Outdoor Studio Painting of My New Series

Breathe in Relaxation....Breathe out Everything Else..... That would be my prayer for the next two months because I am on summer break....or at least for the next 6 weeks. What this also means is that my outdoor studio gets set up which gives me the freedom to paint big, dance like mad, talk to birds, and make yummy messes. For the first time in 11 years, this summer is one I have looked forward to more than any of those, because....I feel really good and am over the moon excited about the artistic path I am on. 

Painting outside is not for the fain of heart. I live in lower Alabama...and if you have been to lower Alabama in the summer you know that thanks to the humidity you begin to sweat at sunrise and often long after the sun lays its tired head below the horizon. Mosquitoes are as big as my head, noseeums are beyond a pain in the butt, and rain falls as unpredictably as the random brain fart whizzing between the ears. Still....I love working and painting outside, along with the challenges it brings. 

My hubs has set me up in a really sweet spot next to the house, so when I need a break, I take one. When I need a quick exit from the elements, it's about 15 feet away, and my extension cord reaches nicely for a small fan and speaker....that way the tunes and the wind are my fellow studio mates. I also have waterproof storage for my essentials that has wheels so that I can move it in and out of the heat when the temps get too ornery. 

Here is a video showcasing my studio and a peek into the Land of Ardithian as I like to call it. 

Along with the outdoor studio comes the space to work on my new body of work which brings my art journal pages to a larger format. There is tremendous freedom in an art journal, with no expectations, no rules, just a playground to express ideas, concepts, and heartwork visually and through text. I have always found myself to be most at home in an art journal so when I considered what my next series would be I knew exactly where I wanted to head....into my pages. 

"Diversity Should Not Be Feared" 3' by 5' 

"Love Shifts The Heart" 24" by 24" 

So far, I am 6 pieces in between different stages and what I am learning about the process is that it is incredibly challenging but the most rewarding body of work I have ever created. The message becomes more profound, the composition becomes pivotal to the meaning, and the execution requires an extraordinary amount of patience. At first, it seemed the antithesis of what a journal represents, but as I began to walk through motions, pray through the brush strokes, meditate through the meaning, I began to understand just how important these are to me. They quintessentially combine my love of writing, of painting, of structures and function, and of my passion for the beauty of life within each piece....exactly the platform my journals bring to me on a smaller scale. As this realization come to the surface and my spirit affirmed I am where I am supposed to be, I chose to embrace the challenge and go all in. 

"To Capture The Love of Art, Teach The Soul" 18" by 24" acrylic on canvas WIP

These are detail pics below

The words in the forehead read: 

"...because fragments of ourselves seek out the common bond, which is always love."

Over the next few months I will be constructing these pieces of artwork, some in my outdoor studio, others at the gallery, but all within the framework of art journaling. Giving myself the freedom to play, to express my emotions, to make a beautiful mess, and to refine my artistic skills will be the mantra of the day and I look forward where this journey takes me. Here are a couple of my finished pieces and another in progress. I will blog about each of them individually as well. 

No longer am I captive to painting to sell, creating for a bottom line, or serving an expected perception. Today, as I sling paint all over the place, I am finally embracing the pure freedom of creating from that place most artists long for.....from the heart.  

21 Secrets Kick Off Week!

Did you hear that? If you heard someone hooping and hollering with glee then you most likely heard me all the way from Alabama being thrilled that this week has finally arrived. 

21 Secrets 2014 Kicks off April 1 and the workshops are going to be amazing! Each one seems to flow into the next and the Ebook is 170+ pages full of art journaling bliss. To celebrate, I went to the flea market and scrounged around to find just the perfect journal, so when my eyes landed on this baby, I thought I had won the lottery. 

This book, when opened, is 16" by 18" which is huge for a journal, but I love huge journals so I couldn't be more pleased to get to work in this. Each page on the left has a different skyscraper so I will have a grand time figuring out how to incorporate each page into each workshop. 

If you are unfamiliar with 21 Secrets you can go HERE to read all about it and then come back here because I have FABULOUS news! I am going to give away one free membership to 21 Secrets!!!!! All you have to do is leave me a comment below by 5pm central time April 1st and you will be entered. That's a $98 dollar value and you get to keep the EBook forever! 

Along with the workshop kicking off tomorrow, I had a super sweet opportunity open up this week for 21 Secrets Live. One of the teachers had to drop out so Connie Hozvica asked me to fill in and I was more than happy to. Wednesday, I will be hosting a 90 minute live workshop on Spreecast as one of the teachers for this season. In July, you will be able to purchase the entire workshop as a downloadable file  and view all of the 21, 90 minute workshops. Being able to actually watch and listen to the instructors has been fascinating so I get to play along in my journal and join in that fun. You can learn more about the 21 Secrets Live workshops HERE. 

And as if that isn't enough, I finally, finally had a chance to finish one of my new pieces in my series "Ardithian Voices." 

This body of work begins a journey where I take my journal pages and bring them to life on a very large scale. Over the next year I will be diving into the process of making my smaller pages gain visual impact. As I painted  "A Shift of the Heart" above, it was as if my heart, skills, and spirit just fell into a beautiful place, one that I have missed for a long time. 

This is where I had started. 

I changed the face here, and started increasing my layers as well as considering what message I felt this piece was conveying. 

The touch of the hand made me realize just how powerful our touch is, it shifts the heart, and being aware of that is so vitally important. The text behind the figures head says this: 

"We have such a powerful impact on others, through our touch, our bodies, through our very heart. We hold the power to express love to others, and in doing so, helps another heart impact someone as well. One touch shifts the heart forever."

I am so looking forward to meeting many of you through the 21 Secrets Workshops, lets go sling some paint together! 

CONGRATULATIONS TO JACKIEP NEAL!!!!! You are the winner of the 21 Secrets 2014 membership! I want to extend a HUGE thank you for everyone who commented and encouraged me with my art, I am deeply grateful. For all of you who left a comment, I will be creating a special mini lesson on video along with a PDF just for you at the end of the month! Message me your emails at ardithgoodwin@gmail.com 

The Lure Of Pure Color

Color is intoxicating to me. Like many artists I know, there is an attraction to color that is difficult to describe. Often, I tend to believe that our brains are wired differently, especially when it comes to our eyes. For the past week I have had the flu...then pink eye...and still, the energy is completely zapped from me even though I am on the mend. During days like this I don't quite feel up to tackling a huge canvas so I turn to writing and photography. It is much easier to stay in bed, paint with my pen, and use my camera phone to capture color and light when it floods in my windows.

This particular morning the sun was glorious, I was pretty wiped out, so I just sat for a few hours watching the light dance in and out of my window. Words really didn't come freely at first so I took a deep breath, honored the fact that I felt like road kill, and gave my brain the freedom to move my pencil without much thought. The writing below is what flowed and after I stopped to read, to consider, to pray with gratitude, the magnitude of how much color affects my spirit became obvious. 

"I succumb to color, and light, and the wind dancing them from petal to petal to petal on any given day. It is not the paleness that attracts , that seduces, that lures , but the bold, unexpected flood of hues and light which rush my senses, overcomes me, rattles my core and its core. There may come a day or time or reality where this reactive pull and pull no longer takes hold and on that day, that very moment in which it arrives, my spirit shall dim. For if I am not allowed the deliciousness of color and light and the marriage of the two, to wreak havoc on my soul, my spirit, my very life, then life for me would darken. I would become but a cog in the wheel of an unbearable life." morning pages of Ardith Goodwin


As much as I love to paint, I also love to paint pictures with words, and this reminds me to be grateful to not only enjoy color, but appreciate being able to express myself creatively with words as well. The big guy upstairs gave me the gift of creativity, but when I see images such as this, I humbly stop and with a big ole grin, realize He is leaps and bounds ahead of me on that one. 

Regardless of the body, my spirit was jubilant this morning because color and light flooded my world. These images are of the bottles that line my window. When I feel gloomy I can't help but be reminded of the intoxicating, healing vibe that color gives me. Hope they make you smile too, :) 

Here's to healthier days ahead! 

Know Your Bone Art Journal Page

I had an entire blog post written about bones and something inside me said it was just to damn wordy. Most likely, it was my bones, ;) 

Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.

Henry David Thoreau

This page below didn't speak to me. The images, the text, nada. The only thing I decided to keep were the white faced figures, some of the reclining nudes, and the ladies face on the right page for my journal entry. You can view the finished page below. 

As an artist, what is your bone? What is that thing you love to do over and over and over? Is it the use of a color, a mark you make, the layering of words, the expression of text? What is the one thing you LOVE to apply to your artwork? If you can identify that as one of your bones, you are one step closer to finding your own artistic voice. 

Once you learn how to find your first bone, you become more adept at finding your other bones. Through practice, you will discover more bones. Sometimes they will be obvious, but other times they will show up more subtly and appear repeatedly. 

When I art journal my 'BONES' are praying, making marks, using transparent layers, strong value and contrast, drawing weird figures, and writing. An art journal page without those bones would not connect to my heart so I use them: 

Every

Single

Time

Give your bones permission to learn what your heart wishes to say and express that on canvas. The world needs YOUR VOICE, not your copy of someone else's. 

START COLLECTING YOUR BONES BY DOING THIS:

Pray,Paint, Practice,Play, Repeat. 

Pay attention to the techniques that you use without thinking, the marks that show up over and over, and then consider adding in a few unexpected ones to see how your heart responds to them. Most importantly, look for these bones when you are not mimicking or learning a specific style. YOUR bones show up more often when you turn the computer off and paint from your inspiration and yours alone. 

Wear Your Own Crown

I am beginning to wonder if we are spit right out of the womb with the need to compare ourselves to others. Now, I know that isn't the case, but even in my young 3rd grade students they ask all the time, "Is it good Mrs. Goodwin?" "Is it as pretty as hers?" It stops me in my tracks...cold. Adults do this too, heck, we all do it to some extent, but especially new artists who are just beginning to get their brush wet. 

10 years ago when I started to teach myself to paint I wasn't as involved online as I am now. I didn't have all the images of beautiful artwork rushing through my stream each day. I can honestly say, I didn't have the urge to think if it was better than so and so's or not, I just wanted it to look good. But wanting it to look good was a desire connected to my internal voice of needing to be valued, needing to be significant, needing to know that my effort was worth it. 

I can't say when or how, but at some point I figured out that for me, it wasn't as much about getting it to look right as it was about the process of making the art. I wish I could share this ability with new artists, and children, so that they could reconnect with just having fun, just making marks, just enjoying the gift of creativity. As a teacher, it gives me a ton to mediate on....to pray about, and to send forward. 

This morning, as I started my journal page, the section in this book that I chose to work on was Figurative Painting. "Perspectives on the Arts" was written in 1961 and the very first sentence of the chapter written by Stephen Tillman reads as follows, "Young artists today live with a very strong sense of who is in and who is out." 53 years ago, in regards to painting and being a professional artist the same stigma applied and it makes me wonder if the cave men felt jealous over who was making the better, bigger, or prettier marks. Comparison steals our joy. It turns those negative voices in our heads on full blast and turns off the ones guiding us on our best path. 

Crowns seemed to fit these pages, the figures appeared to be powerful, and the juxtaposition of the two figures picking flowers beside the male figures of prominence gave me a twinge. As the marks flowed I felt inclined to consider how we wear crowns, how we strive to wear other people's crowns, and what can I do, as a teacher, to help those caught in the vicious cycle of comparison. The concept is complicated, it isn't easy to solve, but I believe in my heart it must be dealt with. Our true gifts and hearts are worth fighting for. 

Whispers In The Wind

As I have aged I have learned to quiet my spirit and listen to the wind. Whispers are found there, of deep longings from my spirit, of answers to questions I refuse to ask, and of gentle nudges directing me in ways that I am blind to when my noise meter is on full blast. In the moments that I choose to slow down and listen, my maker sends the language of love and compassion my way, for that I am truly grateful. Lately, I have been spending more time listening and less time talking, and I can tell a huge difference in my serenity. 

Artwork is like that some times. When I rush through ideas or pieces because I can, the heart is more silent. It doesn't mean that what I think or create is wrong, it just means that it isn't connected to my heart as much, and the further away from my heart I go, the more I know I am spinning my wheels and pissing my bones off. I am convinced that my bones have a direct line to my heart, like they are on Twitter together or something because it never fails.... when I am doubting myself, being careless, or acting on disconnected information my bones get royally fed up and let me know that. When I am creating for any other reason than being altruistic, I feel it in my bones. 

One way I practice staying connected is completing what I call Quick Paints. I take 15-30 min, use paper that would ordinarily be discarded, and I create a painting from my heart, not my head. This practice does two things: It keeps me creating from a sense of flow and it keeps me loose in my style so that I don't over think a piece and create from redundancy. Over thinking is the black widow of the painting process and can be lethal to a pure creative event every time. Here are two pieces I created in this way and both characters have been with me under the shadows, waiting to see the light of day, and longing for me to slow down and give birth to them. They came from my heart, not my head...and I trust that. 

"Mr. Boudelaire's Hair Is On Fire" (sold)

"He Plays Jazz On King Street" 5" by 11" acrylic on paper, matted 

($75)

Because professional artists create to sell the majority of the time, we often get caught up in painting for purpose rather than painting from passion, or at least I do. Bills must be paid, supplies purchased, and marketing explored, but for me, that can't be an excuse to bail on why I paint. My soul speaks through the wind, it says, "Paint through me, not in spite of me." Painting from this inspiration, not matter how different or weird, will always ground me in being true to my gift, self, and God. I sit here with the deepest understanding that it is His voice whispering in the wind.... He speaks through others, and he speaks with strength. I am grateful today for those who spoke to me with encouragement, with support, and with nudges of staying brave and bold in my long term art goals. 

The artists of HeArtspace on FB are my whisperers as well, they speak the truth from a place of love. :) The incredible Jeanne Bessette curates this group! It is not a group for artists to share pics, although occasionally we do. Rather, it is a group for artists to share the journey of being and becoming an artist. If you are interested in joining, in actively sharing your experiences, good and bad, of living a life as an artist, then friend her and request to be added to her secret group. Best decision I have made lately....best!

You Matter So Big!

Throughout my connections with artists, especially those just beginning, a common core belief comes to the surface of conversations: The fact that they struggle with their significance as a person and an artist. Many of us seem to be raised with the voice in our heads that we aren't good enough. My young third graders ask me constantly, "Is it good Mrs. Goodwin,?" and I just smile and wonder where this concept was born, how early, and how it is so ingrained in us as a society.

For years I struggled with the idea that yes, I was given gifts and talents, but at my core, I was insignificant. Who was I to have this opinion? Who did I think I was to boldly share this idea or concept or image? Why do I matter to anyone? These voices of mine came from lots and lots of lies I told myself, poor choices I made in connections, and my repetitive, nut case habit of comparing myself to everyone one and every thing. Terrible way to live really, terrible because those things robbed me of my joy....and they were hard to change. But, I did change them and this way of thinking, that I am wildly significant, is mind blowing.

Now, before you go on thinking, 'arrogant' I need to explain the difference between knowing I am significant and living my life believing I am better than anyone, they are very different in my humble opinion, and they are also what makes so many of us hesitate to embrace our true significance. Living in one's significance means that we acknowledge the gifts we have been given, see their potential in helping make this world a more beautiful place, and choose to share them in some capacity with others.  Living in arrogance means we believe we are far better and superior than others and our tone/behavior is telltale of that. To me, living in arrogance makes one walk straight into the pit of insignificance. 

So, how do we move from believing the lies we tell ourselves into living the truth about how this world needs us, and it does, :) Take one step a day toward owning it.....and that one step can begin with seeing a phrase and saying it everyone morning...I am significant. I matter SO BIG! Just seeing it fights the doubt, fights the voices, and gives strength to our inner spirit. It may feel weird at first, so what. Let it feel weird, but just see it. Then begin to say it. Then begin to notice throughout the day the little things you do that make a difference. Then you might just begin to see those gifts you have shining a bit brighter and when they shine brighter, others notice, especially others who are attracted to YOUR LIGHT! 

I made my poster today so I could see it every morning. I hope you make yours! If you do, share it with us, post a link to it, I wanna help reinforce the fact that YOU, yes YOU totally matter!  

From Ice to Angels Art Journal Page

It has been an incredible two days so far as Alabama is pretty much iced and snowed in. This is a view of our back yard and believe it or not, that is ice, not snow. I can't step foot out the door because it is so dangerous to walk on so I simply enjoy this oddity from afar. Thankfully, the respite has given me lots of uninterrupted journaling time! 

My kitchen table had this great view of the light pouring in which cast a turquoise glow on everything, including my sparkly mini tree that I keep up year your just because it makes me happy, :) The color palette of turquoise, orange, red, and dark gave me so much fodder for my new page too! 

These two pages, being part of my Perspective On The Arts Altered Book, are images by  Georges Braque. As a collage artist he is one of my faves and actually was father of the method called Papier collé. 

This type of collage specifically is created by the use of gluing paper, so for these two pages I wanted to embrace paper collage, cubism, and fauvism in celebration of this master painter. 

Although I had my color palette set I chose to be a bit looser with my concept and allow the idea to evolve rather than having a set 'topic' to cover. I loved the image of the lady in red with the scissors as well as the shadow of the gentlemen in black. 

As the page developed I used cubed shaped pieces for the base, went back and forth between the larger images and their importance, and then the idea to dwell on angels came to me after I found a piece of hand painted paper with the colors that I was looking for appeared in my bag....like magic, :) Once that piece was found, I knew where the page was going, especially in light of the nightmare experiences many of my Alabama friends had had over the previous 24 hours. 

My belief in angels is near and dear to me as I have had several experiences in my lifetime where nothing but the existence of angels could explain them, and I am grateful for a faith that allows me to share that. This page is one of my favorites, for its message, for its colors, for the entire experience of praying for folks while I made it. Each person interprets journal pages as they need to, and I trust that process. Hope this one speaks to many of you. 

You can view my entire book of pages for this journal in my Facebook album and see their steps in progress HERE.

You can also view my pages on my website as well here. 

Seeking Perfection Art Journal Page

It's the Deep South friends and we are hunkered down expecting an ice storm and possibly snow for the first time in 15 years. To my friends up north I say be patient with us, we southern folk are not used to the white stuff and moaning and complaining and rejoicing at the hint of snow is in our second nature. For me, two unexpected days off of work gave me a chance to paint, so I am THRILLED for snowpocalypse! 

Although I had wanted to create a snow inspired art journal page these images on my desk of girls with forlorn and piercing faces kept catching my eye, as if they were calling out to me to speak for them. I had seen several posts this week in my social networking circles about the nightmare of seeking perfection, photoshoping the perfect face, and on and on. It gave me much fodder to consider what exactly we are doing to ourselves in thinking we must look 'artificially beautiful' to be valued. 

I opted to start sketching around the four faces and gave a lot of thought to the fact that this was a church. We worship....through our faith, but sadly we worship the media, fashion, and the quest for that perfect look. I say perfect a lot here because that is what the voices in our head make us run like rats to cheese for doesn't it? As the page evolved I began to like the muted color palette and decided to embrace the neutrals rather than go for rainbow, which is a different path for me. 

My paints flowed, the marks worked, and I left this page knowing I would rather go out into the world au natural than be under the foot of the media circus. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy getting dolled up on occasion but I am not a slave to feeling as if I must look a certain way to fit it. Makes me wonder how mom's with daughters do it these days. 

You can view more of my art journal pages HERE! 

New Liquitex Paint Markers

Who says kids have all the fun at Christmas time? I was gifted some Liquitex Paint Markers and along with my Montana ones, I was set to have some fun! For those who aren't aware, these markers are acrylic based so they go swell with any type of acrylic or mixed media type of artwork. Most can be refilled as well and Montana carries the empty ones so we can mix our own colors as well, which is even more golden. 

I first chose to test out my markers in my mixed media art journal and worked o a page using Golden heavy body acrylics with my Liquitex markers. I LOVED the way they gave me control over the details, had great opaque coverage, and flowed smoothly. They didn't blend as well as I had hoped but they did offer the ability to cover in layers which turned out to be a nice way to use them. Because I have chisel tips, writing was easy and I could see they would lend themselves to lots of journaling, which is something we all love. To view all of the entries in this journal click HERE

Once I knew they would work well in my journal I wanted to see how they performed on watercolor paper. I opted for 300lb. rough, and right from the get go they were a bit sluggish. My graphite and crayons went down first, but the flow that I found on the slick paper just wasn't there on the rough surface and the paper seemed to soak the paint up too quickly at first. Once I had an initial layer of acrylic on the paper though, they performed quite well and were a joy to work with in adding details out the gazooba! 

This was the first test using the 300lb. watercolor paper. I just sketched, made marks, and played with color. You can see the texture pretty well, and the paint seemed to just not move well in this. I opted to turn the painting upside down and take it in a different direction this morning. 

First layers using Golden Heavy Body Acrylics

Next layers, adding details with the markers. 

"Practice Time" 9" by12" acrylic on paper

Final version, added some warm glazes and balanced out the details. Overall, the control the markers gave me are something my style works well with, that makes my day! 

There are applications I plan to tinker with using the markers, but for now, I am pleased as punch with how they work. I hope your Christmas and holiday was blessed friends. Looking forward to some huge changes in the new year as well!