pamgarrison

new iPad doodling class on Creativebug

I've got a new technique class over on Creativebug, called "Doodling on an iPad".(The technique classes are shorter in length and released all at once.) Because, although I love doodling on paper with pen like we do in my Creative Doodling class, it's also loads of fun to doodle on a tablet. In this class we use an iPad3 and the free app called "Paper" by 53. This class is made for those who want to start playing and doodling on their iPads, tech expertise not necessary! I'd love to have you join me and see some of your ipad doodles over on the class gallery...

Here's one of my sketchbooks in the app. I was making some paper patterns as well as doodling here. I think it's very fun to flip through the pages of your sketchbooks whether physical or digital ;)

Here's another page where I was using one of the techniques from my Creative Doodling class. 

Something so fun and playful about using a stylus to draw...

I love the look of the toolbar in the app too, so clever. 

There's something freeing about being able to go backwards, change colors, etc. when doodling digitally. Here I was hashing out some pattern ideas. 

I also love how clean iPad doodling is; sometimes I just want to lay on the couch and not get out a ton of supplies, ya know?

Anyway, iPad and the Paper 53 app- a surprisingly fun time. I know some of you have iPads and haven't played on them creatively, now you have no excuse, right??!? Join me on Creativebug for Doodling on an iPad if you want to, creative company always welcome over here! xo

 

I'm a December Daily mini kit designer!

I am so happy to finally be able to share the news that I am one of the mini kit designers for Ali Edwards December Daily® 2016! I love December Daily®, it's one of my favorite projects I do each year, so when I was invited to design a mini kit I didn't hesitate to say yes. I knew instantly that I wanted my kit to feel fresh and festive, be fun and playful, and yet, also wanted it to mix with the more traditional kits, so it'd have to have neutral elements. I also wanted it to be warm weather winter appropriate too, for all of us that have Decembers that aren't exactly full of snow days. I love a good creative design challenge! 

Having an artsy flair, a kit that felt hand designed more than digitally created, yet with some digitally designed art as well, and being very "Pam Garrison" feeling were all up there on my list too. After all, that's one of the concepts behind having mini kit designers; offering different styles and creative leanings. I think those of you that follow me would probably recognize it as mine in a mini kit line up if you were pressed. :) (And to those of you that are just coming here for the first time due to the mini kit announcement, welcome to my slice of the web! I'm glad to be sharing in the December Daily® fun!)

I'm super excited with the way it turned out and I can't wait to reveal the entire kit to you here on September 1! These are just some sneak peeks so you can get the feel for the kit. 

If you aren't familiar with December Daily®, it's a month of December memory keeping in an album concept created by Ali Edwards. I think this will be my 5th year participating. Some albums of mine aren't quite finished yet, but most are, and I love bringing them out and looking through them each Holiday Season. Seeing Ali's is what got me started in scrapbooking/memory keeping at all, and I feel forever grateful that she thought up the concept and each year shares it in such a way that it inspires participation. It's so fun and not nearly the "added to-do in one of the busiest times of the year" that it might sound like if you've never tried it. It actually helps me be more mindful, to slow down and notice the important things. Head over to her site to see hers through the years and learn more. 

As I mentioned, I wanted it to work with the other mini kits, and of course, Ali's main kit too, so that people could mix and match as it strikes their fancy. I like it when people use the same products in different combinations to come up with totally personalized and unique feeling results. I feel that is one of the aspects of a successfully designed line. I hope that some of the pieces will be so fun to use that it will inspire participation and easily spread some joy and merriment around. I love fun products that make me want to use them, that's my hope with these. Some "let's get using this!" sparks to get you telling your stories and wanting to engage creatively.

Of course, me being me, it was hard to limit my ideas. I immediately had 10,000 and I wanted to include them all, lol. I was grateful for the awesome team I worked with who excelled at editing where I did not. The paper was one very fun part of designing, getting to choose and design the other kit components and embellishments was another. More on all that when my full kit is revealed September 1, when presale opens up for December Daily® 2016.

If you want to be on the December Daily® specific email newsletter list, you can sign up at the bottom of this page here.  A few items did sell out pretty quickly last year. Those on the newsletter know the news first.

It feels great to have my name on a product I fully believe in and love. I was stalking my mailbox once I knew it was on it's way to me and it didn't disappoint!

So excited to share more with you soon, in the meantime, they are doing a fun reveal all week of all the other mini kit designers and sneaks of their kits on decemberdaily.com I don't even know who the other designers are or what their kits look like, so I'm as excited to get that daily email and check the site for more info myself!  

Order selection period start September 1, which I know might sound early, but with shipping and prep to consider, it ends up being perfect timing. Plus, December will be here before we know it (yikes!) Hope some of you that are new to December Daily® will join me this year, and hope those that are regular participants will enjoy my kit!! I can not wait to see it's pieces in use. I'll share more of my design process after the reveal of the entire kit, because I for one love the behind the scenes scoop too. 

I'm already excited for the holidays and summer is still on it's last legs...it's going to be a fun one! xoP

painting painting and more painting

 

Hello out there! I'm coming up for air just long enough to put up a post on the blog. What?!? Crazier things have happened, surely, but with my track record this past year, I'm happy to find myself pulled here to share.

This is the current state of my family room floor. And it's been like this for too many days to count.

As you can see in the pictures (and post title) I've been putting in lots of hours painting lately. In this instance, when I say painting I'm referring to acrylic on wood and canvas; both florals and abstracts or a combination of them both.

I'm pretty sure it started on a recent trip to Portland where I got in a lot of painting time; both with Michelle in her awesome studio, and then an intense 12 hour non stop session with Jennifer, (amazing artists both), I felt a creative growth spurt coming on and if there's one thing I love it's new developments in my creative expression. This week I dropped as many things as I possible could and devoted myself to more uninterrupted painting time. And it's paid off. I fully believe that quantity time leads to good quality creative learning. The breakthroughs happen eventually. Just stick with it. Practice without judgement, play, fun, experimenting... all recommended by me! 

I painted a lot of my more usual like these:

and then some new things started coming out like this:

and this:

...which feel and looks different than I'm used to. Like finding a new gear. Fun times.

As per my usual, many, many at once. That way I don't feel forced to stick to any one idea; I feel free to try different things like colors or marks that wouldn't necessarily belong together. 

I'm still painting away but probably need to clean up the family room for the weekend. It's ok, a break, switching it up, is good on occasion too. Maybe I'll paint in my art journal instead, a little cleaner for the family for a bit. ;) 

I've even been on a finishing(!!) roll and have started moving some pieces around my house. 

(That tall skinny flower is a Jennifer Mercede piece. It's so sweet.)

I've started a second instagram account that's focused on paintings and behind the scenes/works in progress. It's where Jennifer and I had our art auction, and I've listed a couple things for sale there just to try out something requiring less clicks than etsy.  It's @pamgarrisonstudioshop if you're interested.  

And, I'll be listing lots of things on my etsy too, that'll help me focus on finishing them all the way through!

Pursuing creativity and putting in enough time for growth...yes please. As always, I appreciate you stopping by here and also as always, I'm here cheering you and your creative time on. I hope if you want some, you get some. Even if you have to steal a little time...trust me, the dishes will wait, I've tested it! 

 

in search of fellow creatives

Hello there, you! Are you an artist? Is art a hobby of yours? Do you want to get started or expand your creativity? Want to join me for three days of guided creative exploration and general art making fun?!?

Well, you're invited!

I'll be at Donna Downey's incredible art studio teaching Ever Expanding Creativity September 30-October 2, 2016. Donna's Studio is in North Carolina and we had so much fun in class last year that it's well worth the trek across the country for this artist for sure! You can bring some of your favorite things or just show up, the price of class includes everything and more that you'll need. 

If you joined us last year, know the content is all new and I'm super excited to bring this new teaching material to this group of creatives. 

It's no secret that I am a passionate creative.  I feel one of the best things about my creativity is how accessible it is. I've figured out some simple ways to open up that creative flow along my journey that I am going to share. It is always my hope when teaching to encourage, inspire, inform and simplify creative pursuit, but this class especially will focus on some specific exercises and fun playful ways to open up that creative window even more. 

We'll be doing this using guided exercises as I've mentioned, and we'll also be art journaling and painting on wood too!

All level artists welcome and encouraged. 

After having taught at the Donna Downey Studio, I now know how very many delicious supplies we have at our fingertips. Donna is a passionate creative like myself and spares no expense when it comes to stocking the studio. As a teacher, and as a student, this is an incredible gift to one's creative explorations. We're not going to limit ourselves over the three days, that's for sure!  

One night last year I came back to the hotel to find many of the students having a late night art fest in the gathering room off the lobby. This year I think we'll have to set a time and see how many of the students want to join in for after hours creative time. Or maybe we'll have a pizza party at the studio... there is delicious pizza right across the street (why yes, I did test it out last year, I do love my pizza, don'tcha know?).

Another thing that holds true for all my classes is that I want to be sure to answer your burning questions. Is there something you've seen me do that you want to see demonstrated? Some supply you want my thoughts on? Some process or specific pursuit? Requests welcome and time is built in for getting them addressed. That's what's great about the three days, although it goes by quickly, there is time to dig into the creating. 

I love sharing all the new things I've discovered in my own creativity and methods and mediums. I'm always exploring and expanding my repertoire. 

This is my last live teaching engagement for 2016, and I only plan on doing 2 in 2017, so if learning live is where it's at for you, I encourage you to meet me in North Carolina this September!  We're going to have a creative haven for three days, can't wait! 

xoP

 

 

Collaborative art auction today!!

 (Edited: Auction has ended, all paintings sold. Jennifer and I thank all those that linked, looked, liked or bid!!! xoP)

Hello! Here's a blast of colorful craziness for you ;)

Jennifer Mercede and I recently got to collaborate and we ended up with 9 original abstract paintings that we are auctioning off. The auction ends today, Sunday, August 7 at 9pm PST. If you want a look see and more info, they are on my @pamgarrisonsrudioshop Instagram account found here: bit.ly/JMandPGArtAuction. We are thankful for each and every look at the fun we had working (playing) pushing paint together.

More photos and close ups can be seen on the @pamgarrisonstudioshop account on IG, but here are a few more I've been sharing recently:

The collaborative painting experience is fun and challenging. At the end of any collaborative experience I have always grown and stretched my creative muscles. I think the artwork that resulted this time is a perfect blend of our original styles. New things came up for both of us, new strides and new notes.

Thanks to all those that have bid already and good luck to any bidders!

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday and hope you get to collaborate creatively now and again, it's such a good thing for one's art practice on occasion.

Xo P

do you doodle?

Remember when I told you about my traveling up to San Fransisco to film a class for Creativebug on this post? In that post I told about how I was up to film a Creative Doodling class that turned into filming another class that has already released, 31 Things to Draw (March), and that Creative Doodling would be released later...well, now it's later ;) and the Creative Doodling class has been released! 

If you follow me on IG, you may be aware I've been traveling a bit. Since last posting here, I've been to New York, Vermont, and Italy! More on those someday, but all that traveling has caused a bit of a backlog in my work (and life) load, and I've been tardy in announcing that this class has gone live! It's a 4 part class and we are already in week 3. No matter though, it doesn't change anything for the viewer, except that you can continue on without waiting now. The class, once released, is up on Creativebug continuously. 

If you've read here for long, you know I love doodling, and while anyone can do it, I was excited to build a class that allowed me to focus in on it and share some of the different concepts that I use and share ways to encourage fellow doodlers to stretch their doodling muscles! 

Part 1 covers some of the basics of doodling. I share my go-to methods, and provide prompts for when you get stuck, as well as using color and scale to explore a single motif. Those pretty butterflies above are just one page created in Part 1 of class. 

In Part 2 we add favorite pens and add lettering specific to doodling. Part 2 lessons include creating the pages shown above and below and much more. You know I love pens and color and letterforms and and and ;)...

And Part 3 of Creative Doodling, which released earlier this week, includes doodling on different types of paper, demonstrating how the surface you work on can impact your doodling style. I also share using found papers as design inspiration, as well as how to create a simple doodling record book and going large scale to make gift wrap. 

And next week Part 4 releases! Part 4 includes what I consider more advanced doodling techniques including segmenting and doodling to indicate perspective or contour. I'll be back with photos once it's released. 

Ok! That's probably enough rambling about class for you to determine if you want to play along or not. I do hope you join me for Creative Doodling class over on Creativebug, I worked hard to develop what I think is a fresh take on the subject and am proud of the class that we created. And for $4.95 a month, kinda seems like a no brainer if it's at all your sort of thing ;). 

Oh, and one more thing...if you want to have some of my doodles for free to download and color, I am one of the participants in Creativebug's 30 Coloring Pages class, along with Courtney Cerruti and Lisa Congdon. Not sure if I've mentioned that before or not. 

Hope all is well in your world and you are getting in some creative time!!! xoP

 

 

one true constant

ah! glorious peonies! we can't grow them here in Southern California, but I sure am thankful Trader Joe's stocks them for a short while every year and that it happens to fall near Mother's Day ;) 

Hello hello! Long time no post. I've been thinking a lot about this space here, my blog, and what my plans are for it, and have many thoughts to share, but I'll save that for another day. Today I'm inspired to put blogging on the top of the to-do's because of my thoughts on creativity.

While thinking about blogging and dreams and time management and all-the-things, I realized that we all have some true constants in our lives, and one of mine absolutely is pursuit of creativity. It's a non negotiable. It doesn't matter if I'm sick or well, happy or depressed, busy or with time on my hands, creativity happens. I have to make stuff, it's one of the great loves of my life. 

I love that. I am deliberate about it, and also choose creating by default - it's my favorite procrastination technique, it's the most effective place for me to problem solve, it's an excellent well filler - to name but a few. 

Let me back up a moment and tell you what brought on this realization:

Recently, I started thinking about what kind of travel journal I wanted to take with me to Italy soon. I even debated using a Midori Traveler's Notebook, but after looking at some of my favorite past travel journals (below)

I knew I would likely regret not making my own. I'm going to Italy to assist Amy
while teaching a jewelry class at La Dolce Vita retreat, so we started brainstorming together. We went to Italy together just over a year ago when we co-taught making Travel Journals at Adventures in Italy retreat and had so much fun constructing the design and making pre-trip as well as enjoyed having similar designs while there. 

I've found that making a travel journal doesn't just leave you with wonderful scrapbook and souvenir, but extends the trip before and after the actual travel. Ahhh! is exactly how I feel when I look at them...a little bit of heaven!

Amy and I decided to get together to brainstorm and begin making our journals for this trip. She had some leather and I brought two of my TN's for construction inspiration, traditional Midori TN and a Webster's Pages TN:

Amy had some leather she had found at the flea market, so we cut strips, talked about options, and began sewing. (I loved the bright neon orange thread she bought at Wallmart.) We had our basic plans down and I had to leave for my son's baseball game. Of course, I thought about it the entire game. Later that night I worked on it some more and came up with some fun alterations and additions. I finished it late last night after a week of off and on playing.

I really really like it, I'm not sure I love it, but what I really loved was the whole process of creating it from brainstorming to execution. One true constant. There's nothing wrong with it and I'm not fishing for argument, it's just I'm not sure how well it will function as a travel journal for me. It might be perfect, it might take getting used to or I might not like it. I'm not worried about it, I'm just sharing that because it was such a great example to me about how it's all about the process, the result is the icing of creative time spent. So here it is! :

Unlike the traditional TN's we decided to extend the length so that there is a flap that covers over the open book edge (not the spine):

I went the traditional Traveler's Notebook route with elastic bands there to hold the pages in the journal and also to keep the Journal closed tight. I bought some white elastic and tried unsuccessfully to die it with Rit dye, so instead I painted it with some orange Sumi ink, worked fine. (Amy said she might sew in her pages or might sew a leather strap on the top that wraps around vs. elastic. We hadn't gotten very far before we split up.)

Before I attached the elastic that wraps around the book from back to front, I mistakenly punched a hole in the wrong place, so I added a little scrap of leather rectangle to cover it. I put a star eyelet in the center to receive the elastic cord for a more finished look. Problem solving- always a favorite part of making for me. Of course, I could have done a better job of sewing it on, but with my non industrial sewing machine and penchant for focusing on process over perfection, I'm just fine with it as is. I tend to embrace the unique aspect imperfections bring. ;) So much easier than ripping out and starting again! 

I also added a little piece of stiffer leather with grommets (what's the difference between grommets and eyelets? One for paper, one for material? or??? I feel I should know this but I don't). I think I'll use some of Amy's tiny metal alpha stampers to write Italy on it. 

Here's a breakdown of the inside of my book:

I added pieces of leather to the left side before folding the base flap of leather down on top and bottom to create a pocket. The larger brown is to tuck papers in, sewn down on the side and bottom and on top of that brown piece is a red piece that is a pocket that just happens to perfectly fit the Pocket Palette I just bought. I also tried in vain to make my own monkey's knot bookmark and resorted to buying one from Handmademits on Etsy. 

Now that I've broken it down and shared it here, I'm finding myself more fond of it. That usually happens after I let time pass from when I first complete something and do a quick evaluation of it. I'm super excited to test it out soon!

And with that, it's now:

And just like that, I've gotten back up on the blogging horse. That's another true constant; this here blog is almost entirely about sharing my creative adventures, I can always start there when stuck since there are always more of those to share ;).

It's Friday here, hope you have a good weekend wherever you are! xoP

p.s. if you follow me on IG you know that I am giddy about my recent investment (they are spendy!) in an ipadpro and apple pencil. giddy I tell you! so please forgive the inundation of digital writing. it's just so fun:

   

Much more to come on that too, I'm just getting started. I think I'll Periscope it soon to share what I've learned and hear from all you others that use those apps. (@pamgarrison_ over there) or link here. 

31 Things Daily Drawing challenge with Creativebug contines

Meet Amelia, the youngest student I've seen participate in my 31 Things to Draw on Creativebug class so far. She's awesome and so are her drawings... and that spelling!! As I commented on her mom's instagram, I could not love this more. I love love love kids' art and love it when moms have their kids participate with them in my online classes. I had to share this with you, so I asked her mom if I could. I'm so glad she was fine with it, seeing it always brings a smile to my face and I imagine it does the same for you! 

The class participants (of all ages) are awesome, they are really drawing and sharing and it's so cool! You can see a lot of the sharing here on instagram: #CBdrawaday. People are so clever and creative, but it's not about that, it's really about participation, the creativity is the icing on top of the doing. 

Are you doing it with me? It's really fun and not too late! Everyone is welcome and if you do, please share on the class gallery and on IG, I love to see what everyone is making and to leave notes cheering people on. 

Here is the book I'm using:

I've taken that paper cover off, I was just leaving it so you could see it. I like it a lot. The Copics bleed through the pages, but Coloring Brush Pens don't.  I've been using water colors too. 

Here are my pages for days 1-6:

I'm getting ready to do day 7 (today's) now, and I'll color in those birdies when I do. 

As you can see from my drawings it really isn't about perfect illustration or serious sketching, it's about play, participation, and stylized drawing. In a word, FUN! And at $4.95 a month, it's a no brainer. If you want to play along, go here, and I'll see you in class and on instagram! 

xoP

current art journals

My friend Mary Ann showed her visual journals on her blog this weekend and it made me not only want to get to work in my art journals immediately, but to share them here as well. I haven't shared art journal pages forever, but I'm always playing in them off and on. I keep all the creative projects in my life ongoing, I'm not a one thing at a time creative. 

I made these, my current art journals back in September. They are huge and delicious! The left one is sized 12x16" with a 1 1/2 inch spine and the one on the right is 11x14" and has just under 1 1/2" spine. I covered the left one with a poster from Ikea, but didn't love it, so I've been collaging on the top every now and then. The one on the right is made from an old oil painting bought at a flea market. I didn't realized it was signed until I'd cut into it. I sure hope I didn't ruin a painting by a registered artist. It looks like the name is Merle Wheeler, but it's hard to tell. 

Here are their backs. Again, the Ikea alphabet poster on the left, and a brown painted cover on the right. Man, there is nothing like a handmade journal made to your own specifications and desires. These are a bit heavy and on the too big to bring with end of the spectrum, so I have been using a couple teaching demo journals when on the go:

These are 9 3/4 x 13" and true demo books- you'll see what I mean in the photos below, a lot of experimentation. 

The backs- stickers from boxes, found washi tape and notes on color chart while taking an oil painting class. 

and as always, doodles and mark making, drawing and playing. 

My art journals are my favorite place to play and experiment. 

Testing pens, writing down quotes, lettering experiments, doodles, collage...

...line quality, different paints, color explorations...

Good old fashioned mess making! these books are not precious to anyone other than me. And to me, they are precious not because of the finished artwork (because rarely is there any finished artwork in them, but instead, special to me because of all the ideas tested and tried. Even the bad ones teach me things about my own art making and creativity. 

Anything goes on these pages. As a matter of fact, it's encouraged. 

Mmm...early in the development for my Painting Petals class. 

I love that these are documents of some of that class development process.

Some quick sketches, pattern making, color palette selecting...

More quotes and more flowers, pens and paints. 

...trying different papers and loving the experiments in paper and color they bring.

Yum! 

Found papers and colors, long time loves of mine. 

That candy box was too great to not cut out and keep! 

Mess making freedom! Just seeing these pages makes me want to take it to my son's baseball game and doodle in the color patches. 

Although I love the absence of color (white) so much, I don't leave many pages with much white. 

...and still some vintage wallpaper ends up in there somewhere. When I love something it's usually a lifetime commitment ;). 

Ahhhh, art journals, absolutely love them! Do you keep an art journal? A place to experiment and explore; to play and also to escape and unwind? I highly recommend it. 

If you'd like to come create journals with me and be guided in scientific art experiments,  2 of my live teaching engagements in 2016 are just the thing: 

•Ever expanding creativity at Studio Crescendoh later this month, and

•Ever expanding creativity at Donna Downey Studios next September.

Online I have a variation on art journaling available; my Creative Sketchbooking class on Creativebug with some guided page play too. 

But you don't need to take a class to art journal, just get some papers and art supplies and get playing!!! It's done me wonders over the years, like I said before I highly recommend it! 

31 Things to Draw challenge

Hi there! I wanted to invite you to join me over on Creativebug for the month of March. I'll be leading a 31 Things to Draw daily challenge. All you need is some paper and a pen and a few minutes daily for us to get drawing. It's begins March 1, so I wanted to make sure you had time to gather your things and be sure you are signed up. I love Creativebug and have a Creative Sketchbooking class over there as well as a Doodling class coming up this spring.

While I was there filming the doodling class this January, Lisa Congdon's 31 day drawing challenge for January was going on and the enthusiasm for it was contagious. The Creativebug members (students) started requesting that they keep this going all year long and so behind the scenes there was a big push to make it happen. Before I knew it I was flying home to launch Painting Petals and prep to film the 31 Drawing challenge, and I was back within a week. 

Here we are at lunch, it's almost all of the Creativebug crew. Everyone there is as hip, creative and as nice as they look in this picture. A happy, creative place to work full of talented people that make it all happen. 

Cast and crew, Left to right: Courtney Cerruti with Pup Charlie, Erik Wilson, me, Brian Emerick. 

The aftermath...not too bad when it's just pens and paper. 

My pen test sheet.

Here's a promo of the class:

8912_MarchDrawing_Promo from Pamela Garrison on Vimeo.

If you want to draw along, sign up, grab your materials and I'll see you over on Creativebug on Tuesday! 

I'll leave you with these pretty flowers I brought to the set one day. Perfect for painting if you happen to be in Painting Petals class ;). 

As for Painting Petals...the PROJECTS are coming this week, woot! 

Have a great weekend! 

 

  

paintings in progress

This is my family room floor right now. It hasn't changed much since last night. Something flipped in me after dinner and I just had to set down what I was doing (the controlled, illustrated bird in the bottom left) and just play. 

All these pieces had been started previously in one form or another, and then abandoned for other assignments. I've been working harder than I ever have in my life it seems, at least artist "job" wise, neglecting housekeeping more than ever though, and I can't seem to get out from under the must-do's to the do-whatever-you-want-whenever-you-want-to's and last night I gave myself a much needed hall pass. 

This was the first go at putting a bird on a background. The bird was inspired by this one I watercolored the night before:

 

For better or worse, it's completely gone now, and currently looks like this:

Still not finished. Who knows where it will end up. I wish I could have both versions to be working on right now, I liked that background and that bird might have turned out great with more love, but unfortunately, that's not how it works with paintings.

I've been painting long enough now to sometimes have a good idea where I'm going, like with this one:

or this one:

and this one too:

-Side note: all three of the above are techniques taught in my Painting Petals class and so will first be for sale soon over on the class website. Or join us in class and learn how to paint your own! ;) -

I may be surprised  by the colors, or the line quality, or the way the choices I make impact the end result, but how I'm going to get there, the technique, the method, is a reliable thing, so I know how it will generally end up. That's what makes it teachable material I suppose. 

But sometimes I abandon a certain technique for another approach and what shows up really surprises me, like this piece in progress:

By the time I stopped last night I was thoroughly delighted and surprised by it. It is just fun and playful and unexpected. This one seems to be going that way too:

A good reminder that play is so important to discovery and growth. It's as important as deadlines and sharing and everything else that goes into being an artist. I preach it endlessly in all my teaching everywhere and I mean it. Permission to play granted for all!

Hope you get some creative time in today and that includes some play just for the freedom of it. Taking the pressure off is the best advice I ever have to share and I need reminding of that myself, even after all these years. 

xo,P

 

hiya! and a little bragging

WOW! I am seriously impressed with the work coming out of my Painting Petals online class. Obviously, the students are very talented, and I'm thrilled that some are sharing their work on our class instagram hashtag, #PGspaintingpetalsclass. (click on that link on left to see the gallery large) I have taught a lot of live classes and have seen the result of playing along with me in person, but with the online course, I'm not sure who is really participating making art right now until they share it, and it really is exciting to see; so much good art making going on! 

Very fun to see all the different takes on the lessons, and hear about whether it's easy or difficult for them to adjust their thinking, or if it's new and different to what they normally do, etc. I just had to brag a little on their behalf, I'm pretty sure you'll be impressed too:

Left to right, starting at top: me :) pamgarrison, minniecarr, brannonlawson, robinsears, linwoodavenue, lucyedson, jubileeflea, me, minniecarr

Left to right starting at top: jentingting, jubileeflea, jubileeflea, chynasgarden, brannanlawson, cynelin, jubileeflea, jentingting, jentingting, brannanlawson, brannanlawson, lucyedson, 

Left to right starting at top: 

blairs, christineadolphdesign, cynelin, mama_finch_, minniecar, jentingting, my flowers again, brannanlawson, brannanlawson, blossomrising, j.knot,  lucyedson

Left to right starting at top: lucyedson, brannanlawson, tonyadoughty, tonyadoughty, tonyadoughty, minniecar, minniecar, ksueb, ksueb, tonyadoughty, jentingting, jentingting

Left to right starting at top: jentingting, chynasgarden, brannanlawson, blossomrising, brannanlawson, nullsie, finnabair reposted christineadolfdesign, minniecar, tstirling8, christineadolphdesign, mama_finch_, minniecar

 

Left to right starting at top: nullsie, brannanlawson, brannanlawson, blairs, me, brannanlawson, blossomrising, aunt_peaches, tonyadoughty, tonyadoughty, linwoodavenue, linwoodavenue

Left to right starting at top: linwoodavenue, blossomrising, robinsears, joydeaton1, lucyedson,class entry page, lucyedson, blossomrising, blairs repost of my work, and bottom row, all mine, @pamgarrison on ig. 

Phew! That was a lot of linking! I sure hope I got them all right. I took  screen shots of the gallery and then linked each picture to it's post on IG, so if I got yours wrong, please let me know. I've double checked but I'm getting a little loopy from all the linking and might have missed an error. 

Awesome work, right?!? I sure do think so! 

I'm going to post the ig gallery, like this, on my blog weekly, so if you want to see your work here with a link to your IG, please post it on IG using class hashtag: #PGspaintingpetalsclass and it'll automatically be included. Thank you for all who have been posting and sharing already, it makes class all the more fun! We also have a class flickr group, but I'll keep that private, since I'm not sure if students want their work seen (I'm assuming by hashtagging it on IG that you are ok with my sharing, if anyone isn't, please let me know!). I'm loving the posts on flickr too and am commenting on those that have shared on our class group. I hope students will share there as well. 

Ahhh, I worked long and hard on the Painting Petals class, and am really proud of it, even more so now that I have started seeing the work coming from the students. It's more fun than I anticipated; releasing the lessons and seeing what comes of them in the students' hands. 

If you want to join us, there's still plenty of time and lots of fun still to come! Go here for more info.

And I realize, it might not be in everyone's current budget, for those that want to join in some class fun I'm also still really proud of my Creative Sketchbooking class over on Creativebug and the work that has come out of it as well. (It's $4.95 a month, plus you get access to 500 other classes). 

I've got 2 new classes coming on Creativebug soon, as well as Lettering Lessons over on Cloth Paper Scissors, those are downloadable for $3.99...so, hopefully, there's a little something for everyone! 

As always, I'm sincerely grateful for you, those that come here and support me and my work and cheer those that pursue creativity on! xo Pam 

 

Painting Petals class starts tomorrow!!!!!!

My Painting Petals class starts tomorrow!!!! Woohoo! Aiyee! Yippee! 

I have been working on it for a year and I can't believe the day has finally come. I'm checking and re-checking and tweaking away. I want it to be perfect from minute one, (and I know there is no perfect, it's one of the biggest things I impart in all my teaching, but you know, smooth, easy and fun from the start). Beautiful, informative, inspiring and encouraging, that's what I intend class to be. 

The students have been leaving the best introductions and after just being at the Creativebug Studios and seeing some of the student work from my class over there, I am even more excited to see the art that comes out of this class. Painting pretty petals is one of my favorite things to do, so happy to find so many of you feel the same, and I'm so happy to lead the Painting Petal brigade! The world can't have too many delightful florals. Speaking of which, the flowers above are giftwrap we'll be making in week 5 of class, one of the many projects.

We'll be covering floral inspirations, seeing more creatively and less realistically...

...drawing loosely with different tools, painting with acrylics...

...liquid watercolors and inks...

...talking colors and composition...

...imagination as inspiration...

...lettering and monochromatics, adding details...

...faux oil painting techniques and projects...

...practicing, and using and repurposing the practice...

...and so much more. I'm really proud of the class. I hope you'll join us...the first lessons are released tomorrow!!! 

For more information or to register, go here. 

(Sign ups will remain open for a bit and classroom stays open until February 1, 2017.)

I suppose my kitchen table won't look like this for too much longer...it's such pretty content I haven't minded. 

Greetings from San Francisco!

(A little hotel room fun.)

Well, hello!! How are things out there?!? 

I'm up in San Francisco filming another series for Creativebug (on doodling- how fun is that for a topic?!?) and thought I'd share a few shots from life on the road. 



If you follow me on Instagram (which, to be honest, has taken over my blogging for quite a while now, more likely you check in there vs. here these days), you may have seen me working on the set backdrop which is made of three 4'x8' panels. I shipped them off last week and yesterday, after I asked if they arrived at the studio as expected, I got off the airplane to see this Instagram. I laughed out loud. It's Courtney Cerruti and Liana Allday (both Creativebug geniuses), after hanging the banner in the studio for my shoot this week. 

The Creativebug studio is right in the middle of the city now, so tonight I was able to jump on the cable car and ride all the way up the hill until home. 


A room with a view. In such a great city.

I saw this sign as soon as I left the studio and stepped out into the street: 



LOVE it !!! And I couldn't agree more! 

And here's a shot from earlier today while filming:



We're so serious aren't we? About doodling, lol. Another great crew and three more days of filming to go. 

And then....

Then I return home, and soon after that... Painting Petals class starts!!!! I am so thankful to all of you that have signed up! I'm excited and nervous and impatient and inspired all at once. Some little Painting Petals type of fun had recently in the desert:





(It's really going to be good. And it's not too late to join us!)

Thinking of you, the blog readers, my oldest creative compatriots. I'm thankful you stop by, even though my blog has been more of a newsletter of late. I'm definitely grateful for you, the readers, the students, the artwork supporters. You motivate me to keep creating and sharing, whatever the platform. 

Hope your week is off to a good start! XoP

greetings from the desert

We are here, Mary Ann, Carol and I, on our yearly art retreat to Palm Springs. It's our 4th. Something to look forward to all year. Last night we went to dinner and toasted 2 out of 3 birthdays, another year of life's ups and downs, hard work done, a shared love of art making and so much more.

I just loved this visual, had to grab a shot. I wish I'd had it for the holidays. It's perfect winter photo fare to me.

Breakfast today. Another yearly tradition.

We don't always see snow on the mountain tops, even in winter. It was pretty breathtaking.

And then we ventured to the Sunnyland gardens. Amazing!

Two of the Moss sisters. Don't let their sweet smiles fool you, these two are up to trouble in a heartbeat if it's an option!

The Sunnyland garden is truly stunning. Highly recommend a visit.

Driving home to our rental. I will always love these windmills.

I'll share some art making next post.

(A friendly reminder: last day for the early bird discount price on my Painting Petals online class!!!)

Oh, and one more thing:

;) hahaha!

Ps from Pamela Garrison on Vimeo.

 

 

 

recent adventures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How great is this card from my friend, artist Jennifer Mercede? Love it! She is the best at sending snail mail, I need to up my snail mail sending this year for sure. I'm not good at it at all.

So how's the new year treating you? It's been "so far, so good" over here. I've had a few recent adventures like going to Disneyland with Ali, Paolo, and their crew:

This is on splash mountain right before Paolo and I were drenched. Not overstating it at all, we were totally soaked. Fortunately, it was early in the day and we dried out before it got cold.

Ali with her friend and co-worker Katie. Love them.

I also love California Adventure, the other park at Disneyland. Foolishly, I rode California Screamin. Not sure what I was thinking there, but it lived up to it's name, I nearly lost my voice from screaming and had to lay down on a park bench after getting off because I felt motion sick. It's funny now, (even kind of funny then), but safe to say I will never ride that again! I should have saved my ride courage for Tower of Terror instead. 

Here's the whole gang, Ali, her boyfriend Aaron, me, Paolo, Katie's husband Peter, Katie and Graham the wonder baby- he's the sweetest and I was so happy to be able to get a little baby fix. Loved tagging along with them; they are all fun and interesting and smart and kind, and big Disney enthusiasts.

Even though I live in Southern California, I can't think of a time when I was at Disney with just adults (and a wee one). It was super fun. Especially the drinks and dancing over at The Mad Hatter Tea Party when it got late. Pretty sure my yelling (singing) to 80's songs took care of what voice I had left after that ride.

Ali and crew were in town for CHA (the Craft & Hobby Association trade show), and since I had a couple meetings there, I met up with them the next day too. Here they are joined by Kelly Purkey in the Studio Calico photo booth. I was happy to finally get to meet Kelly, she was very sweet.

While in the Ali Edwards section of the booth I got to look through some of Ali's real albums and they are even more amazing in person. She's a super talented storyteller, documenter, scrapbooker, whatever-you-want-to-call-it, and I'm very happy she's got even more exciting things in the works for the future.

My meetings went well and I might just have some exciting things in the works myself, fingers crossed! ;)

But for now, I'm still super excited about my Painting Petals class! The early bird price is good for only 2 more days. A great group has formed, and if you want to join us, today or tomorrow will be the best savings on the class. I'm still creating content, I can't seem to stop! (You can find out all about it and register here.) I hope you'll join us!

I hope your year is off to a good start. Had any fun adventures? Being a homebody, I forget that new adventures can be really good and just plain fun. January has been has been just that.
2016 is looking pretty promising so far, cheers to the New Year! Xo

 

It all goes by so quickly

 

Another Christmas has come and gone and all that's left now is the clean up. It all goes by so quickly.

I hope that you all had a nice day and spent it how you wanted to! Ours started a bit roughly with a four hour trip to the animal urgent care, poor pup seems to have slipped a disc. :( We were able to get home just in time to open presents, finish cleaning the house, start cooking and clean ourselves up before a house full of family arrived. As everyone was saying goodbye my daughter and I were able to go and bring the poor pup home; he's got some pain meds and seems to be doing fine now. Throwing something like that in the mix makes the day seem especially crazy. I'm very much looking forward to relaxing tomorrow!

And now that it's officially the 26th...my Painting Petals class is up and registration is open! I'm really excited to share it with those of you that choose to join in. See that sideboard in the photo above? It's full of class materials, I couldn't get it all put away before company arrived and figured it looks so pretty anyway, it could stay there. I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to that fun tomorrow too.

If you want more info on Painting Petals or to sign up with early bird discount go here! 

Xo,P

happy holidays!

Hope you all are enjoying the season!

I'm busy as a bee putting the finishing touches on the class website before it releases for sale 12/26!!

 

Wishing you all a very merry & happy holiday season! XoP

my Painting Petals class is coming soon!!!!!

 

Hi! I am SO EXCITED to share this with you! I'm also super appreciative to all of you that have expressed interest and encouraged me to press on with creating my own self-hosted online classes. And of course, for your patience too; I know it took me a looooong time, but it's worth it, I promise! Super grateful for all MaryAnn's help getting this class from a thousand ideas to actually releasing. Look at the awesome promo she made, I love it and hope you do too!

Well, without further ado....

Painting Petals Sneak Peek from Pamela Garrison on Vimeo.

Registration begins December 26, 2015

Class begins January 31, 2016
 

At long last, my very first self-hosted online class is ready to share. I am thrilled to finally be able to present my floral based e-course, Painting Petals, to the world! 

I've been infatuated with flowers for as long as I can remember. Growing them, arranging them and creating with them as inspiration. They make their way into nearly all of my artwork, whether it's in my paintings, art journals, or any number of craft projects. This ongoing life-long love affair with flowers made it a natural choice for my first online class. I can't wait to share all the methods, materials and techniques I use in my floral artwork with you!

If you follow me on Instagram, you are well aware of my never ending petal love. It's undeniable, I'm crazy for florals!

 

I look forward to sharing with you so many different ways you can express yourself with floral art. My hope is that by joining me in this 5-week lesson and project-based class, you'll be inspired and informed by my love of flowers and art making into creating your very own unique works of art. The imaginative drawing and loose painting I'll be teaching will bring a freedom and ease to your current artistic work. No matter your skill set, novice to professional, you'll learn how to capture leaves & petals in playful, spontaneous, original ways. Our focus here will be on impressionistic works of art; beautiful, expressive florals!

During class you'll see me create using liquid watercolors, colored inks, inexpensive acrylic craft paints, markers, pens and more. A full supply list will be furnished in class, both a general and specific list for each lesson and project. If you have any sort of an art practice now, you should be fine with your current stash of supplies. I have tried plenty of supplies and will share my favorites with you.  Substitutes and alternatives are encouraged for artistic development, and the benefits of doing so will be demonstrated. We are certainly going to be breaking some rules and overriding preconceived notions!

 

The nitty gritty details:

• A beautiful, easy to navigate class site bursting with inspiration & information
• 30 high-definition instructional videos 
• 5 weeks of instruction with new lessons & projects released weekly
• Detailed supply information for each lesson & project
• Unlimited access to the virtual classroom and content for 1 year - until Feb. 1 2017
• A private Flickr group to share your work
• Class price = $145  registration opens 12/26/15 at early bird special of $120
• Once you complete payment, class access information will automatically be sent via email to the address associated with your Paypal account; if you don't see it, please check your spam folder. 
• Pre-class content, you can get started having fun before class even begins!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• ©Pam Garrison 2015-2021  Please do not re-post, redistribute, or reteach class content in the form of written instructions, video tutorials, or live workshops.
• You’ll need a high-speed connection, and up-to-date computer to access the classroom site. A full understanding of how to navigate a website will be useful as well as some basic understanding of how to troubleshoot unique problems that may arise with your system.
• Due to the persnickety nature of everyone's computers and varying level of expertise, I am unable provide tech support beyond basic troubleshooting. I will however always make sure things are operational from my end.
• All sales are final.  No refunds or credits will be granted for any reason.
• Please treat your password PDF like a gift certificate and keep a hard-copy somewhere safe in the event of a computer malfunction.

 

I hope you'll be joining me in Painting Petals! It's going to be so funnnnnnnnn! 

 

Gift of Creativity giveaway

Hey there! I wanted to let you know that Creative Bug has put together a great big giveaway for the holidays. There will be 4 winners chosen and the list of prizes include:

3 month subscription to Creativebug, Courtney Cerruti's book Playing with Surface Design, Lisa Solomon's book 20 Ways to Draw a Chair, and orginal artwork by yours truly and Courtney Cerruti!!! 

There are 3 ways to enter, you can enter with one of them or all three to up your chances. You can read all about it here. 

To enter go to the Creativebug blog post here. Good Luck!!!

I wanted to say again how appreciative I am of everyone that has taken my class there, Creative Sketchbooking. Creativebug has been great to work with and I look forward to offering you something new there next year! It's already in the works ;).