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I am expending myself creatively and recently opened the door to commissioned paintings (official annoucement and details coming this week).

I am currently working on two paintings for a very dear customer, each one has a story, a character on her own. I love that ! I try to stay myself (this is why you order a custom painting at the first place, because you want a piece of the artist for you, just for you, no ?) but be true to what my client wants. Not always to combine the two, especially when it is the first time (or well… the second time in my case).

Here is a pick of my studio, just before I started working.

I love the candles made by the shop ZenaMoon and often light the one that I feel connected to at the moment, I put my iPod to play randomly my playlist, do some Reiki, a prayer and start (I can’t believe I am sharing that !).

And then I really wanted to start my studio session by a short stamp carving… I am not very good at it, I guess it will come with practice (and my stamp carving tool does not have fine small tip…).

I was frustrated so I end up not doing as much as I had in mind, but that’s totally find. I don’t mind much, I did it for fun and because it was on my mind for weeks (!!).

I told you that my neighbor came over everyday this week to paint along me in my Studio (we are direct neighbors in our townhomes row, so it is very easy to come ahah).

I shared with her my techniques and insights about my creative process.

This owl is what came out from my demos to her. He is made with A  LOT of layers. a lot.

We laughed at how «male-ish» he is looking. Knowing that I only do girls, it was quite a surprise ! But this painting is definately a «HE» and not a «SHE».

He is made on a 6×8″ (15x20cm) cradled wood panel. The edges are still raw.
Here are a few of the materials I’ve used for this painting:

• Scrapbooking papers
• Acrylic paints
• Stamps
• Alcohol inks
• Spray inks (by Lindy Stamp Gang)
• Stencils (by The Crafter’s Workshop)
• Different kinds of gel mediums, both matt and glossy. But all heavy or extra heavy

As each and every of my paintings, he has a message for you:

What are you born to be ? What is your Life Mission ? 
Sometimes, you do not really need to know the answers to these questions to give the best of yourself in every situation, you do not need a precise response. Just have faith that whatever it is, you DO have a purpose, a reason you are here. 

Remember that in moments of doubt and fear.

Original painting available here

This is really about accepting that even when we don’t have the answers to our question and introspection, it is okay. That everything is taken care of. However, we have to play our part in the «big picture» of it all…

Here are some more pictures of it (click to enlarge):

The amazing Julie Prichard reminded me of a current issue we have, us who have a Facebook page.  You can read her blogpost «the ugly truth about facebook» by clicking.

Facebook is very clever about how to push us to spend money if we want to actually be seen by the people who are liking our fanpage. But as a small business, trying to have the head about the waterline, it is not in my budget right now to spend between $5-20 for EACH of my status update to be seen by you.

I have published it on my personal Facebook page, knowing that if I was posting it on my fanpage, only 10% would see it anyway. But I am pasting it here too, because this is important:

ATTENTION! Facebook now requires page administrators to pay to promote their updates if we want our content to be seen by our fans. If we do not pay to promote our posts, only about 10% of the fans receive the updates on the Facebook home page feed.

To keep RECEIVING ALL POSTS FROM US you have to hover the mouse on the “Like” button near our name. In the drop-down menu select “ADD TO INTEREST LISTS”. Then create an interest list (and make a name for your favorite sites). When you select that interest list you will see ALL of our posts and you won’t miss anything important!

 We recommend that you follow the above instructions for ANY Facebook page you care about, so you can continue seeing all the posts from the pages you love.

 Thanks for your help, and please share this with your friends! 

If you want to stay in touch via my page, that I update everyday, often several time a day, please take 2 minutes of your time to make sure you are seeing my statuses.
I really appreciate it. Thank you.

And if you are not a fan yet, you can still «like» my page anytime. It is right here: http://www.facebook.com/InnerVoices.net

ATTENTION! Facebook now requires page administrators to pay to promote their updates if we want our content to be seen by our fans. If we do not pay to promote our posts, only about 10% of the fans receive the updates on the Facebook home page feed.

To keep RECEIVING ALL POSTS FROM US you have to hover the mouse on the “Like” button near our name. In the drop-down menu select “ADD TO INTEREST LISTS”. Then create an interest list (and make a name for your favorite sites). When you select that interest list you will see ALL of our posts and you won’t miss anything important!

We recommend that you follow the above instructions for ANY Facebook page you care about, so you can continue seeing all the posts from the pages you love.

Thanks for your help, and please share this with your friends! 

Hello again !

I am so happy to announce I have some new paintings available for you to purchase. For now, one Sprixie and one Nixie.

They were both created on 5×7″ birch wood panel.
I really really enjoy working on a wood surface. Because it is hard. And If I want, I can let it more or less show through.

Title: «Move On»
Original available here

This Sprixie is really all about leaving what you don’t need anymore behind in order to make room for what is to come next.

He is looking right ahead, to what the future holds, refusing to stay the prisonner of the past, of the emotions and thoughts that he does not need anymore. He works hard to get rid of the hurt, to mend the wounds.
He is tired, and his heart is heavy with all those conflicted feelings. The will to change for better, and the «not knowing how to make that change a reality». The fear of not being able to find his way to his beautiful self.

But overall, he knows that all the struggles happen for his growth and that yes, everything is gonna be okay. everything is okay.

Title: «Charlie»
Original available here

Charlie is quirky and different. She even has a (teeny tiny) mouth. And small wings that trick people, because they think these wings are useless and embarassing.
She is so strong and brave, you would not know that by just looking at her. There is way more under the surface than what the eyes can see, just as much as the background composing the painting, made with layers and layers of different media (the papers, art tissue, paint, stamping, scribbling, scratching and more than I can actually remember afterwards).

For more details about their stories, please go in the shop.

Prints will soon be available in the shop as well (next week) and I am now able to offer several sizes of the same print, so if you would like bigger than 8×10, this will be made on order but available at the same time than my usual size.

Hello gorgeous Souls !

Do you remember the 10.10.10 Project I was part of a few months back ? It was an amazing experience to answer these questions about my view on being a creative entrepreneur.

Robin Norgren, the initiator of it, compiled ALL the insights from the different women (41, to be precise) who participated into a book, called Spark and Inspire.
This is 237 pages of goodness, of different perspectives, of advices, of sharing the deep love for what we do.

This is what she says about the book:

Within these pages you will find the voices of over 40 creative entrepreneurs who run their businesses both online and in brick and mortar stores, who run workshops and sell in shows, who have a range of experiences and have been in business from 1 year to more than 25 years and who offer you no nonsense information on their processes and how they have been able to keep moving in tough economic times and how they have found a way to let good ideas go when the money was not in line with the dream. We are talking on a range of topics from collaborations to big leaps that did (and did not) come together as planned. We are talking about how to get at the soul of your business and how to stay excited about the work you offer the world.

It sounds amazing, doesn’t it ?

Answering these questions moved me, allowed me to go deeper in the «how-s» and «why-s» of my business, why I decided to shift from hobby to work. And reading the others’ own point of view simply amazed me. We all have a different background, have been in the business from 1 year to decades.

You can purchase the book as a beautiful paperback version, or if you want instant gratification you can buy it as an ebook or for your Kindle.
Click here to purchase the book.