Video 'Failure' and a Quick Art Journal Flip Through

a pic of me with a red hot tongue (spicy food) just coz...

So the last couple of weeks I've been working on this video.

It's had voice-overs, it's had annotations, it's had image overlay, it's had the works.

I planned on uploading it today. 

So I did as I normally do before posting anything and checked it and I decided....I didn't like it. So I won't upload it.

It happens. 

Sometimes it isn't about how much work something's had that makes it good. Sometimes it can be the thing that takes you two minutes to do that can hold the most value (whether that value be creativity, usability, likability, beauty, whatever)

I know some of my religious video viewers would want me to upload anything and everything that I have created and will go "arhhhh *sag head*" when I tell them this one's going in the trash bin, but just in case you haven't realised by now I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my videos.

If I were to watch all my videos back and decide if I was going to upload them all again I doubt half of them would make it now - not that I will be going around deleting them, they were an important part of my journey, one which took me to where I stand now. Hopefully in a year I will consider the videos I upload today to be below-standard too, because that's what learning and growth is all about. Improving and changing. 

It's strange how I don't do this with my art. I do share anything and everything when it comes to that, but that's because I don't consider bad art (if there is such a thing) to hold any less value than good art. It's also because it's mine, I made it for me, so there's almost an element of not caring if it's good or not, whereas videos I make for others, and the same way I would never give a broken gift (unless it was to another recycler to upcycle ;) ) or stock things in my shop I'm not proud of, I'm not going to be posting sub-standard videos. Perhaps I'm a contradiction, but that's just me.

But I wouldn't tell you I've made a video you'll never see without offering some kind of buffer, I've just posted one of two journal flips I'll be doing, the one below is just a quick flip through of my now completed most-loved art journal.

I will be doing a longer, more personal exploration of this journal on video soon. I usually just pick a quick flip or commentary flip but this journal I think deserves both. You'll probably see why  in the next video when I start delving further into it. 

Until then, much love

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Diana Gonzalez

Hi guys ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH how is it Tuesday already?! I swear there's some conspiracy going on here lol 

I've been crazy-busy lately, with lots of things going off in lots of pies, but I'll update you on that later (I know, such a tease right?!) because this is a TAT post! YAY! I have another fabulous artist to introduce to you, her name is Diana so pull up a pew and enjoy =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.
Well, I suppose I am a mixed media artist. I call myself an outsider artist, because that is what I am. For those who do not know, outsider art, is a type of art created by a person who is self-taught, and just spontaneously decides to start painting, which is sort of how it worked for me. I have been drawing and writing all my life, but I stopped drawing after not being encouraged in art as a child.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?
In the words of my idol (Sylvia Plath), “The greatest enemy of creativity is self doubt.” That is my problem. This comes up for a few reasons: One, is that my husband is a classically trained artist who is very very talented. This being so, he and I have many friends who are also classically trained and just amazingly talented. This creates a lot of self-doubt in me.

In general, I overcome this by writing. The only thing that helps me is my writing, sometimes. I may not be Picasso, but I can write a poem. The other thing that helps me is realizing that I am not put on this earth to attempt at being Frida Kahlo, or Sylvia Plath. I doubt that either of these two pioneers thought that of themselves. We are put on this earth to live and express our inner selves through our medium of choice. That being said, we all have our own style and our own preference. It is not my desire to become a legend, my only desire in life, is that I leave a positive example to my daughters of what a woman can achieve. When you realize what your goals are, stick to them. Keep them in your mind, and when you are taunted with doubt, meditate on your goals and realize you can do anything you set your mind to.

What do you most wish your art to achieve?
My poetry is written as an expression of who I am inside, and how I see the world. It is my wish that in reading my poetry, you can see the world in a different way, and see life through my eyes.

My art is mostly folk art girls that I paint in attempts to recapture the innocence I lost as a child. My childhood was taken from me at an early age in the name of discipline, religion and order, and so when I paint these girls, I feel happy.

Do you ever lose your mojo, and if so, how do you get it back?
The best method for my creativity is to make it a routine. I work at my art daily. Even when I don’t feel it, I do it anyway. I just move to another form of creativity. I will make jewelry, or spin yarn, or sew. Then I am keeping my creative wheels turning, and still giving my visual art a break. Then when you work at it, and keep going, you get to what is called in Kundalini Yoga as “the other side” which is where healing begins, where you can achieve what you hope for in your art. You don’t need a how to book on art healing. Your art is like a part of your body: if it is bruised, it heals itself, when it is fed properly.

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?

You can find me at: 

www.arteypoemas.com and etsy.com/shop/arteypoemas

Thank you so much for sharing your lovely work and thoughts Diana, I have to say I'm 100% behind you about making creativity a routine, that's certainly my secret to being creatively productive. For example with my hectic days lately I've been making paper beads like crazy (you may have spotted this if you follow my arty updates on facebook) not because I need more beads, or that they are for a particular project, it's just that I don't have the time to sit for hours at my art table and I want to do something creative during what little downtime I have (plus beads are perfect for doing in front of the tele!). 

Spoiler Alert: watch out next week for a paper bead update, I'm getting bombarded with qus every time I show a hint of a paper bead lol so perhaps you can guess what's coming??? Well...wait and see ;)

Do you want to be a TAT champion??

To be featured email me or find all the details here =)

Much love

A New Studio And New Girls

New Studio Sneak Peek...

I have a new studio

WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!

No it's not my interior one, my little condensed hub of heaven will still be my main art room, but I will soon be having an outdoor space too which I have missed having a lot. Here's what my new room turned up like:

and here's what it's currently like, or a peek of it anyway.

It's a proper outdoor office space. It's waaaaay more expensive than what I was planning to have after my old little shed croaked it, but in the end with all options weighed it was the most sensible. To be able to use any outdoor space properly it would have to be insulated, sealed yada yada yada and I spent a fortune doing all that on my old shed that still let in bugs, still creaked my neck with drafts and still warped with damp. However much I loved it, it was ultimately a waste of money and would always have a limited amount of available uses.  This one however, well it is a contained unit, my friends even thinking of getting one as a guestroom it is that nice, I'd happily sleep in it =) (well when it's finished anyway). 

So yay! Many people said on my facebook that the loss of my old shed studio was just making way for something bigger and better and I guess they were right =D

In spite of being super excited about that, watching it be built and going out shopping for cheap carpet tiles and blinds to fit it I have managed to do some art today too:

I have been creating with my new(ish) brush pen on floral wallpapers and come up with this little series I'm titling Wall Flowers (gettit?!). They are quite expressive work, done without pencil and created with quick fluid lines.

I'm also doing something I rarely do with my original art and that is putting them up for sale. My etsy sales over the last couple of months have helped me to purchase some bits for my new studio but I'm hoping these pieces will help me furnish it with a little comfort too. Their sale may only help me buy a rug or pillow or two but I have my heart set on some crochet, so any monies I get from it will go straight back into supporting the work of another etsy artist.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these works please visit my shop. There are only four and as I say I rarely sell my originals so if you want it you have to get it when you see it =)

thanks for visiting

much love

Mystery Mail Now Available

I am SO excited I have to blog about this...

For MONTHS I have had an idea in my head and after A LOT of labour it is finally a reality YAY!

I have made a few mystery mail art packs. 

It was an idea born out of several smaller ideas: one for a postcard club and another for an anonymous zine swap but I'm thinking I don't really have a proper way to organise those things. May be a ning or facebook group is calling me somewhere in the future where I can have a hub to do that sort of stuff ;)

The final idea I had was one for mail art subscriptions from my shop, ya know where I make mail art and send it out monthly to subscribers but that seemed like a larger commitment than necessary, for both me and the mail art lover.

So I decided to smush all the ideas together and mystery mail is the result.

A few are available in my shop <<< only a few for now mind

Click here to send yourself a goodie surprise!

We'll see how we go with this one and depending on how the idea goes down I may do another one (hence why I named it Mystery Mail '1') but not for a while mind, it took A LOT of work lol

Well laid plans always do...

Update: Mystery Mail has now SOLD OUT. All I had went within an hour - wowee! Thank you =) I'll get on making some more for next week, keep an eye out on my etsy ;)

Much love

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Eden Gasior

Hi guys

It's a VERY special TAT today...

ya know why??

Coz we just turned one!!

Yep this is TAT's first anniversary.

We started with the lovely Courtney Brook one year ago, that's a whole lotta artists!

If ever you are feeling uninspired, a little artistically restless or just fancy a peruse you can find the archive for all the interviews here << book mark it for when in need

So this weeks artist is called Eden and I think you'll agree she can do some pretty amazing things with coloured pencil!

Enjoy...

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what kind of artist you are?
I have always been drawn to creating with my hands. I learned to knit at 5, then sold hand-made beaded bracelets and necklaces at 9, crocheted, cross-stitched, sewed, quilted and painted various objects throughout my life. Since I work outside the home and while raising a family that didn't leave much time for creative expressions. But since the kids are off in college and my time is my own, I've unearthed a drawing desire that I can finally focus on.

My twitter about me statement: "I'm an Avid Doodler, Marker Maniac, Consummate Photographer, Flickr Fanatic who likes to draw."  However, my proudest moments come from capturing a picture sketch (photo-realism). I started colored pencil sketching last year and I think I've finally found my medium. I get to work with color and I get to focus on shape. I am not drawn to painting, probably because I lack the patience to let things dry.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it? 
Being rather high-energy I have to fight boredom. I'm lucky that my nature notices the details but with that comes the unease of wanting my sketch to "be done already"! I just purchased a new graphic pen tablet to try my hand at digital art. It'll be a whole different feel and a bit of a learning curve. Keeping up with technology also helps when the art project starts to stale. I get to switch gears.

What do you find easiest/ hardest in your art? 
The easiest thing for me is color selection, playing with color and working with color. Bright and bold colors really inspire me. My years of quilting have helped me here. I learned this lesson the hard way. After spending well over a hundred dollars on 15 different materials for a quilt. I didn't follow any rules, just picked out what I liked and made sure lots of colors were represented. Each piece of material was just as bright, bold and beautiful as the next. As I started to piece it together, I was getting anxious. The colors were not mixing well with one another. They all wanted to be a star! I have since learned to limit my color pallet in projects and to purposely bring in some neutrals.

The hardest thing about my art is "putting it out there". Being rather private I know that I have to promote myself (to some extent). Especially through my blog I have to let people see what I'm working on, what I think about it, and little tidbits about who I am. When I listen to my introverted tendencies if makes me feel vulnerable....but when I listen to my extroverted side....I realize that it's all ok...it's not that big-of-a-deal. 

Do you ever lose your mojo, and if so, how do you get it back? 

Absolutely!! It usually happens when I've been working on something for a while or just finished a challenging piece. That's when I need to balance out the other sides of my life and spend more time with family/friends or take an excursion (travel if I can). If I just shake-things-up a bit, my ho-hummness usually gives way. Once out about I can always find something that interests me to draw, photograph or write about. Just interacting with people and seeing what others do, can inspire me and will carry over in ways that aren't readily apparent at the time.

Tell us where we can find out more about you and your art? 

Blog, Facebook, Flickr, Etsy 

I really enjoyed your answers Eden, thanks so much for taking part.

I soooooo get the dilemmas with being private and worried about putting yourself/your art out there. In many ways I'm a very open person, but in a whole bunch of other ways I am a very private person and it can be tough to find the balance where I feel comfortable. I get emails all the time asking for some 'secret' to putting yourself out there and this is why I put this answer on my FAQ page:

'Every SINGLE person who posts stuff is scared of the results and reactions, but THEY DO IT ANYWAY.'

It's true, it's not that I'm not not scared, it's just that I do it anyway. That's all a little bit of courage is; it's not the absence of the fear, but the action taken in-spite of the fear.

“It takes courage to push yourself to places you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to stay tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

Anaïs Nin

(one of my favourites!)

Do you wanna TAT it??

To be featured email me or click the link to find all the details here =)

Much love

What a Week! Update & Tutorial Update

Hello beautiful readers, 

I'm so sorry I've not blogged much this past week I've been insanely busy =(

If you follow me on facebook you'll probably have seen that I have still been making things. Often very quick things that have been squished into what time I have had, which was mainly yesterday, but I didn't blog about that because I fully intended to do a new post today, which was supposed to be a Smash Book Making Tutorial;

see, I have been gettin' on making it, bit's here & there ;)

but again I've been so busy today that I'm now at 10pm and facing an early start... so alas the tutorial, which will probably take me quite a long time to write, will have to wait for another day....look out for it later this week.

Other things I've been making this week include:

Videos

(yes new videos woohoo! but again these take A LOT of time to make so please be patient with me)

New Greetings Cards for my shop:

Customizable for ANY occasion, multipurpose yeah baby!

Thank you so much to everyone who's purchased something from me this weekend, parcels are being posted tomorrow so your goodies will be with you soon =)

At the very start of the week I made a mood board 'jus coz..':

And I've also been making a new *ZINE* woohoo!!

I'm in total zine heaven at the moment, I love reading and making them sooooooooooooo much!

And finally today...

even though I've had next to no time to get creative I made these rush paper beads:

from this junk mail brochure

love me some fatties!!!

they still need jazzin' up but at least they're a start because HELLO you can never have too many beads ;) lol

and I've also done this blogpost,

...ok so that was rushed too, and not the tutorial I had wanted to do but still...

I hope it gives some inspiration to show that in those times

when life refuses to give your creative muse the reins

it's still possible to say 'stick it daily crap, I'm having five'

and pick up a glue stick to literally do just that!

I REFUSE TO NOT STICK SOME STUFF!!!!!

tee hee

much love

Tell All Tuesday ~ Featured Artist: Laila Nedrebø Jensen

It's TAT time YAY! I'm going to kick straight off and hand you over to Laila, as her wise words are calling me to =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.

Hi, I’m Laila, a norwegian 55 years old and happy girl. There are two men in my life, one of them calls me mum and the other one is the love of my life. Handyman and I have been married the last 36 years. Three years ago I quit my dayjob, so I’m free to mess with paint, or any medium, all day long. As every other person I’m called a lot  of different things and some might even call me an artist. Personally I prefer being me, Laila, anything else feels limiting for me. To be called a good friend, a good seller, a good seemstress, a good crafter and so on, creates a lot of different expectations and if I should live up to it all there would be no time left to what I love the most, being me.

Mostly I’m self-taught, and most times that’s what I prefer. Not knowing how to/any rules is extremely freeing to me. The moment the rules or how to’s are presented, I feel locked up. Not knowing means no boundaries to me. How about you, please leave a comment telling how you feel about this. There must be a million different opinions, I think.

Do you ever lose your mojo, and if so, how do you get it back?

Variation is a keyword in my artistic life. Drawing, painting, knitting, crocheting, sewing, gardening the list could go on forever. When I’m out of ideas in one area, I just continue creating in another area. That way I keep the inspiration constantly flowing.

If, for one or other reason, I’m away from creating, I can lose my mojo for a longer period of time and it’s always a struggle to get it running again.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?

My biggest challenge, as I see it, is my lack of patience. I am and have always been a quick person. Quick learner, quick doer, quick runner and quick speaker. My aunt tells that I spoke a lot of real words before my first birthday.

Looking back in life, I think I have avoided doing slow jobs, and therefore I have little practise doing them. To be honest, slow work bores me! Can you tell variation is perfect for me?

During the last three years it has dawned on me that working a bit slower adds another value to me. I have found that I very much enjoy working in depth of a theme and in series. Both of them slow processes and a real test of my patience. I hope that age and practice will help stretch my patience, but I realise, it’s a SLOW job.

What is your greatest personal achievement either in your art, or because of it?

What I’ll tell you now is perhaps not what you’d expect, but it’s true and hopefully inspiring. Back in 2011, August to be precise, I decide to draw and paint a face a day during that month. The result of doing so surprised and pleased me a whole lot, and still do. I actually can draw, ME, I can do it! From then on, every fibre in my body carries that knowledge. I don’t doubt it any more, never.

That is, by far, my greatest achievement, to own such a valuable security makes me feel blessed. It doesn’t mean that all I do is perfect, it’s just that I don’t doubt my own skills any more. If you’re not there yet, I highly recommend you to search for it. I promise you, it feels like finding summer in the middle of a hard winter.

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?

If you want to see and read more about what I’m up to, the right place to dive into is my blog. You’re welcome anytime. http://inlailascorner.blogspot.com

Thank you so much Laila....see what I mean about the wise words? The last comment resonated with me so much, because I always seem to be saying 'you can draw' (in response to someones 'I can't draw a straight line') which is usually responded to with another 'I really can't draw'. PLEASE anyone that has this 'I can't draw' sentence burrowed in their brain heed Laila's advice because I believe if you can hold a pencil then you CAN draw ~ and if you can't hold a pencil, well then I've seen more than one artist draw with their feet! So more excuses, just pull out some paper and practice. This is the only real trick there is to drawing ~ to practice, yes you can read books, watch videos or take classes to learn the more technical skills, but the only way to implement and improve them is to then practice!

"Ask yourself the secret of your success. Listen to your answer, and practice it."

Richard Bach

Do you wanna TAT it??

Email me or click the link to find all the details here =)

Much love

New Journal Page with Video and Mini Flesh Tone Tut

Hello beautifuls =)

Happy Jennibellie here today, it's saturday, the sun is shining and I'm making *art* (...and videos)

Here's my latest offering, an art journal page video with a mini skin tone mixing tutorial as requested in this post

Enjoy =)

love Jennibellie xoxo