Painting Birthday Party

I got the fun opportunity of bringing my supplies to a good friend's house and "hosting" a painting activity for her daughter Taylor's ninth birthday.  I showed them a few samples of birds, butterflies and flowers and demonstrated some fun ways to make marks using stencils, doilies and bubble wrap, but they really just wanted to get started and paint their own masterpieces.

Here's Taylor discovering the joys of bubblewrap.

 The birthday girl and her friend were ready to pose.  

Still waiting for one of the girls to finish her masterpiece, but they didn't want to wait for a photo.

All done and ready to share their paintings!

 I really enjoyed my time with the girls!  To me, there's nothing sweeter than children's art. I'm looking forward to hosting another painting party soon.

Bloom True with Flora Bowley Here I Come!

A few years ago I discovered some paintings by Flora Bowley online somewhere, not sure where, not sure when, but I was INSTANTLY drawn in by them.  I had never seen anything like her style before- I couldn't even explain them to people when I tried.  They are vibrant, they are abstract, they are deep...I still don't know if I can explain them properly.  They are free, layered, intriguing...I feel like I'm not doing her artwork justice, but those are some of the words that pop into my head.  I dreamed of meeting her and now I'm finally going to meet her AND paint with her!  

She is coming to Wisconsin this Friday for a Bloom True weekend workshop.  So many of her workshops as well as other artists' workshops never seem to come to Wisconsin, so I AM THRILLED.  I did find out that Flora is from Wisconsin, so perhaps that's why she's coming.  It's going to take place in a beautiful farmhouse on 120 acres of land...it's going to be amazing I just know.  This is my very first art retreat with an artist I admire.  I really can't believe I get the opportunity to do this.  Stay tuned...I will be sharing some pictures and my experiences after I return.

I'm hoping to get some new ideas and to learn to paint more freely and not think so much while I'm creating.  I hope Flora can teach me to trust myself in my artistic process.

One of my New Favorite Quotes

I love quotes...they inspire me to look at things differently, more positively--they can put things into a better perspective for me when things are frustrating, disappointing or even sad.  They also inspire some of my artwork.  One of my new favorite quotes is a portion of a poem by Osho.  I love the imagery of this..."let your life be a painting/let your life be a poem."  I've done two mixed media paintings with these dreamy words--here is one of them:

When I think of poetry I imagine powerful words, strong images, scents, feelings, music, memories, hopes, disappointments, honesty...
When I think of paintings I think of color, impact, feelings, emotions, music, love, honesty...

I guess these are all the things of life and then some...some beautiful, some messy--life.  What a great image in my mind.