I'm all Ears...

“My hands are elegant and my ears… well they were a surprise even for me but I’ve been learning to love myself even with my little oddities. I’m always leaning in, to listen carefully to life’s subtle nuances.”

She was such a pleasant surprise even for me. She’s tiny and she was built around an old fashioned clothes peg. She was a rebuild and rescued piece, like most of my pieces tend to end up being but she originally had these ears on her back as wings which I removed, as I’m not really a fairy kind of gal. So I was playing around with where to put them and I tried on her head and that felt kind of perfect for the Quirk auction. Unfortunately I didn’t get her finished in time for the auction but her ears ended up being such a delight to me and to others but most of all I loved her elegant hands.

I have fallen in love with hands again - it was a common theme that ran through most of pieces that were in my auction.

I know this last while has felt like a bit of a clay season for me but I’m just enjoying it and moving with it, that being said, I’m missing my paints and canvases terribly too. In the meantime, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the love and support around my clay works - it’s been so greatly affirming.

Operation send off...

Operation send off was epic.

It’s as important to me as making the art itself. I convert my dining room and studio into a packaging space. It takes me days of organising, putting together, wrapping up and closing out.

I’ll share a video soon, once I’ve put it together. I wanted to share my wrapping up of my SoulBearers and my process around that. I am not saying I have all the answers but some of the behind the scenes work. Protecting my work is always my highest concern and the far journey means anything can happen. I have learnt so many lessons through the years of some of the things that can go wrong, what works best for the different items and I guess that’s something that I’ll alway be tweaking.

When I package up my little souls, they are so adorable in their foam wrappings and I fall in love all over again.

It’s a tiny bit of joy in the long tunnel of packaging and shipping.

#sogratefulforsomuch

Sanctuary for the Lost Souls

She was born in Italy in our beautiful upper room of the monastery, in Orvieto. She travelled over the seas home with me and waited patiently all year for me to finally finish her. Sometimes the sheer size of these souls overwhelm me but only until I start painting them. Once I started painting her, she flowed, from beginning to end. I totally love the form she took, I don’t often have a say over the form they take... They tend to go where they need to and I am better not to fight it.

They bring their own delight to me.

I stuck with a limited palette and it seemed to work well.

She embarks on her final voyage to her forever home and I’m so grateful that she’s on her way. I trust my sweet Bearer will travel with grace and mercy and arrive in one piece.

#sendingwithsomuchlove

Prints, prints prints....

Just a little shout out for my tiny shop.

It’s a new storefront platform I've finally figured out and it’s working. For all those who have been asking about my prints and blockmounts, my tiny shop is stocked. Thank you for your patience and allowing me to finish my auction, shipping and admin. Please take a browse. I have kept my prices the same as last year and a little bonus, I’m running a one week opening 10% special…

Please use the code WELCOME

Thank you - always Thank you !!!

It’s truly so hard for me to find the words. How do you say thank you when it just doesn’t seem like an appropriate word to express the weight of my gratitude.

I took a few days to be quiet after the auction. It’s a massive energy pull and full on connection for 3 days give or take. Of course there is the month long build up before the auction and the time after to package up, with all my love and appreciation. It’s a biggie, one I completely adore. I admire Stephanie’s massive capacity to run these online auctions. Phenomenal really and the collective creative energy to be part of a group auction this year, was felt and beautifully appreciated. The whole experience mind-blowing.

So thank you to all who came, who loved on and who of course, bid and purchased. I am always so blown away by the love and it always feels a little unexpected. It’s more than encouraging - it’s life changing. To be honest it’s given me some emotional confirmation that I was deeply needing after the year of uncertainty we have had. So I quietly and humbly say a massive THANK YOU!

I am so grateful I was able to finish her in time for the auction and I’m so grateful that she’s going to a new home.

It’s given me the courage to make some new decisions about what’s coming next and I hope to share more soon. But I'm encouraged and excited and completely ignited.

I’ve been packaging and adding some tiny extras to each parcel, as you know packaging up is as important to me as the piece itself. It fills my love tank.

I send out all my pieces with the travel angels and may they arrive promptly and swiftly.

With so much Love, Jeanne-Marie

Final bags...

It’s almost the end of an era with my special SlingBags.

These are the final two bags left that are up for grabs. I sold a lot and I also gave away a lot as gifts. It was important to me to be able to do both. This venture was such a blessing in my life and I’m so grateful that I did it and that I got to work with such a brilliant initiative and team in Cape Town. I am also so grateful at how well received they were as art bags, yoga and mediation bags and everyday bags.

What I love even more is that, like my actual TeaBagGirl pieces, they went all around the world.

I don’t have any plans for new SlingBags but maybe a different kind of bag perhaps. Let me know your thoughts, I would love to hear. In the meantime and once again, I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for all who supported me in this special venture of mine. I loved sharing them with you. It definitely feels like the end of something beautiful and my heart is so overwhelmed with gratitude.

Much Love, Jeanne-Marie

AUCTION DAY... one more sleep.

One more sleep and my auction day is here.

It’s kind of snuck up on me but being part of the Quirk group has felt like a soft landing in an otherwise challenging year. Thank you for allowing me to be part of this sweet and delightful group. It’s felt a little like family. The work has been sweetness all the way, a little to a lot of quirk and rather refreshing. To top it all off, it’s been such a beautiful supportive group.

Tomorrow is my solo day to close out the Quirk show. I would like to say these days get easier with all the years I’ve been doing them with Stephanie but for me it feels like it intensifies each year. I know it’s challenging for my nature but I also know it’s good for me, no matter where the chips may fall. Maybe it has to do with the vulnerability and being fully seen. Right…. It’s always easier for me to be more in the background tinkering away and you might accidentally stumble across me and we might transact this way. I know being fully vulnerable is growth, always. So I do the work.

I am, of course laughing to myself about my own quirkiness and of course thank you, thank you for the love and tag requests already received and the support felt for the work I’ve done this year.

Hopefully see you tomorrow on the Auction Floor.

Please remember to click on “GOING”

#365TinyCaptures

We have dipped below 100days left of this year already, down to the double digits.

How crazy is that?

The days are slipping by so fast and I’m trying to hold onto tiny moments that help me stay present in every day and every moment.... like Riley’s precious love, magical sunsets, walking slowly into my yoga class, yoga… lots of yoga, the wild flowers on the side of the road, healthy food, my garden and art... always my art and lots and lots of it! I have once again adored this project but almost 3 years into the practice I can see my images are improving and I’m loving the daily seeking which has become an art in itself.

One which I love.

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