#PocketFullOfArt: Approach this work with devotion

This simple, small little spread took me three days to finish, largely due to the lack of time.

I’ve been using my daily Tarot pulls as inspiration to create a small spread in my tiny art journal {almost} every day. The goal was to finish a page a day; however, I’ve come to realize that isn’t always possible, even though I am working small. And that’s OK.

The biggest point of the Pocket Full of Art initiative is to create some art everyday, in the pockets of time that we have available to us. To come each day to the table, open to the possibilities and the emotions. To express ourselves with paint and paper, or origami folds, or with a cross-stitch or any other form of art. Continue reading→

#PocketFullOfArt: A daily art challenge with a twist

Challenges seem to have become a thing around here – after the Mindful Break and Kindle Thy Spark, this is my most ambitious yet – a daily art challenge! But first:

Why a daily art challenge?

Because my one small regret from last year is that I did not make enough time for art, especially in the second half of the year. Moving to a self-hosted blog and all the tiny little tweaks I had to make to it ate up a lot of my time and attention. Setting up an online Tarot reading business took up another chunk of energy. And then there was all the time I spent dreaming about blogging and fun new ideas – like the two Instagram challenges mentioned above. No wonder that my art table felt a bit neglected!  Continue reading→

On my art table: Soulful surrender

On my art table soulful surrender art journal spread art journal artist art journaling india

There’s a current of magic that flows through our life.

I’m not talking about the Harry Potter kind of magic. I’m talking about the magic that shows up in our life – through synchronicity. Which is simply being in the right place at the right time, meeting the right people at the right time, hearing a message or a piece of music at the right time.

It’s not necessarily earth shattering magic.

Continue reading→

#MicroblogMondays: The birth of a painting

Before I started on my art journey, I often wondered how artists came up with ideas for their paintings. What sort of research did they do? What techniques did they study? How did they prepare for a session? I never found any satisfactory answers – or maybe I didn’t look hard enough. So I thought I’d share my process for brainstorming and researching ideas and techniques for a canvas that I’m about to start.

The birth of a painting

In the middle of busy work loads and hectic commitments, I’ve been squeezing in some reading time. My Pocket feed is filled with articles on color theory and symbolism, color meanings and associations, the meaning and significance of color in different cultures, color color, and more color.Continue reading→

Beat stress with art: intuitive painting

When I wrote about adult coloring books last month, it generated a lot of interesting comments and discussions. Chief among them was the argument that coloring is a fun, easy and quick way to beat the stress.

My argument is that the best way to beat the stress is with art.

Well, what if I told you that over a period of about a month, maybe even less, you could have a painted canvas ready to hang on your wall? You need no prior art background, you don’t really need to know how to draw, and all it will take is 5-10 minutes a day. The set-up and clean up is also super easy and very quick.

Painting this canvas will also help you to be mindful, it will help you to beat the stress while creating a piece of original art, and maybe even help you to experience a bit of art therapy.

Sounds interesting?Continue reading→

The Red Thread

Chinese-legend-myth-of-red-threadThere’s something magical that I’ve been noticing in my life recently. It his to do with art. With learning, teaching, and living an artistic life.

When I started down this path, I was quite a babe in the woods – clueless about where I was going, what I was doing, and why I was doing it. All I recognized was a calling… a yearning to create – to pick paints and paper, glue and pictures, with no idea of what to do with them, how to mold them into something that was pleasing to the eye.

I stumbled upon a few teachers – wonderful people who shared their art, tips, and techniques online for free on YouTube. I picked up a few tips here, an idea for a technique there. But very often, these free videos were disappointing. They were either timelapsed and so fast that I had no idea what or how the person was doing what they were doing. Often, they were product demonstrations – and said products were not necessarily available in India. But I persevered.Continue reading→

Adult coloring books and the creativity myth

“I love coloring! The other day, when my niece was over, I started coloring along with her in her coloring book, and I really enjoyed it. I think I’m going to order some adult coloring books soon,” declared a friend recently.

“Adult coloring book? Really?” I asked, somewhat aghast. “Why don’t you try painting instead? Keep it abstract if you like. I can teach you the basics and you’re good to go!”

“No darling, I’m not good at all that.”

There is so much more to creativity than adult coloring books. Explore art journaling with me.

And this, right here, is why I believe adult coloring books have become such a huge fad.

Continue reading→

On my art table: Handmade Journal

 

Before I started art journaling, I was an avid journaler. In fact, I still am. There’s something about writing, about paying attention to each day, that draws me back to the journal.

The journal is a sacred place for me, which is why I’ve always been drawn to beautiful notebooks. But there’s something really special about handmade journals, don’t you think?

Continue reading→

On my art table: Fierce warrior

Art journal spread - fierce warrior

This is among my favorite paintings! It’s my first – and come to think of it, only – experiment with doing just half a face. And there’s something about it that I simply love. The strength of her gaze, that shock of orange hair set against a black background, the subtle shading of her face.

Continue reading→

On my art table: A flock of birds

Intuitive-painting-Flock-of-birds

Every evening when I return home from work, I’m greeted by the chirping of birds as they congregate in the tree outside my window. While the husband calls it a cacophony, I think of it as a council. What must they be discussing, I wonder?

The state of the weather? The shrinking green cover? The paucity of food? Or maybe they’re discussing the changing weather patterns, or the latest thermal waves they rode. Perhaps they’re trading the gossip of the day, or having a friendly spat?

Continue reading→