Welcome! I’m Carolyn Dube – This colorful journey is all about the freedom of play!
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The Fine Print
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The stencil talked to me. It had a very important message that I needed to be reminded of at just the right time.
Too much leftover paint on the palette led me to some very fast and somewhat sloppy stenciling with the Use Your Words stencil. Notice all the paint that ran under it. I adore that because it every time I use a stencil it is unique – never exactly same.
Next I grabbed a variety markers and loosely colored in each word. I forgot to grab a camera so you’re going to have to imagine that step….
The words needed something more so I outlined them with a dark blue paint and a very fine brush.
And then it happened. The brush was over loaded with paint and the Oops happened right on the L in “listen”.
Well, an Oops is just an Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly so I went with it and added more paint to the other letters.
The painting was talking to me. Reminding me to listen, to be present. But it had more to say.
As I photographed the canvas for this post I found a word that was never outlined. I have looked at this many times and never noticed that little word was without an outline.
Reminding me with an artistic whisper to become. Become what? Who knows but I will keep moving forward just as the painting moves forward.
This painting is a work in progress, it has yet to become everything it will be. Not sure where it is going, but that isn’t important as long as I listen to the painting and let it guide me. What messages has your muse been sending you lately?
Have you ever felt frozen by fear when you are trying to be creative? I have. I fought the fear. Battled it. I thought fear was the enemy. It wasn’t. It was how I was dealing with the fear that was the problem.
Fighting the fear didn’t work for me so I tried acknowledging it- dare I say embracing it. Those fears just wanted to be heard. Once they were, then I was free to create.
I decided I needed a special place for those fears. I used Eileen Hull’s 3D Cubes die to build a box to hold these fears. A place to remind me that FEAR is just Feelings Expressed Allows Relief. The video shows how this box came together.
Some days I have a whole lot fears to write down. Other days just one or two. Some fears only show up once and others seem to appear ever day. It doesn’t matter how many I have to write down because there is no magic number or limit. It is whatever I need.
Next time you feel any fear think of it as a reminder that Feelings Expressed Allows Relief!
When Tangie Baxter invited me to teach at her Artspiration Studio it was a split second decision to say yes. Why was it so easy? Because of Tangie! I love her art, I love her style, and I love the space she has created in Mesa, Arizona at the Artspiration Studio!
I cannot wait to actually stand in the Artspiration Studio and feel the creative energy on April 12th from 10-5! Hope to see you there too as we play and learn about stencils.
A bonus treat is that she has so many of the supplies at the studio so you don’t have to bring them!
Here’s the official class description of The Stenciled Journal:
Stencils are a tremendous creative tool that are versatile and playful at the same time! I’ll be sharing the “rules” about stenciling and then how I break them during this workshop!
The journey of your journal will begin as a stack of various papers including my 100+ year old ledger paper and favorite dictionary papers. As we build the patterns and colors on the pages you’ll learn my top 10 techniques for stenciling. In addition to the techniques, I will share with you my tips and tricks for keeping colors from getting muddy, how to get a variety of looks from one stencil, how to make a stencil reflect who you are, how to use every drop of paint on a stencil, and how to handle an oops or two.
These papers will be sewn into a journal, the quick and easy way. No measuring. No complex stitching. A quick and simple way to bind your papers into a journal.
Then it is time to use stencils as focal images. I’ll share with you the hows, the whens, and the whys as we add the big images to the pages in our journals.
Supplies I’ll be bringing :
all the papers you need
a huge stash of stencils for our play
the canvas for the journal cover
binding supplies
full color handouts
You need to bring:
Gel medium
4 stenciling brushes
2 foam brushes
Water spray bottle
Craft grade heat gun or blow dryer (optional)
Artspiration Studio will provide:
Paint (feel free to bring 5-6 colors of your own if you have a color palette in mind)
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