I Felt The Wind....

I felt the wind of the Holy Spirit as it blew through the classroom, at my last Spiritual Awakenings Retreat on Art Journaling I gave at Pleasant Vineyard Ministries' Retreat Center in Camden, Ohio.  During class, as I walked around the room, I felt the connection of spirit with creativity with all of the participants.  I had an amazing experience and facilitator, David Maynard was the ultimate host.  I have been asked to come back and do another retreat in the Spring of 2013 - I cannot wait....
Here is a page from one of the participants in the retreat, Marcella Roe's journal... 

Here are some of my pages, that I demonstrated from the workshop - hope you enjoy!

This is a page I demonstrated from my Altered Book, titled, "Roots" - this altered book is a tribute to all of my ancestors who have made me the person I am today.  This particular page is devoted to my Great Grandmother, Nellie McVeigh Anson.  I recently found my great-grandmother's journals - a treasure of insight into who Nellie was. 

On the left of this page, is an excerpt from one of her journal pages, I have collaged onto my journal page.  The added bonus is where her entry includes me - "Patricia"!  I knew her only briefly growing up, but her journals give me more in depth insight to who she was.  

One such insight was, most of all of her pages started with, "A grand day..." (the lettering on the right, is copied off of her original handwriting).  I liked knowing that my ancestor was a positive person, as am I and I loved tracing her handwriting - it made me feel connected to her in a new way.  

This page is my tribute to her...

 My revelation for this page is that you should always stay firmly connected to your ancestral roots - they are a part of you. 

My second demonstration involved another altered book I have begun which has the working title of,  "Le Fleurs Of France".  This is an old french book of poems, that I purchased while getting lost on the streets of Paris in April of this year, 2012.  I looked the book up online and found translations to all of the poems.  I printed out the translations (excerpt seen on the left side of page below) and collaged them onto the pages next to the french poem.  I have included the poems that speak about various places I went on my journey through France in April 2012.

The page below has the poem, "Le jet d'eau/The Fountain" on it's page's text- it reminded my of the Medici Fountain and pool on the grounds of Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, so I sketched a part of this fountain on the left page.
"deep calls to deep" is an exerpt from the Book Of Psalms, which speaks about how God calls to us in all of creation to our very souls.  I felt God in that special moment as I gazed at the beauty around me...

I spent a magical day there and this page takes me back to that day.

The retreat was a wonderful experience and I look forward to going back!  Thanks to David Maynard, Joyce, and all of the staff,  for a wonderful time! 

More information about Pleasant Vineyard Ministries can be found at www.pvmcamp.com

BLESSING = Getting Paid For My Passion!

I woke up this morning and said to myself - "It is a BLESSING to be paid for my passion!".  This thought was prompted by an email I received that someone just the other day.  I thought I would share a very special day with all of you.

I recently held a program for the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society in September, on my "Nature's Palette Series" where I used actual leaves in my painting process.

I am using the photos GCWS used on their blog to show my process (see link to their blog, below).....

I also demonstrated what to do when you go back to your painting and there is a disaster!  I showed them, with the use of gesso, how to the pervasive fix dark value that is throughout the entire painting and turn it into a good mixture of light and dark values.  I held my breath on this one and hoped it would work!  I love the finished painting!

BEFORE.....a dark, muddy, mess!  What to do?  I knew I needed to pull back some light and mid-tones.

 DURING....I took a roller and rolled a layer of white gesso over the entire piece.

After the gesso was dry, I tinted it with harmonious color to finish....

AFTER.....

 There is something empowering about taking a seemingly rejected painting and bringing it back to something beautiful!

Here is the link to the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society's Blog for the entry for -  Thursday, September 20th.

www. grtrcincyws.blogspot.com

Join Me On The Playground

If you ask any child, recess is their favorite part of the school day. It is because there is complete freedom in an otherwise structured environment. As adults we are surrounded by structure and need to remember the playground.  

As an artist, I found a way to recreate that playground.  Art journals for me, brings me back to that time on the playground.  A time when I created art authentically without any preconceived notions.  A time of innocent intent and no judgement.  A time of using pure imagination and the Creative Spirit I was born to use! 

This past weekend I surely felt the wind of that same Creative Spirit blowing like a welcome breeze on a hot summer day as it touched each participant's face at my Spiritual Awakenings Art Journal Workshop in Tipp City.  So I will share this magical experience...and maybe - just maybe - it will make you want to start your own playground of imagination in the form of an art journal....

I can never know the hearts of each and every student.  But God knows why they have been provincially placed for such a time as this.  One such student, I sensed, needed to be alone with her thoughts.  I had no idea how tender her spirit was until I read her words posted on her blog.  
I am touched by her inspirational words and it is a reminder to us all that God does not shine in the comfortable areas of our life, but in the struggles.

Here are her own words about her experience:  http://myunswervinghope.blogspot.com/2012/08/fight-or-flight.html

This is one of the pages from her book.

I love when students think outside of the box and ask "what if?" - this student  used a very unusual book - an old record album (how fun is that?!) - and asked, "what if I painted the record and journal a private message to myself on the surface?".  How clever and imaginative!  I immensely enjoyed this woman's joyfulness which I see in these pages.

One of the great experiences of this workshop was that mothers and daughters got to share the experience together.  We had 3 sets of mothers and daughters.  One of the youngest participants (a high school student), shared  that she got to see another side to her mom, as her mom is usually very quiet.  It was very touching and I sensed their bond had been strengthened even more.  Here are their favorite journal pages.  I was only later, I noticed that both had used the same colors, but in an entirely unique way. 

I thought of this as a metaphor for my own relationship with my mother, we are the same colors, but used in an entirely unique way!

Another joy was getting to know one of the older participants.  She had been an artist all of her life - I enjoyed the freedom of brush strokes and the wisdom of her words - these are her pages.

 

I admire the quiet people in the world - I'm fascinated by them.  Mostly because I am not one of them!  In the same way I admire and I'm fascinated by the tranquil colors this quiet participant chose and the simplicity of her composition on these pages below.  I had observed this artist's quiet, capable spirit throughout the class.  I watched her take care of her elderly mother with a kind, gentle intuitiveness.  Then when I saw her pages, I saw all of these things qualities about her, that I had observed! These pages are authentically her.

One of my primary goals was to have each participant make a connection between creating in their journals and the Creative Spirit that lives inside all believers - to awaken the creative spirit within.  

This artist shared that she had made such a connection - these are her pages.

 I love the softness of these pages - the words are special too.  This artist had a sweet, sweet spirit and so do her pages.

I enjoyed getting to know all of the participants - that is always the best part for me.  I spent  a lot of time with one participant that traveled all the way from British Columbia to take this class!  Because of the circumstances surrounding how she found out about the workshop, I feel that it was providence she was placed in my life.  I feel that way about all of the participants in my workshops.

She was so delightful to get to know and her pages reflect her personality much better than I could ever write about!
I see joy and wonder when looking at her pages.

Though the workshop may be over,  the joy, experiences, and connections still remain with me. 

I enjoyed playing on the playground with all of these delightful women. 

And I smile in remembrance at our time together. 

Styrofoam Cups as your Canvas?! What if??

As I have said many times to my students, whenever I ask myself the question "what if?", great leaps in imagination occur.  When I was young, this used to get me in a lot of trouble.  Today, as an artist, this serves me very well.  

 Recently, a friend shared with me an artist who is an example of this idea of "what if?".  His name is Cheeming Boey and here is his story and some images to inspire you to have a "what if" moment of your own!

Cheeming Boey is a game designer and animator based in Newport Beach, California. He creates designs on styrofoam cups using ordinary sharpie pens. 

 

Boey chose cups for their availability. "People draw on napkins, receipts, wood. I was outside a coffee shop and had the urge to sketch while people watched. I found a foam cup on top of a trash can, and it was all I had, so that was what I worked with."

 

He often lapses from one art style to another. " I don’t like to limit myself to a distinct drawing style. I want to be able to branch out as much as possible. I think that has worked to my advantage, because different styles appeal to different crowds," he explains.

 

Following an incredible amount of buzz on the internet and articles in American newspapers such as The Orange County Register, Boey’s cups have now been featured in galleries as well. He sells them for hundreds of dollars!

 

This is a really creative way to display the cups.

Children's Art Camp

I had the most amazing experience last week that I want to share.  I was contacted to teach a Children's Art Camp at the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati.  It was very stressful at times, because I had 25 students with ages ranging from 7 to 11!  Not an ideal age group, but at the end of camp, it was so fulfilling to see their smiles and totally worth all of the stress.  I kept thinking I was not reaching the students, then I looked at their artwork and realized I was so very wrong!  Their paintings were amazing!

I will share just a few photos of the children and their work.  I hope you are as inspired as I am!

 

This is Emaan in her beautiful head dress the girls wear before prayer time.  Emaan was one of the most quiet in the class, yet when I look at this painting I see she might have a different side to her!

Salwa was one of my favorite students!  She reminded me of a beautiful faerie!  She always had a smile on her face, no matter what.  I snapped this photo right before she went into prayer - I thought to myself, of course she has a sparkly head dress!  She was such a delight to have in class!

This painting was done by Noreen, one of the older students.  It is very well drawn and very colorful!  Noreen is in the photo below, in the very back to the right of me.

This was the very last day of camp - the little girl in the white shirt's name was Zania - she told me it meant "beautiful" - so I called her Beautiful all week during camp!

One day my daughter, Lauren stopped by to visit - the children loved her!  They acted like she was a rock star or something!  She was only there for about 10 minutes and they asked for her autograph and swarmed around her.  I asked them why they made such a fuss about her and they said, because she was so pretty! :)

This is Sara's painting - she was one of the younger children....

This painting belongs to Ahmad (seen in the photo on the right, sitting in the left chair) - he was only 7 years old.  Ahmad was one of a set of triplets that were in the class - 2 boys and 1 girl - I could not take my eyes off of them for one second or they would be running around the tables!! :)  Wally, his friend, is sitting here with the baseball hat - both boys were sweet, however they were typical boys too!!

An Inspiring Young Artist

An Inspiring Young Artist

I was inspired this week by the dedication of such a young talent and thought I would share with you...

This past week I have spent time in my studio with a very talented, 11 year old, artist named Raegan.  She has been studying with me off and on for about 3 years.  She now lives in Florida and comes home occasionally to visit family.  Whenever she comes in town, she asks to study with me in my studio!

Here is her process through pictures.....

The final painting!  Raegan is only 11 years old!  How amazing & inspiring!