Seeing beauty in what’s left behind

The beauty that remains

Much of my recent work has involved painting and collage. I love the feel of spreading paint across paper, watching the way the colours interact when they meet as I cover the paper I soon will cut with vivid hues.

I have been experimenting with templates and stencils… creating my own shapes which I can draw around, paint over or into and repeat and cut out, put together, arrange, rearrange, then paste.

Today, I was about to recycle a small piece of paper I had been using to protect my work surface when I was last painting.
Something struck me.
I looked a little closer.
A flower emerged.
I cut it out, examined it closely, saw beauty there.

When we create a work of art, so much more goes into it than what the viewer witnesses as a finished product. So much more is left behind… the chaos of the studio, the paint-covered palette, the dirty brushes or filthy fingers. We pack up, clear it all away, move on.

The same goes for so many things.

When something is finished, be it a work of art, a job or a relationship, be careful not to label the remnants as debris and automatically consign them to the trash.
Take a fresh look.
See things from a different angle.
Remove the bits that no longer serve you and see the beauty in what remains.

Please let me know what you find.
With love,
Julia x

It’s launch day!

For the past 30 days, I have been part of a closed community of 200 people, each working away on a personal passion or goal. The 30 Day Challenge is an online programme, run by John Williams, author of Screw Work Let’s Play and coach extraordinaire Selina Barker.

This was my third 30 Day Challenge.

I return year after year as the format, of the programme, the support on offer and the results I achieve always make me feel good. This year, I set out on a mission to Share JOY through ART. My original idea for doing this was through an e-course. It soon became clear that this was not going to happen within the 30 days as I went off on a deep journey of self-discovery, pushing personal boundaries to express myself more fully and gaining a wonderful sense of clarity in so many areas of my life.

Through face to face workshops, I was able to share my own joy in the process of art-making and I am now pleased to offer both group workshops and one to one sessions for anyone keen to explore their creative side. Would you like to join me?

I continued to push forward with my own creative practice and after years of promoting the work of other artists, I am finally offering my own art through an Etsy shop.

Keen for everyone to benefit from the delights of living a creative life, I am now offering a free downloadable PDF of simple ways to invite creativity into your everyday life to everyone who subscribes to the Be Creative Daily mailing list. If you are already a subscriber, yours will soon be arriving by e-mail. If you would like to sign up, just click here and you will soon be a step closer to welcoming more joy and creativity into your daily life.

Right, I am off to launch my project over on the 30 Day Challenge and then it’s time to put my feet up.
Much love,
Julia x

Share JOY through ART

Share JOY through ART