Magical Mondays
Happy Monday, lovelies! Well… you’re probably thinking, ‘is there such a thing??’ I actually think so… as long as a delicious warm latte is in hand. It just seems to start the day off in the right direction…
For me, coffee is pure magic. There’s nothing quite like having a warm cup to wrap your cold hands around when it’s chilly and dreary out. The smell awakens the senses with delight, and the taste of that creamy goodness just seems to make all of the world melt away, even if only for a little while (or for the time it takes to drink a tall or grande!).
Coffee also helps get my engine revved up to do some serious creating. Art and coffee just seem to go hand and hand, don’t they? Some folks even use coffee as their medium to create beautiful paintings (that induce coffee cravings I am sure…). Check it out: http://coffeeart.com/creating-fine-works-of-art/
Make it a great one guys… now go get some coffee!
xoxo,
Jen
Whimsical Wednesdays
Building a Bridge to Your Creativity
Sometimes there’s a little devil on my shoulder who goes by the name of Procrastination, and he tries his darndest to get me to do everything BUT sit down and work on my art. And some days, on the opposite shoulder, is a well intentioned angel who as much as she would love to work on her art, she’s been so drained by the stresses of a corporate job that she simply cannot muster the creative energy needed to do what she loves… oh wait… that’s me… haha! I’ve been battling with both as of late. And I’ll be honest, it really sucks, and it’s really frustrating and hard. So, whats a girl to do when these blocks come up, preventing her from being as open and creative as she wishes?
If you’ve ever gone (or are currently going) through this I hope that what I’m about to tell you will give you that wonderful ‘lightbulb moment’ like it did with me, and will help banish that little devil/angel so you can get on with your artistic creations.
My very wise Fairy Godmother (yes, I actually have one) once told me during a particularly difficult talk about this very topic… “You must build a bridge to your creativity. Like your yoga practice, you cannot jump immediately into Grasshopper without first warming up your hips, otherwise you could really hurt yourself.
In yoga you must warm up (build your bridge) toward doing the more difficult poses so when you get there you can do it with more ease and grace. So with your art, you must do the same. You have to build your bridge to get to where your creativity lies so that you can be in a place of contentment and artistic inspiration. Quiet peaceful mind = space to CREATE.” This is when the lightbulb went off in my head… It resonated with me because in the past when the devil/angel would appear, it was usually when I was trying to deep dive directly into one of the intense pages for my book, Planet Harmonium, usually after a stressful day. The sheer terror of messing up something that I had already put so many hours into, and needed to be perfect made the devil/angel come up even more. So, I took my Fairy Godmother’s advice and first built the bridge… warming up to sit down and at long last work on my intense piece, unaffected by the pestering devil/angel. What I did was to get out a piece of paper and just roughly sketch anything that came to mind. The key word here is ‘rough sketch’ because you just want to start the flow of creativity and be loose with it… nothing serious just yet, just get really silly and messy! The same goes for coloring. I play with my many different colored pencils and do rough color comps to see what colors work well together. You have no idea how much this gets the creative juices flowing. Before you know it, your mind will be calm and focused and nothing will be able to prevent you from starting on your official piece. There ain’t no stopping ya!!
I hope this helps you as much as its helped me. Bring forth that creative energy from deep inside and let it burst onto the page with kaleidoscope colors abound!!
Have fun CREATING!
xoxo,
Jen
(Grasshopper photo found on Tumblr)
Magical Mondays
Hi Guys! I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!! I celebrated to the utmost fullest… hence, that’s why you haven’t heard from me in a week. Now that I’m finally recovered from all of the spooky revelry, I’m back in action and back on the blog track.
One of the things that inspires me most as an artist is getting out into nature. There’s just something about being amongst the trees in a forest that stirs my soul and desire to CREATE!! Now, it may be my Earth sign tendency (being a Taurus and all) but it goes much deeper than that. Deep like the old tangled gnarled roots of the trees. I love to spend any time I can in the woods (or as close as LA can get me into nature! HAHA!).
I went hiking with one of my girlfriends on Saturday in Coldwater Canyon. It was so much fun roaming the trials, catching up on life, inhaling the woodsy earthy air…
A stairway to the unknown…
After our hike, and as we sat munching on our brunch, the inspiration that I drew from our day were the colors I saw. I now have an uncontrollable urge to buy a brown paper sketch book and some sepia tone, white and brown pencils and sketch some trees and flora. Sometimes you just HAVE to go out and buy art supplies immediately! Am I right??
What inspires you the most to crate your art? Or what is your favorite hike? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
Happy trails to you…
xoxo,
Jen
31 Days of Halloween – Day 31!!!!
Hallowtober – Day #31
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!! All hail the best day/night of the year!!!! I hope that you guys have enjoyed celebrating with me all month long, I know it’s been fun to have you along! It’s time to put a lot of what I talked about together to create one beyond spooktacular day! Get your day started with a pumpkin latte, and once the sun fades into the starry curtain of nite put a big pot of bubbling chili on the stove (pretend the pot is a cauldron, and you’re the witch tending to this deliciously magic brew), turn on some Type O Negative, Moonspell, Wardruna, and The 69 Eyes to set the musical mood, light your jack-o-lanterns and candles while getting your costume ready for whatever fabulous Halloween party you’re getting yourself wrapped up in this year. Once your belly is satisfied and nice and warm, get going on your makeup and costume. Once that is perfected, head out into the dark of the night to trick, or perhaps treat your fellow revelers. Tonight is the night where the veil between the living and the dead is but a sheer and opalescent gauze. Breathe in deep, this the last of the autumn nights woodsy tinged air… for so soon, death will have its grasp on that too and all will fade into the white chill of winter… Happy haunting my witches, my ghouls and my ghosties… to all of you, bloody kisses…
Found on brandimilne.blogspot.com
HAPPY HAUNTING!!!
Jen
31 Days of Halloween – Day 30
Hallowtober Day #30
We’re getting close… oh so very close, to All Hallows Eve!!!! You know what that means… it’s time to get those pumpkins carved that you got at your favorite pumpkin patch! This is so fun, so many options so little time. I love the traditional jack-o-lantern face… triangle eyes and nose, and that toothy mischevious grin that glows in the dark of the night. Get wild and create your own. A lot of people carve scenes like witches flying past the moon, a belfry of bats, or iconic Halloween creatures in their pumpkins. Some you don’t even have to carve… like lace wrapped looking pumpkins, or painted faces. One of the best parts of carving pumpkins is…. roasting the seeds of course! I love to sprinkle mine with himalayan sea salt and fresh ground tellicherry pepper. The pepper gives it a nice little spicy kick. After gutting your pumpkin (ewww!!) wash off the seeds, coat them with a bit of olive oil, sea salt and pepper, toss, then spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 375 for about 7 minutes, until light brown and toasty crispy. Once they’ve cooled, turn off all the lights and light up your jack-o-lantern and toast a seed or two to its spookiness!! There’s nothing like seeing your creation glowing back at you in all it’s Halloweeny glory. Another bonus… I LOVE the smell of the pumpkin lid when the candle has burned it a bit. Now that is fall.
xoxo,
Jen
