Parallel Progress

If there’s one thing that keeps my creative imagination alight, its progressing a few pieces in parallel. Sometimes a piece has to sit and dry, or sometimes it needs just simply to sit.

If there’s one thing that keeps my creative imagination alight, its progressing a few pieces in parallel.

Sometimes a piece has to sit and dry, or sometimes it needs just simply to sit.

It might be in (one of) the ugly phases, uncooperative, or just tired and needing a rest.

Ideas need to incubate, assimilate, to marinate in wet paint or to settle amid the layers of thought processes and ideas.

Among these layers of color and pattern are layers of construction and deconstruction.

Themes emerge and submerge, continually spiralling around, cross pollinating each other as they go.

Time finds their place, turning in turns they cycle into their next phase.

(I often feel like I’m on the outside looking in while this happens)

These images are snapshots of the paintings I’m making for the 100 day project. You can see them develop day by day in little time-lapse snippets over in Instagram #100LayersByMixy

These little videos, in turn, are combining into longer video stories.

The first is out there in the youtubes already, but for exclusive first viewings you’ll need to clickety-hop aboard my email list right here:

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Time Shrinkage

Today we reached the quarter way mark, day 25 of the #100dayproject.

To celebrate I’ve joined up the videos of the first layers of the first canvas I began working on. It’s still a work in progress, but already it’s been through so many evolutions.

The 100 Day Project 2018

I like an outrageously crazy challenge as much as the next person.

I’ve been known to dive into some over ambitious projects without thinking it all the way through (for risk of talking myself all the way out in the process).

But even I know while I’m not in my studio every day, finding time for painting every day for 100 days isn’t realistic. I listened to my inner adult, and together we came up with a plan:

My 100 day project is to paint as often as I can, and post an update every day for 100 days.

To make that possible and prepare I let these paintings take over a long weekend at the start of the month in order to get ahead.

(Best. Weekend. Ever!)

If you haven’t seen the posts, I’ve been time-lapsing the process to share on Instagram.

This filming shrinks down the rate of progress to just 10%, making a half hour of painting flash by in 30 seconds! It’s fascinating to watch it back, to literally watch over my own shoulder as I paint. I follow my instincts and don’t plan what I’ll paint, so the images evolve out of nowhere, and then recede back under the newer layers.

Today we reached the quarter way mark, day 25.

To celebrate I’ve joined up the videos of the first layers of the first canvas I began working on. It’s still a work in progress, but already it’s been through so many evolutions.

I’ll be making little videos like these for all 5 paintings as I go along.

If you’d like an exclusive preview of these, and other things I’m making, join up for my email newsletters. At the time of typing, they go out just once or twice a month, so I won’t be flooding our inbox!

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100 Layers & a Manifesto

I wrote a manifesto!

For reals!

100 layers by mixy manifesto — #100layersbymixy Manifesto

I was telling you yesterpost how I came to pick my project, how I’m exploring beyond my usual painting boundaries.

How I’ll manifest this challenge:

For the 100 days from 3rd April to 15 July, I’m going to share my creative process.
Some will be on Instagram (follow along on #100layersbymixy )
Some over here on this blog
Some will be just in my newsletters (scroll on down to the end of this post to sign up if wanna get all the deliciousness of my project!)

I’m going to make a series of multi-layered paintings and time lapse the process, so there will be videos and photos to share.

Plus all the other layers: the ones that aren’t the actual paint and paper:

The layers of unfolding ideas,
The inspiration from what I listen to while I create,
The ideas & thoughts that lie underneath the images that appear on the canvas.

It’s going to be epic, folks!

Don’t miss a thing by getting my newsletter:

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100 Days, 3 Whys.

100 Days, 3 Whys: By the time I noticed the hashtag #the100dayproject that kept bobbing up in my Instagram feed last summer, it was already well under way. I was intrigued…

The 100 Day Project begins again on April 3rd – are you in?

You can find out all about it at the100dayproject.org, or watch a Q&A about it here

By the time I noticed the hashtag #the100dayproject that kept bobbing up in my Instagram feed last summer, it was already well under way. I was intrigued by the challenge: a creative act every day for 100 days. Right away I wanted in, I was late to the party and my 100 days weren’t consecutive, but I saw it through and I learned a lot along the way.

In 2017 I made a little drawing every day for 100 days, inspired by the photos in my phone.

I take pictures obsessively wherever I go, so I had a gazillion or so images of places and things, textures and colors, interesting patterns and reflections, little memories and captured moments of my days. I collect these images for inspiration, but to be honest with you this was the first time I really made a concerted effort to use them.

Every day for 100 days I rummaged through this collection, picked one out, and made a drawing based on what I found. Sometimes it was close to a copy of the image, sometimes just a shape or outline inspired my imagination to take off some place else.

This year I’m doing something new.

These arrived yesterday. 5 big canvases, still wrapped up and I’m itching to begin painting….

My 3 Whys

There are three big reasons why I chose this project for myself

I love working small. Tiny, itsy little & weeny are the scale I default to. These canvases are 30 x 24 inches. Not enormous – but way bigger than I usually work. I’m curious how it will be working BIG for a change.
Canvas. Historically I haven’t got on so well with canvas. Is it the texture? I don’t know. If I’m going to find out, I need a project that corners me into using these. Another direction away from my comfort zone.
100 days! Seriously, a HUNDRED days! It’s longer than it sounds, and it sounds a long time! I plan to pace myself. This challenge will be finding balance, I’m prone to haring or tortoising and not so much in the middle. I want to learn to meet myself in the middle.

As we get closer to the start date my ideas are solidifying, I’ll tell you more about my project tomorrow.

What is your creative stretch? Do you want to step outside of your usual practice and explore new territory?

Are you joining the 100 day project? I’d love to know what you plan to make and do. Let’s meet up in Instagram and we can cheer each other along as we go 🙂

If you want to be first to hear about my new projects, you can join up for my newsletter right here:

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The in-between

The edge of the fold.
The home of contention and conjecture,
Not either or but both and.
It’s just where the horizon touches.

The in-between is the place I love most.

The transient, the liminal,

The dusk and the dawn.

The turning of one into the next,

The edge of the fold.

The place of contention, conjecture,

Not either. Both.

The place where the horizon touches.

The moment in between.

The pause.

Fuelling the feud against the resolute absolute, the tightly defined.

Why are we still doing that anyway?

When instead we could butterfly between the two,

Share the energy,

Dance in the gap in between.

The illustrations in this post come from my 2018 Sketchbook Project book which is so nearly done! I’ll show you the finished book very soon!

If you’d like to be first to know what I’m working on, plus get exclusive offers on the things I make, clickety-hop aboard my email list right here.

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Your email is utterly safe to me. I will send it words and pictures a couple of times each month unless you ask me to stop. That’s all.

Soul Food for you

“Soul Food” Book Launch Blog Tour & Giveaway. A few years ago I took a year long online course called IGNITE… This is where I first met artist and writer Carol Lowell. I was entranced as I watched Carol’s idea for a book ‘Soul Food’ blossom and take shape.

“Soul Food” Book Launch Blog Tour & Giveaway

A few years ago I took a year long online course called IGNITE run by the lovely Connie Solera of Dirty Footprint Studio, the following year I was invited to return as a peer mentor to the new students through their year of learning and discovery.

In these two years I met some wonderful, inspiring, creative women from around the world, who have become great friends.

This is where I first met artist and writer Carol Lowell. I was entranced as I watched Carol’s idea for a book ‘Soul Food’ blossom and take shape. So I’m super excited to announce her book’s publication, and to have her as my guest to tell you more about it.

Dear friends, please meet Carol Lowell of Kindred Spirit Studio

Thanks for hosting me, Mixy! I’m excited to share with you and your audience my new book “Soul Food”, the contest and Free Book Offer that goes along with my upcoming book launch March 26, 27, 28 on amazon.ca, amazon.com and, for International orders, on my website!

Colour!!!

It is a passion of mine, and most of the artists I know. We all have our favourite colours that we are drawn to time and again, yet every colour tells and inspires a story all its own.

Rainbows

When I was a kid, settling on a favourite colour was way too limiting. So I chose rainbows! And the collection of rainbow items began … pillows and bedding, mugs and stationery … even a pair of denim overalls (does this date me?). The magic in nature where light refracted through raindrops, or crystals, creating this wonder of colour made my heart swell. It still does!

Our natural world brings so many treasures and delights … feasts for our eyes! But we need to create time and stillness to be aware of all the magic that not only surrounds us, but is within us.

A Journey of Self Discovery – Using Colour

In my book, “Soul Food” I wanted to support people, whether they are artists or not, to create a daily practice that allows them to know themselves better and to get in touch with their hearts. Having fun playing with colour is a key to following your heart.

Choosing Full Colour

When I created my book, Soul Food, I knew from the start that I wanted it to be in full colour … to welcome the participants. It is just too yummy in full colour!!

As a self-published author/artist, the cost of 312 pages of full colour was pretty massive. But I would not compromise, and so I followed my heart and did what I knew in my heart mattered. The pages of Soul Food, that welcome and encourage the mark-making of the book’s owner, bringing their own sense of colour, is just what this book is for. The journey of discovery is as unique as each one of us. And each Soul Food book, will uniquely reflect its owner.

Mixy loves colour too!

Her year-long online course, Twelvty, confirms her dedication and understanding of colour. She encourages and inspires her own version of self discovery through the deep-dive into colour. And Mixy’s various feasts for the eyes are so yummy too! I am grateful to be participating on this journey with her and other creative souls.

May bringing colour into your daily life inspire you, bring pleasures and even, perhaps, make your heart swell. This is just some of the magic available to us when we pay attention!

With love and best wishes,

About “Soul Food”

Soul Food is a 90 Day Journey of Self Discovery While Building Nourishing Habits

Soul Food is an interactive “play book” to help establish heart-centred habits in a gentle and positive way.

The first 30 days focuses attention on gratitudes, doing something you love, your Top 3 Priorities for the day, as well as some mandala colouring to help relax and rejuvenate you.

The next 30 days expands the practice by adding body and health focus, as well as a beginning meditation practice.

From there, the final 30 days builds another layer of your foundational practice by adding daily journaling prompts to take you even further inward for some soul reflection. Towards the final days, you have the opportunity to create your own mandala designs.

Each month, as you gradually and progressively build on the previous month’s groundwork, you can easily deepen your communication within. You will discover your soul voice that is as unique as you are.

After 90 days, you will have created a daily practice that suits you, your interests, and your schedule. Each book will become as unique as the person working through it and making their marks. Most important of all is who you will become while on this journey!!

Please visit me on my website www.kindredspiritstudio.com, email me at carol@kindredspiritstudio.com, or follow me at the following links:

FaceBook Goodreads Instagram Twitter Pinterest

For more giveaways, visit me on my website here

About the Author

I am a mixed-media artist, author, life coach, quilter, photographer, book maker, wife, mom and explorer who lives in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Through the regular practice of creative endeavours and connecting to our spirit, I know that we can embrace and live our best life… through the expression of our unique gifts… our soul voice. It is my desire to help others find that voice and to give it strength, courage and love.

As someone who loves to gather and to share, I live by the mottos “The More, The Merrier” and “The More We Give, The More We Receive”.

My greatest passions are my family, the discovery of new things, and living with an adventurous spirit. I love to encourage others to find what makes their heart sing and to live from that soul-centred place… a place I try to always reside.

Win a copy of “Soul Food”

I’ve set up a bunch of ways for you to enter my contest inside Rafflecopter.

The more times you enter, the better chance you have of winning 1 of the 3 free copies of “Soul Food”. When you purchase a copy of “Soul Food” during the book launch dates of March 26, 27, 28, you will be sent a copy of my eBook “Meditative Mandala Making”! This is a companion book to “Soul Food” and walks you through the process of making your own mandalas.

Rafflecopter giveaway

Soul-Food-by-carol-lowell-1000X1000-Clear-BG (1)

Meditative-Mandala-Making-by-carol-lowell-1000X1000-Clear-BG

Soul Food is available at Amazon.ca / Amazon.com & kindredspiritstudio.com

The stories inside pictures

Stories that emerge from pictures are in my mind today. Not the literal ones, but the ones that appear without words.

The stories that emerge from pictures are what’s forefront in my mind today. Not the illustrations of literal stories, I’m thinking about the ones that appear without words.

Untold, but there to be found. Waiting to be noticed, to be overheard.

Idling in my sketchbooks.

I keep seeing the same metaphors in what I draw and what I photograph: it’s all about perspective, the angle, the view.

Softened edges, a change of light.

Stop for a minute and just watch…

Where do you most notice the unspoken stories in the world around you?

If you’d like to be first to know what I’m working on, plus get exclusive offers on the things I make, clickety-hop aboard my email list right here.

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(and I’ll send you my ebook A Year full of Color as a thank you for joining)

Your email is utterly safe to me. It will be wrapped up snug and nestled with a hot water bottle & a kitten until the spring arrives.

Paper Obstacles

I had a really clear idea what I wanted to do with this book from (almost) the outset last year – a rambling whirl of doodles, a stream of consciousness running through the pages.

The Sketchbook Project

It’s been a while since I checked in with you guys on this project, I’ve had to overcome a few obstacles along the way.

I had a really clear idea what I wanted to do with this book from (almost) the outset last year – a rambling whirl of doodles, a stream of consciousness running through the pages. Then I got ill, and the heavy duty pain medication I had in hospital inspired me with a really clear visual I wanted to recreate. As best I could, two-dimensionally on paper.

I began the line work back during Inktober, and looking back I remember at the time being aware of just how thin and flimsy the paper is in the book. I mean, super thin. It would hold up well to gentle care but I’m heavy handed and (because it’s all I had to hand and impatience is my biggest motivator in all I do) I used ballpoint pen. So my pages were already crinkling from the indentation of the lines.

That’s cool – it adds character – it’s my ‘style’ – go with it, I thought.

Sure.

I delayed the coloring stage until I finally got my new watercolors I’d been so eager to use.

Then the holidays, then life, then I finally began.

MixySketchbookProject2018-02 — this paper soaks up watercolor like a sponge.

Oh. My. Days!

You do NOT wanna use watercolors on this paper. Of course if I hadn’t been so hung up on the combination of:

This Sketchbook Project + These Colors + These Paints = Exactly What I Want To Do

then perhaps I wouldn’t have been temporarily blind the reality of:

This Medium + This Paper = A Certain Soggy Mess.

MixySketchbookProject2018-03 — Soaked right through to the other side 😦

Damnit!

Ok, I’m an adaptable kinda person, I pride myself on being able to change direction, to adjust and adapt.

Acrylics, I thought. Acrylics are the answer. They will sit on top of the paper and give it a bit more substance as well.

MixySketchbookProject2018-01 — Look at that paper curl! It seems I have angered the book now.

Nope. Not only is it a streaky mess, but the pages are actually curling up in disgust.

What do they want from me? light, delicate pencil? Do they know me AT ALL??

I heard a distant memory jangling about in the back of my mind – are there rules on what media we’re to use? – checking the website: sure, acrylics & gesso are discouraged because the pages get sticky and … yes, yes, I know all this…

So, my first plan of watercolor was back on the table – because, when I read on – we are allowed to rebind the book. I can use actual watercolor paper!

Now that time was getting squeezed, that forever-away-distant deadline was getting closer… I decided that keeping it simple was the best way forward. The elaborate plans I had to begin are on hold for a separate project later in the year, meanwhile I’m back with what I know best for the pages of this book: the idea that is fuelling my creativity and has done for a long while now: an adventure in 12 colors!

After all, it’s my thing, right?

My pages are complete and ready for binding, I’ll show the finished book as soon as I get some good light for photos – then it’ll be winging it’s way off to Brooklyn Art Library

If you want to be first to see what I’m making, and get exclusive discounts on these things, clickety-hop aboard my email list right here.

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(and I’ll send you my ebook A Year full of Color as a thank you for joining)

Your email is utterly safe to me. It will be wrapped up snug and nestled with a hot water bottle & a kitten until the spring arrives.

Hey there…

Happy Valentines X

Are you ready?

I’ve worked my socks off to make this as fabulous & fun as I can, I’m really proud how it’s come together. So much so, if you don’t think you’re getting value for money by the end of the first segment, you can have your money back.

Ready for an adventure in color?

We begin TWELVTY 2018 on Monday 5th February!

Join Here!

Just £97 for a whole year of color (or 3 instalments of £33)

I’ve worked my socks off to make this program as fabulous and fun as I can, and I’m really proud of how it’s come together.

So much so, if you don’t think you’re getting value for money by the end of the first color segment, you can have your money back in full without a single quibble. Srsly, not even a little one!!

Join me and a group of wonderful creative spirits to share this adventure in color ——-Y’know over half of the 2017 group are returning for a second trip around the color wheel (some signed up before we’d even finished last year!)

I’ve even reduced the price, to make it accessible for everyone there’s the option to pay in 3 instalments.