Notice the little yellow duckie.

Up Up and Away
(buy here)


Today I woke up to a gurgling baby who threw himself onto my breast and then made cute cooing noises for 15 minutes while nursing. After that I proceeded to tickle him and kiss the bottom of his chin which had him in fits of laughter and me fill up with light inside. I am so incredibly in love with my child. :-)

There is something we can all learn from Dylan (and all other babies for that matter). He really lives in the present. Now, I know it's probably because he hasn't really developed his long-term memory brain cells yet, but memory or not, at the moment, he lives ::here-now:: . Let me give you an example:

Last week, he had the most horrible nappy rash. Very painful, red and raw. Each time we changed his nappy he would burst into tears and scream his little lungs out for the duration of the nappy change (btw; nappy = diaper). The interesting thing was though; as soon as we put some cream on the soreness and the pain subsided, he would get up and immediately return to his happy self and go over to his ducky (fav toy at the moment) and continued on with his happy playing. There was no: 'dwelling on the past' -> (ooh, my nappy change; it was so awful, why did mummy do this to me, why do these things always happen to me?), nor was he' worried about the future' -> (ohmygod, in another 2 hours I'll have to go through the same horrid pain, I'm so depressed, I never want a nappy change ever again, I hate my life ..). Unlike with most of us 'grown-ups' he does no dwelling at all; when he's in pain: he's in proper pain and let's everyone know by screaming, but when the pain is gone; it's gone and he's back to focusing on what is going on for him there and then, that minute; not an hour ago, not yesterday, not two hours later, not a day later, no; now.

We can really really learn from that. :)

Us grown-ups, had we been in Dylan's position: we'd be endlessly muttering on about how horrible our nappy rash is, how it was so painful to have it cleaned, how we're so worried about that it has to happen again in 2 hours time, how the world is unfair to us, how we can possibly speed up the healing so we don't have to experience it again ... all the while missing out on how beautiful that yellow little ducky is ...


***

So, I'm a bit addicted to working digitally at the moment. There is something really satisfying about working with the wacom tablet. When I first got it, I did really need to get to used it, but I'm now getting more and more confident with it and am really loving it. The image above was done digitally and the other two wintery ones too! (I'm probably going to make these into Christmas cards).







Though I've added in an extra week between week 2 & 3 of Art, Heart & Healing, I'm up to my neck in work. Loads of filming, editing, doing packages, emailing oh and I updated lots of stuff on my website www.willowing.org. But I have decided to run Magical Mythical Makings in January instead of November so that I have a bit of a breather. I really feel I could do with a holiday of 6 months in Thailand on the beach with blue ocean water and a yummy coconut with a straw. Hey, a girl can dream.

Oh, in other very mundane, unimportant news; I want to talk a little about some of the tv shows I have on in the background sometimes when I work. One of them is 'Gossip Girl' (I know; shame on me), I've also, over the last year watched several seasons of the 'L-word'. I wanted to write up a whole review of the L-word, but I have so much to say about that show, it'd take up too much of my time. What I wanted to say about these shows -and I know; no one is forcing me to watch them-, what aggravates me deeply is the lack of character development and the continuous deja vu I keep experiencing when semi-watching these shows.

For instance, with Gossip Girl, now, I know; the name of the show, obviously, says it all, but it has/ had some kind of entertainment potential and instead it keeps playing out the same story over and over again again with the characters not growing or developing out of their tedious personalities by even one iota. Now, I get that is a lot of judgement and I don't usually do judgement, so let me rephrase this, or rather; let me explain why it bothers me so much when a character on a show just stays the same.

It leaves me without hope. This because the subliminal message is that people don't change (while they do, or can). The moment someone like Chuck shows an inch of humanity, something unfortunate happens returning his menacing bitterness and kerblam he's back in the business of spreading misery.

The other thing that annoys me a lot about this type of story writing is that, to me; it's a cop-out. It feels like the writers think to themselves: 'well, the viewers want this dude to be evil and remain evil so we'll keep him evil so that the ratings stay up and we make money'. While the more socially responsible thing would be to imply growth, change and transformation in a character like Chuck's.

I know, I'm laughing out loud reading that paragraph back, I don't know why I expect writers of a show like Gossip Girl to feel any sense of social responsibility {hilarious, really}, but I don't know; I just feel sad and annoyed when I notice that writers don't want to take risks or do something original or (welp) something that might actually bring hope, love and understanding into the world ... (oh no; not if it's not going to make any money!)

::Breathes::

Ok, the L-word: The most frustrating thing about that show was how they developed Jenny Schecter's character (this was character development gone completely hay-wire and beserk in my opinion). Jenny's character had a lot of depth, integrity and authenticity in the first season. I know, she had an affair with someone, that's not the kind of authenticity I'm talking about. Her integrity and depth lay in the fact that she cared about stuff, thought deeply about life, living, she felt deeply, she was aware and simply felt everything. By the end of the entire show, no one cared that she died, because they had turned her character into some kind of fame seeking, power hungry, arrogant, distorted diva, which I really didn't think did her initial character any justice. There was so much more to her, they could've done so much with her. What a waste of a character.

Overall, with the L-word I have a similar commentary as I do with Gossip Girl; while in general there was a little more growth with the characters; the same things kept happening. Shane always always always had to fall back into her pattern of having sex with everyone, never able to commit to a relationship. While I understand that Shane had big psychological issues and part of her defense mechanism was to use sex as a way of dealing with her pain, the writers never made Shane confront this part of herself on a deeper level, or learn to understand that side of herself, no they just made her fall back into the same pattern without any hope of change or understanding of herself.

Alice always ended up in a relationship that didn't work out. The only person who really developed and changed was Tina, from a shy submissive woman to a much more independent person grounded in her own power. But then there were so many loose-end stories in the L-word as well, for instance; Bette & Tina wanted to be attachment parents to their child, this seemed to be significant at one point in the story line and then just sizzled away. Why not go deeper into that story?

A last thing that annoyed me about the L-word: the ridiculous amount of sex scenes. Why was there so much more sex in the L-word compared to other shows? This annoys me so much. Is this to attract men to watch the show? Is it attempting to represent the lesbian community "realistically"? Even if it's realistic, why show so much sex on the show? (Way to stereotype)? On heterosexual shows there isn't a representational amount of sex on shows either, but no; now that there is a show specifically about lesbians; we have to saturate it with sex scenes otherwise we don't ... uhm, live up to the what?

Talk about segregating a group of people! Here you are having the huge responsibility to bring a show about lesbians to national tv, scary, hard, difficult to do. It's a precarious subject, you want to make sure that the world isn't going to view 'these people' as 'different to me', so I know; why not make them have rampant sex with each other all the time! That will really help with the inclusion, integration and 'not seeing them as different;' (end sarcasm) ...

Let me be clear; this is not me being angry about sex on tv. I really don't mind sex on tv, if it's relevant, realistic and a fair representation of whatever story line is being presented. It annoys me when sex is being used for something other than fairly representing the story line, which is what it felt like a lot, for me, in the L-word.

To me, this much sex was a way to attract viewers, to sensationalise being a lesbian, to make the show (supposedly) more interesting. Which just makes me feel very sad. Why does a show about lesbians need lots of sex to be interesting? It's people, just people, not weird "other" people that have lots more sex than you (heterosexual person) does ...

It's not necessary, it's not representational, it's stereotyping. I would've liked the show if there was some sex, not loads (or so glaringly more than other shows), more depth, more transformational character development, an attempt at going deeper into interesting story lines (attachment parenting) and specifically a different character development for Jenny Schecter.

I think it just makes me sad that there is so much potential for certain characters which would actually send positive messages into the world somehow, instead the focus is on making money and creating tv shows that sensationalise and stereotype and imply no hope or that change is possible.

It also makes me sad, as it just seems to cause more separation rather than a bringing together.

...

Now, Peepshow, with David Mitchell & Robert Webb -> THAT is the most awesomestest tv show ever created in the history of ever. :) Comedy genius' at their peek. (Quote on Porn: "Is it not just dead eyed men fucking dead eyed women in a world of pain?!")

Here endeth the sermon by Tam on the mundane topic of the day; tv shows.

;)

I so must go to sleep.

Huggles. x


PS. aren't I diverse & all-encompassing? -> covering both something like 'Gossip Girl' and 'being in the now' in one blog post? ;P

You will never be just 'pretty'.

Girl - in progress

So, where was I? :-)

Well, let me hear a "HOLY WOW"; there are 950+ people on my free art course and they are on FIRE! One after another posts amazing work, beautiful comments, revelations of healing. I am continually awed, stunned, humbled and moved by what they are posting and how they are responding to each other; with such love, care and encouragement. I am blown away.

So, all is very very busy in Tam-land and I do look forward to a bit of a break soon, but that's going to have to be December as preparations for my next course have started! Yes, yes: Magical Mythical Makings is soon coming to a server near you! ;) We'll be creating a new mythical creature each week! From Goddesses to Angels to Mermaids, they're all going to join us! We'll also be looking at some of the old masters for inspiration (Klimt, Chagall, Redon etc). I can't wait to run this class, I'm so excited about it. :)

In the mean time, I'm still trying to take some time for myself and create art purely for my own relaxation (usually after Dylan goes to sleep), and all art you see in this post has been created in the 'after hours' (is what I've come to call them, ha).

Here be a happy pic of me and Dylbee: :-)



I've done some more digital creating which is very satisfying I must say, I think I'll make these into a series:





And here some new art journal pages:













Back to some more digital creating! Hope everyone is well.

Snugglehugs. x

Oh PS. Watch this awesome poetry slam video, you won't regret it:

Hugging is the Whole Point

Hugging is the Whole Point

Original for sale HERE
Prints available for sale HERE

:-)

Isn't she cute? ♥

I have tired eyes and I sit here at too late an hour writing my blog, updating all my latest art bits on my site and in my etsy store and checking up on Dylbee intermittently who has lately developed 'bad' sleep habits again, he wakes up frequently before I've even gone to bed, yes, I am tired, but I'm happy.

Crazy busy with preparation for my up and coming free course! It's so funny because I, obviously, can't spend all my time creating lessons for free, but I keep wanting to do 'a bit more' and 'cover this bit too', 'add just another page'. LOL. It's hilarious and potentially a bit stupid, but hey, I is an artist who can't stop! :D

Also, I'm excited because I recently had pocket mirrors made of my art and they look soooo pretty! They have this beautiful glossy finish and the art is really beautifully printed, great quality. Just really pleased they came out well as sometimes you can order something online and be disappointed, but these are just the prettiest! Have a looksie! :)







These are also available in my etsy store if you're interested! :)



I did art with a friend of mine and her 12 year old daughter yesterday, it was really lovely to be working with a child (ok; teenager) again, I miss doing art with kids and it really makes me want to run courses in person with either kids or adults so I'm going to look into doing in person courses here in Brighton, should be fun!

Ooh, I've signed up to Gritty Jane's art doll class and soooo badly want to find some time to start creating an art doll, but am totally caught up in doing my classes at the moment, I will find some time though as I have all the materials now (paper clay, yay) and just gonna HAVE TO make one, I'm itching to create one. Hope to be able to sculpt the face though as that is always my struggling point.

Mmmh, what else?

Oh yes! I'm gonna be interviewed by the cool and awesome Jonathan Manning (aka; the artistic biker) tomorrow for his ustream show! I look forward to talking art with him, it'll be fun! :) (should be going to bed to make sure I look semi-presentable, ha ha).

Well, I think that's it again for now. Oh, one more thing, Dylan's got his FIRST BIKE! :) LOOOOOOK:



Loads of my friends and acquaintances are pregnant (something like 7-8 people I know are either having a first or second baby) and it's making me very much think about a second baby (eeee!!). It's all a bit romanticised though as realistically it's probably not such a good idea (not quite yet), but hey, a girl can dream. ;)

Big hugs and love to all. x

Out of Ashes, Phoenix Rises

A long overdue blog post with a bit more detail than just 'here is my new art video' or 'look at this cute picture of Dylbee' (not to say that those aren't totally delightful, right? ;)).

Ok, so what has been up with the Tam, waddup, whatdeuppah, whatsieupsies Tamarooraaa?

Well, life really, lots, big huge mountains of it.

The biggest learning when you have a baby is basically one in 'zen-mind'. (I've been trying to get that mind for a while now, and of course; the trying is in the way, so now, with a baby, you're no longer trying, you're just DOING zen-mind, because you have NO choice, ha ha, how's that 'careful what you ask for eh Tam' ;)).

Karen Maezen-Miller (author of Momma Zen) says it perfectly: "the things that you used to think were 'yours' are no longer yours". Take sleep for instance; before baby came, you may have had sleepless nights because you were stressed about work or something else nagging, but at least those sleepless nights were YOUR sleepless nights; ie: you were the one making yourself sleepless. With a baby, he or she is making you sleepless, it is out of your control, there is nothing you can do but 'go with it' (see: great practise in mindfulness and zen-mind).

While your life is blessed with this stunning beautiful thing called a new baby, it's also earthquaked upside down in ways that you -seriously- don't expect. So, without you sort of asking for it, you're all of a sudden learning learning learning learning learning. (A bit like when I went to Sri Lanka; so beautiful and so difficult at the same time!).

I was saying to my osteopath the other day; 'when you're pregnant and you imagine having your baby, you imagine it to "slide" gracefully into your life, perfectly fitting around everything else already there, you image this baby becoming 'part of your life' and sort of it moving with you, but instead; it doesn't become part of your life, instead; your life is no longer relevant and everything, really, everything revolves around this little creature's life". The osteopath, proud father of 3, simply smiled. :)

So, needless to say; a lot of our lives revolve around the little critter at the moment, look at him now ->





Dylan @ 13 months old


He is nearly 14 months old now and is a pretty sturdy walker, has a 7th tooth coming through, makes an hilarious noise when you ask him; 'Dylan was does the cow say' and still doesn't sleep great, but is getting better and better with that one overall.

He loves reading books, or rather; have us read them to him, is crazy strong (for some reason likes to pick up both my exercise weights 4 kilos each at once) and is the proud owner of 2 pairs of shoes!

He knows how to point at his ear, nose and feet and when you ask him where they are (he's a genius! ;)) and jiggles/ dances while sitting down when you sing to him which is so insanely cute! He adores his daddy, loves being chased and has the most amazing giggle that makes my heart soar when I hear it.

:)

Here he is in the pool and in the New Forest with his dad:





I used to find it annoying when people who had babies would just 1. disappear on me, and 2. only talk about their babies, but I find myself in the same position now! I have very little time to see friends or write blogs between working, sleeping and being with Andy and Dylan, there just isn't much time left!!

And that I find difficult and sad. Part of me wishes there were 48 hours in a day so that I can spend 12 hours working, 12 hours with Dylan, 12 hours with Andy & Friends and 12 hours sleeping, but alas alas, it be not so.

So, I, we, are doing our best to manage work, Dylan, our together time, sleep, getting stuff done, meeting up with friends, writing on blogs, but really, when you have a baby, you have an extra full time job on your hands. I never quite realised this with other people with babies until now.

We have hired a childminder who comes 3 days a week for 7 hours, which is a huge help so we can do our work, but it also breaks my heart a little as I miss Dylan like crazy for those 7 hours, but it's gotta be done, gotta bring in the bacon as they say! :)

Work wise, well that is going well!! A lot of people are enjoying spending time on my ning site. And the courses and my art is selling well! I'm very proud of this and immensely enjoying all the connections I'm making with the artsy community online.

I am currently working hard on my free online course 'The Heart of Art'. It does really feel good to simply GIVE, I am so overwhelmed by everyone's responses to it, at this point over 500 people have already signed up! I can't wait to get started on that one and really contribute to people in this way. :) I have another course planned for October/ November as well called: "Magical Mythical Makings" and we'll be making a new mythical creature each week, very excited about that one too!

Psychologically I am up and down at times (the story of my life). Since Dylan has been born I feel even more attuned to other people's suffering and don't quite know how to 'shut that empathy door'. A friend of a friend of mine has just found out that she is terminally ill and is going to die soon and she has 2 young children. When I think of that, I experience it as if it's happening to me and can simply break down in tears and don't know how to 'let go' or help. It makes me feel utterly helpless and in despair to think what she must be going through. And this is just the suffering of 1 person. When I think of so many other horrible things that happen in the world, I can feel utterly depressed and overwhelmed with sadness and again; don't know how to not be so affected by it. I know Byron Katie says it's 'false suffering', not my suffering and I often am able to let go with doing some of her work, but I often slide back into "suffering on behalf others", it's so pointless though as it doesn't help these other people at all. Gotta remember that. I am also always very fearful that something like that can happen to me and that would be my worst nightmare; having 3 months to live and having to say goodbye to your loved ones. I much rather die an instant death in an accident or something.

Apologies for some gloomy stuff, but this is also what goes on for me and at times this is a daily struggle.

I now try to make time each day to do some art journaling after Dylan has gone to bed, just to realign myself, with myself, after a long day full of things and to just ground back and reconnect with and into myself and that has been really helpful as it's like a place I can return to, to give myself some nourishment, self-connection and empathy. Here are the pages I've done the last couple of weeks:





























hope you like!

and here another picture of the two most amazing men in my life:



oh and me and dylbee!! :D



i deeply hope everyone is well, ok, sparkly and beautiful with blueberry muffins.

big hugs. x

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

fly free

it's been a while wonderful lj people. my apologies for disappearing. it's been a busy, difficult, amazing and beautiful time.

here is a new art video and some new art. hope you are all well and that you like this!

more hopefully later today with a bit more in depth stuff about the love and life of tam and co. :-)









big hugs

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

Dear Baby Dylan,

We are about 6 days away from your first birthday. I have been pestering your dad today, demanding we must get the perfect birthday cake for you. It must be personalised, have marzipan in it and preferably adorned with diamonds too. You wouldn't think I'd choose a cake, of all things, to try and express my utter devotion to you, but there you have it; the cake must be perfect.

We had trouble conceiving you, baby Dylan. We spend almost 2 years trying to 'make' you, but for some reason it wouldn't quite happen. The sadness I felt each month became increasingly less bearable, but when we found out that you did finally decide to make a home in my tummy, your dad and I, well, we couldn't contain our joy! He still remembers the way my footsteps sounded when I walked back into the bedroom announcing you were coming!

You're asleep in your own bed right now. Earlier this eve, your daddy gave you your dinner and apparently played a game with you which meant that your pajamas were entirely covered in some kind of brown goo. This happens a lot with you: brown goo. In your ears, in your hair, on your face, around your mouth, on your shirt, in your eye; brown goo. You hate muslins, bibs or anything that goes around your neck, so when I put one on, you pull at it defiantly until your face goes red.

You have a giggle that, I am convinced, make the angels sing. I hear it and cannot help but feel the corners of my mouth curl up, inside; I beam. And giggling you love to do. Particularly when daddy chases you on all fours. Sometimes you get confused about the chase game; instead of crawling away very fast, in your excitement; you crawl towards the chaser! This is so adorable, it makes me explode a little.

Don't take this the wrong way, and don't get offended, but you poo a lot. This is not a problem to me, in fact, I like it when you poo. What I don't like, is when your bum is covered in poo and you decide that you're bored of lying on the mat and you attempt to crawl off mid nappy change. I don't mind your poo, love cleaning you up several times a day but I draw a line at poo-covered furniture.

And the only way I can make you lie still on the changing mat at the moment is to sing Dutch nursery rhymes to you, preferably with silly faces and awkward hand movements. Do you know how skilful one must be to multitask like that? You try changing a nappy, cleaning off poo, sing a song, pull a funny face and do something awkward with your hands at the same time. Yes, your mummy is a fabulous superstar.

To our horror you like to dive off of things, the bed (which is very high), the couch, our laps, your pram. You seem to understand the law of gravity but you also seem to want to test it out, defy it, laugh in its face. Let me tell you now, little Dylbee; gravity will, like a quiet, confident opponent; win. Please stop smashing your head into things, okthankxbye.

You don't really like it when grown ups stand upright on their two legs. You are, after all, little and 'down there' and want the 'finer, closer connection' with us grown ups, so you've figured out a brilliant way of getting us to come down to your level; you pull down our trousers. Sure, you pretend it's just you 'pulling yourself up' on my trousers, but we both know that pulling down my trousers, which has happened on a few occasions, gets me to sit down with you. Dylan 1 - Mummy 0.

Speaking of 'pulling up'. You can now walk with a stroller, you 'cruise' along side furniture and you can stand by yourself for at least 20-30 seconds. When you walk with the stroller your face lights up with the goofiest grin and you can also get incredibly frustrated when the stroller comes to a halt because a chair or other object is in the way. When it comes to expressing frustration you do seem to harness the Leo energy.

You like to lick shoes, suck on usb cables, chew on remote controls and munch on tissue paper. You love many of your toys, but you much rather find a tiny fluffy dust bit that no one else but you can actually see with the naked eye. In this respect you do really resemble the many characteristics of a puppy dog.

"Heeya" - as in; heeya heeya ho (old macdonald had a farm) - is one of the words with some kind of meaning you are able to say. When I sing that song to you and change the lyrics to: 'Old MacDonald had a farm and on his farm he had some Dinosaurs - heeya heeya ho', I inwardly hope that my inserting dinosaurs (or elephants, or lions, or wombats) in a farm, will inspire creativity in you later in life. I hope that you will learn that it's ok to challenge the rules a bit and to be creative with something you're given, to think outside the box and play with what comes your way.

Now that you're crawling and on the verge of standing up, you sometimes get into a pose which I can only call 'Shakespearean' - you're down on one knee and you hold your arms open wide as if to say; Juliet, oh Juliet, wherefore art thou? It is most dramatic and expressive I tell you.

You are a total flirt. Wherever we go you smile at people and people smile back at you. On the bus they play games with you, ask me how old you are, comment on how happy you seem. Where ever you go, people cheer up, start smiling, twinkles appear in eyes. You have a magic spark, a gift that way, I hope you never lose it.

Your fifth tooth (incisor top left) has appeared today - you have 5 teeth now (including the new one). We've recently started 'brushing your teeth' which is a bemusing activity for all involved. We try to brush your teeth, you try to chew the brush and suck up all the toothpaste which you seem to think tastes delicious!

You have shot up like crazy in the last couple of months. While in your earlier months you were in the 50th/ 60th percentile for height & weight, you are now suddenly in the 90th percentile! We are not quite sure what happened, but daddy thinks you're going to be a 'gentle giant'. Both of us are pretty tall so it wouldn't be a surprise if you too grow tall. Your hair is finally growing a bit too now, but you still don't have a full head of hair, we don't need to brush it quite yet. You have two dimples on your back, like your dad, and your eye colour is an interesting mix between blue, grey, green and brown.

When I say; 'kisses' to you, you let your head fall back, smile wide and wait for the kiss to be planted on your cheek or mouth. The cuteness of this simply can't be contained. When I blink with both eyes, you blink back with both eyes. You use your little finger to explore everything. You stick it into all sorts of little crevices and holes including my belly button with which you are endless fascinated!

You are everything I ever wished for in a baby and more. I consider myself so lucky to have been blessed with a child like you. I am so deeply honoured and humbled to call myself 'your mother'.

Happy first birthday baby boy.

Thank you for coming to us.

All my love
Mum

Artist Interview - Bonnie Rose Bryan - August 2010

Featured Artist of the Month Bonnie Rose Bryan www.BonnieRoseArtiste.com August 2010
For our very first 'Artist Inteview' this month I've had the pleasure to interview the magical Bonnie Rose Bryan! I can't quite remember when I first came across her fabulous work, but I do remember that when I first encountered it, I was instantly mesmerised and in love with it. Fairies, goddesses and magical beings of the natural realm can often be seen in her work, they inspire and speak to me on all sorts of levels! But her talent doesn't stop there, additionally, Bonnie also paints people, portraits, cups of coffee, butteflies, animals and beautiful abstracts! She likes to work with watercolours, acrylic paints, coloured pencils and ink pens. She often uses bold, bright colours in the most attractive combinations. In addition to Bonnie being an extraordinary artist I've also found her personality one to be gentle, kind and generous. She always has something affirming to say about other people's work and I find her endlessly encouraging. When I think of Bonnie, I think of faery dust that smells of cotton candy, I really hope to meet her in real life one day! :)) (I am also thrilled that she's agreed to be an administrator on the site here, yay!) I am the lucky owner of one of these little love houses (ATC), lookit how cute they are! -> I hope you enjoy the below interview with her!
1. Who are you and how would you describe your work/ art? I am Bonnie Rose Bryan, a woman and an artist, made of stardust. Primarily, I’m a figurative artist; my specialties are the female figure and the “fantasy” genre (particularly faeries.) All of my work contains personal elements, and I often infuse spiritual currents and sacred archetypes into my work. Typically, my mediums of choice are watercolours, acrylics, coloured pencils, and ink pens; I have quite a variety of mediums under my belt, but those four seem to be the ones I reach for the most.
2. Who or what inspires you to create? In a nutshell: colour, nature, aesthetics, music, spirituality, my moods, and my conversations with the Universe. With my figurative works, I think the inspiration behind the work can be quite evident (for example, I like coffee and I like purple, so I paint a purple coffee cup.) However, there are some paintings which come to me from the outside-in. I often feel, especially with my faerie portraits, that the images come in a sort of intuitive messages and conversation with the faeries, and with other subjects, the inspiration comes from messages and conversations with the Universe… I don’t always know who’s sending the signal, only that I’m receiving it.
3. What is lying on your art desk today? At the moment, I have one mixed media work in process, a large portrait of Green Tara, which has been lying on the shelf, untouched for quite sometime, and is next on my list of things to finish. I don’t actually have an art desk, per se. My studio (more like art storage) space is shared with the office. Much to my dismay, my art-making space is very impermanent, and has to cooperate with meals, my husband, and a rather clingy fox terrier. For small drawings, I’ll often work on the tiny corner of free space next to my keyboard. For small paintings, I usually work on a little wooden folding table, either in the office, or while sitting on sofa in the living room. Larger works are done on the dining table, or I’ll set up the easel in the living room, in front of the windows. When I’m not painting, everything gets packed up and tucked away, where it sleeps, while I go about the non-painting parts of my day-to-day.
4. Out of everything you've ever painted, what is your favourite painting/ creation and why? Ouch… this is a difficult question to answer! If I had to choose a favourite from my recent works (within the last 10 years,) it’s a toss-up between “La Tristesse” (an acrylic) and “Sharing Secrets” (a watercolour). I consider them to be two of my best works, and at the time of their creation, each was a technical accomplishment for me in both of their respective mediums. Both include deep esoteric and emotional undercurrents, which appeals to me. The depth, gossamer glow, and soft rendering in “La Tristesse” always surprises me (Did I really paint this?)
I love the jewel toned colours and all of the decorative details in ”Sharing Secrets”. That painting always makes me feel satisfied, accomplished, and glittery on the inside. (It also features a moth, a symbol that pops up in a few of my works, which has a special significance for me).
5. What is your favourite piece of art by another painter/artist? Oh, this is equally as difficult as the last question! The works of Brian Froud, Alfonse Mucha, and Vincent Van Gogh have always touched me so deeply, and been such tremendous sources of inspiration throughout my life. Almost anything and everything from those three saints of paint would fall into my “I’m in love, it makes me swoon” category.
6. What is the worst bit of art advice anyone has ever given you? “You have to make sketches first.” This was an anthem in my university art classes, and I spent countless hours forcing out sketches for pieces that were more than ready to be painted. Lots and lots of sketches… sketches until my eyes could blur shut and my hands could fall off… sketches until I had no will left to paint anything at all. What utter nonsense! When the baby’s coming, you breathe and you push, you don’t say “hang on a while, kid, I gotta make an itinerary and a blueprint first.” “Have to…” this is art, there is no have to! I tend to work on things in my head, and when it’s ready to come out, I make it. Sometimes I have no idea what I’m going to make, until I put the brush to the canvas! From time to time I have done sketches to work out parts that aren’t finished baking in my head, or isn’t coming through clearly from the cosmic conversation, and sometimes I sketch to jot down ideas for artworks that I plan to work on later. But, I can’t make a painting wait, just because it hasn’t been planned and practiced down to the finest detail – to make it wait is counter productive and creatively stifling, and I certainly don’t consider the pre-planning of artwork to be a mandatory and necessary precursory step to the actual making of it. 7. What is the best bit of art advice anyone has ever given you? Two things: “Paint it however you want.” and “So what if nobody else likes it or understand it.” Following those bits of wisdom has made an enormous impact on my work, and the personal satisfaction I get from the process of making it (as well as enjoying the finished results.) I cannot and will not please everyone, nor do I aim to, but I can strive to be true to myself and my art. In my opinion, art-making shouldn’t be about rules. It’s not about making work to please other people and fulfil their expectations of how my art should be, either. If I wanted to paint with a set of rigid instructions and inflexible absolutes, and paint it to the specifications of someone else’s ideals, I’d simply and exclusively do paint-by-numbers. I’m of the opinion that in art making, nothing is mandatory and no technique is absolute. If I want to scrub with my brush until the bristles fall out, or use a “watercolour” brush with acrylic paints, I will! If a faerie says to me, “I’m blue,” well then, she’s blue, and if she changes her mind half way through, she might turn out purple instead… If I want to have a yellow sky and an upside down tree, so be it! I just go with the flow. Just like the infamous Bob Ross, I regard each piece as a little world, and in my world, I can make it any way I want to. My artistic process is highly intuitive and personal, where “normal” and “traditional” may or may not be invited.
8. Have you ever put your paintbrush in your cup of tea by mistake? Haha! Oi vey, if only I had a coin for every time I’ve put a paint brush into a cup of tea or a glass of wine, I could buy myself a paint factory. 9. What is the strangest medium/material you've ever worked with? The strangest mediums: blueberry juice, for painting… strips of textured plastic mesh from potato sacks (which I knit into gold fish, for an assemblage work.) … and a digital scanner, for making auto portraits. 10. What hopes and dreams do you have for your art & future? I hope, firstly, for the time to continue making it on a daily basis, secondly, for the ability to improve and hone my skills, and thirdly, for the luck and prosperity to sell more of it.
11. If you couldn't be an artist in this life, what other job or hobby would you really want to give a go? If I were not an artist, I would not be myself… Art is so interwoven into the fabric of me; I’d have to be someone else in order to stop making it. Being a rock star would fun, of course! Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, stage-fright is the major culprit who holds me back from more seriously pursuing my musical interests, but I do enjoy playing in the privacy of my home. I suppose if I didn’t make art, I would spend more time rehearsing and improving musically, if only for a hobby, not necessarily for a career choice. While in school, if I had been at all clever with maths, the slightest bit capable of suffering through chemistry lab, and had actually been more practical and studious, rather than spending hours getting dirty with art supplies, it’s likely that I would have pursued a career in either veterinarian medicine or forensic psychology, both of which hold great interest to me.
12. What are your favourite 5 art related websites or blogs? Of course, I’m quite fond of www.willowing.org ! I’m a frequent visitor to www.worldoffroud.com, where I can keep up to date on Froud goodies, and also discover new faerie artists via the webring. Although it’s not specifically an art site, I spend a lot of time reading and researching about artists and art history on www.wikipedia.com I enjoy reading random blogs and discovering artwork on the 2 Ning groups I belong to: willowing.ning.com and garyreef.ning.com (hugs and sparkles to all the Ning-a-ling artists!) 13. Give a shout out to a fellow artist whose work and/or person & energy you really love! Without sounding like a total butt-kisser, Tamara Laporte has been one of the most motivating and inspiring artists I know… I always look forward to a new video, blog post, and artwork from Tam. Her energy is so positive and uplifting, and I always feel so at home on her Ning group, where the inspiration, support, and joie de vivre is so amazingly abundant. Thanks for sharing the energy, love, and art, Tam!
14. If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring artists, what would it be? Make art. Make it as often as you can. If you don’t pick up that brush or that pencil and actually make a mark, you’ll never advance in your artistic journey. Take it one step at a time, but take the step! I think a lot of people are overwhelmed by the fear of failure, succumbing to the whisperings of the gremlins who say, “you can’t… you won’t… you don’t know how to…” and so, ultimately they do fail, because they never allow themselves the chance to begin. We all learn and grow by experience, by doing, by trying. Remember, we all begin at the beginning, even the greatest art masters started with scribbles and stick figures (and some of them kept on scribbling, too!) If you feel like you need some guidance in your techniques then take an art course, check out books about art, or watch tutorials online; whatever helps you feel confident, whatever helps to motivate and support you in actually making your art, is a good thing! To be the artist you want to be, MAKE ART … and make it the way you want to, no matter what anybody says! Bonnie Rose currently has a summer sale on! You can buy her work here; www.BonnieRoseArtiste.com I hope you enjoy this month's artist interview! Stay tuned for next month when we'll be interviewing the wonderful Rhomany from Rhomany's Realm and learn more about Rosie & her adorable cat Marmalade! :-) xoxo Tam