a New Mixed Media Painting: MIND SPRING

MIND SPRING. Prints available in my etsy shop.
Original Painting Available here. on Canvas Panel. 11 x 14" ($145). 

i mentioned last week that i'd been feeling stuck with my paintings. and i just love that this is the kind of piece that came out of that. 

if you're a regular reader of this blog, you know i almost always take photos of my paintings from start to finish. it's part of my creative process. but with this piece, i was so into just letting myself have fun and allowing my creativity to go and play, that i didn't snap a single photo. 

when i started this piece, i had no idea what i was going to paint. i went out into my backyard (like i did as a kid) and spread out all of my art supplies on a giant canvas. then i created at least six new backgrounds. i grabbed my oil pastels, watercolors, acrylics and just splattered, dripped and scribbled every where! i even used some of the background paintings for my paint palette (just squirted acrylic paint for the next piece right on the background) and let the paint be part of the piece...that's how unattached i was to what i was creating. i just wanted to have fun, make a mess and play. 

i stopped thinking about anything i "should" be creating. and went with shapes, possible eyes, bodies and faces i found in the background. from there, i got the outline for the little birdie. and soon i found the pointed ears of my owl. i'd been wanting to draw striped socks on something, so i did. and when the thought came up that this owl didn't look like my other owls, that owls don't have fairy wings or legs, let alone striped socks...i let all of that go. and allowed my creativity to wander.

i also made a trip to the art supply store and picked up so many new juicy colors and lots of fun new supplies i'd never tried. if you're ever stuck with your artwork, i so recommend just picking up a few new supplies or colors. it really got me into playing again...and i found some new favorite art supplies (which i'll share with you soon!). 

MIND SPRING. Prints available in my etsy shop.
Original Painting Available here. on Canvas Panel. 11 x 14" ($145). 

and so this painting is called MIND SPRING. because it reminds me of a little spring starting up in the woods and flowing just where it needs to. it's very much a reminder to follow your instincts and not be afraid of whatever the outcome might bring. 

here's the paintings story:

These two make quite a pair, inspiring one another to live the way they were always meant to, knowing that as one follows their heart, the other too will take flight and move closer their dreams.

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ps. i hope you enjoyed a wonderful weekend! THANK YOU for all of the wonderful comments and to everyone who registered for my HOW TO CREATE WHIMSICAL ANIMALS online workshop! this is going to be a really INCREDIBLE class! i'll have more sneak peeks at some of the projects we'll be working on soon.

if you're interested in painting whimsical animals together, find all of the details for my upcoming workshop and register here.