That Happy Place Art Everyday Month Day 15

Let's face it...Mondays are rough on most people. I know for me they are draining.  This week,  I had a great 4 day weekend...but ughhh to come back to work and be faced with lots of to-dos that need to be done yesterday and some not so great news performance wise for our team, it makes you want to run back to the safety of the weekend QUICK. :)  It's all good though because that which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, right?

Which brings me to my creative mojo post of the day.  Knowing that I'm drained and tapped out of ideas and energy....I'm really not feeling pulling out my paints and setting myself up tonight to create on my canvas, but I do want to escape somehow someway and hopefully find a little teensy bit of relaxation so that my energy can seep back in all the pores it sweated out of today. 

What to do?

Doodle.

It's Fun

It's Relaxing

and not a whole lot of  material investment to get started.

Paper...Pens...and perhaps a pencil...if you are really adventurous then heck, bring on the colored markers and watercolors.  Today just used the basics which included my new JOURNAL  courtesy of the Strathmore company for doing a demo for them on Saturday at the Art of the Carolina's.  (I actually got a few journals for my time...yippee!!)  (check out Jerry's for a great price on these journals btw)

I'm watching my fav shows on A&E...Intervention and Hoarders (my guilty Monday night voyuerish pleasures) while doodling this evening.

Before I knew it....walahhh....I have a mini illustration.

I'm feeling a little less stressed and a little more hopeful that tomorrow will be a better day.

I like happy art....maybe it's because when I'm stressed and feeling ill....I like to delve into happy colors, fun patterns, positive messages-it all gives me hope.   Moody reflective art has it's place too...and I do have a few pieces that show that side of me but by and large, I like to create things that take me to that 'happy' place where anything is possible.  Even a place that has a skyline of bubbles, and sidewalks paved with flowers. If you explored a place like that, I'm sure it would make you smile, too.  

If you only have a few minutes today to create, go back to your childhood carefree days of doodling on your notebook with anything you had in front of you and just get lost in the process.  

One thing I am doing differently as of today (lol)...is that I'm using this new journal as a place for all of my doodles or at least dedicating this journal to the wonderful world of childlike escape.

Go ahead and capture a moment of whimsy and make believe by doodling. 

I guarantee it will bring you to that happy place you've been looking for :)

You Are Not Alone Art Everyday Month Day 11

There's a fine line between peaceful solitude and loneliness.   A creative life can be a full life, and it can be a quiet lonely life.  I rarely feel the loneliness anymore.  I think it's because I feel gratitude and joy for all the opportunities I've been presented with and the friends I've made along the way.  Good friends.  Friends that I really, really, really needed.  When I moved to North Carolina 660 miles from my home, I left behind some very good friends and all of my extended family.  All I did pretty much was work.   A lot.  6-7 days a week, 60-70 hours a week at least not including driving time.

Needless to say, I didn't make many friends for  a long time.  I could barely keep my own life together with my family let alone make time for friends.  I never felt that I would meet & make the type of friends I grew up with and perhaps that's how everyone feels. I guess it was just magnified for me because of how far away I was from everyone and how chaotic my life had become.

I quit my job that originally brought me to NC and took some time off before starting in my new career.  I did make some new friends but still....not so much still. I was in a position and still am where I can only get so close to my co-workers because I am their leader.   Fast forward to a couple of broken relationships and many bumps in the road, I still had a longing for companionship outside of the office and outside of my office setting with people I could lean on and do things with whenever we could.

I started dabbling in art, and connecting with a few people online through blogging, Etsy, and other forums....and then....who knows how it all happened but I met some fellow artists from my own home town.  Amazing. I was just beginning to play with all the cool paints and tools and pretty much had no idea what I was doing but I was having fun and I wanted to share that enthusiasm with others and do things with people that got what I was all about.  Serendipity.  I met some wonderful women who then introduced me to a whole slew of other wonderful women artists....and through those new connections I finally made the friends that I was missing for so long.  It's not easy for me to connect to others....believe it or not, I'm rather shy in  a lot of social situations.  Business...perfectly fine, more than fine.  Social--I'm an observer rather than a leader.

The moral of the story is, I don't fear being alone anymore. I have made lots of connections and friends, many people I can count on and they know they can count on me, too. It's all come together beacause of this 'solitary' peaceful creative life that I now lead (albeit part time).  It took being brave and following the doors that were opening,  walking through them even if it felt a little uncomfortable at first....it all happened exactly when I needed it to the most.

Thank you to the peeps I met through my blog and other blogs, too.  You all have added much joy and inspiration in my life.  :) 

Here's to never being alone.  You have nothing to fear, there's always someone there whether you can see them or not. Just reach out your hand and you'll be amazed at who is there to hold it for you.

***

Materials Used:

9x12 Strathmore Visual Journal

Neocolor II Water soluble crayons

Staz On Ink

Rubber Stamps

Stabilo Pencil

Pitt Pens in shades of gray

Black Pitt Pens

Ball Point Pen

Liquitex paint in titanium white and titan buff

Uniball pen in silver

Magazine cut out