One of the glorious (or not so glorious) side affects of having so much fun in the studio?

This happens:                                                         Of course, she wasn’t helping.

   I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the mess. On the one hand, eighty percent of what I make is from the leftovers from the project before that’s still laying across my desk. On the other hand, I’ve accidentally gotten partially dried paint on another project (usually in a really wrong color) that I’ve had to fix, and that is super-annoying. Then again, some of my biggest mistakes have turned out to be the coolest layers….like I said. Love/hate. Back when I was scrapbooking regularly, I had nearly half of a basement room to spread out in/on/over (about ten x eight, if I remember). Now, I’m limited to this corner of my bedroom, and a folding table. In many ways, I find it to be a good thing- I use and reuse and repurpose both art supplies and storage over and over and over again. The complete lack of storage space has really forced me to purge what I don’t absolutely love, and that in turn means that what I create already has a distilled style and all I have to do is make it shine! The important thing is to create, whatever your space availability. The rest is just gravy.

   I finally got my share feed back up in the sidebar, so I’m not putting my normal link love in the post today. If you’re reading in a reader, click on over! So much good stuff this week. If you bookmark stuff through de.licious, I’m memoria_arts.

   And, just ’cause I love ya, a free printable today. I’m really trying to resist the digital pull, because I really, really like the feel of paint and glue on my fingers, but, gosh. There are just some things that are way cooler in a digital palette! (The deets: personal use only. Please don’t use it for commercial gain.) Hope you enjoy!

Click here to download full size print—–>Read_Printable_share

Your turn! I want to see those messy desks! Writer’s desks, art-y desks. Homeschool desks, whatever ya got. Messy kitchens if you’re one of those cookin’ types. Show me where the magic happens for you!

The view over the kitchen sink…just a little reminder for the lenten season. I’m trying to ignore the spider webs and nests in the window. (We’ve been besieged by the things. Every window looks like this, and I can’t keep them un-cobweby before a whole new family moves in. Same for wasps. It’s kind of gross. Vagaries of an old house, I guess.) I’m also trying to ignore the wonkiness on this card. I had begun the base of it working with Shiva paint sticks, playing around with resists; sort of layering different designs. I like the handwriting above the ‘beautiful’, and even though the beautiful is a little wonky, it’s okay; but then the below ‘in His time’, I don’t like at all and it gets lost in the design below. I’ll probably work on it a bit more until it ‘sings’ to me.

The first week of Lent. My intentions for Lent are for healing of mind and body. Intentional turning away from some things and a very intentional turning to other things. Art for one. I’ve got a lot of processing I need to do. I do that best when I am creating, when there is paint on my fingers and paper cuttings in my hair. I’ve been very purposeful about making space for creating in the byways of my day. I sort of doubt that it would be sustainable long term (as it is necessary for other things to take a back burner), but I’m beginning to find a rhythm that I think I can carry into the days after Lent is over. Having a dedicated space and being able to just let things lay there until the next time is a big help in that. I don’t have to worry about cleaning up and come right back in and pick up where I left off.

I’m taking a full break from Facebook, and a partial fast from Twitter and Pinterest and the blog here, except for Art Fridays. A lot of people probably wouldn’t find a fast from social media necessary. I do; it comprises a lot of the ‘clutter’ of my days, and in order for me to hear, I’ve got to get it out of the way. (And I truly don’t judge anyone who doesn’t fast or doesn’t give a hooey about Lent. Please don’t think that I am condemning anyone.) I need a lot of Quiet. This is one of the ways, each year, that I find it.

As is true of Lent, I find myself in a very reflective mood. I thought I’d share my two favorite artists to follow on Pinterest; their boards are often ones I turn to when I need to refresh and renew.

The first is Gennine’s. Her blog can be found here. Her Pinterest board can be found here.

The second is Nance. Her beautiful blog can be found here. She has all sort of amazing collections in her stream on Pinterest; her collections run along abstract lines, and her posts in my stream never fail to inspire when I’m creating. (And, I might add, it’s quite the education too. I’ve learned so much about different artists lately because of Nance.) You can find all of her boards here.And…last but not least…John never fails to make me think. I like his post on Lent: The sweet return, and his deep affection for numbnuts, as I find myself resembling that description more than often. (And I really enjoy his subtle sense of humor, obviously.) He publishes poetry via the blog at least two or three times a week. Don’t miss it.