"Two Crones" finished...

Today I finished "Two Crones"

"Two Crones" - watercolor, mixed media © Mandy van Goeije, 2013

Absolutely love these two ladies...

And I have found so many more interesting characters in my lines...

It's getting ever more fascinating...

Two Crones...

I love doing spontaneous line searches...they always lead to the nicest lines, shapes and even people appearing on my paper...

This is what appeared last week...

 

I was immediately smitten with these two crones...

I drew these lines a gazillion times on a piece of scrap paper...

And last Friday I decided to do them full colour...

"Two Crones" - watercolour on paper © Mandy van Goeije, 2013

This is just the underpainting...still needs working on...I'll bring more spaciousness into this drawing...but I like how these crones are turning out. I also can't help wondering...are these sage women out on a hike? Or are they carrying bags of wisdom to the local fairs?

A few moments sniffing Spring!

The sun finally popped from behind the clouds and I couldn't help myself...I stole a scarce moment to sniff Spring for a bit...and look at all that lushious beauty and life...it's so beautiful...offering SO much inspiration...

Garden in Spring, a set on Flickr.

I spent a few minutes watching damselflies hunt. They are vicious! At one moment I spotted a butterfly and set my camera to shoot it. I wasn't alone, however. And before I could shoot it for eternity, a damselfly caught it and bit its head off before I could blink. The butterfly got devoured ferociously right in front of my eyes. The damselfly was so busy eating that it didn't even move when the lens of my camera accidentally touched it.That's how close I could come!

A little while later I spotted two very still figures on some leaves sticking out of the pond. When I approached them, I noticed they were the emtpy shells of damselfly larvae. It resulted in a beautiful photo...eerie, but incredibly beautiful at the same time. Just imagine...bursting out of your own skin to grow. Humans only do that metaphorically...or should.

Among the damselflies was a fly, sparkling with greens and blues...the beauty of they backs highly contrasts with the annoyingness of their buzzing and tickling...let alone the though of the places they visit before landing on your plate... 

Oh, and notice that little puss of ours? She's 15 years old now and warming her stiff body in the sun...rolling around as if she were still young. And see how brown her black fur turns in the sun? Two days and she's down two tones...or three. 

Oh, and that blue, blue sky...how we have longed for it...and the fresh green leaves of the trees...it's a feast to the eyes...

A new flow...

The past years I've been designing and redesigning my profession. But I never seemed to get a fully clear picture of it in my mind. Let alone explain it to somebody else. Also, the emphasis kept shifting and I didn't really know what to focus on first.

This year started out insane, as readers of my blog will know. Our entire family was taken down by the flu numerous times in a row and my father was diagnosed with cancer. Things weren't looking very bright. A disastrous time for my professional development, I thought at the time. Because I was put to an immediate standstill.

My father miraculously fully recovered. But the possibility of losing him changed my entire perspective. And while I had seemingly come to a halt, I was taking some important decisions.

I went to see a coach. I wanted to find out what was holding me back. And the time proved to be so ripe for answers. Years of personal growth culminated into important insights. From there on I sky rocketed so fast...all the things I'd "known" already now fell together as one fitting puzzle. And with that came an incredible amount of energy, but at the same time the much sought after peace and quiet that I knew I needed to settle down professionally.

After the last session with my coach, I found a business coach. Not one that aims hardcore for the money. It's not that I'm after. She helps me dig out all I have gathered in the past few years and turn that into wonderful e-courses. She's not here physically, but she helps me formulate exactly what I'm doing. And recognise its value. And see how much I already HAVE built up in the past years.

The day before yesterday I learned a major lesson that immediately transformed into an incredible boost of energy. And guess what? I wrote an e-book in 2 days! It's not finished by far. I want to make it look fine and dandy...and I want to add a workbook to it so that people can work in it and from it. But this will be finished. I know exactly what I'm doing. And it's really going to be lovely. I am a demanding person, but I am really proud of this book! It is exactly what I want to deliver. It is a first of many to come. I have already written the outlines for 6 more!

I'm not going to tell you what the book is about just yet. I do not want to let any other energy into the creation of it than my own now that I'm so deeply into the flow of the book. However, I promise you that as soon as it's finished, I will let you know. Or even better...I will provide you with some sample material!

It is an incredibly exciting process to work from within without forcing myself to do a certain thing I'd agreed with myself, but let the flow take me along instead. I really did need the rough beginning of this year to learn that I must not fight the flow, but learn to go with it instead. From my new perspective, I see things so much brighter. And I know that I'm ready now, to take my work into the world. 

One day in Spring...

One day in Spring..., a set on Flickr.

Opening my Society6 Shop!!!

Yay! I'm opening my very own Society6 shop!!!

After careful deliberation I decided that I want to spend my precious time creating new work

instead of  dealing with orders, payments and shipping.

And besides...I'm good at making nice pictures...

Society6 is good at printing my pictures on lovely things and processing orders.

 

I've begun filling my shop with this warm and sweet Mandyla "Angels".

Looks so pretty on Society6!

Many more Mandylas will follow in the coming time.

I'm so curious what you think of them...

No, I'm not depressed.

Journal Page "Hey, little girl!" © Mandy van Goeije, 2013

I haven't posted many images from my journals the past years.

But in previous years I posted a lot of them.

And sometimes those images lead to people worrying about me.

Some people would even try to cheer me up a bit!

Well, before anyone starts worrying about me after seeing the journal page I did today,

I just want to say that I am doing FINE!

More than fine, actually.

Then what's with the gloomy image?

Well, to you it might seem gloomy because you don't know the whole story.

And forgive me, but I have no intention of sharing my whole story here either.

You will just have to take my word for it that my paintings and illustrations are symbolic.

I tell my story with images that tell the whole story to ME.

Very often I find that I didn't even know the WHOLE story until I'd painted a new picture.

Then it talks to me and fills me in on the things I wasn't aware of.

So no, dear readers, I am not depressed.

I am not even feeling gloomy or otherwise heavy in the heart.

I am feeling swell.

And this journal page to me represents something wonderful and fills me with joy.

One of the most important lessons to learn when you start journaling with images,

is that it is NOT about pretty pictures AT ALL.

A journal is a diary - is about meaningful pictures.

Personal, intimate and meaningful pictures.

Meaningful to YOU, the diarist.

I share some of mine because I hope they will inspire you 

to make your own meaningful pictures of your life.

If my pictures ring a bell for you, if you can read them 

and if they happen to tell your story as well, that's a bonus.

But in spite of my sharing them with the world my pictures remain private.

That's not to say you cannot ask me how I'm doing.

I don't mean to bite here. 

I just want to explain three things here:

1. Showcase that a journal = a diary = not about pretty, but about meaningful pictures

2. That gloomy pictures do NOT always represent gloomy stories

3. That my gloomy journal pages seldom mean that I'm not doing well. If anything, they're mostly about growth and blooming and the realisation of how far I've come.

So, what stories do you have to tell? 

How far have you come in becoming who you truly are? 

And what pictures tell YOUR story?

Sacred Woman speed painting

Sketching

Yesterday evening and today I've been sketching...

All stained with paint...

Been painting today...

"I love you so much"
20 x 20 cm acrylics on canvas

© Mandy van Goeije

"What to do with you?"

20 x 20 cm Acrylics on canvas
© Mandy van Goeije

New old inspiration

Last week I started with an online year-long course.
 For me it's not really about learning new stuff.
I think I know most of the techniques the teachers teach in their workshops.

It just feels good to be inspired by others, however.

It can offer those million sparks that keep you going.

I needed that, after the tumultuous first quarter of the year.

I needed a little oil for my artistic machine and to sometimes just sit and play for fun's sake...

The very first workshop was to create a Fairy Art Mother...

My F.A.M. turned out so sweet...

I created the mandala above with this first page.   

And I promise...

it certainly won't be the last!

If you feel like getting inspired as well,

You can always still enroll for Life Book.

And then the sun!!! 

Ahhh...today she finally came!

We spent one hell of a lovely day at the beach!

 

Beach houses were unwrapped, unpacked, put together and moved into all at the same time...

Cormorants were enjoying the sun as well...

On the sea lay a fine layer of fog...

Here's where we were...looking out on Flushing Boulevard...with a nice beach restaurant on the left.

 

We got so much sun that I collected a gazillion freckles in one day!!! Yay!!!

Totally relaxed and ready for a new week...

Packed with fresh inspiration!

"Liar"

  

"Liar"

mixed media on 40 x 60 cm canvas
© Mandy van Goeije

In motion...

I've been working on a new painting this rainy afternoon...

longing for summer,

can you tell?

Last Friday, especially, I wished for some sun.

I had volunteered to help decorate the school yard.

So when I got there, I was asked to design a few turtles...

 But as soon as I had drawn them and we were ready to start painting

the first mini droplets of rain started bugging us, getting bigger as we went along.

That's why this turtle now seems to be having some problems

digesting yesterday's meal...

Turtle in love...

 Yesterday I did an art project at an elementary school.

It was a HUGE success!

The kids were so enthusiastic.

I found a really great collection of fairy-tales in rap

and asked the kids to design the featuring fairy-tale figures

for a shadow theatre.

And after some really impressive work and zeal,

the kids got to perform in their fairy-tales for the rest of their class.

It was such a success

that they got to perform for another class too, in the afternoon.

I enjoyed myself loads.

And then when this kid came up to me and offered me a cupcake

'cause his mom had given him something else sweet,

it sort of gave me wings!

It was great fun to be teaching again...

And it was very rewarding to see it was so appreciated.

In the evening, one of the parents sent me a photo

of a shadow theatre his kids had made at home! 

"Spring"

This week,

I seized the day.

So when the sun popped from behind the clouds

I sat myself down behind the fence in our garden,

closed my eyes,

and started collecting freckles...

Even though snow's been forecast,

it is SPRING in my mind!!!

"Spring" 30 x 30 cm, mixed media on canvas © Mandy van Goeije