 creating connectionsI'm sure that by now you are aware of the fires that are devastating beautiful Australia. As of January 6th, 12 million acres have burned, over 1 billion animals killed by fires and we don't know when it is going to stop. My wonderful friend and art teacher on Kabostudio have put together an art auction to raise money to help rebuild and preserve wildlife. Australia has a special place in my heart while from a geographical point of view she is on the opposite side of the world, I have made several connections with followers, students, fellow artist and Australian collaborators and when Natalie asks me to chip-in I did not hesitate a second. I am auctioning 2 pieces about connections. Both pieces are watercolour and coloured pencils on cradled wood panel, meaning that they are ready to hang embellished with embroidery. You wish to bet on them go here Want to see pieces from other artists: follow @artforfires on instagram and facebook. I will be donating all proceed minus shipping to NSW Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) https://www.wires.org.au/donate/ways-to-help
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Through the years I have developed online friendships with people all around the world it's one of the things I appreciate the most bout the internet. You get to meet people that have the same love and passion for creation in any form. Lee-Anne and I share our love of art, cats and dolls, the funny thing that before I asked her to teach on my site I don't think I even knew what she looked like. Most of what I knew about her was her art and we both were very fond of dolls. She is my creative soul sister in some ways. we recently celebrated the first anniversary of her All-dolled up class and I wanted to celebrate her as well. So here an interview I did with her with some of her most recent work and if you read through the end you'll find a promo code to save 35% on her class. Valid from December 17th until December 24th, 2019.
For what in your life do you feel most grateful? My husband who has been incredibly supportive of me in anything I do. He’s my biggest cheerleader.
Art education background or were you mostly self-taught? Mostly self-taught…I have been creating since I was little and already had a love for creating but I stumbled across the world of online classes and have never looked back. These classes opened a whole new world to me. Your class is celebrating its first anniversary, how is that making you feel?I am incredibly proud of this class and it will always hold a very special place in my heart. Creating my own paper dolls was something I always wanted to do. What or how your art changed since you finished the class?Over the past year, my art has changed tremendously. It mostly started in April when I decided to follow along with the 100 Day Project. For my project, I chose to complete 100 ATCs, most in watercolor. After that ended, I had a creative block that seemed to last forever. During that period, I started creating art/junk journals. I finally picked up a brush again but, this time, I started using acrylics and started to paint animals. I am now having a little love affair with acrylics. (Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of myself for finishing the 100 Day Project but I really burned myself out. Something I learned from that is if I decide to start something, I finish it – good or bad.) Do you ever have creative blocks? If so how do you get past them? Absolutely! (See above.). I believe every artist goes through them from time to time. It can be a little scary the first couple of times it happens because it can make you feel like you lost your art mojo altogether. During these phases, I might try some other medium, another art form altogether or take a break from creating altogether. I know enough now to just go with it because I know it will pass eventually. I have also discovered that, after these blocks are over, my way of creating has changed in a good way. These are the times when I make the greatest growth. What is your biggest motivation when it comes to art? I think my need or passion for art comes from when I was a child. I was taught to do so many different things such as needlepoint, macrame, sewing, that it has evolved into a comfort thing for me. A revelation or knowledge that made your art goes to the next level? It took me a while, but I finally figured out that if I do not push myself to try new things or push myself out of my comfort zone, I will never grow or make any progress. If you keep doing the same thing in the same way, you quit growing and remain stagnant. I know firsthand how easy it is to stay where you’re comfortable but you can’t if you want to take it to the next level. Do you persist at things even do you don’t quite get it yet? In other words do you put yourself out of your comfort zones on purpose? Yes, absolutely. I keep trying until I get it. I may not like it once I get it but I keep trying. I think it’s the stubbornness in me. Do you put a lot of thinking in a new piece, sketch, trial and error before plunging or do you dive headfirst and work more intuitively? I do think about a piece for a while before starting it but my approach can change depending on the medium I use. If I’m working in acrylics, I sketch my idea on the canvas but let the piece evolve if it’s not working for me. If I’m using watercolors, I finish what I’m doing (unless I really can’t stand it or can’t fix it) and then change how I approach the next watercolor piece. Why dolls? I love dolls!! It does not matter what kind, what size or what type they are. I have always loved dolls and I always will. I believe some people just do not grow out of it (nor do they have to). For me, I think part of it goes back to my childhood when I would create things for my dolls - I loved doing it and would spend hours at it. It’s some of my strongest memories.
Something I love about the internet is the immense possibilities and access it gives you. If someone as told me as a kid that one day I would be collaborating with people from all around the world I don't think my mind would have grasped the reality that our world is now. Sure our cars still don't fly but I now have friends from different time zones I can communicate within a matter of seconds, well at least when one of use is not sleeping :)
For the last few months, Natalie and I have been communicating while one was coming back from work the other one was in her early commute to work, we got to know and trust each other to create what I truly believe to be an amazing class. All the content is all Natalie I acted in the background being one of her Faery-godmothers. I sense in Natalie an immense generosity in sharing her knowledge while she is very humble about it. I now want to present to you this incredible artist that I am so honoured to host her first solo class.  Natalie Eslick in her studio
For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
My sweet baby nephew!! He is 17 months old now, and my heart child. I feel very grateful for a lot of things, actually - the privileges I was born with, even if life feels hard at times, the nature I am surrounded with, growing up in a family that values reading (so many worlds to visit in those pages!) An activity or hobby unrelatedly to art that makes you feel good Reading and gardening - along with scribbling, they are my holy trifecta! Hmm, add drinking tea and eating strawberries to that list. And apples. And petting/playing with my kitties. Oh, and meditating!! A fact that not a lot of people know about you, any unusual skills perhaps? Hmm, I don't know if I am that interesting!! I can't think of any unusual skills. Unless you count being hyper-organized and a chronic daydreamer at the same time. A lot of art community peeps probably don't know I have walked A LOT. Big walks, up and down BIG hills. Mountains even. I have hiked Macchu Picchu in Peru, the Gokyo Valley and Gokyo Ri in Nepal (the best possible view of Mt Everest!) and with my two brothers completed a gruelling physical and mental challenge of hiking 100km in tough Aussie bush in under 48 hours for Oxfam. We completed it in 41 hours and 16 minutes, raising nearly $15,000 for this amazing charity, and it was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, even though we trained for it for a year. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you? Waking without an alarm an not having to rush to the chaos of work, stretching and sun salutations to the rising sun on a quiet, cool morning with only bird song in the background, a long meditation, a long lavish breakfast of multiple cups of tea, vegemite toast and fruit, and the rest of the day alternately scribbling, reading, gardening, playing with my furballs, and just sitting to contemplate my navel for a moment or two. Throw in some good Mexican food, and a margarita or three in the evening and I am in heaven! If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be? Hmm. If it is a realistic quality or ability, it would be to be kinder and more patient with myself. I have that quality in spades for everyone around me, but I am so very hard on myself, and I always have been. If it is non-realistic (or hyper-realistic??), I am totally going with the ability to fly. Imagine being able to pop up to the very top of the tallest trees and hang out with the birds??
Tell us about your background, on did you come to art?
I always loved to draw when I was young, and right up until I was 17 I was going to go to art school and be an artist. At the same time, I am very academically minded, so in that final year of high school, I was gently pushed by well-meaning teachers and others into ignoring art for a more 'rewarding and realistic' career. Some 23 or 24 years later I was suffering severe burnout and physiological consequences of working often 18 hour days, along with a worsening chronic health conditions (stage 4 endometriosis and fibroids). I was working a full time paid job of around 50 hours a week, volunteering nearly 40 hours a week, and completing my masters degree in human rights all at once. That time is a blur to me now. I handed in my final dissertation and took myself to Tasmania for a week, impulsively picking up a pencil and sketchbook on the way. And I have not really put them down since! I have completely reevaluated my life, and although I still work a very full time and demanding job, the rest of my time is taken up with putting pencil to paper, and I couldn't be happier. One medium you couldn’t live without Graphite pencil!! And a substrate to scribble on. Your biggest influence? Hmm, that is difficult. Different artists inspire me for different reasons, but if I had to choose just ONE person, I would have to say Alan Lee (and then, by process of their collaboration with him, Brian Froud and John Howe!) Do you have an art education background or are you mostly self-taught?Other than high-school and the online classes I have taken in the last three years since picking that pencil back up, I am self-taught baby! I love studying other artists work, and will spend a lot of time nutting out how they did something and trying to replicate it - this is such a great way to learn! What does being part of an art community means to you? So much! Kindred spirits, all contributing to and drawing from the divine creative well, it is so powerful! I love that, on the whole, it is such a positive, supporting environment, and I honestly believe that contributing to a community in this way can only make the world a better place. Do you ever have creative blocks? If so how do you get over them? Oh yes, all the time - especially when I am so tired after work. For me, the best way to get past it is to grab a single coloured pencil such as a Col-erase (Tuscan Red is my favourite), a sketchbook and sit on the lounge. I open up Pinterest or one of my inspiration folders and pick the very first thing that interests me. Then, without any judgement or expectation of even finishing, I scribble - I put pencil to paper and study the subject in front of me, allowing myself to drop into that meditative state of presence that comes when I am drawing - the difference here is that I am doing this for no one but myself and to connect to creativity. No one need to see what I do, there is nothing to present, it is about presence, not performance. That will usually get the creative juices flowing again, and if not, a cup of tea, a movie or a nap is in order!! 
What is your biggest motivation when it comes to art?
Honouring my subject matter and having a moment of presence and connection.
And learning! Building those skills! And being able to get that story in my head across on the page. A revelation or knowledge that made your art goes to the next level? Two things: 1) Go darker. Don't be afraid to push those darks and add in a variety of mid-tones so that the highlights pop. This revelation came as a consequence of 2) Keep going. You might not want to in case you 'wreck' it, but if it doesn't feel quite finished, look the way you envisaged, keep going. I was amazed at that feeling, when I pushed through the first few times, then added more value, and kept going and going until I really knew the scribble was finished. I mean, what is the worst that can happen? you need to use an eraser, or if completely buggered, you have to start again, but you spent some quality time connecting with the creative source, mediating on your subject? That's a pretty good downside if you ask me. Do you persist at things even do you don’t quite get it yet? In other words, do you put yourself out of your comfort zones on purpose? I do, but not as much as I should!! I really want to develop my painting skills, but I keep telling myself 'when I have more time'. Yes, I am time poor, but so are a lot of us! I think it is procrastination born of fear and discomfort - that feeling of not knowing what you are doing can be hard to push through! Do you put a lot of thinking in a new piece, sketch, trial and error before plunging or do you dive headfirst and work more intuitively? It really depends on what the desired outcome is. I do a lot of pieces that are not really meant for anyone or anything, but if they look good, fantastic! If I am approaching a commission then yes. I will spend a LOT of time on research, composition, (procrastinating!), and studies before putting pencil to the final page. For something like an art challenge (like #folktaleweek) it will be sort of midway - some research, a couple of thumbnails, then dive on in and make it up as I go!
A little sneak peak in one of Natalie's lesson about why she does studies
Winners are Debbie Rose & Pamela Soaring Raven, Congrats!!!
Everyone else, thank you for Sharing we truly appreciate it, Natalie will also have a giveaway on Tuesday, make sure to follow here her for details she will have 3 spots to win! I will contact the winners soon! and we go on sale next Friday!!
I am so happy to make this announcement today! it's been a long time coming and a couple of rescheduling, being an artist while working full time and communicating with collaborator when you live on opposite sides of the planet brings its challenges but am I ever glad that we persisted!
I was looking to expend Kabostudio's class catalogue and bring something that is both unique and complementary to what I already offer and I believe that this new class does exactly that. It's my pleasure and honour to present to you the first solo class of Natalie Eslick aka Shady Bower. Natalie is a well develop artist whose skills never cease to amaze me. Her passion for pencil work makes her the perfect teacher to guide you and develop your fundamental drawing skills.
Natalie has developed a 3-parts / 3-weeks class including 13 lessons (25+ hours of videos) focusing on dry media and the theme of faery and fantasy. All videos are downloadable with lifetime access, private facebook group.
Registration open on October 18th and the class will go live from November 18th to December 8th. Each week you will receive three lessons consisting of two developing exercises and one main lesson using a variety of dry media on paper techniques. The supplies list is deliberately kept to a minimum making this a class you can practice anywhere, at any time! Learn the all specifics and download the supplies list here Between you and me, I watched the lessons and Natalie is an amazing teacher, she has a way to make you feel at ease and leaves you with the impression of having spent the afternoon chatting and creating with a dear friend while drinking tea. 
Sounds exciting? Want to win a place? Here's how
We need your help to share the news about the class, the more you share the more chances you get.
facebook, instagram, pinterest, twitter, art page or group but to count it has to be public. I will check! Once you have done so, come back here and let me know where. I am giving 2 spots away this week and Natalie will have her giveaway right after! Winner will be announce on Friday October 11th 2019 |
