Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen

I still love this & always will. 

There is a voice that doesn't use words. Listen. First Art Journalling of 2015

 I'm taking an e-course with Mindy Lacefield at the mo. & this piece is the first design I have painted on week one of her class. I haven't painted a bunny for so long I was getting withdrawal symptoms! 

 This was a little warm up watercolour session also on Mindy's e-course.

And I'll leave you with a quote that is inspiring me this week.

Love & Light

Emma

There is a voice that doesn't use words. Listen.

Rumi

Alan Watts: What do you desire, what makes you itch?

Alan Watts: What do you desire?

from on Vimeo.

What do you desire? What makes you itch? 

What sort of a situation would you like?

Let’s suppose, I do this often in vocational guidance of students, they come to me and say, well, "we’re getting out of college and we have the faintest idea what we want to do". So I always ask the question, "what would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really enjoy spending your life?"

Alan Watts

Something to ask yourself today

Have a great weekend everyone
Love & light
Emma

Whatever is on your plate got there because you said yes to it.....

Everything (within reason) is in my control, trying not to forget this...

I want to live simply.......

To quote Ronald Dahl......Think Good Thoughts

I LOVE this quote & I do believe it's true. Why is it that we are really drawn to certain people? That we want to know more about them & spend more time with them? It's almost like they are a people magnet! I think that it's because whatever they are feeling on the inside reflects out onto those around them & that's what attracts us to them. We want to know their secret. We want to breath in some of their energy as it gives us a boost too. We want to feel happy on the inside too.

We need to think good thoughts too.

 Happy aliens! A new design I'm working on.

 Sleeping baby design snippets

Painting number 29. Lots of experimenting going on here! I've used paint, tissue paper, foil, pencils, scrap book paper, paint pens & gel pens! phew! 

Hope everyone's having a great week

Love & Light

Em 

P.S I'm having a big shop update soon, if you want to be the first to see what's available do sign up for my newsletter here. 

"Don't think about making art, just get it done............" Andy Warhol

I've been inspired by Andy Warhol's quote above. Isn't it great? I want to make more art but time is an ongoing issue for me, so I've decided to start art journalling in the hope that I can be creative nearly everyday- even if it's just for 10 minutes. When I was studying art we had to keep sketch books as part of the curriculum & I had no idea until now how much I've missed it. I've noticed that a journal or sketch book is much less intimidating than a canvas & I've been able to just let go, explore & experiment. This is Salten the bear & he is my first entry. I've put paint down on other pages too & hope to add layers on different days. Just being creative for 10 mins a day really brings me joy & makes me feel like I've achieved something. Watch this space for more entries!

Worrying doesn't change anything......

It's soooooo, so easy to become tangled up in various problems big & small & to spend all of your waking hours worrying- then of course you can't sleep & worry through the night also. Recently when somethings been troubling me (and there have been a few in the last couple of weeks) I've been trying to practice the question 'Will it change the outcome if I worry?' the answer is always 'no' of course & so I've been trying to surrender to the situation. This for me is a weird thing to do, I'm a professional worrier. When I try & practice it, it feels like if I don't worry then I don't care about the situation or I'm being too blasé when I should be concerned. Anyone else get this? I've clearly conditioned myself to worry! Amazingly then, that I have actually been fairly successful in letting go & this has been such a relief! I have been able to get on with 'normal' life & ENJOY it & I've been sleeping normally too. The situation is still the same but it's out of my control & I'd rather live in peace with a problem than to live in worry.

Wishing everyone a peaceful, worry free weekend : -)

Love & light
Em xo

Your life is a one time only special offer.....

Believe it or not this was on my smoothie juice packaging! I loved it so much, I just had to share. Wouldn't it be amazing if other companies sometimes shared positive messages & affirmations on their packaging too? If nothing else it would hopefully make the reader smile....and smiles can spread : )

I think we all need to slow down, stop & pause everyday & look at everything around us that we can feel grateful for. I've had so much mind chatter going on in my head this week that I didn't even notice all the spring flowers that had appeared in my garden. I saw them but I didn't "see" them if you get my meaning. It was only when I forced myself to go outside & take a quiet walk that I really saw all the beauty around me & it totally lifted my mood & made me feel so much better. It doesn't even matter if you only have 5 minutes spare a day to become still, just do it, it can honestly alter your entire perspective on your life. Ask yourself everyday "What am I grateful for today?" I think it was Eckhart Tolle who said:

"If the only prayer you ever said was "Thank You" that would be enough."

Is this just a co-incidence? I don't know, but literally 2 minutes after writing the original post above, something captured my attention on Facebook. WATCH IT! It's funny & brilliant & explains perfectly the theory I wrote about above. Just how spooky is that?! Enjoy!

29 ways to stay creative

I recently found this wonderful poster by Edhall & I've been looking back on it this week as I try to create a schedule that works for me, to try & create more balance in my life instead of feeling like I'm constantly on a hamster wheel! This of course is a tricky one & I think I'm on version 4 of that schedule already! Any tips would be much appreciated!

I've been working on a few projects & I've also been dedicating more time to just sketching. I normally draw straight onto the computer with my Wacom tablet but it's been so great to get back to where it all started for me & draw again- I know! With a pencil & everything! Hee hee. It's so weird to think how long its been since I picked up a pencil & just sketched. I even found my old tin of pencils from uni. they must be nearly 20 years old now but I knew I'd want them again someday : -)

Here are some peeks into what I've been up to.

Love & Light
Emma

P.S In case you missed it, do click here for my latest interview with artist Becky Blair who also offers some great advice for all creatives.

Doodling away on what turned out to be a surprised lion

Cute monster sketches! I think this will definitely be turned into a design of some sort

 Easter design in the making

Creativity Takes Courage

Notebook from the wonderful Ecojot

I so love this quote, it really does take courage to put your work & soul out there for everyone to see & judge. I take my hat off to everyone who is bravely showing the world their creativity in whatever form that may be.

Lately I've been pushing myself to make work that makes me happy & to try not to worry about what others may think. It's very easy to create commercial work but when I do, I feel like it's always lacking in soul. I've also been realising that I am drawn to very quirky & unusual artwork & that must be telling me something mustn't it? So my goal is to not be afraid to try new things & really let my imagination take over- that way I will feel fulfilled- even if that means risking creating artwork that may not sell.

I did push the boundaries fairly recently & created a very unusual piece that I really did think would never sell & to my surprise it did & quite quickly! Another sign perhaps? 

I will try to continue to be brave & when I'm not feeling it, I will simply repeat to myself "creativity takes courage".

 Snippet of a painting 22 I've been working on

Little mixed media project on the go

Little valentines project on the go

Sketching away. Something I am trying to do a lot more of.

I will be back at the end of the week with my next artist interview! Yay! I am really looking forward to sharing it with you :)

Love & light Emma x

Thinking About Things....

This quote is really speaking to me today. You can change your perception of everything drastically if you change the way you think.

Change your thinking & you will change your life.

I watched a deeply moving film at the weekend called About Time & it really demonstrated the quote above. A beautiful, beautiful, clever film but make sure you have a box of tissues near by (or your daughters muslin ;-) ) if you are anything like me!

P.S Don't forget to sign up to my newsletter (over there on the right) if you want to be the first to see & claim my new paintings before they are added to my shop. Or see the post below for more info :)

I'm The Birthday Girl

It's my Birthday today! So I'm going to fill it with lots of loveliness & try to spoil myself.

I am loving this quote today

And because I am feeling happy, here are some snippets of work that are making me smile today : -)

And can life get any better than seeing a bunny smiling in his sleep?

I don't think so!

Have a great day everyone

Love & Light

me

x

Todays Inspiration

"Never give up, great things take time"

I'm loving this quote today.

Never give up on your dreams & the life you want to live.

Don't base your worth & happiness on the amount of money you have, it doesn't work.

Instead find your joy & don't let go.

Inspiration

This weeks inspirational quote comes from a Ellen Giggnbach, an artist whom I admire greatly. I just hopped over to her website and loved the answer she gave to the following question. It sounds easy to do but living in the moment is a daily practice for me. It's hard to get out of your head & I mean really out- letting go of all the chatter & becoming truly present. Try it & see how you feel. 

Do you have a life motto?

Something that you find inspirational and drives you?

I have learnt to relax and enjoy the little things in life. Every day I go for a walk, and instead of looking down, I look around me at the flowers and birds, smells and colours, it's about living in the moment,

It helps me appreciate my lovely life!

Inspiration

Happy Monday everyone. Lately I've been looking for daily inspirational quotes to comfort one of my closest friends and I noticed that I loved reading them as much as he did. With that in mind, every Monday I will post one of my favourite quotes here to inspire you too! Here's my first, enjoy!

"Life is a great big canvas.

Throw all the paint on it you can."

Danny Kaye

This inspired me today

Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they're deciding, make even more art.

Andy Warhol