today was beautiful green against blue, sun and bliss. connection, relaxation, haloumi, andy and neil. talking from the heart, authenticity, integrity, grilled vegetables and cool breezes, stamp cubes, flip flops, little children and crazy dogs. smiles, warmth, clouds, paint splatters. grape juice, water drops, vermilion. purple flowers, healthy walks, laughter, kindness, compassion. my love and me, hand in hand. transvestite shouted in response to us kissing; "beautiful that kiss! just beautiful".
Hello! :-) I'm so excited to be offering this workshop on DVD! Because I'll be giving birth soon, I won't be able to run this course for a while, so I thought how awesome would be if I produced it on DVD!! :-) And so I did! Now it's available for anyone who missed the first course! Yay! :)
World of Whimsy - Mixed Media Art Workshop NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD
Learn to create your own whimsical mixed media characters and get in touch with your inner awesomeness on the way!
What You're Buying
Please note: the two DVDs are DATA DVDs. The file formats of the videos on the DVDs are in .wmv and .mov. This means you cannot watch the files on your TV unless your DVD player specfically plays the above mentioned file formats. The files on the DVD can be played on PCs or MACs using either Quicktime (.mov files), VLC (both file types) or Windows Media Player (.wmv files). I strongly recommend Quicktime for the .mov files as the VLC player tends to distort the videos ever so slightly.
You get 2 DVDs which contain 9 wmv files, 9 mov files (duplicate of the wmv files) and 15 PDF files. A supply list will be sent with the DVD as well as a hard copy. The DVD case has a professionally printed sleeve covering it
Course outline
Art Outline week 1 - Composition, layout, design of your piece. week 2 - How to draw main elements of your piece & inspiration. week 3 - Shading and filling in your elements. week 4 - Background & layering. week 5 - Embellishments, definitions & borders (frames). week 6 - Adding inspirational, uplifting messages to your art (also learning about fonts!)
Your pdfs will contain both technical guidance and will look into positive healing and self acceptance practises based on the teachings of Marshall Rosenberg (nonviolent communication, looking at feelings and needs), Eckhart Tolle (the power of now) and Byron Katie (the work).
Self-Acceptance/ Healing Outline—PDFs week 1 - “There Is No Such Thing As Failure” week 2 - “The Art of Acceptance” week 3 - “Dancing with Monsters” week 4 - “Being Here Now/ Feelings & Needs” week 5 - “Who Would You Be Without Your Story?” week 6 - “Being Incredibly Awesome”
Ye little birds that sit and sing Amidst the shady valleys, And see how Phyllis sweetly walks Within her garden-alleys; Go, pretty birds, about her bower; Sing, pretty birds, she may not lour; Ah, me! methinks I see her frown; Ye pretty wantons, warble!
Go, tell her through your chirping bills, As you by me are bidden, To her is only known my love, Which from the world is hidden. Go, pretty birds, and tell her so; See that your notes strain not too low, For still, methinks, I see her frown; Ye pretty wantons, warble!
Go, tune your voices' harmony, And sing, I am her lover; Strain loud and sweet, that every note With sweet content may move her; And she that hath the sweetest voice, Tell her I will not change my choice; Yet still, methinks, I see her frown; Ye pretty wantons, warble!
Oh, fly! make haste! se, see, she falls Into a pretty slumber! Sing round about her rosy bed That, waking, she may wonder: Say to her, 'tis her lover true That sendeth love to you, to you! And when you hear her kind reply, Return with pleasant warblings.
***
rain and mucus dominated my day today. i don't mind rain though, i gape in awe at it as it comes down. it gives me a cleansing feeling. mucus, i do mind however. for some strange reason, out of nowhere, i started sneezing last night, and i haven't stopped yet. it's insane, i sneeze and sneeze and sneeze, i simply do not understand where it came from! and i did not know my head could produce this much snot. ha.
though my RA is playing up a bit and the sneezing is taxing on my body, i am feeling peaceful and trusting in life. i am pleased to feel that way, as i don't always. at times, i'm pretty restless, worried and jittery, but since coming back from spain, a general wellness and calm has come over me.
i've been working on my website, and on my new art journal workshop. also; the painting posted above, i love it. i'm having a texture paste fetish at the moment. i love trying to make my art as messy and mixed media as possible. also, the lil bird i painted makes me squeal with happy. :) i am using ink as a new material and it's really interesting the way it responds to acrylics.
baby is kicking the inside of my belly as i type this. andy and i have bought some clothes that explode my brain with the cuteness of them. additionally we made a baby list today and marked 2 days in our calendar on which we'll buy all that we need for the little new one. though my stomach is growing and my back aches and i'm clearly very pregnant; i still can't quite believe that there is an actual baby inside of me some times. the whole idea seems too weird, still. ha.
i want to make more time for sewing. i want to sew bags, thai trousers and a new hippo puppet, but i have to focus on a few commissions and the new course. hopefully i'll find a bit of free time soon. my fingers itch to sew.
ok ye little birds, keep on singing your song, i listen, i do.
i lie down next to him on the wrong side of the bed, on the edge of the bed that is his and snuggle up next to him. he's asleep but wakes slowly and smiles then fades away again. the radio still mutters world events and his bed light still oozes gently. i feel his prickly beard hair against my skin and listen to his breathing and the pitter patter of the falling rain. one of the most beautiful sounds i've ever heard; his breathing intertwined with the falling rain.
the baby moves around in my belly, as if to demand attention, i smile inwardly, with anticipation, knowing i will meet this little creature one day soon. we're preparing for his arrival with great joy and care and a bit of awe, too.
i've been painting this evening, focusing on the texture, layers and flowers. there is something about effective texture that excites my brain, not sure what that is, but man, look at this;
i can't help but find that terribly exciting. hee hee; like art porn. ;)
i've been a bit restless and contemplative, slightly internalised, withdrawn, pondering. i am so aware of how little it is i know. not that i think knowing is that important, but i'm often surprised by what happens in the world or what people do.
sometimes, all i want to do is lie in bed, in the dark and listen to the calm of the falling rain.
our villa in spain is, decidedly so, alive. particularly at night, it creaks and makes mysterious noises which make me wake up and worry about burglary. so far, it's simply the villa, making small talk with its neighbours, no burglars have been encountered yet, luckily. :)
i am reading 'the host' by stephenie meyer (from the twilight series), i'm enjoying it, she's dealing with some really interesting concepts; two minds living in one body, shades of violence and the relationship between strangers.
my dreams are vivid and complicated. i do intense nvc mediating in my dreams, one night, i mediated between a "wicked" sorcerer and a school boy, it was a success. however, last night, i dreamed that a girl wouldn't get out of my seat, and after many non-violent attempts of talking to her, i dragged her out. ha. i noted in the morning that that which was lacking in my attempts was; the intention to connect.
baby is really busy, particularly at night. sometimes it's as if he's trying to get out, and i tell him softly; 'not for a while yet, you must grow still, little boy, august is your time'.
yesterday, it rained. it was ok though; andy, hugh and myself took car trips to the local area. we braved our way into benidorm against all our primal instincts; it wasn't as bad as we feared, we also went to villa joyosa and calpe.
today is a cheese-free day. i've been overdosing on cheese way too much. most of what i've eaten here has consisted of; chips, crisps, cheese, bread, more cheese, more bread, almonds, pineapple juice and watermelon, oh and i had two days of gumball eating as well. so today i'm laying off the cheese (and gumballs), i'm gonna turn into a gouda chunk one day, or; will give birth to one.
i notice that the concept of mother's day annoys me. not so much because yes; it's a hallmark holiday like valentine's etc, but mostly because i think mother's day implies that mother's don't get celebrated on other days and they should be, but not just mothers; fathers, daughters and sons, as well. the very fact there is mother's day implies neglect on other days; i'd like to address that.
my mother never wanted us to celebrate mother's day and i think i'll continue that family tradition.
andy and i have decided to get married (this was decided about a month ago already). before anyone jumps up and down with joy and excitement; i don't do weddings. well, that is; i attend friends' weddings, if they're special, but i don't have my own. i know some people might colour me terribly unromantic, but i just don't see the point of spending a stupendous amount of money on 1 party. i've never liked it and still don't. andy and i are getting married for practical and legal reasons, it shouldn't cost us more than £40. i'm really not judging anyone who does like big weddings, their own or others, i just really want to warn people that; no big party, or even a wedding invite will come your way. sorry to disappoint. andy and i have always maintained that; "we are married every day"; ie: we celebrate our love every day, it's never not special. making it into a binding thing is not more of a declaration of our love, it's merely a practical & legal declaration of our love.
when i'm not lying by the pool reading books or doing art, i play peggle or ricochet on my trusty laptop. after finishing most of the challenges in peggle, i'm now obsessed with ricochet and the awesome balls it can produce; acid ball, sticky ball, bomb ball, multiball etc, it's a highly satisfying game.
last night, hugh and i watched a bit of eddie izzard. i was reminded by how much i enjoy taking the piss out of life.
♥
ps. my favourite new drink is fanta lemon with lots of ice.
so! OLA! we're in spain, all went well, airport navigation, flight, getting to the INCREDIBLY beautiful villa! (it's in this beautiful secluded area, the house is HUGE, the weather is amazing, not too hot, not too cold, it's super quiet and just stunning, the house is much bigger than i thought it would be, with a big beautiful garden and swimming pool, amazing!)
can't be long, but just wanted to say hi and ola and tell you how amazing it is!
an awesome way to celebrate my bday!
no internet access nearby though, so won't be around much, probably checking in on emails every 2-3 days or so!
oh, before i left, i worked until 3am to get this art video up before i left:
and this is the painting that was created in it:
hope you're all ok! remember, no internet access so won't be responding any time soon!
