Water, Art & Soul - A New Mini Course Available! :)

Dearest most beloved creative friends and community! :) I have a BIG, IMPORTANT, JUICY new project I want to share with you guys and I hope hope HOPE you'll support it with all your might! :D I need you dear friend, AND I have gifts to give you if you'll help me pleasie! I know you'd help me without the need to receive gifts, but I feel so much gratitude to those who'll support this project that I've prepared some gifties too, just because, just because I love you and care and am hopeful that we can do this thing together. You excited yet? :) You're probably wondering: Tam, dude, what are you ON about?! ;)

Well let me explain! :D

As a humanist and humanistic company, we donate to charity all the time (friends of the earth, chestnut tree house, kiva, amnesty etc), and we do so with love and joy. I am often really weighed down by the suffering in the world (as I know many of you out there are too), so much so that I have to stop watching the news. I feel helpless, sad, despair and can sometimes end up a big black hole of depression just thinking about all the suffering in the world. So I was thinking: what can I do?! Shall I just sit here in my black hole effectively adding to the suffering and misery in the world? Or shall I go out there and bring more joy and light? What little bit can I do to make a difference? Yeah, I opted for the latter, I was going to do something awesome! :) But instead of giving money and letting charities 'do the work', I felt called to do something more pro-active! Instead of donating money to a charity directly, I wanted to create something specifically to make the world a better place. I want to create a project for the purpose of directly helping people; to bring more joy & healing to the world. :) Yayyyyyy!! 

So when I found out that anyone could start their own Water Campaign at 'Charity Water' I felt excited to start my own campaign! Some people run marathons or give up their birthdays others shave their beards or whatever and ask people to donate to their own personal campaign! So I started thinking about what I could do for my/our campaign.

My awesome colleague and friend Gracie was excited too and we decided to record a song together (she's an AMAZING singer). We also wanted to do an uplifting music video for it and make both the mp3 & video available to download for free to anyone who donates to the water campaign, YAY! Watch the video here:

(with special thanks to Sony HTV & Billy Steinberg Publishing for allowing us to record this song to raise money for charity)
 
To top it off I also wanted to offer a free mixed media art lessons as a thank you to those who donated. So here we have it: The Rainbow Mermaid Art Class is my thank you to you for donating! :) Isn't this exciting and awesome? You'll learn how to make this beauty if you contribute to the water campaign:

And let me tell you something, when I first thought about helping to bring clean and safe drinking water to the people who need it, I had NO CLUE that having clean drinking water readily available had such an impact on these people's lives. At first I thought: oh, great, they're gonna be able to have nice drinking water and cook their food and not get illnesses and that's it, but naha: this impacts so much more -> their EDUCATION, SAFETY, HEALTH, LIVELIHOODS and so much more. I also didn't know that diseases from unsafe drinking water KILL MORE PEOPLE EVERY YEAR THAN ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE, INCLUDING WAR. WOW!! And this mostly effects women and children. :(



I feel so excited that by raising money for this charity, we can make a huge difference to some people's lives guys!!!! I'm so happy that we CAN make a difference, that it isn't all doom and gloom and bleak (which is often what I tell myself when I sit in my dark hole of depression!).
Here is a great little info-video on how the water crisis effects a family effected by it:



So, do you too want to bring more light into the world and help make the world a better place with me? Shall we do this together? :D Yes?! 

Then please come and donate some money to my water campaign by clicking here. You can donate any amount though I suggest something around the $10 - $25 mark if you can (or more if you can of course, eternally grateful!!) as the value of the lesson is currently around $29 USD, but let me stipulate that any contribution is valued and appreciated ($1 - $5 - $8 - $300)!! :D Apparently $20 USD can provide clean water for one person! And just so you know; every cent/ penny of the money you contribute goes to the water projects themselves as the charity is supported by donations from individuals. I also am not getting any of the money you donate, 100% goes to the project (it's not possible currently to sign up to the Rainbow Mermaid without donating to the charity FYI). We will also be given updates on how our project is doing! :D So I'll keep you guys up to date with that too.

(Once you have donated, please email us your donation receipt or simply email us to let us know you've donated on this email address: waterartsoul AT gmail.com and we will send you information and passwords to the lessons and the music :)) - if you have any questions about the project please email us on: willowing.arts AT gmail.com. 

So, shall we make this happen yes? ->


And this?! ---->

 

I hope you'll help me dearest friend, we can do this flipping awesome amazing thing together! help people, bring more light into the world, listen to music and make some mermaids on the way too! :)
Please help us by donating here, you rock!

You would also do me a huge favour and I'll LOVE YOU FOREVER, if you'd mention my campaign on your own (social) media sites. You can use this image if you want:

and link it to this url: http://bit.ly/rainbowmermaid

or here are some smaller blog buttons you can use to share this awesome project, thank you so much dear awesome one for sharing!!! ->

* - - *

Parenting Madness, Chia Seeds and Braiding

  
Ok, I started 2 blog posts already and have deleted both as they didn't feel right. This time I won't delete. No, I won't (ha ha, you can't check, can ya?). Aren't you a lucky reader? ;)
Here is what's been up in da land of Tam.

Things have been tough the past 4 weeks. With the babies, with my heart and my soul. I'm feeling really scattered with my energy. Obviously this is no surprise with the sleep deprivation, but it's also more than that, not just sleep stuff. There is just a general sort of withering and waning going on in my head (also: a purplish kind of fog) and I can't quite point my finger on the exact why. Not necessary of course. Expressing often helps, so in addition to 'arting it out', I'm deliberately writing this so that maybe I can clear some of them chakras and move forward a bit. Externalise baby, externalise.

Oh, I bought chia seeds to mix in with my juices. The crazy thing is that chia seeds aren't big here in the UK (can only find them in health food stores) and so they are ridiculously expensive. Apparently, though, they are a mega superfood promising magical powers and a healthy heart, so I bought me a bag and I'll let you know if I do indeed one morning wake up as cat woman or gandalf. :)
Mh, I just jumped from chakras to chia seeds to gandalf. Where shall I jump next? Back to the babies.
So, babies, yes, they are kinda not fun at the moment. Although this weekend was an improvement, the last 4 weeks of having children can be described as: 90% 'I want to kill myself disaster zone 101' and 10% 'a little bit fun with an edge of 'who's going to have a meltdown next' vibe'.

I really think human beings need to be better prepared for and informed about the perils of parenthood BEFORE they embark upon the sentimental journey of actually having children - it's not all it's chalked up to be. To quote the Dutch comedian Brigitte Kaandorp; 'Ik raad het niet aan' (translates to: 'I don't recommend it'). There is just much less romance and a lot more hysteria than I had ever expected or prepared myself mentally for. Also; the tired.omg.

At the moment a lot of this parenting gig involves jumping from Epic Greek Drama to Nuclear Meltdown to Gigantic Disaster Mess to Toddler Explosion to Never Able to Spend a Minute Alone to Will I Ever Be Able to Have a Conversation with my Husband Ever Again to WHY WILL NO ONE LET ME PEE IN PEACE type of ambiances. An example: Last night I tried to have a pee at 4am which I think took me less than 15 seconds and by the time I was back in bed, Elliot was near catatonic with hysterics. That took less than 15 seconds people. Less than 15 seconds.
It's neurosis inducing.

Additionally, both Andy and I are finding that before kids, there were life circumstances that you had successfully navigated yourself out of (with a lot of acrobatics - perhaps having taken years to achieve), and now with kids, they are dragging you (by the hair) back into those situations without you wanting to or having any control over it! They're slowly and meticulously breaking down all your useful and effective safety strategies in life. Had not expected that one either.

Right now, I feel that anyone wanting to embark upon the parenting journey should get a clear, loud, cut-to-the-chase-no-bullshit warning of this kind:

Attention parents to be - before you have children please understand the following:

"When you have children, your life in general, will be royally screwed left right and center while simultaneously learning a few zen lessons on the way interspersed with small intervals of delirious unconditional love and joy. Your mileage may vary."

I think that is about as honest and true as it can get.
Anywhoozies. I shan't go on with the rant, because granted, earlier, Andy told me to 'look out of the window' and I saw a little Dylan with one of my baseball caps on his ridiculously pretty head and a red raincoat jumping into a 'muddy puddle' (which he keeps wanting to jump into, the 'muddy' bit being crucial - thanks peppa pig) and my heart skipped a beat (oh how devious and deceptive the romance) but I will say that the balance is sort of off at the moment.

There is much more emotionally draining face-melting drama than lighthearted muddy heart-beat-skipping fun and I'm grumpy about that. And guess what? I'm allowed to be grumpy. Even if -comparatively- I live a rich, luxurious, awesome, filled with love, moonbeam rainbow unicorns, sparkling, art-filled creative sort of life. I am grateful but I'm also grumpy. (If you're wondering why I feel I have to justify my grumpiness; it's the voices in my head - they tell me that I'm not allowed to complain).

So that is the status quo of a mum of one almost 3 year old and one almost 7 month old who is sleep-deprived and is also trying to run a full on business. This she does, however, with childcare support and a superstar husband but It's STILL hard and crazy-making. And I personally don't think I'm whinging or whining. I'm generally a pretty tough person. I've taken my fair share of bullshit in life and swallowed it with a smile, so I'm not one to complain easily. I usually just get on with stuff, but this parenting gig: it is mega tough. Not so much in a physical, practical sort of way, but much more in a 'breaking you down psychologically' sort of way.

It makes you doubt yourself and question your life values. It challenge your boundaries, it shakes up your sanity and foundations. It makes you fall over and over, it makes you have to start again from the beginning, again and again. You worry, you worry, you worry. What you thought you knew turns out you didn't know. What you didn't know turns out you really didn't know! You're vulnerable and shaky, confused and tired all over again.

There is no greater and harder thing than to be a parent. And to those of you who 'been there and done that': I bow down to you. For serious.

And of course I know it gets better and of course there are the delirious moments of unconditional love, joy and fun. And of course I worship the ground these two kids toddle and crawl on and of course I will love them forever and ever. And of course Dylan's eyes are the most amazing colour I've ever seen and Elliot's smile reduces me to a blubbering puddle of mushy love. Of course.

Okay, I know this post is already too long, but I don't usually have a lot of time to write posts, so I'll leave you with some other, random things about my life that are a bit less hysteria and drama. ;)

1. New art - I'm currently preparing a mini art lesson/ workshop on how to create this painting (kind-faced girls keep coming to me, like guardian angels :)) :

It will be affordable (like £11.99) and super fun! :) More on this soon.

2. I'm really into trying out different braids lately, they're so pretty!






3. Juicing continues to rock my life.

4. I made this pretty digital art print for you to print out and hang up and have a little dance with! :)

Just right-click on this link: http://www.willowing.org/youarebetterthanmoonbeams.jpg and choose 'save target or link as' for the high resolution version. :)

5. Another quick piece of art in progress:





6. I'm loving instagram. I'm 'willowing' there if you want to follow me! :)

7. I'm currently running a 10% discount on my art courses! Use the discount code: MOONBEAM77 upon check out and you'll get 10& off! Yay! :) Go here: http://www.willowing.org/art-classes/

Moonbeams, that's it for me for now.

Stay groovy, I'm gonna try to keep at this parenting gig as best I can! ;)

On connection, belonging and mutual experience - AND a heartfelt thank you!

Oh mannnn. I got to go to bed bed bed, but I've been meaning to do this blog post for the last week now and something kept jumping, hopping, crashing in the way of it! So, I'll be a bit tired tomorrow and cut this bloggie short.

I wanted to write to and about everyone who responded to my last post about the 'struggles of parenthood' (clickie if you want to read it).

I also want to share with you the painting I created for week 1 and 2 of my up and coming course magical mythical makings (or m3). Let's start with that! :)

Lookit! Here she is! The Goddess of love inspired by the style of the amazing Gustav Klimt - created on a rather large canvas with watersoluble crayons, acrylics, several collage materials, texture paste, graphite and markers! I'm so proud of her!! :)

If you want to see how I created this painting and learn how to create your own, DO come and join us on the course (click HERE to join). It starts on Monday 17th January! Eeek, almost there! :D





and look at the yummy texture!



***

On to thanking you you and YOU, yes YOU tooooo! I was incredibly touched and moved by all the comments, msgs on facebook and emails I received regarding the blog post on the struggles of parenthood.

It really created a deep sense of connection and mutual experience for me. It meant I wasn't just not alone, but I was also not alone in my experience. I know this sounds obvious in many ways, but really, reading about everyone 'having gone through the same thing' or currently going through something similar, just made me feel like part of a whole, and that there was a knowing, an understanding. I felt that I was being seen, understood and heard.

That is such a gift.

And people were commenting on the rawness and the honesty of the post. Well, before I posted on blogspot, I used to post (and still do) on livejournal and have always been very open and honest over there about my ups and downs, so I've never been that 'scared' of it, in fact, I relish in really breaking open and sharing my rawness with people as I often find it breaks others open and a beautiful depth of connection and really seeing each other happens. There is nothing more beautiful than that!! I love it, when we break beyond that wall, the facade and see each other in our [emotional] nakedness and just share what is 'alive' in us. Breathtakingly moving I find that.

So thank you to everyone who sent a msg of support, shared their story, let me know their thoughts, wise tips and guidance and more. It really helped me ground, center and balance and Andy too, he loved reading all the responses!

And will you believe that pretty much straight after that post, things with Dylan too started to change. (Isn't it always like that: action is reaction is change and transformation?).

Andy and I both made a very conscious decision to be much more present with Dylan when we were with him (rather than just sort of 'half there'). And this last weekend Andy was away and it was me and Dylan by ourselves and we had a lovely time in the park and bonding and connecting. Here are some pics:









His sleep has also improved so much at the moment, he basically sleeps from 8pm to about 7am! Either straight through or with 1 wake up. Amazing! :)

Anyhoo, I just want to thank everyone again for their comments and reflections - it made me feel so connected and understood.

Must go sleep now!! :)

Big hugs, love,
Tam xoxo

Art, Heart & Healing - Free Online Art Course for ALL! :)

Yayyy! My free online art course is now officially open for registration!

Healing and Art for everyone! :-) ♥

We start the fun on 18th October 2010.

You can download the welcome pack which includes a supply list HERE and come join the group HERE.

Here is some info on the course:

As you all know, I am running this course for free to help those less able to come onto one of my other courses.

If you'd like to help me continue to run free courses, it'd be of great help if you could 'spread the word'. I'd be immensely grateful if you can; write about my site, my work, courses, my art videos on your blogs, facebook, twitter accounts etc.

You can grab any of these buttons to post on your blogs if you like, it won't let me embed the code, but I'll type them here, the important thing is, when you copy and paste the codes make sure to remove the stars (*) right by the brackets.

so the codes are: (making sure to remove the stars *, note: there are 3);





<br /><*a href="http://www.willowing.ning.com"><*img src="http://www.willowing.org/images/button-1-150.jpg" border="0" alt="willowing.ning.com" target="blank"><*/a><br />



and the code for this one:
<br /><*a href="http://www.willowing.ning.com"><*img src="http://www.willowing.org/images/button-2-150.jpg" border="0" alt="willowing.ning.com" target="blank"><*/a><br />



and this one:
<br /><*a href="http://www.willowing.ning.com"><*img src="http://www.willowing.org/images/button-3-150.jpg" border="0" alt="willowing.ning.com" target="blank"><*/a><br />

If you'd like to make a financial contribution to help me out and help me continue to run free courses and free projects, you can send me a donation by clicking on the 'donate now' button.

I sooo look forward to spending time with everyone!

See you 18th Oct!

Big hugs
Tam x


I hope you'll join! :)


Big hugs
Tam x

Fabulous Faces - Now Available on DVD!

Hullo all!

My portrait course Fabulous Faces is now available on DVD! :)

In honour of the launch I will be giving away 1 copy for free!!!

To win;

1. Follow this blog.
2. Leave a comment on this blog to be entered into the draw! (If you've already bought the course and you win the draw, I will refund your money).

The draw will be held on Monday 26th April!

Fabulous Faces DVD - Course Information

*Fabulous Faces* Mixed Media Portrait Art Workshop Now Available on DVD! Have you always wanted to create pretty portraits? Are you fascinated with drawing faces but can't quite get them to look the way you want? Then this might be the course for you! Learn how to draw and shade a front facing portrait as well as a 3 quarter and a profile one! In addition you'll be learning about adding extra elements to your piece and background integration as well!
front sleeve DVD cover	Student Feedback: "I loved this class. Not only was the work presented in an easy to understand set of PDFs and, more importantly, wonderfully made videos...but Tam, as instructor, comes across as a truly caring and nurturing person. I've never before taken an on-line class where I felt as if I was in the same room as the instructor...and that she really wanted her students to succeed and feel good about themselves. Thanks Tam, for a wonderful learning experience." -Irene Watts Las Vegas, NV USA Scroll down to read what other students have said about the course. $55 + shipping

What You're Buying
Please note: the DVD you are buying is a DATA DVD. The file format of the videos on the DVD is in .mov. This means you cannot watch the files on your TV unless your DVD player specfically plays the above mentioned file format. The files on the DVD can be played on PCs or MACs using either Quicktime (.mov files) or VLC Player.I strongly recommend Quicktime for .mov files though as the VLC player tends to distort the videos ever so slightly. You get 2 DVD discs which contain 9 .mov files (about 9 hours of lessons in total) and 7 PDF files. A supply list and course outline is also included on the DVD in PDF format. The DVD case has a professionally printed sleeve covering it.
April, 2010 This course ran on my ning network from 25th January 2010 - 7th Marcy 2010 for 105 students. Though I might run this course again at some point, I’ve decided to make the course available on DVD so that those who missed out can follow the course as well minus the interaction with myself and other students. Technical requirements: the .mov files play best in the software program Quicktime. You can also play them in VLC player but I noticed that VLC distorts my videos slightly so I highly recommend playing them in Quicktime (this programme can be downloaded for free off the internet).
	The DVDs contains 9 video files covering 6 weeks of mixed media portrait art lessons. Pls note that I have NOT taken out little chats or comments which related to events or circumstances happening at the time. On the disc you will find 7 PDFs that look at the methods and techniques that were covered in the videos and some of them list exercises and/or homework. The course goes over 3 diferent portrait positions (front facing/ 3 quarter & profile) and also looks at adding extra elements and background integration. Course skill level: Beginner & Intermediate

Course Outline

Student Feedback (with permission)
"If you've never had ART training before but would like to try out to see if you can bring out that little artsy side of yourself, you'll be amazed how far you can go with Willowing's course. She runs this online Art workshops in a very safe and encouraging environment. She gives you extensive content full of information in her high quality videos and you get to network with students. She gives special attention to every single student in a caring manner. It's really amazing and I highly recommend taking one of her workshop." - Sung-Hee (Regina) Hong Toronto, Ontario, Canada	"A very well put together course, covering many aspects of portraiture in an easy to understand way, with a direct line to the instructor for tips, tricks, and helpful critiques. " - Emily Earl, Chatsworth, CA
"the course was the reason why a stayed awake till 1pm... to watch the new video ;) step-by-step tutorial on how to draw faces and a guide on how to use different materials" - Nicole Walther Germany	"Hummm... Enlightening. Wonderful and useful advice. More like a guide to help you explore your creativity no limits. Tam is generous with her time, her positive communication skills. Overall... I'll take another course with her in a snap!" - Isabelle Lauzier, Montreal, Quebec Canada
"You're gonna learn to draw portraits easily and without stress because Tam is a lovely girl who takes time to explain and give all the details you need." - Peggy Petit Paris, France	"Fabulous Faces is a brilliant course, if you are interested in drawing and painting then you really should do this course." - Julie Stenning, Forest of Dean, UK
"One of my biggest handicaps with drawing the human body has always been faces, so I have always stayed away from faces. This course has given me the freedom to try, make mistakes and try again, to the point where I am now comfortable to draw faces. The teaching was comprehensive, and very easy to understand. This was also the next best thing to being in a classroom. Learning at my own pace meant no pressure, and feedback always encouraging. A very pleasurable course." - Kelly, Japan	"I was amazed how much I learned so fast. The shading help and drawing tips were exactly what I needed. Tam is an awsome teacher and lots of fun." -Kathryn Bernier, Bangor Maine, USA
BUY THE FABULOUS FACES COURSE NOW! $55 + shipping