Future Paths

Hi! I've missed you!

My news for today, well I have a few pieces for you.

First, I didn't get into the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at the university here in my town. This year. I was sad. And then I got really clear that this is what I want. And, over the past couple of weeks since, I've realized a couple of other things too. That I played it safe and small with my portfolio submissions, even though I was told that the school was looking for contemporary images. The other is that I have other options available to me, now that I have a year to work on my portfolio. At the moment, I am considering a one year visual arts certificate, followed by a two year graphic design program. I know! So fun!

Second, my sweetie and I have been talking seriously about starting our own photography business. He's been such a champion of my art and my photography, and his creative side grows bigger everyday. Sorry, let me correct myself. We aren't talking about it, we are taking action on it. Making it happen. Now, to get past being stuck on a company name...

Here's some pics I took a few weeks ago at the resort we will be married at... in less than 4 weeks!!! We were practicing our professional skills on our friends who came to visit the resort with us. (aka, chasing them around with our cameras like a couple of paparazzi :)

I can totally see these as engagement photos, or wedding photos.

It's been fun, we've been hitting up outdoor events and acting like we were hired to be there. It's great practice and a chance for both of us to get comfortable with the idea that
WE CAN DO THIS!!!

Oh, one more piece of news. I am starting an etsy shop to sell prints of some of my photos! I've created my store, I'm getting my paypal account all linked up and then I will have to choose which pics to post first. I will probably put up about 10 to start.

I would love your feedback!!! What are your favourites of my photographs?? Check out my flickr stream through one of the pics above, or one of the slide shows on the right.

And my question for you today, what paths are you adapting?

Hugs!
Kat

Getting Caught Up... and more exciting news!!

I am so proud to say that I am completely caught up on my 365 photos on Flickr! It shifted from this thing that I HAD to do, to a task I couldn't wait to do. My plate is still quite full (though I am happy to say I've a let a couple of things go) and instead of spending the bulk of my time thinking about and creating reasons not to do what's on it, I just get it done. Those tasks and actions don't get in the way of my life, as I had previously convinced myself. They are my life. And I'm choosing to live it fully! :)

So, let's get on with the show. There are two new creative tools (toys) in my life.

First. A new phone. A phone? Yep. With an 8 megapixel camera in it!!! How fun is that?! Now I can take pictures on the fly and keep up with 365. Check out some of these that I've just posted...

(You can click through to see them on Flickr :)

It's so great to be able to reach out and grab those fleeting moments when you're simply going about your day. Plus the camera feature has fun effects for shooting and editing! And super easy for uploading.

That would have been plenty exciting all on its own.

Then I got home from a workshop on Wednesday night, and Jon surprised me with an early wedding present. A Nikon D5000!!!!! My very first Digital SLR!!! I'm tearing up again just thinking about how grateful I am to have someone who fully supports my creative drive and desire. And wants to do whatever he can to help me soar with my dreams.

The camera is so light! And boy oh boy, the clarity of the pictures is incredible! Check it out!

I am really excited by the possibilities this camera creates for me! More learning, and maybe some earning :)

And I'm really enjoying being here, and being part of this wonderful community again.

Here's some questions for you I'd love to hear the answers to! What are your favourite creative tools? Who are your greatest supports in making your dreams a reality?

Hugs and heart,
Kat

Hope Rocks

Today is officially the last day of my Experimental Art e-Course by Amelia Critchlow. I have immensely enjoyed it and I have gained so much from it. No longer do I fear the blank pages of my art journal, or cling to the simple and ordered. Messy, blurry, Big? Bring it!

Our final assignment was to embark on a little guerilla art. A while back I was wandering my pal Red's blog and read about her participation in something called Hope Rocks, a movement started by Woodstock Lily. What better reason to finally put this into action myself?

So, yesterday morning, I grabbed my sweetie and headed to the beach. It was super sunny and absolutely gorgeous. We had a lovely time, cameras in hands, stopping to admire the little things.

I collected up five rocks I felt to be worthy. The plan is to shoot them in their natural habitat, shoot their transformation, and shoot them in their new home. Here's the first one that I completed yesterday.

Hope Rocks - First of Five

This beauty was re-nested at the Home and Garden show. I hope that it will have a hope-full journey.

Photo/art

I want to share with you one of my new fave pics.

I took it a day after Valentine's, when the beautiful roses I was given by my sweetie started to open. It was late, and the light was low. Before spending time with Amelia in her Experimental Art e-Course, I probably would have dragged them under the light and shot them relentlessly until I got a bright, crisp, perfect photo.

Except I didn't. I climbed right out of that comfort zone. Sometimes it's necessary for the sharpness, yes, I haven't let that go entirely. Other times it's more beautiful to let things be softer.

I love how it turned out. Like something out of an Andy Warhol painting. Andy Warhol meets Georgia O'Keefe.

I was tempted to figure out how to flip it so it faces the other way. I fought the urge, and was rewarded by finding Kat Sloma's blog, and her interesting discussion about breaking the Rule of Thirds. This one doesn't follow the rule, I checked, and I am embracing that as well, in this photo and ones to come.

So thank you Amelia and Kat, for encouraging the uniqueness that results from knowing when to break the rules, or work outside of them. That's where we find ourselves sometimes, yes?

To add it to the portfolio submission, or not... that's a whole other question.

Now, I want to share with you my new crush. Picnik. It's an online photo editing program that you can use to add some pretty neat effects to your photos. I'm still terrified of Photoshop and I think this is a really simple way to ramp up the look of what I've captured... until Photoshop and I become more acquainted.

Here's the Before

I sifted through several different effects, and settled on Lomo-ish.

One click, and...

Ta-da!

I knew I liked this program when I tried it on Valentine's Day...

Now I think it might be the beginning of love ;)

Alphabet Soup - K is for...

Thursday 13 - A keen eye

Last night, I sat down and read my first two posts from Sarah Robinson's 28 days to Getting Your S*** Together. In the second post, I was asked to distill myself down to one sentence. My core, or, my s***. I was able to narrow it down, though it was still floating in a couple of separate pieces. Ultimately, I am a creative problem solver. I am also an artist. And, I am sensitive and intuitive.

This morning, in the shower, where a lot of us do our best thinking it dawned on me. Perceptive. I am perceptive. It is the key to everything else. I can see the little details in art, and life. I can see where things fit best. I can see the potential connections, between people and people, or people and resources/solutions.

So, I'd like to share with you some lovely moments of joy from yesterday, that were made possible by my perceptiveness.

~***~

I've been feeling much better the past two days, and I went out for a lovely walk in a lovely neighbourhood. It was one of those walks that took longer, and was so much more precious, because of all the stops to marvel at the small wonders.

13 Pieces of Joy from my day yesterday:

1. I dropped my sweetie off at work yesterday. As I was heading back home the quick way, probably in a rush, I checked to see if it was clear to cross the intersection and got a glimpse of some crisp snow capped mountains. Plan change. Right hand turn, towards a slow drive along the water. Beautiful sunrise, almost the entire Coastal Mountain range in the distance, and sun glinting off the pieces of snow caps directly across the water


2. Then I came home and assembled the JOY photos into this lovely collage. So thankful for all the Joy photos that were submitted, as they brought me joy and they look so wonderful together.

3. Brene Brown. I finally watched her story sharing at TED. Wow. That's it. Just Wow. Watch it! Now :)

Here's her website, blog, and twitter.

4. A trip to the actual Bank was necessary. As I got into line, a woman came rumbling in behind me, and her cantankerous energy made me physically step away from her. I remembered Cinderita's story, opened my body language and smiled at her. As she was getting upset about the time, and the other stops that needed to be made, I smiled at the gentleman with her. She moved closer to the trash can and was trying to pull a clingy piece of thread from her sweater. I smiled at them both. They started chuckling about the desperate thread. Once it was successfully removed, the woman turned to me, with a big smile, and recounted a story of a play she saw when she was a little girl, and a skit where a piece of something relentless moves its way through the actors, and ends up back on the first person. JOY. I wasn't able to give them physical hugs. Though, I felt like what I had given them was the equivalent.

5. I went out for a walk. In the middle of the day, in the middle of the week. It was cold and bright and gorgeous. (ok, so cold here means O degrees celcius). I was feeling stressed about all the things I wasn't accomplishing in the day, and the walk was way more fun that.

6. I had company for my walk! A new friend I've inherited with the large pack that came with my sweetie. And her lovely dog. And her mom's dog. She is also doing Sarah Robinson's "28 days" and talking about it gave me a chance to learn some really awesome/admirable things about her. She lives very close, and we have another walk date planned!

7. Learning that the early cherry blossoms we see in February are actually plum blossoms! How cool is that!

8. The snowdrops are everywhere now :)


9. You can see little micro-bursts of green in many places, if you are open to seeing them.

10. Chickens photograph well

11.Dogs photograph well.

12. Pure maple butter on toast tastes like a maple glazed donut! Pure maple butter on toast, with cinnamon, tastes like a cinnamon bun! Amazing. (For someone like me, who's allergic to almost everything)

13. I climbed into bed last night, almost on time, all cozy and calm. Then I realized, with a heart full of hope and joy, that I had not yelled at anyone for the entire day! If you read back on what I've been dealing with the past couple of weeks, it will make sense :)


What little pieces of life, beauty, or joy did you notice in your travels yesterday or today?

Wishcasting Wednesday

Making Room

The load I carry is larger than my back

My eyes are bigger than my plate

I will loosen

where I need to loosen

I will tighten

where I need to tighten

I will find freedom

in structure

Less is

more

Joy

Check out Wishcasting Wednesday at Jamie Ridler Studios

Thank Joy!

To see all the JOY photos in their full glory click HERE .

• To vote for your favourite, check out that fancy poll in the top left corner of my blog!

• Feel free to comment below on the photos here, or share your story or moment of JOY with us :)

Alphabet Soup - J is for JOY

Alphabet Soup Sunday is growing and evolving. I think they would be more aptly named Alphabet Soup of the Soul now, as they share a little insight into me, are often somewhat cathartic, and tend to appear a lot closer to Monday than Sunday ;)

I woke up this morning happy, no, excited. I woke up excited this morning. Kind of like this:

I woke to the birds and the best of intentions.

I will try every way I know to express them.

Adapted from Breakthrough

by Isaac Dust

What a fabulous way to start a day!

For starters, today is the last day for submissions to the JOY photo challenge. I will be posting them up for you to indulge in first thing in the morning. That means you still have one more day to grab your cameras, or dig through your photo boxes and media files!

There will be a week of voting to decide the winner, and then? Following that, there will be a week of voting on my potential B.F.A. application/portfolio submissions. I need your help! (insight, feedback, gentle critiques). So exciting!

~***~

Ok, so let's talk about Joy! Here's the plan. I'm going to pour my heart out a little, and share with you what's been going on the past week and a half. Then I'm going to have a bit of a creative projects show and tell. Then I'm going to give it up to you to share some Joy, since it's my favourite topic!

Here's a little something to listen to while you're reading this :) One of my faves, from back in the days...

If you've been reading along with me lately you will know that I've been having a grand ol' time! Conferences and day trips, gaining and gifting blog awards, two excellent days at my dreamy new part-time job, my very first ever guest post and a super fab and swanky date with my sweetie. And, on several occasions I was told that I had made someone's day! All of that crammed into the past 9 days.

It was probably one of the most rewarding weeks I've had. It was also one of the most challenging. That's the beauty of Joy. It carried me through, and I was still able to share it with you.

What you probably didn't see through all this triumph, was me in some wicked Serotonin Withdrawal. If you, or someone you know, is taking, or considering taking, an SSRI (anti-depressant and/or anti-anxiety), please listen up, then go online and do as much research as you possibly can. I thought that I had done well, and was reducing mine carefully. I could have done more to avoid this incredibly intense roller coaster I've been riding for 2-3 weeks.

The first couple of days were great. Then I turned into the Hulk with PMS and a constant low-grade migraine. It started out as a tight head and dizziness, and a slight edge of nausea. Then we threw in some sucky-ness, whiny-ness and the easily weepies. Which could quickly turn to irritability, rage, and explosiveness. Oh, and the self-doubt, unforgivingness and extreme sensitivity to even a whiff of perceived control. (Those last three were a lovely combination with my excellent timing of trying to implement more structure and scheduling into my life!)

Thursday was the worst of it. That moment on the roller coaster when you're slowly click, click, clicking to the top of the biggest hill, and you look down and think, how am I ever going to survive this? Thursday I had an I'm not leaving the house day, well, more like an I'm not leaving my bed day. I couldn't even tolerate light. These are the types of days I had plenty of when I first fell to the mercy of this breakdown. I hadn't had a full cocoon day like this in months. (The quiet also helped me realize that I was also experiencing brain-zaps (paresthesia) which can be best described as a pulse-like shock or shiver).

This is the point when many people coming off of anti-depressants/anti-anxieties give up. They think that maybe they weren't ready. Also, one of the things you might read in the online forums, is people in the middle of withdrawal, swearing that they never would have gone on them in the first place if they knew what it would be like to get off of them. I want to add a little balance to that perspective.

Disclaimer - I am not a doctor, I don't play one on tv, and I'm not sleeping with a drug rep.

• Choosing to go on an anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medication to deal with the Post-Traumatic breakdown was a tough decision. I used to work in mental health services, and I knew logically that they could help get me to a place where I could benefit more from other treatment options, like counselling, art therapy and group work. I am grateful that I was able to see the potential of this first line of defense for myself.
• If you or your doctor feel like you may need to stay on your SSRIs for life because you're "addicted" get a new doctor, asap. Seriously. I have heard this and I have read this. This was never where I was at and I am so grateful. The doctor handling my medication assured me that we would work together to get on them, and off them when the time came.
• Feeling like you haven't made progress, when you're in the middle of a withdrawal, is common. The symptoms are similar. Work with your doctor (one who knows they're stuff thoroughly) and stick through it. If the timing is right, you will get to the other side!
• Eat well. This can be tough if you would rather eat nothing at all, or if all you want is carbs and sugars. Three meals, and snacks in between, that are high in protein and complex carbs and low in fat and simple sugars. This will help keep you balanced as your body is flushing the stores. Acupuncture can help with this too.
• If you can, get your prescriptions filled at a smaller pharmacy where you can build a relationship with the pharmacist. It helped me a lot to know that I could talk to mine whenever I had questions.
  
• Even if you have reduced to the lowest dosage available of your medication, you can still go lower! It is often suggested to reduce to every second day, and then every third. Have patience. Take your time. Going slowly means a happy transition. Otherwise, the alternative is putting a huge strain on your loved ones, and having to buy new shirts when you tear them apart to flex your big green muscles!

At the end of it all, the good news is that I'm medication free. If taken back in time, would I go through it again knowing that the first med would wire me up like a kid on Coke and candy? That I would get incredibly lethargic and irritable whenever I was in the midst of a dosage transition? That not working through the withdrawal as carefully as I could would make we want to hide like a werewolf on the edge of a full moon? Absolutely!

~***~

So let's keep riding this Joy train! Next stop - The Happy Monday Photo Challenge

This is my first week participating and I was really excited about the theme. Sunrise/Sunset. Unfortunately, and understandably, I was melting down a little after a day of errands and country roads yesterday, and needed to be home, instead of out playing with sunsets as I had planned :( Boo. However, keeping on the theme of this post, I am excited to share with you a picture I took in the summer that was an absolute moment of Found Joy.

It was early in the morning, my sweetie was out of town, and I had just woken up from a particularly unsettling nightmare. I got out of bed, restless. I happened to look out the window and was greeted by this wonderful sunrise.

It made my day okay :)


~***~

Here's something a little more recent. I started this on Friday and promised myself I would work on it for 3 days.

The first stage was the most fun! Ribbon, cotton batting, white paint smeared on with a kitchen spatula. Green paint layered on with a fork, yep, a fork, then detailed with rosemary. Yep. Rosemary.

Added some water colour tints. I thought I was done at this point. Until I came out of my poorly lit art space and realized I wasn't :)

Ta da! The finished product. It took guts to go bold with the next layer!

Three pictures, three stages, three days. I'm grateful that I stayed committed to it. I'm gaining a lot more depth through layering, and patience :) All it needs is the dates written into it, and a title. Perhaps, JOY 2011? :)

~***~

Okay, now it's your turn! Please share with me in the comments a quick snippet of something that brings/has brought you Joy! It doesn't have to recent, or it could be something that happened today :)

This video brings me Joy. Ari Hest is my new favourite voice, and watching/listening to him sign with his mom is like being hugged.

Monday's Music Moves Me

Happy Saturday!

Six Word Saturday. Want to play?

JOY photo challenge closes on Monday!

(Click the JOY button, top left)

:)

Had fun playing at Cinderita's yesterday!

(Read my very first guest post!)

Date with my sweetie tonight. Ballet!!

So much to Enjoy!

Before I tell you some new good news, I want to share something with you. Yesterday was my first day at a new job, in a completely different field of work. It was bliss. There were no children tugging on me, demanding my attention, or sneezing on me. I was able to choose my clothes for the day based on what I felt good in, and looked good in. I didn't have to worry about whether or not my toes were protected from being stomped on, or secure enough to take chase at a moment's notice. My earrings dangled deliciously and my ears were not strained from being on alert for the earliest signs of unrest.

I popped over to Jamie Ridler's site while I was contemplating this, and how apropos that the wish for this week is:

What do you wish to enjoy?

• more of this physical freedom in the workplace.
• being in a positive work environment.
• learning new skills and tackling new challenges.
• teaching people who are eager to learn.
• meeting deadlines.
• asking for help and being supported.
• having my input and ideas respected and sought out.
• being creative and the appreciation of my creativity.
• having energy to live a whole life outside of work

Here's a visual interpretation of how I felt about my work day yesterday and the potential of this new job :) [I was water colour painting with my fingers when I came home from work! You can click through to see the full size on flickr, and the other painting I did with it too].

Okay, one more picture, before I move on to the good news. I was just so excited that I had the energy to art journal after work yesterday. My 365 picture was influenced too :)

Without further ado, drum roll please...
I was given another blog award!
Seriously!

Noel over at French Christmas, the queen of sharing her perceptive perspective in beautiful prose, gave me the

Wow! Thank you Noel. You've always been a supportive cheerleader of me and my writing and I really appreciate it! I'm really looking forward to that moment when you're ridiculously rich and famous from all the books you've written and published, and I can say, I knew you when... :)

The rules. Share seven things about myself. Then pass it on to five other stylish bloggers.

Things about me, huh?

• I love playing board games. Especially creative ones. And ones where a little competition adds to the fun.
  
• I once left the house without any pants on. I was about 9 or 10 and it was a lazy summer morning and I had wandered downstairs to the tv to watch cartoons in nothing but my fave Disney World sweatshirt, and my undies. My sister had to run an errand within walking distance and I distractedly ambled out the door with her. Sadly, I didn't notice until we were on our return. Luckily we hadn't gone back the same way, since that would have meant a second pass through a parking lot full of cute young boys playing road hockey, and giggling. Blush.
• I am the youngest of three children.
• I didn't finish high school.
• If I could have a free pass to eat whatever I wanted for one day without the fear of having a reaction, I would want baked macaroni and cheese, a butterscotch sundae and peanut butter cookies.
• I wear earplugs when I sleep
• I can build a wicked camp fire.
  

That's my seven, now on to my five.

Five fabulous bloggers. I'd love to give a nod to a collection of bloggers who are not in the eye of this blogger award tag storm that's been circling

Sweet Limes - who I met at the beginning of my blogging journey and immediately connected with. Everything she does is stylish. A beautiful, artistic, creative soul.

Cowgirl Red - I've only just met her, and I love the way she shares her innermost thoughts. It makes me feel so much less alone in what I experience. Her fabric creations are stunning, and I hope she doesn't mind if I show up one day at her breathtaking ranch and play cowgirl with her.

Pieces of Me - Jen's photography is just gorgeous! Another fellow reverber who is chasing after their creative dreams. Follow along for some adventures in New York City.

Mujerzen's Blog - At some point during reverb I found my way to this blog. Now I know whenever I stop by I can count on a hit of the most delicious poetry.

Live, Love, TRAVEL - I don't know Jaymi very well. I do want to thank her for sharing not just her beautiful photos. I love that she always explains her photo experiments and projects, making it a great place to be inspired to try something new.

Hope you find one in there that you enjoy as much as I do.

And remember... 5 more days until the JOY photo challenge closes!

Alphabet Soup - I is for Inspired

Wow, what a weekend!

Saturday I attended the every WOMAN 2011 conference. What I thought was going to be simply a day to be physical active, with like minded women, and a chance to try some new types of fitness classes - was so much more than I expected. I've been inspired!

Here's what I learned from the conference:

• I love conferences! When I was a teenager I became involved in leadership conferences, and other youth conferences. The energy was so incredible. I'm realizing that I love it when large groups of people come together to learn (especially when it's about themselves) for a short and intense duration of time.

• I like to be directly involved. It meets my need for belonging and my love of knowing how things work behind the scenes. ***Here's a big tip for all you starving artists - if registration costs are a little too much for you, find out if you can volunteer!*** That's what I did, and it granted me entry and a place on the team. And I am so glad I did. I was able to pop into a dreams to goals workshop that wasn't on my schedule, and it created some wonderful shifts in my perspective!

• Visualization exercises make me teary.

• I want to be an artist. Not quietly in my own space. Like out there on other people's walls, loud and proud, using my eventual BFA for professional gain, not just personal.

• Everything I need is inside of me!

• Hula Hooping is an amazing form of exercise that works muscles that I haven't been able to get at before. And so much fun! We were all laughing and cheering each other on. Even when a couple of us got hit in the face :) Want one, now!!

• Creating more structure in my life will leave me feeling like I have more freedom!

• Feeling controlled still triggers me big time.

• Art Journaling every day is possible, and probable, and can have a valued space in my schedule.

• I'm cute, and I'm okay with it. Cute in the sweet, and adorable way. Like an energetic puppy.

• I like being sexy, and I'm learning to enjoy it and be more refined in how I am. Being sexy isn't something I need to be known as. It's an underlying part of me, and there's a time and a place to vamp it up, and boy do I know how now. Even something as simple as enjoying the way my arm feels to me... is very attractive.

What an amazing experience! So, 5:00 hit that night, and I got right down to my art journaling. Thanks again Emily, for sharing yours and inspiring me. Here's one side of my first entry, using some of the doodling techniques I've been playing with, that captures a bit of what inspired me at the conference...

The amazingness didn't end there. Yesterday, the sweetie and I went on a day trip adventure. As we were preparing everything the night before, he suggested we bring the Drawing Lab book for the ferry ride, since we missed our weekly assignment. Seriously!? I hadn't want to suggest it. Drawing is something he's still getting comfortable with. Sure enough, we whipped it out as soon as we got settled on board. (I forgot our supplies, though I was able to dig a pen and pencil out of my computer bag, and improvise with what I'm hoping were snack bags). The assignment we chose was left handed portraits of each other, which had us trying to keep our volume down while we were giggling. I was so inspired by him and his portrait of me that I wanted to share his along with mine.

(Yep, that's right. He's a rightie, and drew this with his left!)

You know what else inspires me, and makes me super teary... when he told me, on a couple of different occasions now... that just being around me makes him more creative.

Wait, the story doesn't end here. There's more! While I was at the conference on Saturday I got an email that my place on hold for a book at the library (that I've been waiting patiently and eagerly for) had finally come up. The library was right around the corner from the conference so I was able to pick it up on the way home. It came with on the ferry ride yesterday too, and Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project is exactly what I need to carry the energy from the conference forward and turn my plans into actions. She's right. Some people really do learn from reading others' experiences, even if they are not monumental. Similar to Noelle Oxenhandler's Wishing Year, it seems, so far, to be a great blend of personal goals and triumphs, supported by well researched and enlightening information. I've only made it to the end of January in her journey, and I am already incredibly inspired. Following suit, I'm going to make a monthly chart to track some of my daily goals too :)(I'm actually looking forward to it!) I'm also looking forward to my new early bed time, because built in with that is a half an hour of indulgent reading in bed before lights out. Is it bed time yet? I super excited to see what happens in February of Gretchen's Happiness Project

Oh, I almost forgot. One more thing that I want to share with you. I'm guest blogging on Friday, over in Cinderitaville, the land of inspiration. I was a little stumped what to write about, until my current favourite foliage gave me a nudge on Saturday. Y'all know that I've been completely inspired by our Christmas tree. It became the subject for my camera again, and made it into my 365 project, appearing on day 22. :)

Now on to Monday's Music Moves Me! Yesterday it was recommended that I check out Explosions in the Sky. I've been in need of some good instrumental music to inspire me while focusing on school work or art adventures, and I think I've found it!

Back in Gear

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I kind of hit a bump in the road - with the art course I'm taking online. Partly because it was a bit busier around here... and partly because of one of my assignments.

The first step was ridiculous fun. Staining with coffee grounds, and rolling blueberries down my journal page. I could be heard from the other room giggling. I even dribbled beeswax from a candle.


Then I got a little stuck... where to take it from here. I focused in on the clusters created by wax dribbles, which I had removed, and attempted to turn them into flowers. Kind of like a reddish/purply sunflower - I used water colour pencils and oil pastels.

Not happy with how it turned out, I washed over it with blue watercolour paint to create a kind of Under the Sea theme, playing up the blueberry stain.

Finally, (many days later) it hit me what was missing. Bubble wrap and paint splatters :)

Ta dah - the finished product!

After that adventure, I figured it was time for some minimalism. A paper tearing exercise did the trick.

Created very quickly, from scraps left over from my most recent Art Trading Card creations. (Which went in the mail on Wednesday!) This was so fun and liberating to just rip, glue and stick - just like that, no plan, no analyzing :)

Some other exercises appearing in my journal the past couple of days... (Click through to see the full size image).

Happy Friday!

p.s. 10 more days to send me your photos of joy (what brings you joy, experiencing joy, representing joy) Click here!