Creativity Boot Camp Weekend and a Rock Fairy Miracle...

Creativity Boot Camp Day 6 - Breaking Our Own Rules

Maegan encouraged us to think about ways to break out of the ordinary in our creative process, to break the self-imposed rules and routines that we can sometimes fall into.

I thought about how I can add in new elements to my art work, learn from techniques that others use and of course, try out some new tools every now and then !

I did some carving of some new little rubber stamps

on these little square pre-cut squares that I got from my friend Kriss's stash recently.

Then I used the stamps to create this little guy...

and glued him onto my art journal page for this day.

I also worked in our random prompt word for the day : Fluid.

I often feel like I am pretty fluid about what I do in my art making - sometimes too fluid. I don't always feel like I have discovered my style or even my medium yet...

I do like changing things up though and this Creativity Boot Camp Play is letting me do just that !

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Creativity Boot Camp Day 7/8 - Write it out...

Our fearless leader, Maegan encouraged us to spend some time with our inner artist and spill our guts onto some pages in our notebooks - a la Julia Cameron's morning pages or stream of consciousness writing. She suggested 45 min. but I just went with filling up three pages...it took me about 20 minutes...

I kind of wussed-out with using the random word prompts Maegan gave us on these two days.

Fly and Ornament just kind on made onto my pages...

Another thing that Boot Camp play inspired me to do was to use some materials that I don't always use and to shake things up a bit.

I actually found 5 goals that I had set for 2010 in the very notebook I did my writing pages in and I realized that I hadn't really achieved any of them and here we are in the 6th month already !!!

So this was the perfect opportunity to check off number 5 which was paint pieces on canvas rather than always in my journal so I would have some of my own art to hang in my house.

This morning as David had a nice quiet sleep-in, I got out the acrylics, the Golden Fluids, the blending medium and this 16X8" canvas, put on the mellow morning tunes, and got to work...



When I got here, I almost stopped. How cool do these bubbly lollipop shapes look ?



But I decided to go on with the vision I had in my head and give the circles faces.

There were lots of layers here. You may see it better if you enlarge it. They had green faces, then I added the purple and even some metallics.

I kind of liked them this way but something was missing for them to feel like they were mine...

You know it ! The black India Ink !!!

Did the line work with a broad tipped dip pen and now the lollipop girls work for me

And a piece like this can hang on a wall instead of hiding out in the journal which feels good.

I pushed myself a little, enjoyed the whole process of having this quiet time with myself to create and just seeing what would come.

Ain't being an artist grand ?!

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Finally, I wanted to let you in on a little secret worry I have been keeping.

About two weeks ago, David and I went to North Hampton to fill up my bucket of rocks for my Rock My World rocks.

When we got there, there were very few rocks to be found.

The beaches had taken quite a beating and sand had covered whatever rocks had been there.

I managed to collect about a quarter of a bucket but it was not like the summer before where the beach was literally covered with rocks of all sizes - where taking a bucket full didn't even show...

It made me wonder if this was a sign.

Should I stop taking those rocks at all ?Was Nature giving me a sign ?

Was it time to move on to something other than painting my precious rocks and find some other way to put my love out there ?

This weekend, David and I headed out to the Seacoast to see if we could find another beach with rocks, a new source for the Rock Fairy. I had decided I would make a decision about continuing the Rock My World project after our search.

Well, we decided to stop at North Hampton anyway, just towatch the waves for awhile, even though it was misting and gray...

here's what we saw and heard at my favorite NH beach...

The ROCKS were back !!!!

Now, I don't know if the State dumped those rocks there or what, but where there was only sand two weeks ago, there was an abundance of smooth and perfect rocks for the Rock Fairy !!!

It was a miracle !

Okay, maybe not a miracle, but I took it as a sign that I still have more work to do with these wonderful rocks of mine.

Not to mention that I had just created a special custom order for my friend Patti Digh which she provided as special memory keepsakes at her friend Celeste's funeral yesterday...

or

that my restaurant owner/chef friend, Tom had sent me a message while I was rock collecting that he needs a big refill of rocks at the restaurant...

Guess I am going to keep on Rocking It, Babies !!!

I hope you had a cozy and creative weekend.

Big Rocking Love to you from the Rock Fairy !

Play Time At The Queen of Arts Studio

Carved some stamps...

That is a very zen activity too, just like rock painting.

Good for crazy brain.

Stamped some newly carved stamps...

A bird story of some kind...

Jack the Crow and the Flower Stalk maybe...

Worked on some journal page foundations for Art Love Letters class.

Tried out some paint splattering techniques...

Somehow, I ended up splattering myself much more than the page with one of my slaps.

These photos are of me after I thought I have wiped all the paint off

and went into the livingroom to say hi to David.

Guess I missed a spot.

Or two...

Happy Saturday, Playmates !

Buried Treasure - Random Acts of Queen-ness Revisited

Buried Treasure Alert ! : The incredibly talented Seth at The Altered Page challenged bloggers to return to the past, and uncover their own buried treasure in the form of one of their favorite posts on their own blog. Because the first time was such fun and because many other bloggers wanted to join in, this week Seth hosted a second go-around. Here is another oldie but goodie Fairy Tale from the Queen of Arts, originally posted on March 12, 2009. Enjoy it ! Then head over to Seth's blog to find a list of other talented blogger's traveling back in time !

Our story begins on a cool but beautiful day in Almost-Spring.

Our heroine is the Lovely Queen of Arts.

This Queen needed to escape the Castle. "Time for some Guerrilla Action." she thought.

"It is time to ..."

So the Queen went to the Royal Studio and played with her own hand carved "Q of A" rubber stamp and a few other toys to create these :

She came up with some Q of A quotes to adorn the backs :

She called for her loyal servant :

And off they went to commit Random Acts of Queen-ness, Guerrilla Art Style !

First stop : a tree in a local park.

The Queen tied a Royal Tag onto the tree in plain view of a local peasant sitting on the bench across the way, but she was not interrupted.

Her Majesty then found this lovely tree with bark bright red. "I must leave my mark on this magnificent tree." she thought.

And she tied another Royal Tag, this time with a quote she adored, among its boughs.

As the Queen and her loyal servant continued along their path, they came upon a sight that reminded the Queen of an Art adventure she had taken long ago.

For there on a metal pole, in the middle of the "Park With Even Less", was a remnant from a walk the Queen had taken with Tags sent to her all the way from the other side of the planet. Tags sent to the Queen by the famous Guerrilla Artist, grrl +dog, way back in October, 2008.

The season had taken its toll on the Australia Tag :

It had lost its vibrancy and the stamp grrl had put on it to the elements.

It no longer shone with its previous brilliance.

(Memory shot - October, 2008 )

The Queen was saddened to see that time had taken its toll on the Australian Tag, just as it had on her own eyes with their beginnings of crows feet and their need for bifocal lenses.

"Our youth is gone, my friend." whispered the Queen to the withered tag, quietly so the peasants did not get frightened by the fact that their Liege was talking to herself in the park.

And then the Queen's inner artist took over. Youth may be gone but in its place : Artsy Wisdom.

The Wise Queen tied two of her bright, newly created tags on to the pole, one above and one below the worn Australia one placed there so long ago.

She thought to herself : "I may be older by a season or two, but I have learned that Any Time is the right time to dress things up and have a Good Time !"

We're here for a good time

Not a long time

So have a good time

The Sun can't shine everyday.

The Queen is playing !

So the peeps left this morning.

It is soooooo quiet here.

We had a sweet time.

The highlights included snuggle time with Kate and a sheet of heart stickers on my bed this morning - stickers all over us, her forehead against mine, eyes looking into eyes...and the tears that filled mine after at how BIG her love is already at 15 months...

Also some art time with the 6 year old big bro, Thomas, where he drew a big, beautiful picture of his best friend at school, Lee-Ann (don't call her his girlfriend though ! ;) ).

All of us visiting the father-in-law's in-ground pool on Monday night was fun too. Meals came together so easy, and the boys did all of the clean up which was great. All in all, a lovely visit. My sister and her gang are welcome at our Yellow Castle on Orange Street any time !

Wish they were coming back tomorrow....

This afternoon meant reclaiming the house a little, reconnecting with some blog posts from my friends, and then a nice nap back in my own bed. (Yes, I am that nice - I gave up my perfect bed for my guests. It was just easier that way !)

Then I got into a bit of playing in the studio. I did some little Q of A pieces using some play things hanging around my desk. It made me remember how few tools you need to create something pretty cool and something that is all your own.

Took some simple tools...

lying on the desk

added a few minutes of art play time

and made some mini mistress-pieces in no time at all.

Yay for art play !!!!

The Queen will be playing some more tomorrow as I join the re-play of the Buried Treasure fun, hosted once more by the incredible Seth, at the Altered Page. It was such fun the first time round, re-visiting old posts, on so many great blogs, all chosen by the bloggers themselves. Many more people wanted to play, so Seth has launched a second day of play for all of us! Check in tomorrow to see what post I want to dig out and uncover for a second go-a-round ! Then check in with Seth and see what other artists have joined in the digging !

Random Acts of Queen-ness - A Guerilla Artist Fairy Tale

(Just a Quick Reminder - Tomorrow is the deadline for my Blogaversary Give-Away. For details, check out my March 9th post here :)

Our story begins on a cool but beautiful day in Almost-Spring.

Our heroine is the Lovely Queen of Arts.

This Queen needed to escape the Castle. "Time for some Guerrilla Action." she thought.

"It is time to ..."

So the Queen went to the Royal Studio and played with her own hand carved "Q of A" rubber stamp and a few other toys to create these :

She came up with some Q of A quotes to adorn the backs :

She called for her loyal servant :

And off they went to commit Random Acts of Queen-ness, Guerrilla Art Style !

First stop : a tree in a local park.

The Queen tied a Royal Tag onto the tree in plain view of a local peasant sitting on the bench across the way, but she was not interrupted.

Her Majesty then found this lovely tree with bark bright red. "I must leave my mark on this magnificent tree." she thought.

And she tied another Royal Tag, this time with a quote she adored, among its boughs.

As the Queen and her loyal servant continued along their path, they came upon a sight that reminded the Queen of an Art adventure she had taken long ago.

For there on a metal pole, in the middle of the "Park With Even Less", was a remnant from a walk the Queen had taken with Tags sent to her all the way from the other side of the planet. Tags sent to the Queen by the famous Guerrilla Artist, grrl +dog, way back in October, 2008.

The season had taken its toll on the Australia Tag :

It had lost its vibrancy and the stamp grrl had put on it to the elements.

It no longer shone with its previous brilliance.

(Memory shot - October, 2008 )

The Queen was saddened to see that time had taken its toll on the Australian Tag, just as it had on her own eyes with their beginnings of crows feet and their need for bifocal lenses.

"Our youth is gone, my friend." whispered the Queen to the withered tag, quietly so the peasants did not get frightened by the fact that their Liege was talking to herself in the park.

And then the Queen's inner artist took over. Youth may be gone but in its place : Artsy Wisdom.

The Wise Queen tied two of her bright, newly created tags on to the pole, one above and one below the worn Australia one placed there so long ago.

She thought to herself : "I may be older by a season or two, but I have learned that Any Time is the right time to dress things up and have a Good Time !"

We're here for a good time

Not a long time

So have a good time

The Sun can't shine everyday.