The mortgage is due.  There is an issue with the insurance company that I need to follow up on.  The garden needs to be shut down for winter.  Lots of cleaning should be done.  What did I do? None of that! I got out my Gelli Plate.  Once it was out of the plastic it attacked me, held me hostage in my studio.  I couldn’t leave…okay, I didn’t want to leave. It was just too much fun!

Anything in reach was fair game for the plate.  I was thinking about the bills at least as I used their envelopes…Ribbon, envelopes, even the old jeans my daughter should have picked up off the floor ended up on the Gelli Plate!

One of the things I love out the Gelli Plate is I have to work fast.  No time to ponder a choice once the paint is rolled out since I used cheap craft paints.  Another thing I love is the leftovers.  These are pieces that I used in the paint or cleaned my brayer on in between prints.  I think I see an art journal page here already!

I don’t have lots of in-progress shots but I will have a video coming shortly!

As November starts a month often filled with thoughts of gratitude (Thanksgiving) I am so thankful that Sandy has passed and that the East Coast is beginning to heal and repair.  The coast has so much to rebuild- my heart goes out to each and every person effected by Sandy!

Congrats to Janette!  She’s the random winner (thanks random.org) of the experimentation kit!

Want to see more creativity?  Check out Paint Party Friday, Art Every Day Month, and Art Journal Every Day!

Triumph and defeat seem to be best friends in my studio.   Every time one showed up,  the other was just around the corner.  Perhaps what I thought of as defeat is simply being way outside of my comfort zone.

The plan was to do the color prompt for Fall Fearless and Fly.  I had read the quote and headline prompts but I  focused on the color- black and white. Who came up with this crazy color challenge?  Oh, that was me.  What was I thinking?

I thought my focus would be on the color in the studio but it turned out to be more about triumph and defeat.  Here is how it went:

• Triumph: Great idea for a black and white canvas. It is starting out just as I expected.
• Defeat:  The idea stalled out and looked like a jumbled mess, not exaggerating.  Color would have been helpful here, but not an option.
• Triumph:  Another idea struck.
• Defeat: It was beyond horrible, the nastiest mud color,  and it had covered up parts I loved that are lost forever.  Okay, bit of drama queen here…

This cycle continued for 2 days like a roller coaster that never stopped.  In the end, I had a canvas that is very mediocre.  Sigh.  I felt so defeated.  But then triumph arrived. The ribbon I had made for the canvas gave a spark which led to the journal page.

I thought that was the triumph but it wasn’t.  The real triumph came when I let go.  I had been forcing the canvas to be what my mind wanted.  The defeat had worn me down enough that I quit trying to control and let the art guide me.

My defeats have taught me about me and guided me towards triumph- in my studio and also in my life. I am reminded of how the time I spend in my studio helps me in every aspect of my life.  Does your art time help you too?

Jane Davies is our guest artist at Fall Fearless and Fly this week!  Be sure to stop by on Monday and check out where the prompts took her.   There is a great prize of 6 Dylusions Spray Inks thanks to Ranger.  Want another chance at a giveaway?  On Halloween I am randomly picking one of my newsletter subscribers to get this entire experimentation kit!  The sign up is right below my photo on the top right of the page.

Linking up to Fall Fearless and Fly, Anything But a Card‘s use black challenge, Inspire Me Monday, and Creative Every Day.