museinspiredart

I'm sorry for taking such a long break from writing in this journal. Too many things were going crazy with my life and I just needed to spend time away, dealing with them and didn't want to be a drag, just talking about negative stuff constantly.

As for me, I made 2011 a year to focus on my art privately and to make art every day. It has been a very challenging project that has had its ups and downs. I have learned a lot about myself and where my art and creativity want to take me. My art skills and self confidence have greatly improved from spending every day making art and being creative as well. I trust and believe in myself, like never before and I know that making art every day is 100% responsible for that. It has helped me to grow immensely as an artist and as a person and I recommend art a day to anybody who feels stuck with their creativity and/or life. It will definitely un-stick you.

I'm planning on getting back to blogging in 2012. I'm not sure if I will blog here though. I've noticed A LOT of changes to this place that I don't like. But, I still might do a feed over to livejournal from my main new blog over at blogspot (same name-museinspiredart). I plan on doing another year of making art every day, but to share it publicly this time. I almost shared this year's art journey publicly in 2011, but am glad I decided against it. I had to do that all on my own with very little outer influence. The only person I let in on it was my Mom, who was also a blocked artist at the time. (but not anymore!) 

Best wishes to all of you and I hope this year has been good to you and am wishing you all the best for next year.

Lisa.

I just spent the afternoon dyeing an old, ugly white bedspread pink. I'm feeling
a great need for pink right now...it's a very soothing color to me and makes
everything feel all better inside, when I see and surround myself with it.



I also LOVE shades of earthy terra  cotta mixed in with pinks. The terra cotta has
a grounding effect and also feels really exotic and like the interior of a gypsy wagon.
This is my dream room above- a mix of earthtones, pinks and imported textiles.
Mmmmagical.

Today I painted. I practiced painting freely and from the source, with my non dominant hand. It was wonderful. At the end of my painting session, I cried real hard. Not sure why I huddled over into a crumpled up ball of tears. I wasn't angry or sad. I think I was crying because I was relieved that I had actually painted something and felt good about the whole experience.

I'm really LOVING Anahata Katkin's beautiful, lush collage paintings. I especially adore her Bali Workshop Flickr set...so inspiring and full of loving Godess energy.

I've been really enjoying the Painting From The Source book. Last night, I underlined a bunch of helpful stuff and wanted to share it with you:

Procrastination is often tied to an unconscious fear of jumping in and becoming so involved that painting takes over your life. My resistance is related in part, to the fear that I'll become so consumed by the painting experience that I'll never want to return to the 'normal' world."

(This is so true for me....when I paint, I don't take care of my bodily needs and paint for hours and hours without drinking water or eating or talking to my family...it totally consumes me and pisses off Conner when I go on a painting binge....this is a big issue of mine and keeps me from painting, even for a small block of time...which is impossible for me, because I am like an alcoholic when it comes to painting- I can't just take a few sips and be fine. I need to down the whole bottle...or maybe two or three.)

"I forget to eat because painting fills me more than ordinary food."

"It's the mind that most often causes us to procrastinate. It fears that this absorbing, sensuous painting experience will render it obsolete. I have also learned that STRUGGLING TO FIND TIME TO PAINT CAN ALSO BE TIED TO ISSUES OF SELF WORTH."

(I have so many tape loops in my head that tell me I don't deserve large blocks of time to paint...that I have to spend my whole day doing chores, running errands, working out, taking care of other people etc...and then after all of that, by midnight, if I've been a real good girl all day, I can do a little art. This has to stop.)

"Picking up your paintbrush is like calling forth source energy so you can become both the transmitter and repository of the source. As you begin painting, your machinery may first need to  clear away the rust of suppressed experiences and emotions that have settled on long unused or never used parts."

(So many times, I've observed myself and plenty of other people get frustrated in this first painting stage, when things are rusty and the gears are having a hard time grinding away. It's a painful, awkward and oftentimes embarassing part of the painting process, doing the warm up.)

When you are starting a painting session, " Allow your brush to move on the paper any way it wants. Doodle, let yourself go on automatic pilot...as you paint, keep in mind that you are not trying to paint a pretty picture...PAINT AS IF YOU WILL BURN IT."

(How freeing is that..."Paint as if you'll burn it." I LOVE it and it's going to be my new art mantra.)

"Remember, you cannot make a mistake. You cannot do it wrong."

"Paint yourself into a mild HYPNOTIC TRANCE, an altered stream of consciousness similar to dreaming deeply."

When you paint form the source, "You are accessing the internal landscape of your dream-maker, your deepest soul, the source language that all humans share."

"You can paint absolutely anything you want. You can paint any image, no matter how GROTESQUE, PRETTY, CORNY, BABYISH, SILLY or OBSCENE. Paint anything."

(Lately, when I get the chance to paint, I've been making lots of cutesy pie animal paintings that make me laugh. I like giving myself permission to paint anything...it takes me back to being a kid, which is the BEST head space to be in when making art.)

Now, go paint something...and share, if you want to...or burn it if you don't want to share!

This is what the sidewalks look like around here. Pretty tricky to navigate.
At least they have the roads nice and clear though...thanks to all of the hard
work done by the volunteer snow plowers. Without them, the streets would
be a mess and look like the sidewalks.



Pretty Icicles hanging in front of our place. I LOVE Icicles :-)

When is winter going to be over???? We've had 70+ inches of snow this
winter and I'm really getting tired of it. All this week it's going to be in the
20s-30s and they say that more snow is on the way on Monday- Eek!!!