Self care and paintings

There's been a lot of painting going on recently and a lot of self care.  

This has meant no blogging during August.  An unplanned blogging break, but the self care has been entirely necessary and a break from computers where possible was a part of this.  I'm lucky enough to be self employed and can set my own hours and schedule me time when I need it - for this I'm very grateful and feel very blessed to be where I am right now.

Other self care principles for me are:

taking walks with my beloved (or on my own)

being outside in my garden

being by the sea (as much as possible - given that I don't actually live by the sea)

making time to spend with kindred spirits for meditation and healing (or just to chat and yes, I often chat to this lovely furry kindred)

self healing using Angelic Reiki (every day)

and, of course, art every day 

What does your self care look like?  

Do you take time out every day for yourself?  

I'd love to hear from you... please leave your comments below...

From my grateful heart to yours

Rachel xox

holiday

We had a week away in Northumberland last week; chilling out, walking the beautiful white beaches 

splashing in the rock pools 

walking on Hadrian's Wall in the footsteps of the ancestors (I can't be certain of course, but it certainly felt like it)

 standing in awe at the mighty Kielder Reservoir

 But I still found time to get my art on, sketching in the dunes

and making mandalas in the sand 

I arrived home with some lovely reminders  

Hope you're having some holiday art fun - I would so love to hear from you about what you're up to...

From my heart to yours

Rachel xox

pattern love

So, who has signed up for SEWN? (Did you see what I did there?)  

This is a delightful class about creating pattern and sewn paper products from Mary Ann Moss at Dispatch From La

When I saw the #sewnclass hash tags all over Instagram from Sandra Kaye (@sandielovestoart on IG or sandrakayedesigns.blogspot.com) and Cat (@sea_story on IG or seaskystone.blogspot.com) I thought ooh, this looks different.  But is it me?  I'm a painter right? Do I want to make patterns? Shouldn't I be painting?  

But the thing is I haven't been painting for about a month now :-(   I'm not sure what's going on but my energy is very low so I had been thinking I needed something light and playful but with a bit of direction; something that would take me out of myself.  

I hummed and hawed about SEWN for a couple of days but mainly due to encouragement from Sandie and Cat (and seeing all the gorgeous work appearing from other lovely peeps on IG) I decided to go for it. And I'm so glad I did!

Who knew pattern making would be so addictive?

It's not so difficult to work out really.  I love making mandalas, and they are patterns of a particular kind.

My own paintings are full of pattern - albeit irregular pattern

I love to wear pattern

And my most favourite painter of all time is Matisse, master pattern painter of them all

Purple Robe and Anemones (Baltimore Museum of Art)

So I'm having a good time, hooked on painting patterns and now I'm making products with the pattern papers - this sewn paper book cover is my first project.  I've never sewn paper before; it produces such a beautiful textured product - I'm loving it. 

And I think, some weeks down the line, this is all going to feed back into my painting practice.  After all, my favourite contemporary painter, Flora Bowley, is currently queen of pattern.  So, maybe it's not all about a bit of doodling with paint and sewing.  Yes, it's great therapy and the repetitive nature of creating the patterned papers is very soothing but I think in the long run it's going to be more than that. I'm experiencing new ways and rediscovering old ways of making marks with the paint and also choosing different colours to my normal palette.  Somehow and sometime it will all work its way into my creative process. So stay tuned...

How are you spending your summer?  Are you painting like crazy or taking it a bit easy like me?  Have you signed up for SEWN and are you hooked too?  

I'd love to hear from you so leave me a comment below.  And I would love you to share this post if you've enjoyed it, just click 'share article' to bring up the usual options.

From my criss/crossy/sewn/patchwork heart to yours

Rachel xox

icad 2013

Are you taking part in ICAD - creating an arty index card a day for June and July?

ICAD is a great art challenge all hosted by Tammy over at Daisy Yellow http://daisyyellowart.com/icad/  If you don't know where to start Tammy's got lots of prompts and ideas; you can jump in anytime, don't worry that it's more than half way through June.

I put it off for a couple of weeks but finally succumbed after seeing all the gorgeousness on Instagram.

Here's my first week of cards: 

There's lots of great things about using index cards (or postcards in my case as I couldn't find index cards):

You you don't feel precious about them.  

You don't need hours of creative time or lots of fancy paint and/or equipment. Thirty minutes of artiness - or less - and it's done! Just a few craft acrylics, some Sharpies and some Neocolours in my case.  But it's whatever you fancy: collage, stitching, journalling, mixed media - whatever floats your boat - and whatever supplies you have to hand.

It's a great opportunity to just try a few things out - maybe a new colour scheme, a new technique - all on a small scale that feels safe and unintimidating.  And if you don't like it, it's just an index card and you haven't wasted a whole bunch of time and paint.

Or maybe you want to re-visit something you havn't done for a while.  My tribe is back... 

It's also a great reminder that committing to daily practice is not so difficult after all...

AND - massive bonus!!! I got to swap with the lovely Mandy Thompson from http://mandythompson.com/!! Our respective cards are in the skies just now on the way to one another!  Mandy saw my second card on IG and asked if I wanted to swap.  Why not??!!  I can't wait to receive mine... Dontcha just love it when that kind of thing happens?

I'd love to hear how you're getting on with your ICAD's - let me know in the comments box!!

From my heart to yours

Rachel xox

art fair

Sales, networking, confidence building, fun - this was my first art fair experience on Saturday :-)

I did sell some prints and some cards and I would have liked to have been a bit busier, of course. It wasn't a massive success financially.  It wasn't a monetary success for any stallholder, I imagine, because it was the first one of this kind at this venue and the locals need to get used to us!! 

But my stepping out there was about so much more than taking money...

This was the first time I have had these paintings on display.  I have little confidence in my work and I needed to see it outside of my tiny conservatory/studio. From this point of view, the art fair was extremely useful. I had great feedback from fellow exhibitors and, more importantly, I know it looked good. I now know my art can be on show; and in my heart I know that it will look 100 tines better on a nice gallery wall rather than on trestle tables in a marquee. This is a massive, HUGE step for me. Me, Rachel Ellen Andrews...

A real bonus this kind of event has going for it is networking. I met some really nice people and made some important contacts.  People also picked up my business cards and leaflets about my workshops. I know from experience of doing Mind, Body & Spirit fairs that sometimes these little cards and leaflets languish in bags and pockets for maybe months until one day you get a phone call or an enquiry through the website.  So patience is key here.

And, when you're not selling, networking or realising that actually your work looks more than ok, you can drink coffee and people watch - which is always fun, anywhere!

So, friends, if you're hesitating about taking part in an art fair, go for it.  You'll make some sales (you will), you'll make some friends, and you'll boost your confidence.  You'll also have a great day out - what more could you want?

If you have experience of art fairs or not - please leave a note in the comments - I'd love to hear from you.

From my heart to yours

Rachel xox 

Art Fair