Your Living Canvas

I love stories.

I love to hear them and I love to tell them.

My story is my life.

The ups, the downs, the sideways, the every-which ways.

Our stories are who we are.

What we love.

What we care about.

What matters most to us.

................

I have joined another on-line class called Your Living Canvas. 

This class by Christy Tomlinson and Art McCracken is all about how we each have a story to tell and a canvas to create.

Our living canvas.

It involves soul searching exercises and journaling to help

tell my story,

find balance in the everyday and 

 be present.

It involves art, techniques and story telling.

If this class sounds interesting or inspiring to you

go to

Christy Tomlinson's blog to find out more details.

I can't wait to learn more about my story and how I can create my living canvas.

Today I am......

Recovering:   from a week of migraines. In fact it is more like a month. I have suffered from migraines since I was a teenager. And most of the time I manage them with pain relief and sleep. But this year has seen these migraines intensify and become more frequent. Pain relief and sleep are not working quite like they use too. Maybe a trip to the Dr is what I might add to my list this week.

Overwhelmed:   with life. Specifically uni assignment deadlines, housework, sick kids, jobs to do, etc, etc. And it doesn't help that I am not giving myself any space to rest and rejuvenate each day. More is being taken and none is being put back in.

Loving:   my little nook outside that my wonderful husband created for me. I had an idea and he put it into action. It is a space outside that is private but allows me to look out into my garden. I can see lots of contemplating, reading and sketching happening in this space.

Inspired:   by the wonderful women I am connecting with through my art classes. Such encouraging, wise, beautiful and creative women. I feel so blessed.

Excited:   about the trip we are planning to Tasmania. It has been a dream of mine to go there and now in just a few months we will be there. So much to see and do and discover. We have bought maps and are beginning to map out our travels. Sarah discovered an island called Sarah Island and is so excited that we can go there as part of our Gordon River cruise. All the kids are excited that we get to fly again. And so am I.

Enjoying:   the blue sky, the cool breeze and warm sun. I love this time of year in my little part of the world.

The art of wild abandonment bloghop.

Hello.

Welcome to my first bloghop.

If you are following The Art of Wild Abandonment Bloghop you should have come from Michelle Daigle  over at The Paper Dog 

If you just came across my blog randomly, welcome and feel free to come along on the bloghop. 

At the end of this post I will link you to the next blog in the hop.

...............................................................

I love on-line classes.

I love being able to learn new techniques and skills. 

I love being inspired and challenged.

I love dicovering new ways of using supplies.

But....

 there is something I love even more than all that.

What I love most about on-line classes are the AMAZING people.

The teachers and the students from all over the world.

Some are close by and some are far away,

but what we have in common brings us close and that is special.

 One of the most recent on-line classes I enrolled in is called The Art of Wild Abandonment
by Junelle Jacobson.

The title of this class intrigued me.  It sounded so fun and free.

 I was ready to be wild.

 I wanted to get even more messy.

 I wanted to abandon old ways, be free and begin something new.

What I didn't know, was that I would also be introduced to an amazing woman who would inspire me in ways I didn't even realise I wanted to be.

I am not ready to share the specifics of this just yet but I am ready to say that I am grateful for discovering Junelle Jacobson
This woman is inspiring.

This woman is encouraging.

This woman is cute.

Junelle has a beautiful, gentle and fun teaching style.
She also has a beautiful way of expressing her heart and soul.
 It is refreshing and real.
She shares herself and has inspired me to share myself in my art.

Here are a few samples from my art journal. Not all are complete but they came from my heart.

I am so looking forward to playing more, listening to what my heart is saying

and

putting myself into my art.

It will be so much fun to fill my art journal with messages from my heart.
Messages of truth and love.

Thank you Junelle for teachng the Art of Wild Abandonment and inspiring me to hear my heart's voice.

...........................................

Ok now it is time for you to go on over to the next  blog  in the bloghop.

If you wish to go back to the beginning of the bloghop go here.

Have a great day wherever you are.

Learning to sketch.

My husband says I live down in the back of my head.  In other words I am always thinking, contemplating, considering, wondering, planning, stressing, etc.  My husband says I am not always present to the moment because I am down in the back of my head.

Please don't misjudge my husband. He doesn't say these things to be critical. On the contrary he says them to help me after I have just poured out my heart to him. When I am stressed and anxious and so overwhelmed I could crumble.  My husband gently offers encouragement and a possible explanation for my feelings.

Over the past 18 months I have been exploring ways I can become more present. I am not wanting to completely stop living down in the back of my head. 

I do a lot of good work down there.

 No, I just want to balance it.

 I want to be able to see and feel and touch and smell and taste and be totally present to what there is to learn and experience whilst being present.

One of the practices I have begun to love is sketching.

In fact I can't believe how relaxing it is.

What surprises me the most is that I would not consider myself a person who can draw. My repertoire until recently consisted of stick people, houses with a square and triangle, and maybe a basic flower.

Because my skills in drawing were so limited I decided I wanted to learn some techniques that would help as well as learn a bit about the type of pencils and paper to use.

After some investigating I came across an artist by the name of Alisa Burke. She shares her sketch book regularly on her blog and offers a wide selection of on-line classes. I signed up for sketch book delight part-1. and sketch book delight part-2.  I am still working on this one now.
Lots of wonderful tips and info.

Below are a few sketches I have been working on. They are all pretty rough. Certainly no masterpieces here, however that was never the goal.

Sketching with charcoal.



Added watercolour to this sketch.



Sketching for me has become something that has turned an agitated, anxious, overwhelmed spirit into a calm, peaceful relaxed soul.

 I look forward to developing this new practice and seeing what develops and where it goes.