Mixed-media meditation

I think the latest girl for my class is surely the most in-depth mixed media piece I have ever done. I lost track of the numbers of layers involved with her and I used just about everything you could imagine. Stamps, collage, modeling compound, gold leaf, glass beads, glitter, mica powders, rhinestones, stencils, colored pencils, acrylics, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things. Once I got the initial layers down it turned into a theraputic project. I cant really describe it, but I had some music on and allowed myself to get lost in the process and not overthink anything. I just kept pulling out new things, adding them in and repeating. No worries over misplacement or misuse of material. I think it was a very freeing experience for me. Hopefully I will remember some of that freeness the next time I sit down to do art. I really need to be better about controlling my worries about it being perfect. Really nothing in life is perfect and by striving and failing I allow myself to become stagnant and afraid to make any move.

Here's to getting past our various fears, warranted or not, and finding enjoyment in trying new things.

Have a wonderful week.

More pretty girls

I'm still working on pretty girls by following SuziBlu's Petite Doll course. I'm not strictly following her instructions even though they are wonderful. I needed to get the girl in front of the piano out of my mind and onto paper/wood. She'll hang in my office for all my piano students to see on their arrival. The quote, from Plato, says: "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything." Those aspects of communication are the reasons that music has been and always will be an integral part of my world. I have always expressed my emotions better through music than a spoken or written word. Unfortunatly, I feel that my spoken word truly deteriorated after my little mini stroke. I'm not truly complaining, I am very lucky at the mildness of the episode, but at times I truly cant find words, simple words, and it is very frustrating to the well-educated side of me to be lacking in this respect. Thankfully my musical skills seem to have withstood without a lasting negative effect. I can sit down and pour out every last drop of emotion. Happiness, sadness, grief, playfullness, just about anything can be articulately expressed through a song. It pours out any emotion and truly leave me feeling better, more level, like I've just been through some intensive therapy.
Anyways, once again my words are jumbling. I hope that each of you has that "something" that allows your world to be more peaceful and soothing. Take care.