Orange Spiral Arts

Welcome Spring in the Midwest

Spring is here!

Maple tree (above)

When all else fails, nature is what soothes me.

May these spring photos inspire you to notice the beautiful details around you right now, too.

Cherry tree blossoms (above)

Carolina Springbeauty wildflower on the forest floor (above)

Red Pine bark detail (above)

Bloodroot (above)

Carolina Springbeauty up close (above)

Moss on a log (above) with wildflowers in the background

Trout lily leaves?? (above)

Wild fern emerging from a metallic outer covering (above) Isn't nature incredible?

Any wildflower lovers know what this one is called? (above)

"Once you free your mind, there's beauty in everything." -Alicia Keys

I am sending love and blessings out to you now. May you receive them.

Thank you for being here. You matter. You are important. You have unique gifts to offer the world.

21 Secrets Super Sale Starts Today

Greetings Everyone,

I have been both a participant and a guest teacher in the 21 Secrets online classes. I absolutely love them! They have taught me so much about how to use mixed media art supplies, how to break open to new ways of working, and much, much more. It is really inspiring to watch other artists work in their journals or with their chosen supplies. I am so grateful that these 21 Secrets workshops exist. 

If you are interested in learning more about mixed media art and art journaling, I highly recommend you check out 21 Secrets! There is a super sale happening right now on the following editions:

 21 SECRETS Just Add Water
 21 SECRETS The Great Outdoors

 21 SECRETS Summer Studio 2018 Bundle

21 SECRETS Paper, Glue, Scissors

 21 SECRETS Playful Experiments
 21 SECRETS Capturing Moments
 21 SECRETS Summer Studio 2019 Bundle

21 SECRETS Face Time

NOTE: You need to ENTER THE FOLLOWING CODE AT CHECKOUT to receive the 40 percent off discount: SUPERSALE

I am sharing my affiliate link here, which helps me get paid as a 21 Secrets guest teacher. I am so, so grateful for your support.

I hope you have tons of fun with your mixed media supplies!

Sending Blessings and Creative Vibes Your Way!

-Briana of OrangeSpiralArts.com

 

Keep the Vibe High-Music Moves Me-Art Journal Spread

This post was originally written as a design team member for Artistcellar.

Keep the Vibe High Journal Page with Briana

I am a person who loves music. Music moves me! Can you relate? As many of you may know the Grammy Music Awards was recently on TV. While I did not watch the Grammys when it aired, I was paying attention to Alicia Keys’ Instagram account, as she was the first female in over a decade to host the Grammys. She was so excited! The morning after the Grammy Music Awards, I scoured the Internet, trying to see a little bit about what went on. I saw a video of Alicia’s welcome speech. She was all about spreading love, kindness, and keeping the vibe high. I loved it! She also called on some special people to help her out. You can watch the video here.

 

I felt so inspired, that I decided to make a journal page, and I am calling it, “Keep the Vibe High.”

Supplies Used:

Artistcellar Stencils-Tamara Laporte-Inspiration Series Stencils

Artistcellar Stencils-Tamara Laporte-Whimsy Series Stencils

Spray Ink (on sale at Artistcellar)

Acrylic Paint

Cosmetic Wedge

Posca Paint Pen

Ballpoint Pen

Step 1:

First, I wrote some bubble letters across the page spread that represented the energy I wanted to capture.

 

Step 2:

I used spray ink through a stencil. I love how spray ink fills a background with color!

 

Step 3:

I used acrylic paint to fill the color around the letters of the background.

 

Step 4:

I added some of Tam’s Inspiration Words with black acrylic paint and a cosmetic wedge.

 

Step 5:

Using a variety of Posca Paint Pens, I outlined certain words that I wanted to stand out more.

 

 

Step 6:

Finally, I added some flowers from Tam’s Whimsy: Flower Garden stencil, using white acrylic paint.

 

May this post inspire you to play that music that moves you, spread the love, and keep the vibe high.

 

May it be so.

 

Sending Blessings,

Briana of OrangeSpiralArts.com

 

 

 

2018 Monthly Creativity and Expressive Arts Workshops in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Hello To Wonderful You!

Thank you for reading this today.

I am excited to announce a new, monthly workshop series being offered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

These workshops are scheduled at the colorful, spacious, and easy to get to Rachel Greenhouse Agency.

In this quiet Minneapolis neighborhood, there's plenty of street parking, so no worries there!

And on days when the Minnesota weather is comfortable, there's even an outdoor patio!

The workshops are scheduled mostly on the FIRST SUNDAY of each month (except where noted as Saturday).

Dates and Time 1:00pm-4:00pm

March 4^th

April 7^th (Saturday)

May 6^th

June 3^rd

July 7^th (Saturday)

August 5^th

September 8^th (Saturday)

October 7^th

November 4^th

December 2^nd

Please mark your calendars and reserve your spot well in advance. 

One of the benefits of these workshops is the small group size. A limited number of spots (up to 12) allows for more individual attention, as well as a more intimate setting for sharing personal stories, thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

These workshops are a unique offering of ritual, circling, connecting with mind, body, spirit, and soul, and mixed media art.

If you are feeling out of alignment and have a desire to feel more connected to your inner wisdom, your inner artist, your authentic self, and your tribe, these workshops are for you!

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This is not art therapy or psychotherapy. If you have experienced severe abuse of any kind, I recommend that you have the support of a professional therapist while attending these workshops. 

All supplies are provided for use at each workshop, except your journal/sketchbook. 

Please bring a Canson XL Mix Media spiral bound blank journal, size 9 in. x 12 in. 

Reserve Your Spot Today!

Please indicate in a Note to Seller or an email, which month you are reserving. Thank you.

$125 per person/ per workshop

For more detailed information about the workshops, click here.

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” 
― Osho

Freedom through Painting on the Day After the United States Presidential Election

Hello Beautiful Human Being,

I want to share how inspiration led me to painting and expressing myself in my art journal this morning, after hearing who won the United States Presidential Election. I am grateful to Hali Karla for sharing a flip through her art journal. You can see it for yourself right here.

After watching Hali's video, something, like life force energy was moving inside of me. I heard the message to go paint in my art journal. Move paint and color around before going to the computer. Put on some music and paint. 

So, that's what I did. You will see Hali's artistic style influenced my pages.

I did not go digging for supplies. I simply used what was right in front of me. One thing I had within reach was a bottle of ink and a nib holder with a nib already attached. (For more information on nibs and nib holders, here's a great article on Jetpens.com)

I took a photo of my pages and realized there was one more important thing I wanted to add-Love. Love Above Fear.

May you take good care of yourself today. Art journal. Get it out. Sing. Dance. Breathe. Practice self-care. Pray. Write. Shake it out. Move that energy into something positive. Love above fear. Seek peace, love, and understanding. 

What inspires you? What nurtures your spirit? Enhance your life force energy. Be in the now.

Sending Blessings and Peace to you,

Briana

Watercolor Wednesday-Small Round Brush Marks on Paper

Happy Day to You, Creative One!

For today's edition of Watercolor Wednesday, I am pulling inspiration from a couple of different places. One is from my "Draw, Paint, and Print Artful Color Patterns" workshop in 21 Secrets Color, Color, Color. 

The second source of inspiration is from Alisa Burke's latest online mini course Watercolor Doodles. (I love her online classes and blog!)

So, without further ado, I will share a series of photos of my process:

I am using the lovely Kuretake Water Colors-36 Color Set.

I also used an inexpensive size 6 round brush by Plaid.

A couple of things I noted about painting-

I usually painted left to right, but sometimes would paint right to left to change up my mark.

I varied the length of the painted mark, too.

It was difficult for me to paint in a straight line across the entire paper, so I had to do some course corrections here and there.

This process was quite meditative.

It was great to listen to music while I painted, as the painting itself didn't require much concentration. (Prince is always a good choice.)

 

I hope you find some time to play with watercolors this week!

Art is good for your health!

Blessings to you!

Briana

Watercolor Wednesday-Paint Pens and Watercolor Art Journal Spread

Hello and Happy Day to You!

Earlier this week, I was talking about my new discovered love of paint pens. If you missed it, or you want to see it again, you can find that post here.

Today, I am sharing an intuitive art page spread in the Dylusions art journal I've been trying to fill.

It all began with cleaning off a Balzer Bits Eye stencil aka Doodling Mask in my art journal:

As I cleaned off the stencil, I flipped it over to create the two eyes.

 

Excited to play with paint pens some more, I started coloring in those funky eyes, designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.

You can see the stepped out photos below.

The words I wrote in gold paint pen were inspired by the music I was listening to. I love how music can spark feelings and ideas from deep within.

Now for the watercolor paint. I used a pan set of Crayola watercolors.

Below is a close-up of the watercolor over the gold words.

Below is a close-up of the watercolor over the paint pen drops.

In Summary, watercolor and paint pens play nicely together. These two would be perfect to pack in your "art journaling on the go" kit.

Also, I love how a stencil or mask can be translated into an image that is born from the imagination.

What are you playing with lately? Any new art supply obsessions you care to share?

I'd love to hear all about them in the comments below.

Have a wonderful day!

Blessings,

Briana

 

Happy Friday-Stencils and the Gelli Plate Anyone?

Hello Creative One!

This week has been up and down and all around for me. How about you?

So . . . today's post is going to be short and sweet.

I am sharing the first art video I ever made! The video features a quick demonstration on how to use stencils on the Gelli Arts Gelli Plate and get multiple prints! The lighting isn't great, but you can see well enough to learn the basics!

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for watching!

Have an amazing day!

Briana

PS I have more news about stencils that I will be sharing early next week!

Watercolor Wednesday-Liquid Watercolor Mandala in Art Journal Plus Intuitive Painting Recommended Books

Good Day to You!

For Watercolor Wednesday, I am sharing a peek into my art journal.  This is the art journal that I purchased from LK Ludwig this fall.  You can see more pictures of the journal and the beginning pages in this blog post here.

I am continuing to work in this beautiful journal.  The pages take watercolor paint quite well, which makes me reach for it when I pull out my paint.

I am using Liquid Watercolor and a no. 10 watercolor brush.  

My typical process to begin looks like this:

1.  I get my paint ready by removing the caps on the twelve paint cups.

2.  I have a jar of water ready for rinsing my brush.

3.  I turn to the next page in my art journal.

4.  I get my music ready.  Oftentimes, I listen to Songza on my iPhone through earbuds.      There is an option for wordless music for "focusing" or "studying".  

5.  Without too much thought, I simply choose a color of paint to dip my brush into, and I begin painting somewhere on the page.

 

As you may have guessed, often I do not have a plan.  Part of my process is about getting into the flow of listening, trusting, and using my intuition.  Some might call this "intuitive painting".

(At the end of this post, I will share resources you might be interested in to learn more about intuitive painting.)

Next, I continue to work with the color and brush strokes I have started with.

I ended up with a watercolor mandala.

I painted around the mandala with blue paint.

 

I went back into the orange mandala with some more paint after it had a little bit of time to dry.  Keep in mind, it wasn't completely dry, or anywhere near that state. The beauty of using liquid watercolor is the wet-on-wet effects you get when colors swirl and flow together.

I actually picked up my art journal to help some of that swirling and flowing along.

I felt drawn to keep painting, so I decided to paint the left side of the journal spread, too.

I may or may not come back to the left side to add words or collage elements, or stamps, or more paint . . . the possibilities are endless.  Such is the beauty of art journaling!  Wouldn't you agree?

As I mentioned earlier, I'd like to share some resources you might consider, if the idea of intuitive painting intrigues you.

Art from Intuition: Overcoming Your Fears and Obstacles to Making Art by Dean Nimmer is a fantastic book that touches on drawing and painting.

Brave Intuitive Painting: Let Go. Be Bold. Unfold.:  Techniques for Uncovering Your Own Unique Painting Style by Flora Bowley is another fabulous book.  The book is great to go along with Flora's Bloom True E-course.

Other recommended book and e-course combinations are as follows:

Tracy Verdugo offers several online and in-person painting workshops. Her book Paint Mojo A Mixed Media Workshop: Creative Layering Techniques for Personal Expression also stands well on its own.

Alena Hennessy has a new book coming out in December 2015.

Intuitive Painting Workshop by Alena Hennessy will guide you through a year of painting.  Similarly, her online offerings can be found here.

Thank you so much for following along with the Watercolor Wednesday posts, and other art posts here on Orange Spiral Arts.  

Happy Creating to You,

Briana

Freedom Through Painting Friday-Expressive Arts Painting to Music

Hello There!  For today's Freedom Through Painting Friday, let's talk about the expressive arts activity of painting to various kinds of music.

I am currently attending a series of classes called "Renewing Life through the Expressive Arts".

In the spring of 2016, I will be a certified Renewing Life facilitator, where I will be trained to teach the Renewing Life curriculum to breast cancer survivors, people who are facing a life threatening illness, or people who need to reframe their lives with more life affirming messages.  The expressive arts focus is a new component of this curriculum that I am extremely pleased about.

PAINTING TO DIFFERENT MUSIC SELECTIONS

So, why would you want to paint to a variety of music, and what are the benefits? Emotions that are hard for you to deal with often get buried.  You feel stuck, "off", and just don't know what to do with yourself. Music can help you access those feelings, and processing through those difficult emotions will ultimately help you feel better.  

Something you might already notice about yourself is that when you want to feel more upbeat, you put on some dance music.  When you want to get quiet and calm, you might choose something more soothing, like the healing sounds of Crystal Singing Bowls.

By painting to a variety of music selections, the energy of the music can shift something inside of you and get you unstuck, or unblocked.

The Process:

Make a playlist of five songs, each from a different musical genre or style, like Classical, Inspirational, Punk Rock, Blues, Opera, World.  Typically, songs without words (or words you can't understand) might be more effective, as the words may distract you from listening to the music itself.  Also, choose songs that are not too long, maybe 3-5 minutes each.

Next, gather your art supplies:

paper

paint

brushes

a jar of water

paper towels

mixed media supplies like crayons, markers, and colored pencils

Paint and draw on a separate piece of paper for each musical selection.

At the end of each song, make some quick notes about how you were feeling, or what you were reminded of during that piece of music.

Between each song, do something to release and reset yourself.  For example, you might shake out your hands, reach up to the sky, or take a few cleansing breaths.

At the end of your painting to music session, reflect on your experience, the emotions that came up, the memories that were stirred, etc.  Do some writing, or share your experience with a friend.

If you feel extremely overwhelmed by any of it, seek the help of a professional counselor or therapist. 

MY PAINTINGS

Here are the five paintings I created while listening to a variety of music selections in the "Renewing Life through the Expressive Arts" workshop:

No. 1 (above)-This painting was created while listening to music that had some dramatic elements. The music made me think of climbing a mountain, the difficulties in doing so, and the beauty of it all.  My vision felt like a metaphor for the journey of life itself.

No. 2 (above)-This painting was created while listening to music which had an Alfred Hitchcock flavor of murder and mystery.

No. 3 (above)-This painting was created while listening to music that reminded me of dancers leaping.  There were quiet parts, then energetic and loud sections.

No. 4 (above)-This painting was created while listening to music in the "death metal" genre.  There was a lot of energy, anger, and aggression that came through.

No. 5 (above)-This painting was created while listening to Claude DeBussy's "Clair de Lune", which is quite relaxing, and to me, peaceful.

Choosing a song you find relaxing is a great way to end your painting to music session.

 

IN SUMMARY:

 

Music can impact how you are feeling and can help you work through your emotions.

 

Painting to a variety of music styles can be a fun activity that allows you to express feelings that otherwise might stay hidden.

 

I hope you enjoyed this Freedom Through Painting Friday post!

I'd be interested to hear how this goes for you, if you decide to try this on your own. Which songs did you choose and why?  Feel free to share some of your favorite music selections in the comments below.

Many Blessings and Peace to You,

Briana