*** BIG Week ahead... one more sleep

Tomorrow my auction goes live...

There were moments, I thought I would never get there.  It's been a massive year and I was nervous I wouldn't finish on time but I'm beyond excited.  I've been working steadily all year and have been packing pieces away especially for tomorrow.  I committed to Stephanie and this auction a year ago.  I had to plan carefully because I knew I had my TinyBagsofLove Exhibition and Auction and I knew I would be traveling this year.  Never mind the month I lost while I was caring for Digz after his accident.

My prep work was imperative.

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I have 30 pieces of varying sizes, 1 journal, 4 SoulBearers and 10-20 TeaBagGirls.  There will literally be something for everyone - which is very important to me.  I'm feeling so proud and equally humbled by this body of works.  I'm getting more comfortable with being able to put a body of works together.  I used to believe I couldn't do it.  So each time I've done it, I am a little surprised.  There is cohesiveness when I see them altogether.  I know the days of auction are intense but I'll be 100% here with you! And I can't thank you enough for being there for me too.

Thank you for all the love and messages already.  I'm beyond touched.

Looking forward to tomorrow but for tonight, I'm going gently.

Facebook Auction

See you on the other side of tomorrow.

Much Love

 
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Finished this little one...

I can't tell you how delighted I am to have finished this little soul.  I made her specifically for my Let's Face it Mini Lesson and I wanted to be finished before my class went live.

It's aways tricky because I never know in what direction they are going to take me.

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Waiting for her to lead the way, sometimes takes longer than I expect.  They are a precious pair and I'm little smitten with her colouring and wings but more so, their connection.

 
 

I'm thrilled to have her ready in time for my auction too.

I can't wait to play more here in December.

Much Love always,

 
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My Solo Auction page is up...

Nothing quite prepares my heart of auction.  It's 100% putting your heart and art out there.  It's exposing and vulnerable.  I wish I could say I find it easy but I really don't.  Most times I just want to hide behind the time zone differences and say wake me up when it's over.  That's a true story.

My greatest fear is no one will come or bid.  I create backdoors for myself to make sure I'll be okay so that my artist-self won't be wounded.  I know it's how it is for all of us who willingly choose to do this.  This is risky business stuff and it takes courage.

Even if it's just for 48 hours.

That being said I'm soooo grateful to be here and doing this with you.  I'm so grateful for the heart expansion that happens when I push myself to be this vulnerable and this exposed.  I know it is good for me otherwise I might hide forever.

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Facebook Auction Page - HERE

Digby has a motto and we challenge ourselves to live that way ... "great things happen when you step out of the door".  Keeping up with a guy who lives like that has made for beautiful memories for us as a family.  Living life intentionally is a beautiful thing and I’ve bought into that wholeheartedly. 

And I do know that although sometimes I have upper limit issues, (you know... when I say "yes" but my body means "no").  I do know that it's always my heart to live fully engaged even in the scary moments... thank you for holding my hand through yet another adventure.

I am excited,  I am humbled and I am here!

Much love, Jeannie

This sweet loving soul...

I made her for my Let's Face It mini lesson and making her was a pure joy.  She totally lead me all the way and I just love that.  I hadn't planned that her face would be turned right up but it's so endearing and soulful and I just love that.  I hope to get to paint her soon. 

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I hope you love my lesson as much as I did making it.

I'll keep you posted once she's all painted up.

Love, Jeanne-Marie

***EarlyBird ends soon....

Let's play with Conte...

Let's play with Conte...

I can't believe a whole month has passed already and we are down to the last few days for my {Held}Captive Early Bird special.

The full price will come into effect on the 1st October 2017.

Please don't miss out on the special, I've put that in place especially for YOU.

In the meantime, if you have already signed up, thank you a million times over for signing up and that we get to journey together.

Excited.  Love me...

I'll hold your hand if you hold mine...

After my art retreat in Orvieto, Digz joined me.  It's something we have spoken about and dreamt about since my first trip.  It would be the first time in our marriage that we would be taking a trip like this together.  We have done things locally but literally the last time we traveled together like this was when we got engaged in Scotland 21 years ago...

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We have never left our girls.  It was just the way it was with us, both circumstantial and by choice.  We've always done absolutely everything together and have loved all of it.  We have no regrets. We have worked hard and have been patient, but that being said, taking this time just for us at this time of our lives, will be something I'll will always hold dear and never forget.

We got to walk arm in arm, hand in hand... slowly together.  Looking, seeking, holding and expanding...  Holding onto the marvel of greatness and art and beautiful.  Sometimes no words were required.  We got to be do things we both loved... like sipping caffe at the counters like locals. say grazie mille and using our Italian accents for fun.  We laughed, a lot.  Drove the countryside on the wrong side of the road, or was it the right side ;-).  But mostly we walked, photographed and walked.. oh and we ate... far too much.

What a spoil to have this precious precious time alone together, a luxury we haven't had for 21 years and it just felt so grown up and so utterly beautiful.  I will never forget this time, this feeling and this love.  Italy casts it's spell and captures your heart and soul and we are a little smitten.

Thank you my love... "we will always have Venice"...

Sneaking away... stealing quiet...

I quietly snuck away in the first week of September to go on an art retreat, just for myself and just for my own personal time and growth.  I didn't share too much about it online because it felt like sacred ground for me and I felt I needed to hold that close to my chest for a bit, that mixed in with struggling with my own worthiness of such a trip and a bit of shame I was carrying with that.

That has been something I've been working through this year.  I'll share more about it soon.

 
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I have to tell you that stealing quiet away in Orvieto, Italy is always exceptionally healing for me and the longterm affect it has on me is something I tap into for a year or two to come.  I needed to hold that, feel it and allow it to minister to my soul.

What I didn't expect is how perfectly timed this trip was, because my {Held}Captive class was so big on my heart.  It honestly felt like I was on a field trip and having my heart and mind open to everything I was experiencing and feeling, feels like I've come home with so much for my new class and I'm beyond excited to share this with you.

For now I'm home and unpacking and catching up because come this weekend, I'm back to head down with my filming, editing and creating schedule.

Can't wait to share more of my journey with you, Love Jeanne-Marie

LifeBook 2018 BlogHop and GiveAway...

Hello beautiful friends!

 
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I have some wonderful & exciting news! I am going to be teaching on Life Book 2018 next year! I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be part of this year long healing, creative journey with you.

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The BEST news of all is that I can give away 1 space on this amazing year long art course! Keep reading to find out more about Life Book 2018 and to find out how you can win a spot! :)

  Let me tell you a bit more about Life Book in case you haven't heard about it yet!

“Life Book, a celebration and honouring of YOU”

It is a year-long mixed media art class organised by Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts.

Tam is joined by 23 incredible art teachers who are all gearing up to share their mixed media techniques, tips and tricks with YOU! PLUS this year, Life Book is going to be bigger and better by including another 12 fantastic artists and wellness guides who will focus on additional personal development practices and other art modalities, like sculpting, photography & writing!

I am so honored to be joining these incredible teachers...

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Themed around self-development and healing, you’ll be creating several loose mixed media art journal pages per month which by the end of the year you will bind into a glorious journal (a Life Book)! You will have a wonderful keepsake that you can treasure for the rest of your life! You will also be introduced to yoga, aromatherapy, dance and angel energy and other wellness exercises to help support your personal development journey more holistically and imagine the fun we will have getting introduced to and acquainted with some of the other wonderful art forms out there!

You can find out a lot more about this wildly popular course (it has been joined by over 16500+ people in the past!)

Learn More

I am still busy developing my class idea, but I'm excited to be sharing about Nuturing your ArtistSelf/Child  - Practical weekly tools to do this and how to cope with your inner-critic.  How to gain ground and heal creative wounds, even the ones inflicted by and on ourselves.  Leading to creating an expressive self portrait starting in stabilo and building up into acrylic paints and lots of layers to help find yourself in the paint and brush strokes.

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Registration opens tomorrow, the 12th September 2017 and the class begins on the 1st of January 2018.  Keep this page bookmarked so that you can sign up the moment it goes on sale.

**GiveAway - I am so delighted to give away 1 space on Life Book 2018 to 1 lucky WINNER and I will announce my winner in one weeks time, 18th September 2017, I will announce it on my Blog and on Facebook.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING.... 

 

1.  subscribe to my newsletter

2.  Follow me on Facebook and share my Facebook post regarding this bloghop.

3.  Leave a comment below sharing why you want to be a part of Life Book 2018. 

 
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Here is the list of the other amazing teachers who will be teaching on Life Book – they too will be giving away a spot on Life Book so go check them out and enter their give-aways! :)

Have fun and good luck.

Much Love Jeanne-Marie

{Held}Captive... Lights, Camera, Action...

I have been playing #inmystudio and working everyday since I settled down from America and I have to say I'm in a good studio space.  I love my studio so much.   I have spent the better part of this year working on my technical kit (lighting, tripod and camera arm), my creative space practically and virtually.  I know it's a process and these things take time and I've been working and improving on this for around 2 years and I continue to do so.  I got advice from film industry/photographer friends as well as from Robin when I was in Oregon and Ivy and Chris Newport's class Lights, Camera, Art.  Thank you all for your invaluable info and advice.  Digz and my Dad will help me with some further rigging in October... but for now my lighting and set up has improved my filming process dramatically.

I'm one happy girl.

Having improved lighting and a beautiful space has made my painting time so much more enjoyable and I'm having a ball and I'm so excited to be filming and sharing more of my process, it seems to have released something inside.

I am still running my early bird special on my new class so don't forget to sign up.

{HELD}Captive
 

"Finding and capturing emotional tenderness in your paint, clay and creative process."

Much love, always,

Jeanne-Marie xoxoxo

 

Painting Magnolias...

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Every time I paint new flowers, I learn something new.

I used a reference here and it's a great way to learn this new flower.  Flowers aren't easy to do but I found after doing 6 of them, my last two were my favourite.  I might go back to the beginning and rework some of the ones that feel a little intense.  I had a beautiful painting week, even though life has been a little hectic and I'm feeling my energy levels fading a bit, showing up daily to paint and create has been good for my soul.  It's been good to find my quiet here painting beautiful Magnolias.

{Magnolia}... nobility, perseverance, love and Yin, the feminine side of life.

Look forward to sharing more...

 

Finding togetherness...

I started this draw up the other day and I had some left over Olive Green, Paynes Gray and Warm Grey left on my palette and that started my background of this piece... it was enough to get me going and excited to start working here.  I am so glad I did.  I'm having the best time with these two.  I'm loving the play on the eyes... like the middle eye could belong to either of them for an instant, like they are one in the same but not either.  They feel deeply connected.

"Seeing through your eyes"

 
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I'm not sure where we are heading quite yet but I'm enjoying the journey.  On my way home from work yesterday, I got some ideas of how I would like to finish this piece... let's hope I can do that.  

I am loving filming and editing as I go.  I can't wait to share more about that.

Now to just get through this work day so I can get back to my studio.

Have a beautiful day. xoxox

Let's Face It...

I've been editing and final filming for my main lesson for Let's Face It.  It's been 'head down' and 'deep' in the editing mode all week and I'm happy to say my lesson has been uploaded.  So I'm sorry I've been rather quiet this week.

 
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Thank you Kara for this amazing experience and wonderful opportunity to teach with you and other incredible teachers on Let's Face it.

I did the bulk of my filming and painting before I left for America and I love that I shared this piece with you.  It being so much about what I hope to be sharing in my new class.  I didn't plan that at all and I just love the synergy in that.

I hope you love my lesson as much as I did sharing it.

I know my lesson goes live in about a week or so and I'm here if you need anything.

Much love, Me.

Finding and sharing vulnerability...

I have been so excited about my new class and sharing about it.  I have been receiving the most incredible email responses regarding the theme... {Held}Captive.  I can't tell you how much this means to me.  It's been on my heart to share for about a year and I have been doubting myself but the emails have been a sort of confirmation and I've been so overwhelmed by that.

That being said, I do believe things happen right when they are meant to and I guess I'm finally ready and perhaps now is more the right time.

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My heart is overflowing with excitement!

I will continue to share parts of my filming journey with you over the next couple of months.  Thank you for sharing the love and for the sign ups this past week or so.  And of course... I'm excited to be painting and filming again.  My lesson plans are mapped out and filming has commenced.

I'm overjoyed.

My early bird special is still running for another month.

Learn More

Much love Jeanne-Marie

Congratulations...

I'm so excited to share that I drew my 3 lucky winners for my new class {Held}Captive.

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Thank you for sharing my post and for signing up.  I spent a good few hours collecting all the names from the shares and sign ups and I put them onto a numbered list on excel, then I used Random.org number generator to select my 3 numbers.

Congratulations

  1. Camilla Ollson
  2. Susanna E Lane
  3. Lindy Stockton

 

I so loved doing that and I wish I could have done more draws, it was hard to narrow it down to only three.

And for now... I look forward to class.

xoxox

 

"This Place is our Shelter and I'll keep you Safe"...

I promise you I’ll keep you safe
You’ll be an architect so pull up your sleeves
And build a new silhouette
In the skylines up ahead
Don’t be, don’t be afraid
Our mistakes they were bound to be made
But I promise you I’ll keep you safe

As you build up your collection
Of pearls that you pulled from the deep
A landscape more beautiful than anything that I’ve ever seen
The sound of the branches breaking under your feet
The smell of the falling and burning leaves
The bitterness of winter
Or the sweetness of spring
You are an artist
And your heart is your masterpiece
And I’ll keep it safe.

Words from Sleeping at Last, I'll keep you Safe.

 

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I'm utterly in love with this preciousSoul.

I love how she's looking at me and of course I love her mouth.  I've been working on this skill.  I love her buildings and the stories they hold... there is history in her body and buildings and face. We continue to journey together as we find our way with her paint colors.

The time and work it takes for these precious souls are astounding but that's part of the joy and all I can say is I'm loving the journey... 

I hope you are too.

Love Me.

**Giveaway... TinyBagsofLove turns 1!!!

Happy Birthday

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I can't believe my first little online class has turned 1 already.  It feels like just the other day it became a class and it all started.

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One of the things about Tiny Bags of Love turning 1 is that she comes home to my website, which is pretty exciting.  Ivy and Chris Newport hosted her for it's first year and I couldn't have been more grateful. Thank you both for such an incredible time.  I couldn't have asked for a better place for me to start teaching and for this little class to be birthed.

Thank you for everything.

 
 

Let's Celebrate... Let's Giveaway...

Winners to be announced on the 1st September 2017

I get asked all the time about my favourite colors / paints that I have used through the years.  They are beautiful Maimeri Italian Paints, creamy and wonderful to work with.  As a way of celebrating TBOL turning 1 and a way of saying thank you for an incredible first year, I'm giving away 5 of them together with my new favourite Raphael Precision #2 Pointed Round Brush.  See details below...

Ivory White, Venetian Rose, Perm Red Light, Light Kings Blue and Olive Green

Ivory White, Venetian Rose, Perm Red Light, Light Kings Blue and Olive Green

Raphael Precision #2 Pointed Round Paint Brush

Raphael Precision #2 Pointed Round Paint Brush

**To be ENTERED in the Giveaway

Be a NEW signup to my class**

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If you haven't signed up to my Tiny Bags of Love class yet and you sign up, you will automatically be entered into the draw.  Follow the button below.

NEW SignUp
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**To be ENTERED in the Giveaway too

Please use the form below**

If you are a NEW sign up or an EXISTING one, by completing the Subscription Form below, you will also be entered into the giveaway.  Wishing you all the best of luck.

Love Jeanne-Marie xoxoxo

Winners to be announced on the 1st September 2017

Tiny Bags of Love - New Subscription Form

The Art of Hands - Bonus Lesson

I have loved loved working on this piece, she kept evolving.  I'm so glad I managed to capture most of that evolution on film.

I have created and shared a bonus lesson for you on painting this hand in my Art of Hands tutorial class. The bonus lesson is focusing on detail work with a special brush I discovered and have been working with that has me totally smitten.  I hope you find it helpful and informative.

I absolutely loved sharing this with you,

much love, Jeanne-Marie

xoxoxox

The Art of Hands

 

 

 

 

 

**New Class... {Held}Captive

 
 

I'm so excited to announce and share that I will be creating and hosting a new online class before the end of the year.  I haven't released anything this year yet and I can't believe we are heading into the last quarter already.  I have been spending a few months kitting out my studio space with new lighting and better set up for filming bigger than teabags. 

I'm so excited.

After teaching painting in America, I'm come home with a renewed excitement to paint and share more about my process in finding, capturing and communicating tender emotion in my work.  This class will be mostly about painting but there will also be a section about finding tender emotion in your clay and lens.  Follow the button below for more details.

Learn More

I will be giving away 3 spaces to anyone who shares or signs up.

EarlyBird discount ends 1st October.

I have so much to share in the next week or so about what's going in my world... about my TinyBagsofLove Online Class being 1 year old and coming home to my website.  I'll be sharing more about me being involved with other collaborative classes next year.  During this week I will be sharing an extra bonus video for my ArtofHands Class and sharing about the most amazing new brush I've found.

And also a give way to celebrate TinyBagsofLove.

So much happening and so much to look forward to.

I hope you will join me for this next endeavour and adventure to continue learning and growing together.  Sending much love,

Jeanne-Marie xoxox

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I am a Portugal-based artist, creating soulful, nature-inspired portraiture that evokes a deep contemplation and a quiet solitude that can be found in all of us.