PROJECT 15
Metamorphose

Work through Creative Block & Blank Page Fear

ANY ARTIST, NO MATTER how experienced, has to deal with feeling creatively stuck or blocked from time to time. There can be many reasons for feeling stuck.

Create Your Collage

2. Apply a layer of clear gesso. This will lock in your collage and give you a new, transparent layer on which you can create your subsequent layers (B). Important: Once your collage is glued down and dry, take a photo of it. It’s super fun to see it transform. You can also use the photo as a reference if you want to follow the original shading.

2. Add paint and color over the collage. I painted her face by starting with a layer of salmon-colored crayon (D).

3. Add further paint and gesso where you feel called to. I added white gesso to her hair (E).

4. With colored pencils, markers, and Posca markers, I added further shading to the face (F).

5. I then added color to the background with watercolor crayons, activating them with water (G).

6. Add gesso with a brayer to unify the layer (H).

2. I added color to the inside and outside of the aura to make it stand out and illuminate the girl’s face and upper body (J & K).

3. With a white pen, I added little dots and doodles to the painting (L).

4. I then added imagery that I love (little houses, floral/natural shapes, and stars). Choose imagery that you like; add it playfully (M, N &O).

When I think of change and transformation, I immediately think of things that can help me with my intention and that can support the process of transformation.

Art in general is a great tool for transformation because it’s a constant curve of learning, playing, developing new skills, and improving on what you have learned already. It’s a very powerful combination for me to connect art with other things that can be helpful for the process of transformation.

For this project, I have focused on the use of colors in combination with crystals and stones. Both can have a big impact on how we feel.

Stones and crystals also inspire me a lot and are very powerful. Amethyst, clear quartz, tiger eye, and rose quartz, just to name a few, each hold different energies that can have a positive influence on our well-being and that can help us with our wish for transformation. I love to incorporate crystals into my artwork. Even if you don’t believe in their energetic power, they’re super pretty to look at. The amazing colors they come in and the endless variety of textures and patterns they have can totally inspire us in our art.

Let those colors and patterns inspire you. Let’s listen to our inner voice telling us what we need right now. Need something joyful, inspiring, and energetic? Then red or orange would be a good color to work with, and crystals such as orange calcite and red chalcedony could add beauty and meaning to your artwork. If that’s something that sparks your interest, do a little research on the power of colors and crystals.

1. Prime your canvas board with gesso. Add two or three even layers of gesso with a flat brush (let it dry between layers) to create a well-prepared surface to work on.

2. Tear a piece of vintage paper (from an old book page, old sheet music, etc.) and use collage glue to adhere it to your canvas board (A).

3. Use stamps to add designs and visual texture to your canvas board. Because we will continue to work with wet media, make sure to use a waterproof ink pad for this. Everything goes—just use stamps with patterns and designs you enjoy. You might also want to add stamped words that go with your intention (B).

4. Now grab a stencil with a design of your choice, a palette knife, and some crackle medium. A medium that dries clear will give you the best results when adding the watercolors in the next step, so keep that in mind. Put the stencil onto your canvas board, hold it in place, and scrape the gel medium across the stencil using the palette knife. Make sure to leave a nice, thick, smooth layer of the paste for best crackling results. Let it dry for the crackle effect to unfold (C).

5. Now pick your color scheme. I decided on a purple color scheme inspired by the purple amethyst stones that I will add to my canvas later. Gather watercolors (liquid watercolors work best, but you can also use tube or pan watercolors with lots of water) matching the color scheme. Also consider some sparkling or pearlescent watercolors for a special effect, as well as white and black for interest and contrast. Load your brush with a watery mixture of the color and lay it onto the canvas. Start light; then add more color step by step and add more water if needed. Enjoy the process and let the colors and the water “do their own thing” on the canvas. That’s the beauty of watercolor, and it will result in stunning effects (D).

6. For even more fun, you can add in a second color, a special effect color, or white and black (E).

7. The crackle medium texture we put down earlier will create a very pretty resist effect now, adding a cool mixed-media touch to the watercolor (F).

8. Once everything is dry, load your brush with some more color, hold it close above the surface, and slightly tap it with your finger to add some random paint splatters to the background for a playful touch (G).

9. Cut shapes (circles, diamonds, hearts, etc.) from vintage paper. You will need three or four of them for layering, making sure to have some variation in the sizes. Crumple them up and open them again (H).

10. Flatten them out, but make sure to keep a little bit of the texture. Slide an ink pad along the edges of the shape for a distressed edge look (I).

11. Adhere the paper shapes to your canvas, layering them on top of each other. Only add glue to the center, so the edges are still loose for a dimensional look (J).

12. Nest the crystals and stones as a focal point element right on top of the paper shapes (K). Again, let your intuition guide you as to where to place the shapes and stones—but I would suggest placing them slightly off-center on the canvas board for more visual interest (L).

Two more art pages in other gem-inspired colorways

Art pages displayed with the stones or gems that inspired them

This illustration is inspired by the Three of Cups, which usually pertains to love, socialization, and personal relationships. Known as the most creative card in the tarot, this Warden reminds us to turn to our friends and creative circles when we need to.

This illustration is inspired by the High Priestess, one of the most powerful cards in tarot. Her meaning is connected to knowledge, wisdom, and subconscious self. She is most closely tied to being a protector or guardian, so think of this Warden as the protector of your creative process and journey!

This illustration is inspired by the Wheel of Fortune, which recognizes the ebbs and flows of life. It reminds us that sometimes negative situations or events in life are often out of our control—and not to blame or be too hard on ourselves when they happen. The idea behind this card could also be applied to our creative practice, when we aren’t feeling inspired or when what we’re working on isn’t coming together as expected. This Warden reminds you to not be so hard on yourself!

Each Page Warden illustration, which you may photocopy to include in your art page, is inspired by a card found in a tarot deck. Their meanings are described on the opposite page.

1. Begin by making a photocopy of the illustrations shown here. (If you want to use your own artwork, create a pen drawing of your own Warden image.) Cut out the Warden you wish to use.

2. Once cut, lay the printed illustration on a piece of watercolor paper to determine the shape of your Page Warden. You can keep it simple with just a rectangle or create a tag-like shape. Leave white space around the printed illustration for watercolor later (A). Cut it out.

3. Adhere the illustration or your artwork to your cut-out paper shape using a glue stick (B).

4. Using a wet-on-wet watercolor technique, begin by wetting random areas of your watercolor paper using a paintbrush and water. While still wet, apply doses of watercolor paint to the areas where you have applied water. This will cause the pigment to bleed out and create various organic lines, shapes, and bursts of color.

5. Repeat with a second and third color, allowing time to dry in between. Analogous color palettes work best! I also tend to use variations of blues, purples, and pinks to create a more cosmic look (C).

6. Allow your painting to dry. Then place it under a heavy book, sandwiched in between sheets of waxed paper, if you need to flatten it out (D).

7. After your Warden is flat and dry, punch or cut a small hole at the top for trim (E).

8. Add pen details to your Warden by drawing small lines and/or dots or by outlining your watercolor with a gel pen. You can also add washi tape for extra color and pizazz (F & G).

9. To finish, tie trim through the hole at the top of your Warden to hang it outside of your art journal (H).

• alleviating stress

• becoming more mindful

• creating more peace and contentment

• creating more joy

• manifesting more of what we are grateful for

Though we all go through hard times, taking some time in the day or week to look at the things you are grateful for can help shift perspective, help you focus on the moment, and means you are attracting more of what you’re grateful for, simply by recounting and feeling joy by reliving the memory.

A note: Focusing on gratitude is not done in a “should” manner. It’s not helpful to think, “Even though things are bad for me right now, I should be grateful for all the things I do have.” This approach is punishing and doesn’t honor the fullness and wholeness of you. If you’re feeling resentment or pain over some traumatic or damaging experiences in your life and you’re finding it hard or painful to try and be grateful for other things, that’s okay and understandable. If this is happening for you, I suggest that instead, before you embark on a daily or weekly gratitude exercise, you spend time honoring and empathizing with the pain you’re experiencing first. It’s okay to spend time with your pain, feel it, and acknowledge it. This might be a necessary step before you embark upon a gratitude exercise. This is not to say that a gratitude habit could not help you overcome your resentment and pain, but I would avoid doing the gratitude exercises if you’re telling yourself you should be doing them. Work first instead on honoring and feeling your pain.

To figure out what makes you grateful (sometimes we’re not aware), you can ask yourself questions like:

• What/who made me smile today?

• What/who gave me a sense of peace and contentment?

• What/who inspired me today?

• What/who created a sense of awe in me?

Remember that the things you are grateful for need not be grand things. They can be everyday little things such as ladybirds, the blue sky, avocados (yum!), flowers, autumn leaves, puppies, warm blankets, a smile, your toothbrush, the smell of bath soap, your spouse making dinner, and much more.

2. Write messages of love and gratitude to people, animals, elements, and/or experiences in your life that you are grateful for (B). (Remember, it doesn’t have to be a big thing, though it could be.) You can be grateful for the sunshine, a mild breeze, your coat, a beautiful song, or your neighbor smiling at you. It doesn’t matter what it is.

3. Once you’ve written your messages, roll up the papers into little parchment rolls, using pieces of washi tape to hold them together (C).

4. On some of your paper rolls, you can add embellishments such as string, ribbon, or stickers (D).

2. Add color over the collaged areas with crayons or watercolor paint (F).

3. With a palette knife or hard plastic card, apply white gesso to the center of the page, spreading out to the edges. Wipe away excess gesso with a tissue or baby wipe; you want a milky, transparent layer over your collage (G).

2. Glue down the star and the parchment rolls with gel medium (I).

3. Put gel medium on the rolls and then sprinkle with glitter (J).

4. Add color to the edges of your painting, as if to frame the star and notes (K).

5. Outline your star with color and pencil if you feel it needs it (L).

6. As a final touch, I added splatter around the star and notes, plus I added pink dots with a cotton swab (M & N).