Thank you so much for all of your cherished comments during my WEEK OF GIVEAWAYS. I just can’t even say how much all of your kind words and support mean to me.

All of the winners are listed at the end of this post (and, if you’re a winner, you should have already received an email from me).

……….

Lately, one of my favorite ways to play is in my art journal.

I grab my favorite sketchbook and lay out all of my art supplies and let go, without any expectations. Sometimes when I paint on canvas, especially when I am painting something big, I freeze up because I feel like it has to really be something. In my sketchbook, when it’s just paper, I remember how to have fun.

And this helps me play in my paintings. Usually I go for a few art journaling play pages back to a painting on canvas. The when I start to get too uptight, I go back to my sketchbook or just sit and doodle.

Since all of my paintings come from intuition and feeling, it’s always important for me to get out of my head and let the paint do the work for me.

Here are some of my recent art journaling pages…

For each piece I piled on the layers.

I used all of my favorite art supplies- bleeding art tissue papers, india inks, acrylic paints, regular tissue paper, acrylic inks, alcohol inks, pencil and water soluble oil pastels.

I especially love art journaling because as I play and move quickly from page to page, I reuse the elements I love most- like a tissue paper sun, a rainbow, a star. These elements then become symbols that resonate with me, pulled from my sub-conscious.

If I repeat something, I know I need to start using it in my paintings too. And that’s part of how I push my style and continuously grow my artistic voice.

For this page, I adored the colorful background. But I never seem to truly connect to a painting unless I add a character. In that way, I can look at the character and know I am finished when it deeply moves my heart.

Still, I was so happy to have snapped these in-progress photos because after I painted over all of that color, I missed it.

I was happy I had painted and released what I needed to on the page. And because I had my photo, I knew I could paint that colorful background again.

So I looked back at my photo and repeated it on canvas, using the vintage maps, the contrasting dark hues and the tall tree with the bright blue circle on top. I’m still deciding whether or not to paint more over it.

Happy painting!

xo,

ps. Thank you to everyone who left a comment for the WEEK OF GIVEAWAYS

Here are the winners for free spots in my online courses:
SERENDIPITY: Junea Loakes
HTPAO: Betty S.
HTPAG: Kim Reed
HTCWA: Vicki
HTPAO2: Joanne

pps. If you’re interested in learning more about developing your own artistic style, I’m sharing all I learn the entire year in my online course SERENDIPITY- A Year In Mixed Media, where we are painting girls, owls, whimsical animals, imaginary creatures ad more.

Find more details on Serendipity and watch a little sneak peek video here.