Weeks 8-15, 2024
log post
Wow, it’s been 7 full weeks since my last post and to be honest, I don’t remember much from them. Luckily I take a lot of photos, something that stayed with me since I started posting my one photo a day over on IG (not posting daily anymore but still do) which come really handy in jogging my memory :)
So let’s see what was actually interesting enough (at least to me ;) ) that is worth sharing with the whooooole world lol.
AHA! The 100 Day Project started and I jumped on-board. I was a bit worried about it since it added to my daily drawing practice but I gave myself permission to quit or pivot and that made a huge difference. My initial idea was to dive into gouache as this was a medium that has been intriguing me a lot for a very long time. And having to produce something every day for 100 days would certainly give me the opportunity to learn a lot.
But. I struggled. A lot. And persevered too. A lot. It was a mix of working with something that you are not used to yet, working with cheaper materials that don’t exactly behave like those in video tutorials do and realizing that gouache does need to have a clear idea in mind so that it can work with it. Which is absolutely perfect for illustration type of works but not good for my kind of play-and-see-what-happens work. It might be if I used acrylic gouache but I wanted to work with the original type and stay away from plastic and micro plastic ending up in our water systems. Which is probably just masked resistance keeping me away from having a bit more fun. There are plenty of acrylic tubes in my studio waiting patiently to be used, I can tell you this. But I digress.
I battled for 12 days and then switched to watercolors :) I really didn’t need to torture myself anymore and I believe I learned enough to know how and when to use classic gouache in the future.
In April, I decided I will go for 100 pieces of work instead and will be doing whatever I want and for however long I want but am staying with the same size of paper just for the consistency of it. I wonder if I’ll even finish it now that I took the pressure of posting it daily off of my shoulders. We’ll see, right?
Meanwhile I was also working on a piece that I normally wouldn’t. At least not in such a way but I came across a call for artists working in collage, got an idea, had nothing to loose and I went for it. Here’s what they wanted:
“The central theme BENEATH THE SURFACE focuses on the manifestation of human emotions in today’s complex world, where true emotions often remain beneath the surface due to societal expectations, stereotypical connotations, saturation, or a lost connection with oneself. The central theme collaborates with collage as a medium that is multi-layered and consequently full of depth, turning to the viewer with a narrative, allowing juxtaposition, subtlety, expressionism, and ambiguity. It invites the viewer to recognize various feelings during a gallery visit, not just positive ones. KAOS 2024 places a special focus on works that are experimental, antagonistic, and nihilistic in nature.”
My idea was to present a Diary as a connection with our higher self, our team in spirit and bigger picture in general. They will tell us if we got into the exhibition by the end of this month so I still don’t know their verdict. I am glad I made it though because I used my real diary there, the “morning pages” one, which is exactly what I am trying to convey in this work. I’ll definitely share more when I know more :)
Here’s what I made:
Cypresses have been my favourite kind of trees for a long time now and I have been drawn to draw them, paint them, needle felt them a lot. And I know I will still do because I see them as pillars for anchoring universal energies into mother earth and at the same time offering us all a connection to the higher realms.
My favourite piece so far is this one and I made it last year for ex tempore Bled 2023:
I feel the need to explore this topic a bit more. On paper and with wool and I am looking forward to it.
At the end of March I attended two really cool workshops. Guy Steven Needler came to Slovenia to teach us how to make a robust Psychic Shield and how to perform basic Chelation healing and do some chakra work/healing too. It was an amazing feeling to spend two full days in such high vibes and very “cooling down feeling” when we returned to our “normal” day to day real lives :) But it is always like this and I wasn’t too sad about it.
Having this shield on makes a huge difference, mostly when interacting with others or being in crowded spaces, so I wholeheartedly recommend anyone to learn how to do it. Guy offers it as a self paced online workshop and you can read all about it and purchase it here (not an affiliate link).
First weekend in April was unexpectedly warm and gorgeous so we spent it at the sea side. I do hope to return soon because there are more pizzas to be tested.
This week started with a needle felting workshop, where I taught 5 friends how it works and they all did so freaking well. They were all really surprised with the way wool felts and holds shape so I suspect they might explore it on their own in the future. Well, I hope they do because it is so therapeutic and rewarding.
And my Daily Creative Centering Practice is still going on. I only missed a day so far and it’s because of the workshops, getting up earlier and missing an hour due to time change. I also completely forgot by the end of that particularly full day.
Here are three weeks in collage form:
You are still invited to share your creative play with me under my weekly posts on Notes. I post every Monday and would love to see what you made.
And this is it. Or better, the visual part of it. See you soon(er) I hope :)
With much love,
♡
Nina