WaterWise...

This time last year we had excavated and replanted my beautiful garden and I loved it so much.  I loved the green glow that greeted me each morning.  Sadly, we have spent the last year watching our little haven die a slow death as the drought became our reality.  We are running out of water in Cape Town and there certainly isn't enough water for gardens.

All the hours of work and money faded into the dust that is now our truth.

With the crazy year I had last year, I didn't have time to even go there.  Every time I walked past my sandpit, I cringed and turned a blind eye.

Bottomline, I was heartsore about it and I didn't know how to move forward.

When I was moving my studio around last week, I found this book I acquired a few years ago and we sat pouring over some ideas on New Years day.  We managed to pull some ideas together and we drew up a garden plan and for the first time in months I started feeling encouraged about our little desert.

With the use of pavers, pots and water wise plants we will try and recreate this space again.

I have around 10 lavender bushes that will run along the long side wall.  I ordered my beautiful dark grey pavers yesterday and that will run next to the lavender alternated with around 30 water wise plants.  We already have one zen circle and we will be putting in another one tomorrow which will cover most of the now sanded area.  I will start collecting terracotta pots for one corner and use them to plant herbs. 

I collected around 30 water wise plants that are evergreen but don't require water.

Terracotta pots in one corner

Zen Circle

Lavender is ready to be planted

It's a big project but I'm feeling encouraged and a little excited.  I love projects and I love gardening in my own little way.  I want to be able to enjoy being out there again.

I can't wait to share more...

Hygge, Lykke and Ikigai..

I've been reading and devouring these little books and they have been ministering to my heart and soul big time. Just reading a little bit everyday.  It feels like I have found something that gets the essence of who I am and then put them into words for me.  They are little gestures and statements that I adore and do and absolutely require.

This is where you will find me for the next while,  mingled in amongst these beautiful words and pages and images.  Just too beautiful.

I'm loving the gentleness and simplicity of this space.

TheHumblePencil...

All I brought with me for our week away was my mechanical pencil and eraser.  I knew I wanted to draw but I kept walking big circles around my new beautiful Leather Bound journal form my girls.  It was their Christmas gift to me. I am so grateful for their genersity.

Maybe it's because it was new and beautiful and full of scary blank pages, that I felt so overwhelmed to start.  Maybe it was because I was so exhausted and I know when my defences are low, my inner critic can be screaming loud.

I also knew first hand that studying a Master can be challenging after doing that in my class and I was feeling anxious about starting there first. 

Like with all things, starting and allowing myself to get lost with my humble pencil was all that was required and the peace came quietly.  It was good for my soul and I'm so glad I didn't give into my fear.  I think I'm going to spend a bit of time here with my pencil and my beautiful new journal because it is helping me grow, find peace and feel comforted.

I think it is what I need that right now. 

It has been a gentle way to close out my year creatively and a peaceful way to start my New Year too.

#SoGrateful

Bewitched...

My Mom has the most beautiful rose garden.  Mind you, the whole farm is so rich with plant life and color.  It is so outstanding at the moment.  They have had an abundance of rain, unlike us and the lushness was food for our soul after the dryness and drought we are having back home.

Je suis fatigué...

I ended off 2017 fatigued.

It has been so long and tough year for all of us and we are feeling vulnerable about it.  As for my Kitty girl, I know she found this year particularly difficult as much as it was life changing for her.  For Corks and me, it was HUGE.

That being said, I am so grateful for ALL of it, utterly humbled too.

The goodness rolled in with the hardships, the mighty lessons learnt and even facing some of my biggest fears this year.   I love how growth is never without a bit of heartsore.  So I will embrace it even with it's twinge of pain.  Our minds and hearts and love have been expanded this year with the enormacy of it all.

We quietly retreated to my Folks farm for a week... I needed to see my Momma and Pops and I needed quiet and I desperately needed slow.

Except for the early morning sounds of goats, sheep, chickens, and geese... oh and my parents rising at 4am to do farm duties, it was so quiet and it was just what we all needed.  It was actually such a beautiful week.  By the end of the week we wished we had another one.

We slept in most mornings and quietly rose to coffee in the kitchen once my folks got back from their early morning dairy duties.  It was about long leisurely meals together, chatting in the cheesery while they made cheese, sitting by the pool, long lazy afternoon naps and quiet.  It was about family and honestly it felt like it was the best we had ever been together.  It was a gift and I am so grateful.

Our last day was spent slowly packing up and saying tender goodbyes.  We were leaving with heavy hearts.  I know coming home is always good too but I also knew getting home meant duties and that means responsibility and I wasn't ready for that yet.

I felt like I needed a little more time to hide from myself.

Life Book 2018

As you know, 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.

  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 next year.

I am still developing my class idea, but I'm excited to be sharing about Nuturing your Artist Self.  We will be looking at some practical tools on how 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.

I'm so passionate about this theme and about sharing about Self Portraits.

Don't forget to use the Coupon Code: LOVEBOMB2018 to get 20% off - that special ends at the end of December 2017.

Looking so forward to this next year.

Much love, Jeanne-Marie

Treating myself...

I'm officially winding down for the year, I still have lots to do but the intense pressure is slowly shifting and I'm starting for find my feet again.  I'm excited to close out this year quietly on my parent's farm in the middle of nowhere with the baby goats and lambs.

One thing I know - it is quiet... maybe even beyond quiet.

I'm going geared with my iPad and while I'm sitting quietly under the trees, I will be taking in these beautiful classes.  I am only going with my pencil and journal and I'll be doing limited art while I'm there because I will mostly resting and restoring my soul.

Ivy Newport - Pencil to Paper

Robin Laws - Wild Whispers

Annie Hamman - Close Up

I adore these amazing gals to the moon and back and I love that we all released classes around the same time this year and there seems to be a complementing of each others classes to one another.

I kind of love that.

Much love, Jeanne-Marie

Class is in session...

My {Held}Captive class is live...

I can't even tell you how I'm feeling today.  My heart is full and feeling so relieved.  The love pouring in has been overwhelmingly beautiful.  Thank you.

I'm not going to lie, I'm fatigued and it feels like I have a bit of an "editing" hangover.  I didn't sleep much this past week, I was working around the clock.  I wanted launch day to be special.  After it went live, I dealt with some admin queries and I promptly headed out the door for some fresh air.  I had serious cabin fever.

When I got home and crept into bed and slept, really slept.

I can't thank you enough for being here with me.

For now, I am finding a bit of rest and I'm on standby for you in the classroom.  I'm already loving the connectivity in the class.  That makes my heart sing.

With all my love, Jeanne-Marie

They arrived and they are on their way...

My beautiful finished bags arrived and I'm sooooo blown away at how they turned out.

Thank you Township for such excellent work. They surpassed my expectations, truly.

I'm happy to say I packed up my orders immediately and got them ready to ship.

Your order is on it's way to you.

I can't thank you enough for the love around these bags of mine.

Much love, always... Me

#OneMoreWeek to go...

I can't believe we have just one week to go until we go live...

“... It expresses itself at an everyday level of practical caring and at a deeper level of emotional self-identification and wholeness. But, above all, it is a teacher of love - the first teacher and the most important, from which all other love stems.”

— Rachel Bellingon, B.1942

This is one of my pieces for the MotherDaughterLove lessons. 

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I'm feeling quite relieved that my class is finally pulling together.... it is feeling rather good at this point in time.  I am not going to lie, I'm fatigued and a little overwhelmed but I'm finishing strong.  I've had some incredible support from friends and family this week... you know who you are.

THANK YOU

See you soon and I look forward to celebrating with you in class.

Much love, always Jeanne-Marie

Head down...

I have two weeks to go until my online class goes live.

I am mildly stressed out and literally working around the clock but I get to hang out in my happy place, day in and out so I'm still a happy girl about it.  I managed to finish my FriendshipLove piece and it was soooo interesting and big and took me around 5 days to do. Yikes... but I'm in love with my piece and I am dying to share it with you but I said I would only share it after my class goes live.

In other news... the 25th came around and I got to choose my 2 lucky winners for my Pre-Order TeaBagGirl Sling bags.  I normally use a number generator for my lucky draws and 2 and 17 were picked.  I went through my Sales in order of purchase and my winners were Robin Law and Betty Wilkins.  Oh I'm thrilled with your winnings lovely ladies.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU... 

 For your Pre-Orders and for believing and trusting in my bags with me without even seeing them.  They are beautiful and I can't wait to ship them off.

Today I picked up my Mom's bag which was our official sample bag because my Mom ordered images on both sides of the bag.  It was the only bag that would be like this.  I have to say I am so happy with this outcome and the craftsmanship, each bag beautifully handmade and lined.

No words can express how precious this is for me to be sending this to my Momsie. 

As for me, I will be a little on the quiet side until my class goes live.

Looking forward to the 11th December 2017.

Much love always, Me

Wild Whispers....

I was sitting quietly in my studio when I heard a bit of a stampede. When I looked up to see what the noise was all about... I was greeted by these guys. They had found their way to me. 😍   Remember this is Africa where the animals roam free...

I am sooo thrilled to be joining Robin Laws in her new online class called Wild Whispers which starts today.   So thrilled for you my friend.

{ "Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That's the problem." ― A.A. Milne }

FriendshipLove... a tiny little glimpse

This is a piece I've been working on for my {Held}Captive class... It's my final piece for the TenderTogetherness section of my class.  She’s big and she's beautiful and I’m smitten with the theme of FriendshipLove and togetherness.  She's a tribute to you and our incredible online community.

I hope it works out... like I’m envisaging.

Last nights painting session was tough going and I did one scrape back and redo. A tad bit stressful.  But we will continue to journey together.

This will be the only sneak peak I’ll be sharing of this piece before my class starts. 

38"x25" FriendshipLove

Where I left off last night has encouraged me to keep going until we find our way.

Pushing through.

Love Me.

The bag that keeps on giving...

After a week of going backwards and forward and lots of admin around getting this far... I am happy to say my bags are finally in production.

It's a sample of a sample but my real finished sample arrives on Monday.  We decided to make my Mom's bag the sample because she wanted hers a little different than all the rest. Only The Mom get's to put in a special order.

All in all, I'm thrilled to be working with Township because I am nuts about what they are doing and to be collaborating with them with this specific project of mine, feels like perfect synergy.

I can't tell you how important it is to me to be "giving back" in this way and doing this with Township, is a wonderful way I can do this in my own town and community.

I love how that humble little sack that once gave me a cup of sweet tea... continues to keep giving me good gifts and I hope you get to be part of that too.

I added some new girls to Etsy and I also had #89 (EarringsGirl) reprinted for all those who were asking for her.  She sold out pretty quickly.

Find your force...

I am so excited to share that Joyce van der Lely invited me to be video interviewed… to share my creative journey and story with her, along with a group of amazing and inspiring creative ladies. The theme will be around creating your own business in your own unique way and creating financial freedom and independence in both your business and personal life.

Come get your free access to The Find your Force Summit to hear incredible stories from other creative women, including my story.

I so loved sharing my story and creative life with Joyce and although I feel I'm no expert, it was just so wonderful to share some of my victories and struggles.  It was really a beautiful time of sharing and I can't thank you enough Joyce for inviting me.

Big Loves, always

Jeanne-Marie

TenderTogetherness... filming is underway

This is my absolutely favourite theme to paint.  I love capturing the tender connections.  I may always paint this... it's part of my story, I am a mom and it's been the biggest role in my life and I've loved it, the good with the hard times.  I can't imagine another way.

I didn't mean to finish painting the Mother first but she captivated me and she lead the way and I love where she's taking me.  My canvas is big (24"x24") and it means proportions can be challenging and it requires lots of gorgeous paint.  As I was painting her, her face kept increasing in size... which in turn left the other faces way too small.

So I had to increase them and rework their proportions.

Brown Stabilo all marks

Painting underway... first layers

Work in Progress

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But so far I'm loving their closeness and connectivity.

I can't wait to get back to them today... I think I have a plan on how I will finish them.

Happy weekend!

Love, Me

Sentimental Saturday...

I finally developed my film roll from my Lubitel Lomography camera.

She's still a beautiful mystery to me.  I wish I could say I have figured it all out.  There is definitely alchemy in this little box camera.  I have no idea why these images are so long and thin, but it's not bugging me.  They draw my eye right down.  Even though it's a kind of blind faith in every capture, these images move me deeply.  There is a gorgeous purity to film and a kind of vulnerability.  I'm still besotted with the flirtation of this dance we have with each other.

It keeps me guessing... is it skill or just pure luck?

Whatever this is... there is mystery and it's enough to keep me coming back for more.

Plaster and Clay...

While I was filming about alternative substrates for my {Held}Captive class, with my clay packet open, I got a little distracted with this beautiful girl. She's weighing in at almost 4lbs already.  I've reconstructed her around 4 times now.  I think we might be settled for now.

I will film painting her for my classroom.  And I can't wait to find her there.

Her bird is leaning with the tilt of her head - I love that.

This hand though...

At last, I love her profile.

Can I tell you how much I love clay and plaster and the natural feeling of it all.  I could get lost here for weeks with my hands all clayed up.  Maybe because it's so playful.  I love painting on clay and plaster - there is something rather delicious about it.

So much love, Jeanne-Marie

Evolving with this haunting girl...

I've been dying to get back to my paints.

And last night was a gorgeous reunion.  I have missed my canvases, brushes and paints so much.  I have been in my dry medium section and substrates section of my class and it meant I had been neglecting my paints.

I wasn't sure where I was going to start... all I knew is that I wanted to paint a biggish intuitive portrait. I love the promise of a blank canvas coupled with a sharp brown Stabilo AllMarks Pencil...

When this girl appeared.

It wasn't all plain sailing... and we are still finding our way together.

My canvas was a bit challenging and I felt like I was fighting with it a little.  And sometimes when I mix my paint brands it can be difficult.  I pushed through and eventually started finding my way.  I filmed my process and you can see how I go through the ugly stage... it's so vulnerable doing that for you on camera.

The fear is that I won't find my way and I will have loose my way on camera.  I know that sounds so funny but the pressure is "ON" when that camera is.  I do eventually forget that the camera is rolling and I get completely lost in capturing the essence of her.

That's truly my happy place.

I can't wait to finish painting her.

I'm loving where we find ourselves tonight.

Until tomorrow...

Love

Overwhelmed...

I've been dreaming about doing this for months now.  To have some of my TeaBagGirls printed onto fabric and to have my bags made up.  I love how these things come together... with the help of friends and sharing ideas... this happened.

At last.

I have had so much on my plate I almost forgot about them, but I managed to pick them up today and when they opened up my package on the printing floor.  It was overwhelming, on top of the fatigue I'm feeling - I almost burst into tears.  Seeing my tiny girls printed so big and the quality and color... gorgeous.

I didn't except how emotional I would feel.

I met with the seamstress tonight and she's busy making up my prototype and I actually can't believe by the end of the week, I'll have a bag on my shoulder.  It truly is a dream come true.  I've made a little sales page about it and the 10 images are up in my Etsy shop.  I'm taking pre-orders already and their will be a give away for 2 lucky buyers.

I have 50 printed up already and I'm hoping by the end of next week they will be ready for shipping, in time for Christmas.

lots of love, Jeanne-Marie