small art Archives - Mindful Art Studio

Let’s Make Some Inchies!

08.21.2018 by Amy Johnson Maricle // 2 Comments

Dear Wonderful, Creative You:

Join the Inchie Challenge! You’ll get my free Inchie Workbook, and from August 20 – 31st I’ll be sending prompts and inviting you to create small art. For this challenge, we will be creating art that is 3 inches or less, any medium. This is a wonderful way to invite more creativity into your day.

Inchie Art Challenge Tutorial

Yesterday I was live on Facebook creating inchies and giving tips on how to incorporate images and text in your inchies, as well as how to use them in your journal pages. I’m excited to this little art tutorial with you here and hopefully get you inspired as well. Let’s make some inchies!

Supplies for Inchie Paintings:

You can use whatever supplies you have on hand – even a post it note and pen. If you’d like to find some of the materials I’m using, I’ve provided the affiliate links here.

Strathmore Mixed Media Paper

Koi Watercolor Markers

Sakura Gelly Roll Pens

Micron Pens

Be sure to tag @Amymaricle and #mindfulartstudio when your share your work on Facebook and Instagram. One randomly drawn winner will win a spot in my class, Fluid Art.

Creatively Yours,

Amy

The links here are affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, if you choose to follow a link and purchase something, you’ll be supporting the work of Mindful Art Studio to empower the artist in us all.

Adventures in Paper and Fluid Paint: An Accordion Journal Flip Through

07.28.2017 by Amy Johnson Maricle // 4 Comments

Dear Wonderful, Creative You:

What’s happening in your creative world this summer? I find it’s important to find a technique that lights your fire and makes you want to return to your art table every chance you get. Do you know what I’m talking about? Like when you get up 15 minutes early just so you can make a little progress on that painting, or stay up much too late working on that collage. I’m not saying you need to be in a constant state of inspiration, but feeling excited about your art will help you build a sustained art practice and creative self-care habits. Right now I’m having adventures in paper and fluid paint.

My Accordion Journal Flip Through

I’ve continued to have a blast discovering what I can do with my high flow acrylic paints, gel pens, hole punches, and mixed media paper. I’ve realized that not only can I use these beautiful little paintings as the centerpiece in my tiny Moleskine journal, but I can also cut my accordion journals to create almost sculptural pieces. While I enjoyed my sculpture class, I would never have said it’s my forte in visual art, so discovering these techniques has been a surprise, and a delight. I’m happy to share my adventures in paper and fluid paint with you:

Making art is always interesting because I find there’s often a moment in the process of making an art piece where I feel my choices are too safe, and I realize they don’t give me that fire of inspiration. That’s always a sign that I need to take some risks. For your art to be really alive and energizing, you have to be willing to make risky choices and chance ruining the piece.

If you are not sure what sets your heart on fire, why not find out? Search online for art techniques that spark your interest, take an art class in your community or online, go to museums, look through art books, and give yourself permission to be a beginner and try something new. That’s how you feed the creative fire. Sometimes to get to the point where you are willing to let go and be a beginner, you need to get the inner critic taken care of first, if that’s the case for you, check out this post first.

Adventure is adventurous because there’s an excitement attached to the fear. There are always risks and mistakes along the way on a journey, don’t you think? So why not in our art? And for that matter, why is it not okay to feel disappointed at times with what we create? I think it’s unrealistic to expect that everything we make will be “good.” We need to expand our idea of what a “good” art process is, instead of focusing so much on good art. After all, most of us are making art in order to have fun, so why don’t we relax and have some fun making art?

Enough of playing it safe in your art. Let's have an art adventure together instead. #doitfortheprocess Click To Tweet We need to expand our idea of what a good art process is, instead of focusing so much on good art. #artjournaleveryday Click To Tweet

Creatively Yours,

Amy

P.S. If you’d like to learn more about how to use these fluid acrylic paints, you can click here to learn more.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means if you choose to click a link and purchase something, at no extra cost to you, you will support the work of Mindful Art Studio to empower the artist in all of us. Thank you!

How to Make a Little Art Everyday

07.17.2017 by Amy Johnson Maricle // 17 Comments

Dear Wonderful, Creative You:

I’d like to share a personal story about why I make a little art everyday. My parents both grew up poor. Their families were raised in the depression and so they learned to be resourceful and practical. They both scraped together what they could, and worked from a young age to contribute to the family. Neither went to college. While they both found success in adulthood, neither was exposed to, or ever developed an appreciation for art.

When I came along, with all my various creative passions, they thought my creativity was “nice,” but they never got excited about my art.

Several years ago I was shocked to learn that my mom had an idea for a mystery novel, and had written a bit of it, but then let it go. I asked if she thought she would write it now that she had time in retirement. She said, “Maybe someday.” She died a year later.

“Maybe someday” is like saying “maybe never.”

What Gets in the Way of Making Art Everyday?

We make everything else a higher priority: the kids’ activities, our spouse’s needs, the laundry, dusting; the list goes on.
The negative self-talk of the inner critic. We tell ourselves art supplies are too expensive, and taking time to make art is “indulgent,” that we are not good enough and are wasting our time.
We live in a culture that believes only “gifted” people should dance, sing, and draw. This belief feeds all the negative self-talk noted above.

You feel that urge to create. It comes from somewhere. It’s because it’s instinctual. Humans are creative, it’s how we evolved and survived. Stop questioning that, and we can start figuring out how to fit in some time to make art.

There is Time to Make a Little Art Everyday

One of the biggest secrets to making time for art is to start small. Thinking about the big, grand projects is overwhelming, and if you are not used to writing or making art for an hour a day, that will feel overwhelming at first. That’s why I love inchies and small art. They are tiny, bite sized invitations to be creative. In 5 minutes, you can draw or paint quite a bit on a one or two inch shape.

The truth is, there is always time for a little art. A little writing. A little dancing. A little painting. If you make it a practice and a priority to create a little everyday, it becomes a habit. Once you develop an art making habit, you’ll find you start to need it, and things slowly begin to shift around so that you have more time to do it. You have time for what you prioritize.

Once you begin making art more consistently, you’ll wonder what you did with your time before. As a bonus, when we “indulge” in art making, we tend to feel better, and those around us can see the positive impact in our mood. In other words, your family may thank you for making time for art!

Join The Inchie Challenge!

We’ve been making teeny, tiny art all week, and I’ve heard from so many of you who feel like they are just getting started, so I’ve extended The Inchie Challenge through all of July! Working small has been so helpful to entice me to make a little art everyday, and I think has helped me to avoid many of the pitfalls that entrap us into thinking our art is not a priority.

What to Do with Your Inchie Art:

3 Fun Inchie Art Projects:

1. Use an inchie to inspire a journal spread: Paste it down and create around it.

2. Make a grid of inchies in your journal or on crisp paper and frame it.

3. Give inchies with messages of love and gratitude to someone who needs it.

Fluid art, fluid art class, fluid acrylic paint, make a little art everyday, fluid acrylic paint techniques — Learn to use the natural properties of high flow acrylic paint to create in your journal.

Take Your Art to the Next Level with Fluid Art

I want to help you form a habit of art making everyday. If you are pushing your creative boundaries with The Inchie Challenge, the next step is to learn more about fluid paints, working in stages, and making lots of art in Fluid Art. Students love how addictive it is to watch these paints flow, and then decorate them with fun and simple patterns using gel pens. You can make your own galactic and underwater scenes with no prior art training. Want to learn more? Click here to see what Fluid Art can do for your daily art practice. You can also click here to take a peek at our 42-page class PDF

Let’s open up some more space for your art.

Creatively Yours,

Amy

Making art is not indulgent, it's necessary. #inchies #mindfulartstudio Click To Tweet There is always time for a little art. #inchies #mindfulartstudio Click To Tweet Something else will always be a higher priority than making art if you let it. #mindfulartstudio Click To Tweet