Finger-painting, tree-climbing and other reasons I don't want to adult today!

Tuesday...

“To draw, you must close your eyes and sing” ~Pablo Picasso

Now you can see my pottery work on my website too - YAY!

So much news today!

Have you seen the 12th page of my mixed media gallery on amyoes.com?  So happy more of my work is being uploaded onto my site - this way you don't have to deal with my awfully blurry phone pictures.  I can't help getting paint all over my camera lens, sorry!

Look at all my fun galleries - NOT taken by my smart phone camera thankfully.

I did another fun interview on my small business ventures for Roceteer.com.  You can read it here:  

"Takes To Inspire:  Taking A Beautiful Detour"

This is my favorite question:

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 things would you bring?

It's terrible - but my laptop and internet connection. Ever since I've been painting and blogging about it, sharing my work with the world is addicting! I love the feeling of connecting to others and knowing that my art can make people feel a certain way, helping them through a hard time, or just bringing a smile to their face.

My fiance - can't live without the guy!

Cheese. Something I can eat and eat and never tire of. Every kind of cheese.

Then they asked me to walk them through my average day...well here was my day folks!

In the Studio...

First, I wanted to make some good use out of all the gorgeous art supplies my friends and family gave me as gifts for my bridal shower!

So many canvases...so why not use THREE of them at ONCE?  :)

I started with one 16 x 20 canvas, then realized I wanted to paint a bit bigger!  So...

I really don't have any actual "painting" and "figure drawing" technique under my belt, so I just try to think really abstractly - this way I don't end up judging myself :)

I guess I was feeling the "body painting" thing again...

Applying layer by layer - dabbing and smearing...I didn't use a single paintbrush - just a BUNCH of paper towels!  (I guess I should have asked for more paper towels for my bridal shower?)

Oh, and I used my fingers a lot too.  Thankfully, I have 10 of those so I didn't need any more as gifts from the bridal shower.  I'd rather people get me canvases than more fingers.  (...?)

Looking back, I think I should have stopped painting here.

I started to add brown hair to my figure, but didn't like how that was turning out.

 So I made it into a long winding tree branch with leaves.  I still don't know if I like that - oh well.

So this is how it ended up.  I was SO tempted to keep on plugging away at it until it felt "good."  But I had a feeling I'd just make it worse.  It was SO hard to walk away from this!  

But I have a feeling I"ll come back tomorrow...

 And it will look a bit more finished...

Everything's better in the morning, right?

Ugh I don't like that green on her HEAD!  (Stop - inner critic....oy.)

 Anywayz...

I love painting with paper towels, my fingers, and my heart.  And that is why I don't want to adult today! See some other awesome non-adults as we all declare ourselves forever young on the The Grand Adventures of Me Link Up!

Beechwood Arts!

 I had a great rehearsal at Beechwood Arts yesterday for the Arts Immersion event on Resilience and the Power of the Human Spirit.

Jeanine starting to hang some of my work!

I spent the past few weeks writing some of my old journals, poems, quotes I like, etc. on vellum strips.  

Yesterday we hung all of our writings on that beautiful old beechwood tree.  

This way, people at the event can walk through our words and literally be "touched by words."

It was a breezy, chilly day yesterday and it was haunting to see all of our grief, hope, poetry and inspiration, the words of our souls, just blowing about frantically in the breeze.

It was being filmed so they can show a time lapse of us installing the entire exhibit.

It's an honor working with so many creators that have been through so much, and I can't wait for our event on the 31st!

Before I go...

There was another good question in the Roceteer business interview.  I was talking about how I unwind at night - and I admitted...

"I do have a bad habit of taking my work into "play-time"- and my fiance often has to nudge me to "put down the laptop and watch some TV already!!!""

That's my question to all of you today - do you have a hard time knowing when you've worked enough?  Even if it's working on what you love?  

(My answer?  YES!!!!)

Ask my very patient fiance :)

So I am going to discipline myself right now to finish up this post and take a breather...

OUTSIDE.  :)

“Art is not a thing, it is a way.” ~Elbert Hubbard