MyMixedUpART

Where in the world did the last two months of 2016 go? I have been very remiss in posting and, for that, I am sorry. Chalk it up to holiday madness!

Despite the this being the busiest time of the year, I still found time for my creative self. Since my last post there were the last few weeks of the Colour Me Positive art journal challenge – a total of 53 art journal pages in 2016. I’m actually considering making a book of my adventure in art journaling.  And a few original collages and paintings were completed. I have to say, while collage is still my favorite medium, I am loving learning new techniques and styles.

 

I am also in the process of creating a number of Valentine’s Day framed collages for my Etsy shop, MyMixedUpART. There will be more in the coming month, as well as some handmade Valentine’s Day cards.

My family and I also took a week-long trip to the Big Island of Hawaii over Thanksgiving. The main reason for the trip was to take my Mother’s ashes home to where she was born and raised. We took a lovely sailboat ride off the coast of the Big Island and scattered her ashes in the waters she loved the most. My granddaughters swam with Spinner dolphins as the rest of us watched. It was a beautiful way to pay homage to a beautiful woman, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. Other highlights of the trip included a luau on Thanksgiving day, zip-lining, snorkeling, a trip to the volcano, a claustraphobic (for me) walk through a lava tube, and a visit to the graveyard where my great-grandparents, grandparents and an uncle are buried.

Then there was Christmas which zoomed past and here we are in 2017. Each year my family picks a part of the world or a country from which  our Christmas Eve meal will be based. This year it was Cuba. It was a traditional Cuban dinner with pork, empanadas, rice with black beans, and rum cake for dessert. I have to say it was one of my favorites!

My oldest granddaughter made over 900 cookies for friends, family and neighbors. To my surprise, she enlisted me, the Grandmother who does not particularly like to cook, in last minute preparations – rolling cookie dough, dipping cookies in icing, and putting in the last two cookies and closing and sealing the gift boxes. Her peanut butter cookies are my favorite. And her Cranberry Bliss were to die for.

 

My last Colour Me Positive art journal page for 2016 will be framed as my mantra for 2017. I truly believe kindness will get us past the last very divisive and mean-spirited months of 2016 and help us in the challenging months ahead. While I try my best not to be political on this blog, I want to remind the President-Elect that he too should remember that “where there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.”

I will end this blog on that note and promise you that I will commit to posting more often in 2017. Lots planned for this year, including a continuation of the Colour Me Positive art journal challenge, a class at Bloknote Acadamy on Water & Paper, other classes yet to be discovered, and lots of creating for my Etsy shop.

May 2017 bring peace, hope and kindness to the whole world.

Yesterday was a beautiful rainy day in Temecula, CA, with tons of thunder and lightning. A perfect day to spend in the studio and create, right? No. The thunder and lightning scared my goldendoodle, Zoe, to death so I spent much of the day on the couch with her on my lap. Poor baby. She shivers and shakes and mild sedatives don’t help. It’s very unusual for us to get the kind of thunder and lightning we had yesterday. So, while I pray for more rain, I can do without the drama. I did, however, catch up on my favorite recorded TV shows and a movie. Here’s Zoe at a calmer moment in time.

I did promise to post my new MyMixedUpART business cards when they arrived. I am so pleased with them. I have always had such uninspiring corporate cards and it was so much fun to create a card that was funky, square and in color.  They came in this really cool square box. I highly recommend the online printing company called MOO. They offer high quality printing, design flexibility and competitive pricing.

I continue to work on holiday mixed media collages for my Etsy shop and have added a few Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas pieces since my last post.

The Colour Me Positive Art Journal Challenge is in Week 43. Scary to think that there are only 19 weeks left of 2016. Don’t despair though, we still have three of my favorite holidays left to celebrate – Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

My sister also asked me to create a piece for a good friend’s birthday using photos of her home in Redwood Valley. Using an aging program on PicMonkey, I aged the photos, mounted them on wood and placed them in a shadow box frame with the word “HOME” in block letters . I sure hope she likes it.

That’s it for now. Have a great week.

Cheryl

 

I can’t believe it’s the first of October and Halloween is right around the corner. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been very busy producing little framed houses for Halloween and Christmas in preparation for opening my very own Etsy shop called MyMixedUpART. It opened last week and I have had four sales. Here are some of the handcrafted, one-of-a-kind pieces I am offering in my shop.

It’s scary, exciting and time-consuming all at the same time. I’ve had exceptional support from family, friends and, most of all, from the wonderful artists’ community of which I am a part.  For that, I want to say a great big THANK YOU!

I continue to participate in the Colour Me Positive art journal challenge. We are at Week 40 which just shows me how fast 2016 is flying by. I can’t say that I have paid as much attention to my art journal over the last couple of week as I should have. This week was a tough one and it’s not one of my best. It was inspired by a quote from Oprah Winfrey – “When I look into the future, it’s so bright it burns my eyes.” As you all should know by now, I don’t use a lot of really bright colors in my art. I tried this week and was not too excited by the results. In the spirit of sharing, I will post it and Weeks 38 and 39.

As I write this blog and reflect on the last few weeks, I realize I’ve done a  heck of a lot of work. Other projects were mostly inspired by artist friends/classes I’ve mentioned before including Kelly Rae Roberts Unscripted and Herma Starreveld’s Silly Faces.

And, I have designed a business card and labels for MyMixedUpART using my self portrait inspired by the Silly Faces class.

I will leave you with this quote which seems very relevant to me this week…

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.                                                                                                                                      – Scott Adams

By the way, I keep them all.

Cheryl

 

 

 

 

It feels like Fall here in Temecula with cooler temperatures and a blustery wind. I know it won’t last long, but I am enjoying every minute of it. I do believe I will be posting more to this blog when Fall becomes a reality and I can cozy up with my computer (not really) and a cup of tea.

Not only is the weather cooperating today, but I have been feeling “Fall-ish” for the last couple of weeks. Readying myself for the holidays season by creating little houses, big houses and all sorts of holiday fun. I am hoping that some of my pieces find a home in a local shop, but if they don’t, I hope that my friends appreciate them as tokens of my love for their friendship and support of MyMixedUpArt endeavors.

I have actually been considering an Etsy shop, but have not taken the plunge. Not sure what is stopping me as I’ve had lots and lots of encouragement from artists I know and respect. I guess I have to work up just a little more courage.

The weekly Colour Me Positive Art Journal Challenge and the Kelly Rae Unscripted projects continue and I find that I take both inspiration and courage from both and that they influence me as an artist a lot.Both have also given me the courage to try new techniques and further develop an artistic voice of my own.

Here are just a few of the pieces I’ve been busy creating over the last few weeks.  I want to give credit to some of the wonderful digital papers I have found on Etsy and from TheGraphicsFairy.com website. It’s such fun to imagine a piece and go searching for the elements that will fulfill my imagination. Both are a tremendous resource.

Little Houses

Colour Me Positive

Bigger Houses

I’ll leave you with this quote I just discovered on creativity. I think it says it all. I’ve been blessed to have found some really terrific artists who have been willing to pass it on to me.

“Creativity is contagious, pass it on” – Albert Einstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a month to the day since I last posted and I’ve been busy taking online classes, creating art and trying new techniques. And, trying to stay cool as summer in Temecula revs up to peak temperatures. Can’t wait to see my electric bill! The heat is definitely keeping me indoors and creating art every day.

Went to two plays in the last week and was inspired by both to see many more this year. Saw Beautiful, the story of Carol King, and Green Day’s stage adaptation of their rock opera, American Idiot.  It was performed by a very talented cast of local actors, one of whom is my neighbor and good friend’s daughter. Both were fabulous! I came home and downloaded the soundtrack to Beautiful immediately and have not stopped listening to it since. While the the music to American Idiot by Green Day is not exactly in my wheelhouse, I can certainly appreciate the spirit of the play’s message.

The Colour Me Positive weekly art journal challenge and the Kelly Rae Unscripted online classes are certainly keeping me busy. I also just took a quick class on Skillshare from one of the artists that participated in The Year of the Spark with me. Her name is Herme Starrveld, from Studio Masterre. She teaches a class called “Draw A Silly Face.”It was great fun and I can’t wait to draw a silly face using Herme’s techniques.  I will share my first silly face in my next post.

Meanwhile, here is sample of what I’ve been creating over the last month.

One of my newest passions is little houses. I found these wonderful unfinished wooden ones at Michael’s and did some collage houses that I showed in a previous post. Now  I have done some small wooden ones in white with simple messages for Halloween and Christmas, as well as more inspired by Cheryl Dossey.

I hope that you enjoy seeing what I am getting such great joy in creating.

Cheryl

Summer seems to be flying by and I continue to add to my art journal, create new pieces of art inspired by artists I’ve met and are taking classes from this year, and adding to my creative “stash.” I just began a class two weeks ago called Kelly Rae Unscripted with Kelly Rae Roberts.  She is delightful and I love spending a hour or two with her on a weekly basis. She inspired me to try drawing faces again. Albeit, they are whimisical faces not actual portraits. I really have no desire to become a portrait artist. If that talent evolves, I won’t be unhappy, but I am not going to to beat myself up if the faces I draw are lopsided with eyes not quite right and mouths that either go up or down.

More than half way through the year and I cant believe it’s Week 29 of the Colour Me Positive Art Journal Challenge.  I don’t know yet what the quote will be for this week, but I have posted Weeks 26, 27 and 28 in this blog post. Each week stretches me a little more in terms of technique and style. I am having so much fun with this!

I have also been inspired to create a series of small house collages by Cheryl Dossey.  She is a mixed media artist who’s work is lighthearted and whimsical and usually offers a simple message. Not only is she an incredible artist, but she has a generous heart. Most recently she sent me an “inspiration” package to get me started on my house making. Cheryl’s “Winged Inspiration” is featured in the July/August issue of Somerset Studio (pages 72-75). Be sure to check it out.

Enjoy your summer!

Cheryl

 

 

 

 

It’s been awhile, I know. With an 8th Grade graduation, the end of school, several milestome birthdays and the start of a very HOT summer, I have found little time to write, but have definitely found time for ART!

Week 26 of the Colour Me Positive Art Journal Challenge is this week.  I can’t believe we are halfway through the year.Which means, Christmas is just around the corner. Just kidding. There are still 26 weeks left in 2016, which means there are 26 more quotes to inspire my art journal pages. The last four weeks quotes have both inspired me and challenged me to step outside my comfort zone – not far, but just enough to try new techniques and to get a little braver in my approach to design.

 

The 4th of July is just around the corner. It’s one of my favorite holidays and, this year, it inspired me to create a couple of folk art pieces to add to my collection of patriotic folk art. One of my favorite resources for graphic images is Etsy and The Graphics Fairy.

I also joined Donna Downey’s Inspiration Wednesday group. Donna is “a well-known mixed media artist who is a born experimenter, blending and transforming both traditional and unexpected items into meaningful pieces of self expression (from her blog at Donna Downey ).” She designs stencils, rubber stamps and other mixed media tools. I’m really excited about this group. Donna’s teaching skills will really help stretch my skills as a mixed media artist. Will post as soon as I produce my first piece based on Donna’s teachings. The group started in January, so I have some catching up to do.

That’s all for tonight. Thanks for joining me on my adventure in mixed media.

 

 

“Art making has the ability to move people along their journey of grief and loss into a more balanced place of healing and hope. In the face of tragedy, the creative process can help recalibrate a mourner’s life.” ~ The Chandler Gallery at Maud Morgan Arts

I’d like to dedicate this blog post to my Mom. She passed away, at the age of 88, in her sleep on Friday morning due to complications associated with Alzheimer’s. It has been a tough decade for her as the disease took more and more from her and from us – her family and friends. She was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii and we will be taking her home to scatter her ashes in the land she loved the most.

Since I last posted, several pieces  of art have been completed. Weeks 16 and 17 of the Colour Me Positive Art Journal Challenge were inspired by thoughtful quotes on how art allows us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time, and how we all need a “tribe.” Whether it be a family, friends, a community of artists or something else, we need to “find them, and love them hard.” I also did two pieces using Roben-Marie Smith’s Art Pops™. You can find her art collage materials on Etsy™. And, I added another house to my growing collection of houses.

 

 

 

As I start another blog with “can’t believe it’s…” I realize that time really does fly. It’s not that I haven’t been creating art daily, it’s a matter of finding the time to sit down and post to this blog. I want to do it at least once a week, but one week passes after another and soon it’s been a WHOLE month since I last posted.

So, what have I been up to? There was, of course, the weekly art journaling for Colour Me Positive. I love getting the email with the week’s quote. Some are easier to jump right into and others take some thinking. You’ll see a month of my art journal pages in this post.

I also worked on a number of collage pieces. Collage is certainly becoming my focus in creating art. I LOVE IT! I plan on taking Lynn Whipple’s two online courses, The Joy of Mixed Media Assemblage and The Joy of Collage this Spring. She is an extraordinary teacher and her collages have definitely inspired a few of mine. I am also continually inspired by my fellow Sparkers from Carla Sonheim’s and Lynn Whipple’s Year of the Spark course which I took last year. Many of us have stayed in touch through the class FB page as well as our own.

Easter also gave me an opportunity to create some pieces to add to my decorations, as well as give as gifts. It was great fun! And, I hope everyone enjoyed receiving something I had such fun creating.

Today, my oldest granddaughter is coming over to work on her art class assignments. I love having her in my studio. She’s really becoming quite a good artist and I like that I have a place for her to create.

Signing off for now. I promise to try and post more often.