Perfectly Imperfect

Getting Back To It

/ emelj / Leave a comment

It’s always tricky juggling life and family commitments with the need to create. I find it hardest in the long Christmas school holidays. I love my kids to bits and really enjoy the more relaxed holiday mode, but by the end of six weeks of entertaining and endlessly feeding and cleaning I really miss painting!

By the time the holidays are done, I’m so out of my creative routine that it takes a concerted effort to get back into gear. There’s really no other way to do it other than just jump in and work. It doesn’t matter if what I’m creating is not my best work, it’s just important to get started, to get back into the flow and discipline of painting.

It’s stinking hot here in Sydney, (AGAIN) way too hot to be in the studio, so I’ve moved indoors with the aircon. Hallelujah!!!! 

Here’s what I’m working on at the moment.

Till Next Time,

Keep Sharing the LOVE !

(Lord knows the world needs it😜)

2016: Keep Creating

/ emelj / Leave a comment

It’s a bit late, but what the heck! I like to keep my New Years resolutions simple so I can reapply them every time I fall off the resolution wagon. This year’s is no different and follows the extremely successful resolution of 2015, which was CREATE! In 2016 my resolution is KEEP CREATING! 

I know it sounds like I’m cheating, just rehashing last year’s resolution, but it’s truely not. One of the challenges of being a creative person is that you can’t stop. I mean obviously you can, but if you do, it’s so hard to get going again. So while 2015 was a great year, with my paintings being exhibited in Rome, having a successful exhibition at the Gauge Gallery, winning second place in an art prize and having my work shown in another 8 or more group shows, I really need to keep building on that momentum.

  
Wild  Mixed media on paper

Keeping on track can be hard. It can often feel like the world is conspiring against you. Everything starts to look like it’s just as important as everything else. Kids, house, work, exhibitions, projects, the fact that the bathroom needs renovating before it falls apart……….all of it begging for immediate attention. I find making a plan is good. I make lists most days and tick things off as I go and if I get distracted, I go back to my list. So simple, yet so effective! I also create a collaged vision board  with all my major goals for the year on it. I put it next to my bed, so it encourages (or taunts) me every morning. All this discipline, lists and the like sounds very un- arty, but it’s actually really helpful. It keeps me on track and stops the innumerable distractions of life from hijaking the day and wasting energy that could be channeled into the big life plan. You know, the “why I’m really here” plan. We all have them and they’re as varied as we are and they need to be on the top of the list! 

  Underwater Romance  Mixed media on paper.
Anyway, before I start preaching, if you’re struggling with staying on track, or even getting started on something that really matters to you, give some of these ideas a go. Make a space in life for the big plan, whatever yours is, work toward it in some way, every day and KEEP CREATING! 

Til next time,

Share the LOVE! 

Art Journaling

/ emelj / 4 Comments

I thought I’d try something a bit different and post a video, rather than writing my blog. I loved how immediate the creation of a video is, though I have to say, the upload took a ridiculous amount of time! As always I follow my usual mantra of being “perfectly Imperfect’ and all things considered, I think it turned out really well. Big thanks to Ben for overcoming those sneaky technical issues, that threaten to dampen (or tsunami) my enthusiasm!

Till next time.

Share the Love

And maybe give art journaling a try, you never know where it might lead!