Reminders for being still
Sometimes it is really difficult to sit down, be still, and let our thoughts settle. Everything around us feels more important, urgent, and vital. Reminding ourselves that being still will actually open up space for a joy that is lasting can help us to refrain from buying into constant distraction. It allows us to actually see this constant distraction as a false and temporary idol of the love we really are and then really experience the love it is calling out for.
Do you want to fine tune your Inner Radar with crystal clear clarity for Love, Wealth + Freedom? My Free Start Up Guide Includes my 5 Star Process To Become the Intuitive Rockstar of your #5StarLife! This process transformed my life and is the foundation of everything I do in my life & biz! ⭐️🙌🏼👯♀️
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Discover Your Intention for the Year with This Art Journaling PDF!
Happy New Year My Friends!
This year I've decided that TRUST is the word and experience I am choosing to embody for 2018.
I am choosing to deepen my trust in the process and allow things to unfold exactly as they are meant to. This means trusting my Higher Self and the inner wisdom within that feels peaceful, calm and centered.
I am also choosing to deepen my trust in others. This isn't the haphazard throw-caution-to-the-wind type of trust that I use to experience years ago.
It's not the impulsive, spontaneous, fear-based decision that reinforced my doubt in myself and avoided the confusion about who and what to trust.
This is the type of TRUST that is based on a gentle curiosity over time about those people in my life who keep showing up for me and I for them.
Those people who share many of the same similar values that I do.
Those people that I can be my authentic Self with and vice versa.
- PRACTICE
If you are interested in finding out what your Intentional Word of the Year is, I've created a little PDF for you where you can do some free writing, doodling and/or art journaling.
Click the image below to download your free copy!
P.S. Do you want to fine tune your Inner Radar with crystal clear clarity for Love, Wealth + Freedom? My Free Start Up Guide Includes my 5 Star Process To Become the Intuitive Rockstar of your #5StarLife! This process transformed my life and is the foundation of everything I do in my life & biz! ⭐️🙌🏼👯♀️
Grab By Clicking on the Image Below!!
A Mixed Media Painting from Beginning to End
Hi Friends!
I thought it would be fun to share a bit of the process I️ use to create mixed media paintings. This particular process blends acrylic painting layers with photo enhancement and digital design.
Make sure to scroll all the way through to see the painting from beginning to end + my latest events:)
I hope you enjoy!
Here is the original painting. It is done on a 9x12 cotton canvas. There are two layers of acrylic paint. The first layer was done months ago and you can see it showing through where the mint is in the middle. I then added a second layer this week that is very loose, free and painterly.
Next, I photographed the painting with my iPhone 6S. I opened the photo with the Snapseed App which I use for almost all of my photo editing. I increased the brightness, saturation, contrast and I cropped the photo so the outlines are nice and crisp.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sfO1mlqvnQ&w=640&h=480]
**WATCH VIDEO** Next I took the saved photo from Snapseed and uploaded it to my procreate app that I have on my iPhone. You can watch the video to see how I ended up with this version of the painting. I loved this one and I posted it to Instagram, only to find that as the night went on I kept expanding the layers.
I really love it when I'm in the flow and feel inspired to keep adding more layers. It's interesting to me that being in my studio earlier that day, I was not feeling the flow.
I kept trying to go back in and paint but every time I did I noticed I didn't feel well and felt ungrounded!
This is why I love the procreate app. I felt much more grounded and inspired painting using it that day and it satisfied my creative juices!
Here's an additional version. I used a lot more softer strokes on the lefthand side and the smudging tool to give an ethereal look. I also added in some "digital" pencil and charcoal lines to create depth, texture and more movement.
And this is where I stopped! I added in some more splatter to simulate the original splatter from the teal ink on the right side. You can see the splatter in cobalt blue on the left. I also added in some more white linework to highlight and add light to some areas.
THOUGHTS TO PONDER:
Which one is your favorite? Could you notice the differences? Do you pay attention to how your body is feeling and listen to those nudges, trusting the process?
While I really wanted to paint, I was pleasantly surprised that because I wasn't able to I used my digital app and created something completely unexpected.
Latest Events + Classes
If you want to learn more about how to use Procreate, you can join my free class here: FUN with PROCREATE
If you would like to expressively paint this season!
I have two options you can do from home:
12/8/17 Online Evening Workshop "Let Go with Acrylic Paint"
Nov-Dec Online 4 Week Course "Let Go with Acrylic Paint"
NJ Friends- I will be at Necessities Spa on Black Friday.
**Join me and several vendors for a fun day of relaxation!
Massages, body butter making & supporting local artisans and small businesses are what's in store! **
P.S. Stay Tuned for my Upcoming Holiday Sale!
It’s going to be BIG as I go through every drawer, closet and studio space to bring out lots and lots of paintings from this last year.
You won’t want to miss it!
P.S. Stay Tuned for my Upcoming Holiday Sale!
It’s going to be BIG as I go through every drawer, closet and studio space to bring out lots and lots of paintings from this last year.
You won’t want to miss it!
My Top 5 Tips for Getting Your Art (On Paper) Framed | Guest Blog
"Tranquil" by Ashley Prejoles
What's a huge perk of being an artist? Having tons of creative, fun, smart and artsy friends! From time to time I will be posting some Inspired articles from others who have insightful and informative things to share! I hope you enjoy! This one is by the lovely, sweet and fierce Ashley Prejoles. You can visit her website and Instagram to view her beautiful, tender watercolor paintings that often feature wildlife and nature. Enjoy! ~ Jen
I get asked a lot about framing art and I wanted to share with you my top tips I pass on to friends and family when this comes up. For this specific Top 5, I'm talking paper media, not canvas art.
Ready? Here we go!
1) Go Archival
Archival refers to materials that will protect your art, rather than hurt it. It's typically labeled "archival" or "acid-free" so that its contact with the art will not slowly break down your lovely painting over time.
2) Think Classic
Feeling nervous about what frame to select? You can't go wrong with one of the three classic looks: Black, White, and Neutral. These three also look great mix-and-matched and they look nice if you pick a single style and frame a whole wall in matching frames!
3) Don't look directly at the sun!!
Your art, I mean. :)
Most fine art has been UV protected in some way, to keep it's colors bright and fresh as the day they were created. My prints use ink that is supposed to outlive us all, so they tell me! But even the most protected of art needs to be kept away from direct sunlight. So hang your new art over the fireplace, at the end of a lovely hallway, or in a place of honor in your bedroom. Avoid areas like a wall facing the largest windows in your home.
For extra help, buy glass with UV protection to keep out as much light as possible.
4) Go big!
Adding a nice matte to your frame is a great way to get the biggest impact with your art. It draws the eye in and gives it a large surface area so it has a bigger effect in your room. Simply look for a matte with a middle cut out that matches the dimensions of your art.
5) Ask for help
If you're at the end of this list and you still feel like you're in over your head, ask someone what they think! Reach out to a creative family member or friend and pick their brain for frame ideas (they will be honored you asked for their opinion!). Also, most large craft stores have a frame shop that is happy to answer your questions and even help you pick out your new frame. Don't forget to bring in your art when you go!
Proud of your new art?
Send me a picture!! I LOVE seeing what you're doing in your home! I get all kinds of inspiration from you guys every day! I hope this list gave you a jump start with your next project.
Have a lovely weekend friend and I'll talk to you soon!
Ashley of Ashley Prejoles Art
P.S. Are you an artist looking to fine tune your radar for soulmate customers?
Do you want to fine tune your Inner Radar with crystal clear clarity for Love, Wealth + Freedom? My Free Start Up Guide Includes my 5 Star Process To Become the Intuitive Rockstar of your #5StarLife! This process transformed my life and is the foundation of everything I do in my life & biz! ⭐️🙌🏼👯♀️
Grab By Clicking on the Image Below!!
Slow Down in Forward Fold
I remember when I started yoga, I was still living from my perfectionist, do gooder, all or nothing protective parts. I wasn't even aware of these parts (which I have to say, was quite nice at the time for as most of us know on this journey, ignorance in the short term is bliss).
My first yoga class was at 18 and through my 20's I would practice off and on. Gentle, hatha, ashtanga, yin, flow. I'd take two classes in a row. Feel blissed out afterwards, then check out at home..because that was what I did.
I'd take a yin class, love the way my muscles felt, but the chatter in my brain was so loud and critical and judgmental I eventually stopped going because I couldn't stand the teacher any more.
At the time, I felt like he chatted so much, I couldn't find stillness, I felt overstimulated. I didn't realize at the time his chattiness was competing with my own minds commentary.
So where does a forward fold come in? I have to smile when I think about how much I get out of ONE POSE now.
My previous self would have called me lazy, weak, unmotivated. Luckily, I don't listen to that voice nearly as much anymore. Doing ONE POSE is so completely nourishing, such a great way to listen to the conversation within our bodies between the muscles, emotions, and thoughts. And does it help release!
If you can do an entire sun salutation and stay connected and release, that is wonderful. Keep doing that which feels good. But many of us are on a different stage of the process and we have to start slow to stay connected.
Over time, the nerve connections will start to gel and the mind body will be more integrated and you can "do more" (to satisfy that achieving brain:).
That is if you want to. No presh. But remember, less is more as my Restorative Yoga Teacher always would repeat. There is so much MORE in this moment. So savor it and listen to it for all it's worth.
Feel into the pose completely.
Feel every breath, texture, fiber, and sway of energy and let yourself be immersed in it. This is how we heal. Through releasing as we are connected to the compassionate witness within. This is the true surrender.
Which is why I chose Forward Fold. What's more surrendering than a pose that can be done almost anywhere, by almost anyone, at any given time. What's more releasing than letting whatever you don't want anymore roll off your back, giving it up and sending it off into the earth?
To Forward Fold this Way or To Forward Fold that Way- That is the Only Question :)
Some places to practice!
In a Chair:
At a Desk
Sitting on the floor or on a bolster or blanket
Standing
Enjoy!!
No need for perfectionism
'Be content with learning, and not impatient. We will not be, and cannot be "abruptly lifted up and hurled into reality" (ACIM T-16.VI.8:1). It would terrify us, like a child in kindergarten abruptly being made President, or a first-year piano student being forced to do a solo recital in Carnegie Hall.
Each of us is exactly where we belong, learning just what we need to learn. Let us, then, enter wholeheartedly and joyously into the process, practicing our holy instants, receiving our little glimpses of the real world, each one assuring us of the reality of our goal, and the certainty of its attainment.' ~Allen Watson
I love this. So often in sessions, clients dismiss those special moments of shifts and love, waiting to only give themselves credit when the goal of everlasting happiness is DONE. I do this too. With my own personal work. With my art. Jonesing for an outcome when the fulfillment comes in the now, regardless if it's a beginning, middle or end.
Knowing that we are exactly where we are meant to be and that these glimpses of joy are strengthening our capacity to accept this love is a beautiful way of looking at the process of being patient with where we are at.
Do you want to fine tune your Inner Radar with crystal clear clarity for Love, Wealth + Freedom? My Free Start Up Guide Includes my 5 Star Process To Become the Intuitive Rockstar of your #5StarLife! This process transformed my life and is the foundation of everything I do in my life & biz! ⭐️🙌🏼👯♀️
Grab By Clicking on the Image Below!!
