Tag: january

2017 reflections 1 of 3

Looking back at 2017, First 4 colors of the year, some artings, outings & adventures.

January:

TWELVTY – YELLOWNESS – ETSY

Beginning in January and running all through 2017 I’ve been travelling around the color wheel with a group of fabulously inspiring artists and creatives. 2017 is the first time I’ve shared this journey, although it’s by no means my first Year full of Color. 

January was the month of Yellow, and the month I opened the doors to my Etsy shop. 

Listening to: Birocratic ~ Invisible Office Hours ~ Serial Podcast (Season 2) 

February:

BIRTHDAY – GAUDI – MINSGAME

February is my birthday month and this year I took a trip to the Tate Modern and then had a few days in Barcelona. Sunshine, paella, and the Gaudi buildings I’ve wanted to go and see for the longest time. I was giddy with excitement all trip. There just aren’t enough superlatives!

This was the month I began in earnest, my quest to declutter my space. Spurred on my podcasts and youtubery, I began shifting bags and boxes of stuff out of my life. It’s a process, I’m uncovering layers of past (not just mine, I’ve the bequeathed hoardings of others amid this mess.) It’s gonna take some time.

Listening to: Moranthology ~ The Slow Home Podcast ~ Joe Dispenza

March:

TIMELAPSE – TREE OF LIFE – SPRING GREENS

This month I revisited a design I came up with ten (no – wait – is it?…. yup, ten) years ago – the Tree of Life – and I recreated a new version to celebrate. This design started out as a watercolour painting that I developed in Photoshop – which is how I still see it in my mind – so it’s kinda cool to see it reinvented again as a design on leggings and phone cases and all these things!  

(I’ve got Santa on board this year and he’s ordered me a set of the zippy bags in “Tree of life Blues” for Chrimble. I’ve heard good things about these bags – I’ll let you know when they arrive)

March was also the month I really began exploring time-lapse as a way to share my art. I love sharing what I do and make, but even more  I love to show you the process, the stages it goes through – the lost layers – the ephemeral bits. 

That’s what this blog was all about to begin with (that’s how it got it’s name) this month was the fifth anniversary of my very first post here.

watch a painting come to life, and see the hidden layers that are out of sight forever now!

Listening to: Mark Nepo ~ Duncan Trussell’s Family Hour ~ Dyalla

 

April:

TURQUOISE – BLUEBELLS – PAPER DYING

After a long hibernation, finally springtime … trips out to London to the V&A and museums, walks in the woods with the bluebells. TWELVTY was all about blue-green in April and this teal-turquoise range is my happy place in the color wheel (well… maybe one of them)

I began playing with paper dying again – messy fun – a technique I shared with my Twelvty group and it’s inspired me to create a mini ecourse in paper dying for the new year (watch this space)

Listening to:  Limes ~ Two Keto Dudes ~ Kelly Howell

I’ll be back with the next instalment of reflections tomorrowish. Meanwhile………

 

 

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Registration for TWELVTY 2018 is open now!
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Dawn

This morning I launched my newest project – a year full of color – “TWELVTY” All as scheduled, 9am my time, so the early wee hours for the cross-pond recipients.

Each month this year has it’s own color: January is yellow, and it’s flooding my thoughts.

It’s the sunrise of a new project. 

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each month I’ll be making art in just one color for TWELVTY: yellows gathered in readiness!

The idea came to me just a couple of months ago when I was on holiday. Bumbling about taking photos… as one does.

I notice color everywhere.

I had a moment of profound realisation when I found myself taking photos of a group of tourists emerging from their (red & blue) coach, just because almost all of them seemed to be dressed to match in some shades of red & blue….

I had one of those moments: Do other people see this too? 

Like the fish who doesn’t know it’s swimming in water, my ideas have only swum in my mind, I’ve got no comparison unless I step away and try to look in from outside.

I mentioned the tourists & matching coach to someone a few days later – with gushing enthusiasm – but was met with blank nothingness. Not even the edge of a WTF? response I sometimes get when I share arty revelations like this, just a totally empty, disinterested blankness.

That was the moment I knew: I need to connect up with others who see & appreciate what I see & appreciate. My tribe. We need each other.

We need each other in a world of unknown areas of empty, disinterested blankness, a world with WTF? reactions to gushing arty revelations.

We need to reflect back to each other the magic of seeing some crazy spontaneous colour synchronicity, of seeing some beautifully matched chance happening, some little something somewhere that gets overlooked by most but makes our hearts sing just because of its orangeness, or blueness, or purpleypink, or whateverness.

I love how the idea is resonating among the folks who’ve joined already, the excitement bubbling up, and most of all the anticipation of what will emerge from this group as the year unfolds.

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It’s going to be bright and glorious and I love it!

Want to make your 2017 brighter and more colorful?

Sign up below for more news on my doings & makings through the year, and get a lovingly hand crafted ebook all about color 

…oh, and you can join TWELVTY too !

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Be well, my friends, Much love to you all X

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(Your email is absolutely safe with me, I’ll just pop by and check up on it time to time, feed it biscuits, plump up its cushions, that sort of thing.)

that time again! (1 of 2)

Looking back at things I made in 12 months makes the year stretch back further. January feels like a lifetime ago now…

My 2016 in art journalling has looked like this

January

February

March

April

May

June

The tail of the year, the time to look back & look forward, funny cos in so many ways it’s an arbitrary number, tomorrow will still be tomorrow whatever we call it. But I enjoy the process of evaluating where I am in this life from time to time, so now’s as good as any!

Join me tomorrow and I’ll show you the second half of my 2016 in art journaling.

Want to make 2017 brighter and more colorful?

Join me in TWELVTY!  beginning January 1st.

Can’t wait that long? sign up below and get a lovingly hand crafted ebook all about color right now!!  

…then join TWELVTY…obvs! 😉 

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Be well, my friends, Much love to you all X

**********************************

(Your email is absolutely safe with me, I’ll just pop by and check up on it time to time, feed it biscuits, plump up its cushions, that sort of thing.)

 

 

 

A Year in Mixed Media ~ part one

Throughout 2015 I completed a mixed media art journal, one page each week.

Some weeks were easier, some were colourful, some were hard to start and some were hard to finish. Both in terms of the art, and in terms of the weeks out of which the pages emerged.

It’s all metaphors, right? 

This year I’m revisiting my year of mixed media, and bringing the pages to life in a different form. Here I was, one year ago:

 

Starting out here, in January 2015, a blank book (year) ahead – full of possibilities img_3578

Week 1 unfolded, bright, wordy and eye-filled.

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Week 2 was a big ole brain dump. Funny how this process cements moments into the memory.

I remember listening to podcasts and YouTube things as I doodled this out. Words and phrases filtered through my ears down, out through my drawing hand – sometimes verbatim – sometimes slightly altered by the messages I heard inside the words.

‘Make 2015 the year you question everything’, said the scrap of paper. Glued into my book, glued into my imagination, this phrase was to inform the way the coming months played out. Question Everything.

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Week 3: Comfortably into the new year I was setting myself some targets. I achieved the specific ones – way quicker than I expected too. But reflecting from a year further into this life, I see how woolly and unquantifiable some were. Lately I’ve been listening to Leonie Dawson. Do you know her?  She’s also loud, smiley, fun and colourful. I like her a lot. She’s big on goal setting. I’m following her wisdom this time round.

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Week 4 found time to pause for thought. I was brimming with optimism, which mirrored again this year as a time so rich in potential and beginningness. As much as anything else, I’m getting to know me a while lot better through doing this. Turns out that’s my happy place: just on the cusp of an ending and a beginning. (Oh, and in case you’re wondering – the computer came back in full health – having not forgotten anything).

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Week 5 – the cross over from January into February. Another big week. (They’re even bigger looking back – it’s a trick of perspective, maybe).

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So as we turn into the next month today, this seems a good point to pause. Part two will follow along soon. 

 

 

 

 

12 Colors in 12 Months

Marlene GlickmanA week or few towards the end of 2011 I fell upon Marlene Glickman’s “Day by Day:Pieces of Life Series”  which initiated 2 new projects. (The other of which I’ll type to you about later)

This a 12 month adventure taking shape as the year progresses.  Ms Glickman set off my plan thusly:

“Making color and design decisions is sometimes difficult so I challenge myself to use only one color from the color wheel each month during my daily design exercises.”

From the start of January 2012 I’ve been working in new sketchbook, each month’s pages of doodlings and dabblings is limited to just one twelfth of the color wheel. Somewhere in each month I plan to upload my latests (and as I zigzag through the year, re-post the older months as they continue to develop).

Hold on to your hats folks, counting backwards we’ve got a quick 3 month round up….

March

is composed of purplish blues:


So far the months have all spread themselves over four pages. Why four? no reason (three not enough, five too many…) Just saying, cos other months might ramble further. Guess depth and range of the colors have a bearing too. (sometime I might count the pages n do the math)

Photography is a stage in the process, it gives clarity, like looking through somebody else’s eyes. Clicky close ups to show the detail…



At the time of typing March is not quite through, a work in progress…

February

The violet purples

February as a month is done and finished, but its pages will still get periodic tweaks. That’s the great thing about making your own rules to the game (; I’ll re-post updates later on.


January

Beginning the year at the reddy edge of purple

I began the year in the colors surrounding me, tones and shades of brickwork, cosy warmth, winter berries. From here I’m ambling backwards around the color wheel, journeying towards red at the end of the year.



So that’s where it all began, folks.
Just a few days and a new (blue) month begins. Check back for the next insighting extallment!

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