intuition & mixed media

early on, no collaged paper added - I think, it feels like I like this best .... or do I? who knows ?

In these times I don't, in a manner of speaking, 
know what I want; perhaps I don't want what I know 
and want what I don't know. Marsilio Ficino 

Mixed media art, painting, drawing ... any non digital creative work is scary because the very next move you make - the next collaged piece you glue down, that extra bit of drawing you add, the paint that seemed like such a good idea, mushed on with fingers, could well be the move that causes you to think "oh great !! I've screwed it up - it's ruined, I've wasted all that time".

I do think it's the reason I've fallen so in love with assembling & building my collages in Photoshop because it's almost impossible to make a mistake. Phew ! I don't need to hold my breath. All that said I know without question that it is super important for my creative growth to dive in, hands on (non digitally), without expectations, for fun, for play & just mess around. If this brave creativity is something that resonates with you I'd recommend the following 3/4 e-courses.

Kelly Rae Roberts - Hello Soul / Mixed Media Mantras
Flora Bowley - Brave Intuitive Painting (LOVE, love, loved)
Mati Rose's - Daring Adventures in Paint or in Collage (or both !!!)

I've taken all 3 & loved all 3 because the assignments force me to be intuitive, to trust my intuitive voice (remember I was trained & still have my feet firmly planted in a graphic design background which I would suggest is not quite so intuitive). It's good for me to force myself to not have a plan, to just begin, to not care about the end result but to enjoy thoroughly the journey. - I say that last sentence oh so casually - it's hard work to not have a plan, expectations or a desired end result but it truly is the key to creative growth & freedom !! hooray for freedom ;-)

My scapegoat is I scan as I go - every subtle new layer or change I scan it, I guess it doesn't really matter whether or not I ever use that scanned stage/layer but I've documented it - which somehow gives me great comfort. So for all you braving the hands on, mucking about with paint, gel medium & paper - who knows how this might/will turn out. Scan as you go, scan every minor change. Scan each step or layer ... at the very least it will make you feel good ;-)

Can't say enough goodness about Kelly Rae Roberts and her e-course Mixed Media Mantras starts Sept 8th

where I ended up - not so crazy about this layer - but that's an important learning/lesson also