Ugly is okay!

Ugly is okay for sure, but if you’re like me, art holds certain standards. We try so many methods and techniques; we compare ourselves to others. Some styles we like some we don’t. It’s hard to know which style suits you the best. Have you ever tried just being yourself as you approach art? Forget about the rules and be free, like kids fearlessly showing up at the empty page. Paint outside the box! To reach the true core of who we are involves a lot of unlearning or ignoring what we know. Unlearning is deeply satisfying.
Like you I make a decent painting and art journal spread, and I’m proud and happy about the results. When it comes to spontaneity however, it can be very frustrating since we’re always striving for results.
My aim for this micro workshop is to give you space to be yourself, to wait and see what will come onto the page without you pushing anything.
What I get from this kind of art is a sense of Self. I can actually recognize my own energy in the art. It has a very intimate feel to it, and I find it addictive to paint in this way. I also receive sudden insights and messages about the state I’m in at the time of painting. This particular spread turned out happy, and it’s a state I’m in a lot, but others I’ve done are dark and dreary. The tendency is to rip out those kinds of pages, but to honor myself, I also have to honor my darker, more destructive side. Usually, I don’t like showing those pages to people. They are basic and pretty ugly. It’s like trying anything new and unknown, you just have to immerse yourself in it to find out the truth about it.
I invite you to explore.
I invite you to leave all your knowledge at the door and explore you inner self.
I invite you to paint “ugly,” unfettered like a child.
I invite you to meet your inner self without fear.
Are you willing to take this trip with me?
All you need is an art journal page, or a watercolor sheet, or even a canvas. Whatever you have on hand, and you need some paint, brushes, and markers. That is all. You can even use colored pencils, pencils, ballpoint pens, and oil pastels. There are no rules.
I need to point out that your art will be completely different from mine! The video will show the process I go through and you’ll get an idea how to go about it. And then you can make your own art spread, woohoo.
Check out the micro workshop HERE.
xo
Maria
P.S.  If you'd like some more free stuff please join my mailing list HERE.

Greene Earth, a work in progress...

Hello lovelies,

Thank you for checking back! I’m in my new home on the web, Greene Earth... but the website is not quite finished, so I decided to post here as well until things are completely applied. 

I have so many interests, and how do you weave them all together??  Instead of having several websites, I decided to have ONE and post about my two big passions, art and writing.  To juggle everything is a journey for sure (sometimes a crazy one.)

Mixed media art, JOURNEY "12×12.”

Sometimes I get stressed out about where to put my focus.  One day I’m inspired to paint, the next to write.  I try to follow my muse, but she is pretty fickle at times, lol.  I’m not super woman, and I suspect I will have to make a choice into which area to put my full effort.  To truly succeed in fulfilling my highest potential in any area, I have to be 100% present to the challenge.  To grow, it takes all the attention and effort.  When I started out as a writer, I had an enormous passion and drive to succeed, and I did!  It took several years to get published, but I stuck with it.  Sometimes we have to stick with something even if there are no signs that success is on the horizon.

The whole idea of success is the journey itself, something I’ve learned as I’ve moved forward with my art.  It has been a more tentative affair, trying a style here, and then another.  I think I’ve gone through at least ten styles as an artist, but in the exploration, my true voice has slowly emerged.  I don’t think I’ll ever be done exploring the magic of art, but a surer approach evolves.  I’m no longer afraid to explore whatever crazy idea comes into my mind.  If I don’t like it, I can always paint over it.

Speaking of paint, I recently took Flora Bowley’s online course Bloom True.  It involves intuitive painting, which is an expression that fascinates me.  It takes immense trust to “go with the flow” and just paint in the moment to see what comes up.  We worked on three canvases at once and looked for elements that stood out in the chaos of the paint, and then enhanced the forms.  I’m not quite done with mine, but here are the works in progress:

 

 

Here you can see the chaos of paint.  This has since turned into this:

 

It’s not anywhere near completed in this picture, but it has a good feeling to it.  The head is way too small, but I love her expression.  And the sun in the belly!  That is the creative fire.

And finished!

 I have worked on a third canvas that started out with the most lovely colors, and ended up kind of blah, so far.  I don’t know where it’s going.  It has the shape of two heads, but one of the things we learned in the course is to keep turning the canvases around and painting whatever we see as we go along.  It’s a very freeing method, and it takes away all attachment to the outcome.

Sometimes it takes a while before a picture reveals itself, and sometimes, it ends up being a collage of colors.  There are no rules, no right or wrong.  I truly enjoy the journey!  Maybe I should go paint something now…
I would love to hear what you’re working on, and if you want a free mixed media tutorial PDF, sign up for my art newsletter HERE.  Thank you for visiting! xo