn't resist some quirkiness. 
i was inspired by Saul Steinberg's mask


photograph by Inge Morath

i'm in...

i think that i have been very good 
(even if i say so myself) 
with not taking online art classes for a while... 

so when two of my favourite artists,
announced their latest classes i had to jump right in! 








                         

they're both starting soon, 
i'll be taking my time going through them, 
can't wait! 

on my easel

 hooray, i am getting my creative mojo back! 


these little guys are coming along nicely
and they are making me cross-eyed. 



my intention with them is to keep pushing further than 
i normally do in an oil painting.

to keep adding layers and layers
that will hopefully add some richness to my work. 


let's see... open! 

do i still know how?

i haven't been particularly creative lately... 
i realised i need a break after last year's projects.

i needed to catch my breath and to tend to a lot of things 
that had been neglected for a while, admin, garden, pots, 
my home in general... and it feels good. 

i feel like i am regrouping, 
letting the dust settle and getting ready for the next step. 


study of a mountain goat



to make sure still know how to paint, draw and be creative.
it's strange, this fear of forgetting...


updated!

et voila! 
i'm back! 

so my computer is ageing a little and it started clashing with 
all the internet "platforms"... it needed a serious update! 

thanks to my mister (so grateful he can help me with all my technological issues)  it is all done now 
and i can start blogging, exploring and researching again! 


welcome back, i'm glad you are still popping by ;) 

some of my paintings are also being updated, 
time for change, for being brave and for new beginnings...