The 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 of my Creative Process

Borrowed from feed your soul art!

 One Product You Are Particularly Proud Of 

1. Parallel Art Journaling :: It's not necessarily a single product, but I am super-proud of the Parallel Journaling Process I developed. I am proud of this, not only as an art process, but because of how much it has strengthened our relationship. I truly believe that our bond is so much stronger and deeper because we have made a commitment to grow our relationship through art. I am continuously blown away by Chris's openness to try new things, and about the conversations that are created through this process. 

 

A few of our framed journal pages from our first year. (Mine are on top, his are on bottom)

Two Mistakes You Made In the Past 

1. Not believing in myself :: There are so many times that I did not believe in my own capabilities and let my inner critic take over.
2. Listening to others :: Now although I love constructive criticism, it took a long time to realize that these were suggestions. Meaning that if I don't want to change based on the criticism, I don't have to. I have learned that I create my art for me, and not for the pleasure of others. That being said, I am over-the-moon tickled when others are inspired by my work, but bottom line is, my art is for me.

Three Things That Make Your Work Unique 

1. The juxtaposition of artist and art therapist :: Being both and artist and art therapist has brought a uniquely personal twist to all of my art. The place from which my art comes is a deeper emotional place, than my previous art. It has meaning and soul. This does not always make for "pretty" art, but it always makes for therapeutic art!
2. Color :: From my first career as a graphic designer, to the paintings and art journals that I create now, the one underlying theme would be color. I love color, and although I have an understanding of color theory, I almost always intuitively choose colors based on where I am at that moment. 
3. Style :: All of my life I have always wanted a distinguishable style. And then I stopped trying to create my style, and just let it happen. You know what, it happened. Over the past year, I have gotten comments from people on and off-line about my style. I am tickled pink that other people have recognized my style, I however do not have the words at this point to describe what that means.

If you don't get lost, you may never be found

Four Tools You Love to Use 

1.  Trash :: Ok not literally, but I love incorporating objects that would otherwise be discarded into my art journals. I see it as a way of recycling, and as a way of challenging myself creativelly to think outside of the normal store-bought art supplies. I use tags from clothing to paint over and create tags in my art journal, I use bubble wrap as a stamp to create textures, receipts and ticket stubs are great to layer in the background, nothing is safe from being repurposed in the art journal.
2. Acrylic Paint :: I love layering different colors of paints to create texture and movement. I especially love white acrylic, as this can be layered over watercolor paints, watercolor pastels, etc to create interesting color patterns. It can also be used to create a "white wash" effect over images from magazines.
3. Watercolors and water-soluble oil pastels :: I LOVE being able to use these in so many ways, and they are so much more portable that acrylic. They are a staple in my travel art journaling kit, and can be used anywhere. I use them in traditional and non-traditional ways.As I mentioned earlier, they are great to use, and then layer with white paint for a more opaque effect. I also allow them to drip like ink.
4. Pens :: I am a bit of a pen addict, and am constantly trying to find new pens that work for me in my art journal. I have several gel pens of course, and a lot of generic pens (I look for ones that are "check fraud resistant" aka water-proof), and I love my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.The ink is permanent, and the line qualities that you can get are amazing!

Bound journals for friends.

Five Inspirations 

1. Nature :: Nature continually inspires me. There are so many wonderful colors and shapes to take in. I find myself often taking pictures of the clouds, or trees, or animals, and images feed my inspiration in other art.
2. Children :: I work with children and the sheer joy that they have when creating art inspires me beyond belief. If I could start each piece of art with half the enthusiasm that they have, I would be doing great. It reminds me of the Picasso quote that says "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once you grow up."
3. Music :: Chris is a drummer, and music infuses our life as much as art does. Lyrics and rhythms inspire my artwork and inspire me in so many ways. Music can truly set the mood in the room, and thus the mood of my artwork. Afterall, isn't music just another form of art.
4. Other Artists :: I love looking at other artist's work. Whether that is in a museum, a gallery, or online (I love pinterest for that reason!!). Looking at other people's work constantly inspires me to try new techniques, to experiment with new mediums, and to just get into the studio and create.
5. Life :: Every day life inspires me. The monotony and mundane is only a pattern. But if you look deeper there is so much beauty in that pattern. There is beauty in cooking, cleaning, sleeping, waking. All of these things inspire me, if I take the time to look and appreciate them.

A photo I took at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

I enjoyed this process, and it truly made me think about my creative process. Some of the questions were harder than I thought they would be. I hope that you enjoyed reading about my creative process, and if you are inspired to do your own 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 I would love to read it!