I did good!

I know it's not grammatically correct, but I did good!

Yesterday I ran a workshop on Engaging Creatively with Psalm 23. It's the first workshop I've done since we moved, and the first one that has gone wider than just the congregation. It was time to stretch - my word for the year - and although it seems a small step, to me it was a big one.

The group of six took off like children in a sweet shop, praying, listening, and playing. Feedback was good and for the first time I didn't feel nervous.

This background had been sitting on my desk all week, and I just didn't have anything else to go on it. When the workshop finished, I knew this was what it had been waiting for. The colours, the circles, all spoke of joy and satisfaction.

Set apart, not set aside

I read a great post on (in)courage about being set apart rather than set aside. I've been thinking about it ever since, and wanted to do a page on it. This is the opposite way around than usual for me. Usually I play about with my background before the words come. This time I had something I wanted to journal about specifically.

I wanted the arrows in the background to be pointing in opposite directions to indicate a putting to one side. The 'title' also needed to show the same thing. The journalling was my thought processes about the difference between being set aside - with the feeling that someone doesn't know what to do with you so you're sidelined - and being set apart - to be reserved for a special purpose and prepared for it.

The problem is that they often feel the same.

I am an artist!

I thought I hadn't done a step-out set of photos for ages, so here goes. It's fun to look back and see how something came together because you don't always remember. This is a simple page - it's just what happened :)

A bit of collage - a large piece of the paper I made last week with spray inks, some circles from a Chinese dictionary, and a bit of gesso applied with bubble-wrap.

Acrylic paint applied with a baby-wipe brings out the gesso pattern.

Simple outline applied through a stencil. The shadow is done with water-soluble graphite. I was a bit heavy-handed with a couple of them. The different papers reacted differently so the dark bit at the top couldn't be removed. Never mind.

A little bit of border on one side.

The stencil reminded me of flags, hence the words.

But which colours am I nailing up? Then it came to me - claim the name of artist and don't be embarrassed by it!

The letters needed a bit of outlining and some extra colour.

And here are some details:

Tethers

Just playing around in a new journal today. A bit of stencilling, some washi tape, a bit of paint, water-soluble graphite, acrylic paint, and a piece of gelli-printed greaseproof paper.

When I looked at everything, the word tether kept coming into my mind. I couldn't get away from it. I think it was the circle at the top right being tethered to the top and bottom of the page. It's stuck there on the page with no chance to move up or down. It made me think about all the things that stop me from doing things. I guess fear is the biggest one. Then there is lack of self-confidence and not having faith in my gifts.

Then there are unresolved feelings. They can tether us between two places, neither able to leave the one behind nor move forward to another. This is OK for a while, as you work things through, but you can't stay there forever.

Every now and again it is good to ask if there is anything holding us in place; anything stopping us from moving forward. It is good to cut the tethers.

Fun with spray and clingfilm

Sometimes you just need to have a little fun. I found a few pieces of glossy paper in a drawer. I grabbed a spray bottle, some watercolour and acrylic inks, and a couple of pieces of clingfilm (cling wrap, saran wrap, whatever!)

I sprayed the paper with water first, then dropped on the acrylics or sprayed the watercolours and just enjoyed watching them spread. There is something very satisfying in that :)

On some pieces I left it at that. On the others I crumpled some clingfilm and left it to dry.

More papers for my stash!

(Mis)-communication

It seems to me that wherever there is communication, there is the possibility of miscommunication. No matter how clear you think you are being, there is still the chance of your words being misconstrued.

It is the chance we take if we want to live in community with others.

And where there is community, there is also the chance for forgiveness and reconciliation.

Don't let miscommunication be the end of the story.

Calling all journallers!

Just a quick post.

Anyone interested in being part of a circle journal/round robin next year, starting around mid-January, please email me - tracywoodsford@gmail.com - and let me know. All styles and all levels of experience welcome.

Come join in the fun!

Not all seeds

I was watering the garden, noting which new veggies were doing well and which seeds had refused to come up at all. It's strange how you can put in whole rows of seeds and have not one of them germinate.

And I got to thinking that it is the same way when you move into a new community. There are some relationships that seem to spring to life immediately and flourish, quickly yielding fruit. But there are others where, no matter what you do, there isn't much kindled. There are some soils where certain things will never grow naturally.

If you want to grow those things, you need to condition the soil.

Why compare?

I hear and read a lot of comparisons. As women we often compare ourselves with others and their achievements. As artists even more so. And how often is that comparison unfavourable?

There are the people who say they can't draw, when really what they mean is that they don't like the way they draw or the results - especially when compared with someone else's efforts. That is a whole different thing. Everyone can draw, but we have to learn to love our own style.

This can take years.

But it is worth the effort. Because once you are content with your own style, you can enjoy what you create, and what others create, and look at each on its own merits. You wouldn't compare a circle with a square. They each have their own pleasing qualities and yet are completely different from each other.

I am unique. I cannot be compared with anyone else.

And neither can you.

Fun with washing up liquid

After spending quite a few hours typing info into my computer (11,000 words) I needed an art break. Just something easy, not requiring any brain engagement. So I pulled out the washing up liquid, some acrylic inks and a stack of glossy paper (coated glossy paper for digital colour laser printing, 125gsm).

Mix roughly equal amounts of water and washing up liquid. Squirt in some colour and simply paint with a fairly wide brush.

The pattern produced depends on the strokes you make. The blue is done with straight strokes across the page.

This orange and brown one is done by dipping the brush into alternating colours.

On this one you can see the angled strokes that give a different pattern.

The amount of water you add to the mix makes a difference to the size of dots produced. The more you work into the paint, the smaller the dots become.

I like the randomness of the results. As a break from typing, this worked very well :)

And here are all the papers together. They curl up at first, but flatten out as they dry. Why not give it a try?

Heart to heart

Much as I love email and texting - what introvert doesn't? :) - there are some things that you just have to do face-to-face.

Like having a heart-to-heart.

I get sick of it when people think they can dump all their emotion on you in an email and then walk away. Or use Facebook. Or any other medium rather than talk to you directly.

Why can't we talk to each other, express pain, and give the other person chance to apologise and ask for forgiveness?