It feels like I fell into a time warp over the last few months. Nature or the global changes in the weather, blessed Ireland with the warmest summer in many years. I stayed in West Cork, where I live, with its abundance in beauty and coast line of Mediterranean quality. When the weather is good, there is really no better place. Work didn't feel like work and with long, warm evenings beach was the place to be every day.

  Not much painting happened. 

  A lot of personal growth and changes. Now pulsating within to be put to form, though I don't know what form yet. The trees you see below were a faze I went through. The images were strong in my head. I didn't know how to execute them when I was getting started, but I allowed the inner image to guide my hand rather than let my head control it. Most of my paintings are an exercise in patience with myself, letting go of judgement about the outcome and letting go of control. That is probably why I come back to painting over again. It offers a reflection of the state I'm in. Not a pretty sight sometimes. But it also offers a chance to challenge my self limiting beliefs. I struggle with making time to do something that is ultimately doing me good. Like exercise I suppose. Saying that, I always feel great after, mentally mostly, if I haven't done it for a while. 

  Saying all that, when we make room for our creativity, in what ever form, it is usually fun. And fun and play is a vital part of our lives, though we forget about it sometimes. I do anyway. I hope you guys don't. 

  But this is my journey. 

  For now, I leave you with the end result of what I started in April. The photos of the progress are in the first post on this blog.

Please feel free to leave a note. I would love to hear about your creative process, if you feel like sharing it. 

It takes time

It takes around 21 days to establish new neural connections in the brain. Braking a habit, learning something new takes patience, before it becomes familiar. The first few weeks are the hardest ones. I'm reminding myself this, as I am sitting down to write these words.
Making room for creativity, or anything else that I want to invest my time in, takes encouragement and vigilance.  My mind always questions, I try to find excuses, there is hundred other things that need to be done before I sit myself down, to do the one thing that will be more beneficial to me right now, than washing those pile of dirty dishes...  They will still be there in an hour.
Painting is my form of nourishment. It takes a battle sometimes, to give myself what I need. Perhaps you can relate to that.
It is important to invest in passion, it feeds the vitality.

As I am patiently learning to share my progress with you , I am going to give you a glimpse of what I am working on now.
Previously I promised to give a photo account of the two paintings from the last post. I am sorry, I cannot find the photos. I do, however have these ones. The technique is the same. The work is in progress and I will keep you posted.
I hope you will enjoy it. If you have any questions about it, let me know and I will happily try to explain. :-)

It all started from a blob of ink and some salt. A lot of water and letting go of trying to control the outcome...

...then I stared for a while and began to see a landscape...

                                     

...and this is where I am with it today.

This is the twin brother... 

...and this happened all in one go. Plenty of water, ink and general unplanned messing.

Thank you for stopping by. Please feel free to comment and suggest. Perhaps it will be a beginning of your own adventure. :-)

one step forward

This is a new adventure for me.
 New adventures tend to arrive on the doorstep unexpectedly, asking if you want to come and join in. If you say yes, there is no way of telling where you will end up. There is excitement, a little fear perhaps and all sorts of other things that happen, when one steps outside the comfort zone.
So, I am not sure where this journey will lead. I know it is essentially about art, its place in my life, the way it enriches and speaks volumes when words fail. It is about the freedom of expression. Trying new things, learning new things...
There is an icon on the right side of my screen, saying '' Share''. And I suppose, that is what I am deciding to do - share something I do, that I know is good for me and I am passionate about it.
As time goes along, I know this ''sharing'' will take shape.



I am starting with my two, most recent paintings.
'Purple forest' is a place I used to go walking in. I used inks and liquid watercolor. 16 x 20 inches
It took around 10 hours to paint.
I have photos of the progress, if anyone is curious about the technique.

This one is called 'Blue forest' and it is the same technique as above. Also 16 x 20 inches

I invite you to share your ideas and comments. Perhaps something here will encourage or trigger your own, unique spark :-)