Mixed Media Tutorials - Art Journal

I have done many more mixed media pieces... both in my art journal and on canvas. I am finding it very rewarding, and very good for my mental health. The best time, I have found, to work on my Mixed Media art is when I wake up in the wee hours of the morning (which I am finding I do almost every morning now). The house is quiet, and there are no outside noises to distract me (living in a tourist town can get a little noisy!). Here are a some canvases I have finished and brought to the shop to sell:

I have been downloading purchased tutorials and free YouTube tutorials to show me how to use different techniques and tools. My business partner is a HUGE fan of Kelly Rae Roberts. I find her sayings very positive and uplifting, but I can't say I am a big fan of her art work. I can't get past the people images she uses. I heard a quote in one of the tutorial videos I watched that sums it up nicely "... personally, I don't want my people to look like they have bottle necks..." Even though I know she is very popular, I am just not a fan of her style. I find I lean more to the styles of Dina Wakley and Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. I watched one Dina Wakley video and actually got inspired enough to try my hand at actually drawing a bird on one of my pieces. I love how it came out and I am very proud of it! I have yet to attempt to paint a face, but I have a Dina Wakley video that shows how to do it and one of these days I will try!

I will end this blog with a picture of the art piece with my bird. ENJOY!

Art Journal

Art journal - 8/2/2015

My Art Journal

I just started keeping an art journal... I am hoping to do daily entries. I think it will be a great way to test out different mixed media techniques and improve my art. I will try to remember to upload the pages to the blog whenever I complete them!

Art Journal 8/1/2015

I Craft... therefore I hoard.

I saw this saying on a sign in a shop recently:

"I Craft... therefore I hoard"

I was thinking how very true this is. I moved my shop from the front of my house into the Dragonfly Cottage next door almost THREE years ago. I still don't have my studio set up, and there are still piles of craft stuff everywhere around my house. I don't have a place to create or even to sit down! Enough is enough!

I am putting this out there into the blogging world because I know I am not the only one with this problem. I go on a rampage and I clean... out goes a box of donations, and 2 garbage bags to the curb. Then the next time I head out shopping what comes back INTO the house? This craft supply I HAVE to have, or this really cool vintage item that will be perfect for something I saw on pinterest. I know there are people reading this who know exactly what I am talking about.

We also are always searching for the perfect vessel for storage of our stash. We buy or create THE perfect storage system... but then it doesn't work, so we try something else. It's a never ending process.

I have been sorting and purging this week... AGAIN. Hopefully this will be the time when I get enough done to to create a usable work space. The shop will be reopening for the season on Memorial Day weekend. Now is the time I should be working on things to sell, and restocking the shop. I should be sitting at my work table with completed projects surrounding me and lots half done in front of me. Instead? I am dealing with the frustration of a dirty, messy house and studio and no place to create.

So, now you have heard my frustrations.... Thanks for listening to me and tolerating my rant. Next time I blog, I hope to have some pictures and to have moved forward in my battle of Patti -VS- the craft clutter!