Festive Soul Food Freebie!!

Hello everyoneI'm so excited that Festive Soul Food officially starts tomorrow!! Whoop! Whoop! And I have a lovely freebie to share with you today. One of the Head Chefs at Soul Food- Mystele has filmed a free art class for everyone- regardless of if you're taking the class. Here's the link to all the information you need to watch the free class (trust me- it's a good one ;)).And here's the link to our lovely Soul Food class introduction video. Enjoy the free class & I hope to see you in the class room, it's going to be so much fun. Wish me luck!

I'm Teaching on Festive Soul Food 2015!

Hello all, I have an exciting announcement today! I am absolutely thrilled to say that I'm one of the Sous-Chefs teaching on Festive Soul Food 2015. Whoop! Whoop! Thank you so much to Mystele, Jeanette & Heather for having me.

Along with 9 other Sous-Chefs & the three Head Chefs above I will be teaching an art class online. It will be so exciting to learn from & watch a variety of artists at work- I always find it fascinating to see another artist's processes don't you? All the information you will need to sign up is here or paste this in your browser and head to the Festive Soul Food page:

http://communitythrive.com/festive-soul-food

Registration opens August 1st!

In celebration, I'm holding a giveaway here at my blog for one free spot on Festive Soul Food. To enter just share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc & leave me a comment below to say where you shared it. Giveaway ends on Sunday 12th July at midnight but enter now just in case you forget : -)

To kick things off, here's a little interview I recorded about me & my journey as an artist. The three Head Chefs gave me these questions to answer:

What are some of the things that nourish your soul - where do your ideas come from?
What is one piece of advice you’d like to share with other artists?

What drives your sense of validation or legitimacy as an artist?
What are some elements that make your work “yours” - what are some recurring themes in your work?
Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?

This is the first interview I've ever recorded of myself (eeeeeeeekkkk!), so if I seem a little nervous that's why!! Hope you like it & that you will join us on this festive art journey.

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

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

I am deeply moved by this film & I adore the song too.

Go live your dreams!

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

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!

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 :)

Kodaline

Just wanted to share a beautiful song and video with you today. I would describe this as a modern day version of Beauty And The Beast. Be warned, if you are anything like me it may be a good idea to get some tissues first.....

I'm fine, Thanks

Cannot wait to see this film!

Thanks to Marisa for sharing this on her blog. For more info. on the film release you can click here.

Let Go & Enjoy The Ride

Neil Gaiman Addresses the University of the Arts Class of 2012 from The University of the Arts (Phl) on Vimeo.

This is probably one of the best speeches I've heard for any artist out there, wherever you are in your career.

I now feel so inspired I'm off to finish a painting I'm scared to finish- in case I ruin it. But I'm going to take Neil's advice & go for it. If it turns out ok I'll be so happy but if I ruin it and make a mistake then that's ok too. I'll keep trying until I make good art!

Baby's Birthday

I've designed a new Birthday card for little ones (and the young at heart like me! ;) ) Each card is personalised and embellished with a raised name panel and a touch of sparkle. Now available in my shop or click here for more information. Don't you just want to give these little bunnies a cuddle? They have a rather pensive look about them don't they, which I adore.

I also wanted to share this video with you. Legendary British film director Sir Ridley Scott launched a global film-making contest for aspiring directors. It's titled 'Tell It Your Way". The film could be no longer than three minutes, contain only 6 lines of narrative and be a compelling story. There were over 600 entries. The winner was 'Porcelain Unicorn' from American director Keegan Wilcox.

It brought me to tears in 3mins. Beautiful.

Getting to Know Ed

I found this video about Ed Emberley today via The Picture Book Junkies blog & it was such a good watch I recommend anyone interested in illustration to take a look. I found a lot of what he said very comforting & inspiring, particularly when he mentions that he loves to experiment with different mediums & different styles. It makes him happy when he is challenged & he likes the fact that when he has illustrated different books they actually look like different artists have created them. This really speaks to me because I always feel as though I should be trying to focus on one style to build up my brand but it's just not what makes me happy. I too like to experiment & try different styles as it makes me feel inspired.

I'll leave you with a great quote Ed says when he discusses his audience...

"...if I try to speak to everybody, I speak to nobody..."

click play to hear more :)

P.S there's still time to enter my Giveaway if you want to. Click here for more info.

John Cleese on Creativity!

Hello everyone. All is well here in Baby Land :D

I managed to have a baby break today and catch up on a few of my favourite blogs and thanks to Marisa I found this very inspiring video which I wanted to share with you. Enjoy!

Back soon with some new personalised, Christmas cards to show you :)

P.S I don't know why you can't see the full screen so here is the link for you to see it at YouTube- anyone know how I can resolve this?