You've got some really lovely work there. I think it's good if you can not worry about 'what it's meant to be ' and just enjoy it. I did that with writing. I accepted I would not get money if I didn't fit a form but I got very bored in that style so early on decided to just do it for me. That's where the enjoyment lies...
Thank you so much. It's probably been around the last 3-4 years I stopped being concerned about whether I was 'doing it right' or that it was viewed that way.
Now I just create and enjoy the process and often the product too.
The books are great ways for me to enjoy this as I have them in various sizes so some can be 'finish now' and others 'finish later'
I tried a writing course, magazine and newspaper from AWC back in 2012 and it so was not me. I had to apply formula and I found it felt false.
Hi, Denyse - Your artwork shown here is absolutely beautiful. You have incredible talent and creativity. I am so glad that you are using it -- very inspiring! <3
Oh how kind you are Donna. Thank you. I loved using some of my creativity in classrooms with my young students but that is over 30+ years ago. Now I get to do it for me.
These are beautiful, colorful works of art! I like to play around with different mediums too though I almost always come back to acrylic paints and canvas since that is what I really learned with and spent the longest time working with (probably since I was 5-6 and lasting up through high school and even into college!). It's something I'm picking back up slowly but I do feel rather rusty.
Hi Denyse, it's lovely to see some of your bright and colourful artworks! New books to fill with art too :) It's great you've found this way to relax and it has a calming effect on you. Keep creating! Thanks for joining us for #WWWhimsy this week and sharing some of your creations.
I love your art Denyse, especially your flowers. I'm looking forward to seeing the content you create in those lovely new books. I do agree that art is calming. I'm not artistic but when my son died I felt the need to do something different to before, to calm my mind. I went to quilting classes and was spent about four years making beautiful quilts. It was exactly what I needed.
Thanks so much Jennifer. Flowers are my fave too. So peaceful painting and drawing them as repetition soothes.
I think you are artistic...remember your gardens!!
I love that you sought and found solace in the 'making of things' after your son died. There is something very special about using our hands and minds to heal...and grieve.
They’ say there are hidden talents in all of us and often trauma of one sort or another will reveal them. Sadly it’s taken trauma to reveal yours Denyse, so sharing the ‘art folios’ with us is almost like baring your soul.
I remember you sharing some of your mandalas and thinking how bright and colourful they were……so it seems is all of your ‘work’. Love it!
And look at all those shiny new books sitting there waiting…….hopefully we’ll get to see the inside sometime.
At times my knitting ‘takes me away’ from any troubles and woes going on around me - trouble is because the craft is so ‘well known’ my mind wanders - which isn’t the object of the exercise at all, is it?
Ah so insightful of you Catherine! Thank you for not only 'getting it' but the why remains important.
It was around 2013 when a kind of 'sadness' entered my life as I was caring for grandkids and had 'nothing' much that was mine after almost 40 years from teaching. It was then that I was introduced to the Index Card a Day concept and program.
It's where I connected with many from around the world and got to know the difference between 'artist' and 'student' quality in media. Yes they are more (much in some cases) expensive but the satisfaction in use immeasurable.
In the mandala days (thank you for remembering) there was a deliberate shift to mindfulness as I learned more and that in itself saved me many times over from any anxiety and pain levels post my cancer surgeries etc.
I have made a shift now, from 'making for others' to 'making for me' and for the process to be prime.
So yes the books give me different sized media choices and I like that too.
Your words have really made me see (and feel) the difference mindfulness in art has been for me over the past DECADE!! Yes, it's been that long...ha!
Similar to me and embroidery, Denyse. It takes me away, pure and simple.
A visit to the thread shop for me would be a visit to the art supply shop for you. It's all about joy in the end, isn't it. Love the repetition and colour in your work. It's you, it emanates from your writing as well.
Hi Denyse - it's such an amazing feeling to put aside all the "logical" part of our brain and just be creative with something we love. The mindfulness, the sense of satisfaction when you complete a page, the feeling that you've made something pretty out of nothing..... it's just a feel good thing to do, and it's also such a privilege to have the time to just sit and make something pretty. I'm very impressed by all your books and materials - I'm more "tight" with my spending, but still love it when I snap up a bargain to add to my trove of books.
It IS lovely Leanne and I am glad we connect this way too.
Never ever think I am "not" a bargain hunter though!!
Part of the thrill of the chase is for a good price but I also won't get sucked in any more by media that doesn't work for me.
I know that if I do not spend at least half an hour doing something mindful and creative my mood suffers for it. So, I do realise this and I am pleased that my set up is so easy to access.
Thanks so much for 'getting it' too and take care,
My goodness, Denyse you have enough for an exhibition! Isn't it wonderful when we find something that we enjoy which has health benefits as well. Your art is so colourful and I particularly like the one with the 'indigenous' colours. Thanks for sharing and brightening my day. Great to have you join us at #WWWhimsy to share your work and also support Min. Have a lovely week. Sue L. #TeamWWWhimsy x
You've got some really lovely work there. I think it's good if you can not worry about 'what it's meant to be ' and just enjoy it. I did that with writing. I accepted I would not get money if I didn't fit a form but I got very bored in that style so early on decided to just do it for me. That's where the enjoyment lies...
Thank you so much. It's probably been around the last 3-4 years I stopped being concerned about whether I was 'doing it right' or that it was viewed that way.
Now I just create and enjoy the process and often the product too.
The books are great ways for me to enjoy this as I have them in various sizes so some can be 'finish now' and others 'finish later'
I tried a writing course, magazine and newspaper from AWC back in 2012 and it so was not me. I had to apply formula and I found it felt false.
So I understand perfectly what you are saying!
Take care,
Denyse x
I love your art it’s so vibrant. I would like to try but wouldn’t know where to start.
Ah thank you Angela.
Where to start?
What did you like to do art-wise as a child?
Maybe find out from that where you might start.
Starting may be hard but the reward is there and it does not have to be shared!
I hope you find that art experience for you!
Take care,
Denyse x
Hi, Denyse - Your artwork shown here is absolutely beautiful. You have incredible talent and creativity. I am so glad that you are using it -- very inspiring! <3
Oh how kind you are Donna. Thank you. I loved using some of my creativity in classrooms with my young students but that is over 30+ years ago. Now I get to do it for me.
It is so good for my emotional health too.
Take care,
Denyse x
These are beautiful, colorful works of art! I like to play around with different mediums too though I almost always come back to acrylic paints and canvas since that is what I really learned with and spent the longest time working with (probably since I was 5-6 and lasting up through high school and even into college!). It's something I'm picking back up slowly but I do feel rather rusty.
Oh wow to your go-to art, Joanne. I can see so much artistic and creative talent in your scrapbook pages too.
Now with more 'time' maybe, you may just get back to those canvases.
Take care,
Denyse x
Hi Denyse, it's lovely to see some of your bright and colourful artworks! New books to fill with art too :) It's great you've found this way to relax and it has a calming effect on you. Keep creating! Thanks for joining us for #WWWhimsy this week and sharing some of your creations.
Debbie for #TeamWWWhimsy
It is so relaxing Deb and I am glad it is my go-to.
I found such comfort during those pre-cancer diagnosis years and after throught making art.
And during covid it was a great distraction too.
Take care,
Denyse x
I love your art Denyse, especially your flowers. I'm looking forward to seeing the content you create in those lovely new books. I do agree that art is calming. I'm not artistic but when my son died I felt the need to do something different to before, to calm my mind. I went to quilting classes and was spent about four years making beautiful quilts. It was exactly what I needed.
Thanks so much Jennifer. Flowers are my fave too. So peaceful painting and drawing them as repetition soothes.
I think you are artistic...remember your gardens!!
I love that you sought and found solace in the 'making of things' after your son died. There is something very special about using our hands and minds to heal...and grieve.
Take care,
Denyse x
Thanks Denyse. And I did forget to include gardening in my creative life.
They’ say there are hidden talents in all of us and often trauma of one sort or another will reveal them. Sadly it’s taken trauma to reveal yours Denyse, so sharing the ‘art folios’ with us is almost like baring your soul.
I remember you sharing some of your mandalas and thinking how bright and colourful they were……so it seems is all of your ‘work’. Love it!
And look at all those shiny new books sitting there waiting…….hopefully we’ll get to see the inside sometime.
At times my knitting ‘takes me away’ from any troubles and woes going on around me - trouble is because the craft is so ‘well known’ my mind wanders - which isn’t the object of the exercise at all, is it?
Ah so insightful of you Catherine! Thank you for not only 'getting it' but the why remains important.
It was around 2013 when a kind of 'sadness' entered my life as I was caring for grandkids and had 'nothing' much that was mine after almost 40 years from teaching. It was then that I was introduced to the Index Card a Day concept and program.
It's where I connected with many from around the world and got to know the difference between 'artist' and 'student' quality in media. Yes they are more (much in some cases) expensive but the satisfaction in use immeasurable.
In the mandala days (thank you for remembering) there was a deliberate shift to mindfulness as I learned more and that in itself saved me many times over from any anxiety and pain levels post my cancer surgeries etc.
I have made a shift now, from 'making for others' to 'making for me' and for the process to be prime.
So yes the books give me different sized media choices and I like that too.
Your words have really made me see (and feel) the difference mindfulness in art has been for me over the past DECADE!! Yes, it's been that long...ha!
Take care, and keep knitting...
Denyse x
Similar to me and embroidery, Denyse. It takes me away, pure and simple.
A visit to the thread shop for me would be a visit to the art supply shop for you. It's all about joy in the end, isn't it. Love the repetition and colour in your work. It's you, it emanates from your writing as well.
Ah ha. Yes, the loveliness of colours in various media! I can see that happening in a thread shop for you Prue.
I am such a lover of colour I find I literally cannot do much with pastel or pale! In clothes too.
Take care and thank you for your insightful comment.
Denyse x
Hi Denyse - it's such an amazing feeling to put aside all the "logical" part of our brain and just be creative with something we love. The mindfulness, the sense of satisfaction when you complete a page, the feeling that you've made something pretty out of nothing..... it's just a feel good thing to do, and it's also such a privilege to have the time to just sit and make something pretty. I'm very impressed by all your books and materials - I'm more "tight" with my spending, but still love it when I snap up a bargain to add to my trove of books.
It IS lovely Leanne and I am glad we connect this way too.
Never ever think I am "not" a bargain hunter though!!
Part of the thrill of the chase is for a good price but I also won't get sucked in any more by media that doesn't work for me.
I know that if I do not spend at least half an hour doing something mindful and creative my mood suffers for it. So, I do realise this and I am pleased that my set up is so easy to access.
Thanks so much for 'getting it' too and take care,
Denyse x
My goodness, Denyse you have enough for an exhibition! Isn't it wonderful when we find something that we enjoy which has health benefits as well. Your art is so colourful and I particularly like the one with the 'indigenous' colours. Thanks for sharing and brightening my day. Great to have you join us at #WWWhimsy to share your work and also support Min. Have a lovely week. Sue L. #TeamWWWhimsy x
How kind you are Sue. That is lovely of you to say.
Over the years I have made my art into placemats and bookmarks but now the preference for me is to use my lovely art journals.
I pick a variety of sizes because one day I might want to do something small and another time want to do something BIG. Mood and need determine this.
Thanks so much for your support here too.
Take care,
Denyse x
Happiness is a new notebook/journal ...
Indeed it is Jo...I so get that.
Thanks for sharing..
Take care,
Denyse x