Sharing is part of my "intention" as an artist and creative business owner. It is the reason why I started this new blog sharing my "creative journey" story, including aspects of my creative process. I have done this in the past but was scared to share the process itself. I found out it was an unfounded fear.
2009 was one of those years to remember. It was a year to grieve and a year to celebrate, a year of new beginnings and a year of endings and a year mixed with many contrasting realities. As I was grieving my mom's departure at the end of 2008 from the physical world, I was celebrating my first grandson's entrance to it. As I was celebrating the joy of my new role as a grandma I was feeling hurt by the imminent end of my marriage. As I was hurting I was also inspired to grow as an artist.
I had a strong desire to learn to draw and to paint. I started with YouTube videos while away from Puerto Rico to support the new parents. I traveled to Pennsylvania five times in that year carrying paintings, brushes, and papers. I bought a few small canvases and painted some baby animals for my grandson's bedroom. He is now ten and really loves the painting. The title is Let's Play and it was signed "ABU", which is a short name for grandma in Spanish.
On the first visit I had to stay for a month and on one of those super cold days, I wanted to visit a store to buy a drawing pad. I ended up in a place with no art supplies but a lot of great books. I was attracted by the art books area and two books called my attention.
They both changed my life.
The first book I found or I may say the first book that found me was Taking Flight: Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings.
No other book title could ever be more adequate for me at that moment. Those words resonated with me; inspiration, techniques, creativity, wings. Just what I needed at that moment.
With that book, I entered a new world, totally unknown for me. I felt I was born again and was making my first steps in many things: mixed media, collage, creativity, online connections, and later and as a byproduct of this book, licensing.
I made my first mixed media with collage while in Pennsylvania, following the book guidelines. For the second time I was using GESSO, but this time I knew what it was for. In a future post, I will show the process of creating a collage painting and how I use this material to cover the area already covered with collage papers to paint a face.
The second book that found me and definitely changed my creative path was Collage with Color: Create Unique Expressive Collages in Vibrant Colors. by Jane Davies.
I actually met the author at her house in Vermont, something I have never ever dreamed of. This book, my love, meant a lot to me. My love for collage art was made evident as I practiced each one of the techniques in the book. It brought me memories of one of my sisters who used to create collage art using tissue paper. I was mesmerized each time she finished a collage.
I have both books very close to me, in my heart and in my working table. I am happy to have them there even though I don't open then so often now. They brought me so much joy.
Aside from the techniques learned in both books, I learned the importance of connections. The collage below was inspired by my new found love for collage and mixed media and the new, amazing new connections made.
I used two of my painted papers and the pink area is from a scrapbook paper notebook. Over the collage, I painted the bicycle with acrylic paint. The words were cut from different magazines. The white flowers and some other details were made using a white gel pen. For some random reason, I love to add details with this kind of pen in all my collage paintings.
In the next post, I will write about the learning process of acrylic painting and drawing in formal classes with amazing artists from Puerto Rico. Later I will also share all those important connections made and what I have learned from them... Stay tuned!!
**************************************************************************************
If you want to be updated with new art, new products and other things about my creative business please follow me on Instagram at @elizabethclairestudio or on my Facebook page here.
Mucho éxito ,querida amiga.