(Coloring contest is now closed!)
Hello friends! Today is my birthday-WooHoo! I made it to 41 years! Sometimes that feels like a HUGE accomplishment. Life can be very, very challenging at times. I have had depression in varying degrees as long as I can remember. There were many times when I did not think I'd make it this far-and frankly didn't want to. So, for me, 41 years is a big deal!! I am happy with my life and myself. I look back on my 41 years and see a lot of learning and growth, and that's kinda what life is all about I think. I am proud of the person I am and the way I choose to live and be. It might not look like a very impressive life from the outside, but from where I'm sitting...it's a pretty amazing life. Anyway-I'm looking forward to a quiet day today. I want to make art and spend the day reflecting on and appreciating the 41 years I've got under my belt. And hopefully take a nap as my good friend "Insomnia" made a visit. But first I have this for you...
I finished my coloring page-yay! In case you missed it, I am creating a coloring book and have a coloring contest going on. You can get the details and your free printable coloring page HERE. And see the second "kid prize" (which is ridiculously cute) that I am offering HERE. And I made a printable PDF of my finished mixed media page/painting for you HERE. Print it out and hang it on your fridge, cut it up into pieces and make a collage, shrink it down and make it into a postcard...use it however you like (just personal use only please).
How I created my page...
I initially planned to use some regular 'ol crayola crayons and color my page like I did when I was a little kid. (By the way...I have some fun tips for coloring with crayons and that I plan to share another time). When I sat down with my crayons I changed my mind. I felt pulled to make my page into a painting. I wanted to challenge myself to take this simple coloring page and get a little more creative with it. I printed my page onto some lightweight watercolor paper that was not heavily textured (just some cheapie stuff from the Michael's kids art section). I started with watercolors, adding color to everything but the hand shape (which I painted with gold acrylic paint). I then deepened some areas of color with colored pencils (I am madly in love with Prismacolor Premier pencils!!) Initially I thought I would use the circle shapes for written journaling, but ended up simply adding an "Om" symbol near the bottom of my painting. I added marks around the border with gold and silver markers and outlined some of the shapes with gel pens. I named it "Hope Grows". I really love how my painting turned out!! I hope you enjoy it too whether you print it out or not. xo
