Painting Faces

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How are you? I have been working through with the help of some art making. This weekend the weather was a little gray and between puttering in the garden (and bringing in some cut flowers to place in bud vases around the house) I made some art.

I have been working on a theme of small ladies that I would love to turn into stickers. I do love stickers and adding them to journal pages or in memory keeping. I am still fine tuning them. I love how they look as sketches but when I start painting them I feel like they are loosing a little something. Maybe I should try them all in colored pencils?

I am also working on a little paper clay decoration for Father’s Day. I am hoping I can get it done in time-I have been doing a bit here and there as I can. The inspiration came from Sarah Hand’s new book “A Happy Book of Little Gifts to Make” (that’s an affiliate link and if you make a purchase I receive a small commission but it doesn’t cost you any more).
With any luck I can finish it up in time and share some photos with you.

I was also flipping through one of my larger sketchbooks. I don’t know about you but there are certain sketchbooks or art journals I just connect with. It has very little to do with the book itself and I think more to do with how I have created in it so far. If I have been free and having fun just playing with materials I tend to really, really love the book. This is one of those journals. Usually, once I realize that I love the book I suddenly put all this pressure on myself to “keep it going.”
It feels a little like learning to ride a bike-once you realized you are doing it you fall over?

In flipping through this journal I came across I piece I had done a while back that I absolutely loved. I mean, really loved. I just connected with her so much and I am sure it had to do with how I felt creating her. I remember when she was done and I shared her with my family they just smiled and said it was nice. They didn’t quite share my enthusiasm. Art is like that though isn’t it? It can feel like the entire Universe aligned and offered you clarity and then another person can see it and just shrug. Art is so very personal.

I get it-it’s not as if she is a fabulous execution of a face. Still, she meant something to me and flipping back through the journal and seeing her I felt it all over again.

I also felt the call to make another one (and maybe more than one). This time however I felt a little nervous. Afraid I was putting pressure to create the same feeling I had when I made the one above. (I named her “Babette” by the way)
Instead, I picked a background page that had my favorite colors mixed in it and it and just started playing.

Can I say I love her even more?

 

I also love this photo with my messy desk. I took it just to make sure I captured her and instantly knew this would be a part of a post I wanted to share with you.

I am pretty sure this journal is going to be filled with similar girls. I love the two-page spread and there is just something about each of them that speaks something to me.

I hope you like this little peak into what I have been creating over the weekend. I would love to hear what you have been making or creating. Please share in the comments below.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

 

 

Taking Care and Flowers

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I am sharing a small little post with you today but what I really wanted to share were some photos I took in the garden. I have really been enjoying photographing my flowers and am using them for some sketches/paintings that I hope to share with you. In the meantime, I hope they bring a smile to your face.

I am slowly moving into my hibernation week taking a bit extra care of myself as-in my haste to clear out some weeds-ignored the poison ivy that was growing amidst the dead nettle at the base of the oak tree. As a very clear reminder of the virtue of moving slowly the left side of my face is now covered in poison ivy. It looks worse than it feels (thanks to calamine lotion) still I believe it’s taking it’s toll in other ways.

I am forever trying to find the meaning in my experiences, the lessons buried deep in the seemingly ordinary. I believe that I am being called more and more to focus on my own way of doing things. Of embracing those parts of myself that perhaps I came to believe were flaws.

Like my lack of “hustle” and the need to meander rather than drive.

I have finished a book and started another (not on the list I shared with you in my last book club update) so I hope to have a few more updates to share with you perhaps next week. In the meantime I will drink tea, make art, snuggle my kiddos and spend as much time in the garden as possible.

I hope this week is starting off well for you. That you are able to move at the pace that feels natural and in a way that feels your own. If, like me, you need to take care of yourself I hope you do.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante.

 

Embracing the Planned and the Unplanned & Turning a Tea Box into an Art Box

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Today was a day for doing the planned and the unplanned.

We went up for the town parade which was planned but my oldest two being invited to walk in the parade was unplanned and something they never did before. It was a wonderful experience for them and something I am sure they will remember.

We ended up chatting with our neighbors as we walked home which is always nice. That lead to them offering us their old pool filter for our pool so Scott and our girls are over now visiting and getting the pool filter.

My brother-in-law stopped by to pick up some tomato plants I had for him. We haven’t seem him since Thanksgiving so it was nice to say hello. I tend to have anxiety when people come in my house so unplanned events are actually better for me. My mind doesn’t have much time to work into a tizzy and since it was just decided yesterday he would stop by on his way to something else it felt very low pressure for me and was a nice time.

Now, I am embracing the air conditioning (I get heat sick very easily) and writing to you. I wonder how your day is? Have you been able to embrace the planned and unplanned?

It’s an interesting perspective for me to have since I spent yesterday working in my planner. I am thinking of it more as a container rather than a planner because, as I have said lots of times, I hate to have plans. I love the idea of a planner and filling in the days ahead of time. I rarely ever like the enacting a plan set in place earlier. I never feel like the same person who made the plans. Instead I like to have containers. Something that works as a reminder of all the things that are important to me so I don’t get swept away by my day but not something that is so rigid that I can’t be present in my day.

I am playing around with a new way to incorporate my creative self and my containers and my planner-I’ll be sure to share some updates with you as I get a feel for it.

One thing I am planning on doing is the ICAD 2022 Challenge over on Daisy Yellow’s blog. It looks like so much fun and a great way to have a play with my mixed media and also giving me a container for creativity when I may not be sure what I want to make one day. I decided when I first read about it on the blog that I was going to take part and I was really excited to find that my tea boxes are the perfect container to hold an index card. I decided I would paint it up and have it prepped and ready for June 1st.

I started off just adding a layer of gesso to the box and then some new pastel blue paint I picked up from the craft store during my mini creative retreat. I then added some decorative paper to cover up the embossing the box has and some stickers I was gifted on Mother’s Day.

I am really happy with how it turned out and it was a lot of fun to do. I  was working on this project in the midst of others so when I was waiting for a layer of paint to dry on this project I moved on to another one. It is really easy and I love using things that would other wise be trash (or recycled) and making it into something new. If you love the 80’s themed washi tape as much as I do it’s from artist Mindy Lacefield‘s shop! Not to be a total enabler but she has stickers too-scratch and sniff ones 😉

I recorded the process of decorating the box so if you would like to watch and maybe make something yourself the video is just below.

Are you taking part in ICAD? If so I would love to hear! I will plan on sharing my postcards here on the blog so even if you aren’t taking part you can get a feel for the challenge.

I hope this post finds you doing well and that you are able to get a little bit of creativity into your day today.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

Sharing a New Podcast and Pulling in More Creativity

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Today I managed to have a play with a few different mediums and it felt so nice.

I worked on a new story in a new notebook that is dedicated to a brand new project which feels so fun! I cannot wait to share more of it with you.

I did some research in alignment with this same project and was learning a bit about 1930’s radio programs. I also found a fun behind the scenes video that was made in the 1950’s that was very interesting. You can watch it here.

I recorded a new podcast-something I would love to make a weekly or almost weekly endeavor. It’s about 20 minutes long and I share a bit more about my new project as well as some that will be coming up on the horizon. I also chat a little about pulling in more and more creativity into my days in simple and gentle ways.

I worked in some of my mini art journals as part of a class I am taking with Alisa Burke. While I was reviewing my podcast I had fun just adding some paint to paper and “prepping my pages” as Alisa says.

I also did a little puttering in the garden. Cleaning up and putting away some of the seedling trays that had been littering the yard. I also started putting the fencing around my garden but am going to wait for a second opinion (i.e ask my husband when he gets home) since it looks like it may not be quite as sturdy as I had hoped.

I hope you manage a little creative time today-if only 5 minutes. You totally deserve it and I hope you can find some space for it. Wishing you a lovely day!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

My Mini Creative Retreat Update & This Week’s Creativity

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Happy Monday! I hope this is finding you well. We are having gorgeous weather today and I have been spending some time out in the garden. There is lots to do (isn’t there always) and I still have lots to plant out. Zinnia seeds, snapdragon plants I picked up and so much more.

I wanted to give you a little update about my mini creative retreat. I ended up having-in essence 3 days in the house all to myself something I haven’t had in close to 8 years maybe? Hubby took the little ones on an adventure looking at dinosaurs, snakes and owls. Then swimming in the pool and riding amusement park rides. It would seem our 3 year-old has quite the adventurous spirit when it comes to the rides so I am hopeful I will have another friend to ride the roller coasters with.

Everyone hit the road just around noon on Thursday and I spent the day at home. I did some of my free writing which was a practice I let fall away the past few months. It never ceases to amaze me how the practices I love the most and that replenish and fill me the most are the first things I let go of. Still it felt wonderful to be back with my daily writing journal and just letting the thoughts flow out. It was from this exercise that I decided I wanted to make myself a treasure box and I wanted to do it out of paper mache. Now I have never made a box using paper mache but it sounded like it could be a fun project. I did a little search to see if there were any tips and I found a wonderful video and a blog showing how to make exactly what I wanted to make. Sadly neither the channel nor the blog have been updated in 8 years or so but I still enjoyed looking around. There is something I am just loving about blogs again and I feel there is going to be more and more of them coming back in the purest of forms. Here’s hoping anyway.

So I made up my paper mache box and set it out to dry. Can I just say how much fun it was to do? I love getting messy and I find this kind of creativity so therapeutic. I also had do a minor repair on my paper mache project from Sarah Hand’s class that I mentioned last week. I had them both sitting on the kitchen table under the ceiling fan drying. I did quite a bit of art journalling too and really just relaxing and playing. At night I was looking for a movie to watch and found “Groundhog Day,” which I had actually never seen before. It was a nice light movie to end the day with.

On Friday I woke early (well early for me anyway) and video chatted with the family. The weather was gray and not overly inviting to work outside so I spent time prepping and sanding my paper mache pieces. I think the best part of this little retreat was just floating around and doing things as and when I wanted them. I took a little drive to the craft store and picked up some paints for gelli printing and a few other miscellaneous items for other projects. I enjoyed sushi for lunch and made quite a few gelli prints following on of Carla Sonheim’s classes I just signed up for. It was a lot of fun and I have some plans for these prints that I am looking forward to exploring.  I did manage some gardening and planted up some hanging baskets and a pot for the front porch that I am pretty proud of.

On Saturday I napped in the afternoon. I was tired and just needed a nap and thought, “why not nap?” The family came home around 8pm so the house was chaotic with luggage and laundry and things to be put away and stories to hear. Sunday was my son’s birthday and we celebrated at home just us. He asked for a treasure hunt to find his presents and pizza for dinner. I had picked up his cake on Saturday which was delicious. Unfortunately the family is dealing with colds now-seems to be a bit of a norm when they travel. Nothing serious just running noses and laying around. Most are already feeling better and on the mend but I think any plans for the rest of the vacation will be on hold.

I am grateful to be writing this blog post on our patio under the tent. The afternoon sun floods the garden and I am enjoying a cup of tea, 2 pieces of dark chocolate and writing to you.

I feel I learned a lot from my mini retreat. Namely how important time like this is for me, my mental health and my creativity. I am hoping to make these happen regularly and to also bring into each day some of the best parts of my retreat. Making my creative a priority is not only healing for me it’s a gift I have been given that needs to be nourished.

I hope you are having a nice start to your week. I would love to hear about your creative retreats if you take any and how you go about it. I prefer to do my retreats at home but I think the mobile minivan studio will be coming out again soon.

Wishing you a beautiful week!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Getting Ready for a Mini Creative Retreat

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Happy Monday. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and maybe even got some creative time in.

I have been having a tough few weeks. I am struggling with the whole family/life/creativity balance and sometimes it feels a lot more like drowning than balance. On Sunday the hubby took the kids to visit with his parents and I had the house to myself. It was a beautiful spring day, the house was clean and I was able to dig into some creativity and some creative corner cleaning and I thought it would be fun to share a little update with you.

First I want to share with you my first foray into Paper Mache! I know it’s hard to believe but I have no memory of having ever done this before in my life. I have wanted to do it forever but just never got around to it. I think some of the things I read seemed a lot more challenging and it put me off trying it. The truth is-it’s so much fun!

I had ordered Sarah Hand’s book a while back which lead me to her website and then to her online class. I purchased the class and have been watching it over and over working on my ideas for my character and the other day it came to me-a bird with a sunhat!

I have some more plans for this girl to show up in other projects and I’ll be sure to share them with you when I do. For now I just have the base all done and dry and then I need to give it a quick sand and add the paint-something I think I am going to save for my Mini Creative Retreat.

If you are interested in paper mache and a unique project I highly recommend Sarah’s class. It’s really fun and I love her approach.

While I was waiting for my characters to dry I decided to start a much needed creative corner clean-out. We have a built-in hutch in our room which was holding just a miss-match of items so I went through and cleared it out. I also did a big recycle of cardboard and junk mail I was keeping to use in projects. I still have lots to use but it was time to get rid of the hoard.

As you can see I had project baskets (and boxes) and just things tossed everywhere! This is behind our door so it’s usually out of sight which I think is why I let it get so cluttered. The printer is even in the mess of stuff.

And this is how it looks now! It feels so much cleaner and I was even able to get some things off the floor in my creative corner (the giant bag of foam for starters). Now I have everything organized and yet I can still see what I have. I am very visual and if I don’t have my supplies and projects out in front of me I forget I have them. I also need to move things around after a bit because things tend to blend together and I don’t notice them. Like hiding in plain sight.

I also tackled my desk which was full of stuff from a recent project. It didn’t take long at all and I was so happy with the results I couldn’t wait to sit down and create something. I am thinking of going back to putting down paper on my desk to catch all my drips. I stopped doing it because I have such a small space to work on it seemed that I was running out of dry spots on the paper to actually do work on. I might give it a shot again though because I love having the paper to use in backgrounds and mixed media.

This little clean up inspired me to make this a regular habit. I don’t know about you but I always feel so inspired when I am cleaning and “finding” all these supplies. I might just make a mini clean up a regular part of my creative practice.

What about you? Do you like all your supplies hidden away so your space is neat and tidy or do you need to see things? I would love to hear!

This week I am hoping to work on the shelves and the cabinet above the desk along with my sewing cart. I’ll be sure to share more pics when they are done.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante