Art Studio Tour

I always find myself so intrigued and inspired by looking through other people's creative spaces. I'm a bit of a sticky beak with that kind of thing! So I thought I'd show you around, or should I say 'in', my art studio. It's not exactly a room, rather, it's a cupboard, in our lounge room. And I just love it!

We've not long been in our first ever own home & we've been having so much fun adding things here & there & setting it up how we like it! As there was not a spare room for me to claim as my art zone, I had to get creative and come up with another solution. I mean, I quite like art supplies strewn across the home, but I don't think the rest of my family does!

So enter my solution ...

Now for inside ...

Each container holds a different supply on the top shelf. The clear rectangle ones are actually bathroom organisers that I bought from a cheap shop, they're perfect for holding my washi tape! The blue garden tin holds my chalk pastels, the silver tin behind them holds my Gelato's, behind that the pottery vase holds my oil pastels. The round timber container at the front holds charcoal, the timber box behind that all my coloured pens that I use for journaling. 

The books are a mixture of painting books, journals, colouring books, and art journals. I keep these up here, as these are the books I access most often.

The shelf below the top one, holds a mixture of scrap booking albums, a timber drawer full of chalk pastels, a white basket of colouring pencils, a film SLR camera, and a vase full of paint brushes ... this cupboard makes me smile every time I open it! 

The two drawers are for holding extra pens, pencils, tapes, cutters, gold and silver leaf, brushes, and a ridiculous amount of spare journals (that my two daughters are always trying to get their little hands on!)

So, that's it! 

I wanted to share my customised 'art studio' with you to show you that there isn't always a need for a whole room to let yourself enjoy your creativity. A small space, when organised well, works just fine (and is much easier to manage too!)

And you probably guessed that my designated working space is ... yep, the dining table!

Is there a cupboard in your home that you could customise for your 'art studio'?

Happy organising!

Let's Make Art!

I've been practicing abstract art in my abstract practice journal this past week. The funny thing is though, that I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. I mean, I've never been taught abstract art. I've actually not even started really appreciating this genre until about a year and a half ago. It was only when I really began to study the artworks of some incredible abstract artists on Pinterest, that I started being drawn into the beauty that is abstract art.

But am I doing it right? Are you doing it right? Are we all as artists doing it 'right'? 

The answer to all of this is YES!

I love this quote, 

"Just because it's not in a museum does not mean it's not art!"

I know I've fallen into the trap of thinking that because I've not studied art after high school, or sold many pieces, or don't have a huge social media platform, or have received comments like, "aaahhh, what is it?", that my art is unqualified, pointless and worthless.

This is such a lie!

"To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong".

So I say to myself, I will make art. I will say to myself, my art has value and worth; my art makes me me. I say the same to all of you! Your art is different to mine, mine is different to yours; but it's all valid. It's all beautiful.

Henry Matisse reminds us that 

'creativity takes courage'.

How courageous will you be? How courageous will I be?

Forget everything negative and just make art! 

"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. 

So do it!"

Be courageous with me, let yourself be free to create. Share it with others, be confident in the art you create.

Ann Voskamp says it perfectly,

"when we stop fearing failure, 

we start being artists."

Let's be artists!

Mixed Media Art Journaling

The way of the artist makes room for rest, for inspiration, for freedom of expression. It's a reflection of the inner person, a chance to breathe, to connect, to focus. 

Art is an addiction, and today I was able to feed that addiction just a little. And gee was it nice. Just to stop. To relax, to get messy fingers. To free designs, colours and images that have been swirling around on the canvas of my mind.

I attended a local mixed media journal class, and while mixed media journaling isn't new to me, it has been a good few months since I've had the pleasure of enjoying it's creative freedoms.

Today Gelato's and spray ink held my attention, and I found myself delighted with their ease of use, their colour vibrancy and their forgiving nature when I made mistakes! It's safe to say that mixed media journaling is something I'm definitely going to continue with!

Words are an important part of the mixed media journaling process for me, and I'm always needing to include something that is deep and holds a lot of personal meaning. I feel my work isn't complete until the right words are woven into each piece. 

After completing my artwork today, I realized that I'm actually not going to add it to my journal, but frame it instead. I don't think I could bare cutting it in half to stick it in my journal! 

I'm looking forward to next Friday (I hope I can wait that long!) for the next journal class ...

I wonder what we'll create?!

Little Writer Girl #2

Hi  everyone! 

Our summer days have been filled with lots of adventure. We have been enjoying our homeschooling and we have included so many more things into our days; such as swimming lessons,art lessons, more family activities, lots of cooking in the kitchen, and of course, photography. 

Just yesterday, Mum and I took some photos of myself in an old-fashioned style. We both enjoyed it very much, me especially as mum let me wear a little bit of makeup! Would you like to see some of the photos? Here they are ... 

This one I like the most.

I hope to share with you more of the beautiful things in my life each week. 

Until next time!

Little Writer Girl .

Nature Hanger

I've been working on this little clay nature hanger for a couple of weeks, as I have the time. And yesterday, I finished it! I started off by collecting beautiful leaves from around our yard and pressing them into air dry clay (forgot to take pics sorry!) that I rolled out with a rolling pin and cut to size. I was sure to add small holes at the top and bottom for string. I decided to have some that are the actual shape of the leaf and others that are circles and ovals, just for some variety.

After the clay had spent about 5 days drying (doesn't need that long, but that's when I had spare time again!) I painted them in the colours that I wanted (gold, chocolate and caramel) and then let them dry.

I added gold and bronze leaf to the leaf prints as well, for added interest and well ... just because I'm a bit addicted to leafing actually!

I then went about threading the clay pieces together just with normal raw string, making sure that the string went through behind the clay piece, not on the front of it. 

I strung the pieces in odd numbers and then hung three strands of them off of a branch that I just picked up from out in the yard!

All that was left to do was to hang it up and enjoy!! I really like it and I think it turned out beautifully!

What have you been creating this week?! 

Have a great weekend!