tough love

this past weekend 

i took part in Dee Donaldson's 3 day drawing workshop. 

it has taken me a while to gather myself and my thoughts since...

i'm not sure i can put words to it yet but i will give it a try: 

it was amazing, tough, exhausting and enlightening. 

i have never done anything creative or related to art harder than this. 

Dee wasn't asking for pretty drawings with nice shading.

she wanted a rawness, gut responses, she wanted us to dig deeper, to play, 

to rely on sensation rather than thoughts. 

and that was so hard... i wrestled with myself a lot of the time; 

with the conditioned parts of me who wanted to make a pretty but emotionless drawing, 

with the part of me that wanted to do it "right", 

the part of me that wanted to know what was "expected of me". 

my head and thoughts struggled to let go of what i "should" be drawing 

but here and there in the course i had little glimpses of what it is 

like to "respond from my gut", to let it come up from deep inside of me. 

the drawings i share here are the ones where i feel i dropped deeper and trusted that 

i could respond... such an incredible, fleeting feeling. 

i feel that these three days have rocked my arting world 

and will bring many changes to my practice. 

i feel the need to go inward,  to dig deep to hopefully discover what my creative voice really, really

looks like. 

i feel as if i'm standing at a doorway not sure of what is coming just yet. 

happy days

today i treated myself to the most gorgeous flowers... 

and tomorrow i'm embarking on a 3 day life drawing course! 

on my easel

at the end of last week i hit a wall with my big painting , 

i know it's not finished but i do not know what my next step is. 

so this weekend i decided to take a break and do something else. 

i stood at my easel and played with marks, 

ink, charcoal, pastel... 

i made pages and pages of those little faces, 

some good, some mad.

i'll share some more in the next few days. 

practice makes progress

i am loving playing with charcoal at the moment. 

quick practices.

some better than others. 

trying to stay unattached to the outcome

and to say more with less... 

sketching

one tool, 

one subject.

keeping it simple 

marionnettes

while in Switzerland i got gifted 

this wonderful book of Paul Klee's Hand Puppets 

(merci Lulu ;) ) 

my creative muscles have been jump started by these puppets, 

and it may be the start of something new... 

i started by recycling an old painting

still very much a work in progress, 

let's see where these puppets take me! 

learning

it seems i can finally call these two paintings done! 

i have been working on them for a long time,

they are oil on board so they do take a long time to dry 

but also i've been experimenting with a lot of different layers 

and techniques on them. 

not my usual way to work but i have loved experimenting, 

learning new things and most of all, 

staying with it, as uncomfortable as it was at times... 

it's been a fantastic practice and i hope i can take a lot 

of what i've learnt forward into my next paintings. 

slow...

i'm still busy with these guys... 

to be honest i am not mad about how long it is taking me 

but i am loving the learning curve, 

one layer at a time. 

as you can see above, i am working in thin layers of glazes

(oil paint thinned down with a lot of linseed oil) 

the layers are fairly transparent, i paint them all over

and then wipe down, then it has to dry...

a painfully slow process for an impatient person like me :)

 but i'm managing, i like the marks and what is busy unfolding. 

 learning. 

open. 

ready

i am ready, 

all the paintings finished, labeled and priced. 

ready to be delivered to the gallery this week!

i am pleased with the result, 

at first if felt a little tighter than when i just painted flowers 

as an experiment. 

 i just couldn't let go of the fact that they were for an exhibition 

and that felt like pressure. 

eventually my mind surrendered and i was able to take risk, 

play and experiment once again. 

that's when i get the best results i find. 

for example, the painting you see here just wasn't working, i couldn't resolve it 

so i decided to risk adding a bright orange background to it... and it worked! 

good lesson ;) 

oh and can you see my henna tattoo? 

we had a baby blessing ceremony for a precious friend, 

she got a tattoo on her tummy and we all got one on our arms! 

...

it turns out my wild bunches were a hit! 

i sold most of them (there is one more on Etsy) 

and also i've got 

 and an exciting new project 

came out of them...

i was asked to participate in a group show, 

i will give you more detail soon. 

the deadline is very tight so i got going this weekend... 

flowers in the making. 

super thrilled! 

painting with oils

recently i felt i needed some guidance 

and to be pushed technically in my oil painting, 

so i decided to attend Dee Donaldson's weekly classes. 

i was super lucky to get a space and even though it is a big commitment 

(for me ;) ) it feels SO right for where i'm at right now! 

these are hand studies i worked on 

in class on wednesday. 

they are all still in progress and might even stay that way, 

i'm working on getting acquainted with the subject and staying loose. 

let's see where it takes me... 

wild blooms

details 

oh how i loved painting these four mad bunches! 

i put so much emotions and energy into them... 

i can't decide if i prefer the dark or the light background. 

i think they are pretty much done, i will stare at them for a few days 

and decide if i need to add a few little touches. 

they are all 60cm by 40cm (23 by 15 inches)

mixed media on board, mounted and ready to hang. 

i might put them on Etsy soon. 

more flowers

these are still very much in progress, 

but i am loving all the layers of marks

and the madness of them... 

i'm diving into Lynne Whipple's joyful tutorials 

in BiG Bloom Wild Painting. 

wishing you a colourful weekend! 

one little step at a time

i'm still figuring out what my next step is in 

my creative journey.

i think i am finally surrendering to the fact 

that it might take some time. 

brushes made out of pine, good thing i went on a trip because we don't have pines here. 

mind mapping with a twist, inspired by Misty's Make/Do Art workshop

i want to play, to rest, to daydream, to experiment, 

and i trust something will come out of it. 

or not. 

deep trust, open. 

round robin journal

journal and artwork by super talented Courteney Hope Webb) 

this month i got the privilege to work in 

Courteney's gorgeous handmade journal. 

(as part of our South African Round Robin Journals) 

the journal itself was a work of art and it was a real 

treat to have it for a month and work in it. 

i'm a little bit behind schedule but here is my spread (below), 

i hope Courteney likes it... 

but first it's going off to the next round robins! 

around here

 one tiny long stitch journal done. 

and 

extreme measure for intense heat by Pax ;)