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Despite the fact that yesterday, I had both my girls with me at home all day long, I managed to both work in my beloved Art Journal AND to start a new artwork. It feels so GOOD !

I printed a selfportrait I like, and transfered it on a 12×12 cardstock with what we call in french “papier calque”. It looks like tracing paper but it has the particularity to transfer what we draw, in reverse. It very very useful and I don’t find the same thing here. Or maybe tracing paper does so and I didn’t know it ?! It would be totally possible 😉

I am practicing hard to get better at shading faces. I don’t aim to draw/paint realistic faces, but still I WANT to get better at shading, to give some volume to my characters faces. And it’s so damn hard. I don’t know why I’m so struggling at this, i never know where to put shadows exactly. Maybe I should stick to one source of light and always do the same thing ?
I don’t know what came in my mind when I decided to do a selfportrait mixed-media artwork, with my “real” metis colors instead of the shades of grey I usually do (after all, grey is kind of metis too uh ! lol). Whatever… I’m trying and if I don’t like it, I’ll do it again, and again, and again until I’m satisfied. I’m not affraid of making mistakes anymore. It’s just hard to have this feeling of “I lost so much time for nothing !!!”. I realised that it’s not nothing, it’s practice and experience.

I have no idea where this journal page is going, it doesn’t look like what I usually create at all !

I have a lot of work to do and I can’t really say I like it. Wait and see what it will become.

I am in love with new colours ! Payne’s grey is my favourite, it’s a very dark blue awesome for shading any other colour; I love love love transparent red iron oxide and quinacridone nickel azo gold (I love the word “quinacridone” ;)) and of course cobalt teal and the new van dycke brown. And titan buff, and I am discovering all the possibilities of zinc white (which is a transparent white).

Today (Tuesday) I received two good news:

1. My illustration “Meant to shine” was featured in another group on RedBubble. I’m very proud. It is the illustration that means the most to me in my creative and spiritual life. I am very attached to it.
2. I received an email announcing me that I won an Affirmations Package worthing several hundred of dollars; it’s not the carribean cruise but I’m doing the happy dance because the prize is just awesome ! It contains items that are on my to-buy-list for months, and even years.

You can’t imagine how good it feels to be like me again. I realize that creating in all forms is really a part of me. And that I just can’t deny it, even unconsciously.

I am digging in the suggestions people gave me regarding their own creative block solutions so I’m filling my universe with what inspires me: music, movies, images. It’s just perfect at the moment.

This is why I want to share what pumps me up since last week, the new video and song by P!nk. She is an artist i really admire, I love her since “there you go” when she had this short bright pink haircut riding on a big motocycle. She dares to say out loud what she thinks. There is something that emanates from her that is just bright and light.

Come and raise your glass with me (and yes, I was “too school for cool” when I was younger lol). Cheers !

P!nk – Raise Your Glass (Official Music Video)
envoyé par ChaOko_01. – Regardez la dernière sélection musicale.

I don’t know how your Creative Spirit works. And I must confess that I am just at the beginning of discovering the all process of mine.

I can have my head buzzing for weeks, full of new images, new color combinations, new pattern I want to try, new techniques I want to explore that I have no idea how to manage all these things I want to do. And I can be for weeks not feeling like creating something new, or going on with what is actually in progress. Like “I don’t even want to look at my pain or see my crayons”. It’s a real big roller coaster. And being at the low side of the loop is sometimes very hard and frustrating. I’m sure you’ve been there, too. Haven’t you ?

I still don’t really know for sure how to deal with it, but realized that forcing creativity and inspiration is absolutely not working for me. So I go with the flow, I do something else until it strikes my head again. BUM !

October has been a mix of “wow I want to create this, and that, oh and this new thing is just fantastic, I have to give it a try”, and about ten days of “why do I want to create, by the way ? I’m not even a real artist that has real projects, that sells blablabla” and I did nothing except writing again as a daily practice and achieve some experience pages in my Art Journal.
And the thing is that… I’m have facing a blogging block for two weeks now. Absolutely no will to write here. I have no idea where it cames from, it slapped me in the face out of nowhere. Just I didn’t want to write on my blog. And as always, I decided not to go against what my heart was telling me (to be silent).

BUT I fell in love all over again with painting, with creating my world, with wanting to put it inside in the World.

How do you deal with your creative ebb and flow ? Do you know how to always access this source of inspiration within you; how do you do ?
I’d love to hear from you. Sharing with others our process sometimes just helps to identify how we roll.

Here is 3 of the artworks I work on this month (The smaller ones measure 16″x20″. Click to enlarge).

1. Hope in a bottle
2. Uniqueness
3. I am meant to shine

The first one (in the middle) was in progress for MONTHS. No kidding. I remember having shown the sketch at the early beginning on my Twitter account. I was not happy with it, too much brush strokes showing, some of the colours weren’t as I wishing them to look etc. As Jesse Reno would say “if you wonder “Am i done with it ?” then the answer is simple: “NO !!!!”” 😉 I was less affraid to go over the part I didn’t fully love, to cover again and again. I added this and that. It needs more small details and then it’ll be finished.

The second one (on the right) was inspired of a discussion we had regarding our values in Jamie Ridler‘s Circe’s Circle. It says “I accept and embrace my Uniqueness”. Because I know how hard it is to stand for who you know you are, and not who you want people to think you are and even less who people think you are. It’s hard to finally be able to say “I am me, and only me”. So this painting is my little reminder that we are all Unique, and that it’s thanks to all our uniquenesses that the World is so rich and so beautiful.
Prints of it are already available in my RedBubble page: right here. And if you only want the “quote”, here it is.

The last one (click to enlarge) is nearly done too (I worked more on it since I took the general picture above). I just love love love it. It was inspired by my session with the awesomely fantastic Jo Anna Rothman.
I love the gentleness I see in it, but she’s definately bold. And she is not affraid of affirming that yes, she is meant to shine, she assumes it because there’s no shame of shining. Because we all carry Light and Darkness inside, but we all deserve to show our Light to others. I have to accept that I’m not only made of Darkness and that my Light shouldn’t only stay inside. I experimented a technique learned in Julie Prichard’s last online class, in duo with Chris Cozen, called Texture Town.

I fell in love with saying what i have to say through my artwork, with writing everyday, with having paint all over me (oops), with dreaming of what I could do next at night.
And it’s SO good to be in love.

Hello !

Here I am, finally taking this big huge step in my creative life. Thanks to all your support, I am finally opening a shop where you can buy my artwork.

I drop off this failure fear that kept me aside for so long. For the moment, I opened an account on the RedBubble website. You can by my artwork on a lot of different supports: postcards, prints (with lots of options), on canvas etc. I love the fact that the buyer can chose exactly what s/he wants.

I am filling it a little bit everyday. If there is an artwork you like that I don’t have in the shop, don’t hesitate to ask me for it.

I am also in the process of pricing my originals. Some are made on canvas, others on wood panel. I want to be sure it’ll ship safely and today i don’t know how to pack art yet. Those of you who already sell your artwork, I admire you; pricing is very hard in my opinion.
Again, if you’re interested by buying one of my originals, send me an email. The address is located at the top of the right column.

We are working on a pretty integration of the page here in the website so it’ll be easier for you.

It’s right there (click to go to the website):

You know how much I love Connie (oh I should create a blog badge from this “I love Connie” all around the blogsphere, what do you think ?! heehee), from DirtyFootprints studio, right ?
What a best way to thank her for everything she offers to the World, to me, that a creative thing made myself ?

At first, I thought of a painting. But, I wasn’t feeling it. And when I don’t feel somethig as being the right stuff to do, I don’t force it. And then, i remembered this 16page journal I made months ago, following Teesha Moore tutorials on YouTube and I had my WOW moment: this was it. I’ll feel it with whatever comes in my mind when thinking of Connie… And I have to confess: I love how it turned out. And I am beyond happy that she loves it too.

Here is her reaction like 5 minutes after receiving it:

Tracie’s journal is just gorgeouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus !!! See this smile on Connie’s face ? it’s just… it made my day (and my art penpal received her something too ! me=happy happy happy !).

And because i thought it would be fun, I recorded the first spread of the journal. Here you are:

This week is going to be FREAKING AWESOME ! So many good things are happening today I can’t barely take it all.

PSSS: stay tuned, I’ll share with you my 2day workshop with the fabulous Jesse Reno soon !

Hello !

You’ll think I suck with my journals… you may be right, I don’t know.

I’ve been working on this one here and there for a week (because I never had the possibility to focus on it more than 30mn each time). I love it but I am facing several issues, and one is kind of “serious”.

This time, I wanted to try Teesha Moore’s method (because I know her journals are awesome, right ?! ;-)). I’ve done several of her 16page journal made with only one sheet of paper (and if you didn’t give this a try yet, go there. It’s just easy peasy and really fast to make).

First, I realize thanks to this journal making process that I need to see the person creating to understand more easily. It’s just a observation. Words and few illustrations are not enough for me. I had to read several time (lots of times I should stay, and to ask for confirmation of good understanding).
Second, I hate math. I am probably numb but it took me a while to figure out where to put my 6 holes on my 10inch guide.
Third, I have some small strength issues and it’s very hard for me to pull the thread correctly. So it’s too loose despite my efforts to keep it tight. My husband told me that next time, he’ll help me (he’s so sweet).

As you can see on the picture, my problem is simple: the book tape (which is self-adhesive, I bought it a while back online at Paper Source for Julie Prichard‘s awesome class about book binding) does not stick properly on my painted book board.
My brother-in-law suggested it’s because of the paint. Personally I don’t know. When I made a journal using painted masa paper, I didn’t face the sticking problem. And because bookboard is quite thick, I can’t sew the tape and the bookboard together as Rhomany does in her Cryptic Coptic Binding class (which add a beautiful finish look, by the way).
It’s the same on the inside when I open the journal…
I tried to glue with PVA glue but it got messy and absolutely useless.

Did you experience the same ? How did you fix it ?

My husband and brother-in-law gave me some ideas, so for now I simply put some magic mesh over both covers. As it’s very sticky, it’s okay but I’m not sure it will last forever like this 🙁

Here are some pictures (but the front cover does not look finished to me yet):

I love the dangly things on the spine. The beads are from an old broken necklace.

So it was a struggle to make for all the reasons I wrote but I enjoyed the process eventually and will just change some things next time to make it more suitable with what I can do.

Every suggestions for the sticky problem are, of course, welcome 🙂