more exciting news

Hey Friends,

Happy Spring to you!  

With spring comes new life, 

new seasons 

and new opportunities.

I'm so thrilled to announce that I have a new opportunity

that has come my way...

I will be teaching 

six week series on art journaling!

We will be delving it all sorts of techniques 

with acrylic paint,

sprays and inks,

water colours 

{and some other yummy 

mixed media supplies}

If you want to launch into a fun new art journey,

or if you've already begun, 

and want to learn more skills,

this class is for you!

{No art experience is necessary}

Here's the when and where:

beginning Saturday, May 16th

from 10am to 12pm

at the

Bluesfest School of Music and Art

Don't delay, classes start soon!

Register here or here to join me!

{Barcode is: 99686}

I sure hope you can join me!

 

Silvia

free download for you

It has dawned on me that some of you reading this blog

might not know what art journaling is.
Please allow me to explain...

Art journaling is a way of keeping a journal 

in which you use a mix of art and words 

to express yourself, to practice drawing or art techniques,

 or to document your life, thoughts or discoveries.

{Art journals have been around for a very long time. 

A quick google search of "Leonardo da Vinci art journal" 

will prove that.}

In my recent workshop, 

I created a couple of pages that had words

which could be used in an art journal.

They were included in the welcome packets I gave them:

 Today, I thought I would share them, 
and make them available as a download here 
for you to use in your own journal.
{Please keep these for personal use only.}

Enjoy!

Silvia

art journaling workshop

What a wonderful Saturday morning I had!

This past Saturday I ran an art journaling workshop 

at the Bluesfest School of Music and Art (BSOMA).

I went into the morning with such excitement,

which was equalled by they enthusiasm 

of the wonderful people who registered.

We had full registration 

{with some others who also wanted to join in!}

Here's a peak at the morning, tables set up and ready to go:

I created a little packet for each person. With only two hours, I was definitely pressed for time, but I wanted to introduce some colour theory, along with a quick talk about the many different ways to keep an art journal.

I based the class around some of my art journal pages,
 teaching the techniques I used here:

And then the wonderful process of creating began. 

A few of the folks had art journaled before, 

but for most this was the beginning of a beautiful journey for them.

The ladies {and one man} were so open, friendly and engaged. 

They were truly a pleasure to teach.

 I absolutely loved teaching this class and had such wonderful feedback, 
with requests for more, and longer workshops.
{Do you guys know how humbled and excited I am about that??}

I am working with BSOMA to create series of classes, so stay tuned!

Silvia

Many reasons to Love

Valentine's Day ... sigh.  I have so much love in my life. 

Today's post is dedicated to the man I love,

The one who has been with me through thick and thin. 

The one who is my best friend.

The one who loves me for who I am.

I take no credit for this idea, 

It was fully brought to me by Pinterest. 

But I made it my own, 

for the one I love. 

(find it and a few other Valentine ideas here)

There are many reasons to love 

the special people in your life.

Look for those reasons today. 

And may the love of God,

Which will truly never fail you,

Overwhelm you 

Today. 

Happy Valentines Day!

Silvia

I never thought I'd steal, but I do...

I admit it, I cry easily. Just ask my kids - they will tell you the truth:

I leak from my eyes ~ often. 

I am moved by love, compassion, joy, suffering, 

you name the tear-jerking emotion and I likely beat you to it, 

tissue in hand, wiping off my make-up 

once again.

So, to tell you that a book brought me to tears might not impress you, 

or cause you to run out and and buy it.

But if I tell you the book is called 

"Steal like an Artist" {by Austin Kleon}

you may be a little bit perplexed. 

As an artist 

{and sometimes I struggle calling myself that} 

I battle with the blank canvas demon... 

"What if I ruin that beautiful white canvas with something ugly?" 

"What if I have nothing to say?"

 "What if there is no inspiration when I sit down to my journal?" 

"Do I have any original ideas?"  

I look at my work and often remember 

the painting, the Pin, the photo or the artist that inspired it, 

and I sometimes feel shame:

Did I copy? 

Am I unique? 

Am I a fake?  

I think of the inspiration I felt when I saw the initial work ... 

how my heart lept, 

how I wanted to run to my studio and do something like it, 

how I wanted to feel about my work what I felt in that moment.

This book is for anyone who battles the battle of 

"finding your own voice" in your creative work.  

It has released me to steal:

 to grab what I see and love 

and bring it into my personal storehouse of creativity. 

Unashamedly. 

This book reminds us of the age-old tradition of learning an art:

 Steal an idea here, borrow another there. 

Mesh all those all together and you get you. 

We used to call that being an apprentice. 

All artists do it. 

It is how we learn.

And somehow through that process,

we find our own artistic, unique voice.

I've had the question asked of me: 

"Is this your idea, or did you see it somewhere and copy it?" 

What is the correct answer to that question?  

It's," Yes!  I copied it, and it was my idea."

 I'm learning, I'm drawing out the things I like 

and I'm adding them to my library of inspiring ideas. 

And in that process

I'm finding my voice, my signature, me. 

So yes, "Steal Like an Artist" made me cry. 

It showed me that I am on the same journey that 

artist after artist 

has taken throughout time. 

It released me, 

and gave me wings 

to keep learning from others. 

{please note: this is not talking about plagiarism which is copying something that belongs to another and claiming it as yours ... it's about copying to learn, grow and add your bit of you into it. 

Kleon explains that part well.}

Incidentally, I heard of this book through 

an on-line course I'm taking called, 

"Studying Under the Masters", 

hosted by Jeanne Oliver 

{check her amazing blog and classes out here}. 

Thank you to both Austin and Jeanne 

for knowing that we all want to be original 

and reminding us that well worn path the originality 

is to learn from those who know what they are doing!  

Here it is: Steal Like an Artist, by Austin Kleon

{you can find out more about him out here}.

Go on now, in this case, it's okay to steal.

Silvia

words that inspire...