Inky Dinky Doodle: LifeBook Week 13: Layers of Love

Sunday 27 March 2016

LifeBook Week 13: Layers of Love

Boy, I really struggled with this lesson, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps because my previous intuitive painting project already challenged my belief in my abilities and dampened my spirits. I've hit a rough patch on my creative journey in the past few days, so I haven't posted anything on my blog or on social media for almost a week. I even contemplated stopping for a while, to regain my mojo and gather my strength. However, having visited a few blogs and the LB Facebook group this morning, discovering that other people struggle just the same from time to time, I've decided to press on!

This was my third attempt at this lesson by Rae Missigman, titled Layers of Love, which turned into a Labour of Love for me, it seems! I still struggle with letting go of control and loosening up artistically. I keep falling into a familiar routine and repetition, or in other words my comfort zone. I find it so hard to let go of control and start taking risks. I feel there's not enough variety and randomness in my art because I always want things to be symmetrical and consistent.

I ended up feeling frustrated and emotionally exhausted after both my previous attempts at this lesson. I cut a few new stencils yesterday on my Cameo, hoping that they will encourage me to create more variety and be more impulsive. I think that worked to some extent and I managed to create something that I can include in my LifeBook. Not without blood, sweat and tears though. I kept covering up my pervious layers, so I lost the initial black ink and stamp marks which would have been important to achieve the look I was aiming for. So this is a little different from the lesson, but the best I could come up with.