“the buddhists say there are 149 ways to god. i'm not looking for god, only for myself, and that is far more complicated.” ~ Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry
If you enjoy my work and/or photographs feel free to follow me @paintingbliss via Instagram
“We can't be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that
you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know
that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something
that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don't have
something better.”
Sometimes... ok a lot of the time, I feel like I am creating what people expect of me... or wish to see from me. This I know is the same for a lot of artist, not just myself. It's natural to want to please, and when your an artist looking for your talent to be supported by the public it's comfortable to do what you think others think you should do (woah!) I have missed drawing. The simplicity of line and form. No other materials but pencil, pen, and eraser (some watercolor too). I love the time it takes to line out a piece in pencil then going over the same lines only permanently with my assorted pens. It's a period of meditative focus that nurtures my mind.
This past week, while dreaming up a tattoo concept for myself this is what came out of me.
I'm really in love with it!
Joie de vivre means love of life in french. My good friend Suki from The Owl Club associated me to this phrase a fe weeks back, and I have been obsessed with it ever since.
I often associate my beating heart and how hard it sometimes pounds within me to the wild fluttering of a birds wings. I like the metaphor of that... the image it brings to me.
When I work with many materials, the main material being paper... it's not as easy to show you how well I can draw. I guess I have this silly notion that if it doesn't come off as a "professional "piece, then it's "just a drawing". But that's entirely not true!! (stupid inner critic).
So I think I'll spend a little time here doing this at the moment. It feels really good... like a heavy down comforter on an 8 degree day or my first cup of joe come the morning.
My studio buddy has been keeping me company as I grab for pens, pencil, and paint. He gets in my way and I get in his all at the same time. We both wouldn't have it any other way.
I have tried multiple times to try and start an art journal and each time I quickly abandoned it. Finally, I just gave up because I had too many other artistic endeavors to pursue. But it has been brought to my attention yet again and this time it feels more like exploration, soul searching, and fun. I'm not putting any pressure on myself either. Cause that's not what art journaling is about.
The universe recently brought me a new friend and she's a wonderful soul! She is the mind behind Loud Nonsense Whispered Truths. She has a crazy amazing and inspiring shop. I wear one of her hand stamped lockets daily. It reminds me to be present and be where I am at the moment I'm there. When I need it I open it up, breathe deep, and think the words "be here now".
The beautiful art journal page below was made by Jodi, she makes beautiful art. Lookie see, and notice the quote on the left page... it's me!
Jodi has inspired me to start my own journal. We are enjoying getting to know each other, friends make the world go round as I said in yesterday's post. This week found me at the used book store, a place I haven't been to since I was a teenager. A whole pile of books later that only cost $2.50 I had taken Jodi's advice and bought some old hard bounds that I wasn't terribly attached to with plans of altering it!
Have a gander at my first two pages! (yay)
Jodi and I have also agreed to both start a page in a book then send it back and forth until it's full. Then we will probably start another. The wonderful thing is we are going to share these pages on our blogs. We want to encourage you to be brave and perhaps start an art journal yourself. We hope to remind you that even brave confident artists are vulnerable and question themselves every day. I'm looking forward to exploring my self onto the pages of both my journal and the one I swap back and forth between Jodi and I. I am enjoying seeing words in journals, tearing them out, and saving them for my journal. In fact, since the journal is encouraging my less perfect side... it will probably reflect in my actual artwork, changing the way I create. I look forward to the adventure!
“It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no
future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now.
We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can
hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one.”
~George Harrison
“How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?” ~Dr. Seuss
Don't let summer run away from you just as it starts, enjoy every little second!
(Photographed by A.Blake in Central Park NYC)
You might notice that Motivational Monday is a little different today. There is only one image instead of 4 and it's not a graphic print with credit given to a talented artist from Etsy. I made today's Motivational Monday and will be from here on out due to some disapointing news from the Etsy Safety Support Team.
I thought I was doing a wonderful thing by not only motivating and inspiring you with themed quotes each Monday... but also promoting artists from the Etsy world. Networking is so important to us artists and I truly enjoyed giving other creatives some spotlight.
When I plan a Motivational Monday I locate the pieces that I think and think will fit the day via Etsy. From there I set it all up and then contact each artist letting them know of their feature. I always receive thanks and smiles, and just a general happy response. Unfortunately Etsy doesn't like that I contact the artists through their conversation system. They notified me that if I don't stop doing so, that I will lose my Etsy account. They said I was spamming people and should not ask anything of them... even though I never did. I wrote a letter to Etsy and they replied back with just about the same message they originally sent to me. So either it was an automated response, or they don't care.
I will not show anyones work without notifying them... in the blogging world we give credit where credit is due and never take ownership of something that isn't ours. It's karma and I wouldn't want someone to show or share my work without me knowing, so I won't be doing that to anyone else :)
So from here on out I will be featuring one motivational quote using one of my own photographs as to not cancel Motivational Monday. I won't stop motivating or encouraging you :) I don't need Etsy, and they can't rain on my parade!
So I give you... your first Ashlie made, Ashlie photographed... cause if I wasn't a painter, I would be a photographer, Motivational Monday!
Before I get onto your Motivationl Monday I wanted to just share really quick and big thank you to my secret blog swap pal who sent me a fun package from the Send Something Good Blog swap. A wonderful girl who blogs at Like Mother, Like Daughter (isn't that name so cute!?) who shares a cooking blog with her mom sent me yummy chocolate, which is now all eaten up so no images to share hee hee, tomatoe and zinnia seeds with starter pots (the zinnias are already sprouting in my garden, I LOVE zinnias!), hot pink nail polish, a lovely scented candle, and some hand written recipes from her personal collection. I wanted to share some images but I used everything so quickly that I forgot to take pictures! I am so sorry to my secret pal. I did manage to take pics of the seeds and starter pots before I planted them though!
Onto your Motivational Monday!! This weeks theme - I Encourage You
A motivational Monday devoted to moms, motherhood, all things mom. Here's hoping all of you moms out there enjoyed your special day, and if you are not a mom that you loved up your own mom letting her know she is all things wonderful. I enjoyed a day in the yard with my 3 young boys and husband gardening and even got a nap! good day indeed :)
Some of you may notice this is the 2nd time you are getting motivational monday... but that you got it first on the wrong day? that's because I blogged before my morning coffee kicked in and pressed publish instead of schedule, ooopsie! It was only up for a few hours but you who have subscribed by email got to see it a wee bit early.
Have you ever given serious thought to the line from a popular children's song "You are my Sunshine"? what a huge thing to say! when you hear it you smile, when you say it you mean it... and when you think about it... well, to be somebody's sunshine is like saying your the whole world in their eyes.
Can you imagine a day without sun? or light? no.
Can you imagine a day without warmth on your shoulders and face? no.
Can you feel healthy without the Vitamin D that soaks into your pours? No.
This Motivational Monday tell someone they are your sunshine ;)
Today's group of Motivational quote prints and pieces of extroidenary art are based around the theme of growth and growing. A diverse word that deserves attention.
