Creative focus for 2021

I've been much less productive than I'd like for the last couple of months as I was consumed by work commitments. I know that November-December is always stressful and overwhelming, but it was made more so this year by not having my usual reserves of energy. I am therefore especially grateful that I have started my Summer holidays today! I now have time to create, and rest, spend time with my family and friends, and recharge from now until the end of January. After a very tough year I am counting my blessings, and thought I'd share what I'm looking forward to creatively over the next few weeks and into 2021. I'll be closing my year and finding my word using the free offerings I shared HERE.

And there are a couple of new ones to share this week : I'll be exploring some of Ivy Newport's free lessons in her 12 days of creativity : FREE videos, creative inspiration and discounted classes :

I never do watch all the lesson from Amber's online retreats, but I always find something I enjoy. Tamara Laporte and Kiala Givehand are 2 names you might recognise who are offering sessions.

Sign up here - begins 20 December.

And looking ahead to classes for 2021

I am already joined up for Wanderlust 2021 since I got in quick with the special US$99 pricing. You can still join HERE but it's now US$175 and only available to purchase until 31 December 2020. I've never done this before and I am looking forward to learning from some new teachers and getting a new class for inspiration every week. 

I purchased Kaleidoscope 2020 and didn't manage to do much with it this year so will be making time for that over my Christmas holidays and hopefully beyond. I've watched a few lessons and it's gorgeous and I'm not at all sorry I signed up, just sorry I didn't have the time and energy to do it with other class participants. Life time access....

I've also got other classes I've purchased in the past which I've never completed - this makes me hesitate over purchasing anything else new EXCEPT that

I have long been a fan of Effy Wild and can't imagine doing a year without some kind of class from her. See her current offerings HERE. In the past I've participated in both Book of Days and Moonshine and much more. For 2021 I've decided to do something a bit different and joined her Patreon - there are several levels and I'm going for the top US$20/month. For this I will get Moonshine : The Cafe (The Lite version of Moonshine 2021)

and A Year of Mary which will feature twelve paintings using the ‘lip up’ technique inspired by the poetry of Mary Oliver. This is also available at the $5 (speed painting) or $10 (full length tutorial and PDF) Patreon levels if you just want that. Starting 15th January the below is an Effy example of this technique. 

Bonus - I'll also receive the Darling Human Planner (also available separately from Patreon) which will support my written journaling.

I'm also a member of Effy's Wilderhood FB group which is for students and friends of Effy Wild, including alumni, patrons, etc. 

In 2020 this included Journal 52 prompts, links to Journal Jams and monthly workbooks including daily prompts for written journaling and occasional bonus lessons. 

I also would like to return to a more regular written journaling practice. My Inner Work journal which I began in September 2019 changed a bit this year. While my mixed media work sustained me in my time fighting breast cancer, I found it too challenging to write too much about what was going on. Instead I printed out messages and emails about what was happening in my week

and continued to keep a record of what I was reading and watching each month and the art I had produced over the course of the month

This is a view of my journal from the side - each tab is a month. 

I've purchased a new journal and you'll see I printed a list from the computer that I did when I was still in the thick of work. Also lots of lovely photos to remind me of the highlights of the first couple of weeks of December.

I need to set up this new journal for written journaling. I think I will probably use Susannah Conway's offerings to start this one. 

Only thing I'm not sure of at present is what I'm going to do for mixed media and stitched projects. I'm sure something will come to me at the right time. I need something like Klimt in the garden with Rumi (2019) or the Journal 52 weekly cards I've done this year. Maybe not a weekly commitment though....

I'm getting excited about my plans and I'd love to hear what you're doing creatively in 2021. Hope you are finding ways to make this a special time of year for you, despite the continuing challenges being faced, especially by my overseas readers. Sending you some extra wishes for a safe and joyful season 🌟 

The rest of me in September and continuing inspiration

If you're interested in seeing the art I've completed this past month, scroll back through my previous posts. I am particularly pleased to see how my Klimt in the garden with Rumi art cards are shaping up to be a connected series. I have completed 12 cards so far this year with another 3 prompts to go. 

At my work our whole school had a dress up day to celebrate our Founder's Day 

and I couldn't resist this pose since I'm not usually a shussing librarian! ;-)

I had a wonderful relaxing weekend away to Raumati beach with a group of girlfriends - highly recommended

Inspiration has come in the form of new supplies : 
Who knew Mitre 10 had some cool stencils?!

Loving "40% off any item" vouchers (Left - Spotlight now have some Liquitex products. Right - Warehouse stationery - been looking for a good Red) 

and spending some of my gift card with careful consideration....I still have money left. Landscape colours look awfully like great skin and eye colours to me ♥

These gorgeous oracle cards were lovingly gifted to me : 

Find the artist's blog HERE and her FB page HERE.
FINALLY Tam's new book arrived at my house. Happy to report it is lovely both with regard to style development advice and also the art projects.

I've also been creatively inspired by watching some of the lessons in the FREE Life Book Summit for 2019 16-30 September. Access has been EXTENDED UNTIL 7 OCTOBER - I believe you can still sign up HERE.

I started my new Inner work journal this month. 

I am continuing to focus on intentions rather than a check list of 'to do'. This journal contains my written practice and is evolving as I do - often I find this business of "writing things out" either in response to prompts or tarot or oracle card pulls leads me to personal insights and clarity. I've been doing less writing lately, but I still do a daily journal record and am thinking about how that practice might look next year. I began with shopping for a new hard-covered book and was drawn to purchase the mandala stencil at the same time

Used a cosmetic sponge to put gesso through the stencil onto the cover (dab on and off then pounce)

and once dry I sprayed the entire front cover with a Matte Varnish to seal and protect. I love the simplicity of it.

Looking ahead to October : the first 2 weeks is school hols. YAY. I am going into work for limited hours on only a few days so hoping that I'll have more time to be creative.
I cannot wait to go to the World of Wearable Art show in Wellington to finish my holidays. 

Check out the award winners HERE. I am not looking at them all until I've been to the show. 
In other news, it's far too cold for October today - I want to be swapping my winter woollies out for spring blouses....everything crossed that's something I don't have to wait until November to enjoy! Wishing you warmth with plenty of creative time at your house this coming month.

July review and what to look forward to in August

The photo above is of the art I've completed this past month ♥ Feeling the creative vibe again. The thing I'm most proud of is that all that art above came from me - no direct following of any lessons! I still want to continue to be inspired by lessons from my favourite teachers - it's how we all learn. But it's very satisfying to know that I have my own unique artistic voice. 
I had a nasty bout of flu last month which slowed me down and made me rest. It meant I wasn't able to teach as planned, but hopefully there'll be enough interest for me to teach my prepared class about journal construction next week. I'll be sharing ideas and links here on the blog after I've taught the class.

In the coming month I'm looking forward to creative inspiration with the arrival of Tam's new book : 

and the content presented by teachers in Book of Days 2019 : this is a peek at our preview of offerings for August : 

I'm also excited that there will be new supplies in my studio soon courtesy of some vouchers from Warehouse Stationery and the discovery of a wonderful expansion of their Ranger products in our local store ♥ 

On the strength of that discovery I've updated my post about where I shop for mixed media supplies too. You can always find that link up in the top right side bar. Warehouse Stationery continues to impress with their range of products and is now my first local destination of choice for art purchases.
I continued to write almost every day in my Inner Work Journal. 

Each tab is a new month in this journal and the bookmark shows where I am preparing August. Given the number of pages left, I think I will be looking for a new Inner Work journal to coincide with Spring in September and new beginnings ♥
I had some good viewing in July with some new discoveries and revisiting some old favourites. "Amelie" and "Bright Star" are two of my most favourite movies. My best read last month was "The Strawberry Thief" - it was a wonderful continuation of the series begun with "Chocolat"

I've just about completed my rose pruning and I've brought daphne inside to my table - I love that smell. 

We have another month to get through of our official Winter, but our days are already lengthening again after Winter Solstice. I look forward to August with wishes for warmth and creative joy. This is my current journal spread in progress : 

Hope to share with you again soon.

May review, welcome June, and FREE art lessons

The photo above is of the art I completed in May. Although I don't feel like I've been as creative as I would like, that's more than one piece a week so I'm happy with that. 
I also taught an intro to Gelli printing class

and took our first school electives session with 15 students beginning to make neo natal quilts - selecting fabric is such fun, and I've got some great extra adult support. 

I was creatively inspired by a couple of wonderful quilt exhibitions

and made a couple of small purchases which I am enjoying

I continued to write most days and my Inner Work journal now looks like this (each tab is the beginning of a new month) 

I also continue to take photos for my #arteveryday practice - although I've not been arting as much as I'd like, I would like to encourage you to keep a record of being creative every day. Last week was Week 26 of #arteveryday. That's a whole 6 months since I began! 

This is my record of what I was reading and watching - with darker evenings there's definitely been more watching..."Welcome to Marwen" was just okay and "Outside" is a teen read and not as good as "Room" which is similar subject, but I really enjoyed everything else here :  

And now it's June : Birthday month....and I don't just mean the Queen! ♥ Both my younger son and I celebrate birthdays in June and it's a good month to look at what else needs celebrating and what needs to be released as we approach the end of the first half of the year. I know there are challenges ahead - longer nights and more unsettled weather as we approach Winter Solstice and my gym has just closed so I'm looking for an alternative, but I know there are also joyful outings coming, and I begin this new month with hope for better energy and more creativity. I'm going to try and focus a bit more on my word SHINE : this month I'm back to concentrating on S for Self-care and I'll make sure Ease is in there too. A long weekend is a great way to begin a new month. And I'm setting intentions this month instead of a long to-do list to tick off. 

If you're looking for new art challenges, quite a lot comes up as the northern hemisphere heads into Summer. I always like to share FREE options. 
Marit's Quirky Dutch Summer 2019 Starts on June 10th - all the information including previous posts are HERE.

There's Daisy Yellow's ICAD challenge HERE : June 1-July 31, 2019

Also looking ahead to July is this free online weekend event. 

It's part of a larger year-long workshop and while I am at my limit with my online class inspiration, this coincides with the first weekend of our next school holidays... so even if I only manage to watch one or two things it's worth me signing up. Also a great way to discover artists that may be new inspiration to you. 
Happy June - hope you are blessed with sunshine and creativity this month.