Soulful Being….

Earlier in lockdown, I made 4 tiny beings with little twig feelers on their heads and although I loved them, I just felt like their story wasn’t finished and needed more work. So I spent the day adding on and working with on of them until this interesting little soul found her way onto my studio desk.

I know this close up video looks like she has lots of cracks, but when she dried there were no cracks. It’s hard to explain what is happening as the clay is drying but she dried out beautifully, a quick little rub with sandpaper and she was ready to paint. She was a total joy to paint too. I adore her quirky face and her expressive hands that totally help tell her sweet story.

I have a few little things to do to completely finish her but on the most part I feel her story is complete.

ClayLove...

I’m having so much fun playing with my beautiful paperclay again. Something has been reignited and these little Souls seem to be calling out to me to be made and their little stories be told. I sometimes start with an idea but like all my art, I mostly let them lead the way. They tell me what needs to be done. I’m working with very little armature and mostly using organic materials I’ve found around my environment to build them. I’ve also been making some of my armatures with paperclay and once they are dry, I add onto them and grow them into bigger pieces.

I am working much smaller with my souls this year and it makes them much less overwhelming for me. Each one is creeping into my heart. Some of the organic materials I’ve been using has been driftwood, wooden cotton reels, pieces of forest finds and old fashioned wooden pegs. I am having so much fun and can’t wait to share more with you.

Here are some of my pieces that will be in my auction at the end of September. Please book the date.

LeanIntoMe - a little tutorial coming soon...

I had another piece of driftwood on my desk that I collected from the same beach, 8 years ago. Now two of those pieces have been incorporated into my clay. This one was an unusual shape, almost a v-shaped beautiful piece of smooth wood. It felt wonderful in my hand and the past few months that I have been playing with my clay and incorporating the wood into my armatures, I knew this piece of wood had been beckoning me to be incorporated. I also wanted to experiment doing a a bust style piece with multiple faces and it was a chance to try both. To be honest, I was so blown away by the outcome and so grateful for this kind of play.

It seemed to flow from beginning to end and that is always a treat.

I am so touched by their togetherness and tenderness towards each other. How they seem to stand alone yet be so united at the same time. Thank you for the love around this work and how well they have been received… testing new ideas is always vulnerable and the support has been incredible.

On Tuesday I created another piece like this around a piece of wood that I found in my forest. I am thinking about doing a little series around this theme. I’m a little in love with the togetherness and love that they share.

In the meantime, I’m busy filming and putting a little tutorial together for you… sharing my finds, process and painting their story. I’m still deciding on an airing date but you can find a little more details on my workshop page. More to follow.

Sending much love, <3 Jeanne-Marie

A mini series…

These sweet gals are all on postcard size canvas boards and I guess when I started them, they were never intended to be a little series. I kind of love that they ended up that way. Linking their golden earrings and colors, they feel like they belong together. These three soulful ones will be in the Quirk auction later this month.

Feel so thrilled to be with this incredible group of artists and sharing the love.

The love in the group and sharing our work has already been off the charts, which I know will make for a very special show and I’m really looking forward to it.

I have a solo day, the last day of the auction before the wrap party. This auction day will be replacing my Solo Auction that I had to let go of because of COVID. I’m so grateful that I am still able to have a day, all said and done.

Thank you Stephanie for being patient with our country’s lockdown rules.

Teapots... why not?

During lockdown I got a little into making coil paper clay teapots. Tiny little ones. Not sure why exactly but why not, right? They have delighted me endlessly. I love when artworks/pieces sit on my desk, they call me and send me ideas (eventually). This little darling teapot reminded me that I had a smallish piece of driftwood that I found on the beach a good few years ago… and it was in my knitting box which I had to find and dig out. I held it over my teapot and thought if I can get it attached to the pot, it would be so sweet.

And I did and I’m more than thrilled.

My little expedition to my knitting box made me embarrassed to remember I had a blanket to finish which I have worked on and off for years and it’s still unfinished. I stitched together what I had previously finished and saw I only had two blocks left to do together with the trim. Operation #FinishBlanket is underway and I’ve been doing a little when I sit by the fire. I am determined to finish it by the end of September.

Both the girls have tried to claim it but I’ve said NO… it belongs to the house.

:-D

She's finally finished...

Eight months ago, I started laying down my first layers on this piece. She had rather oversized Hamsa hand earrings on. I wanted to play with this concept in a few of my pieces because I have a pair and they are my favorite earrings. However in the original draw up they overwhelmed her completely and I spent sometime working them back that combined with really struggling with my linen board canvas. I bought two last year and my first piece was also a struggle. After my course, I started gaining ground on the linen board with my neocolors and eventually started to find my way. She changed so much during the course of layers but I am really loving where we settled together and the layers eventually helped me manage the difficult substrate.

I also loved working a little bigger, a delightful change from the pieces I’ve been doing this year.

#sograteful

My beautiful little BlackBird girl...

This sweet piece was actually a rescue from one of my old SoulBearers, a MotherDaughter duo that I did a good few years back. It’s not that I didn’t love them together but they were rather large and the piece felt too overwhelming to finish at the time. So when I was recycling in my studio earlier this year, I decided to separate the two of them and I saved the “daughter” part. I loved her roundish back. Her sweet neck kept breaking so I had much work to do to save this sweet soul. I sometimes wonder why I persevere with these rescues when I could just start over but maybe there is something in the act of finding new stories, the digging a little deeper and perhaps the rescue mission… I’m not sure exactly.

Now when I see her, finished, with her soulful expression, body gestures and stance - I am so glad I took the time to find her.

I know lately, I’ve been taking my time on my artworks - working a little, moving away and coming back to work on unfinished pieces months later, reworking old pieces and some rescues. I am loving the gentleness and quietness in this way of creating. If I’m not mistaken all in all she’s taken 3 odd years to come to fruition and now she’s ready to be seen, known and held.

I am completely mystified by this process and idea and deeply moved by it at the same time. I am realizing more and more that I’m loving works that take time to find their way. Some appear immediately and there is a kind of flow in that place but some others are perhaps meant to linger a little longer in our lives. As for this little soulful being, she has blackbirds painted on her back as a reminder to me of my week with the blackbirds. Since my trip and getting to play and feed the blackbirds, I’ve been seeing blackbirds everywhere and when I look at her little face I see a little bird like character there.

I’m so grateful for this creative time.

Some warm up journal play...

I had forgotten how lovely it is to play this way and I am thinking about starting all my studio days with some warm up journal play, like this. No expectations, no pressure… just flowing with the collage and elements.

I shared a little time lapse video on my socials, so I’ll load it up and share it here soon.

I found a painting...

I’ve started pulling out my pieces and started putting them together for my 1 day auction in September with Stephanie Gagos’s for her Quirky Auction. I had to put my Solo Auction on hold for this year due to COVID, with our borders closed for shipping for that time. It was a big blow to me and my fellow South African artists.

I’m happy to say, I have spent a few months sourcing shipping alternatives and I have a courier in place for my bigger pieces, which I was already using last year and I know their service is impeccable. I will also be using a reliable alternative service shipping via the Royal Mail Postal Service (UK), I have used them plenty of times over the past 3 years and I feel these will be my best and safest options.

I’m feeling encouraged and excited for auction day. You know it is never without its trepidation, but I feel now more than ever, a deeper sense of vulnerability around sending art out into the world. Maybe it has to do with the year we are having. Moving art during a year of pandemic feels like a full body expression of courage and love - love and support of people still walking alongside artists.

Wow I’ve been so blown away by this act of love that I have seen through the year.

I’ll be sharing more about the auction in the next week or so.

Thank you for the beautiful messages around me sharing my art and life on my socials. This year more than any other year has felt more challenging to maintain a consistent rhythm of sharing. Again, maybe that has more to do with the ebbs and flows of this peculiar year we are having.

Appreciation and love to you all, Jeanne-Marie

Bags, bags, bags....

After I shared some of my sling bags with my YTT group, I was reminded that I still had some left to sell. I did a count of what I still have available and I am down to around only 20 odd bags left. I’m listing them below. With the lockdown being as it has, I’m not sure when I’ll be running off another batch of bags but hopefully sometime soon in the future. Each bag will be sold for US $60.00 including shipping. I haven’t changed the price of my bags/shipping since the beginning.

Follow the button below to email me, stating the number you would like and I’ll send you my Paypal.me details.

#90 - SOLD OUT

#366 - Only 1 Left

#330 - SOLDOUT

#116 - SOLD OUT

#89 - Only 1 left

#75 - SOLD OUT

#331 - SOLD OUT

#363 - Only 1 Left

Each bag has been beautifully handmade, lined and with a long handle to sling across your body for comfort.  The size of the printed image is 12" x 12" digitally printed on CottonTwirl and sewed onto a 100% Organic Cotton Bag 200gsm with Juco Webbing Sling and base of bag.  Each bag measures around 14" x14".

They make the perfect art, yoga and meditation bags.

I worked with organization called Township®, which was founded in 1997 with a commitment to creating meaningful and sustainable economic opportunities for women in South Africa’s township communities.

Painting, quietly in the background...

Work in progress…

I’m back in my studio space, I missed it terribly.

I know I’ve been pretty quiet on facebook, this year it seems to have freaked me out a little. But I wanted to let you know I am here and I’ve been painting all year so far, quietly in the background. I’ve noticed I do this thing, especially when things are stressful. If I don’t place too much emphasis on showing up and making it this pressure thing, then I’m always kind of tinkering away in my space on unfinished pieces or on something. Scribbling and adding layers and when I next look, I have finished works. I know it’s a little tricksy but and I’m loving it very much.

That being said, I have a clear schedule of the next 5 months and I have studio time planned and working on some ideas, projects and maybe some bigger works. Looking so forward and I’m so happy to be back in my special place.

#happyheart

Coming back to "normal" life...

I am trying to adjust back to “normal” life…

I’m not going to lie, it hasn’t been easy to get back to life and routine but then again nothing about this year has been easy in terms of routine, right? The month away from home, nestled quietly in the trees doing yoga and mediation during the day… was a little like an alternate universe from the chaos of the world and I have to say I found bliss in this place.

My YTT200hrs course was by no stretch of the imagination easy but then again soul work never is. Our days started 8am sharp to around 4pm and some weeks were 6 day weeks and others 4. It was intense and beautifully so. I left home each day in the dark and cold and sometimes rain. The road eerily desolate due to lockdown so I could take a slow drive between the trees to our meeting place. Only a handful of us. There is something powerful that happens when you commit to this level of structure and routine, maybe it’s in the sacrifice or the discomfort but to me it’s when deep change happens. My heart was expectant in the best way. We always entered the room quietly, left our shoes at the door and did our cleaning regime and took our temperatures and then quietly took to our mats to meditate, sometimes up at the circle under the trees and other times in the warmth of the studio. Starting on time, this way always felt a little sacred to me. Quiet routines and sitting in stillness, breathing is always a good way to start my day. After this daily ritual, we would start our Asana / movement practice for a good few hours. Every moment teachable, every moment humbling as we grasped new concepts or took hold of old ones with greater understanding. We broke for lunch where we all spent time getting to know each other and then back to the studio for theory - learning Sanskrit, Yoga Philosophy, Anatomy and Physiology and teaching methodology. We learnt so much in a relatively short space of time. As the days moved into weeks and weeks into the month, sadly our month had passed with our hearts expanded, minds blown and deep connections solidified with so much goodness.

So now what…

I am now a qualified yoga and meditation teacher with my 200hrs certification, right? But I know I’m not quite there yet, I feel like someone just handed me my drivers license to enter the roads with just a few hours behind the wheel but this driving thing, is serious business and I need more time in the seat. If you know anything about me, you know I’m a huge advocate for time in the seat. So I have work ahead of me… and boy am I doing it and loving it. Like with my art, I hope it’s something I never stop learning and doing because both these have felt like a coming home to me. With that love and commitment to my practices, whatever that may be, I know that will always spill over into sharing, hopefully at some point. Sharing beautiful is and will always be such a big part of my heart. So I will start small, like with my TinybagsofLove… my first little online class. I started small with something burning on my heart to share. I think this will be no different. I’m happy and ignited and so at peace. I am so grateful to my teacher, Jim and my other teachers and my fellow yogis who are now also teachers and my teachers, who I will continue to work with, learn with and grow with. Again, thank you to my family, friends, work colleagues and YOU for allowing me the space to do this and get lost in something so beautiful for my mind, heart and soul. I missed my studio and creating so much and I missed connecting with you online. I am hoping to catch up soon.

Sending much love, always… Jeanne-Marie

MIA for the next bit...

I might be a little bit missing in action for the next bit… during lockdown I started doing quite a bit of yoga and as you know it’s been part of my #100daysproject and during this time, I decided to do my yoga teachers training and it started this week. We have finished our first week and it’s fully intense.

Truthfully, I had been eyeing out this course for around two years and I never thought I would get a chance to do it but with my whole year being cancelled, I found myself with a clear calendar and actually couldn’t think of a better way to mindfully and intentionally work through this peculiar year.

All I can say right now, is how humbled I am by all I am learning and being exposed to. It’s been truly deep soulful work. I will share more soon but for now if my socials are a little on the quiet side, you know where I’m hiding out… in this beautiful place learning new skills and expanding my mind, body and soul.

Lockdown retreat updated...

I have updated my little retreat classroom with 2 extra lessons this week past. If you didn’t get to take my PYHAS2019 lessons, then these are now available to you in this space.

I hope you will enjoy them.

It is my hope to add some new material soon.

12Hour StudioDay...

Corks and her ArtSchool friends decided to do a 12hour straight studio day, they have done 24hour days before which usually yield amazing and deep results. 24hours at this time felt excessive but 12hours felt more doable. I quickly hopped onboard and by 9am I was ready and waiting to start my 12hour StudioDay.

It was my objective to finish some unfinished works, rework some pieces and perhaps start something new if there was time. I managed to finish 3 unfinished works, rework one piece and start one new piece. All of them small pieces but I found after around 9 hours I was getting much deeper, moving from surface kind of work to the deeper soulful work. But boy, it was grueling on my body. To stand / sit and work continuously for that amount of time was hardcore. When I first started my art practice, I was doing days like that and now almost 10 years in, I definitely need more breaks. I only broke really once for a snack, lunch was on the go and I sat down for a quick dinner. The last hour was my most challenging hour.

Holding on tight… like all of us.

It made me realize that I haven’t been spending enough hours on my practice. I kind of skirt around my paintings and skim the surface and I want to spend time going deeper and quite simply that requires time in the seat. I will have to be more mindful about the way I execute that in the physical and practical… regular breaks and stretching but I need to lose myself in the hours.

Since this day… I have done some more days like this with my clay play, more unintentional but I will definitely be planning more intentional days. I know there is such a gift in showing up and giving yourself undivided time.

Thanks Corks and gals, such a great idea, looking forward to the next one.

Finally finishing mini works...

I have been playing with clay a lot… I have fallen a little in love again.

I’ve been exploring working small and adding wooden elements and it has been most satisfying. I’m not sure why exactly but my SoulBearers always ended up so big and even though there is a beauty in that in itself, working small does too. And I think I wanted to see if I could do it.

My little busy bee has such a serious and vulnerable disposition but I adore her. I used wooden twigs from my forest for her feelers. I am loving finding little creatures in the clay and then then going onto find their story in the layers of paint. I never really know who is going to show up.

So far it’s been a delightful surprise.

This little darling was build around a wooden thread spool.

I made her wings from print ephemera and wire. She is teeny tiny and the sweetest little one.

She leans ever so slightly over to the side she’s looking and has a knowing wisdom to her.

I have loved working with clay again and I have loved painting them equally as much but even more than that, I have been so grateful for these little beings coming into my life at this time. They have been holding my heart and mind captive in delightful ways and have been making me play which is always a good space for me.

Working and reworking...

I’ve been reworking this piece when she did not sell at my auction, last year. I initially stayed close to the original artwork but after many layers and lots of frustration, she got a complete overhaul. She has been sitting waiting for me, for around a week or so and now I have to find my way to finish her.

I have so many unfinished pieces #inmystudio at the moment and I know that can become a bit of a habit for me, to hide behind my #wip so I have to be careful. I know the reason behind it, of course, we covered it in the Artist Way. It’s little fears and insecurities that seem to be popping up but I think it has to do with the general state of the world right now, more than anything else.

I have been stuck here before so I think I need to spend some time this coming week finishing pieces before moving on. Even though I know it’s hard, I know it will be good for me.

I know we are all in different spaces right now, trying to cope in our own ways and old habits have come up in unexpected ways. I have some accountability in place to help and I’ll continue to find ways to keep showing up even when my heart is heavy and weighted down.

I have been reading on social media that other people are also finding it hard to complete tasks or show up, so I know I’m not in this place alone. I am thinking about you and hoping that you too are finding ways of coping and keeping the heart at peace during this time.

Much Love, Jeanne-Marie

Little Souls in the making...

These tiny beings happened quickly and easily and seemed to flow right out of my hands. Their tender expressions and soft dispositions warmed my heart and I really can’t wait to paint them. I have some ideas... I hope that part will be as enjoyable and flow out of my brushes too.

I really enjoy working tiny scale.

More soon…

My little series is growing...

I have loved this little series so much.

I seem to be working in pairs within the series and this might move into triples too. I do think I need to do another one with more than one figure next. I knew I wanted this series to include more of the body and I wanted to include the little birds and quirky hands into each piece. It has been such a combination of joy and frustration too. I hope to share more pieces soon.

Playing with clay again...

I have been waiting to play with clay again for some time but especially in the lockdown time because of the comfort levels it provides. I have also been wanting to finish some of the pieces on my desk that have been calling me to paint their sweet little faces and help bring their little stories to life.

I have been doing both.

Creating new beings and painting old ones and I’ve fallen in love again with these darling souls that I keep finding in my clay and then on my desk. It’s delightful to walk into my space and see them all congregating together #inmystudio.

I have to say this tiny little one was a complete surprise to me and I wasn’t sure I was happy about it but I’m glad I pushed through and found her. In the end she brought me so much joy.