It'll be a hoot!

Reddit Artists, asked to draw anything.  Here's a request for an Owl in a thunderstorm, under an umbrella.

Copic and Micron

Stay Safe, Stay Sane

Better be..... HUFFLEPUFF!!!

So teaching my home school students art class today, ages 7 and 9, led to a two hour discussion on Harry Potter.  Priceless, some of the questions asked:  Why is Sirius named Sirius?  Why is he Harry's godfather, was Tom Riddle's father evil, Why did Dumbledore kill his best friend?  The questions came non-stop rapid fire.  So how could I not draw this request?

Copic Marker and Micron

Stay Safe, Stay Sane,

The Sun will come out....

Today was anxiety filled, lots of stuff going on in the brain, stress, money, kids etc... Took a breather to draw this little ray of sunshine and reminded myself, that the sun will indeed come out again tomorrow.

Copic and Micron

Stay Safe, Stay Sane,

Teddy Bear

When somebody says make me a teddy bear, what are you going to do??? Make them a teddy bear of course!  Original photo here.  My teddy bear adaptation:

Micron, Copic and Pencil

Stay Safe, Stay Sane,

Super Siblings

Back on Reddit Gets Drawn, I decided to tackle another drawing.   My adaptation of a group of siblings. Technically there is just so much wrong with this 1 hour sketch, but I can't help but love the energy.  The original photo can be found here. The playfulness of the siblings, the expressions, etc, it was just begging to be made into comic heroes. I would love to see this done proper by someone better at figures.

Felt tip Pen and colour pencil 1 hour sketch

Stay safe, stay sane,

Popped My Reddit Cherry

Discovered this neat sub-reddit, Reddit Gets Drawn (RDG).  A neat place where people post pictures and yup you guessed it, other people draw them.  Great for practice drawing.  Saw this guy exclaiming to look like Spongebob and I couldn't resist this quick caricature!

Cheers,

Bloom True Boot Camp #7 Creative Manifesto

My Creative Manifesto c. 2000 Mixed Media

Week two of Flora Bowley's Bloom True Boot camp has begun with a serendipitous moment.  Last week, when clearing out my creative clutter and carving out my space I came across my Artistic Manifesto from almost 15 years ago!!!  A lot has changed in my world over the past fifteen years, but much of what I wrote as a graduating student then, still rings true today. What a magical moment where my past self met my present self, and said, "Look kid, we did good!"


Here it is in it's entirety:

I WILL create
for passion, love and hate,
for beauty, and dark ugliness,
for other, but MOST IMPORTANTLY
for MYSELF.

I WILL understand that
creativity is to be challenged, stifled,
and WILL sometimes be DEFUNCT,
.... but not ALWAYS.

I WILL challenge my imagination,
and,
S T R E T C H it to the limits.
I WILL change guidelines,
and funny things called procedure
but MOST IMPORTANTLY
I WILL challenge MYSELF.

I WILL strive
to find success in failure,
courage in FEAR,
and Confidence in OTHERS
but above all, in MYSELF.

I WILL find in clay
happiness,
enjoyment,
peace of mind,
creativity,
but, most importantly
I WILL find... MYSELF.

C. 2000



As with anything, however, I have learnt and grown along the way, and so I give you now, my revised wiser, more mature manifesto :P

I will create with emotion,
with passion, in love and in hate,
in times of beauty and dark ugliness,
for others but most importantly for myself... Always.

I will understand that I am only stifled by my own insecurities and fears. 
I will dig deeper if my well runs dry, but I will never quit.

I will challenge my imagination, and stretch it to the limits.
I will challenge guidelines and funny things called procedure,
but most importantly I will challenge myself.

I will strive to find success in failure,
courage in fear,
knowledge in the unknown
and confidence in myself above all else.

I will find in my artistic process
happiness
enjoyment
creativity,
peace of mind,
but, most importantly,
I WILL find MYSELF.

HK. September 2014



Until next time,
Stay safe and love yourself!

Bloom True Bootcamp Prompt 4 Get Quiet

Tangled up in Quiet

Today, it is just me, an empty house, a sleeping dog, and my songza "Daughters of Folk" playlist.  Finding the quiet today is easy.   Not everyday is so perfect for reflection with two kids who fight like cats 'n dogs, a husband who works long hours and a dog that's always underfoot, finding my inner peace can be like finding a needle in a haystack.  My inner peace or personal form of meditation if you will comes directly from my art.  When I am getting my art on, I am in my bubble, (my mini krazy's and I pronounce it BOO-ble, think Grue from Despicable Me).  My bubble is pretty serious stuff.  It was created in response to my loving and over-excitable son who would very innocently, and with much much vigor pounce on me for hugs, attention and to tattle on his sister while I was mid-draw.  Several ruined drawings later, the Boo-ble was formed.  My bubble surrounds me, it's about 5 feet wide.  There is no yelling for me if I am in my bubble, you must come to me.  There is no fighting within my bubble and if you need to enter my bubble, you must ask, you may not touch until I have "popped" the bubble which I will most assuredly do in response to almost all responses.   The bubble is always popped for hugs and the apocolypse, requests for snacks not so much.  Apples in fridge, crackers in the cupboard... GO. 

Often in my bubble I can be found practicing the art of Zentangle.  I love tangling as it allows for my to not think, to just follow the flow and go with what feels "Right".  There is no wrong way of doing things here, and is often a soothing balm for a frustrated and blocked artist such as moi. So today, in my quiet solitude, I tangled.  I thought of nothing, just went for it.   Heavenly.  And the best part... my bubble is still intact.

Stay safe and love yourself,

Blooming True Day 3

Well, I did it! 12 hours later I have my space 98% to my liking.  A couple things still to go.  I want to join the two tables together permanently and cover with an oilcloth or the like.  I'm pleased with the progress.  Sharing my studio space with my kids has been a challenge but as they get older the less the toys invade and the more the art supplies takeover.   I also teach from this space, so keeping things organized is a must.  Everything is gathered and sorted, I am indeed ready for the quiet of tomorrow!  

My Art table 

A place for printing and wet work. This spot pleases me greatly :)

You can see my inspiration board here.  It's actually a pair of wooden doors covering an electrical panel. Here is where I place things of importance to me, pictures, motivation, quotes, funny things that make me smile.  I'm excited to fill this up with great and wonderful things.    

Until next time,

Stay safe and love yourself,

HK

Blooming True

Ah September, new beginnings.  Schools in, fall approaches, winter quickly following.  A dear friend clued me into Flora Bowley's boot camp lovingly referred to as Bloom True.  A month long journey of creative prompts to inspire and motivate.  Exactly what I need this month, as I prepare to resume teaching and creating art in my studio.  Something that falls by the wayside in the summer.
So jumping into to day two's prompt of Prepare your Space!

It is quickly becoming the Great Purge of September 2014.   Like the black plaque and the Great Chicago fire when Miss O'Reilly's cow kicked the lantern over, the Great Purge is a wickedly decimating force leaving chaos and terror in it's wake.  I know not if I will survive this prompt... only time will tell.

The Calm before the Storm -pre purge studio

Stay tuned!

Head Krazy

Angry Bird Minions!!

Handbuilt Clay "Minions" 8-10 year old class

Finished Minions

Angry Bird Instructor Demos

 

Clay Pinch Pot Angry Birds -Age 8-10



Summer is here, and I am thrilled.  Typically summer is my busiest season.  Not much time for blogging, but loads of time for art.  I teach summer day camps at the local art gallery for 5 weeks.  I love art camp as it fills me with creative energy.  The above photos were from todays class of 8-10 year old students, and they NAILED it!   They made pinch pot sculptures of the ever popular Angry birds and Minions from the summer hit Despicible Me 2.  The creative vibe was flowing as the kids worked diligently for two and a half hours on this fantastic pieces.  So much fun.  After they are bisque fired we will paint them with acrylic paints. Hope to post more summer assignments as time goes by.  If not, I'll be back more frequently come fall!

 

 

 

Stay safe and Love Yourself,





 

Bleeding Tissue Background, mixed media



Hello out there!  Big welcome if you are visiting from over at Artists in Blogland where they have been crazy enough to feature me during Technique Tuesday.  Mwahahaha... If you haven't run across Artists In Blogland yet, I highly suggest you check out this amazing community of artists.  It's a great networking site with a lot to offer.  From Technique Tuesday, to Show and Tell Saturdays, and Color this Quote, there is oodles to keep you inspired and busy!  Artists in Blogland also offers places to promote your blog, etsy shop, and any classes you might offer.  How cool is that!   

 The technique I offered up for this Technique Tuesday  is one that I use quite frequently in both my art classes, and in my art journals.   It's simple, bright, colourful, and was used for the background of the page featured in this post.   Using Spectra Bleeding Art tissue paper and a little water, you can beautifully dye your paper  a rainbow of colours.   Check it out, and let me know if you use it, I would love to see your results!

Until Next time!
Stay Safe and Love Yourself,

Joie de Vivre!

W

Mixed Media Journal Page

As always, linking with Artsyville, for Glue It Tuesday, as glue was used but not harmed in the making of this page.  Better late then never i say!  It's been two weeks!  Two weeks since I've posted.  My how time flies when the weather is good, and the energy is high.  I must confess that I find it hard in the summer months to spend time at the computer, for a variety of reasons.   My computer is in the basement where my studio is located  It is dark in the basement... It's hard to be inside in the basement when it's nice out.  You know what else basements have?  Bugs... yes bugs..  I don't like bugs... in particularly centipedes, which when it's hot, love the cool darkness of my basement, and my basement in particular... I am convinced that the whole population of centipedes in my neck of the woods live and breed solely within the four walls of my basement.  So therefore, in the coming summer months, you will likely see a decline in my posting, because I will be outside in the sun.... with the cute and cuddly bugs, and not in my dark basement, with the not so cute and definately not cuddly bugs.

I have been busy though!  The beginning of June saw me host my very first art journal challenge over at Artjournaling.ning.com.  Our fearless moderator, Comfortable Shoes,  aka Leslie Herger, was brave enough to give me a shot, and for that I am thankful.  So my challenge.... to use graffiti in an art journal page.  I've been on a bit of a graffiti bender, admiring the lettering, bright colours and bold designs (not partaking, it's illegal and a no no!)   So, if you aren't already on Artjournaling.ning.com, head on over and check it out!  It's an amazing site, chock full of goodies.  If you are so inclined you can check out my video here.

Next I took some time with my art students to do some Guerilla Gardening as part of my Random Art of Kindness project.  You can read about it here.  Such a fun little project. I will definately be doing this again.

Lots more going on this month but I shall save that for another day!  Until then,

Stay Safe, and Love Yourself,

This is how I gelli roll... whoop whoop.

Mixed Media Journal Page

 

 

 

Sooooo, went out an bought a Gelli Plate.... yuppers!  So excited, I've been happily slappity slap slapping paint on the plate, and going to town with a venegence.  This page was an older unfinished one, that needed just a little "je ne sais quoi"... so I took one of my gazillions of spiffy prints, some u-hu, and biff, bam, boom, voila!   Ahhhhh. A page I am happy with.    Create Laughter in Life.  I love to laugh, don't you?  When was the last time you laughed?  Not just a tee hee, but a full on, gut-busting, hyperventilating, hiccuping knee-slapper.  You know, the kind where you laugh so hard that no sound comes out and tears stream down your face?  I love those kind of laughs... where you fan your face in a vain attempt to send oxygen to your brain, and then you settle, only to snort and start the whole process over again.  It's contagious, it's cathartic, and it's unfortunately few a far between.   I cherish those moments of brief sanctioned bouts of insanity.  So, I am determined to laugh more, more heartily, and more deeply because laughter is truly the best medicine.  

 

Stay Safe and Love Yourself,

 

 

 

As always, linking with Artsyville and Glue it Tuesday.  Go check out the new Washi Tape... Aimee is a washi tape queen... she is going to rule the world one roll of super hawt washi tape at time!    

 

 

Paper madness!

Paper Journal

                                    

 

Mixed media Left side spread

Right Side Spread


 

 

Ahh, so I am riduculously behind this week.  I blame the gorgeous weather.  I have been busy though, gluing, gluing, gluing.  I have been inspired by Suzy over at Sunshine and Lollipops to create a journal using all my bits paper.  I'm a bit of a paper h00r.  I'm not a scrapbooker, but I love paper.  Any, all, no matter the size, style or texture.  I hoard paper the way a starving man might hoard a cookie crumb.   It's a sickness really.  So I took a small cheapo composition book that was freecycled to me, got out the trusty UHU, and went to town!  What fun it was to gleefully glue down bits of paper willynilly.  Just looking through my paper collection was have the fun, like meeting up with an old friend you haven't seen in a while.   Good Times!  Anyway, so my glue it tuesday submission for Artsyville is late, but it was more like a glue it week anyway!  I hear the call of the glue stick, it's calling my name!  Until next time,

 

Stay Safe and Love Yourself,

 

 

 

 

Your beautiful

Mixed Media Collage

It's Tuesday again, and that means one thing: Glue-it Tuesday with Aimee and the gang over at Artsyville.  This week's page is a long time coming, about 9 years in fact.  Just a brief history to explain the sentiment behind the page.  Nine years ago, at the age of 27, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation.   I wish I had known about art journaling then.  Fast forward to the future, here and now finds me cancer-free and healthy, the trials of cancer a notch in my belt, and a growing distant memory.    The hardest part for me throughout all of this, wasn't the hair loss or the weight gain, the medication or the exhaustion but overcoming the mentality of being somehow less of a woman.  The rediscovering of my sexuality and the understanding that my scars were not shameful,  didn't make me less or ugly or undesirable has been a long time coming.  I've learnt to love myself not in spite of the scars but because of them.   So this page is a tribute to me, and to every woman out there who has looked in the mirror and wept.  YOU are BEAUTIFUL, and that, is the honest to God truth.

Stay Safe and Love Yourself,

Playing God with Dandelions.

 

 

Just a quick post today.  I've finally got my act together and finished the monthly Colour This Quote from Artists in Blogland before the actual end of the month.  I also video taped my process.  This months quote from Picasso is  "Every Act of Creation is first an Act of Destruction."  Yup.  Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, sometimes something beautiful can come from the destruction of something else.    I chose to use dandelions on this page.  First because my lawn is covered in them, and although they are considered weeds, there is something lovely and beautiful about a dandelion   Bright and plentiful, tenacious and stubborn, impossible to get rid of, kind of like me.  Second, I felt the dandelion embodied the sentiment behind the quote quite nicely.  The simple act of destroying a dandelion is also an act of creation.  After all, plucking it from the ground and blowing its seeds in childish glee also perpetuates the species.  In destroying one dandelion, we perhaps create hundreds more.  I encourage you to go out today, destroy a dandelion and spread beauty in it's wake!

Cheers,

PS I swear this all sounded better in my head... honest...

Time Flies...

Mixed media collage with zentangle and transfer

Holy Bat Balls! It's been a busy week. I feel like I've forgotten to breathe. Not much time to sit down and write, and my motivation to get my art on, was low at best. My intentions were good, I would sit down and start working on something, but ultimately, I would become distracted or irritated, or tired....or hungry... or interrupted... a LOT!  Killing two birds with one stone this week again. My entry for Glue it Tuesday and Artists In Blogland's monthly colour me quote. This months quote was brought to you by Judy Garland: "Always be a 1st rate version of yourself, instead of a 2nd rate version of somebody else." I like the quote, it's a good reminder to stay true to yourself.   I hate this page though... it's a second rate page. I debated on even putting it up... but... I'm staying true to myself ;)  Lettering is my nemesis!  I hate lettering. I feel many of my pages are ruined by mediocre lettering. Grrrr.   Do you like lettering???? Do you hate it too?  What are some of your ideas and suggestions? I'd love to hear from you.... I would love some pointers and suggestions.

 

Stay Safe and Love Yourself ,

 

 

 

How do you glue?

Mixed Media Collage

So I have this junk drawer of art.  It's where I put all my scraps and bits and bobs of stuff that I just KNOW I'll use, but somehow never do.... sound familiar?    Well, behold!  A page made from the Drawer of Detritus!   Why yes, that is indeed a shoelace there!  Left over foil from easter chocolate two years ago... yup, it's on there.  Tacky foam hearts.. check.  Odd scrap of fabric from halloween costume three years ago, yarn from an unknitted project... check and check.  Oh Glue it Tuesday... how I love you so! 

I'm also pleased to announce that my Random Art of Kindness project across Canada is coming along nicely.  Today I will be mailing out a personal card to the Yukon Territory.  My lovely sister-in-law has given me an address to send to a person she knows!  Many thanks! 

RAK #18 Yukon Bound

• Yukon - DONE
• Northwest Territories
• Nunavut
• British Columbia -DONE
• Alberta - DONE
• Saskatchewan
• Manitoba
• Ontario - DONE
• Quebec
• New Brunswick - DONE
• Nova Scotia - DONE
• PEI
• Newfoundland

If you can help me with any of the other provinces or territories please let me know!  I would be very grateful. Until Next time!


Stay Safe and Love Yourself

Creature comforts!

Poutini Martini from "The Works"

RAK #17

Yesterday was a rough day.  Mr. Krazy left for an out of town job, Middle Krazy and Little Krazy fought like cats and dogs, and yours truely, the Head Krazy, lost blew a gasket.  I'm sure the eruption could be heard halfway across the world.  After a less than stellar start to the day, I committed myself to some art therapy.  It's amazing what the simple act of leaving a piece of Random Art of Kindness can do for the soul.  After leaving the above little canvas for someone to find, I happily dug into some mega comfort food, and decided that the day wasn't so bad after all!   

 

 

 

 

I've also started on another little project called fu#k it monday.  The idea came from the original fu#k it monday post.   It's still a work in progress, but I hope to share with you my idea soon!  Until then,

 

Stay Safe and Love Yourself,