Just a quick one today. Not feeling at all arty or creative so I went back to something I feel a little more familiar with - photo editing. This is a shot from a whole bunch I took in the park this summer. I had so many that I couldn’t possibly post them all to Flickr, but they are still sitting on my hard drive and are fun to practice editing on at times like this. I feel I have cheated a little, as I am trying to push myself and try new things rather than stay in my safe zone. However, I hope to be back to new things tomorrow.

I’ve been feeling really grotty with a horrible cold for the last few days - loads of sneezing and coughing. However, in between all that, I have managed to be creative to some extent, so I am posting three pieces today which brings me up to date with what I have done so far.

This one is done using my new pencils, which are so much better than the cheap ones I used before. Much stronger colours. Originally this was just supposed to be a flower, but as I got down to the roots, I realised it was much bigger than I first thought. So, I added the little figure to give a sense of scale.

This one is done in felt-tipped pens and was great fun. I had no idea what I was doing and it just sort of evolved. The tiny flowers were added at the end after I made a nasty splotch drawing the curly bits and needed a way to disguise it!

And finally, crayons again. A quick sketch whilst listening to a podcast, mostly done to play with all the oranges and reds in her hair.

I’m not feeling well today - all bunged up and snuffly, with achy joints and a muzzy head. So, I decided to have a day off (well, for as long as the kids were at school, anyway) in the hope that I would feel more together by tomorrow. It seemed like a good opportunity to try something new for Art Every Day, so I rummaged through various boxes and drawers, and put together a collage. I love looking at what other people do for collages but it is something I haven’t ever really tried for myself. The theme for this piece is ‘Be Kind to Yourself’ and I included various things that make me feel peaceful, happy and relaxed. I was in danger of not being peaceful, happy and relaxed as I made it though, as I started to think of some of the wonderful mixed media pieces I have seen in the past, and to compare my effort unfavourably with them. When I realised what I was doing, I gave myself a stern talking to! One of the things I love most about this project is that anyone can do it - truly anyone. I have spent ages looking at other peoples art and wishing I could draw/paint/sculpt like them, when what I should have been doing is creating in my own unique way - just for me. Being part of this project has given me the push to show my creations to strangers, something I have never done before. I have plenty of digital art on Flickr - edited photographs, DAZ and Bryce renders, and my digital doodles - but I don’t feel they are my creations in quite the same way. I put together things that other people have made/programmed and edit them which is not the same as putting pen/pencil/crayon/paint/glue to paper at all.

But I’m rambling. Put it down to the muzzy head. Hopefully, somewhere in this post, you have picked up on the idea that I am enjoying this process very much indeed and finding it incredibly liberating

I also worked a little on the sketch I started yesterday …

…and doodled some ideas in between sneezes

I have been promising myself some art supplies for ages. A couple of months ago I got some acrylic paints, brushes and stretched canvas but have not plucked up courage to use them yet.  So, today I decided to treat myself to a few things that are more familiar to me, less scary as I start on this month of art every day.  I am now the excited owner of decent coloured pencils (rather than the very pale, wishy-washy ones I used yesterday), a large tub of crayons, a huge set of felt-tipped pens, and a cute little kit of watercolours, complete with a little brush and a lid that doubles as a palette.  They will all get used this month and, hopefully, by the end of the month the acrylics will have been used too.  For today, however, I stuck with something I know very well, from my own childhood scribblings and from drawing pictures with my kids - CRAYONS!!!!

I also started working on the title page of the book I am using for this months’ projects. I bought it a couple of years ago, intending to use it as an art journal or scrap-book, but it was still sitting empty and seemed a perfect choice. I shall work on the title page every day or so, using different media as the fancy takes me. There’s not much to show yet …

Finally, I started a very rough sketch of a character I may be writing about soon. The idea started with my blog post ‘Once Upon a Time…’ I always intended writing more, about who was in that tower, and ideas have been forming ever since. I have an idea of how the character looks and was going to create her in DAZ, but that would mean searching for and buying various clothes and props, and I really can’t be doing with the time and expense. So, I shall try to bring her to life on paper - in words and pictures. This is the first sketch which I may work up into a finished piece over the month, or I may use as a guide for more detailed sketches/drawings.

And now I am off to bed, to nurse my cold

Just wanted to announce that I have changed the settings here so that I can now post under my real name (Judith, for those who don’t know). Writing as Phoenix has been a great experience, but I no longer need to hide behind that name. I may yet return to Second Life at some point, where I will still be Phoenix, but elsewhere it’s time to stand up as the real me.

Apologies for any confusion, especially when I am commenting elsewhere and to anyone who has come here from a blog I have left a comment on.

Also, I’d be glad to hear any opinions on the new blog layout/theme. I thought it was time for a change from the basic Word Press theme and I like this one a lot. However, I’m not 100% sure. All thoughts gratefully received. Thanks

I just signed up to take part in Art Every day Month at the Creative Every Day blog. I have no idea if I will be making something different every single day, or if sometimes I will post progress on a larger project, but I am hoping this will give my creativity another boost.

The picture above, is for November 1st and was inspired by the very strong winds today which are blowing the remaining leaves from the trees outside my house.

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Lao Tzu

I officially registered as self-employed yesterday.

Guess I’d better get on with making things and open my Etsy shop now!

When I started my first blog, it was about what I got up to in Second Life and I used the name Phoenix to write posts as that was the name of my avatar in-world. When this blog was started, I made the decision to continue using the name, as it is something I feel a strong affinity with. It also allowed me a degree of anonimity, continued by referring to the kids by their initials and to Wolfie as, well, Wolfie!

However, as time goes on, I find this is sitting less comfortably with me. I comment far more nowadays, on other people’s blogs, and am building up a little community of people who I feel a connection with. I am no longer afraid to add my voice to their posts as I once was. The problem is that this had led to a bit of a split-personality for me online. My blog is written as Phoenix - anything I comment on using my Google/Blogger account names me as Phoenix - my Flickr account is still in the name of Phoenix. On sites that require me to sign in by any means other than Google however, I use my own name, or some variation of it, without a second thought.  (It’s interesting that I never sign as Phoenix at those times.)  Also, I have started to refer to the kids as Em and Jen, rather than by their initials, so the anonimity thing obviously doesn’t bother me like it once did.

I realised how confusing this might be for others just a few minutes ago. Earlier to day, I read a post on Magpie Girl’s blog, left a comment there, and then wrote about and linked to it here. The writer of the original post (hi Rachelle!) kindly left a comment here on my blog, and I realised that it was very likely that she would not link the owner/writer of this blog (Phoenix) with the author of the comment on her blog (Judith).

So, what to do? Is it time to let go of the name Phoenix? Do I need to go round explaining everywhere? Or will people figure it out? Does it even matter?

I’d be interested to hear any thoughts you might have, on what I might do and on how you chose what name to write under here on the internet.

I have just read this post at Magpie Girl, about the idea of not buying any new clothes for a whole year. I have been thinking a lot recently about the amount of clutter in my life, how much stuff we have that will probably never get used, my tendency to buy things I don’t really need (usually with the idea that they will cheer me up) and the effect consumerism has on the environment and society.

I’ve been seeing so many inspiring blog posts, news articles and books about how people are beginning to change their attitudes to this stuff. Words about living authentically, in tune with the earth, in contact with our fellow humans, and I have been getting more and more frustrated because I have known for most of my life that that is the way it should be, the way I want to live my life, and yet I somehow haven’t quite been able to take the leap and actually do it. Life has felt like two steps forward and one step back (which is progress, I know) when what I want to do is stop counting steps and just take the leap of faith into the life I want.

sigh I have no idea if any of this makes sense or whether I am just rambling. I have had so much of this stuff going on in my head for weeks and just finally had to get it out. I know I have said before that I felt I was on the brink of something big, and you must have wondered what happened to that something. I believe I was right about the something, I just wasn’t as close as I thought. However, reading Magpie Girl’s post this morning has given me another nudge and I have signed up for a year of not buying any new clothes. As she suggests in her next post, I shall set myself some rules to help, so that I am clear on what I do and do not allow.

I have also decided to take it a step further and make the same pledge for books. My bookshelves are so full that the books are stacked rather than standing, making it near impossible to find anything, and yet I still buy more when the fancy takes me. A year of reading some of the books I own but have never read, plus some old favourites I’ve been meaning to re-read for years, will be great fun, and hopefully I will release some to new homes along the way (after all, I may have loved ‘Lace’ when it first came out, but is it really my taste now?!)

Enough rambling for now. Just for now though …