I have noticed that the cleaner my house is, the messier I like my  art.  Not that my house is that clean, just cleaner than it was in the past…Perhaps the messy teenager in me is finding its way out again..

I am loving the wedding ring stencil from Julie Balzer and Crafters Workshop.  While I was playing with it I realized how much I love it!  I had been using spray inks on another project with it when the stencil was soaked and dripping ink so I flipped it over and used up that ink.  That image just called to me and the messiness began.

Since it was just playing I felt totally free with it. I added bits of color and used whatever I could grab to add details and color.  This one was such fun I started playing with it on another page. I usually grab a Pitt pen to outline things but this time I used a fine point pencil.   This gave it a softer look which went better with the lighter colors.

Letting loose and just doing whatever came to mind felt so rejuvenating- I need to remember to do this more often!

As I looked at this painting at various stages I realized I thought it was precious.  That is a wonderful thing when talking about time with my kids, date night with the hubby, or a girls night out my  friends.  Those types of things are precious.  My painting is not nor should it be!

It sat at this point for a while.  I didn’t like it much and had no real spark with it.

Since it wasn’t precious I had no problem smearing paints around and making various random marks.

This is when the trouble started.  I started to really like parts of it and it was becoming precious to me.  My ideas dried up.  I felt frozen for fear of “ruining” it.  Thinking it is precious was in my way so I decided to try something big on it…Nothing happened. Frozen.  Trying to think of something big  or perfect just left me frozen.

So I thought small.  I grabbed a black paint pen. Only I was too stiff, too in my head.  So I went left handed and closed my eyes and started drawing.  The most important part is that it got me interacting with the painting instead of just looking at it.

When I opened my eyes, I thought, “boy this is ugly with all these black lines” which is a good thing for me I am learning because now I was willing to take a risk and try something on it.  I smeared paint on with my fingers, used a brush to make shapes and lines, and began to cover up some areas and leave parts peeking out.

So here is where my work in progress is at for now.  I added a bit of drippy paint, a few dots, and more paint.  I am liking where it is going and just parts are feeling precious.  Before I am finished with this I imagine it will have some more ugly phases and more precious phases.  Don’t know where it will end up but I will just trust my muse…

If you have a moment stop by and visit the encouraging and creative  artists at Paint Party Friday and Creative Every Day!