Between the Winter months here in the Southern Hemisphere, the fluctuations of the pandemic, the lack of contact with humanity & mostly because I miss the interaction between other creatives, I miss the in-person Workshops and then most of all the amazing group collaboration where we have freedom to express our unique creativity.
Recently I was asked: "How did the pandemic influence our communities and what are my views around that?" Now, even though I do not recall my complete answer, it was something along the lines of this...
Knowing my connection with people of all walks of life and my ability to communicate, it was easy for me to translate my creativity into online education. This shift in my mindset has elevated the way I see learning & interaction with one another. Even though the sense of community was upheld in a synthetic manner, the connection through the world wide window of the internet world and the brand new influx of content available to us through these channels was exactly what was missing from a more direct learning system. A different type of freedom, not unlike searching through a library, but a huge database of libraries.
Yes, there are downsides to not being in contact with other humans, but my view on this is that the humans who are most important to our survival was right there at home with us.
If we felt isolated & alone it was only because we didn't nurture our closest relationships in the first place and really need to dig deep into what is going on in our lives if this is the case. Ask yourself this: "Can I make time to connect with my child, wife, husband or whoever it is you've lost touch with? and then develop a connection through small easy steps to build up those broken bridges. Now more than ever we need to be close and support each other through this "shizz" hole we find ourselves in. Together we can all do what needs to be done to nurture our wellness, even if it means we do it synthetically via online channels.
Building on alternative methods of thinking, seeing new ways of problem solving and an expanded view on how we wanted to be entertained creatively is just the literal tip of the iceberg. You see, there is no one way to do anything & when you can open your mind to think creatively, you'll discover the myriad of techniques you can use to explore a subject, just like the Sunflowers I tackled through the month of July.
Taking a look at the first one, "The Dip Pen Inking Class" on Skillshare
Then there is a Bonus video for this Class & it's already been added to Skillshare, you'll have to check it out over there. I'll give you a 30 DAY FREE PASS
Next was the Video where I played with Yellow Watercolour & the Intense Black water soluble ink. This video is on my YouTube Channel, it's the Watercolour Sunflowers with a Dip Pen Finish
For the week after that I wanted to show how I start a project & this meant we discovered several ways to use Thumbnail Sketches in our Welcome Home Sketchbooks and the whole process was captured on video. I also show you how to change the way you develop those thumbnails to fit your vision Thumbnails & Sunflowers is an excellent way to bring new ideas to life before you choose a final design and it's somewhat similar to the planning phases of a project, this time with pictures, not words.
And because this whole month was dedicated to Sunflowers, we have two more videos to talk about. The Happy Sunflowers in Watercolour is an 8 inch x 8 inch project & it is also available as an Art Print in the shop. You can absolutely use any of the techniques, but be authentic to your style & create your own design through the use of all the previous techniques we've covered.
This last one might just be my favourite piece because it came together so quickly. The Draw & Paint a Watercolour Sunflower Video is ready for you & still on my free list (this might change in the near future as I'm gearing towards adding the tutorial type videos to a private playlist for my website Members, I'll keep you updated)
This meant that we decided to harness the opportunity to also use our videos to share our knowledge with our true fans. For instance, nurturing a community of like minded creatives, taking care to share relevant information with you as we have it available and understanding not only our needs as a place to develop your creativity, but also a place where we can give more of ourselves.
It's important to find our own voices as Creatives amongst the bombardment of the outside world. Rationally, it seemed more valuable to create a sense of Well-being & to take time to nurture our Souls while the outside world can wait for a few moments. As much as our ability to adapt and adjust to the situation has proven to be among the things we've also learnt to manage. Still, there is an enormous need for mental health at this stage & I want you to be able to receive that in some form or another in the contents I share.
My inner understanding of this concept brought on a deep desire to create something that is truly unique to my abilities, a niche of my own so to speak & if you didn't know this about me, then I invite you today to enjoy my Reiki & Watercolour Flow Class for FREE by using my Teachers link to Join for 30 days
Please take care of yourselves & stay home when you can
Love to all xo
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