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Hey there !

I am so happy to share with you today some painting you may have seen snippets of if you follow me on diverse Social Media platforms.

It’s still a bit hard for me to put paintings for sale, I  guess I take it too personally if nobody buys them but I am working on it.

(scroll to the bottom of this blogpost for more info on the sale !)

All these three paintings are Sprixies (these characters that look like nothing you know, or not exactly), created on 7.5×11” (±19x28cm) watercolor paper.

Prints are not listed in the shop, but know that it’s an option (the 8×10” print is $20+s&h). Contact me if interested.

«Reach Out» was made when I was feeling extremely lonely, forgotten, and a pretty deep sadness was filling my heart.
This is usually when I go deeper in my painting process. I lay it all out, on the surface, and cover it up with papers, and paint and goodness to bring the Happy back.

Don’t let the Sadness fills your heart for too long, it does not have to be so painful.

Find this special someone to reach out to.

Click below to see him in the shop

«Be You» is dear to me. I have a thing for Koalas, if you’ve been on my blog before you know it’s the nickname we give our little one (she is 6 ½).

As I never plan what I will paint (and if I do, it never actually turns out like I had in mind in the first place so I barely bother anymore !), I had no idea a koala-ish Sprixie would appear. But I went for it when I saw his ears and nose emerge in between the chaos that was the background.

Click below to see him in the shop *with more of his backstory*

«Remember» is a bit less abstract as you can see 🙂

Elephants are known for their amazing memory, so I was not that surprised when he showed up, seeing that piece of paper that made its way in my first layers.

Click below to see him in the shop *with more of his backstory*

I love Leelah.

I am part of my dear TrueSister Mindy’s year long class called True Free Spirit (more about that soon).
For our October project, Mindy shared with us a patchwork background painting and I instantly fell in love with it. Got obsessed with it, even. I am making them with the end of my palette (because you know, I hate to throw paint away so I either create painted papers with it, or now add them to a patchwork background).

She is also created on 7.5×11” waterolor paper.

Leelah is your reminder that no matter what, go for what sparks your flame, what makes you happy, what you are passionate about.

Click below to see him in the shop *with more of his backstory*

And now for the sale !
Enter BLACKFRIDAY20 at checkout to receive 20% off your entire order. Yes, you’ve read it right ! See you in the shop: http://InnerWorlds.etsy.com 🙂

Remember these three backgrounds I started on day #1 ? I worked a bit on them yesterday and finished a painting on one.

My routine has changed, so I have an extra half hour by myself every morning. I still am adjusting, but it means I can usually go to the studio 30 mn early than what I do. I have focus issues I am aware of, and I know I can’t do more than «concentrated» time, or I lose my focus and start procrastinating (or doing too many things at once, which means I don’t finish any of them… yes, it sucks but I am learning and it will get better eventually).

This Koala showed me his ears first, and I went from there. I got frustrated at some point and even thought he was a bit scary (actually, I still think).

When I sketched him, he had a smile à la Cheshire Cat, even scarier ! ahah

I am loving using embossing powders in both my background and my characters, here the drops, the diamond, and his eyes’ circles are all created with embossing powders. I used the ones from Lindy Stamp Gang, they have a unique dual-tone that I just adore.

I am proud of myself for not being that afraid anymore to cover up. I felt like my entire background needed to be covered up, with just bits and pieces showing up.

This Koala has an important message: be you. You could live in your books ? You love dancing ? You sometimes feel like you are the weirdest of all the weirdos *I know I do* ? well… it is what makes you you…

(the original painting and prints are available, message me if interested 🙂 It will be in the shop very soon)

I’m trying not to get too behind, this is why I’m using the Worpress app on my iPad, writing from my bed. My daughters are finally in bed. We are watching The Killing season 1 on Netflix.

Saturdays are crazy over here, especially for the past couple months. We had, until today, to wake up early (for a weekend morning), and be out the door at 9. Then, diverse lessons ensue until 11:30 plus the time to get them dressed and out of the Community Centre. We eat quickly and then on the road we go for the weekly grocery shopping ! We are experimenting, and cross the border. Which makes it overall longer.
So yea… There not really time for me to get messy in my Studio. I always have my iPad mini in my purse or on hand. So because I really want to make this daily, I decided that I could totally make it work with doing something on my iPad.

This is a quick patchwork background I did on procreate today:

I love seeing everymonth how everyone interprets the color theme with have. Our Design Team always amazes me, we are all so different, but it still makes sense eventually, love it ! And you guys, you’re entering the challenge with such great, and diverse as well, projects ! I’m looking forward to it every month.

Remember, you can find our rules here. You can win a $50 dollars gift certificate in the Lindy Stamp Gang store, with all the new sets coming out, that would be neat. 
And see what we came up with right there.

I am often afraid that my creative ideas will run out, and that I will be condamned to do the same things over and over (do you have this creepy feeling too sometimes ?). 
I had an idea in mind for this month’s challenge, went to find my supplies and… it did not happen, I have no clue where it went. BUT this is how I found these ceramic tiles I’ve bought at Home Depot a while back, to play with alcohol inks on it. I grabbed them and decided to experiment.

I picked three, because it gives freedom to play, especially that mine were not that big (I am challenged by smaller format now). As every experiment, there is a big part of the results that holds unexpectedness, it works or it doesn’t.

This photo does not make them justice, they were hard to capture on a single picture.

I wanted three drastically different tiles, to play with all the great products we carry. Remember: this was an experiment. I’ve played with this tiles with only one product before, it was alcohol ink 😉 So some of what you’ll see in the video worked, some… not so much.

I hope you’ll enjoy watching my process (remember to turn on the HD !):

(Look at the gorgeous shimmers. this makes me so happy !). For the first tile, I applied some crackle medium, I used the one from Kroma (it is a local brand but you can now find them pretty easily. If not, please use what you have on hand, the one by Rangers would work as well). This crackle medium can be left to air dry (which I decided to do), or you can activate it with a heating tool.

After 24 hours, the crackles have formed and are so beautiful. I enhanced them with the Midnight Raven Rendez-Vous Starburst Spray. I then sprayed a bit of My Mojito Green and Cana Lily Burnt Orange to add some contrast. I love how the ink went under the cracks, I did not expect it to do that.

I had a sentiment that wanted to go with this tile «Even in the Darkest night, there is always Light». So I grabbed some kraft stars, and colored them with the Starburst Color Shots (most are currently on sale in the vault, so grab them while you can !!). The gripper is very handy. I used: Edelweiss Moss Green, Marigold Yellow Orange, Silent Night Silver and Ghostly Gargoyle White. I wrote my sentiment on Deli paper, hoping it would blend with the tile once glued… which did not happen. But eh, that’s okay !

For this tile, I wanted to see how the Sprays would react on the bare ceramic. It is a non-porous surface, so I kinda knew the ink would slip over it. I used A Bit O’Bubbly, Cana Lilly Burnt Orange and Amaryllis Burgundy. Using my heat tool helped, I love the marble effect it created. 
Once dry, I placed a 6×6" stencil from The Crafter’s Workshop (this one is on my top 5), and applied embossing ink all over. Then, I covered it all with the Pumpkin Fiesta embossing powder. 
It took FOREVER to heat emboss. Really. We can still see the ink underneath, so it creates a cool effect. 
I had a sentiment in mind, so I wrote it with my trusty black Stabilo mark-it-all pencil. You’ll see at the end of the video that I changed my mind, as it’s watersoluble it was easy to wipe it off with a wet paper and write something else instead.

And last but not least (this is my favorite tile of the three !), I wanted to see how fun it would become to make the ceramic porous again. For this purpose, I brushed clear gesso all over the surface, pressed some bubble wrap to add some texture, and dried it. 
Then I sprayed Grab A Guy Gold as my base color, then a bit of My Mojito Green, and finally some droplets of Amaryllis Burgundy for a great contrast. Doesn’t it look like beautiful leaves, changing colors during Fall ? Love love it ! 
If you follow me and my {In Motion} videos, you know that I now love the glitters we have over at Lindy Stamp Gang, and one way I use them is to simply mix the glitter with gel medium. This is what I did with the Chartreuse glitters from the Mad Hatter set. I applied the gel through a stencil, all over the tile. It dries clear, so the glitters really pop ! 
I finally wrote «Believe In Magic» with my white Stabilo pencil. We have to really look for it to see it, which makes me happy (unexpected happiness is always welcome).

Here is the list of the products I have used (click to go on their page):

A Bit o’Bubbly Canna Lily Burnt Orange Grab a Guy Gold My Mojito Green Amaryllis Burgundy Pumpkin Fiesta Orange Mad Hatter Glitter Icicle Creek Shot Set French Country Shot Set Jingle Bells Shot Set Haunted Halloween

InLinkz.com

Oooh I love being challenged. One of my darling customer contacted me last week, telling me she needed a Nixie to be her new computer’s wallpaper. Something that will inspire her to create and to work.

You know now that I am a hundred percents intuitive when i work. I do think, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t plan ahead, I just go through my stash of papers, take paint and go from the Intention I start the process with. This customer knows about it all, so I was confident that whatever would appear on my painting, it would be what she deeply needs, no matter how scary it is for me sometimes (psss: you can contact me if you’d like a painting just for you).

Layers. It is about the layers, and daring to make bold moves. I was so scared to cover it up with that toned down pebble paint… but knew in my heart this was what the next step needed to be. And I am in love with the effect it created. It reminded me of the importance of how the brushes where meeting the surface, that depending on that was how the paint is spread (you’ll see in the video).

I am so grateful for my creative mentors and inspirations, that pushes me further.

This, right there, makes me extremely happy. I think that the texture is what makes me continue exploring again and again, and then the magic of seeing something emerging from what can seem to be Chaos.

Yes, it is far from being perfect. Far far far. But I can finally say that I am comfortable with the faces that emerge. It is what was needed a few months back when I decided I would stop creating Nixies for a while. I am still exploring but my love for them grew stronger.

Here is a list of the supplies I’ve used for this painting. Please, feel free to ask questions if I did not talk about something that is on your mind about what is this or that 😉

Canvas Panel Liquitex Matte Gel Catalyst Blade #6 Bleeding Tissue Paper Blick Matte Acrylics Golden Heavy Body acrylic paint Catalyst Polytip Bristle Brushes Caran D’Ache Neopastels Catalyst Blade 04 Autumn Leaves Magical Tickle Me Fancy- Magical magical Mad Hatter Magical Micas Stabilo All pencil Black Signo White Ball Pen

InLinkz.com