Almost done with my studio, thank goodness. This is the end of the Inchie Challenge. It was quite fun creating these little 2×2″ pieces of art. I’m sad it came to an end but I plan on continuing the practice.
I hope you enjoyed coming along on this journey with me. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!!
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These are all of my creations:
I can’t believe how this year has flown by. We’re already in middle of September and before you know it the holidays will be upon us once again. As we get closer to the last quarter of the year, it’s a good time to take a look at your goals and where you stand on them. Are you meeting them? Did you stay on track or did you forget about them altogether?
Brendon Burchard one of my favorite coaches has a YouTube episode on creating a Battle Board. It’s never too late in the year to start because everyday is a new chance for new opportunities to come into your life. So with my studio getting closer to being done, this is one of the changes I’m implementing.
The concept of the Battle Board is basically to have your goals outlined in front of you so you can see them every day to keep you on track. If you’re not looking at your goals on a daily basis it’s easy to become distracted and veer of course. Once that happens there’s no chance for success.
Whatever your goals may be health, business, finances or relationships, assess where you are and where you want to be. Then create your Battle Board to keep you on track and successful!
Hope this inspired you today. Thanks for stopping by!!!
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“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into visible.” ~Tony Robbins
My studio is taking longer than anticipated. It’s the last of the art supplies that need to find a home in the studio that is giving me a bit of trouble. But despite that I’m continuing with Amy Maricle’s Inchie Challenge at Mindful Art Studio.
These are my next 3 days of prompts. What I’m loving about this challenge is working on a 2×2 inch piece of paper forces you to keep things to a minimum. I also love that I’m creating lots of mini pieces of art that I will eventually use in a journal.
These are my creations for Days 4 through 7:
We’re going on day 8 and it will be completed by day 11. There’s still time to join, just visit Amy’s website at Mindful Art Studio and click the link to join the Inchie Challenge.
You can also find Amy on Facebook and Instagram at @amymaricle
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I’m still working on getting my studio back together but really needed a little bit of artsy fun so I joined Amy Maricle’s Inchie Challenge at Mindful Art Studio. This is my first time joining and I’m having lots of much needed fun.
Everyday Amy releases a new prompt for a total 11. The rules are to create a mini piece of art on a 2×2 inch square piece of paper. Since I love using my watercolor paints, I’m using watercolor paper for my inchies but really you can use anything.
These are my creations for the first three days:
We’re up to day 5 but I was working hard on my studio the last few days so I need to catch up. You can still join just visit her website at Mindful Art Studio and click the link to join the Inchie Challenge.
You can also find Amy on Facebook and Instagram at @amymaricle
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I recently had the pleasure of visiting Key West, Florida the southernmost point in the continental USA and also the westernmost island connected by highway in the Florida Keys. There are more than 800 Florida Keys stretching over 180 miles but only 43 of them are inhabited. The island of Key West is fairly small running 4 miles long and about 1 mile wide.
In 1912 Henry Flagler built his railroad down into Key West connecting it to the mainland. Sadly on September 3rd 1935, Key West was hit by one of the most powerful hurricanes to date, “the Labor Day Storm” and it washed the railroad away which cost Flagler $20 million dollars to build. The railroad was never rebuilt but instead was replaced with a highway.
The scenic drive into Key West on the 110 mile Overseas Highway is simply spectacular! On your drive you’ll enjoy the natural coastal beauty as you cross a total of 42 bridges including the infamous 7 mile bridge which is my favorite. There are plenty of great restaurants, shops and art boutiques to stop at along the way.
There are a lot of interesting sites to visit in Key West including the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, a must see, showcasing artifacts and treasures from the Atocha. President Truman’s Little White House with guided tours and lots of US history. The legendary novelist, Ernest Hemingway resided in Key West and did a lot of his writing in his home which is now open for tours and home to about 60 cats. But keep in mind these are just a few of the fun places to visit while in Key West, there are plenty more.
I’ve saved the best for last as the sunsets in Key West are simply breathtaking. If you do nothing else but take a sunset cruise you won’t be disappointed. You’ll be in awe as you enjoy Mother Nature at her finest while cruising the ocean, there’s nothing quite like it!
I hope you enjoyed this little travel review and are able to visit the Florida Keys some day. Thanks for stopping by!!!
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“Every sunset is an opportunity to reset.” ~Richie Norton
All photos taken by Maria Vidaurre
I finished another segment in Tamara Laporte’s online course, “She Blooms in Ink.” This was my first dark skin girl and she was ever so challenging. Her skin kept coming out blotchy and the more I tried to fix it, the worse it got. So I cleaned it up the best I could and called it a day.
After everything was done, I thought she turned out pretty cool, even with her blotchy skin. I loved the color combination on this one, the green gave it that extra pop. I added the quote using a stencil which I just got on amazon. It’s part of a 20 pc set of inspirational quotes and was very reasonably priced. The stencils are perfect for journaling.
If you’re interested in learning more about the online courses offered by Tamara Laporte, please visit her at Willowing.org.
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Having a Labor Day Sale in my Etsy Shop this weekend with BIG savings on my original paintings. Perfect time to get a jump start on holiday gifts or to treat yourself because you deserve it✨
Have a Happy and Safe Labor Day weekend!
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In my art history class in college I was introduced to Georges Pierre Seurat. He quickly became one of my favorites along with Monet. This painting titled “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” was created by Seurat using a technique called pointillism.
Pointillism technique was developed in the late 1880’s as part of the Post Impressionist Movement. At that time many artists started using this technique which involved painting tiny distinct dots next to each other until the image is formed.
Seurat lived from 1859 – 1891 in Paris, France. He began working on this painting in the summer of 1884 at the age of 25. I remember seeing this painting on the large projector in the art history auditorium and was completely mesmerized by how beautiful it was and amazed it was painted with nothing more than a bunch of dots.
I loved this technique so much that I decided to give it a try. So I created this 5×7 inch Killer Whale image using a black fine tipped pen on paper. It was very tedious and my hand became pretty sore after just a short while. The entire image took me about a week to complete but l couldn’t imagine doing a very large painting like Seurat’s which measured 81.7×121.25 inches and took 2 years to complete. I think my hand would fall off 😂
I must say that after creating my “little” piece of pointillism art, I had a whole new appreciation for the artists who used this Pointillism technique.
I hope this inspires you to create some art today! I’m taking a short break and will be back soon.
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I finished reading “Gracefully You” by Jenna Dewan. In her book she talks about her family life and her career in dancing and acting. Many think a celebrity lifestyle is easy and glamourous. But celebrities face challenges and obstacles just like everyone else. Some even worse because of their notoriety.
I enjoyed reading the book on how Jenna overcame the challenges she faced both in her personal life as well as her career. But she saved the best for last when she wrote about having grace in the worst of circumstances. Especially when it’s so much easier to just let loose and let it all out. But that’s something most would end up regretting the next day.
Life isn’t always easy but it’s up to you as to how you choose to deal with the circumstances at hand. Maintaining grace can be very challenging but it is doable. If you fail by losing grace and have regrets, do your best to make it right. Life has a funny way of giving us second chances to do better and learn from our mistakes. But most importantly, always have grace with yourself.
I highly recommend reading Jenna Dewan’s book “Gracefully You” which is available on Amazon. It was a great read with beautiful photographs and quite interesting seeing life from her point of view.
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While I’m busy getting the new floors in the studio I invite you visit my Etsy Shop where all Original Watercolor and Abstract Paintings are on Sale this week🎉
Hope you’re having a wonderful day!
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Flowing Waters Art 