Inspirations and affirmations

It's always a good thing to step outside your comfort zone. Often you end up with results that you would not have achieved if you had followed your safe, well-worn paths.



Recently I have been working on designs for my new Zazzle gallery and it has challenged me to think differently about what I do, and to try new approaches.

It was a bit scary at first, and I had to overcome my resistance to creating digitally.



But now that I have taken the risk I am really pleased with the results, and feel that this experience will lead my art in a positive, new direction. And I had fun too!

A Million Mandalas For Peace Project

This week saw me make a contribution to A Million Mandalas For Peace, an inspiring project from Melody Cummons, who is a great artist and peace ambassador. The project brings together a diverse array of artists and is 'Sacred Space, where creative individuals unite in sharing their art in the intention and awareness of peace'. I enjoyed being able to make a small contribution, and am looking forward to posting there again. It is well worth a visit to see the great array of contributors work.

I will leave you today with one of nature's mandalas from my garden. Peace.

Gratitude mandala

Today I noticed that yesterday's 'Top Ten' list could also be read as a gratitude list. Life gives us so many blessings when we start to add them up. I could have added so much more to that list that it really makes me appreciate how wonderful life is. No wonder I woke up this morning with a burning desire to create a gratitude piece, and the words thank you repeating again and again in my mind.

When the call is this loud, it is hard to ignore, and I have learnt to just go with it when I feel a kind of compulsion to create, or express something. I usually find it difficult to concentrate on anything else until I get it out of my system anyway. Hence, this blog project and the ongoing mandala series which started over a year ago with the urge to keep making mandalas until I had made sixty-four of them! This soon expanded to me wanting to make a hundred and eight, and I am by no means near that goal, but the fact that I take steps towards this goal regularly helps free me up so I can actually do other things in life. And, for now, it's not just mandalas, but gratitude mandalas. I can only hope that they are to be included in the hundred and eight, and not the start of another separate series!

I wanted to do this digitally for a couple of reasons. The first, not so noble one, is that I seriously convinced myself that it would be really, really quick and easy. Ha! And the second was that I wanted to use previous mandalas and combine elements from them to form one piece because I felt it reflected the spirit of gratitude which, to me, is all about making the best of what you have, stopping to notice how blessed you are once in a while, and then sharing that.

Well, it was not so 'quick and easy' and I suspect that my kinked neck may well decide to stay this way henceforth. Perhaps if I had taken the time to learn how to use my software properly before now (I have had it for nearly eight years!) it might have been easier.

But I did learn a lot in a relatively short space of time, and I am grateful for that, no seriously, and it did capture the essence of what I was trying to express. Perhaps a little inelegantly, but the sentiment remains nonetheless. And now comes the fun part of mandala making, which is letting it go and putting it out there.

It is with much thanks to everyone who has supported and encouraged my creativity - you know who you are- that I offer this piece. Thank you.

Ten Things That Nourish My Creativity

I have been thinking a lot about inspiration this week and came up with this fun list.

There are many things that help nourish my creativity; here are just some of them in no particular order. What inspires you?

*My non-rational mind

That part of me that's prone to daydreams, flights of fancy, and yes, fears and forebodings. Even my sleeping mind nourishes me with dreams that fuel my creativity.

*Materials

Paints, acrylic, oils, watercolours, inks, pencils, mediums, brushes, canvases, beautiful paper, charcoals, pastels, oil pastels, fabric, beads, found objects, you name it, even other people's 'junk' has been known to be hoarded by me to re-cycle into art. Nothing is more inspiring to me than having good materials to work with.

*Life's Little Treats

Chocolate and a cuppa, what's not to like?

*Nature

Sunsets, beaches, trees, plants, flowers, bird song, cicadas, butterflies, frogs, possums, mountains, rocks, rivers....Ah, what a splendid world we live in.

*Other artists

From the Renaissance to the contemporary, with everything in between. Nothing gets me more inspired than looking at great art, and hearing other artists discuss their work. (As for my favourites, well, that's another 'Ten Things' list)

*The unseen world of spirit

Meditation, intuition, synchronicity, illumination, epiphany, I am open to divine guidance wherever I can get it. To quote Leonardo Da Vinci 'Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art'. Couldn't agree more.

*Food

A full tummy and that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you share your food.

*Good books

I am curious about so many things and a good book can really fire up my imagination and leave impressions in my mind that can linger for years, even decades.

*Leaving it be

Sometimes the best way to fire up my creative enthusiasm is to do something totally different like go for a walk, mooch at the cafe, or, one of my favourites, go to the markets.

*Create, create, create

'The appetite grows by eating' (Francois Rabelais). Or, the more I create, the more I want to create.

Finding Fire Mandala

Finding Fire, Acrylic and mixed media on board, approx 40x40cm

This new mandala is about finding your inner 'fire', your personal power, strength and optimism. It's about being connected to your inner sun and overcoming challenges using your own resources, staying positive and not letting external or internal 'darkness' get you down.



It was also a way to introduce re-cycling and a more textured, three dimensional approach to my mandalas; I've always loved the dimensionality of the Tibetan monks sand mandalas. I built up the textured areas using paper maiche made from old newspapers, and the sequins were left over from a previous project. I can't wait to print this one onto a bag!

Co-incidentally, as I was finishing off this piece I saw an interview with Australian artist Tim Storrier, who is best known for depicting - you guessed it - fire, in his canvasses. The synchronicity of life never ceases to awe me.

Still Life Gallery

Tranquil Ascent, acrylic on canvas, 10x15cm

One for the girls, Acrylic on canvas, 24x32cm



Turtle, Acrylic on canvas, 18x24cm



Offering peace, Acrylic on canvas, 18x24cm
(Image above and below are two part set, private collection)

Bagz Gallery

Welcome to my gallery of Bagz. All bagz are 100% cotton, and printed by me using a heat transfer method. Most prints are derived from my hand painted original artworks, and I am also introducing a new digital range!

i)Peace lotus black sling, digital collage

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i) Wings black circle sling, ii) Wings black square sling, iii) Wings black sling

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i) Wings calico octagonal sling, ii) Wings calico sling

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i) Flower black sling, ii) Flower calico sling

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i) Flower black octagonal sling, ii) Flower calico octagonal sling

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i) Paisley calico sling, ii) Paisley black square sling, iii) Paisley black sling

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i) Blue black sling, ii) Blue calico shopper

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i) Beaded calico library, ii) Beaded black sling

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i) Autumn leaves black sling, ii) Autumn leaves calico sling

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i) Purple black sling, ii) Red black sling

*If you wish to purchase a bag please contact me via email: bagzovart@hotmail.com to arrange delivery and payment

*I also make custom bags & can print your digital image onto a bag of your choice. For example: pet bags, 'brag' bags with your babies photo and name, promotional bags for your business, your own art bags, the only limit is your imagination

*If there is a combination of print/bag style that is not depicted here I will happily make one up for you

*All bagz retail for $20 which includes free postage anywhere in Australia. (overseas orders contact me for postage prices)

*Thank you for looking at my bagzovart

Mandala Gallery

Gratitude mandala, digital collage

Finding Fire, Acrylic and mixed media on board, approx 40x40cm

Wings of Peace, Acrylic on boards, approx 40x40cm
Wings of Peace, detail, print option - circle

Flower of Life, acrylic on boards, approx 80x80cm

Flower of Life, print options-square, octagon, circle

Purple mandala, acrylic on board, approx 40x40cm

Paisley mandala, acrylic on board, approx 40x40cm, print option - square

Beaded Sea Mandala, acrylic, beads and shell on canvas and board, 50x60cm, print option centre

Blue mandala, approx 20x20cm, acrylic on board

Red mandala, approx 20x20cm, acrylic on board

Autumn leaves mandala, acrylic and oil on board, approx 40x40cm