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Hello !

I am sorry for not posting a Gratitude Friday today. I got out of bed less than 30mn ago, I was forced to stay there until the strong headache and nausea that stroke me went away.

This blogpost will be shorter than usual, but if you have any question, don’t be shy and leave me a comment I’ll answer with pleasure (here or on the YouTube video itself).

Last Wednesday, I just wanted to record a painting from start to finish. Not knowing what. It is a simple mixed media artwork on a 8″x10″ canvas board. I used my favourite media:

• acrylic paint
• PanPastels with embossing ink
• Color Shots

I think I finally pinpointed what was missing in my faces and how to give them more depth and character. Do you perceive any difference ? I do.

Here is the video (with a special guest appearance):

1. First of all, I applied acrylic paint with my brayer. A quick and easy way to get the color on with great texture.
2. I found it was to bright so I added white with my hand *blissful*. I allowed me not to have a color that was too flat.
3. I first perceived the hair on the left, this is where I started sketching with my graphite pencil, then the rest of the face appeared easily from itself. I realized I just need to see a face feature and then go from there. I go over with a watersoluble graphite (my charcoal pencil seems to be dead).
4. I painted the face with acrylic paint and the watersoluble graphite (blessed be the person who invented this !).
5. Then, I stamped a rubber stamp with clear embossing ink in the hair area. This is only when you go over it with the PanPastels that you can see it. As my Grenouille said: «WOOOOOW this is magical !» 😉
6. The cloth is colored thanks to Lindy Stamp Gang’s color shot. It is a pigment bomb loaded with beautiful shimmer. I thought it was too pronounced so I put a tissue paper on top of it while still very wet, and it created a beautiful texture (look closer to your tissue paper, it is not flat at all).
7. The background looked too present for me, so I went over with Zinc White fluid acrylic. I love this color as it is not opaque as Titanium White is.
8. I did the eyes and then finished the painting by writing my thoughts with my nib pen and ink (old school way). It says «Being creative is not about making pretty things but more about listening to the Song of your Soul.»

This is also my participation to day #6 of Traci‘s «Get your art ON» challenge 😉

This artwork is for sale, email me if you are interested (there is the contact info in the right column =====>)

As usual, I am behind. I am happy I changed the rule and it is okay for me not to blog everyday about it.

Day #2 was a Saturday so I have not done anything really creative that day (maybe except cooking).

On Day #3, I simply used some of my working-table-paper (I cover a big board with paper and when I feel like it, I just change it. But as I love what it usually looks like, I keep it for re-use. I love packing gifts with it) to wrap my daughters’ gifts for my Mamounette (aka Mom)’s 60th birthday.
I used two different washi tapes and voilà.

Simple but pretty and not that usual.

As I am writing this, I realize I have not really taken a picture of what I’ve done on day 4… I started a 8×10 painting, just the background and the sketch of the girl. I scanned it but with Photoshop and did not save it as it before playing with it (I think I should be able to get it back as I saved it as a .psd and got all the layers there. Wait…).

Here it is:

I simply applied three different acrylic paint colors with my brayer and then sketched with a graphite.

I’ll do another post for the art I created for days 5/6/7 and then I’ll try to post everyday, would finally be easier to keep track I guess 😉

PS: don’t forget to head over Traci’s blog to see what she is up too, and the other participants as well, in the comments.

Summer vacations, two months to fill with plenty of occupations so my girls don’t get too bored and to make time pass faster for everyone.

The solution I found ? cooking, making any type of art, going outside when it is sunny (and for them, napping for a couple hours every afternoon).

Traci Bunkers is the queen of finding and comitting to something for 30 days. In the past, she did 30 days of carving (stamps), and 30 days of journaling. For this month of july, she just wanna have fun and create something everyday for 30 days. And she invites us to do the same 🙂

• I’ll make art every day for 30 days and post what I have done. But I may not blog about it everyday, it is OK to write a recap post.
• I don’t have to finish what ever I’m working on that day, I just have to work on something.
• I have to work on something at least 5 days a week, 6 or 7 would be better.
• It doesn’t matter what I do for the art making, as long as I work on art. It can be art journaling, mail art, a painting or whatever.
• I won’t feel guilty for taking the time to work on art and I won’t have to justify why I’m doing it on the week-ends.
• I don’t have to go into detail in my post about how I did anything or what tools, materials I used (unless I want to).
• I must have fun
• It is even better if the girls are also creating something by my side, but it’s not mandatory.

So yesterday, July 1st, was the first day of the challenge. I gave each girl a small canvas board the day before, where they just played with acrylic paint; I showed them that we can get different effects depending on the tools we use to apply the paint (our fingers, the whole hand, a brayer, a paintbrush…). I did the same on a larger scale.
Yesterday, they discovered the joy of what is a stencil so we had lots of fun exploring it with Adirondak color washes and some sprays by Lindy Stamp Gang.

And some details:

It is not the first time I say you this: since my workshop with Jesse Reno last September, my art took a new turn. For good. You may not see the difference but it is there. No expectation, joy, love for what I do. This is my new creativity recipe to keep me happy and sane.

As I don’t really like pink, this is the same with red. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. I am just a blue and purple kinda girl… BUT red was calling me so I started creating a background, just feeling it.

A few weeks (yes… weeks !) later, I pulled it from my «in progress» stash, wondering what the hell I could do from that… And then an eye appeared, and a nose. A VERY long nose compared to what I usually draw, but hey i could not see it anywhere else. And the face was there in front of me.

The pencil was flowing on the canvas without me really controling it. I was just the tool, if I can say so. I was surprised of her features: tall, pretty vertical.

On Monday, a little voice told me to try my luck by calling during John Holland’s radio show, happening via Hay House Radio. If you are not familiar with him, John Holland is a medium. Yep, the crazy people who can feel/see/hear dead people (being sarcastical on the crazy part of my sentence).
I won’t lie, I almost hang out several times, but this gut feeling was telling me to stay… and I was the last person chosen. Of course, I wanted to her from my Aunt who died in 1995. She gave me several messages, it was short (but I was not expecting more from her, knowing she disagrees when I try to communicate with her).
After that phone call, i had to add the «ring» above her head (is there a specific name for that thing ?). You have to know something about me: I am not religious. I was raised as a Catholic but today I consider myself as a Pagan/Buddhist (yes I know. My beliefs are eclectic and do not get trapped in one religion) so this urge to add this ring made me wonder why. But does it really matter to know why ? NO.
I learned to just go with it.
I remember dreaming or waking up at night, knowing what words to put, exactly, on this painting. And of course, I forgot. For once, it is in my mother-tongue: French. «Je veille sur toi. Toujours.» means «I am watching over you. Always.» and I am pretty sure my Aunt whispered this as a reminder (and no, she was not tall nor blonde). I don’t have to clearly talk to her to know she IS there with me, always and until she decides to come back (if she decides so someday).
While I was setting the embossing powder with my heat gun, my older daughter who was writing a letter on the same table asked me if I’d agree to give the painting to her. It is now hers, and I am happy because it is a strong message from a mom to her kid.

Some things (well… all) are just meant to be, wether we understand them or not…

I updated my Etsy shop with great pleasure. Not a lot of new stuff but three new prints are now available (more about that later in this blogpost).

I have a kind of fascination for shamanism for about ten years now; their way of seeing the World they live in, their culture, their rites… there is something calling my name with them. I remember when we first came in Vancouver in 2006 for our Honey Moon, it was the Native week with lots of celebrations; we attended a concert with traditional dances… we both had tears in our eyes. The sound of their voice, the beats of the drums resonating inside of me, it was a really powerful moment. It was then we know we belonged here. I dream of being part someday of a tradition ceremony.

People sometimes ask me: «why are all you girls white-ish, you are not ?» This is true. Caucasian skin is easier when you begin (in my opinion), so i want to be comfortable with it and then experience. All these girls I create are somehow a part of me, and I am not white (50% of me actually is), so I have to play around that. I love diversity and the idea of creating people from different ethnies warm my heart. I just need (a lot of) practice, and perseverence.

I am digging hard to figure out «what is missing». I am on a quest toward authenticity, sometimes I feel like I am going away from what makes my hear sing and it’s like I am losing myself in my artistic Universe. There are so so so many things calling my name, I want to experience it all. But I have to accept to focus on one or two subjects at a time, commit to it and then doing something else. My lack of focus is killing me.

I am feeling out of place when it comes to the artistic community, seeing people becoming really good friends and then there is me. I never was at ease with people, fearing to be too different, too strange, not enough talented, not enough/too much this or that.  I decided stopping waiting for others’ validation and as long as I love what I do, I keep going.
Creating for myself, what pleases me, what is whispered to me ears. And there maybe sharing it, but not in the aim of receiving whatever response could come. Letting go the affection (or the lack of affection) coming from extern people and focusing on what I do feel while creating and pushing paint over.

I refuse to force myself to write it so I am sure my stats won’t fall down the rabbit hole. I refuse to talk just to talk; I wish to discuss what I want, when I want. It took me a very long time to come to this conclusion, I’ve learned it the hard way.
I also refuse to make you think life is like living in a pink bubble gum, because we all know this is fake. Even when we, like me, go head and heart and soul first in personal developpment and positive thinking, Life still happens and throws a huge fist in our face. And you have to get up, again, maybe you will have to fight too. I don’t want to project an image of a me I am not, I don’t want to be what some call «a troll», someone you meet in person and don’t recognize because is the total opposite of what you’ve seen online. I want to be authentic. And if life is sending me lemon, I won’t tell it’s sweet. It is sour, that’s it. I am not there to comfort you all the way, I am not the rock in the river; I can be, I actually am most of the time, but sometimes the current is too strong and I have to follow the flow of the river I live in. My artwork also reflects this. It can be light and fluffy but deep and dark too.

So… I said what I wanted to say, and I really hope I have not offended anyone because this was not the goal at all.

Here are the three new prints available in my shop. I really really like them three.
Canada Post is currently on strike and we have no idea when it will end… So I accept orders but know that unfortunately it cannot be shipped to you yet. If it lasts for too long, we’ll cross the border and ship it from the US.

«My Story» is my way of remembering this small favorite ritual of mine: setting an intention for the day to come.
When I began this artwork, I had absolutely no idea what it will become. I already had the pink background (sometimes, colors are just calling me to be pushed on canvas, so I just listened.). I started to see the face, I love her soft confidence and the softness of it all.
Believe it or not, I am not a huge fan of pink (when I was pregnant of Grenouille, people used to tease me about being pregnant of a girl and me not liking pink at all. The idea of being surrounded by pink all over was making me crazy). I learned that sometimes, you just have to go through your a priori and try to overtake your limits. Today, I appreciate pink, even if it is in small amount at a time.

What if every morning, I decided with intent of the Life I wish to live ? Not thinking about yesterday, not worrying about what could happen or not happen tomorrow.
What if I decided to blindly trust The Universe, knowing that no matter what I will experience, it is for good, even in tests and in pain ?
And what if I finally decided to trust ME, every morning, knowing that every choices I will make during the day will be the right ones and that if I go sidetrack a bit, it is okay as long as I stay true to my values ?

«Perfect». I already talked to you a bit about her right here.

She means a lot to me, she even has a name (which, to be honest, never happened before) 😉 Only a really small few people know her whole story (her=the girl you see on the painting, and the painting itself). Why ? Because it is very personal and I am not strong enough yet to tell the whole world about it. AND I love when people see things I don’t in what I create. Every tiny detail has its importance, there is no coincidence in there (even if it happens intuitively and I tried not to overthink her). There is my heart and soul inside.

The original artwork is sitting on the dresser in front of our bed. This image is the first thing I usually see when I wake up and it is for me a good reminder that I am perfect how I am (still trying to improve though).

It is essential to me to be surrounded by art that fuels my soul, that ignites something deep. I can’t wait for the day we’ll have enough money so I can buy artwork from artists I admire
This painting is a reminder of where I am coming from and where I am going.

«Ya’at’eeh» Until the end of last week, this painting was untitled. It is a re-work of a journal spread I created, I loved it so much I knew she had to get out of the pages.

These earthy tones were crying to be there. I am a lot into browns lately so don’t be surprised to see more brown in my future.

The title is a Navajo greeting meaning «Everything you are, everything that is a part of you, is good, is beautiful.»
It came accross my path thanks to the shiny Jamie Ridler in a blogpost she published recently. It was just what I was waiting for, perfect for this artwork. There is no such thing as coincidence.

As I was telling in the beginning of this post, I am practicing darker skin tones. I LOVE using PanPastels for the skin of my girls, it is smooth, I can easily overcome mistakes… I’ll try with paint later.

I am over the moon with creating braids in the hair of my characters; I found an easy peasy way to do it and love the result. Having lots of fun.

The first two prints of this canvas are untitled as the original is wordless, but it will appear in the next versions.

I hope life is currently sweet with you. Be sure that storms are not there forever.