Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Heart Your Art Campaign 2010



I have struggled for many years to "feel good" about my creations. This has caused me a ton of pain and stopped me from fulfilling my potential. I know many others experience this struggle as well. I contain a deep understanding that having the warm-fuzzies toward what we create is important, perhaps vital, to our journey, to our art, to ourselves, and to those who love us. This is why on February 1, I am launching a campaign called "Heart Your Art"! I'd like this to be an open and honest discussion about:

~ the struggle - what we think, how we feel, what we experience

~ what we've learned - about ourselves, about others, about being an Artist

~ how we can keep going - how we can cope, tips and tricks

My plan is:

~ to share my own past and present struggles through my journal entries, what I've learned, etc.

~ to have a Mr. Linky, so that you can share your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and of course your art

~ to interview artists about their experiences

I'll be posting Monday through Friday.

I've already received a lot of positive feedback from the artists that I've contacted. Here's a current list of the artists who are participating:

Chris from Creative Juices Arts
Heather from Audry Eclectic
Jane from Jane and the Happy Crow
Joanna Rowan Mullane from Little Faerie Tales
Robyn from Robyn's Art
Sandy from Indigo Goddess
Sharon from All Norah's Art
Shonna from Twisted Figures

Theresa from The Happy Soul
Zorana from Zoranaland

If there are any artists that you'd like to see interviewed that aren't listed, please let me know.

If you'd like to add the logo to your sidebar, here's the code.



I hope no matter where we are on our artist journey we can learn something new, grow bigger in our beauty, and commit ourselves to HEARTing OUR ART! See you on February 1!

~magick~
Melissa

Sunday, January 24, 2010

One World One Heart 2010

Photo

Welcome to my magickal space in lala land.

A Whimsical Bohemian, aka Lisa, is hosting her magickal One Heart One World event again this year! I love the idea behind it, meeting kindred spirits - Lisa describes it as ~ taking a giant tour of homes; you get to stop in, look around, meet the people who live there, admire and be inspired and before you go on to the next one you leave your name in hopes to win a door prize at each "home".~ Last year there were 911 participants!! WOW, that's a lot of kindred'ness! (You can click above to find more information, how to participate, and more beautiful bloggers on board the magick carpet.)

The event runs from today, Jan 25 - Feb 14. Leave me a comment and I'll put your name into my magick lamp for a chance to win a prize ~YAY~. ---YOU MUST BE A BLOGGER TO PARTICIPATE IN MY GIVEAWAY.---


~~~~The story of the lamp~~~~

In the country, the corn fields can tell you whether it’s summer or it’s winter. The Amish can infect you with the desire to live simply. And treasures can be found by digging in the woods.

We’ve always loved walking in the woods and frequently visited the local state park. When we decided to move to the country, being surrounded by trees was a must. We were lucky enough to find the perfect place, nestled in the woods.

The woods are a wild place, a dangerous place, but full of life and beauty. We often found ourselves tromping through the piles of decaying leaves, over fallen branches, and under a canopy of green.

For many years, this entire area was owned by one family. There was no paved roads and certainly no one who came and picked up your trash. You took care of your own mess by burying it in your yard.

Hubby and I were on one of our adventures among the trees when we saw an old bottle laying on top of a pile of dirt and rocks. Poking around revealed another bottle and then another. Moving rocks and dirt with sticks, we found a Franc from 1945




and strange drinks we’d never heard of


(this particular one is called Whistle, the bottle says “Whistle 6 ½ fld ozs, registered, rec us pat off, pat no 70343, 1926").

At some point, we got more serious - we brought little shovels, gloves, and buckets to carry our treasures. We found more and more bottles, little glass face creme containers, old toy guns, little cars, used oil cans, and even the soles of shoes - I love these.....I always wonder who wore them, where they went, and what they saw. With each new discovery we were thrilled, but the biggest thrill was the day we found a box. Inside the box, carefully wrapped in an old shirt was this


I wondered why someone would bury such a beautiful lamp and what would happen if I rubbed it. But since I’ve seen too much tv, I was too nervous to find out......until today.

Wanna rub the lamp and see what happens?



~~~~POOF~~~~





I am The Frog of the Lamp!

“Great! Wow! Impressive entrance, but, uh, you’re a frog.”

“And?”

“Well, it’s just that I was expecting Barbara Eden.”

“Ugh, tv has completely ruined the gig! Can’t be a frog in a lamp without people thinking it’s weird. Not everyone can look like Barbara, you know?”

“I guess not.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t do my job.”

“Sure. Sorry.”

“Yeah, well, it’s okay. At least I can stretch out now. I’ve been waiting around for you to rub the lamp. Do you have any idea how cramped it is in there? I know I’m small, but give a frog a break!”

“Well, to be honest, I was a little nervous cause someone buried you in a trash pile.”

“Oh, yeah, uh, about that, there was a slight problem.”

“A slight problem?”

“Yeah, well, it was completely blown out of proportion. All rumors. I swear story telling has completely ruined the gig!”

“Uh-huh.”

“Some little girl got the bright idea to kiss me, you see? Nothing happened, of course cause this is real life, not some fairy tale. So, anyways, next thing you know she gets a wart. And then her brother gets one, and then, her mom, uh then her dad, her grandparents, her cousins and their parents, all the kids at school and their parents.......there was never any proof that I gave them warts, ”

“Ooooookkkkkkk.”

“But I SWEAR it wasn’t my fault. Little girl kissing me thinking I’m gonna turn into some prince. If she’d just kept her lips to herself none of that would have happened.”

“I’ll definitely keep my lips to myself.”

“Smart woman.”

“Thanks. So, I’ve got this blog thing I’m doing. I need some prizes for the people who are reading this. Can you help me out?”

“That’s my job man. But, like the story goes, you gotta say the magick words.”

“Frog of the Lamp, I wish for prizes for the people.”

Your wish is my command ~

Prize number 1 ~ Oooooo, aaaahhhhhh, it's a gorgeous handmade journal! The cover has a leather feel and is very sturdy.


Questions of the heart - solve them in the art

(front - click to enlarge)


Reach out and touch the art - let it touch your heart

(back - click to enlarge)


Inside, the pages are varying shades of pink, purple, and blue with a hot pink ribbon to hold your place. The pages are also unlined which leaves lots of room for writing and drawing.

Prize number two ~ Ooooooo, aaaaahhhhh, an adorable picture frame to hold a picture of GORGEOUS YOU! We so often forget how beautiful we are and how important we are in this world....so here's a reminder.



You reflect beauty into this wonderful world

(click to enlarge)


My new froggie friend says, "Don't forget to leave a comment to be eligible. The last day for commenting will be February 14th. We will announce the winners on February 15th. Good luck and have a wart-free day!"

~magick~
Melissa

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A pretty much clean studio and my plans to make a mess

Okay, so my studio is pretty much done (just a few minor things to put away) and now it's time to get started on all the fabulous stuff I want to create this year....in other words, time to have fun and mess up the studio.



See, I vacuumed. Now all you can see on the rug is the green dye I spilled. The orange paint I spilled. And the wax I dripped.

I'm writing all my plans in a brand new journal. Nothing like a new journal to fill with yummy'ness! I've been going through my journals from the past and collecting the ideas into one list. Last year, I started keeping a list of favorite things in each month. I enjoyed reading that so much that I think I'll do it again this year. So far on my list: This new journal!


(front)

(back)

Spiritual goals for 2010:


~more self love~

~more focus on the home~

~more time focused on faith and wearing my hat~

~living the moment, loving the moment~

~acknowledging the magick that is always all around me~

~remembering that statement at every single moment I can and then live knowing it's true~


Physical/Spiritual:


Hence the yoga that has been causing me pain for the past couple days. But I'm still doing it. 2010 for me is the year of the body. I haven't been to a doctor of any kind for awhile....so this year, I'm going! I'm getting a physical. I'm going to the gyno cause it's just so much fun. And I'm getting glasses cause I can't see anymore. I'm letting go of the need to smoke tomorrow. Even though tomorrow will come and my body will have a fit about it, I'm still going to do it.

And since this is true


Here are my artistic goals:



~alter more boxes and that stack of journals~
(check out that 1970's duck hanging above - I made that when I was just lil - it's ugly, but it's mine)


~finish that clay pitcher that I started eons ago and maybe make more~


~paint, Paint, PAINT - paint more paintings, paint walls, paint quotes on those walls, finish the paintings I started last year, paint myself if I'm sitting still too long~


~play with new art toys~

~one guess what I'm going to do with this~

I just have to figure out how to do it.


I also have this recent adoration of clocks....so I'd like to make some clocks, some real, some not real.

Oh and I absolutely have to make some of these!

There's much more, but I gotta keep some secrets to myself.

If the following is true:

I'm already ahead of the game! :)

(the cards pictured above are from "The Mastery of Love" deck by Don Miguel Ruiz art by Lori Koefoed)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Progress


As you can see, some progress has been made. But there's still some piles of papers to go through and some stuff to put in the garage and a huge bag of trash. I threw out a lot of my old art - I just felt it wasn't necessary to store it in my closet anymore. And if you happen to click on this image and enlarge it.....I swear I'm going to vacuum.

My body hurts, especially that squishy stuff where my arms attach to my body, thanks to Steve Ross and yoga - I love Inhale though. Up dog is a killer when Steve makes you go into it ever so slowly like a push up - ugh. So is doing 5 moves standing up with your one leg bent out in front of you. Yesterday, when I was done, I felt like wiggly jello. I don't care for jello. I'm a pudding girl. But I'll keep doing it cause it's good for my body and my soul.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be finished cleaning and have time to talk about my plans for 2010. Unless yoga kills me. :)

Monday, January 4, 2010

A new year's mess


Can you believe that THIS is what my studio looks like right now? What a mess!! Sad part is this is what happened when I started trying to clean it out. How does cleaning create a bigger mess than before? Well, when you pull every single thing you have out onto the floor and then can't get back to it until the holly-days are over, this is how you start the new year. I'll just put on some music and start....somewhere......

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