Tag Archives: art

Boundaries

April 7, 2017 Maria G

Boundaries, are you good at keeping yours? I feel lately as if my world has rocked from “attacks” on my boundaries and I find myself evaluating what is real TO ME and what the world expects of me.

As an artist, it’s good to have no boundaries in a creative sense, like children, but as soon as you step out of that zone, a whole other world comes at ya.

What was ok yesterday might not work today. I find myself living in a somewhat fluid perception juggling the two worlds, the one of my sacred pursuit of art making, and the world of contraries where people constantly want something from me.

It would be easy to be totally ungrounded and live in la-la land, but that’s avoidance. I have learned that my time is precious and so am I.

Space cadets need not approach….

I can choose what is ok for me, but there is always the guilt factor lurking in the background (along with the inner critic. They are having a party.)

If you speak your truth (without cringing) the world might turn ugly around you. I’ve had some experiences lately so I’m reviewing what is ok and what isn’t.

People don’t like it when you stand in your power.

It’s the world according to them, or no world. I’m just a convenience at that point.

The more I speak up, the easier it gets. I highly recommend it since it makes YOUR world right, and you know how much you can give without guilt. We are trained as children to come second to everyone and everything else, especially women are raised that way,

I might turn out like the comic character Maxine, haha.

Some would say she has no filters. Neither do kids, so why not be more like them while including some kindness in the forthright speech? Kindness is free, and it might soften the blow of your truth, BUT some only understand the punch of a two-by-four to the head.

I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings, but I certainly don’t want my own feelings hurt either even if the world thinks it’s ok to step on them.

Anyhow, I will now retreat to my studio and behave like a child again. A child with both feet on the ground and head in the clouds.

I’m learning about boundaries and I’m getting better at shoring them up every day, yay!

Have a great creative weekend.

Maria

P.S. Check out my etsy shop EARTH AND FAERY. Lots of new artsy things in there.

art, healing, inspirational, self help, writing

Laura Probert and the April 2017 art prompts

April 1, 2017 Maria G

Laura Probert kindly accepted to help me out with a month of art inspiration for my online art journaling group.

She is a great writer and has written for many online publications like Huffington Post and Elephant Journal. She is passionate about healing and uses writing and art, among other things, as tools to dive deeply inside and heal the wounds we carry.

This from her website:

“WAKE UP
“Without awareness there is no choice.” 
John F. Barnes

Awareness is the key to healing.

I’ve spent my 21 year career as a student, healer and an athlete learning the tools, tips and tricks that will help you wake up and develop a practice of awareness.   Healing is about peeling off the layers of mental, emotional and physical injury and trauma that cover up your soul and keep you from living the best, healthiest, most joyful life you can live.   Awareness can help you heal physical pain and injury, relationships, business ventures, exercise goals…basically anything you want to change in your life.

I’ll teach you what I know about this powerful door to healing and the many paths to it. Everything that happens to us happens through our awareness…it’s a matter of being awake to the stuff of life. I’ll show you how body awareness connects you with your inner healer and gives you choices about your health and life.”

I like the idea that Laura offers tools for self healing and not trying to heal “you.” Ultimately, we are the only ones who can heal ourselves.

My inner critic on rampage

March 24, 2017 Maria G

My inner critic was on a rampage all week, and it was a wild ride I tell you! I recognize and own my inner critic as the freeloader that overstays his welcome and is proud about it..

Sneaky and charming, with an opinion about everything, he lounges in my new recliner or stands over my shoulder when I paint or art journal.

I’m used to the bastard and usually kick him to the curb, but this week he stirred up such confusion in my mind I just about had it with art.

First of all, he criticized my every art process with an infusion of “you have no clue what you’re doing” to “what do you know about art, and where’s YOUR focus?” Insidious indeed. He’s emaciated, extremely pale. He wears tight black pants and black turtleneck sweater, and a beret. Kind of a 1960s French hipster, and he smokes evil-smelling cigarettes, blowing smoke up my ass and into my mind.

Why do I ever listen? He’s too clever by far, and sometimes I fall for the bullsh*t because art is an ever-expanding journey that is unsure at best. For the most part I fly by the seat of my pants, which is always frowned upon by all critics, mine and others. Then again, if I did hyper realistic art where every dot counts, the critic would call that unimaginative. So, you can never win, right?

I’m partially to blame for the confusion, but the inner critic stirs the pot relentlessly.

My favorite social media is Instagram and I upload pictures constantly and also scroll the huge variety of art there. It’s such a wonderful place of inspiration.

I have been more and more interested in abstract art, and it’s fun to explore on the canvas, but I can never make up my mind if what I paint feels good / right / complete or not.

I came across some really questionable art (in my opinion, the critic probably liked it because he was silent.)

To me, art needs to either be a colorful feast to the eye or something that tugs at me, something that gives a meaning or emotional connection. Some artists were posting just scratches with colored pencils like the art of a three-year old.

Three-year olds express themselves shamelessly, and I’m all for it. Actually, children’s art always touches my heart because it’s direct and without excuses.

When grown-ups post that kind of stuff and call it fine art, I can’t feel the connection. The question is: is the art conceit or something that touches people’s heart in some way?

Then the inner critic steps in and says “Your art is no better.” I agree that I’m scribbling at times but I would never call it art per se. I might call it “uncertain expression in color” if it needs to be labeled.

When I kick the inner critic out, I don’t need to wonder what is art and what isn’t. All in the eye of the beholder, but my personal preference is art that takes my breath away or inspires me in some way.

Scribbles or rubbings with colored pencils might get an inner eye roll, but hey, to each their own!

Anyway, my inner critic hated all the art above except the last one, but if I have to live with the input from him, I still forge onward since there is no other way but forward on the art exploration journey of my life.

Below are my latest paintings. The critic didn’t chime in much, so I guess they are okay. <eye roll>

Have a great creative weekend, friends!

Maria

P.S. The free art journaling 2017 adventure is going strong. You can still catch all the prompts from the previous months. Laura Probert will be our guest artist / writer in April. SIGN UP HERE.

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art, artist, creativity, inspiration

The artist is in the ether

February 23, 2017 Maria G 3 Comments

The artist is in the ether–waiting, just like we were a twinkle in our mother’s eye once. It takes inspiration and action to be born. If you want to be an artist, you feel it in the ether.

I looked up the word “ether,” and the literary meaning is: the clear sky; the upper regions of air beyond the clouds.

I really liked that description. As souls we dwell there and then feelings, thoughts, actions take place and we appear in this 3D world wondering what the hell we’re doing here.

How many people go through life wondering that? I bet it’s around 100%.

At one point, I’m not sure exactly when, something tugged at me. It wasn’t a hard tug, or a determined push, or a revelation. It was more of a longing to explore SOMETHING, maybe myself.

I started reading fiction as soon as I could read and became immersed in the world of books, the great imagination of the authors’ made up scenarios. My mom used to say I had a wild imagination, and she would look at me strangely as if I was not like “others.” But that was not true. I always made sure I fit in with the crowd, for the most part.

I always liked to draw and color and that has grown into an immense “calling” if you will. It’s how I record the energy of my life. I say energy because it’s more than depiction of 3D events and things.

I write about my life, but not with great trepidation. Writing flows easily without fanfare. When I paint, I’m always (every single time) faced with the immensity of starting.

It’s hard to explain, but after years of facing that feelings, I always boldly step forward with some paint and slap it on the canvas, and go from there. To start becomes easier with experience.

After that, it’s anyone’s guess if the painting is going to be something that speaks to me, or not… It happens more often than not that I paint over old paintings.

That is how an artist comes into being. Each day is new. I reach into the ether to create myself every day on canvas or other art methods. When it flows it flows, and when it doesn’t I curse the universe for being such a stingy muse.

An artist is not born per se, an artist is born and born again through manipulating the ether. That is how I feel when I stand in front of a canvas. Each day something will be born, either a glorious rendition of energy, or something that is beyond ugly.

But it’s all glorious!

This above painting had so many layers and started out with a super ugly face underneath it all, and when all was said and done it turned out to an imagined Jane Austen. Go figure!

That is art. Pulling the rabbit out of a hat, or a piece of art from the ether is magic. A grand adventure indeed. What is the ether calling you to do?

P.S. I have a free 2017 art journaling journey going with monthly prompts from various artists. If you want to be involved you can sign up for the prompts HERE.

art, art journaling, artist, faces

The many faces in my art journal

February 16, 2017 Maria G 2 Comments

The many faces in my art journal are testimony that I go against the “rule” that one should stick to one style and develop that. Maybe I will have a particular style at some point, but I’m having too much fun doing crazy faces in my art journal.

Next time someone asks me what kind of style I’m aligned with I will reply, “my own.” I doubt that I’ll ever reach cohesion in my artsy outpourings. Here are a few crazy faces I’m had fun with. I used Neocolors II, watercolor pencils, mixed media, paper collage, acrylic paints, and charcoal.

art, artist, creativity, perfection, self help

Perfectionism kills creativity

January 29, 2017 Maria G 1 Comment

Perfectionism kills creativity and how do you change in the direction of deeper creativity?

Do you compare yourself to the perfection of nature? What do you compare yourself to?

As an artist, perfectionism stifles all expression. Maybe it’s ok in the very last layer of a realistic painting, but I don’t know since I don’t paint realism. I have suffered from perfectionism from time to time. It shows up as:

That didn’t turn out very good

Is this any good?

I can never get it right

Those statements might not seem like an angle of perfectionism, but when we doubt what we made we have a picture of what it SHOULD look like, and it’s never good enough. It comes down to comparison to some kind of ideal or living up to someone else’s expectations.

Maybe someone’s voice is running a commentary in your head?

Maybe our parents expected us to be perfect in every way. What does that have to do with art? It has everything to do with whatever task you attempt, be it art, writing, speaking, teaching, accounting. Basically, in every area of life. The way we look, the way we work.

How do you escape this tyranny of perfectionism?

First, you have to realize it’s present, and a pain in the ass. Not everyone notices or perfectionism is so embedded in the “norm” that it’s inconceivable to change.

As an artist, it’s important to let loose and try something completely different from your current mode of expression.

Become three years old again. Slap some paint on a poster board.

Make ugly abstract art. Muddy the colors. Paint big.

Use tools you don’t normally use.

As you explore this, something inside has to give. The perfectionist will raise a big stink, but allow it to and paint anyway. Just go nuts!

Do this with everything. Don’t mop the floor every day even if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Don’t pick up the clothes. Don’t obsessively clean the kitchen counter. Let some dishes sit around in the sink.

Allow the inner wisdom to show you that life won’t fall apart if you get a bit “sloppy.”

It is a challenge, but to truly change, you have to face the discomfort and get to the other side.

To become a life artist we have to face the difficult things that hold us back.

Paint anyway. Show up, be daring.

Allow the emotions to flow. There might be rage under the perfectionism, but rage is good fuel for art! 🙂

Then, underneath the rage there might be other stuffed emotions. And then there is peace. And it’s ok if there are dishes in the sink for the time being. Expressing your creativity is more important.

Maybe you pick up a new style… YOUR style.

Maria

P.S. If you’d like to get my art newsletter, please sign up HERE.

Maria Greene @ Greeneearth

Tag Archives: art

Boundaries

Laura Probert and the April 2017 art prompts

My inner critic on rampage

The artist is in the ether

The many faces in my art journal

Perfectionism kills creativity

Artist and writer