365 Art ~ Catching UP!

I hope everyone is having a good new year. I have an optimistic outlook to how 2014 is going to turn out, but boy...the first week has been such a struggle! I was sick the first few days with abdominal pain (most likely a candida overgrowth), and I was too ill to even begin my 365 Art Project. Being doubled over in pain I certainly wasn't thinking "Happy Thoughts"! 

Indiana saw the Frozen Vortex, which meant close to 13 inches of snow, business and school closings, and wind chills 20 to 40 below zero! My husband was home Monday and Tuesday, which I love, but I couldn't really focus on my art. I have to have huge amounts of QUIET to think. :-)  My creativity has consisted of doodling and organizing my Pinterest boards (a neverending job). I baked some gluten-free cookies for my hubby (and a couple for me) and drank some herbal tea,  and caught up on some TV shows on Netflix, like that brilliant fairy-tale mashup, Once Upon a Time.  I'm also revisiting a favorite novel I read as a young teen called Beauty: a retelling of the story Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley.

Alice in Wonderland Vintage Get-Well Card via Pinterest

One thing I decided today is that I'm changing the rules on my 365 Art Project. Originally, I thought I would do one quote a day from the Beautiful Thoughts about Happiness book, as I shared here. 

But as I looked more in-depth at the quotes and realistically considered my own patterns, I knew this wasn't the right approach. While some of the quotes are inspiring and full of good old-fashioned wisdom, not all of the quotes {{{resonate}}} with me. This is an important part of keeping up enthusiasm for such a long creative endeavor. So...I decided that my 365 Art Project would be more free-flow and spontaneous, which is more in keeping with my playful artistic nature. 

I returned to an art journal I started a couple months ago, which already had quite a few pages dedicated to happiness. This was a jumping off point into the realm of Happy Thoughts...for what is more enjoyable than playing with paint with abandon? 

My goal is to create daily, but I know even this isn't always possible. Things happen (like my sickness). But no matter what, I will share 365 Happy Thoughts with you! It may be a quote on happiness, or it might be a happy discovery I make throughout the day. I may share favorite things that make me happy, or lines from movies or songs that inspire a joyful outlook on life. I believe this is more fitting to the project than trying to strictly follow a rigid pattern, because happiness is never forced. It comes when we're least expecting, in a beautiful moment of serendipity! We just have to have eyes to see. :-)

Stay tuned for my first offerings. I hope to post weekly, but will share more often if time allows. 

Blessings,
Sandra

Art Studio Peek ~ I've Got My Head in the Clouds!

 "Throw open your window and let the scenery of 

clouds and sky enter your room."

~Yosa Buson

My New Art Space ~ October 2013

Sorting through Ephemera for Projects ~ A beautiful mess!

Well, my hubby and I are set up in our new place. We are renting his brother's loft, which means we have an open area for sleeping, relaxing, and creating. My new space is somewhat in the middle of things. I'm keeping it very simple. The table is perfect for crafting and doing small painting projects. I have an easel tucked behind the brick chimney for larger paintings. A dresser sits on the opposite wall to hold additional papers and art supplies.

My favorite part of the decor is probably the clouds my brother-in-law sponge-painted on the ceiling when he lived in the space. It creates an uplifting environment. No wonder I'm painting spring-like themes in my art journal...like butterflies and tulips! I think it will be a great place to work this winter.

Bluebird Queen wears her pink glittery homecrafting crown

My snooty bluebird queen watches over the art table and a few knicknacks. My dad is in the photo working on a painting he did for a commission at a Mexican restaurant in his community. The clear canister with yellow lid is a vintage Listerine bottle that held lozenges or something. Now it holds tiny rainbow colored beads which inspire me....kind of like looking at a bubble gum machine.


The chimney is a favorite feature. I am using sticky dots to attach pics and treasures that inspire me....a bit like a bulletin board. The paper stars are based on a vision I had of a fist emerging from the night sky holding a fistful of childlike stars....I will share about that sometime. But this reminds me to stay childlike and playful in my art. 

Chimney Bulletin Board

Craft Cupboard Treasures

Housed in the craft cupboard are some pretty bottles I decoupaged with vellum decorations and added beads and ribbons. My best friend's children smile at me with their cowboy hats from a rodeo parade. The little blue homemakers is a vintage Enesco figurine. Her apron reads "A Mother's Work is Never Done." This belonged to my Grandmother Gates and passed to my mom. My mother passed away in March, and the dish currently holds the date of her birth and death. (It fell off the memory board I made for her memorial, and will be re-attached later). 

A Plateful of Pretties

I love arranging some of my ephemera and craft supplies in ways to tempt me to use them. Behind the plateful of pretties, I have a favorite book called Pencil Dancing and my Mary Engelbreit journal I took with me on the Appalachian Trail. The quote pinned on the vintage crochet lace describes my approach to art ~ "Blending the Old with the New." 

Hope you enjoyed a peek into my art studio. 

Artfully yours, 

Sandra