Animal Totems: The Bear

Hello dear friends.

I was recently hit with enormous creative inspiration and have been painting up a storm.  This is a feat within itself as I am still operating on newborn baby time.  I did not expect my creative energy to return so quickly and with such force after giving birth 2 months ago, but I cant stop its flow and must just let it channel through me.  I wanted to share with you a bit of what I did this weekend.  This is a piece from what will most likely become a series on spirit animals.  I love the idea that our animal friends teach us about ourselves through their natures.  That we can both relate to them and gain insight into ourselves from their spirits.  They can also teach us how to grow, and be more patient, more selfless, more balanced in our lives.  I wanted to start with the Bear.  Maybe because I feel like a Mama Bear right now, but nevertheless, here she is...

"I have the spirit of a bear.. grounded and strong, 

fiercely protecting that which I love, 

leading others with a cautious mind and an open heart"

Here's the finished piece.  She's quite large (about 16" x 22").  I used vintage papers for the under layers, then kept building texture, color, shape, and design on top.  I couldnt decide whether to add words to this one, so for now she is complete until I change my mind again.  ;)

What other animal spirit would you suggest for the next one?

XO, HARMONY

Falling Feathers

So as promised, here is the drawing turned painting that I worked on yesterday based on the design element of feathers.  Here's what I did: I started with a basic sketch with graphite and then did several water color washes over it.  Then I mixed a light brown acrylic for the background and back painted the 5x7 piece.  Once it had dried I went back over the drawing, adding lines back in that got painted out and then affixed the paper to an 8X10 sturdy backing paper painted white (to give it texture).  But I craved even more color and so smeared the pink onto the frame straight from the tube.  Once everything was dried, I embroidered the white thread around the center image and Voila! Easy Peasy.  Try this with any iconic design element that you adore.  The key is to use repetition with just a bit of variation in your drawing and keep it simple (something I constantly struggle with).  If you missed the original post from yesterday.  You can see it HERE and get inspired by lots of feathery goodness.  Happy Creating!

XO, HARMONY

Inspire Me! Feathers

Found HERE

Do you ever find yourself being really attracted to lots of different types of art only to realize that they all share a particular design element?  It's like an attraction to something that you never knew you had.  This has been my recent discovery about myself and feathers.  You see I happen to hate real feathers as a decorative element in jewelry, accessories, home decor, you name it.  If its a real feather added to something to enhance it, I find myself wishing they had left it without.  Feathers have just never been my thing, those super cute hair facinators that every modern bride seems to want now, those uber cool peacock feathered earrings that I see everywhere, and the newest trend of tying long thin colored feathers into your 70's throwback hairstyles, I just dont get the appeal.  Then I realized that I adore feathers as a design element in artwork.  I cant stop looking at them, and the more simple the feather design the more I adore it.  So I gave in and started playing around with the shape and design of feathers in my sketch book this morning to find my own style and spin on the iconic shape.  I am not quite ready to show it to you yet, because once I had finished I just had to add some embroidering to it.  I should finish it later today, and I'll post it for you to see first thing tomorrow.

So while I am working on that, I though I'd share a of the "feathered" works of art that I have been drooling over in my Etsy Favorites and brought me the inspiration for my feathery work.  I encourage you to click on their links and find new inspiration for your own creative process!

Found HERE

 Found HERE

Found HERE

Found HERE

Found HERE 

(these are actually leaves, but i saw feathers)

If you havn't done so already, dont forget to stop by the FRECKLED NEST blog and enter to win my giveaway!  I am offering a $25 gift certificate to my Etsy Shop, and there are several other gorgeous prizes by some very talented people so dont miss out.

If you cant wait for a giveaway, I've decided to extend my summer sale for one more week! CLICK HERE for details.

XO, Harmony