Balance

Balance is my "One Word" for the year. Balance in my life; balancing my family, my ministry, my art...my time! I've been struggling a bit to find balance, but I'm still working toward it and I think maybe I'm getting a bit closer. Having two young children (6 years and 11 months) really makes this challenging. I have a tendency to focus on them and not allow myself any time at all. Of course meeting the needs of my husband and children is very important, but I've realized when I make time for me (usually time for creating, reading or just relaxing) I'm a much better wife and mommy. So, I'll keep working on it! I'd love to hear some of your ideas on how you balance life and fit in "you" time, especially how you carve out time to create your art!!

One thing I have really found helpful is taking online art classes. They not only stretch me and allow me to grow as an artist, but they are also incredibly inspiring, motivating and force me to make time to create. I've been taking my dear friend, Mystele's, amazing Gut Art class. Wow, so creatively transforming! Mystele is one of the most creative and innovative people I've ever met and she is truly gifted as a teacher. Check out her community and dive into some creative loveliness!! :) I've been working in my Gut Art Book, pushing myself to really play as an artist and learn/discover more about my inner creative voice. Here are a few things I've had fun with:

This is the unfinished cover of my Gut Art Book. I created it out of recycled cardboard materials, mostly junk mail fliers and food boxes (like cereal, crackers, etc.). I layered collage elements and paint along with some stamping. I plan to go back and add a title and some other fun embellishments to finish it off.


My Gut Art book is basically an art journal, an area for me to play and not worry about the result. It has been very freeing to try new things and take chances!






This is a background I created on one of my book pages. It turned into this:





Mystele has this amazing technique of "pulling" art out of your background. Through the shapes, lines and colors in my background I was able to "pull out" this figure. It is a very cool experience to create an image of something from the elements that were placed before it. I've really loved learning this technique!


Below is another background page ready and waiting for some creating to happen. To make this page I glued several pages from an old phone book together, then used acrylic paint and water soluble pastels to cover it.

I'll share a few more peeks into my Gut Art book soon!

Happy Creating!!

Jennifer