Full of plans .....

I have a big room in my sister's house which I can use solely as a studio. A big luxury for me, since I never had my own studio. When I first started painting I had a really small place where I could paint, but when we lived in Australia our house was very small and I had to use a corner of the kitchen table to work.

So now that all my art materials have arrived I had a blast setting everything up as convenient as possible, and today my friend came over and we art journaled in the midst of all my materials and paintings. And I didn't have to clean up afterwards! I could get used to this ... :-)

I made another journalpage, although for now I'm not sure how many more will follow. Yesterday I sketched a lot and tried out some ideas for a new painting, and there are so many things I want to start now that everything has arrived.

I have been wanting to participate in the 100 faces in 365 days challenge, and now I figured I can just as well use the faces I paint every week in my artjournal. In this spread there are 3 already :-)

I had fun making this spread. All my favorite colours. Such a great medicine against the bleak winter days.

And guess which challenge is starting in February? Yes, one of my favorites: 29 faces! I couldn't participate in September because of our move, but now I can and I will. Looking forward to it! Might be a bit of a challenge because I also need to start recording my lesson for Soul Food. Mine will only be in April, so I have a bit of time left, but still. Don't forget: Soul Food also starts on February 1 !!

I'm linking this to Paint Party Friday, the weekly blogparty where you can link up to if you created something this week. And if you don't want to participate, it's always worth a visit to take a look at the wonderful art on display there.

Here's my funny for this week:

Oh, I can so relate to that cat ;-)

Thanks so much for visiting! I wish you a wonderful end of the week, and a  warm, relaxing weekend!! I'll be back on Sunday for the start of the 29 faces challenge :-) See you then ♥ ♥ ♥

Finally .....

I'm back again.... Phew, really hope this time I can go back to posting at least once a week. The past few weeks flew by in a haze. Even though I'm getting quite experienced in moving houses, it still takes me by surprise how much work it takes to get everything sorted out again. I didn't touch a single paintbrush for more than two weeks :-(

Until yesterday .... :-)

Journaling again. As compensation for not being able to paint on a canvas, I've taken to painting in my artjournal in the same way I would do on a canvas. Just painting layers until I see figures emerge. Love this kind of journaling. Even though, or maybe just because, the figures sometimes look really weird.

But I love bringing them out. They're like visitors from my subconscious, sometimes telling me things I didn't realize (yet). After I've finished a page I start going through my stash of quotes and lyrics, until I find one that I feel fits perfectly with what the image means to me.

Softness. Kindness. Innocence. Loving each other in spite of our differences. In spite of our weirdness. I guess I needed to bring that out after another few weeks of horror all over the world.

This is the entire spread:

I only have one in-progress picture. Can't believe how difficult it is making pictures in these dark days.

I saw the two figures right away, but it took me some time to see the other ones. After I saw them I just kept going and didn't even think about taking pictures anymore :-) I'll have to remember it next time.

I'm linking this to Paint Party Friday, and will be paying everyone there a visit this weekend, since I didn't manage last week. Our things are more or less unpacked. Today I'm going to hang my paintings all over the house. Don't want to leave them in bubblewrap all the time. They all arrived safely, thank goodness :-) So nice to see them again, they're a bit like my babies ...

Three more things:

- on the first of February the fun starts in Soul Food!! If you didn't sign up yet, but want to know more, you can find all the information here.
- my calendars are now 20% off until the 26th of January!! If you don't have one yet, you can find them here! Just enter the code NWC20 at checkout to receive your 20%.
- and last but not least: there's free worldwide shipping in my Society6-shop this week!

That's it for now. Wishing you a wonderful Friday, and a warm and cosy weekend! Thanks for visiting! I'll leave you with my funny for this week ;-)

lol

Happy New Year !!

Never thought it'd be the 7th of January before I would write my first post of the year. It has only just started and already it's flying. Before I go any further: hope you had a wonderful celebration of the start of the year, and I wish for each and every one of you that 2015 will be the most creative and fun year ever!

I have managed in the past weeks to finish another journalpage. It might be the last one for a while, because tomorrow our container will arrive! YES! So instead of painting, I'll be unpacking boxes, looking for places to put stuff, trying to make this place a home for the time we'll be here (we are living in the house of one of my sisters for now, until we find our own place). 

I wonder how (and IF!) my paintings have survived the long 10-week-journey from Australia all the way to Belgium, on raging seas and in stormy weather.... At least that is how I imagined it these past months ;-) Can't wait to see everything again...

I made this journalpage somewhere between Christmas and New year, feeling a bit down because of the cold and the grey skies, and missing the light of Australia. And I guess it translated into these kind of sad figures. I love how my inner turmoil turns into images on my pages, without me  having to try. They just appear, and I recognize my feelings in them. Fascinating process I think ....

This is the complete spread:

I was painting at my friends' house and forgot to take my camera. So no in-progress-shots this time. 

Here's a great picture to start the new year:

haha, love these women!

Also: don't forget! Registration for Soul Food is now open!! Can't wait! Starting February 1st, it goes on for three whole months, with 2 mixed-media lessons a week from 20 different teachers (including moi ☺). All videos are downloadable, and the class stays open till the end of the year. And on top of all that: every teacher shares her favorite recipe :-) And all this for the price of $65 USD! (with a 10% discount for 2014 alumni). Can you say no to that!?? More info here.

I will be linking this to Paint Party Friday, and hope to find the time to visit more blogs this week. Might be next week before I get to it though. 

Thanks so much for visiting! Wishing you a wonderful day, and let the weekend be relaxing ♥ ♥ ♥

Overview of a creative year

Last week on Morag's blog "Paper Rainbow", she gave a round-up of her year's creative highlights, and I thought that was a really good idea. I always feel as if I don't have enough time to do everything I want to do, but looking back on my year I realize I've accomplished quite a lot. Maybe not all I had in mind, but then I always make my goals too big, and I shouldn't forget that I also made an intercontinental move this year, which takes up a LOT of time (still does!).

So here's my overview of this year :-)

January: Since it was summer holiday in Australia we went on a trip, and I didn't do much art. But I did manage to squeeze in a 2 day-workshop with Orly Avineri about art journaling. This is one of the spreads from that workshop:

February: my favorite challenge: 29 faces! Making a face every day of the month, and  one extra, since February this year only had 28 days. Love that challenge! Here's my overview of all the faces I did that month:

March: Did all kinds of things in March, but I also finished a painting: "I don't know how to let you go". One week after I put it on my blog it was sold already! My quickest sale ever :-)

April: in April I did a giveaway on my blog to celebrate 200 followers. This was one of the 2 paintings I gave away:

May: in May I did a weekend workshop with Tracy Verdugo. Two whole days of painting, bliss! This is one of the paintings that I started during the workshop: "Build a brighter world".

June: Another one of my favorite challenges started this month: Summer of Color. Six weeks of creating something using the prescribed colours. A real challenge sometimes to use colours I don't really like, but sometimes it leads to interesting discoveries. This is an overview of the 6 paintings I made.

July: in July I finally tried out something I'd been wanting to do since a while: making a poetrybook with my art. I used poetry from the public domain, in combination with images of my art. Loved making it, and will definitely make more in the future.

August: I managed another thing I had been wanting to try out since a long time: making a pattern! After a lot of trial and error, I came up with this:

September: August and September I was the featured artist in the Seaside Artist's Gallery in Redcliffe. At the same time it was my goodbye to this wonderful gallery, where I was able to exhibit for almost 3 years.

October: the month of our overseas move, but I still managed to do a few drawings for the Inktober challenge. Loved it so much that I'll definitely do it again next year!

November: so little time to do art, but I managed to do some sketching, and also had a giveaway on my blog for a spot in Soulfood, where I'll be one of the teachers next Spring!

December: the end of the year, and I've discovered artjournaling all over again :-) Of course it helps having a friend who loves this too, so most of the time we sit together and paint. A practice I really want to continue in the next year.

Thanks so much Morag, for giving me this idea for an overview of the year. I did much more than I thought I did, and it gives me a boost knowing what I could achieve in a year that was marked by a big house move that needed a lot of time and preparation. I know now that even when you have limited time on your hands, it's always possible to do something creative. You just need to remember to do it.

This'll be my last blogpost for this year, so I want to wish you all a wonderful new creative year, a year to overcome challenges and embark on some new adventures, a year where you remember to take the time to just play! Thanks so much for sharing this journey with me, for being here and for taking the time to comment, for encouraging me and giving me wings to keep on going. Big hugs to all of you ♥ ♥ ♥

I know there's an entire world out there

Another journalpage :-) How I enjoy working in my journal, never knowing what will come out of it, just starting from scratch.

Yesterday I spent the whole day journaling with my friend, and even my daughter joined us. We will try to keep doing this each week. It is such a nice break from all the hassles of everyday life.

It took me a while to find figures, so I kept adding layers until I could see 2 very clearly. I'm not completely sure this page is finished, might add more to it but for now I consider it done.

My friend suggested adding the one in the back, and I'm very happy I did that. Two always see more than one, right :-) That's an added pleasure of not working on your own.

Here's the entire spread:

And this time I remembered to take pictures while I was working! So here are some in-progress-shots :-)

 started with some paint, some drips, some collage and a stamp I made from a foam tray

Too dark in some places, so adding more white and a bit more collage

bringing out the two faces I saw first

Seeing the chin of another figure, and working that one out...

Decided to change the face in the upper left corner. She was freaking me out with that staring eye ;-)

That's it for now! Linking this as always to Paint Party Friday. Not sure whether there'll be many participants this week, with all the festivities coming up. I might take a break for the next two weeks too, trying to get my Christmascards sent (no, still didn't do that ....), get my commission ready, finish my year planner and of course enjoying time with family and friends :-)

Thanks so much for visiting. Hope you'll enjoy your day, and that the weekend will be fun without stress! Here's a little funny to keep you smiling:

lol

And a little Christmas-wish ....

Take care of yourself and enjoy the holidays! ♥ ♥ ♥

and I keep going ....

Yes, another artjournalpage :-)  Can't get enough of it. Didn't have much time left for art this week though, so I had to work on it in between other things.

But I managed to finish it. I was hesitant at first using so much black, but on the other hand I think it makes the colours really pop, so I just went with it. Raw journaling, remember ....? Doing what I feel like at that moment, without too much thought of how it will look later on.

This time I saw all the figures right away. First the girl that's hanging in the air, her image was so clear that I couldn't ignore it. Then the big face on the left, and then the other faces. I love it when I see figures everywhere.

Here's the whole spread:

This week is a week full of promotions in my Society6-shop. Every day there are different promotions, and on top of that, until the 14th of December it's also free worldwide shipping and 5$ off every item in my shop! I made some new shirts this week. Takes a bit of time to get them all in my shop though. Here's one:

Also, every week another instructor from Soul Food is introduced here. Keep your eye on there, because every week there's a chance to win a free spot in Soul Food 2015!

Well, that's it for now. I'm linking this as always to Paint Party Friday.  Thanks so much for visiting, and for leaving your lovely comments. I really appreciate it :-)

Here's my funny for this week:

oh yes, and don't I know it ... :-)

Hope you're having a good day, and a lovely weekend waiting for you! See you next time!   ♥ ♥ ♥

another journalpage

My friend and I managed another day this week to journal together! Really getting into it now :-)

In this journal I try to do some "raw" artjournaling. Not trying to make "pretty" pages, but just let the paint guide me, experiment, paint what I see and feel without trying to make it look good. Which is not easy for me.

I always look for figures in my backgrounds. It doesn't have to be much, sometimes it's just an eye or a part of a shoulder that I can see, but once I see something I take it from there.

With this face I saw the right eye and the mouth right away.

And oh, how I struggled to keep it like this. It bothered me that the mouth was so far on the side, but at the same time I couldn't bring myself to "fix" it. If that's the place the mouth showed up it should just stay there. Fixing it would mean trying to make it "pretty" again, and that's exactly what I don't want in this journal. So I left it, although I still need time to get used to it....

Here's the whole spread:

No sketch this week, which doesn't mean I didn't sketch. I am preparing 2 small canvases for a commission, and since I don't know if the people I'm making it for read my blog, I better not show it here in order not to spoil the surprise....

I can't believe it's December already! Time flies, we almost need to go looking for a Christmastree ....  It feels strange to have a "real" Christmas again, in Australia we never got used to celebrating Christmas while it was blazing hot outside and putting a Christmastree in an airconditioned room somehow doesn't feel the same ;-) But here it's cold, (which I hate btw), but it sure makes Christmas feel more "real".

Just in case you don't have a calendar for the new year yet: there's still time to get my new calendar in time before 2015 starts! I'm working hard on finishing my yearplanner too, although I'm not sure I'll manage to finish it in time. But I'll try. This is the painting for December.

If you click on the link to my Lulushop, and then on preview, you can see all the months.

Thanks for coming to visit me! I hope you're having a great day so far, and that the weekend will be without hassles and stress. Linking this to Paint Party Friday, the weekly blog party. And finishing with another funny picture, from Pinterest of course ;-)

Haha, love it! Take care and see you next week ♥ ♥ ♥