So I used to set out to make each piece in my art journal a work of art…a Monet of sorts but then I realized that this journal is my safe place.  Typically I carry it with me, have limited supplies (travel art journal stuff shared HERE) and sometimes is the place I land on a good or bad day.  Of late it has been pretty neglected until this past weekend when I sequestered myself in a Starbucks.  It kinds of forced me to pull it out and try some new ideas.  Here is the page I released…….

So here is a catch up from my art journal of the good, the bad and the ugly but sometime good usually always comes from the lessons…..like these grapes….

that turned into this…

and a few more….

not sure what happened this day but yep, this is in the idea journal….unfinished and as is.  That is just how some days go.

So sometimes letting it go and remembering that learning is about the works of arts and the mistakes you make along the way (some of my best mistakes became a technique I love).

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend an art open house of Gene Locklear (literally he opened his house and studio to see his work)…it was a learning moment to have him talk about his latest abstract phase and see his awesome use of color!  All of his pieces are true to who  he is as an American Indian and Athlete (former major league baseball player).  He showed me “mistakes” that he made on certain pieces that made these effects he just loved and he did not want to cover them.

I was moved by the pieces themselves, the subjects and his techniques…

So different from my art but nonetheless both have a voice.  It made me appreciate the mistakes, taking those opportunities to learn where I can and develop as an artist and person.   He definitely does not limit himself (and has a very nice wife!).  They are inspiring and I am so glad I took the chance to talk to them.  Embrace those moments and those “mistakes” and art is ever evolving.

Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.  Take everything as a lesson learned.  You are the books you read, the films you watch, the people you meet, the dreams you have, and the conversations you engage in.  You are a combination of what you take from these.  You are the sound of thunder, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner.  You embody every experience you have had in your life.  You are every single day, even the bad ones.  So drown yourself in a sea of knowledge.  Let the experiences run through your veins, and let the lessons grow your mind.”