Whimsical Watercolour Registration is open!

Registration for my upcoming class, Whimsical Watercolour is now open! 

Watercolour is a flexible and versatile medium

{that sometimes has a mind of its own}

and if you are interested in learning more about how to use it

in a fun and whimsical way,

this is the class for you!

No experience is necessary, and I'd love for you to join us.

Register for Whimsical Watercolour here. 

Silvia

I'm back!

I'm back.

{again}

I've had a long hiatus from blogging for many different reasons

{which I will share in future posts.}

But for now, I'm happy to be back.

Back to blogging.

Back to sharing art

And life.

So here's my most recent news:

I'm sooo happy to announce 

that I'll be teaching an art class at a local community art school.

Its called Whimsical Watercolours

We'll be covering a few watercolour basics 

and then launching into some fun whimsical projects.

Here's a peak at two of my project possibilities:

Silvia

I'm back and I've got some exciting news...

Hi Folks! I hope you all had a great summer,

and are enjoying the beautiful fall season!

In my part of the world, the tress have begun 

to turn into their glorious autumn colours.

We put on sweaters, drink more tea

and marvel at the beauty and colours around us 

as we witness the seasons change once again.

Life has been very full for us,

and change continues in our lives as well.

Over the summer, I took a blogging hiatus 

so that I could focus on other parts of my life,

and chip away at some of my art goals.

I'm really excited to let you know that I have been invited 

to participate in an upcoming art show 

which will be held right downtown in our nation's capital!

The show, which is hosed by Roger TV's Barbara Laurenstin,

 is called Art in Fashion 613

{because "Art can be Fashion and Fashion can be Art"}

You can find me in one of the booths,

selling my art.

A bit about my art:

One of the things I have been really enjoying doing 

for the past two years or so,

is painting whimsical girls.

I often scan through fashion sites, magazines and Pinterest

for inspiration for my girls' outfits.

Here is a peak at some of the art I'll be selling:

 

Some of my art will also be sold as prints in various forms. 

Here are a few examples of the accent cushions I'll be selling:

 

 If you are in, or near, Ottawa I'd love for you to come on out to the show!

Tickets are available here.

Silvia

my bird love

If you've followed my blog for a while

you probably know that I love birds.

My art journals pretty much

always have some bird pages in them. 

They usually aren't detailed pieces of artwork, 

but quick sketches and doodles

that capture my love of birds.

Is there something that captures you? 
Something you tend to find yourself drawn to over and over again?
I'd love to hear what that is!

Here are a few of my bird pages...

Silvia

water colour love

One thing you might not know about me is that I love using water colours! 

They are my go-to supply when I want to add colour to a sketch or doodle, 

and a carry a travel pack with me in my purse at all times 

(as well as a small journal, a water brush,

 and several pencils, black pens and a white gel pen). 

I like to vary my styles, 

and I don't feel that I have to confine myself 

to using them in one specific way.

Their versatility is definitely something I love about them!

I've mentioned before that one of my favourite artists is Danielle Donaldson.

Her work and style continually inspire and influence me. 

Check her gorgeous work out here.

(She will soon be teaching another on-line class. and that makes me very happy!)

Here are a few water colours I've done in the past few months: 

Silvia

exciting news!!

Whew! Its been a busy few months, 

but I did it!

In a few days we are heading out on a 4 week ministry trip/vacation.

{I'm very excited!}
And I had set some goals for myself,
somethings I wanted to accomplish before we left...

I wanted:

 • to get 7-9 paintings completed,

• open up shop in a few on-line art stores

{sorry Esty, you didn't make the cut this time}

• and put some effort into having my art displayed locally.

Whoo-hoo!

I'm so excited to announce that 

I did it!!

I will be displaying my art at 

Oh So Good Dessert & Coffee House

{downtown, on York St)

during December and January!

Please stop by to see it

{and get one of their incredible desserts}

And, you can now buy my art on-line at:

Fine Art of America

and

Society6.

{check out the link to Society6 to the right of this text}

I have hashtaged on instagram

#meetinggoalsfeelsgood
It really does feel good!

If you would like to follow me on instagram

{and see lots of pictures of our upcoming adventure!}

I am silviaklassen

Here is a sample of what you will find for sale in my on-line stores.

I will update it regularly.

Thanks for being a part of this exciting journey with me!

Silvia

a little gallery

I thought I'd post a little gallery 

of some recent art work 

{exploration, really.}

Some of them are in my art journals,

and few are hanging up on my 

inspiration wall.

{If you follow me on instagram,

you'll have seen some of these already.  

If you'd like to follow me, 

you can find me at:

silviaklassen}

One of the major lessons I have learned 

is to 

Just. Let. Go.

{Elsa was right on that}

Art doesn't flow when you are worried about perfection.

Art flows when you release yourself

to the process.

So, the good, the bad and the messy

Are all a beautiful part of it.

I hope you enjoy browsing,

and feel inspired to explore

in your own world,

with the things you love to do.

Silvia

stolen from / still love watercolours

It's been a while.

I have to admit it.

I was a bit side-swiped last month 

when I learned that one of my photos

{from my post, "Because I love Birds"}

was being used by a photojournalist 

across the world in Turkey

{as if it was his own}.

It certainly shocked and upset me. 

It was a strange "violated" sort of feeling.

I've learned my lesson,

and I will now be watermarking all my pictures,

and moving on...

I've written before how much I love watercolour, 

and here is another playful one that I recently completed.

I don't always name my paintings,

but this one is called "bird playground"

{I like to think of watercolour as my playground

as I often can't help but get playful with it.}

{for those interested: I used:

• 140 lb cold press paper
• Grumbacher and Winsor & Newton watercolours
• masking fluid
• iridescent watercolour medium
• a 0.5 mechanical pencil
• General's sketch & wash pencil
• white Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Ink Pen}

Silvia

Introducing: Super-Power Creative Girl

Girls.

I have three of my own,

and one brave boy.

They are all awesome and I love them like crazy.

There is absolutely nothing that compares to having a family

{And I mean nothing}.

Girls.

I also really like creating them in my art journal,

and on canvases,

and in my sketchbook...

{you get the point}.

I have been creating them for the past few years

and they are scattered throughout my studio.

This is one of my creations,

based on a recent {wonderful!} class I took

by the super-talented Danielle Donaldson.

Her work makes me swoon.

It just grabs at something 

deep inside of me.

It's magic,

It's playful.

It's like looking at a rainbow

all the time.

I love, love, love it.

Assignment #4: Here is my creative, super-power girl

from the Creative Girl class:

 Yup, I really like her.  

with her rainbow hair, 

super-hero designer cape

 and crooked little mouth.

Here are her humble beginnings, with a few possible friends:

You can see a few other girls I have created here, and here, and some quick, abstract ones here.

Silvia

paint, butterflies & magical moments

any art, when you love it, can be magical

painting with watercolour is like that for me

here is a whimsical scene I've been playing with 

I could endlessly add little details

{it is one of the funnest parts}

{I hope you can get magically lost in something you love}

Silvia

tiny landscapes

One of my all-time favourite words is

'serendipity'

It's fun to say,

it makes me feel happy,

and I love that is speaks of unpredictability.

I love to go on serendipitous vacations with my family

{where we don't have every detail planned out.}

I love to discover new things together,

especially when it was unexpected,

unplanned.

Here is my connection to art:

I love watercolours.

I love how they move across the page,

I love their unpredictability

I love that they can take me on a 

serendipitous journey.

This week, I saw an artist post about how she used watercolour paintings

that didn't work out very well

to make new artwork.
{check out: Elvie Studio}

So, I gave it a try with my own twist...

I masked a few little areas for fun. 

{Masking fluid shields the paper from the paint until it is removed}.

And then I just played with streaks and blobs of colour:

After that, I cut out a 1" square, 

a 1 1/2" square and a 1"x2" rectangle 

from another sheet of paper

and I used them as frames

to see what I could find in my painting:

My mind is often on nature a lot these days

and I couldn't help but see it through that filter. 

Do you see as many landscapes as I did?
{I loved elvis studio's frames, 
so borrowed them for my mini pics}

This was fun little serendipitous project.

It forced me to look beyond the streaks and blobs

to find art.

Silvia

you cannot keep spring from coming

Around here we haven't seen too many signs of spring.  This is pretty much how things look in eastern Ontario:

Piles of dirty, brown-grey snow. We even had 6" of snowfall this past  Sunday. 

{Nooooo!}

This is not the scene we all expect 

{and desire} 

to see when April finally enters the scene!

I'm going to share a funny little bit about myself:

I have a daily reminder on my iPhone to "Notice Nature."

Yup. I remind myself each day to look up, look out, to see. 

I remind myself each day to 

notice 

the glory of creation.

It is a soul-soothing discipline/habit/love.

However, I have to admit that lately it has felt like there isn't too much to notice.

Today, with the weather above freezing, I took my two youngest kids out, 

and we out to look for

spring.

Amidst all that grey-brown, dirty snow, this is what we found:

  

 

 

 

Budding trees, dirty puddles of melting dirty snow, gooey, squishy mud, bits of grass trying to awaken, flowers pushing their way up through the snow 

... beautiful, hopeful signs of spring.

{Welcome Spring. We have all been waiting for you}

 Pablo Neruda once said, "You can cut the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming."

After last Sunday's six inches of snow, 

I used my sketchbook to remind myself that spring was indeed 

still coming...

Happy Spring to you!

Silvia
follow me on instagram at silviaklassen