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I am attached to every single one of my paintings this year. But there are some that I just can’t seem to let go and propose to you.

This is the case of Antonia, that I recently shared with you here. And this Nixie too, that has no name for now (she will share it with me later, I am not afraid).

It all began with a piece of round hardboard I found in my stash of stuff. Yes, I do rediscover things I had no idea where there… I covered it with scrapbook papers and tissue papers. I love adding crackle medium (I use the one from Kroma, which is local from here in Vancouver but can be found worldwide now). Once dry, I then I cleaned my palette from another painting on it, and it looked like this:

I really really wanted to use the technique taught by the amazing Mindy Lacefield in one of her online class, it became this (can you tell that at this point, I wass all lovey-dovey and could have easily left it like it was ? yes.):

I wish a picture could convey the amazingness that this step brought to the all thing. I ran my fingers over it, again and again (I am weird like that), finding the crevasses, the bumps of my signature texture that I created all around on the border, the cracks from the crackle media…

I sketched a little something I wanted to paint for my daughter’s room (it involves a unicorn, kind of) but for some reason I don’t know, it is not what appeared.

I am taking Willowing (Tam Laporte)’s class, LifeBook 2014, and this week is a lesson by another of my Kindred: Danielle Daniel. It inspired me so much that I decided to use this beautiful background instead of my journal.

I know she is FAR from being perfect, but I don’t mind. It does not bother me at all, in fact.

Meet Marietta, she is joining the Beyond The Obvious family. She told me so many things about her story… I wonder what you feel and see when you look at her (please, share: I would love love to know).

To learn more about this new series, check this blogpost.

Marietta is looking for a new home, and is available in my Etsy shop.

And then there is Antonia… there is something about her I can’t really pinpoint, I can’t let her go (maybe later ?). She speaks directly to both my Heart and my Soul.

I love that my closest friends, who I call kindly my KindredSisters, are creative in a way or another. I love bouncing ideas and being inspired by them.

I am currently taking Mindy Lacefield’s Primitive Portrait class, as you may know already. She inspired this series of paintings. In this class, Mindy insists on the fact that less is more and this was perfect timing for me to explore a new way to do my faces, to go deeper into what they express and what I want them to convey. I am finally comfortable in how I paint them, which is huge for me. Huge.

While talking to another of my dear Kindred, Micki (aka The Secret Hermit), I decided to try to see a new mean of how I organize my focus (gosh, not sure this makes sense, I apologize in advance for this fibro flare-up induced blogpost). I have plenty of ideas regarding what I want to paint, but my attention span is low and so is my excitement about a project. So I will now try to determine a time length I want to dedicate to a specific series, share it, release it to the world as I am doing now, and then let it go to start something else. Beyond the Obvious is my April series, maybe a tad bit longer than that but not more than after the first week of May. It does not mean I won’t do other paintings in that style afterwards.

You know my Nixies all have a story to share, but I want to leave it open to each of you: what does they tell you ? What do you feel when you look at them ? I won’t share the stories I have heard while painting them, just their names.

Plus, you can see that there is no two like the other and it makes me so very happy because they still appeared intuitively and I did not try to fix them.

I will add more along the way but here are the first 8. They are all available in my Etsy shop. Click on each Nixie directly to be redirected to her Etsy page. (note: prints will be made available once the original painting has a new home).

I know I haven’t been sharing much lately but I am getting myself busy with several projects dear to me.

First, I am finally filming for my first solo online class (You may know that last year and this year, I have been a guest artist in several classes, and I am forever grateful for that. I am also one of the artist in this year’s Soul Food class, but my lesson will be released in a few months). 
If you follow me on one or more social media, you can see some Sneak Peeks now and then (I love seeing behind the scenes from other artists, so I am sharing what I like seeing in others). Here is one:

I am bringing the Magic back, within me as well as around me. And my Studio is a sacred place to me so it deserves its own altar. I change the artwork, the candles, the gems. But everytime I began a creative session, I set an intention and clear myself, my space and my stuff with Sage. It is in serious need of decluttering, however. It will help me determine what I currently need and don’t need anymore, I love that this is an everchanging special space in my Studio.

I am so enjoying Micki Wilde’s latest online class, A Hermit’s Compendium of Imaginary Creatures and had so much fun staining paper to make my own journal (she uses a Derwent one but it is impossible to find here so I decided that I would pair her class with my itch to make my own journals again. There you go, stupid Gremlins ! ;)).

Speaking of class, I told you how good timed Mindy Lacefield’s class, Primitive Portraits (you guys, I am so beyond words to call these two ladies close friends despite the geography). It inspires a new series I will share with you next week, called Beyond The Obvious.

… to Darkness.

Life is made of bright and dark. And I made a promise to myself to never let the dark experiences and feelings take over me for too long anymore.

How do I process them ? I acknowledge, first, that yes they are here, because I learned the hard way that ignoring them only makes it worst. 
Then, I find a way to let them go. It sounds easier than it actually is for me, to be honest. But this is when my art journal comes as a life saver, for my sanity and for the well-being of those who live with me.

Here is the video for you to enjoy:

Here is the list of the supplies I used for this spread:

Soft Gel	Catalyst Mini-Blade #02	Bleeding Tissue Paper	Deli Paper	Flowers She Art stencil	Baby Blue Eyes Aqua
Bayou Boogie Gold	Midnight Rendezvous Raven	Afternoon Delight Denim	Gesso

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