Category Archives: painting

art, creativity, inspirational, painting

Art as energy work.

Have you noticed how art can be energy work?  It brings healing, contemplation, and speaks to our inner self. Sometimes it comes across as something repulsive, but maybe that is because it triggers something repulsive within.  Art is a mirror of our own state and that shifts all the time.

Great art is timeless. It speaks to the universal truth of self and has a much larger scope than, say, a whimsical picture of a cat. Not that I have anything against cute cats, but to feel the greatness of my own life, I can go to any art museum and immerse myself in the great art of the world.

I remember when I went to the Met in New You and saw the Impressionists. I have never seen a “real” painting by Renoir before and the light that he had captured with paint took my breath away.

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The two sisters on the terrace. Renoir.

How do you paint light?  It’s not all in the technique obviously. Somehow he pulled it out of himself and the vision of light and shadow he had was superior.

I admire different aspects of different painters, but they all have one thing in common; they never strayed far from their original style (except Picasso maybe, haha.)

My favorites are the painters of the Impressionistic style. There is an innocence and joy about the art. They captured an era when people took pleasure in the simpler things.  Much of the modern art has such hard edges that speak of our harsher more stressful times.

I like to go up to art at a museum and feel entranced, not disturbed. Yet, honest art speaks the truth about the times we live in and it’s not all milk and roses.  Far from it.

One time when I was an art student a friend and I got a wild hair and spread open an umbrella at a museum of modern art. We stuck it on the floor with a tag that said “Umbrella.”  People stopped and looked at it, walked all around it, pondering.  We thought we were very clever.

Then a guard discovered the abnormality and the game ended abruptly.  It was fun though. That brings up the question: what is art? That is a discussion that can go on forever.

Personally, I like to be blown away when I go to view art.

I can only aspire to have people like my own art, and some really do. I guess my mission is accomplished if one person likes my art. All is good!

This concludes Day 8 of the 30 day blog challenge.

What are you working on today? What beauty are you bringing out to the world?

xo

Maria

P.S. I have some beautiful art for sale in my etsy shop. 😉  HERE.

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, art journaling, creativity, ecourse, free, intuitive, painting, process, tutorial, video

Ugly is ok! micro workshop

I already posted back in the fall of ’15 about painting ugly. Here are some more thoughts about that.

If you’re like me, art holds certain standards for us. 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, yet it can be hard to let go and allow the art to be what it wants to be.

Like you I make a decent painting and art journal spreads, 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 FREE 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 in the video turned out happy, and it’s a state I’m in a lot, but others that 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.

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in the shadows “Uglee”

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.

I invite you to sit through the discomfort.

I invite you to break through to the “fire.”

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.

If you want to share your work, please join my Facebook group. HERE.

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. YES!

Access the FREE micro workshop Ugly is Ok! HERE.

I also did an Ugly is Ok! 2 a month later.  To view, click HERE.

Now go and paint something ugly! 🙂

xo

Maria

art, art journaling, creativity, ecourse, free, intuitive, painting, process, unstuck

Creativity on fire.

Creativity on fire, do you feel it, or do you feel stuck most of the time?

Creativity has become a big deal these days. The word is thrown around all over Facebook and other social media.  What is creativity?  I like how Wiki defines creativity:

Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention a literary work or a painting).

In other words, it’s not just artsy stuff. I’m into artsy stuff and self development. Creative ideas can be very helpful in both.

The problem with art is that we tend to copy each other, or paint in the style that is popular now. The artists we admire have forged their own path of creativity and that’s why they are leaders.

Forging your own path can be quite difficult and challenging, especially if you’re prone to criticize yourself and your work. It is always easier to copy others.

However, all the art looks the same, and part of us approve that we follow the trend, but another part says “wait a minute” that painting is not ME.

The only way to keep creativity on fire is to explore your inner landscape, to discover more and more of who you are and how you express. That means to listen to your intuition and step lightly and slowly in a world that runs at warp speed. Are you willing to truly go deep an explore or are you just having fun copying others or the teacher of the moment?

Every moment that feels authentic has another moment following, and to keep authentic we have to listen for that moment and what it presents. It might not present anything, and then we get frustrated.

I do this all the time. I override my better deeper judgment and paint something I already know, usually something cute. As you know, cute is IN, so you can’t go wrong with cute and whimsical.

However, the practice makes me frustrated and I get stopped in my tracks. That’s no way to feel around creativity. I want to feel fresh and inspired, “on fire.”

Maybe the hardest thing is to stay present and listening, and not bulling through to the finished product.

I have a FREE mini ecourse where art-ing in the moment can be explored. Check this out: Ugly Is Ok!

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In the shadow

Join my Facebook group and share your work if you like. HERE.

Cheerio, and happy creating. Find the fire within!

xo

Maria

art, creativity, ecourse, fear, intuitive, painting

Done or not done?

Done or not done, well, that’s the question that has been going through my mind for two days…

Hello there dear reader,
I’d like to share the intuitive painting I finished recently, or is it finished?

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“Dreaming” by Maria Greene 20×20″

Sometimes I struggle for days, but the best way to gauge whether it’s finished or not is to let it sit somewhere and stew. I force myself not to look at it until some time has passed.  By then I can usually see something that bugs me or not…

I have actually done some work on old paintings when I see a flaw I never noticed before. I could call that growth or maybe a keener eye. Not sure, and there is no need to label it. I have a finished painting that I will work on some more shortly. I worry that I will mess it up more, but something has to be done.  The good thing about acrylics you can always paint over them!

Have you tried intuitive painting? You just lay down some colors to cover the canvas and do this in many layers until you can see some rhythm or reason in the paint. Sometimes I see figures and I fill out the outline and refine from there.

It takes courage to paint without plans, but sometimes the raw art is the most powerful. Try it and you might get hooked.  I doubt that I will ever go back to traditional painting.

Speaking of intuition, I am very fond of combining art and intuition. I help people release fears and blocks around creating. I have a one-on-one coaching offer going right now, and various art tutorials /e-courses. I take a lot of art e-courses myself because they inspire me. I’m always looking to stretch my creative muscles.

If you’re interested in knowing more about my offers, check the menu  bar at the top of the website (under the header) and you can click on the links.

What are you working on this week? Spring is here and the trees are bursting with flowers. It’s wonderful.

xo

Maria

P.S. This painting is available in my etsy shop now.

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“Meditation” by Maria Greene 8×8″