Did I need more paper?

Of course not, but when I spied a free class from Catherine Rains, I just had to try it.  Now I'm snowed under with sheets of papers, all in the palette of Pyrrol Red, Hansa Yellow, and black and white as directed in Collage Kickstart. As always, I'm amazed at the number of colours that can be obtained with a couple of tubes of paint plus  B/W.

The studio is chaos again as always, with drying paper everywhere and piles stacked up and near-teetering over.  This is only halfway through lesson three of five, so goodness knows how many sheets will be in the end count before the last lesson.  That will be one of creating collages from the stacks.

Of course, you know I'll be wanting to try it all again in a cool palette...I'm already salivating at the thought!

I also managed to remember my phone on an early morning walk to the gym...it only took three months!!  I caught a host of photos of shadows and reflections on a dark and rainy morning - here are two of my faves.

 

I'm looking forward to checking out your blogs this week.  It's always so inspiring.  In the meantime, please send help in the form of a front end loader to help move these paper piles, will you?  

I promised myself...

...a gel print party, so the studio has looked like this for the past week:

In other words, from floor to ceiling, chaos has ensued.  The bonus is some lovely new background starts from 8 1/2" x 11" sheet size

to small tag/bookmark size bits.  

And yes - I was the only one at the party.  I swear that colour pigs live the best lives when paired with paint and paper, don't you think?  

How did your week go?  Heading over the check it out!!  

It's been a play week...

 ...and mostly upstairs relaxing on the couch, while I learn some (more) stitch witch fun with buttons.

Apologies for the quality of the closeups...some of these buttons are very tiny and difficult to photograph!  

I also got a chance to play a bit in the current mini signatures - I think there are possibilities in the two pages I started.

The first one will look much better when I knock the background back a bit, as I really like some of the areas.

I'm liking the colours on this second one, even being muted from my usual wild palette.

Apart from an unphotographed birthday card for a resident of our complex, that's pretty much it for the week.  I obviously need a gel printing session to jump start the creative juices!  Hope your week has been a whole lot of juicy fun in the studio.

It's been a week...

...and with not much creativity to show for it.

I definitely want you to see this gorgeous heart from Deann over at The Stardust Factory .  Not only has she created a stunning heart, but she's given me the most appropriate name for the series (Bright Heart) that I showed you last week.  

And if that isn't a great start to your day, I can't imagine what would be.  I love the floral motif, and the puzzle border just makes me so happy.  For love most certainly is a puzzle, isn't it? It's a constant learning process that starts at birth and continues throughout one's life.

If you've been following  this blog for a while, you'll know this is not the first time I've entered the Hall of Hearts.  Here are some more:

And they are no means the last of them at all.  You may find a few more in next week's post as well. 😉  Happy week to you all, and may you find more love than you expect in it!

Is your heart screaming?

Mine certainly feels that way some days.  We live in a time that is beyond challenging, and I suspect that some of you are as emotionally drained as I've been.  From climate change, wars, political unrest, madmen, to drug cartels and so much more, the chaos and horror is unprecedented.

Last week's paint-throwing session has morphed into a series of 'Screaming Hearts' and I'm having trouble stopping.  I came across a quote by Roma Downey  that says it all:

"When hate is loud, love must be louder".  

I'd say these hearts are pretty darn loud.  The high-key, high-contrast colour speaks to me of the polarity that seems rampant these days.  While that may be one way to boost the volume of love, I'll bet there are dozens more that you, as artists, could create - think rough texture, hard and jagged lines, discordant themes and more.  The challenge is on!

I'd be delighted to share your version of a Screaming Heart...feel free to post a link in a comment below.  And if you have a favourite quote about love, I'd happily see that as well.    

And I'll leave you with another quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. that really resonates with me: 

 'I have decided to stick with love...

hate is too great a burden to bear.'  

May your week be filled with love, light and the certain knowledge that eventually we will all remember that we are all one.