Living Life

Hello all and Happy Monday!

  Every day last week I sat down and started writing a blog post. And every day, I never got to finish one! The past few weeks my fibromyalgia and neurological issues have been kicking my butt  Which means that pretty much every part of my body is in terrible pain, paralyzed or both. I'm not one for pity parties, unless you have a groovy fog machine for dreary ambiance and some kick ass confetti to throw around, so I didn't spend my time bitching and whining. What's the point? These are the cards life has dealt me. I handle them as best as I can/

  What does this mean? Extreme self care for one! I rest when I need to. I practically live on my heating pad. I doodle if I can hold a pen. I listen to music. I'm not much of a tv person, but the Big Man and I do enjoy a few shows, so we'll lay around together watching them. Self care is super important no matter what and isn't to be confused with being selfish. Two entirely different things! Self care is nurturing yourself, when you need, how you need and as often as you need.

  I wasn't able to art much the past few weeks, but I did manage to get some time in. Painting journal page backgrounds, a bit of collage, starting a few paintings on super thick, luscious Strathmore watercolor paper and playing with some new sprays, Tattered Angels and Radiant Rain, a best buddy (THANKS RAINE!) was nice enough to give me when she cleaned up her studio. Art making is the ultimate in self care as far as I'm concerned. Even when I can only do a 15 minutes worth, it helps greatly.

One of the backgrounds I made

  I wasn't able to work on the laptop much, my hands wouldn't cooperate, so I haven't gotten far typing up class lessons. But I was able to take some notes, a ton of them in fact. Writing with a smooth marker pen is doable when my hands are playing at being claws, and the ideas I have for lesson plans are abundant. My art journal course, Personal and Potent: Art from the heart, to feed the soul, is coming to life! My target date for launching it is the beginning of June. Stay tuned for more details!

 I've gone and bought an inexpensive, but decent, web cam so I can make videos for my classes. I also want to add one here each month. I've never made art videos before so I'm sure there will be a whole lot of trial and error. As with everything in in life, there's a learning curve. I know my first attempts will be a tad rough as I get use to adjusting for angle, lighting, keeping the art I'm working on in view, etc. I'll improve as I go along and you all can have a good laugh over my early attempts!

  My favorite piece of art from the past few weeks is this painting I sent to a friend. 

It's a mixed media work on masonite. The 'Open" window was done as a gel medium transfer. I love the reverse. It makes it seem as if the viewer is looking out the window from within some where filled with love.

In fact, we are all filled with love. We just need to open ourselves to it. Perfect symbolism for a painting which went to the woman who wrote 'What Love Can Do' (Denise Steiner)  

  Speaking of 'What Love Can Do', check out Denise's book on Amazon.  IT IS AMAZING!  I'm not saying that just because she's a friend of mine.  Seriously. This book is life changing. No matter what your spiritual belief system, this book will touch your heart and open your soul to love in its purest form. 

What Love Can Do

I have my next newsletter almost ready to go. It's going to have links to FREE collage sheets for subscribers. If you haven't signed up yet (and why haven't you?)  and you want an awesome Henna Hands and a super cool, and slightly racy, Vintage Cabaret Collage sheet make sure you sign up before Wednesday!

 Until next time, I hope all your days are sunny and all your nights are filled with love-

Wild Kristin