I learned so much in those few days, not just of the challenges faced by indigenous people in Canada but of their amazing strength and courage and beauty of their culture and spiritual ways.  I love how they refer to who I know God as Creator, it seems so fitting and I've started adopting that language too.  I came away from this with a heart forever changed.  

On the last day of the conference we were at a lodge which has been a gathering place for indigenous peoples for over 5,000 years.  I was walking alone out on the trails and stood at the edge of the trail and not a person or building was in sight.  I closed my eyes and just listened and you could hear nothing but the pure sound of nature.  I closed my eyes and just listened and imagined what it would have ben like to be an indigenous woman back then, when they were valued decision makers in their homes and communities, not the marginalized and abused women we often see today.  And in that moment the idea for this painting came to me.  

The name of this painting is The Rising Knowledge.  To me it represents my own rising knowledge of the destruction our government has perpetrated against indigenous people and how maligned they are even today and my own personal commitment to learning more and shifting my own perspectives, because that is how change happens, one though and action at a time.  

I was able to use this artwork to cement in my own mind the lessons and information I had learned and that's why I called this a Vision Quest because my life was changed because of this experience.  There are many forms of vision quests many happen without us even being aware of them, they all offer the opportunity to change lives.  

I will be talking a bit more about visions quests in the future and how you can embark on your own life changing vision quest. 

This painting is available for purchase here.  

I find nature to be one of the easiest to access and most effective motivating influences in my life.  Really when you think about it nature is one of the purest examples of creativity in the universe.  It has seasons and cycles, it ebbs and flows, has productive periods and fallow times of rest.  And the earth is always creating, somewhere on this plant every day, every minute something is growing.  How it is possible not to be inspired by this!!!

I find that simply slipping out into the backyard for a few minutes and standing barefoot in the grass I can connect with the creative energy of the earth.  It doesn't take long and the palms of my hands start to tingle as energy swirls through them and I have to get to the studio and start getting that energy out.  

I encourage everyone, but especially those who are feeling uninspired to create at the moment, to try getting outside and getting in touch with the creative energy of the beautiful earth.  You don't need a fancy ritual, just a short walk done with awareness and intention can make all the difference.

Very simply there are three main attributes that identify us as artists and thankfully if or what we sell our artwork for isn’t one of them!  It’s as simple as this, if you are an artist you hear a calling.  There is a need to create that you simply cannot ignore!  It can appear in so many different ways but there is an inalienable need to create that stirs in your soul.  In addition artists work with intention.  No matter what the medium or the level of skill an artist has it is the intention behind their work that guides them through the process.  It doesn’t need to be grandiose or impressive, it’s just the purpose than underlies what they do.  Finally, artists make an investment.  And no this doesn’t need to be big, huge investment.  Even if your chosen art form is macaroni art you still need to invest in noodles, glue and paper!  Whether it is time or money or space in your thought process an artist makes an investment in what they produce.  It really is this simple!  My hope is that we can stop wasting time guessing as to whether or not we are artists and denying that we are in fact artists and embrace the fact that we are!

Now there is actually a different side to this coin.  While I firmly believe that every single one of us is in fact creative, often we think we are not because we don’t see what we do as creative, not everyone is in fact an artist.   And you know what?  That’s perfectly okay, good even because while I think creativity is so important, I also think most of us create on a daily basis whether we recognize it or not.  It is perfectly acceptable to say, “yes, I am creative, but no I am not an artist,” there is nothing wrong with that.  But when we run around saying, “everyone is an artist,” we undermine the determination and value that committed artist bring to their work.  Not everyone wants to be an artist, even those with great talent, and it’s okay to allow them to decide that for themselves.

The author Caroline Myss, defines as artist like this, “The signature of artists is not in what they do but in how intense their motivation is to manifest the extraordinary”.  I hope you will accept and embrace your inner artist and because what makes you an artist isn’t grandiose and doesn’t require buckets of talent or hanging your work on the walls of galleries but simply your actions and intentions.  

Overwhelmed she slips 

below the surface

looking for escape.

The cares of the world

rate race in her mind.

Always questions

where are the answers?

So much to contemplate

on long sleepless nights.

But in the water

she floats free.

Weightless.

Slowly moving

through the soft flow. 

Sunday dawned bright and clear and again my intention was to paint but early in the morning hubby suggested a trip into the bush in search of driftwood and it was just too nice a day to say no so off we went.  It was so nice to get out into the bush, to smell the fresh cool air up in the hills and see glimpses of deer and furry little marmots alongside the road.  We stopped at one point and climbed a hill and as we were standing there the wind blew and it was amazing, without the noise pollution of being in the city, you could hear the sweet almost musical sound of the wind itself.  Not of the earth reacting to it but just the sound of the wind as it blew through the valley and across the water. 

We did manage to collect some driftwood pieces but for the most part the water levels are still too high because of the winter snow melt. 

We stopped along the way to grab a few rocks, hubby grabbed larger ones to use in landscaping around our yard and I grabbed some smaller flat ones to try painting on.  I was pretty excited as I was rock hunting to find what I think is likely some jade clinging to another rock! 

Overall it was a great weekend with a lot of time spent outdoors and spent creatively even if I wasn't in the studio and moments like these can be important they can help you rejuvenate you creative juices.  Now I'm back in the studio, rested and ready to pick up my paints and brushes.  Feel free to share in the comments the ways you choose to rejuvenate your creative soul!

I recently took a trip to Victoria, BC and took a few shots of the moss growing on the rocks near the ocean at Ogden Point.  I thought I would share them with you.  I find it amazing how intricate, detailed and actually beautiful these little plants are when you get up close to them. 

I hope you find time today to enjoy the little things in life!

Eliza is a mentor, Tarot practitioner, intuitive artist, certified Creative Clarity Coach, writer and Lilith Priestess.  Her mission is to guide women back to their inner voice and innate talents and passions, allowing them to rock out their creative power.  And we are both Canadian!

Eliza shared photos of her package once it arrive, which I like because I always wonder what condition the packages I send arrive in when they get to their destination.

And she shared all the fun colors she had just received. 

And finally the piece she was working on which is wonderful.  It's a perfect balance between black and white and just a little color to set it off. As soon as I saw this piece I asked her if I could share it!

You can see more of Eliza Fayle's artwork here on RedBubble.  You can also check out her website here.  And her facebook page here.  I hope you enjoyed this peak into her artwork.

The problem I have sometimes though is figuring out exactly what to do with these new products I add to my own collection.  So I was very excited to see that Jamie was doing a live UStream class on how to decorate a t-shirt using the Free Spirit stencil from her new collection.  Since it is the end of summer here and t-shirts are on sale I ran out and grabbed a couple to play on. 

I have to say I didn't do a perfect job, I kept getting finger prints of paint where I didn't want them but still love how my t-shirt came out.  I did use a couple different products than Jamie, instead of the Golden silkscreen medium she used I used Golden Fabric Painting Medium and I used Art Anthology paint for my color washes.  I was happy with the way both products worked for this project.  I have to say I loved how my t-shirt turned out and I made my hubby take me out for dinner the night I made it so I had an excuse to wear it!

I could see myself using this technique again on a number of different garments, already visions of scarves, hoodies and maybe even leggings are drifting through my mind. 

If you would like to watch the video lesson Jamie did it is available for replay on Prima's site here.  If you would like to know about Jamie check out her website here, I am currently taking her Blooming Through the Seasons workshop and really enjoying it.  If you are looking for the Prima Bloom Girl stamps or stencils we have a full range in our shop and you can check those our right here! 

So feeling the way I did last week I took a look at a recent lesson in Book of Days with Effy Wild and her finished journal page really inspired me so without much thought to changing anything I just sat down and pretty much copied the lesson just as Effy did it.  It was wonderful, I learned a lot, I created a page I loved and most of all it was freeing and without stress.  At that point I moved on an finished a lesson from Moonshine also with Effy, again just following the lesson she laid out.  I wasn't as happy with this page, there were some technical issues but I still learned a lot and didn't really stress.  This got me to thinking, why haven't I done more of this?  What is the point of signing up for all these classes and not completing them.  I sign up for them because I want to learn and because I admire the artwork of the class instructor.  Then I realized something important.  I wasn't finishing these classes because I felt that if I just "copied" or "followed" the lesson as presented I didn't feel as if I could "claim" the artwork that resulted.  I felt like it was my job as an artist to put my own spin on everything and come up with my own version of the lesson and that was crushing my creative spirit and making me stay away from the classes.  It may not seem like much of a realization but to me it was huge!  I have realized it is okay just to follow along, learn from the instruction and I can take pride in my finished products after all I did create them, even if I had some help with the concepts and design.  Since then I have gone on to start two more journal pages directly inspired by classes I have signed up for and hopefully I will have some more pages to share with you soon.

In the meantime here is "To Know" created in Book of Days with Effy Wild and my first "Bloom Girl" created in Blooming Through the Seasons with Jamie Dougherty.  I hope they inspired you to dive into a class you have signed up for and are just ignoring. 

With this thought in mind I am sharing with you this piece which I finally finished last week.  In my mind she is a horned goddess, fragile and yet strong, king and gentle but a fierce protector of the earth and her creatures.  What I actually created falls quite short of the beautiful creature I had met in my mind.  

I started her well over two months ago, got her to the point where she was about 80% finished and then put her away, unhappy with the vast difference between what I wanted to create and what I had actually created. But she wouldn't leave me alone.  She kept calling to me, quietly and subtly asking to be finished.  NOT asking to be perfect or beautiful or anything else I had envisioned, she just wanted to be finished.  I pulled her out and left her sitting on my easel, where she was even more able to plead with me, but still I ignored her.  Finally this last weekend I pulled out my pastel pencils and added the definition, the depths and the highlights she needed to be considered finished.  And it felt good!!!  So good!  She was happy, she was finished.  

What I didn't realize until a couple days later is that really she was presented to me as a lesson, she may have appeared one way in my mind, and it would have been wonderful to create her as that beautiful creature who appeared to me but that wasn't her purpose.  Surprisingly her purpose wasn't even really an art lesson, it was a life lesson.  A nudge not to stop or put a project away mid way through just because it doesn't appear to be turning out how you expect or want.  Process is so important, and for our human nature completion is very important too and it is seldom in life that things actually turn out exactly how we picture.  So I learned the lesson this lady was meant to teach me, don't give up if it isn't exactly what you had in mind because there is always a greater purpose!

This first image is one of the Prima Bloom Cling Stamps Designed by Jamie Dougherty which I absolutely love.  I love how vibrant the pencils were for coloring in this image.  And the shading was so easy to accomplish with these pencils.  This image was done on regular sketch paper and all the blending was done with the pencils themselves.  As you can see they really do blend with each other in a nice, smooth manner. 

This second image is from the Doll Dreams coloring book done by my friend Adriana Almanza, you can find out more about it here.   I decided to experiment with this image.  I printed it out on Spectrum Noir cardstock, which is really made as marker paper so it has virtually not tooth to it, and I know that pencils like a little something to grip.  But I also had already done the first image and new these pencils blended nicely so I wanted to see how they worked and blended on this paper.  I was really surprised at how well the worked on the smooth paper, I found the most important thing was to be patient and do more light layers to build up the color as opposed to laying it down to dark and fast, I also used a tortillion for blending the colors in this image.  As you can see from the image below I was able to create a lot a depth and shading in this piece even though the color palette I chose was quite soft. 

Overall I am extremely happy with the way these pencils perform.  The color is vibrant and they do blend beautifully.  It is quite possible my Prismacolor pencils will be sorely neglected from here on in!   Already I am running short of stock on these pencils but more are on order and should be arriving shortly. 

Here is a close up of the texture.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited by my friend Julia Frehener, a wonderful coach, from Keeping it so Simple to participate in a blog tour that has been going for sometime, I was delighted to be asked to participate and answer a few questions about myself and to introduce to you the ladies who are going to continue on the tour. 

These are the questions I am to answer about myself:

What am I working on?

I am always working on a million things at once.  I don't actually recommend this I doesn't necessarily make for good productivity.  But having said that I am working on designing a website.  Trying to increase the amount of time I spend every week on my art while balancing other work pursuits and learning...always trying to learn new things.  I love to learn.  And with regards to what specifically I am working, well I am almost scared to share it because right now it is such a hot mess.  But I will because I always like to say creating isn't about what it looks like, it is what the creative process brings to our lives.  Having said that I am hoping the heavy bodied acrylics I purchased yesterday will help me add more layers and depth and way less magenta to this painting!

How does my work differ from others of it genre?

Well I think the biggest way it differs is that it is created by me and not by anyone else.  We all have our own interpretations of the world around us and I think that comes through in our artwork. 

Why do I create what I do?

I create because I have to!!!  Really I do.  But here is a little history about what brought me to my art practice.  A little over three years ago I was dealing with some serious, chronic heath issues.  I was having migraines almost daily and intense back pain that made life very difficult.  My doctor’s solution was to prescribe Tylenol 3’s by the hundreds.  I was driven by this pain to seek a solution other than my doctors.  One of the solutions turned out to be art.  I started playing and dabbling, taking a few online courses and what I quickly realized is that no matter how much physical pain I woke up with I didn’t feel any pain once I sat down at my easel.  Now a few years later pain is no longer a significant part of my life. It was the release from the pain while I played with my art that gave me hope I could move beyond that pain. I have heard so many stories about how art has changed the lives of people that I am moved to get this message out to anyone who will care to listen.

How does your creating process work?

It is far from an exact process.  But I often will clear the space in my studio using a sage clearing spray that I make myself, I prefer it to burning sage with bothers my lungs.  The I light a candle, center and set an intention for this creation time.  There is definitely a difference in my artwork if I take the time to start with the steps as opposed to just jumping in.  From there I just go with the flow.  I don't have one specific media that I work in, every project or canvas is a complete mix of media, style and composition (or complete and utter lack of composition).  I know I would be a "better" artist if I concentrated more on one specific medium or style but it's just not what I want to do so I don't.  After all isn't that what creating is all about...freedom!!!

Now I am luck to introduce you to three lovely ladies and I would invite you to check out their what they are up to and next Monday they will be telling you a little more about themselves as this blog tour continues.

To give you a very brief synopsis of the story Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter.  Without her mother's knowledge or consent her father allowed Hades to kidnap her and take her to the underworld where he professed his great love for her.  Demeter searched high and low for her daughter but because she was in the underworld she was unable to find her or hear Persephone's cries for help.  Demeter was so forlorn over the loss of her daughter she because depressed and forgot her duties as Goddess of Grain and Growth and the plants around her began to whither and die. 

Eventually Hades was able to convince Persephone of his love and she grew in strength and embraced her role as the radiant Queen of the Dead.  But Demeter was still searching for her daughter and in a rage confronted Zeus who finally sent a messenger to Hades to fetch Persephone home.  But she was hesitant to leave, she loved her husband and role but she loved her mother too.  Hades encourages Persephone to go to her mother but before she left he fed her a pomegranate, the fruit of life, which guaranteed she would return to him. 

Persephone had a joyous reunion with her mother but it didn't take long for her to realize that their old ways of mother and daughter had changed and her daughter had a role to play.  While she had to return Zeus had too much compassion for the mother and daughter to send Persephone back to Hades forever without the hope of seeing her mother again.  So every spring Persephone comes back with the flowers that bloom and tell us of the story of rebirth, hope and harmony.  And every fall she goes back to the Underworld, and winter comes while we wait for her return. 

Duality is the main focus in many versions of the story of Persephone.  Her role in the winter if Goddess of the Underworld, in the springtime it is Goddess of Rebirth.  These are the two dramatically different personifications of the same deity. 

To honor Persephone I did the painting below.  I have to admit that I wasn't in love with the painting when I finished it, but I think that often happens right when we finish a piece.  But as she sat on my easle I began to appreciate her more and more.  Which is why I thought that I would share her story and her image with you here. 

If you want to learn more about Persephone my resource for the information above is a great and very in depth article by Laura Strong, PhD which you can find here.  If you want to find out more about Moonshine you can do that here.  It is a fantastic class, not only for the art lessons but the lessons in the divine feminine as well.  And I think we can almost all use a little more connection with our divine feminine. 

The Seed of Life consists of seven circles but if you could imagine that each of those circles was a three dimensional sphere instead of a two dimensional circle you would see that there are actually eight circles, the center circle in the drawing hides the other sphere that would be in the back if it were a three dimensional object. 

These eight spheres represent the beginning of everything.  In some spiritual practices it is believed that the soul enters a fetus after the third embryonic division, when the fetus reaches a total of eight cells.  Those eight cells look exactly like the Seed of Life grid in three dimensions.  When this pattern is continued and enhanced into the Flower of Life we find the building blocks for all creation.  The Flower of Life grid can contain the energy of being able to bring anything into being.

It is easy to create the Seed of Life or larger Flower of Life with a compass, there are many video tutorials on You Tube.  But it is also very quick and simple to create it using a simple circle template like this. 

Here are the steps used to create this shape.  I find the exact centre of my page and draw a light line with my pencil.  Then I draw the second and third circles on either side of the centre circle.  After that the circles on either side are centred over the points where the first circles meet.  It might take a little practice but it really isn't difficult once you try it. 

There is so much you can do with the Seed of Life once you have drawn it.  I embellished mine with some mixed media including Art Anthology paint and dimensional crystal. 

I will often turn these little artworks into the base for a crystal grid or hang them on the wall to bring increased creation energy into my space.  Feel free to share how you would use these in your space. 

I drew my first circle and added shapes and before I knew it I realized I had colored in two black spaces.  My first thought was, "oh no, I was going to add color".  Then I decided to roll with it and it became obvious quite quickly that this mandala didn't want color or Easter themes or even spring themes.  It just wanted to flow out and be what it was.  So I let go and just let it happen, that is the point after all isn't it?

While this isn't a large mandala I wasn't surprised when I looked up and realized that I had spent over an hour working on it, again that is part of the process.  You almost flow into the mandala yourself if you can take the time.  Below is the mandala I created, it's an interesting contrast of darker, heavier areas with lighter space.  Today I will take some time to ponder what that means to me. 

Carl Jung, a famous Swiss psychiatrist, certainly didn't invent the Mandala.  There are many signs mandalas and circle art existed in the ancient world.  But he certainly did a lot of work that contributed to our knowledge and the popularity of the mandala today.  Jung did circle drawings everyday and had his patients making them as well.  It was Jung that adopted the Sanskrit word mandala to describe these circle drawings.  The word mandala means center, circumference or magic circle.  

Jung associated the mandala with the inner Self, the center of our unique, total personality and felt the mandala shows a natural urge to live up to our full potential and to fulfill the pattern of our whole personality.  Jung saw the appearance of mandalas in dreams and artwork as evidence of what he called individuation and the result of individuation is a harmonious unity of the personality with the Self serving as a unifying principal.  

What I found interesting is that I read this only after I dreamt about and created this mandala.  I'm interested to see what further I learn as I continue my research into these magic circles.  

Here are some details and some of the steps I took to create my mandala.  I started using a compass to make my circles then I used the metal tool I have for ripping paper with uneven edges to make waving lines within the mandala.  My goal wasn't precise lines but a loose flowing feel.  Then using Tombow watercolor markers I filled each section in with color.  

After that was done I drew the loose pointed rays around the outside and coloured them in the same way.  When that was dry I used a Gold paint pen by Sakura to colour in the flower image in the middle and outline each section.  

It isn't perfect you can see where my paint smudged and lines blurred but if there is one thing I do know about mandalas it is that perfection is definitely not one of the end goals.  

What I wanted to create here was a spring Goddess.  I'm still just loving on the fact that spring has come and I want to include a little of it in everything I paint!  And while she certainly isn't artwork I would hang on the wall creating her was still a worthwhile experience.  You see I learned a lot and I used a bunch of products from my shop that I hadn't had a chance to try before.  Some worked beautifully others I will need to practice further with. 

For the hair I used techniques I had learned in a Lifebook lesson with Tamara Leport over at Willowing.  Obviously I still need some practice there, but practice makes perfect doesn't it.  On her face I tried the Zig paint markers I recently started carrying in the store.  Someone had told me they couldn't be used to paint faces but I had an idea they could.  And while she doesn't have smoothly blended skin (most of my portraits don't no matter what media I use) I like how it turned out.  I do have to say I love how the stenciled pods and flowers turned out, for those I used Artistcellar stencils.  It was the first time I have used the Art Anthology paints in a journal page, they add so much texture and shine they are fantastic. 

The best part of creating this page however was just the opportunity to create.  Yes part of me wishes that every page I created was a beautiful masterpiece but that will never happen.  In the meantime I'm still feeding my soul and learning new tricks and tools.  It's all good I say.  So yes, she is a mess, a beautiful mess and I embrace that. 

I started the mandala by drawing a circle with a compass, you can you any round template you want I just find I can get nice, big, uniform circles with my compass.  Then with a white pastel pencil I start in the middle and build the shape going out and around varying the shape and keeping it flowing and loose.  I use a pastel pencil because when I paint the mandala the chalk just melts into the paint and doesn't leave a hard line. 

Then I use the pearlesque set of Twikling H2O paints to start filling in the petals.  I love this set of paints because on white paper they just add a hint of sparkle and color but on the black paper they are rich and beautiful.  I filled them in randomly with the six colors.  Once that was all dry I took a silver paint pen and went over all the outlines adding extra definition and shine to the mandala. 

It isn't an exact perfect piece but it wasn't meant to be.  It was meant to be a fun flowing project and allow for artful contemplation.  How does spring find it's way into your artwork, please feel free to share below!

For today's post we feature these gorgeous flower doodles. 

Here is what Joanna had to say about these pieces and the Spectrum Noir markers. "These are all art journal pages using black permanent marker and Spectrum Noir markers.  A wonderful selection of colors and I like how easy it is to blend colors from the same family for great shading effects.  Very affordable too compared to other alcohol-based markers that are on the market. Dual tipped and refillable."

Once Monday rolled around though it didn't go according to plan.  I have been working on doing an inventory for my shop for a few days because I need it in order to do my year end taxes.  I thought I could quickly wrap that up and get it off my plate before typing up my blog post.  Four hours later I was still working on it.  By the time I was done I just didn't want to think any more.  But I was pushing myself to do the blog post. After spending some time staring at my blank computer screen I realized that it just wasn't going to happen.  If I did push it though it was going to be a rushed post with very little value.  So I took a deep breath and just let it go.  And that is why my Mandala Monday post is appearing on Tuesday!

So now onto the mandala.  This was so much fun and so easy to create.  I basically took three colours of scrapbook paper and ripped them into smaller pieces and spiralled them out by colour from the middle and glued them down with matte medium. Then using a couple of Artistcellar stencils and Dylusions ink sprays I put the accents in, with the square rose I first sprayed through the stencil and then turned it over on the other side to make use of the spray stuck on the other side of the stencil.  I then lightly misted a green spray over a few parts of the page just to add to the green springlike feel of the page.  After that I included a few collage elements that speak to where I am at this moment, looking forward to spring.  The final step was to add the lettering using a Faber Castel pen.  

In case anyone is wondering the guest star in these pictures in our cat Max, he considers himself quite the art critic.  I often like to paint sitting on the floor and when I do he often like to add his own marks to the artwork!

I'm quite happy with the final result.  I think I may try to do a mandala like this for each season as we move through the year.

The Healing Arts ~ Literally

In 1992 I graduated College with a degree as a Professional Registered Nurse. I was 23 years old and I entered the world of The Healing Arts.My understanding and working definition at the time was what most people were familiar with…

Healing Arts: Medicine is the field of applied science related to the art of healing by diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness in human beings.  (Definition from Wikipedia)

After 12 years of traditional nursing I felt a great void in my life and I began my own healing journey. I knew something was seriously missing in my life, but I didn’t have a clue what it was.

I found part of the answer in Creative Memories scrapbooking and a new definition of The Healing Arts was beginning to emerge for me. I felt more alive when I was creating in this way and deep emotions would bubble up when I was making the album pages. Emotions of joy, happiness, fear, sadness…all kinds of emotions that had been stored away as I hadn’t taken the time or allowed myself to fully feel them.

Shortly after I was introduced to the world of Energy Healing and I became a Reiki Master. I continued to study and learn several other healing modalities that complimented my traditional medical training.

Then I was introduced to the world of intuitive painting, mixed media art, and other incredible ways of expressing the self through creativity and my definition of The Healing Arts expanded yet again.

I was drawn to Mandalas and I met a wonderful woman artist who created some for me that I could use in my energy healing work. Together we combined her art with my energy healing and started an amazing business and yet I had never really created my own as in my mind I am more a healer than an “artist”.

This past February so many of my virtual friends were talking about their daughters and granddaughters struggling with Eating Disorders, which is something my own daughter was hospitalized for. There is a pain and sorrow that lives deep within my bones and heart that comes up when I see and hear of people who are affected by this illness. You may know this pain, and if not I hope you never do.

I was so overwhelmed with this pain the only thing I could think to do was to channel those emotions into creating something that would help release the sorrow, not just for me but for all those that are touched by this illness.

I began by painting on paper and that painting emerged into a Mandala on canvas which is filled with the healing energy of Love, and my understanding of The Healing Arts has expanded yet again.

If there is one thing that I would love for everybody to know and really, truly understand it is how incredibly amazing they already are. How self- love, self- care, and self- acceptance are all essential to living and loving your life. You might not fully feel like it right now but it is true ~ YOU ARE AMAZING.

I invite you to go on a Healing Art journey of your own, and trust me when I say you don’t need to be an “artist” to do so. Thank you Deanna for helping me gain an even deeper understanding of The Healing Arts.

 Here are some photos of the process Jill followed in creating her mandala and the stages it went through.

Here is her beautiful finished mandala

And finally some photos of her using it to create a healing crystal grid and hanging on the wall in her home.

If you would like to know more about Jill you can find her Elements of Mastery facebook page here and her website here.  Jill also has an exciting new project coming up using art and energy clearing to help you remove the blocks that can be holding you back and help you feel grounded in your body, step into greater health and gain confidence and comfort in your physical body.  Find out how to achieve Radiant Harmony here. 

The artwork we bring to you today is by my friend Samantha Ferguson.  I met Samantha through our mutual friend Adriana Almanza of Doll Dreams.  We have both taken some of Ady's classes.   She has a couple classes that focus on how to use the Spectrum Noir markers to make beautiful, big eyed dolls. 

After I shipped Samantha her last order of markers I asked if she had any artwork done using the Spectrum Noir markers she would be willing to share with us.  She sent me this beautiful fairy image.

For this lovely fairy Samantha used mostly Spectrum Noir markers along with some prismacolor pencils to add some shading to the face and Pentel Sunburst gel pen on the hair.  The image is from the book "Fairies & Fantasy" by Merideth Dillman which is a book I own as well and highly recommend. 

I asked Samantha what she thought about working with the Spectrum Noir markers and if she had anything she wanted to share.  She did say that when she first picked up the markers she didn't think she would like working with them, but with a little practice and some help from the classes lead by our friend Ady she enjoys working with these markers and has continued to add to her collection.  She told me "never quit, just because one day we are not so great with what we do, doesn't mean the next day we can't  be the next Leonardo da Vinci".  I love this attitude!

Thank you Samantha for sharing your beautiful artwork with us!

Mandala is Sanskrit for "magic circle" and basically a mandala is simply a circle. For centuries many cultures have used mandalas in depicting, containing and expressing the sacred.  They can come in many forms from stone carvings, cathedral domes, ritual dances and even calendar cycles.  Mandalas can offer us a profound way to examine our inner reality and to feel connected to the greater universe.  But it doesn't have to be that complex, creating mandalas can also be a simple form of relaxation or meditation. 

As an example let's look at the mandala I created to share with you today.  It looks pretty and perhaps it even looks like it was hard to make but really it is just a circular doodling of shapes.

To create this mandala I used the Zig Millennium pens that I sell in my shop.  They have a 03 tip and were perfect for this project.  I started with a yellow dot in the middle of my page and then started making shapes turning the paper as I laid down my marks.  It isn't perfect, there are lopsided parts and size variances but perfection really wasn't the point.  The point was just to relax and create something fun and pretty. 

Here is a scan of the finished mandala.

In the future I will be making some videos but for now a YouTube search for mandala will yield a lot of  videos.  Here is a link to one that shows you how to create a mandala using the same technique that I did for this one.

You can find the Art Anthology products in our shop here.  And if you would like to know more about Joanna you can find her Facebook page here and Etsy shop here. 

Thanks for watching!

Sisters In Solitude

Mixed Media using Acrylic Paint and Pastel Pencil

Spectrum Noir and Copic have a few things in common.  Both are alcohol markers, they both blend really nicely and both are refillable. Probably the biggest difference between the Spectrums and Copic though is price, and this is what makes the Spectrums so attractive.  Copic markers will run you about $7.00 a piece, while Spectrum Noir marker come in a six pack for $14.00.  But I think one of the things most people are concerned about with the Spectrum Noir markers is that they have a chisel tip where as with the Copics you can get a brush tip which some people prefer because they feel they have better control.  This is why I decided to do a side by side comparison of the two using the exact same image. 

I scanned one of my pencil drawings and printed out two copies onto Spectrum Noir cardstock, the cardstock is great for working with all alcohol markers and is really affordable compared to a lot of marker paper.  I purposely wanted to choose a larger image to work on, these are actually on 8.5 x 11 paper.  So many people use alcohol markers for coloring images for cards and there are so many examples of them out there that I wanted to try something a little different.  I also thought a larger image would really help me determine if the chisel tip versus brush tip really was an issue.  Below are the two final colored images, I will admit that the mixed media girl in me won out and I had to use a white paint marker and a Faber Castell Pitt Pen to add some highlights and I used Tim Holtz Distress Paints for the backgrounds. 

This first image is colored with Spectrum Noir markers.  I didn't find the chisel tip a challenge to work with at all, it laid down a lot of color and blended the colors nicely.  I like the softness of the image.

This second image was done with Copic markers using the brush tip.

You can see that the Copics give a bit more of a dramatic look to the girl, but I tend to prefer the softness that the Spectrum markers created.  However I really like both images.  Basically the conclusion I came to is that even though both Spectrum Noir and Copic markers are alcohol markers you will not create an identical look with them; however, given their much lower price point and they fact that they do perform beautifully I think the Spectrum Noir markers can be a great lower cost option for those who want to use alcohol markers but don't want to spring for the price of the Copics.  We do carry the full line of second generation Spectrum Noir 6 marker sets in our store and can special order the 24 markers sets for anyone who is interested.  You can find them here. 

I would love to hear from you, have you had any experiences comparing these two brands of markers?  If so feel free to comment below.   

Here is a picture of the markers I sent to Ady.

And here is a link to the video Ady did, at the beginning she shows us how she uses the markers to add highlights to her art journal page, after that she doodle paints an adorable little owl onto the front of her watercolor Moleskine journal with them.  Please watch and check these markers out!

You can find these markers in stock as a set or individuals in our shop here.  If you would like to know more about Ady and her artwork or her fantastic online art classes you can do that on her website here. 

Intuitive artists create their art without and end image in mind.  We start out by just putting brush to paper or canvas and allowing the process to guide us.  Intuitive art is about the process not the product it is a very freeing way to paint because you are able to let go of the need for perfection. 

You can read more about the inspiration behind this deck here.

They have now been delivered and are available for purchase. I haven't listed them in the shop because I will offer a lower shipping rate for these cards.  If you are interested in a deck please email me at deanna@anewdayartstudio.com. The cost is $29.95 per deck plus $5.00 for shipping anywhere in Canada or the USA.  If you wish to order a deck along with something else from the shop we can make arrangements for that just let me know.