For Lani's "Daily Practice" E-Class

This week's assignment was to take a b/w photo and colorize it in some interesting way.

Original photo:

 

I believe someone had the original photo on their Facebook page.

For Lani's Daily Practice E-Class

Biggest Fear

I created this in response to Lani Gerity's blog post at http://14secretsforahappyartistslife.blogspot.com/2013/09/fun-monday-challenge-17-bravery-is.html

I used a photo of Billy Bell found on his Facebook page. There are no monetary intentions by my creating this digital collage with it. Digital elements are from Paula Kesselring's kit "Child Play" and OTBDS' kit "Life Defined."

For Lani Gerity

I created this after reading Lani's latest blog posts about training your elephant.

http://lanipuppetmaker.blogspot.com/

Elements from Holliewood's "Art Dollies" and Pink Lotty's "Cracked Paper."

Beauty's Inspiration

Lani asked us to find three things that inspired us and would inspire us in training our elephant. (You'll need to read Lani's e-zine to find out what training your elephant is all about.) I really enjoyed seeing the roses in bloom, the water in our pond, and the beautiful moon. I, of course, had to represent myself jumping into the middle of all of that beauty.

My Elephant

I'm still loving Lani Gerity's series about the trainer and the elephant. This is how she explained what it means: The trainer or rider is that part of ourself that has goals and can think about consequences. The elephant is the part of us that wants what it wants right now. It's very hard work training the elephant because it is so big. Here's another digital compilation I did about the subject.

I found the man on Trendland and he was photographed by Aduu Juma Masudi.

Training Your Elephant

This digital compilation will not make any sense unless you have been following Lani Gerity's several last blog posts. http://lanipuppetmaker.blogspot.com/ To be honest, I have to go back and re-read them, because I've already forgotten what the elephant represents. But she has been creating all kinds of fun elephant related collages, and I had to try doing one. The original photo was found by Googling "man and elephant." I don't have any rights to it.

Happiness

Lani Gerity has a bunch of "happy" faces pinned on her Pinterest board. They inspired me to make this.

Lesson 6 of Lani Gerity's Class "Happy Artists Life" - Be Here Now

The thoughts behind this piece won't be plain without your having read lesson 6 of Lani Gerity's class, but I wanted to share the picture I created, because I found the lesson to be very meaninful.

Happy Artists' Life Class Assignment

This class is being given by Lani Gerity. I always find her art and words to be very encouraging. This is part of the instruction for our assignment: "This lesson “You Are Beautiful” is about elevating the business of life to a sacred or mythic plane. Give some thought to “in whose light you do what you do”. The idea is to see the larger context, to see ourselves as a part of a whole that is much greater than our own little corner or our own minds. Folks who work with 12 step programs talk about a higher power. Jungians talk about the collective unconscious. But what ever your spiritual inclination (or non-inclination), the idea is to turn outward now, in this exercise, looking outside of yourself for solace and comfort. . . So my question here is, is the light outside of us, inside of us, or both? How does it make the self-portrait look?  Is it beautiful?  I believe so.  I believe we are beautiful!"

If you would like to visit Lani's website, the link is: http://lanipuppetmaker.blogspot.com/

For Lani Gerity

Lani created an "Occupy Elf" that I absolutely love. I created this picture for Lani using it.

The camping trailer is from M. Zimm's "Travel the World 2" kit. The background picture from Eana's Creation "Magic Ice Kingdom" kit.

Creative goodness through art-making, connection, & collaboration

If anyone is interested, there are going to be 6 e-classes offered at an incredible price of only $49.00. The group of them is being called "6 Degrees of Creativity." If you would like to check them out, here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/3df4rnw  I wanted to let people know, because Lani Gerity will be teaching one of the classes. I've taken several of Lani's e-courses before, and I can tell you she has such positive and happy energy that you will feel better immediately! (Not that I'm implying you don't feel well.) I always need positive, happy energy.

The collage below is one that Lani created:

Lani also created a short video about the classes you may enjoy watching here: http://topsecretannex.blogspot.com/p/six-easy-lessons-for-happy-artists-life.html

Art Therapy - I'm Creating A Zine About Joy

I belong to the Yahoo group 14 Secrets moderated by the wonderful Lani Gerity. I decided I wanted to create a zine for the group where everyone who wants to contributes, and then I create a digital zine to send back to them. I love creating zines, and use to participate in numerous zine swaps. Somehow, the zine swaps have managed to die down. Creating a digital zine is so much easier, though, than hosting a swap where you have to receive lots of packages through the mail, sort all the pages, put the zine together, and then mail them all back out to the participants. It sure saves on postage! Digital zines allow much more freedom without all the physical hustle and bustle. If a person wants a physical copy, all they have to do is print it on their inkjet printer.

Anyway, the zine I will be creating is going to be called "We Collect Joy."  Concentrating, looking for or creating joy, especially through art, is proving to be a strong help in controlling depression. I worked on a digital collage tonight that I plan to share in the zine, and thought I'd post it here. If you would like a copy of the zine or even contribute something to it like a special photo that brings you joy, a special poem or whatever, head on over to Yahoo Groups and join 14 Secrets. It's a wonderfully supportive group!

Another Present - A Moose

Lani Gerity, the famous puppet maker,  sent me a retirement present! Yay. It's a moose. I love moose. They are so big and funny looking that I consider them kin. Thank you so much, Lani, for the wonderful picture!

Being very inspired, I had to write a poem.

 

Who Stole My Moose?

I went outside

to see my moose,

but to my surprise

he’d gotten loose.

Where could he be?

They’re hard to hide.

Did someone take him?

I ran inside.

I grabbed the phone

to report the theft.

“Just calm down.

You sound quite bereft!”

Then I heard a noise

and went out to see.

There stood my moose

with a family!

Make Your Own Path

For my friend June in England who, after reading my last post, suggested turning the page and not looking back! (June creates beautiful digital collages, and if you'd like to visit her blog, click here: http://junibearsjottings.blogspot.com/

 

The forest picture was taken by my online friend Lani Gerity. She offers some wonderful classes that help artists work through issues like gaining resilience using art. She also posts beautiful altered photos. You may visit her blog by clicking here: http://lanipuppetmaker.blogspot.com/

Oh! I almost forgot! She also created the font I used in the lower right corner of the picture.