Creative Play and Works in Progress

It's been a wordy and thought-heavy few weeks here, it's time for some images. Amidst the pondering and the wondering, I've been painting and making.

Here are a few pieces in progress on the easel, the table, the desktop...

elephants (24" x 12", in progress)

I'm not sure where to go with this one; it's percolating.

woman sitting (24" x 36", in progress)

I loved going big on this one...

woman sitting too (4" x 6", in progress - I think)

... then going small.

prep work

bulk prep work makes it soooo much easier later

collage play (both in progress)

I played with an entirely different style here, and LOVED it!

winter trio (Bundled Up, December Moon, and Holly)

soon available in the shop, in greeting card format

The Words Aren't Flowing...

... but the paint seems to be.

On the easel/art table these past few weeks, all works in progress:

work in progress I - of sky, land and water

work in progress II - sneak peek of a bottom corner

work in progress III - and no, I am NOT pregnant

work in progress IV - That's a heck of a lot of pink, non?

Getting Out of My Head - And Onto the Canvas

a piece in progress, playing with paints & paper

I hadn't picked up a brush in about five or six weeks. Last night, after a bout of despair came forth at the kitchen table, my husband suggested that I paint. So I did.

How easy it is for me to forget how important time at the art table is to my self-care regime.

Much like my Basics, if I avoid the art table for an extended period of time, my spirit takes a downturn. My happy-coloured glasses quickly become multiple shades of gloomy and I wonder why. So when my husband suggested that I paint, I knew it was the right thing to do.

I'm two days into an unofficial 5-Day Challenge; I'm calling it unofficial because I'm approaching it with a softer stance than usual. I'm not in it to defeat resistance, which is my usual motive, I'm in it for self-care.

Five days in a row I will show up at the art table and let my intuition be my guide. There's no pressure to finish anything or produce anything specific, or even to report back here, as I usually do.

All I know is that it's time to get out of my head, and the easiest way for me to do that is by moving onto the canvas.

So I will.

~~~

What's your guaranteed self-care activity? You know, the one you always forget?

On Owning Our Words...

 

setting up for the interview, view from the interviewee's chair

"My name is Stephanie Guimond. I'm a painter, I'm an ar... I'm an artist, I'm an all-around creative person."

The first words I spoke for our interview.

~~~

During the past week I've been the subject of an artist profile, working with a local film student on his mini-documentary assignment. Last Friday was the interview portion.

Going in I was more nervous about my physical appearance during the interview than my answers. The last time I saw myself on film was at a community event and I cringed at the spastic-looking facial expressions that happened when I spoke (y'all are so polite, nobody's ever told me!).

To make a long story short, the interview went well and I responded to the filmmaker's questions calmly and with ease.

I saw some rough footage this morning and even the facial expressions aren't too bad, though mental note: looking straight into the camera is a more flattering angle for me than looking up - which I tend to do often when I'm thinking and answering questions on the fly.

What dawned on me after the interview was how irrevocable my words and thoughts were now that they were captured on film and witnessed by another in such an intimate one-on-one fashion, how I could no longer disown them.

Scary and power-full.

I decided then & there to start owning my words whether captured on film or not. It's time to live them, believe them and acknowledge their validity.

I guess I better choose and use them wisely.

"The more she spoke her words, the more she grew into them."

post-interview piece, prints available in the shop

~~~

What kind of words do you use daily? Are they mostly positive? Negative?

What if the more you spoke them the more you grew into them, would you choose them differently?

In The Works... (or Life is Full)

So. Many. Exciting things in the works...

• painting, painting, painting, stretching out of my comfort zone, trying new things

 

a step outside of my creative comfort zone that's leaving

me both perplexed and exhilarated

• working on new items to put in the shop
• 100 iPad Faces project (54 and counting!)
• agreeing to be the subject of a mini-documentary/artist profile for a local film student's class assignment
• a new Website, learning how to build it using Wordpress
• "springifying" my home, tidying up the studio, renewing my physical spaces
• exploring poetry and reporting back via Weekend Poetry Dates here, in honour of National Poetry Month
• spring hikes with D., playing with my camera

baby pine cones, all in a row - Mud Lake, Ottawa

• working with a consultation client to help her fulfill her calling, witnessing how her eyes light up with inspiration when the a-ha moment hits
• new juicy service offerings to help YOU fulfill your calling

Oh my, such goodness and such creative energy! It must be spring.