Late Night Art Making...

These are the pictures of how my two projects have progressed within last few hours, in relation to the previous post. I love the change in both, though I must say, the paper bag collage is the one stealing my heart. They are both completely different in theme and design, so any evaluation based on comparison is, by default, biased....

See the complete step-by-step description of the project here: 'Turn Your Shopping Bag Into A Beautiful Collage In 60 Minutes!'

Two Mixed-Media Projects That Are 'Light' On The Wallet...

I'm working simultaneously on three pieces today, but the two of them are particularly fun for me. I decided to make a mixed media and a simple collage projects that are cheap, or cost little-to-nothing to create. In my post from 3/21 'A Mundane Subject Matter' I wrote about my delight in Trader Joe's paper bag and that's the collage piece. It's not finished yet, but the background containing cut-outs from TJ's bag is finished. I couldn't help myself to not to add a handle.... it actually looks like a shopping bag now.

Untitled

Collage On Canvasboard, 9x12

The second piece is titled 'shRED' and it's also in progress, I must finish both of them tonight, as they'll be submitted to Creativity Portal by tomorrow (my deadline is April 1st). For this mixed media work my inspiration came from trying to convey the idea of recycling-reusing, though that's a real message of the first piece, at least the writing on the bag. I shredded 10-15 pages of Christmas Macy's catalog that were bursting with reds and other high-octane colors. Next I mixed soft gel with Iron Oxide, Black, and Iridescent Gold (fine) across the surface. I wanted a nice, thick layer of paint-gel mixture, about 1/8'' and put lots, and lots of shredded catalog pieces.... THAT WAS FUN, FUN, FUN. I begun to work it into the gel with a palette knife and, at the same time I added a top layer of soft gel mixed with Iridescent Gold on top. I kept on pressing and pushing until the surface was relatively flat, just with enough texture, and then I scraped the remaining gel off.

'shRED'

Mixed Media On Canvasboard, 9x12

So, aside from gels and paint, which I had already used in numerous projects before, the main design elements, a shopping bag and a free catalog, the gross cost of these two pieces totals to $0!!! I also like the fact that instead of sending those two items, the bag and the catalog, straight to the recycle bin, I re-used them. And what's more, now they're not only esthetically pleasing, but also have a chance to inspire someone to find their own ways of perhaps turning mundane into profound....?

A New Begining...

I started working on this mixed media project (16x20) that will find its way to Creativity Portal... eventually. I had planned on having this finished by now, but I'm not the Driver of my creative journey, so I better be grateful and move along the path.

This piece will be an exploration in textures primarily, and design will be secondary. I want to truly immerse myself in the process of putting mediums, pastes, gels on canvas and let go of as much expectations as I can muster and see where it will lead me to....


This morning I had a great fun of playing with hard molding paste. White paste on white canvas is just a 'tiny bit' difficult to see, but here's the capture...

Flowers In A Jar, Anyone?

This morning I treated myself to a generous serving of creative fun. I went out to a local Micheal's, picked up a shopping cart and off I went exploring the unlimited possibilities that each enchanting aisle was willingly revealing to me.... and to my wallet.

The highlight of my trip, and my day so far, has been a product called 'Got Flowers' - literally fabric-made flowers thrown into a vintage-styled jar topped with a silver metal lid. You can own this treasure in any color you can imagine and beyond... for a bargain $6.99. Now that's what I call good merchandising! Seeing these same flowers packaged in a plastic bag I'd thing $1.99 is my highest bid and final offer, unless someone hands me a 90%OFF coupon. But this jar was calling my name, and it just happened that the flowers also matched the color theme of my next altered art project. I'd say, 'Long Live 5Ps of Marketing' - Product, Placement, Promotion, Price, PACKAGING - because it seems to me that a clever product packaging might just be immune to the economic indicators....

Take a look for yourself, even if brown is not very high on the list of your hottest colors. Would you take this jar of flowers home? Would you share them?.... No?

I wouldn't either!!!

I Just Love This Book!

I've been inspired with countless project ideas as I'm reading through a latest book by Patti Brady 'Rethinking Arcylic.' She and other artists share countless step-by-step processes of using acrylic paints and mediums. This book inspired me to start working on 'Grow' as I wanted to experiment with mediums and abundance of texture-creating ideas. I can't get enough of it, it's laying open on my desk and I'm ready to start pouring and pouring and pouring.... paints, mediums mixed with gels and pastes onto.... something!

This book is a creative feast for me. I went to Product Learning Expo last year and took a workshop on using acrylic gels and mediums, and it suffice to say that I was never the same as an artist afterwords.... it opened for me countless vistas of new possibilities in textures, layer creating skills, color building. My very favorite medium is CRACKLE PASTE and for me it is the best invention since microwave! Next on my list of my favorites - GLASS BEAD GEL, though I've done some experiments with it, I still feel I haven't even begun to know all its possibilities. Add to the mix an entire range of fluid acrylic paint + interferences tempting you to explore their metallic qualities under numerous light sources and angles. And that's what I call 'creative sustenance'!







I'm off to work on a new project for Creativity Portal...

It's finished!

As I've been working on this piece I was growing with it as a person and as an artist.I was growing inward, ever deeper, pushing numerous boundaries within. Perhaps the most important assumptions and inner critic's opinions I had to face were the ones trying to impose an illusory standard of aesthetics on my artwork.
What came out of this, not so pleasant inner struggle, became an inspiration to write an article. And that, in turn, led me to create a series of articles titled: 'Artist's Musings On Creative Process.' The first article describes the low and high points of my own growth in creating 'Grow' piece and is titled 'Creativity And Self-Esteem - Which One Comes First?' It is being published by Creativity Portal and once I'll get the direct link to the article I will post it below.

Grow

Mixed Media On Canvas, 20x20

Below is an excerpt from my article:

Artist’s Musings On Creative Process…


Self-Esteem And Creativity - Which One Comes First?

By Tatiana Kuzyk


Couple of years ago I heard Carline Myss talk about developing one’s intuition. She said that without a healthy self-esteem a person will never have courage to acknowledge and follow that authentic inner voice. Initially, that observation made some intellectual sense for me, but deep inside I tried to fight its truism. In fact, the more I thought about it the more frustrated I felt. Self-esteem, or rather its lack, had become a code word I was using to explain to myself why I couldn’t have what I wanted in life. This was an ever-elusive, hyphened symbol of my emotional ‘promised land’ – feeling authentically good about who I was in the NOW. Simply BEING. Being in the moment, in the present, not some future destination that was to be reached only AFTER each item on my to-do-list will be completed in hopes of redeeming myself from my past ‘mistakes.’

Then I asked myself this question: HOW would I actually know that I finally ‘have’ a healthy self-esteem? Would I need to take a special self-esteem evaluating test? And what would be a minimum passing score? I had a hunch that there might be a quiet large percentage of the population being as confused about this entire self-esteem development process as I was.

How does self-esteem tie up with creativity? Much like intuition, creative process relies on us following our Inner Guidance System, IGS. And in both instances, intuition and creativity, we have a choice to make. Are we going to follow and acknowledge this still, small voice inside that invites us to discover an unknown part of ourselves through our creative endeavors? Or will the ego’s insecurity-driven narrative take the best of us?

to be continued... @

http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/a/tatiana-kuzyk/self-esteem-creativity.html

Dog Park Day

The highlight of my day was a long-awaited visit to the dog park, or as someone once called it - 'dogs' heaven.' I couldn't agree more with that remark and, in a way, it could be a special treat for humans, too. I love to watch the dogs run freely in the high grasses, chasing one another for, seemingly, no particular reason, other than FUN of running.

I've been blessed to meet one of the most influential teachers in my life almost ten years ago. Her name is Joy, she's a German Shepherd and she had taught me more about myself than seminars, workshops, and hundreds upon hundreds of books ever did. Today I'm in the process of mastering the art of knowing when to let go, when to be a witness and a compassionate observer rather than pretending to play a role of a disciplinarian. Do I want to 'play a role' or would I rather just 'be' with my dog, even if I don't understand how much fun it is to chase squirrels or to chew on a sock???

A Mundane Subject Matter?

.... only if you consider a brown paper bag to be boring and the last object to be able to awaken your imagination. I finally noticed the beautiful images and colors on a Trader Joe's brown paper bag. These vintage images are hard to find even on the web and that's what you can get for free at a grocery store!

Funny thing, there's a bubble caption by one picture saying: 'Is framing the bag and hanging it on the wall reusing and recycling?' No, I will not hang the bag on the wall, I will reuse it in a collage. I love its sturdy, slightly rough-to-the-touch feeling of a heavy duty brown paper. I hope it can take a lot of 'creative abuse' before the acrylic paints, palette knives, pounds of gel mediums will set and dry!

Growing...

This piece is going through one metamorphosis after another and I am growing with it. I dare to say it changed 'a bit' since my last post...

I slowly am coming to a realization that creativity is a journey in Growing one's self-esteem and somehow this particular piece explores growth. I started with a neatly arranged elements, but kept on yearning for more depth and uncertainty. I actually hesitated to pour some mediums and colors on the surface to build the layers. A little perfectionist, afraid of making a mistake, kept holding my hand. But the spontaneity-cherishing Self pushed for the unknown...

I believe that this artwork connects with something deeper within me, it feels authentic and I'll gladly sign my name on it once finished.

For now I'll keep on adding layers and elements until I hear an inner prompting to stop.

Checking In...

I can't believe it's Tuesday already....

I've been working a bit on my Mandala, in fact I subtracted number of elements and I'm waiting to see what will emerge.

I begun a new project yesterday, a working title 'Grow' - it's developing into something very organic in colors and textures, and I can't help but notice how it mirrors the outside changing season. Here's a snapshot, it will be a while before this collage will be finished.

More Fun With Mandala

It's a great Thursday today. I've put an hour work into mandala this morning and couple more last night. I have some color and texture ideas for the remaining background... maybe tonight I'll play with it some more.







I'm off to my 'home away from home' Caribou Coffee, to catch up on some reading and enjoy first serving of caffeine today!

Mandala Progress...

I've been working on my Mandala veeeery slowly and at the same time working on my business' corporate tax return - the least favorite activity in a twelve-month period for me. Period.





I found out today that my article describing a step-by-step project 'Modern Women' has been accepted and published on Creativity Portal and will also be featured in CP's ezine. I feel very blessed and grateful to be able to share my work with others.

I have been also putting some energy into creation and booking of a workshop for this fall tentatively titled 'Creating A Personal Mandala For Self-Enrichment And Balance.' Once everything is scheduled I'll post the details.

In the meantime I am looking very much forward to the next month's Artist Way group journey.... it is a spiritual chiropractic adjustment for me.

Blessings,
Tatiana

Where I Am Now...

March 8th is an International Women's Day and, for me, it will forever have a connotation of yet another 'great Communist idea.' I still have those memories of women receiving gifts at their workplaces: 'a-must' of 3 red carnations bouquet + one pair of pantyhose (an item marked by a serious scarcity). However, to me, it always felt that it was a day for men's celebration, as crowds of drunken men 'honoring' women's day were frequenting the streets. That's my little reminiscence about times past...

I started working on a mandala project. It is not a perfect geometry, 'let's copy the Tibetan Buddhism' designs mandala. I try follow an intuitive process of expression here, very similar to what Carl Jung did throughout the years in his private life and psychotherapy practice called 'Active Imagination.' The initial design is very intuitive, mostly drawing and erasing in-the-flow , letting shapes emerge without much thought for the design from an aesthetic standpoint.

Next I will begin to fill-in-the mandala. I feel that mixed media, collage elements, with a possible addition of some found objects, is what the mandala 'wants.' I'll try to let it happen by taking my ego out of the way as much as I can. It always takes the pressure of 'making' something, and making it 'good enough' to call it art.... My intention is to just stand aside and observe as the Mandala will be BECOMING...

On a side note, I am putting together a Mandala Creation workshop for the fall. Once I have more details I'll post them in.

"Modern Women" Series - An Altered Art Keepsake

The buttons helped me to change direction with this piece. Initially I wanted to use short lengths of ribbon and some stickers, but the bag of buttons kept 'calling my name' and I found a sheet of collage paper from a last year's workshop I took. Once I saw those old newspaper classifieds-style images I laid the stickers aside and pulled the bag of buttons closer...

The image on the piece is an ad for a sawing machine company and I have another one depicting a hair product for women. I want to create another couple of altered tiles to complement the first piece and use similar theme images.Since the size of this altered art composition is only 4x4, a small gessoed board, I think having 3-4 pieces in a series will create a strong theme and bring all of them into a stronger unity.

The entire project has been published on Creativity Portal. See a Step-by-Step instructions here:

http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/a/tatiana-kuzyk/altered-art-60-minutes.html

Morning Treasure Finds...

I treated myself this morning to an early, spontaneous artist's date at the Land of Infinite Possibilities - my local Hobby Lobby. One of the things I love about that place is that a $20 bill can go a long way and bring back countless delights for my inner artist child. Hobby Lobby is a place where a question such as, 'do I really need this?' never enters my mind. Of course I 'need' yet another custom printed designer sheet of paper! I may not know yet when and in which project it will meet its destiny, but that's NOT a reason to leave it at the store.

One of my cherished founds this morning is a small bag carrying about a half a pound of assorted buttons. I didn't even know you could buy buttons 'by the bag,' but it must have been an artist who embraced that divine idea. Now my imagination is running wild with possibilities.... buttons on a painting? On a mixed-media piece? A buttoned-UP collage anyone??? Perhaps a mandala design? Now that's what I call a 'creative sustenance,' and it comes in a quiet physical form, too.

What's your favorite treasure spots? What nurtures your imagination?

If Life Is A Collage?

For a while now, I have felt that my metaphor for a Life's Journey is 'Collage.' We get the elements for our eternal 'work-in-progress' piece from a place beyond our knowing. Events. Experiences. People, some staying for a bit, some just passing by. We gather our precious findings and try to arrange them into a somewhat sensible pattern. And just as we think we see the piece finished, just as we begin to believe that we know what our Life is really about and where it's going.... BOOM! Overnight delivery of yet another collage element to our Magnus Opus, a life-turning event, a 'chance meeting,' a consciousness altering book, or a loved one passing on....

Now the entire composition loses its once-ascribed meaning. One piece changes everything, right as I finaaaaally agree on the main theme and title of my Collage. Up until now, I've 'trained' myself to believe that 'My Collage's patterns are driven by images of 'success,' 'net worth,' whom I know and who knows me....
Hmm, is it possible that the latest addition to my Collage, a tiny, easily forgettable element of practice of daily lessons from A Course In Miracles, can re-arrange my Collage???

Maybe my only task is to let the new elements flow in and arrange themselves without my stubborn insistence on placement and direction of the entire Composition? Perhaps the lesson in the High Art of Living is that this particular Collage was Never meant to be "finished." Herein lies the beauty and uniqueness of its Design. Maybe my only 'saying' in the process comes down to a simple choice between either allowing or resisting its eternal Flow?

What I know for sure is that; when I get over the panic and threats of the little ego and move into Acceptance and Trust of the Greater Design for my Collage, I am at Peace. And as difficult as it may be to admit, I actually enJoy the Ride and somehow it doesn't feel like a struggle anymore.

What is your metaphor for Life?