A much needed creative weekend

I've not written in a while because I've been working very hard on the inside of our business, the part no one sees.
Except of course when there is an internet accident- which happened last week when for about an hour, our entire retreat website lost it's members. Since there are over 1,200 people currently enjoying Adventure Art Retreats, it was a very disconcerting hour of my life! I got it fixed temporarily and then sought an expert to help repair the databases of the site so it would be well and truly fixed.
And so it is! We got photo uploads and threaded forums back. Very exciting stuff, but it was a rough week.
I topped it off with a trip to Tallahassee to hang out with the local guild and play with clay for a whole day- something I haven't had time for in a long time.
I spent two nights with Oona and Zeph. Oona is a retreat attendee at PCA and she knew I wanted to come out there, so she offered up their cottage (they have a spare cottage on their property that they use for family and as an Airbnb.) It was lovely! I met their friends and even got to go to a Shakespeare comedy play at the local operahouse in Monticello, FL.
A great weekend, a lovely recharge, and now I'm off to work on new ideas.

Test for Ilysa

I did it, the September Art Bead Scene Challenge

So I did the challenge last month and it was fantastic to stretch out, grab some beautiful beads from my stash, and put them together to go with the theme photo.

I was inspired by the interesting color palette and loose organic forms, and I used my favorite techniques- adding foils to clay and micro-applique little pieces onto a matte surface, for the interplay of shiny, crackly and matte. So fun!

Time for another Art Bead Challenge...

Can I make it in time?
http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2015/09/september-monthly-challenge.html

I'm finally seeing my drawings translated into art making tools and it's great!

I've been doodling with intention for a long time now. I have tried Zentangle, but sometimes it is actually too limiting for me! I enjoy a more freestyle way of drawing. And I was able to get a couple of technological tools to help me out, loving my Wacom stylus and tablet at the moment.

Because I've been working with polymer clay and mixed media for years (since about 1995) I understand what works and what doesn't, and I feel very qualified to create excellent designs.

The ones currently available are for sale in our online shop, PolymerClayTV. Be sure to check them out :)

Getting inspired by tools

Ilysa and I are working hard on our shop right now over at PolymerClayTV.

We carry only really interesting molds, tools and other polymer clay art supplies. Right now, we are wholesaling these tools- but we have our own line of exclusive tools coming up very soon. I am still working full time, but next Thursday is my last day in corporate. The business is making enough money to support me, and when I can do PCTV full time, I will be able to create even better income and no longer be just "supported," but be able to thrive.

It just takes a while to design, prototype, and order the things we are creating- and it's tough to dedicate time to it when you work a full time job. My work-life balance is definitely suffering. My temper is short, my time is limited. I'm looking forward to being more present at home and at PCTV, focusing inward and upward.

This week I took a look at our tools- which are together in a special part of my studio, to get inspired.

I saw my tin can sitting on the desk, the floral medallion mold that was almost the same size, and the basketweave metal stamping tool, and I knew what I could make.

Click here to enjoy my free tutorial!

Loving me some PEBEO Mixed Media! Watch what I did at CHA Mega Show 2015

I really love my Pebeo paints, and I really enjoyed spending a few days demonstrating so many fun things you can do with them. I painted a realistic seahorse floating in the seaweed to show how you can control the reactions with the paints and lay them down to create exactly the painting you want-

but here, in this video, you can see me using the pouring method. When you pour the paints and swirl them together, you can get some really interesting effects. You can also apply SOME control to this process. When you get to know the paints you will see that some reactions can be predicted. Such as:

Vitrail + Moon = lace
Moon + Ceramic = lace
Prisme + Moon = flat mica sheen (no honeycomb)

There is an awesome almost water-lily pond effect if you pour droplets of Moon into Vitrail or Ceramic after you let them set for a few minutes. And of course, different colors have slightly different effects. So if you want to learn to control the paint, like everything else in life... practice makes perfect!

Enjoy my demo :)

Thermographic Silk Screens from my drawing!

Have you ever heard of thermograph printing? I hadn't either. Somehow in all my wild Googleing I stumbled across this technique which basically makes a silkscreen without all the crazy fuss! It's almost instant. So then I found this awesome Etsy shop, uploaded a drawing, and had a shipping confirmation that my screen was ready, all within about a half hour! Wow!

Here's what my print looks like on a small journal cover.

And this is the actual screen. Reusable!

Posted with Blogsy

Real Mixed Media and why I love it

I really love mixed-media art. I mean REALLY. I like the ability to use whatever tools and supplies make my paintings, sculptures and jewelry come to life and look how I imagine in my mind.

I decided I needed to work on a submission for the Allegany Arts Council holiday cards. They sent out a notice saying they will be choosing 6 pieces this year to make a set. Since I love a creative prompt to get my juices flowing, and I immediately knew what I wanted to draw, it was really easy to start and finish this piece. This is just a detail- the artwork has more to it, but I'm keeping the full thing off the web until after I submit :)

I live in Cumberland Maryland, in the mountains. There are lots of old houses here, on lots of hills. Winter is coming- the trees aren't bare yet, but they will be. I live around the corner from the animal shelter- and pets are really important here. I have a pretty kitty, and fond memories of my dog Kasha. I can't take Tigerlily out for a walk but I can remember how Kasha enjoyed the snow.  I knew I would paint a woman walking with her dog, along cobblestone streets with gentle blue and purple sunset clouds on new fallen snow. There are gorgeous white-barked trees along a path I walk on frequently so they just had to be in the picture, with a row of cute houses atop a distant hill. My town, abstracted.

I used so many art supplies to make this. Started with a home-made large rubber stamp and some dye ink pads to create background texture, then spray dyes over stencils to block out the hills and trees. Ripped some paper to use to mask the hills further while I rubbed Pan Pastels on the edges to make them stand out. More Pan Pastels for the buildings, bushes, and path. Cute floral small round stamps for the "snowflakes" texturing the sky. I used the most AWESOME metallic Gelly Roll pens all over the place but most noticeably for the cobblestones. It was like drawing with fine glitter and I love how it looks. Then I cut up some very old 1920's sheet music to make the woman's dress and head, and rubbed dye inks and pan pastels onto the music for color (used mostly my fingers to control the color application.) Next I painted white gesso on the face area, hair, and to draw the dog. The cool thing about the spray inks is that they rewet with the gesso to create a kind of muddy/blue base color for the hair and dog. I then used a myriad of 2oz craft paint bottles along with floating medium (which is basically clear gel that thins the paint) to paint layers of fur on the dog and hair on the gal. Prismacolor pencils come next, to define edges, faces, and details. Then watercolors to detail the trees and stones in the path. Finally some last touches with the gelly roll pens and then my favorite part- opening up my second floor studio window- the one without the screen, to spray some PYMII on the paper to fix all the various pastels, pencils and dyes in place. Whew!

I like not having to say "I'm a watercolor artist" or "I paint in Acrylics." To me that is an incredibly limiting thing to have to say about yourself. And since finding Pan Pastels, I really honestly don't know what I did without them, lol.

Mermaids and inspiration from the Masters

Alphonse Mucha is one of my favorite artists, and I love the art nouveaux style. I am trying to dissect and understand just exactly what it is about Mucha that entrances me, and I decided that mostly it has to do with posture and hands. So I've decided to do some mermaids in a long-thin composition, which is one that I absolutely love- the 2x1 proportion of this type of work is difficult to work with but offers a lot in terms of setting up a human figure.

What I learned:
It's really fun painting on wood.
Mucha was a master with hands.
It's hard sometimes to get proportions right when you are interpreting someone else's work.
When painting tall and thin like this, be careful. The canvas tends to "stretch" in your own view, so before you commit your composition, hold it up and really look at it. (my face is too small).

Here is the first in a series of mermaids that start with inspiration from Mucha, and end in my own mixed-media style.


The original work that inspired:

Challenging myself to create more art beads

I want to be an art bead maker. I mean, I already am- but I'm looking at what I've been creating lately, and feeling like I could be doing better, making more, and providing more of a service to the community by selling my beads.

So I've decided step one is to participate regularly in the largest online monthly challenge for art beads, which is held by the ArtBeadScene blog.  One of the things I can gain for myself by participating in the challenge is a schedule, a discipline, a way for me to challenge my own inspiration on a monthly basis to look at things in a new way.

I created a palette for myself from this month's artwork. The challenge is usually based on a particular piece of art- you are to get inspired by the theme and the colors. This month features a very textural gesso art nouveau piece, and those are two of my VERY favorite things in the world!

Here's where I created the palette, pretty neat! Click here.

Evolution of an Artist

I went to art school. Yup, 4 years. I enjoyed taking electives in many things I don’t use, such as paper making, the only course I got less than a B in during the whole 4 years. Not for lack of trying either, I was in that stupid paper making studio for loads of extra hours- but it still didn’t really work out for me.

I got my degree in teaching, and went on to teach for a few years. Love it. Hated it. Definitely a love/hate thing. Still Jones for it whenever I drive by a high school, and have to talk myself down. It was awful to be a free spirit stuck in a classroom with my wings clipped. I was in a constant state of anxiety, because I was nervous that I was too close to the kids, too personable, and would end up smeared all over the news because I touched someone or made too personal a comment. It was horrible. But I loved it too, because I loved spending time influencing teenagers. I LOVE them! And I was never inappropriate, although I worried because of all the pressure of society and parents. It was awful feeling that way, did I mention that?

I am primarily a polymer clay art jewelry artisan. I fought being a jewelry maker for years, but it’s just part of me. I make tiny beautiful things. For a while, I called my etsy shop StudioBijou…until I found a porn studio using the same name. Whoops, didn’t want that association! So I changed to my name, KiraSlyeDesigns. I keep that, because it’s been around for so long and it’s me. But again, evolution rears it’s head. I needed to follow a colorful dream and associate more with the style I love.

I love Bohemian style, color, the gypsy connotations. I love the movie Moulin Rouge and highly recommend it- Freedom, Beauty, Truth and Love.

Pink is my Signature Color

I just love imagining myself saying that with a thick Southern accent, just like Julia’s character in Steel Magnolias. I find myself loving a deep dark pink color more and more. I used to like purple the best, but now I find it too cool. Perhaps as I’ve come into myself more I embrace the hotness and forward-ness of this lovely warm (yet a touch cool) color.

Color is a Driving Force

This is recycled Sari ribbon- all ripped and shredded.

I love color. It is what drives me. Have you ever seen ColorLovers.com? It’s a fun little website where I’m going to start posting new palettes often- I just love playing with the pattern generator too!

It really is ALL ABOUT YOU. A Mini-Manifesto, kinda

Be responsible for you- completely. 

Own your thoughts, words and actions- completely. 

Be proactive. Respond responsibly, rather than React, to what other people think, say and do. 

Our culture is perverse these days, maybe for much longer than that. The perversity I'm talking about is self-sacrifice. Don't get me wrong, this concept is important and is a founding thought for many world religions- because of the nature of what "doing good" means and the effect it has on the world.

It's awesome to do good deeds. It makes you feel good and it helps others, but only when it's done properly- from a place of giving, and the spirit of wanting to do it because you intrinsically know that it is the right thing to do.

It becomes perverse when you are constantly given messages that convey that somehow, your desires and responsibilities are NOT GOOD ENOUGH when compared to the desires of others, and your responsibilities to others. We are fed this message from our early years- we have to share, we have to compromise, we have to capitulate to others' needs in order for our deeds and actions to have any value. We now, in America, have to stop doing anything that might somehow offend someone else, because it would be wrong to offend someone by doing what YOU want to do, wearing what you want to wear, worshiping how you want to worship, or saying what you want to say. We are taught to think before doing anything- because it might offend someone else, and if it will, then it is not a worthy pursuit.

There is a difference, people, between being selfish, being self-centered, and having self-esteem. There is a difference between being self-sacrificing, and just being a good person. There is a difference between having tact and being socially well-adjusted, and just being a jerk. But the differences have become very blurred, and at this point I believe most people are falling into two major groups: jerks, and codependents. Notice I said "most people." Because I do believe there are a fair number of people out there who have good self-esteem, are socially adjusted, have tact, understand how and want to do good for others, and have not lost themselves in the process. I don't need to speak to those people, they know who they are. They won't even resonate with what I'm saying, because it doesn't matter to them- I have a friend like this, and when I talk to her about it, she doesn't "get it," and I don't hold it against her one bit- because she is lucky to be emotionally healthy.

But what about you? I can tell you right now- you only have responsibility for a very narrow, deep bunch of stuff- and it's all about YOU.

• what you say & do
• how you say it or do it
• why you say & do things

Are you getting the big picture here? You are responsible for YOU. You are not responsible for other people's actions, thoughts, deeds or proclamations. If you have kids or others you are directly responsible to help raise or get through this life, then you can add that to your responsibility list- but you are still not responsible for what COMES OUT OF THEM. You are only responsible for what YOU PUT IN, and what you give them access to. For example, if you keep firearms in your house and your kids get them and cause physical hurt to themselves or someone else, you are responsible for giving them access. But if you teach them right and wrong, and they decide to do wrong, they are responsible.  If you teach them what you want them to know, and they seek knowledge elsewhere, you are not responsible for what they create with the knowledge- they are. I'm thinking way back to Adam and Eve here. God told them what to do, what to eat... they chose what they chose, and it wasn't his fault- it was theirs. So if God could give up responsibility for his children's mistakes and punish them for doing what they did, why can't we? Because we are taught from the time we can function as toddlers that self-sacrifice and self-debasement is "how it's done." 

It's time to start taking responsibility for ourselves. To do, say, think, eat, wear, worship, be friends with, support... the list goes on here, what WE want. If everyone did that, honestly, and didn't get mixed up in telling others what to do, or in trying to "get inside the mind" of others and figure out what they want from us, the world would be a better place.

I think about my friends who are dating. They ask me things like.... "How long should I wait to text him back?" "What do you think he meant by saying ___?" "Should I.....fill in the blank."

My answer is: 1. Do what YOU want. 2. Call or text when YOU want to. 3. How the heck should I know what he meant or thought? Why don't you ask HIM?

Why play games? Because every magazine and website says to. They all tell girls to play a certain game to "catch" a guy. I'm sure the guys' websites and magazines say the same thing about chasing girls. This, of course, is only one example of the ways we use our self-debasement culture to mess up a totally fun thing, in this case, finding the ONE.

OK, stepping down from the soapbox now- I've studied so much in the past few years regarding my own emotional health that I now feel very relaxed and open when friends ask for advice, and I really want to share this special message with more people.

Be responsible for you- completely. Own your thoughts, words and actions- completely. Be proactive. Respond responsibly, rather than React, to what other people think, say and do.

Day 10? or 11? I made Art! Actually, I ordered fabric for my prototypes!

So this morning I finally sat down to scan, touch up, and arrange my drawings so they could be turned into beautiful fabric that I can use to create my new line of nursery goods. Fabric is only one of the mediums I will be using, tomorrow I'm going to work on the polymer clay parts! I am going to use Magic Transfer Paper, of course, to get my drawings onto the clay.

It's been a great week in the startup process... I keep making myself push ahead, even when I want to give up. Because I'm prone to having a great idea and not seeing it through. So this time, this idea is going all the way to completion. I must- because I've realized that if I keep having ideas, but I don't make any of them come alive, I won't be able to make the money I need to be able to finally quit looking to other people to pay my bills.

Day 8- Get Feedback!

It's important to get good feedback when you are starting up something new, from someone you trust. I've started asking those closest to me what they think of my idea, drawings, and thought process with this new children's line I'm putting together, and the reception has been great!

It can feel awkward or weird to ask people close to you for their feedback on something that is really important to you, something you THINK you are doing right... but you can also be too close to a project. When that happens, you can follow an idea or a lead into a place maybe you shouldn't be going.

I'm grateful that the reception has thus far been very positive!

Day 5- I have a superpower!

It's day 5 of the momentum challenge, and I was encouraged to discover my superpower and nurture it, to think about how it helps me in business, life and art...

My superpower is metacognition. I have the uncanny ability to think about how I think. Then of course, I get to change what I DO based on how I think about what I did or thought. Isn't that fantastic? It has led me to turn on a dime when I need to, to fix a class mid-sentence when I see that my audience is non-responsive, to repair damage I myself am doing because what I thought would happen wasn't exactly true.

So how can I apply this now, to my momentum? Well, a few days ago, I was thinking I would make my new art objects out of fabric. Then suddenly, I thought, why don't I make SOME of them out of clay? I already got a great response from the tribe I am slowly gathering on Facebook (someone said they would buy my drawing if it was available on fabric, yay! and I wasn't even soliciting for that info).

Now I think, because I am able to rethink my original plan, that I will offer it several ways. After all, I'm already known as a clay artist, I've written a book on the subject, and I've been working in the medium for many years.

I love having a superpower, I'll have to sketch myself as Turn-on-a-Dime Woman!

Day 4- conquering Fears.

I have spent a lot of time in the past year surfacing and conquering my fears. Today's challenge has to do with voicing your fears so that you can start conquering them. I did that.
In fact last year I wrote an ecourse called fear less, do more. Well, the original name was shut up and put out, which really means shut up your fearful mind, and start doing something about everything you say you want to do.
I'm on a roll now, I just let go of some things that I didn't really want to be doing, and now I'm not afraid to push forward and get my product line running. To keep thinking about things that I'm fearful of would be rumination. And the whole topic of this blog is getting out of rumination, and into Illumination.
Which for me means taking action and lighting up my life.

Day 3- Momentum Challenge- Overcoming Limits

I'm a big fan of figuring yourself out. You know, most of how we FEEL has a lot to do with what we BELIEVE. A while ago, I did this fun activity where I tried to write down everything I believe about life, and then figure out where each belief came from. I discovered that most of my beliefs came from the (for lack of a better word) programming I received from my parents. After all, these people have you and raise you, for better or worse... and they pass along their beliefs to you in the way they speak to you, the things they make or encourage you to do, and the actions they do or don't take. You watch and listen and follow their lead, and eventually you pop out an adult with your own set of beliefs about life which have been heavily influenced by your parents.

For example, when I went away to college I expressed my belief that the Catholic church was not the only right way to live. My mom challenged me to go speak to the priest, and I said that of course he would tell me to come back to church, he was a priest for goodness sake! I explored a few other Christian religions, was agnostic for a while, tried Atheism but it didn't take, and now I'm feeling like I kinda hate organized religion, but if I have to go for the community aspect, I guess being Catholic isn't so bad in the scheme of things- after all, I really don't believe any of them have it right. But at least I have explored all of my beliefs about religion and given myself the permission and freedom to make my own decisions.

Imagine doing that to every single one of your beliefs? It takes a while, don't get me wrong. But it is very freeing to explore what you believe and why, and come to your own conclusions.

Here's another one- "I'll never make money as a musician. Better choose something else." That was told to me day in and day out, by my mom who watched me practice my piano for 2 hours a day from age 8 to 18. She MADE me do it, and she knew I was incredibly good and talented. But then she would say that stupid crap to me, making me doubt my own existence. When you are a kid, you BELIEVE what your parents say. It's just the way things are. So here I am, busting my ass practicing this really difficult stuff (I had a Russian teacher) and spending my time doing that instead of having a social life, and my mom is telling me I suck and I better not even think about choosing music for a career. It produced a whole lot of confusion.

So instead, I pursued teaching (practical- big mistake) and had to sneak into the practice rooms at college to get on the piano (they were only for the music students). And wondered what was wrong with me and my musical abilities. The thing is, nothing was wrong with me. What was wrong was my mother's mistaken belief that music could not be a lucrative career for me. I definitely could have gone into some kind of professional concert experience- orchestra, symphony, even a band. But by the time I figured out what was wrong with my core belief (I'm not a good enough musician to make it) it was too late. I don't want to do the work it would take to get back into the condition I was in musically at the time, at this stage in my life. Instead I enjoy making music when I have the chance, and I'm looking into taking up another string instrument, one that is more portable so I can play for my friends.

Currently my limiting beliefs have to do with money (lack) and my ability to finish what I start (none). I'm enjoying this momentum challenge- today they guys challenged me personally, saying that this is the day a lot of people will drop out, and many won't make it past the 1/2 way point. I decided to do this- and I'm going to finish. By doing so, I will dissolve my belief that I can't finish what I set out to do.