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You know there's only a little difference in the placement of letters between sacred and scared . . . creating and sharing something this close to my heart is both/and. Gypsy Rose by Denise Daffara Painted using the Color of Woman Method. May you find not scared enough to not take action. love Denise xo  In December 2013, I donated this painting to a Women's Shelter as a token of love and hope for them. .. “Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field. I'll meet you there” Rumi As I embark on the newest little part of my creative ventures... mixed media works on wood and paper ... I hear 'those' voices... "Oh this isn't real art.. you should be painting every bit of it" ... "What... you're using cut out pictures in there" ... "this is crap... this really will not do" .... "grow up" .... Oh the list could go onnnnn and on. But with the strengthening of my Muse voice... or my listening to her... I'm hearing other whispers too... really quickly.... following on from the mean bitch voice... like, "This is a new adventure"... "we're here to have fun"... "if it's bringing you joy... then... hello... do.. it" ... "this little piece of art you're making.. is not going to hurt anyone.. and if you're filling it with such enjoyment then maybe someone else might actually love it too" ... "try it and see" ... "experiment" ... I'm taking a new bunch to the framer this week... and they'll make their debut up at the gorgeous gallery that has my work.. and if anyone has a critical comment to make about them... well... let them say it to my face and hear about the 2 years of being blocked and depressed about it.. hahaha.. that'll learn them! I'll post pics of the new ones once they've been revealed at the gallery. ... I can maybe show some snippets . . . 
I am returning to a place of play as much as I can when making these pieces... and that feels like a really good place to start.
with love, Denise xo ps. They'll be on display at Tiffany Jones Fine Art Gallery later this month. 
This was the scene in the spare room of my parents home this time last year... I set this up to be like an alter right next to where I'd be art journaling for the month.. Mum had one of my prints hanging on the wall... and a picture of Mary.. or more than one in every room actually. I felt somewhat comforted by this Mary picture with her bunch of angels hanging out... so I gave her pride of place overlooking my artful adventure... little did I know... I would be joining the likes of Shiloh Sophia McCloud and Jenafer Joy, and Stella Mac and Effy Wild... and be part of a wild and wonderful bunch called the Cosmic Cowgirls ... and just over one year later I will be meeting many of them in California! and Helllloooo... running a "Paint Mary with me" retreat/workshop this month too 
Today... my Muse must have been with me.. along with my daughter.. I found this gorgeous luggage tag that has so many visual messages that have meaning for me... The colour 'limoncello' is a favourite of my dear mentor/teacher/inspirer Shiloh... I feel like I'm flying from a cage... that's metaphorical.. I did a mixed media piece a couple of years ago..and it's been profound the many layers of crappola I've been leaving behind sometimes daily.. but you know.. on the whole.. I'm in a much better place :)... and the crown!!! well Sovereign.. and I painted Queen of My Own Heart this year.. so that's a gorgeous little addition... this trip is an adventure... a loooong adventure.. and the crossing of the San Francisco... Golden Gate Bridge is part of it too. That's about it..a short sweet post for tonight.. there are only 2 spaces left for the Paint Mary with Me retreat.. so if you are wanting to come... register at your earliest convenience. bye for now, love Denise.. 
find out more about my Paint Mary with me retreat xo
Oh my goodness... I just hit send... if you're on my newsletter list you'll be the first to receive the invitation to join me on a very special one day retreat/workshop. It's less than 2 weeks away... and I can't believe I'm offering it before I head off overseas on 18th July ... but these paintings have quite a mind of their own.. and I felt so moved by the creation of my Magdalene.. that I wanted to share that with a creativitea class as soon as I could. Below is a picture of the flyer... but if you'd like more information visit the webpage here. 
I'm excited.. and even a little nervous.. this is leaping out in faith in a direction I've never gone before... but it feels like a warm summer day to me... perfect.
love Denise xo 
I was inspired to write this as I was heading to sleep last night. off to pick up the brush,
love Denise xo Paint Mojo with Tracy Verdugo!I have declared this year is all about learning new art techniques, as much as I can.. so going to Tracy's workshop was part of that ... I wanted to see in person what all this dripping and colour and creatures was all about!!! Wow, what FUN, it was hands down the best workshop I have been to so far... I have learned along the way that I am a kinaesthetic learner, I need to DO ... not just sit and listen to someone 'talk' about doing... in fact.. those kinds of classes make me want to hit my head on the desk really hard. 
I was so thrilled to be painting and plain happy to be there, that grin was plastered to my face for much of the weekend... apart from when I was freaking out about covering up half of the canvas with white paint! 
little frames within my large canvas
I was lucky enough to have several friends also booked in to do this workshop, that made it ever so much more special for me. 
Lisa and I, Vicki, Katrina, Lisa Katrina and Lara discussing, Lara, Lisa & Paulette.
Tracy's beautiful canvas... the one on the right is the almost finished piece. 
my collage/colourful board headed towards Mr and Mrs Chicken.. while Tracy's became a very gorgeous cat!
Tracy and Me (it's very exciting to hug a Shero)
My canvas with all the 'unexpected' little windows.
So, that's a bit of a snap shot of the weekend, having two days together was really great, and allowed for us to work on 2-3 pieces, I loved it very much, and learned a bit more about .. letting go, surprises within a painting, colour, and freedom and joy to play with a whole new technique. YUMM.
bye for now, love Denise xo Tracy Verdugo : http://artoftracyverdugo.blogspot.com.au Katrina Woodland : teaches art classes in Indooroopilly, Brisbane - red door art studio Dear friends who have bought calenders & prints, and paintings. I am so grateful! I've made a decision to apply for a very special course next year, and each sale of my calendar (about $5) is going into savings... and all the new artwork that I've been doing, a percentage if not all of the proceeds, and print sales will be going back into my learning. I'll share more along the way, once I've been accepted and know it's a sure thing... but for now.. this is a little snap shot of some of my newest paintings, in varying stages of completion.  The little ones above are on small boards, they're a totally new thing for me to try and I am LOVING them... they start off in all kinds of chaos... and I leave them to dry many times, turn them 90 degrees, add some colour or marks... and come back and add some more... and then I look into them like a 'crystal ball' and see what image is beckoning... or hint of a shape is catching my eye... I'm looking into new print options for some of these petite pretties.  This beautiful lady in red tones is on my easel at the moment, not much more will be changed, I love the depth and sensuality she presents with this rich colour. The small one is a soft and gentle piece inspired by the gorgeous Jacaranda trees that are in bloom here in South East Queensland at the moment, they are so very beautiful. I stood beneath a tree in Buderim a few weeks ago and actually asked 'what gift do you bring, blooming with such extraordinary colour and covering the ground with your purple flowers?' Much like the idea of eating the fruit that is in season is most beneficial and healthful for our system... what gifts do the flowers bring. I wondered to myself.
2013 Calendar with 12 little prints of my artwork inside My three arrived today Denise...they're beautiful. I ordered mine on the 21st Nov. and they arrived from the US today!I (26th November) only paid $9.99 for postage!! Fantastic xx RJ - Melbourne That's about it for now love Denise xo I've been learning some wonderful art journaling lessons from Effy Wild, in fact... I've been meaning to share with you all the A M A Z I N G news of a GIVEAWAY prize package we all have the chance to enter. O M G I have never been so excited about an online prize pack such as this before. Click the link below to find out all about it. GIVEAWAY FROM WILD SOUL ARTS! FREE SEAT IN LIFE BOOK 2013 and FIVE OTHER PRIZE PACKAGES! http://effywild.com/2012/10/03/huge-mahoosive-giveaway/ I thought I'd share a few fun pics I've been taking of my art journal pages whilst in process/progress . . . a recent page was quite heart wrenching for me, but with some patience, self kindness and understanding friends... I got through the anguish and created a page I feel really proud of.  It's deeply personal, but not a new story . . . and the words I've used jumped out from some random pages I took from two different old books... I was in a vulnerable place ... and just had to trust that process, that if I stayed with my feelings I would come through the other side. It was such a gift to allow myself this time, and the peace came eventually too.  Having trouble uploading two more pics... :0( dammmmmitttt
I might just share them on my fb page... and see if weebly will let me add them another time. I'm toooo tired for this... I spent 4 hours learning about Golden paints for my second time (there is so much to learn, and so much is new to me, and I'm so freakin excited about them I chose to go to another demo by the amazing art educator Nancy) night night, lovelies Denise xo A surprise 'bubble mail' today....."Congratulations Denise! Your work is on the RedBubble homepage today yay!! One of our homepage curators picked your image because they thought it was brilliant. Less than 3 in a thousand works make it onto the homepage – so congratulations :)" Yesterday I was so unproductive and flat... it's amazing what a lift and personal affirmation something like this can give. In these current changing times where things are often quite uncertain it seems to take larger amounts of self love and trust in the flow of love and life to move from complacency to shiny again. 
I've got some new images to add to my red bubble page... they'll be available to order as cards and little prints asap.
with love Denise xo They're going ok... still tweaks and things for some.... and 'pray' isn't finished yet... but here is a little look at the three that are almost done now. 
Also, I just received an email today from Red Bubble ...... and they are soon to make iPhone covers part of their range!!! Woo hoo, I've always wanted to have one of my paintings be available for this. If you have any ideas about particular designs you would LOVE to see on your iPhone sometime... do let me know.
I hope you're having a great week. love Denise xo |
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