Spirit Tree

I did this one last night after Daniel and I got a blessing from my father about our lives. It has many meanings for me but I think that it is just a nice picture to share so I decided to post it. Hope you like it! Do you see any improvements/setbacks when you compaire this to the first?

Self Representation

This is an old one I did sometime between now and Christmas. I was playing with my new color pencils that my husband gave me (along with many other art supplies I got from him as gifts) and I did this free hand piece that can be considered cousin to a "Soul Painting". The reason I make the comparison is because its about "feeling" the piece instead of planning it. Each item has significance, just like sequences in a dream. They each mean something and so it is a drawing with "meaning" instead of just being esthetically pleasing. I think you get the idea.I can't really say what all of it means now, but after I drew it, I showed it to my husband and we discussed what the different colors and images meant. Its a fun activity that anyone, even non-artistic folks, can enjoy.

If you want to try a simple one, here is one of the first activities I did that was like this. It works best when there are several people who want to do it. Everyone has paper and color pencils and first everyone talks about themselves a little... something simple or maybe what they want to accomplish this month or in their life-just to introduce the energy and get everyone centered. Then set a timer for ten min or so and everyone is to draw a tree- and encourage everyone to add whatever pops into their head no matter what it is (like those pink bubbles around the fox's head-don't ask me what those are for! I don't know) This isn't supposed to be a masterpiece, just draw it! And no excuses like "I'm no artist" or "its a dumb looking tree" because when you are finished this tree is supposed to be "You" or where you are in life right now. So if you say things like that- its like saying you are not good enough for your own life, so avoid talking negative about your picture. Now, take a moment for each person to introduce their picture and talk about how they feel about it. For feedback, everyone else is supposed to point out things they notice about the images, colors and feelings they get when they look at the tree. Does it have leaves, flowers or fruit? Are there symbolic colors or shapes? Does it take up most of the page or is it small? What kind of tree is it? Are there animals, people or other significant things nearby? What about the branches or roots? All these things can be somehow tied back to your life and its a great way to discover some things about yourself for your own introspective thoughts. My tree had red bark, and lots of purple fruits but no roots (which means no foundation) however, you can see that in this later drawing my tree has changed into an intricate foundation system and a beautiful pink and gold butterfly and crown at the top. Notice the black arrows pointing in? And the fruit is much smaller, and my animal guardian... the eagle... is far in the distance among the mountains. I should do a new tree now to see how its changed again because I know so much has changed in my life and I am a new person since then. See how interesting this ongoing project can be? Try it sometime! Its like a visual journal... less about "what's happening" these days and more about "who am I" and how do I feel about life. I should do 4 every year and keep them in a journal together = )

Bug Project

So our little project on the side was to make several thumbnails of different textures... as seen here ----V

Then we were to take those textures and make them into bugs. It was a fun little project and my favorite is the one on the top with antennae sticking out. I call it the "Puzzlebox Beatle" because the designs on its legs and back and such remind me of the wood designs you see on one of those chinese puzzle boxes. I couldnt get the camera to show detail very well so you'll just have to use the examples above and your imagination. But that's whats so great about art- you dont have to take it at face value, everyone gets their own interpretation out of it!

(If you click on the picture it will show the detail much better! I also inked the Puzzlebox Beatle..hopefully it worked to help the picture show up better)

Its the end of the world as we know it....This is serious!

Here is a little story about a bipolar artist, kids.
I was sitting at the table working on my project, and I thought to myself "Man, I just love this so much! I'm so glad I changed my major. THIS is what I love doing as a career and I could do it for hours!" ...things of this nature. A couple hours later, I was still working on the same piece only now I was about in tears, I was so frustrated and completely out of hope for the piece (by the way-this isn't that piece. its still exactly right where I left it because I vowed the only time I would pick it up again, would be to burn it!) I got up and started cleaning the house to clear my head but every time I thought about going back and trying again, I just lost it. There was no way it would work and I had worked really hard on that piece! The problem? The teacher had given us this special smooth paper to do our finals on and the color pencils simply would not blend smoothly. And because of this small thing, I almost gave up on it. Luckily, I convinced myself that the regular paper would pass and if not I would show her the two and she would nod and say how wise I was for making that call. The verdict? Lots of people used 3 or 4 different kinds and she spent about 2 min. total talking about my two pieces in our class critique. All that "blood and tears" act for nothing! Oh well, at least I take my work seriously but maybe I should tone it down a little- nobody likes a drama queen. Especially an artist who says her life is over because two colors wont blend and everything is worthless now. Hehe, my poor husband.... has to deal with that kind of thing from me as an artist and writer ALL the time. What can I say? I'm a recovering perfectionist. I try.

Stone and Leaves- ink

Here is a little piece that I did for my Drawing class at school just now. We were supposed to take our little 1 inch by 2 inch viewfinders around campus and sketch a thumbnail drawing of whatever little interesting things we could find. I did 17 but didn't like any of them enough until I recieved some inspiration from one of my friends in my Fantasy Writing class.She had this ring that had several tiny leaves and different sized black circles among the leaves. I loved its design so much that I drew several studies from it right away and it ended up being my final for that assignment. Of course, this is a more abstract version but I do like how it turned out.

A work in progress..

This is one I did while out on the lawn the other day. It is a study of some of Law's work... and by the way when I speak of Law, I mean Stephanie Pui-Mun Law the watercolorist and fantasy artist. My husband says I "idolise" her too much, but thats not true. I only worship the ground she paints on, thats all! I want to be just like her, but in my own way of course (I dont want to BE her).

I just couldnt get the angel's face right no matter how many times I tried, so she is wearing a blindfold. I always thought that ties and blindfolds on angels were symbolic in many ways. Also, it looks like her hand is raised in freedom but why is her other hand behind her back? hmm....
Anyway, this is just a work in progress. I feel like I am getting better everyday- that is, when I've been practicing everyday. And that's what its all about! Progress, my dears, progress.

The Wooden Man

This is one I did the same day. It is a man made of wood. I must say that I feel like this character must sometimes. Wooden, half-formed, a large hole right through the center, and a wistful look in the one painted eye he has. I drew him with green wood and brown leaves to add to the backwards feeling- green wood lives while brown leaves have lost all life force. You can't see it, but I like the way his skin looks like the grains of wood patterns but in different parts of his branch-like arms, it appears that bones are sticking out of very thin skin. Kind of reminds me how nature is doing these days- thin skin, a large hole, still living but dead leaves all around, metaphorically speaking of course.

Sorrow Embraced

Yesterday I felt very sad and lonely while I was at school- it happens from time to time. I felt so miserable I just sat down and cried for a while, but when I was done I felt... cleansed. I drew this picture right after, so its a bit rough, but I wanted to depict the feeling of loneliness and sorrow and that its ok to feel these feelings. The Angel is acting as a witness to this boy's sorrow and isnt trying to take it away or make him stop- simply feeling his emotions with him and sitting with his pain. The golden butterflies are representing golden light that helps heal and release. The tree is similar to the Angel in that it only sits with the emotions and helps cleanse all thoughts and feelings. The stones are steadfast reminders just to be what you ARE- a stone will never be anything other than a stone. The tiny red flowers represent our raw emotions in this life- sometimes vibrant and uncontrollable, but always beautiful and perfect the way they are. When we stop ourselves from feeling particular emotions or feelings about a certain thing, we stop the natural flow of life. Its such a cleansing feeling to just express something in all its rage or sorrow or joy and then let that feeling go. Its the natural way of life and there is Joy in experiencing and expressing the full spectrum of ourselves. So the thought for today is try to be a little less rigid in your thoughts and actions- live a little! You just might start enjoying yourself... heaven forbid.

Listen to the Silence

A moment of contemplation. My art is usually less about artistic expression and more about a way to show my observations in life. Same thing with my writing. You tend to get more out of life when quietly observing everything. After a long time of observation, its time to share and finaly you have something worth listening to, instead of the sensless jabber that everyone seems so fond of. She who speaks, doesnt know- she who knows, doesnt speak...

Henna designs

I'll have to think of some better way to photograph these Henna designs that I do but here's one of the first I did on my husband. We each had two designs, one on the foot one on the arm- but a few dips in the chlorinated pool took that away. His new one is a flaming sword with some celtic runes. I just love thinking up new designs for these temporary tattoos!