Category Archives: art journaling

Art Tripping!

Art Tripping, what is that?

It does not have anything to do with illegal substances. Tripping can mean many things since English is a tricky language. However, in this case it means to take an actual journey.

I have been wanting in the worst way to go on a trip for a while now, but timing has not been good. That’s my excuse anyway.

So, I decided to do some art journaling around a virtual trip. I chose four locations, the city, the beach, the forest, and the desert. Those parts are all inspiring to me. I decided to make it a bargain e-course so that more people can afford it. The course will last four weeks, and the videos are quick and easy. Personally, I like fast videos since I don’t want to slog through four or five in an online class. The e-course starts on April, 18.

Here is the cityscape and the beach pictures from the class. Your art will look completely different, but that’s the challenge.
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DSCN1998A pretty grungy cityscape and a happy bright beach picture… through the lens of my eyes.

You can check out Art Tripping for yourself. CLICK HERE. 

arttripping5I hope you join me for this virtual journey. It would be nice to have a busload of people!

Happy creating,

xo

Maria

It’s not too late to join.

Hello lovely reader,

It’s not too late to join my current mixed media / art journaling ecourse titled Art Journaling Journey. We are coming up on week three, but the course will be perennial so you can work at your own pace. I would love to see you there!

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Art journaling is a true of journey of exploration outside and inside. It never gets old, but it can get weird sometimes, but life is weird sometimes too. Here are a couple of recent art journal spreads.

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Here’s to having a fabulous creative week! Click on the link to check out the ecourse, ART JOURNALING JOURNEY.

I wish you a fabulous creative week!

xoxo

Maria

What fires you up?

“What fires you up?” I asked a friend of mine, and she said she didn’t know. I have encountered that many times on my path and I find it sad.

firesyouupAre we as people so programmed, so CONVINCED there is no other way than to stay in the fold where education or happenstance landed us in life. We have to think about 401Ks, retirement funds, insurance, and basically manage our lives to a point where there is no memory of what we would like to do instead of working 9-5. Don’t take me wrong; many people like their jobs, so there is nothing wrong with that. We have to do something to be productive in life. However, there is a lot of drugs and alcohol to deafen the pain inside that comes from living a “canned” life. We are not here to be victims!

I used to do psychic readings and saw that problem A LOT, the pain of conforming to society. I would point it out, but I also knew that the person would never DARE to step out of the box. To me, that is utterly sad. All of the reasons I described above, the need for control and security in life override any soul urges. Those soul cries are squashed down and ignored to the detriment of our health and happiness.

One way to get deeper in touch with your soul is through art. Anyone who has liked to dabble with crayons or paints as a child is closer to accepting that fact, but anyone who has never tried making art is also capable of creating art that brings up the needs of the soul. It’s is a therapy as well as a joy!

candlesArt can free you to look objectively at what lies underneath, gain a greater understanding, and inspire you to start  follow those urges inside that truly make a difference in life. I KNOW that art is a great bridge between the humdrum and soul destroying to an awakened state of understanding. If you follow that path, you have the chance to liberate yourself and truly live from your own inner wisdom, create the life that you really want to live.

Even if you’re clueless as to what that would be like, it’s time to start somewhere, to explore the possibilities of who your are and what your unique gifts to the world are.

I have created a mixed media art journaling course, Art Journaling Journey, that helps to open up your creative side, and hopefully inspire you to continue to express through art. At the least you will have some answers of what is going on and where to head next.

My claim is: everyone is an artist.

You might not be called to work as an artist, but art is still a wonderful tool with which to excavate your soul needs.

If you want to know more, please click on the link. I have an early bird price going until February 23, and the course starts on March 1 and goes for four weeks. Art Journaling Journey.

May you find your true path!

xoxo

Maria

What are you grateful for?

 

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What are you grateful for this coming Thanksgiving holiday and every day?

If you’re not feeling grateful for your life, you can shift your mindset easily by making a CHOICE to be mindful and look around for things to be grateful for.

Either you bitch and moan about the every day grind or you find something to be grateful for. There is always the possibility to step out of the box that you hate.  All that is needed is a decision to do so, grow some balls, and claim a new destiny that is laced with happiness and gratitude.

I have a huge list of things that I’m grateful for. Art is pretty high up on the list since it’s my deepest passion. Lately I’ve been thankful that I can let loose and create like a child again.  Judgment is a heavy yoke to carry, so why carry it?  Young children don’t judge art.

Every moment is new, truly.

Every day is another chance to make things better for yourself and others. When you’re happy and doing well, you walk around inspiring others just by being. That is pretty awesome.

Make a list of all the things you’re grateful for today and include three passions you have but never make any time for.  Which one has the highest charge? Take a step even if it’s tiny toward manifesting that passion. Small steps create big goals. What makes your heart sing?

There is no time to waste on nonsense that other people told us to do. How do you want your life to shape up from now on?

I’m going deeper into my art. I can’t really set a creative goal since I never know in what direction the art will lead me, but I do have a practical goal: do some art activity every day!  Funny how good that makes me feel…

Feel good today. Gratitude will automatically make you feel good. 🙂  A first step, right?

Thank you all who read this blog. I’m truly grateful for you, and many blessings this holiday season coming up at warp speed.

thanksI made an art video that was supposed to be “raw” unplanned art and it turned out to be doodle mania.  Link HERE.

018This is a picture of the doodle mania art journal spread.

xo

Maria

P.S. I have some other tutorials you can check out and try HERE.

Ugly is okay!

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Ugly is okay for sure, but if you’re like me, art holds certain standards. We try so many methods and techniques; we compare ourselves to others. Some styles we like some we don’t. It’s hard to know which style suits you the best. Have you ever tried just being yourself as you approach art? Forget about the rules and be free, like kids fearlessly showing up at the empty page. Paint outside the box! To reach the true core of who we are involves a lot of unlearning or ignoring what we know. Unlearning is deeply satisfying.

Like you I make a decent painting and art journal spread, and I’m proud and happy about the results. When it comes to spontaneity however, it can be very frustrating since we’re always striving for results.

My aim for this micro workshop is to give you space to be yourself, to wait and see what will come onto the page without you pushing anything.

What I get from this kind of art is a sense of Self. I can actually recognize my own energy in the art. It has a very intimate feel to it, and I find it addictive to paint in this way. I also receive sudden insights and messages about the state I’m in at the time of painting. This particular spread turned out happy, and it’s a state I’m in a lot, but others I’ve done are dark and dreary. The tendency is to rip out those kinds of pages, but to honor myself, I also have to honor my darker, more destructive side. Usually, I don’t like showing those pages to people. They are basic and pretty ugly. It’s like trying anything new and unknown, you just have to immerse yourself in it to find out the truth about it.

I invite you to explore.

I invite you to leave all your knowledge at the door and explore you inner self.

I invite you to paint “ugly,” unfettered like a child.

I invite you to meet your inner self without fear.

Are you willing to take this trip with me?

All you need is an art journal page, or a watercolor sheet, or even a canvas. Whatever you have on hand, and you need some paint, brushes, and markers. That is all. You can even use colored pencils, pencils, ballpoint pens, and oil pastels. There are no rules.

I need to point out that your art will be completely different from mine! The video will show the process I go through and you’ll get an idea how to go about it. And then you can make your own art spread, woohoo.

Check out the micro workshop HERE.

xo

Maria

P.S.  If you’d like some more free stuff please join my mailing list HERE.

 

Process versus product.

Process versus product is a concept I have struggled with for a while as an artist. Do you paint pretty paintings that sell, or are you true to your own process?  Small kids will always be true to their process. They paint with abandon, and their art is filled with joyous energy. We lose that wild creativity because we start judging the art at some point. According to our preferences, it’s good or bad. There are artists like Jackson Pollock that I don’t particularly admire, but the energy in his dripped art is phenomenal. People pick up on the energy. Art that we would reject without a second glance sell for millions.

Artists love making a living from their art; that’s a given. I find myself always judging my own art. Is it salable, or is it junk? We would not judge kids’ art as junk, but maybe some do.

I do enjoy making crafts too, but they don’t count in this kind of dilemma. Crafting is a more peaceful, straightforward process and you know the end result. It tends to get tedious in the long run while painting never gets tedious but can be extremely challenging. Sometimes it gets to a point where I don’t want to be challenged, and I paint something pretty.

There is nothing wrong with pretty, but I want to paint from my true inner genius.

In my years of painting, I was always drawn to intuitive expression, which means standing in front of a blank canvas and just reach for the first color that comes to mind and paint something, whatever I am drawn to paint. The canvas will decide what is to come. It’s a frightening but exciting process to watch the artwork emerge on its own. It’s torture sometimes, but it’s a process I’ve never quite been able to leave. I started painting this way back in the 90s after reading Aviva Gold’s Painting From The Source. Later in this post I will display a list of the books that have influenced my intuitive painting the  most.

When I started reading Gold’s book, I could not put it down. She suggests using poster boards and tempera paint, which are inexpensive tools to experiment with. No expensive canvases to “destroy.”

Here are two pictures of old intuitive art I painted in the 90s. I have some huge paintings that are rolled up in my closet, and I can’t bear to throw them away. However, there is no wall space for them where I live.

100_0121These guys ended up being parrots in the jungle, but I probably started out with a blob of paint in the middle of the poster board. There is a lot of detail underneath the birds, and I believe that all layers add to the finished art. I still paint in many layers.

100_2289This is a huge, really weird painting, but it had lots of energy. I painted it over an old framed painting, and it sold and was shipped off.  Intuitive art is like dreams in many ways. The images are fragmented and don’t seem to make sense, but there is always an underlying message. The subconscious speaks through the art if you ALLOW it.

100_2467Here is another kind of fun variation of intuitive painting. I ended up painting my own hands all over the art.

Art journaling is also a good way to experiment. You know the art is just for you. The pressure of selling it is gone, and you can go crazy on the pages.

I admire my big brother, Ingvar Staffans, who has painted all of his life. He only uses black, white, brown, and maybe some beige in his art. He paints HUGE abstract expressions and have never even tried to paint pretty pictures. He is true to his own art. Some of it I don’t like, but some bowls me over with its amazing energy. He’s not afraid to experiment and I respect that.ingvarsart

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Hard to believe we’re related, huh?  He never read any books on intuitive painting, lol.  He is a process man, not a product man.

Anyway, here is the list of books that can inspire you to paint intuitively. I particularly recommend Michele Cassou’s books. They will tell what to do when you get stuck.  Her process is totally freeing.  The book links are to Amazon. Some you can probably find at the library.

POINT ZERO by Michele Cassou HERE.

LIFE, PAINT and PASSION by Michele Cassou and Stewart Cubley HERE.

PAINTING FROM THE SOURCE by Aviva Gold HERE.

A more recent book: PAINT MOJO by Tracy Verdugo HERE.

Another book to help open up your creativity is THE TRICKSTER’S HAT by Nick Bantock HERE.

And the classic THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron HERE.

I thought I would try a grungy sort of art journaling technique since I always paint in bright colors. My brother would be proud! 🙂

008This is not pretty, but meaningful to me. At this point I just want to express myself, not necessarily paint pretty pictures. It is an evolving  journey! I made a video of this art journal spread, and you can watch it HERE.

What are you working on today?  It is important … because life happens NOW.

xo

Maria

P.S.  If you’re interested in receiving my newsletter, you can sign up HERE.