Habits... make good art...

Okay... now 2017 can officially begin! 

I finally completed my Intention piece... I've layered lots of thoughts, celebrations, goals, and dreams into the final project. I began this piece by writing about things I wanted to celebrate and do in the coming year. I wrote about my word of the year and I admitted fears to help me release them. I then started painting over this layer... adding and removing color as felt right. As I mentioned in my last post, I am drawn to spiral shapes and LOVE to draw them as well. I decided to draw a large printemp and cut it out to include on my page. I was thrilled when the interior spiral sort of "sprung" out. I knew I had to use it in my piece! It was perfect... representing to me that by sticking to my word of the year it would help me spring to what I want to be/accomplish.

WIP : With spring released...

WIP : With spring flattened...

After placing and carefully gluing my printemps/spirals so that the spring could also lay flat when I wanted it to, I figured out how I wanted to add my word of the year... I initially thought I'd collage a little paper over part of the symbol and then write over it. It didn't feel right. It didn't represent my word. So... as I do whenever I am stuck, I walked away for a little while. Eureka! I knew what to do... I got out my gelly roll clear glaze pen and wrote my word, "habits," around and around the Printemps, it would show the words in a certain light and it would add a little dimension. I adore how you can see it... it's there... it's important... yet it disappears if you're not paying attention. It reminds me that I need to be vigilant to stay on track to make actions into habits. 

I wanted to add in my intention/goal for the year that was supported by my word of the year. This has become a mantra that means so much to me. I first watched this speech by Neil Gaiman last year... it inspired me and I watch it again when I need to relight my fire. I have written down quite a few things from this speech that resonate with me... but I'll stick to some of his words that are the thoughts behind my goal. 

"When things get tough... this is what you should do... 
Make Good Art.

Do what only you can do best... 
Make Good Art. 

Make it on the bad days, make it on the good days too."

Sooooo... my goal for the year is to simply make. good. art. How do I do this? I make art on my good days, and my bad days... I make a habit of creating. 

My next challenge in this piece was how did I want to convey it... Simply writing it wasn't going to give me the Oomph! I needed it to have. I decided to create and cut out my own stencil. I then used modeling paste to create a dimensional phrase. Yay! Just the effect I had hoped for. 

I continued with glazing and adding a bit more color before using a dip pen to add some printemps and swirls. I used Dr. Ph Martin's lovely iridescent ink in black sparkle to continue the theme of seeing things differently depending on the light and angle. After a bit more messing around with it, I am now calling it finished. I feel so satisfied with my intentions and goals... all put onto a piece of watercolor paper. 

This demonstrates that "habits" is invisible...

With a slight shift of the angle "habits" become visible. 

Detail shot...

More details... you can see the raised mantra. 

I liked how the shadow showed dimension here. 

I keep a bullet journal... this is the page where I kept track of what I used for this project. 

I am so happy to be participating in Life Book and Our Tangled Lives again this year. The inspiration and opportunity to learn from other artists is priceless! 

It's time to start the next project!

I so appreciate all who visit, and am always grateful for any comments! Have a wonderful, art filled day! 

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