Right Here & Now . . . .

9 x 12 WIP on pressed cardboard

Just a short little ditty about a few things going on Right Here & Now . . . 

First, there's a new girl in town - the WIP above was created on pressed cardboard (from the back of a pad of watercolor paper no less ;) that was first treated with Gesso applied with a palette knife. That said, my obsession with palette knives is officially well, official. If you wanna see her progress (I'm going for a palette of mostly whites), check out my Instagram feed for more. 

Speaking of Here & Now, today is the day that my first Life Book lesson airs! Yippeee! If you're on Life Book 2015, I hope you'll enjoy it! I. Am. So. looking forward to seeing your results. And of course, if you have any questions at all, please ask away. I'm honored to be here for you! 

Oh! And guess what?! This girl actually updated her much neglected Etsy shop! I've included the set of 5 canvases (above) just back from Somerset Studio's "With One Palette," along with several new original paintings. I do hope they bring someone as much love as I felt while creating them.

And . . . . it's beginning to look a lot like the SOC! The The Summer of Color 5 is just 5 tiny weeks away and the Facebook group is already hopping. If you're joining for the first time or if you're a seasoned vet, I promise, this is one year not to be missed.

And there you have it! A little bit about what's happening Right Here & Now.

To Love, Art & Exciting Things to Come,
Kristin xo

A Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, Fabulous Day. . .

"We ask ourselves, 'who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' 

Actually, who are you not to be?"

-- Marianne Williamson

It was a Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, Fabulous day Saturday as I taught my latest class at Venus Studios in Palm Desert, CA. The colors were bright & poppy, the students were sweet & lovely and the art was altogether joyous. 

So, for todays artistic offering, I thought it would be fun to share some of the class works in process. Wanna see? Okay good! Here we go:

Mimosa's and watercolor crayons? Um, but of course!

Step 1: Creating collaged backgrounds

Step 2: Adding color, depth and details

Step 3: Learning to sketch a whimsical portrait

And Lastly: Putting it all together.

See? It really was a Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented & Fabulous day! Anddddd I personally loved every minute of it.

Oh! And speaking of loving every minute of it: believe it or not, The Summer of Color 5 begins in just six short weeks from today! Um yeah. That's true. Just six tiny Mondays from today. Pop over to the SOC5 Facebook page for more. 

Wheeeeeeee. . . .

To Love, Art & Being Fabulous,

Kristin xo

"The Birthday Girls." (A Step-by-Step Tutorial).

"The Birthday Girls"

4 x 4 & 6 x 6 canvas collages

So I recently had a birthday. And when I say recently, I mean like over six weeks ago. But, in the vein of my last post in which I shared my all-consuming schedule lately, I'm only just now getting to some of my formal thank yous. In particular, I wanted to do something special for a group of my girlfriends who hosted a slumber party for the occasion. SO, instead of the traditional thank you cards, I'm sending the following collages - "The Birthday Girls" - off instead.

Wanna see the process? Oh good. 'Cause I took pictures along the way just in case. Ready? Here we go:

Step 1: Gather supplies including a group of original drawings and tiny blank canvases 

Step 2: make color photo copies of some of your favorite images or sketches

Step 3: apply Gesso to canvases with a flexible palette knife

Step 4: find some of your favorite spray inks. 

Step 5: ink away and dry throughly. 

Step 6: apply heavy-bodied acrylics or acrylic Gouache to bits of your canvases. 

Step 7: adhere some of your favorite collage materials to the canvases. 

(Included here are decorative napkins, tissue paper and candy wrappers).

Step 8: spray / splatter some acrylic paints to the surface of your collages

Step 9: carefully cut out your colored copies and then fortify the lines with a black ink pen.

Step 10: glue your images to your collaged canvases

Step 11: add final touches including confetti stars, liquid shimmer (acrylic ink) and Stickles glitter.

(Close Up) 

Step 12: add color to the edges of your canvases with oil pastels smudged with your finger.

And there we have it: 5 little thank yous all lined up in a row. It was fun, fast and guess what? Actually complete. Yay, Me! 

Wanna try it? If you do, please let me know: I'd love to see what you come up with!

To Love, Art & Getting Things Done,

Kristin xo

Yes, I'm Still Alive (& Other Such Ambitions)

I know that sounds dramatic. But it came from a girlfriend who recently texted the question, "Um, are you still alive?" To which I replied several days later, "I'll get back to you on that." Tongue and cheek though it was, the truth is, I've been feeling totally overwhelmed and-altogeher-not-myself lately. And I know the cause of my affliction: Ambition.

It's Ambition that made me feel I that could homeschool the cutie above and still be consistently creative (oh yeah, & a Mom & a Wife & a Homemaker). It's Ambition who gave me the courage to begin a creative business and say YES to every opportunity that came my way, and it is Ambition who told me that I could stay on top of a Daily Art Journaling project with ease. Well, Ambition, you were wrong. Oh at least I was wrong in thinking that I could do it all happily, easily and with a perma-grin.

Now, don't get me wrong. I think that to be ambitious is a good thing. I was raised to believe that if you worked hard enough, you could have everything in life that you desire. I'm totally passionate about creativity and I have a business plan that outlines a future of teaching across the country and beyond. I love to teach. I love to create. And I love to inspire other people to do the same. I think that's why The Summer of Color brings me so much joy. It's not the color, but the creativity and the community that inspires one another along the way. . . . 

But I digress. So let me just say here that I have totally and completely failed on the Daily Art Journaling  thing. I'm sure it's my embarrassment of having just quit that led me to the longest blogging break I've ever had (not that it was a purposeful thing, mind you. I just had nothing to share). But the truth is, I just couldn't keep up with the pace. And because I take forever to do anything, my "quick little pages" were becoming "long, drawn-out projects" and adding stress to my life instead of it's intended purpose, which was to provide a refuge. SOoooo, I officially declare the end of my Daily Art Journaling project and the beginning of a more rational approach to my art.

Rational approach to art? I just mean that I'm going to create when and if I can. I'm going to remain Ambitous (because that's how I'm built), but in this season of my life where I have a little one at home, I'm going to be less of a "YES" (wo)Man and more of a "I would LOVE to - let me look at my schedule" (wo)Man. See where I'm going with this? In the end, I want to do more of what brings me joy and less of what doesn't. More art just for fun, more teaching because I love it with every fiber of my being and more excitement with The Summer of Color. 

Speaking of loving it with every fiber of my being, wanna see the last class I recently taught? It was on Mixed Media Portraits and to be honest, a total blast. Here we go:

And for my next tick? Another Mixed Media Portraits class coming up next week:

Click Here if you wanna learn more

And last but not least, I just finished filming my first lesson for Life Book which airs at the end of this month. This project - more than any other right now - is making me giddy with excitement and filled with gratitude. Honestly, I'm like a little school girl waiting for my turn to present my project to the class. 

And there you have it: The ups and downs of Ambition and what I've decided to do with it in the future. Oh, and what that also means? I'm done with my unintentional blogging break, and coming back to you with my hand in my heart and paint under my fingernails. Um, as soon as I get around to it. . . .

To Love, Art & Intentional Ambition,

Kristin xo