Category Archives: art

art, inspirational, intuitive, life, nature

I joined a 30 day blog writing challenge.

Yes, I joined, gasp.  What was I thinking?

I love to write, but having to come up with interesting posts every day is not easy.  I do love to inspire where I can, so expect to see some inspirational posts and art of course.

soap-bubble-1388505__180Life is truly about following one’s dreams and that is what I’m doing, but I have found that my dream is morphing into something slightly different.  I love art and art classes that expand my skills and imagination. Art is a constant exploration, not a fixed “dream” per se.  Being immersed in art is being inside the dream, so it’s process. Nothing new there but sometimes I look at art as something concrete and inflexible.

In the nineties I was obsessed with communicating with nature and learning about flower essences. I lived in Upstate New York at the time and then I moved to Florida and all that work went by the wayside. I have not had the same connection with Florida nature since it’s very different.  Think savage and tough to survive the heat. Lots of prickly and biting things, but every landscape has its own beauty.

I have always been fascinated with the metaphysical aspects of nature.

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nature

Have you ever stopped by a tree and felt its presence?  Why are we drawn to certain areas of nature but not others? It is an intuitive reaction and the body might feel more comfortable by the beach than in the mountains.

Working with nature metaphysically takes patience and stillness.  The challenge is to still the mind and be in the present. All of nature lives in the present, so the gateway is NOW. The more we practice being in the moment of now, the more open we become to energies.

I believe the destruction of nature will end if people become aware of the beautiful life force of everything.  We won’t be so eager to do, make, and use things that destroy.

Since I’m aware that nature is highly intelligent and a totally AWARE Being and WANTS to work with us, I feel it’s only right that I endeavor to inspire others to grow that connection  Nature can help us with every aspect of life.  Nature spirits are not a myth, but they only exist on the inner plane, though people have seen them. They can appear as any form.  🙂

dwarf-972875__180Next time you go out in nature, pick out a tree that seems friendly or any other plant. Take a deep breath to still yourself and see if you can tune into the energy of the plant.  It might surprise you.  The energy is usually loving and fun.

That would be a first step to connecting with nature. If you don’t feel anything, keep trying. It can take some time so practice the connection. If you can, go to the same plant each time. You can also use a house plant.

How does this connect to art? Art is energy and if I were to translate nature’s energy into art, it would be mostly  colors in an abstract way for me. I believe we recognize the energy that flows  through everything and that’s why we like good art.

All for now. More tomorrow about the wonders of nature and other things. 🙂

I wish you a creative week!!

xo

Maria

P.S. I have three evergreen mixed media art e-courses available for self study.  CLICK HERE.

art, art journaling, creativity, inspirational, muse, resistance, writing

The muse is a fickle b*itch.

The muse never was very trustworthy in my opinion.  None of them. No wonder they are mythical (as if we can trust anything the ancients dreamed up, archetypes or not.)  Some might argue they exist on another plane of energy, but for the most part they are not for hire.

In the past I paid homage to the Literary Muse, and she would strike inconsistently and then crack the whip until you stayed up all night to write and your fingers bled.  Then she  would be suspiciously absent for loooong periods of time.  But no matter what, I wrote.

Nowadays if she shows up I give her a token eye roll and say I AM not for hire any longer, so there.  Go find another victim.

However,  sometimes I think I have to pay homage to my art muse who is more often than not totally absent, day or night.

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the bored uppity muse b*itch

I also have to pay a price for her to show up.

*I have to dance naked at midnight in my backyard first Sunday of the month and sing off-tune songs until my neighbor calls the police.

* I have to offer up my first child as a sacrifice. It’s lucky I don’t have any kids, but then again, my muse gives me the cold shoulder because of this.

*I have to eat raw kale for breakfast every morning (not a problem since I often put that in my green smoothie, na-na-na-nana.

*I have to spend $$$$$$$ on all the latest art tools and pay homage to all of the art teachers out there who offer torturous lengthy courses that make you feel like crap if you don’t finish all the assignments. And you never do.

*The muse always reminds me that I’m never “deep” enough in my art. In fact, I skim the surface of drek and I’m too happy about it. 🙂

So, what do you do when the muse is absent? Tell her to never show up because you don’t need her sorry ass.

You go in to your studio every day even if your body sends out the “fight or flight” signal.

You wrangle that art journal that can never lie quite flat and slam your fist into the page just to show who is the boss.

The unseen barrier of resistance that the evil studio fairies wove while you slept last night is thick over the empty pages. Is that a spiderweb over there in the corner?  And who glued the pages together?

Ah yes, I did.

You look over the paints and with a sigh you decide, “what the heck, I might as well slap on some purple and green paint down and go from there.”

Every brush stroke is a pain. The paint decides to spurt out in a great big glob or even leak from the bottom.  So you smear that sh*t all over the page.  Now that page looks like a Rothko painting… Maybe you could sell it as such on eBay, you think for $$$$.  Con-woman thoughts aside, why did Rothko always paint the same thing??

His muse must have been nuts or she avoided him altogether with the excuse that she doesn’t do horizontal lines.

Anyway, you sit with your Rothko art journal page and decide it’s not interesting enough so you start doodling in pink neon color or slap some brightly colored washi tape down. Much better already. Things are still similar to slogging through mud, but you persist.

And then suddenly you see a face in the mess on the paper, and find joy in adding some features.

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fickle muse

After that some more doodling commences and all is well.  In the end, you created a piece of art and all is good. All in the face of the muse who tried to actually distract you with everything else except art.  (Yes, I totally blame the muse.)

Art without the muse becomes an exploration to see what you’re made of. Either you give in to the resistance and go clean the kitchen, or you slog through the barrier and find what is on the other side.

It’s the only way to approach art and get something done.  (For me anyway.) Otherwise, I suspect the kitchen would be spotless and the studio full of dust.

Do you have balls enough to push through?

Only by doing will you find out.  Make it a habit and give the muse the boot if she dares to show up (late.)  You don’t need her because you already had the commitment down.

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No muse here.

You don’t need the muse because you have your own voice and inner wisdom. That is enough!

Lots of daring and determination to ya!

xo

Maria

P.S. if you want to spend some hard earned cash on art, please visit my etsy shop HERE.

art, art journaling, creativity, mixed media, video

First snow grunge

 

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First snow, grunge art journal page

First snow is not really relevant since we’re coming up on Memorial Day weekend, but First Snow is what happened when I created this grunge art journal spread.  I made a video of it that you can watch. I added so many layers that it got really interesting, (almost a page ready to be cut up for some other project.) But I think I saved it. Judge for yourself.

art, mixed media, painting, process

What Jane wanted.

What Jane (Austen) wanted might be a strange title, but that is what came to me as I pondered the finished art.  Who knows what yearnings she had, but she would not have showed up without a bonnet or a DRESS anywhere.  Those were the polite rules of the day.  Her hair would not have been as messy either, but in my heat of creative passion I took some artistic license.

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What Jane wanted.

I can tell you the process this art went through. I started out with a layer of various colorful papers all across the canvas.  I usually tear those and just put them down randomly with medium, making sure the edges are well glued down.  Then a painted a couple of layers, did some spatters and runny paint patterns.

I added the birds, and they are cut from paper that I painted turquoise and glued down on some black paper. The yellow legs are also glued down paper that I painted.

I added some more paper for texture and painted the face with charcoal and acrylic paints.

To be honest there was another portrait under all of this that I ended up hating so I painted over it with white paint–another layer.  I saved the areas that I liked, and embellished others.

This is usually how my art evolves but sometimes I paint straight without mixed media.  I still use many layers of paint to get the effect that I like. Layers will create the depth that I prefer.

This art is now for sale in my etsy shop HERE. Lots of other goodies there as well.

If you would like to check out some of my fun ecourses, go to this link HERE. 

I always like to try new things when it comes to art. I wish you a creative week. Time flies, so we might as well do something fun…

Happy creation,

Maria xo

art, creativity, inspirational, motivational, passion, process

Are you a quitter?

I’m not a quitter.

I could have begun something fabulous a long time ago, but I had zero belief that I could succeed.  My passion is art and I have created art since I was a kid (on and off.)  I always wanted to be an artist, but parents and society said, “artists starve.” That is a false statement but a common one.

You might not make much money on the art to begin with, and ingenuity is very important. When I haven’t made money on my art, I have found other ways to supplement my income without compromising my time to make art.

Sometimes the art making is hard. I feel all kinds of resistance, but I’ll tell you how I overcame that. I made the DECISION to create art, no matter what. Come hell or high water…

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your passion

Not quitting now.  It has become such a great part of my life that it would be inconceivable to quit.

I wish I had committed to it a long time ago by changing my belief system, but the hold of consensus beliefs can be very strong. Also, I didn’t have any tools to help me out like EFT, (tapping.) I have found tapping to be a great way to release old belief systems.

We are all mired in beliefs. What is your passion? Are you doing anything to manifest it? Taking steps every day is something that builds into a big accomplishment as long as we hold the course.

I love what I do so it’s not hard to commit to it. However, the art making in itself can be frustrating and confronting at times.  Instead of quitting, I stick with it through the uncomfortable feelings.  More often than not, something happens to take me beyond the frustration, and it’s almost a magical feeling when everything comes together.

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my passion

With any creative process that calls out to you, do this:

*Commit (make the decision) to take your passion seriously.

*Work on it every day even if it’s only baby steps.

* Don’t listen to naysayers, especially the one between your ears.

*When the going gets tough, stick to your passion like a burr.

*When no money is coming in from your passion, do it for the love of it.

*What you create is a gift to the world, so don’t waste any more time!

Easy enough points to follow and if you feel resistance from fear or you’re stuck in everyday rat racing, make a decision today to give your passion some feet. Eventually, you will grow some wings and fly!

I would love to hear what your passion is.

passion5xo

Maria

P.S. I’m selling my original art on etsy.  If you’re looking for a gift of art, check out my shop today. HERE. 🙂