Art Overload!!

Its day 7 of my summer vacation, and I am having the best time in my studio.

Playing around with all of my art supplies does wonders for a tired soul. I am now on overload. I have searched blogs until I have gotten lost :).....but blog reading is so much fun. There are so many exciting things going on in other peoples studios....and their blogs give little snippets into their worlds....so I read on..

I have gone shopping too, for new paints, papers to paint....just plain art overload...

While blog surfing, I ran upon (I'm not even sure of how I found her site) Julie Prichard. She has an amazing blog....just full of eye candy, and her work is incredible..I was lost there for hours. She is teaching a Layers of Love class online, and I had to sign up!!

Here is what I did for Lesson One: Talk about fun..

I am signed up for another online class with Jodi Ohl in July from my local art group. Her blog is Sweet Repeats and she does amazing work. And, right now, she is having a sale over at Etsy on her prints!!

Her class coming in July...

The internet provides so many amazing possibilities....we can take classes in our homes from artists that we may have never made contact with. I love how the classes are videos, so its so easy to just watch and learn...

This promises to be an amazing summer!!

Until next time.

Ophelia

Painting Day of Play

As promised, I wanted to show you what I did at our Art Group day of play that I posted about on yesterday. I am still shocked at how much I loved these paints...one can never have too many paints...so some shopping was in order.

I basically took ripped up sheets of watercolor paper, and bristol, and just "decorated" them...I ripped up sheets of ledger papers, used mark making tools such as a wood grain tool, bubble wrap, sheetrock tape (I think that is what its called)....all sorts of stuff. Basically anything that I had at my table or that was shared by others went into the creation of these pages.

I will now take these little beauties and put them into my artjournals....I'm not sure yet of what I will do with this little girl, but she seems to need to fly solo...so maybe she will be framed somehow or something.

One thing that I learned about play dates is that you go in with an open mind, ready to experiment, play, and just have fun... You might be pleasantly surprised by the results. I was!!

Until next time,

Ophelia

A Do-Over

I decided that I wanted to re-do my Creative Awakenings Visa page again... I just wasn't feeling the first one or something...so a do over was necessary. I just love this image of this little girl and I find that I use her alot. For some reason, she speaks to me, so, my do-over....and beginning my journey could not be complete without her.

On Sunday afternoon, I had a wonderful day of play with an amazing artist Kim Maselli. She came to our art group play date representing Chroma to demonstrate the Interactive Acrylic paints. Oh, I had the best day ever. I quickly fell in love with these paints and made alot of background papers for my artjournals. Kim was an incredible instructor. She showed me how to make them work for me to actually paint directly on my journal pages. I was a bit afraid since the open time of these is what the magic is.....but, I am now in love, and well, you know me....I went shopping.

I will show you the papers I created as soon as I unpack my bags....yeah, you know me!!

Anywho....since I am now officially on summer vacation I am looking forward to some long days of sheer creative play in my studio...well, that is my intention anyway.

Until next time,

Ophelia

Creative Awakenings!!

I recently purchased the book, Creative Awakenings by Sheri Gaynor, and I have to say, its one of my favorites!! I feel that the book was written especially for me. I have even spoken with Sheri to tell her of my love for the book and have found that she is a creativity coach. This is definitely one for you to check out!
I created a Dream Journal.



For this journal, I used a plain black hardbound journal, and made a cut out where I then used my new tools and metal from Ten Seconds Studios. I had a lot of fun doing this, although I must say it was a stretch!


Inside the book there is a Visa.....to be completed to begin your journey....and, well, here is mine..

A Journal of Discovery...
I joined Sheri's Ning group http://sherigaynor.typepad.com/creativeawakenings/june-read-one-book-one-community.html where there are quite a few of us that are sharing this journey.

My daughter is recovering from surgery so I have not had the time that I desire to play yet, but this is going to be a boatload of fun...not to mention, a true experience of self discovery...so I can't wait. Would love for you to join me!!
Until next time,
Ophelia

A Call For Action

Have you ever met someone that completely changes your life, and, well, your outlook on everything. I was fortunate enough to meet such an artist at Art & Soul last year in Hampton. I took a class with Juliana Coles. Juliana is such an incredible artist, and to take one of her classes, is really life changing and for me, quite freeing. I immediately came home and purchased more of her workshop booklets and the journey continued.
My call to action for each of us.....support one another in our journey. That may sound silly to you, but I just wonder sometimes what our lives would be like if our favorite artists would not be creating art because they have "safe jobs". You know, jobs that bring in a regular monthly paycheck with benefits and such. I wonder what I would be like as an artist if my "mentors" would have decided to do something "safe" full time, and completely ignored their creative calling, and not lived their dreams as full time studio artists.
When I shop, I always support local business owners. I buy my makeup from my Mary Kay gal, and my cooking utensils from my Pampered Chef lady, and my art always comes from other artists....
So, I challenge each of us to support each other in our dreams, our amazing journeys so that we each can continue to live what we love.
Juliana, I thank you, thank you, thank you, for living your dream and sharing it as a blessing to others!!
Until next time,
Ophelia

A Day of Play

With Ranger Alcohol Inks....

I'm not sure if you have ever tried these, but oh my, they are GREAT!!! And, they have come out with new colors. Well, you know me, I got all of the new colors and played around with them....and this is what I have come up with so far.

I just love what you can do with these inks, and these backgrounds, can now be used in my art journals, collages, and even greeting cards....basically whatever you want.

I started with a 4x6 piece of glossy card stock, and picked no more than 3 colors of the inks....and just go for it. I was honestly like a "mad scientist" in my studio. The creations are endless. I encourage you to find them, and give them a try.

Hmmmm....maybe we should set up a swap????

Until next time,

Ophelia

Just Plain Neglected!!!

Hello Blog Friends,

I have to say that I have kept my promise to make art everyday, but I just have not been very good at getting it to my blog.

I signed on today and was disheartened to see my last entry date....and for that, I am truly ashamed.

I started a new homebased business, and although it has been going very well, it has been my focus as I get it going, so there has been little blogging time left. Life, as I am sure for everyone, gets extremely busy, and I found that I am in need of balance because for a while there, I was feeling so overwhelmed which is why I create this page.

I have some new workshops coming up that I will tell you about as the time gets closer, so I have been working on some things for my classes. The first is in June at Gallery Shibui in Raleigh at Cameron Village. I am also super psyched that I was asked to teach a class at Jerry's Artarama!!! and I will be doing a FREE demo there on June 7th from 1-4 called Painterly Papers and Backgrounds Galore...so, if you're in the area, I would love for you to stop by.

Otherwise, I am preparing to wind down the school year and looking forward to a summer spent in my studio creating...at least that is the intention.

Soon,

Ophelia