The Great Pumpkin Harvest: A Creative Experience

Fall is one of my favourite seasons.  As much as I love the summer I look forward to fall every year too. The changing of the leaves, cooler evenings snuggling up with a warm blanket, and the great pumpkin harvest!  One of my favourite family traditions...every year I head out with the three kids and go to a family farm close to home.  We take a walk around the farm looking at the animals, playing  in the corm maze and then heading off to the great pumpkin patch.  Some years we have gone in mitts and hats and other years in short sleeve shirts. This year we turned our pumpkin harvesting into a creative experience by bring home new canvases to paint on: The PUMPKINS!

 My Pumpkins in the pumpkin patch

Time to paint

The painted Preston peculiar pumpkin patch....Say that 5 times fast!

Designing Your Very Own Masterpiece

As I have mentioned in the past, I am very passionate about people creating out of what is inside of them and not so much what they can copy (although I realize you can learn a lot about skill from copying).  I am more focused on bringing the creativity that is in you alive!  What you have to create will be a one of a kind masterpiece just as you are a one of a kind masterpiece.  There will never be another you and so I love to see people create things that are so unique.

A lot of people I know what to paint but they just have no idea where or how to begin.  I thought I would do a post on how to create your own painting.  Even if your skill level is low you can still start where you are at and make it into a nice piece of art.  So in saying that, I am going to walk you through a process of designing your own painting.

Step one:  Let's create your design.  The first thing I do is grab my sketch book and a black felt tip pen (I like using a pen because I can't erase what I do).  I usually put some music on and with no predetermined picture in my mind I just begin to doodle. I try not to put much thought into what I am doodling (because then what I'm thinking usually doesn't turn out).  I don't spend a lot of time doing this.  Maybe fifteen minutes.  With the black pen I can't erase lines that I may with a pencil, so I just have to work with what I have done.



Step Two:  I make about 3 copies of this doodle and start looking for different colour schemes that I like.  Sometimes I grab my colour wheel and do primary colours (those are my favourite because they most always work with my doodles), complementary colours (I love the contrast and boldness), and maybe I will try a monochromatic scheme.  Sometimes I do really bright colours vs. more muted tones, and sometimes I just go on Pinterest and search for colour schemes and see what catches my eye.  Many times if I am stuck on what colours to use I will think about what colours I love to wear together (it works for me).



Step three:  Figure out the background and the colours you want (I usually do my background light because my doodles are done in bold colours and that makes them pop). You may need to experiment with this as well.  I then paint the background first before sketching my doodle.



Step Four:  Transfer the doodle onto a canvas.  I look at the shape of the doodle and determined what size and shape of canvas would look best for the doodle.  I then either draw it again free hand (depending on how detailed it is) or I use a projector and transfer it onto my canvas, making sure it is proportioned well.  When looking at a painting you want it to be balanced.  That means not too heavy on one side or the other.  There are ways to balance a painting using paint as well.  When you look at a painting that is pleasing to the eye your eye will generally move around the painting. I find when doodling this naturally seems to happen.



Step Five:  Apply your paint.  I normally block out a painting first, meaning that I do a washed out look to begin or even white.  Then I begin to use more colour.  Depending on how vibrant you want  your colours to be you may need to do a few coats of each colour.  I also really love blending.  This is something you can play around with.  The general rule for me is to apply the lightest colour first then blend the darker colour into it while the paint is still wet (you can also use a retarder for this).

Step six:  You may love the way your painting looks at this point and call it finished with your signature.  However, I love to out line my doodles in black.  You could spend countless hours doing this with black paint and a fine brush but I have come to love paint pens! They work awesome.
So there you have it....Your one of a kind masterpiece awaits you!!! One more essential thing: HAVE FUN!!

New Creations

Life is good!  I have been having plenty of time to create lately and just thought I would do a quick post on some of the little projects I have been working on!

Doodled Curly Willow

You can buy a bunch at IKEA for around $8.  You need to prime them first and then give yourself time to paint at least 2 coats of each colour.  They are simple but a bit time consuming.  I chose as many different colour schemes as I could.  A great way to colour coordinate.  Then I took my trust paint pen and did some doodles over top of the paint, and then lastly I sprayed them with a clear coat.

Painted Wooden Fruit

 I had some carved wooden fruit that I purchased years ago in Africa and decided that it was due for a bit of a facelift.  If you are wanting to do something similar, first give the wood a light sand otherwise the paint is more likely to chip.  Then prime each piece and paint with acrylic paint (again you will need a few coats).  Doodle with the paint pen and seal with a clear coat.  It's a great centre piece for my table, plus the kids love them!!!

Hand Painted Lamp Shade

I painted a white IKEA lamp shade using my acrylic paints and fabric medium, and created a design on it with my Sharpie paint marker!

Hand Painted Table Cloth

First I made a design on paper of what I wanted to put on my table cloth.  I coordinated my colours with my kitchen colours, then too a heave white bed sheet and drew out my design with the Sharpie black fabric marker.  I then took regular acrylic paint and added Golden fabric medium to it and painted away.  To heat set, you can iron it or take the lazy man's way and place it in the dryer for about 20 minutes.

Doodle Coming to Life With Paint

This was a doodle that I did, and decided to turn it into a painting on canvas with acrylic paints!

So there you have it.  Creative me is alive and well, and keeping busy.  Stay tuned for more......


Tricia

A Dream In A Dream

I love this picture because it shows me walking down a lane way to a gate,
unsure if the gate will open or not.  I still need to try to see if I can continue on the path.

Are you a dreamer?  I mean not just a day dreamer but a night dreamer as well?  I have always dreamed many dreams in the night as long as I can remember.  I can even still remember some of the dreams I had as a little girl.  So once in a while I meet people who tell me they don't dream.  I am amazed by that because I know we all dream we just don't always remember them.  Occasionally I have a dream that I call a God dream.  It usually wakes me up in the night or comes to mind when I awake first thing in the morning.  These dreams are usually very profound to me in some way and really stand out to me.  Often they bring much excitement to my heart, but sometimes they are warnings to me.  When I have a dream that stands out to me I will take the time to write it out and spend time praying about it.  Not always sure of the meaning, sometimes more clarity comes to mind when I do this.  So it's 5:50 a.m. right now and here I am in bed writing out what I call a God dream.

I actually had this dream a few hours ago but was too tired to write it out then, but was awoken again and can't seem to get it off my mind and don't think I will go back to sleep until I write it out.  I should have just done it in the first place at 3 a.m.!  So I've decided to make it a blog post because it is something close to my heart and something I have blogged about before.  My night dream was about dreams.

Here is a rough idea what the dream was about.  It was a movie that I was watching in my dream about a couple who were trying to live out their dreams.  So far that sounds really familiar!  The couple actually turned out to be my husband and I.  We were trying to get to the place where our dreams could take place.  We were in a moving car and we had an idea where we wanted to go however the car ride was long.  It was really long!  It was one of those rides that we had gone too far to turn back, so we had to keep going forward.  Even though we were not exactly sure of how we were going to reach our destination.  There were certain resources we needed that we had not yet been able to get.  However, like I said before, we just kept going.  As we drove we felt somewhat blind as we were driving into new territory and the unknown.  We finally reached a place of destination. This place was as far as we could go on what we had.  It was like driving a long way to the airport ready to fly to another place except you have no tickets.  In this place we were not anxious or bothered that we had come as far as we could.  Instead we were up dancing and doing a waltz (I can't see us waltzing!) A man appeared in the dream (an unknown man to me) and he looked up to heaven and in his hand he had 2 tickets to another nation.  Our seats where empty as we were dancing and he placed the tickets down in front of our seats.  In the dream I was thinking I was watching a really good movie on dreams!

When I awoke a few things came to mind.  Our lives are like a movie that our being played out for others to see.  What we do in our life movie can really impact others.  Sometimes once you start something you get in a place where you do need to keep going, you have gone so far that you really do think twice about turning back. It's in those places that you keep going into the unknown even if it seems long and even it you feel you lack the very things you need to accomplish your dream. You have invested so much already that you are just not willing to give up!  However my favourite part  of the dream was the part where we got as far as we could go and needed a ticket to carry on.  What I like about this part is we were dancing.  I can't imagine going to a airport wanting to go to the next place of my dream only to arrive with no ticket.  I really doubt I would be doing a waltz in the halls... maybe just a panic dance or an 'I am totally stressed out' dance!  But what came to my mind was that we had learned to enjoy the journey not just the outcome.  The dream was about going forward in a dream and at times it can be very difficult and very uncertain, but through it all it is a journey, one in which we can dance too.  When I think of a waltz I think of a graceful movement and I truly believe that is what we need at times when we are on this journey of life and dreams.  I also found it interesting that the man came and delivered our tickets to us when we were dancing enjoying the moment, not looking for the now what????  He didn't interrupt our dance but secretly placed our tickets in front of our seats for when we returned.

So I say to you, keep going in your dreams even in the uncertainties!  Don't turn back!  You have come so far and enjoy the journey along the way.  And as you dance your dance of grace remember

God's grace is extended to you and he is the one that will provide all that you need.

The Gathering of Artisans In North Carolina: Finding Lost Dreams

Hello Appalachian mountains!

After 6 long years my husband and I were able to take our first holiday together without the kids.  This was kind of a big deal for us as we have been in a season of busyness raising kids, starting a creative business, doing a music business and so on.  We connected with a great ministry in North Carolina called The Worship Studio (www.theworshipstudio.org) about a year ago and have found that it has had a profound impact on our lives and our creativity.  It's where a lot of our dream have all begun.  I have had the privilege of a having a creative coach from this place as well.  So when we heard they were having an event called The Gathering of Artisans (www.gatheringofartisans.com) we knew we needed to go! And I am so glad we did.  After a 16  hour drive ( a few stops in between) we landed in Black Mountain, North Carolina. With stunning views of the Appalachian Mountains, this little town was a great place to be.  The days were full with workshops, teachings, and lots of fun.  Meeting lots of new people, we had a blast and not once did our conversations get interrupted by one of our children, although I did miss them lots.  It was still a much needed time away.

YMCA North Carolina

The dreams in me seemed to come alive again while we were there.  In fact dreams that I had lost along the way all of sudden became real again.  Do you ever have those kinds of dreams where you think this is just me wanting something that I can never have so I will just forget about it?  It didn't take long, after being around a bunch of dreamers who are living out their dreams, that I began to revisit those lost dreams again and realized that they are still available for me.  Will they just come to me?  They might, they might not.  But either way there is action required on my part.  Four simple questions were asked of us and this began to trigger a greater unveiling of the dream in me.  So I will direct these to you as well.

1. What do you see when you are looking at your dream?  I often would get choked up in this place  because I know what I would see but it didn't always seem practical.  For example, I would see a building where I wanted my dream to take place and maybe I could even describe the kind of building I wanted for my dream.  That sounds great right?  But then I would allow my practical side to get in the way and say "no this won't work if I do this there... it's not the right location." In reality I was altering the dream into what I thought would work rather than believing that I have dreams and desires that work together.

2.What do you need?  It's good to write this out and be specific about it.  I'm sure most dreams are way bigger than ourselves and there are a lot of things required to see them happen.

3. What's in your hand?  I love this because that is the beginning stages of your dream.  What do you have that you can do or use now to begin stepping into this dream?

4. What is a realistic timeframe?  Even as much as I want my dream to happen today, I realize there is a lot of preparation to make a dream happen.  Not just on my part but also from the help of others.  It's good to have a timeframe because you are setting a goal to do this by such and such a time and if you are anything like me you may just have the mindset one day I will..........and one day never comes! So set goals that have time frames!!!!

A big thank you to The Worship Studio who proposed these questions to us and got us thinking about them and made our dream a little more clearer and a little more attainable!!!

Anyways, that was just a bit of what we experienced not to mention the amazing painting classes I got to be a part of and even a dance/movement class!  I loved them all.  We came back feeling full and alive ready to continue living a creative life with our three kids and living out our out dreams.  So dreamers, get yourself around other dreamers that are living out their dreams and start dreaming again!!!!

Eating Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky!  Best chicken EVER!

Stevie the driver drove the whole 16 hours to North Carolina.

Beautiful scenery: A place of peace

An awesome campfire with new friends

Cool art in the city of Asheville.

Exploring Asheville.  So many art galleries.  Loved it!

Great time of painting and great workshops

Thank you Gathering of Artisans!  It was a great time!!!

Our Dream of the Children's Book Is Almost a Reality

 After a long drawn out time, the children's book is finally ready to go to the printers.  As I have mentioned on past blogs, I have had a dream to write a children's book for some time.  It's one of those things that once you get into it, you realize it's a ton of work. You may have had the idea for the story, but then coming up with the illustrations was another story all together.

After doing all the illustrations a few times over you then have to put the whole thing together so it flows.  Wow that wasn't my thing. Thank goodness for my musical husband who rhymed the whole story and made it flow.  Then the on-going task of trying to find a printer.  There are so many printers out there!  But finding a good one who is willing to print hard copy books for a reasonable price wasn't all that easy.  Eventually it does all come together, but then you are faced with the bill to pay for it all and in faith pray that your book will sell.  As much work as all this sounds it was a good experience that I will do again!!!  Wow I can't believe I am saying that but I do have another book in the works!  As long as I am doodling there will be books because that is where it all begins for me.  In one simple doodle lays the beginning of a story, a character, a place, an event....and it all begins to flow into a bigger picture.

My desire is to encourage those of you who also have a dream to write a book!  Take the plunge and begin.   Walk into your creative calling and create out of what is inside of you.  You have something in you that needs to be released to the world and because you are unique there will never be a carbon copy of what you create!  It's uniquely yours!  Maybe it's not a book you desire to write but something in you creatively is stirring?  Begin exploring through different mediums like paint, clay, sketching, food... see what comes out of you.  I promise if you create from what is inside and not from what someone else has created, it will be like nothing else.  Take the time to let it be released out of you.

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