The Calm Within

When I look at this I see a beautifully coloured chaos in the background and a calm, collected women in front.
I feel like she has the responsibilities of family, the grocery list, work, the car, friends buzzing around her but inside, she has harnessed the skill of calmness. She understands what she needs to make time for herself, that quick 15 minutes reading her book, the sneaky chocolate added at the checkout, the slow sip of wine at the end of the day, the hugs from her kids, the journaling and using her hands to be creative. She is not faking the calmness, she is happy within herself.

You could see something completely different, that is the best thing about art. People bring their own ideas to it. What do you see?

Process:
This painting was painted together with 3 others at a time when I was feeling stuck and hadn't painted for a while. I was too in my head and wanted to get messy.
I lay the 3 oval canvases down and poured high flow acrylics all over them.
This one is used a kids cut out foam roller to make the background patterns. I love that roller! It turned out so well.
The others aren't finished yet but if you follow me, and favourite this one, you will be notified when I upload them. They are completely different!

Next step was to map out the face and shoulders and paint them in gesso.
I then used watercoluor crayons, acrylics, poscas and gel pens to finish her head and body.
The watercolour crayon reacted a bit with the gesso and some of it pulled away creating a beautiful texture.

Next I needed some flowers so I used a pallet knife, acrylics and brown paper bag to make some yellow paper. Then used oil pastels and poscas to add details. I tore them up and glued them on.
I had some black and white spotted paper I painted yellow and used that for her top.

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My name is Jade and I live in the beautiful Blue Mountains, Australia.

For me, art is very grounding. It pushes me to learn new things about myself by constantly asking questions and it keeps me in check.

My motto is “There are no mistakes in art, only happy surprises”. If you make a mistake, you learn from it and can always turn it around.

Most of my art is created unintentionally, meaning I have no set agenda, it just comes out. So, to me, "Creative Abyss" means imagining and creating something from deep inside.
I work in mixed media and love using lots of layers. My mantra is "Texture, texture, texture!"
Creative Abyss is a fun way for me to let my hair down, be creative, learn about myself and have a whole lot of fun.

MY PURPOSE: My purpose in life is to create art and to share it with others, whether that be selling my art or teaching it.
I am a self taught artist, constantly learning new skills and sharing them, teaching kids' holiday workshops and giving private lessons. I stand for painting with all my heart and soul, pouring love into it so it can be the best possible version. I paint for myself. I stand for growth and learning.

MY MISSION: My mission is for everyone to have something in their homes that they can connect with on an emotional level. When times are great or not. Something beautiful to look at which inspires them, something calm to look at which quietens them, something perky that inspires them to take action, something inquisitive that they can mull over. People are so caught up in work, raising kids, the mundane tasks of life that we forget to take time out and check in with ourselves.