So. Many. Exciting things in the works...

painting, painting, painting, stretching out of my comfort zone, trying new things

a step outside of my creative comfort zone that's leaving

me both perplexed and exhilarated

working on new items to put in the shop
100 iPad Faces project (54 and counting!)
agreeing to be the subject of a mini-documentary/artist profile for a local film student's class assignment
a new Website, learning how to build it using Wordpress
"springifying" my home, tidying up the studio, renewing my physical spaces
exploring poetry and reporting back via Weekend Poetry Dates here, in honour of National Poetry Month
spring hikes with D., playing with my camera

baby pine cones, all in a row - Mud Lake, Ottawa

working with a consultation client to help her fulfill her calling, witnessing how her eyes light up with inspiration when the a-ha moment hits
new juicy service offerings to help YOU fulfill your calling

Oh my, such goodness and such creative energy! It must be spring.

sketching faces on the iPad - quick and fun!

Remember the iPad hubby gifted me for my birthday and my wanting to stretch out of technological complacency?

Am I ever having fun with it!

I thought I'd be experimenting with this new-to-me technology by playing with electronic notebooks and I am, but oh I found something much more fun: an electronic painting & drawing application.

The app is called Art Set. It turns your iPad screen into an electronic canvas or sketchbook, offering you choices of paper (colour & texture), drawing/painting tools (oil paint, pastel, pen, crayon, marker, etc.), and colours. It even includes a few blending tools.

It is so. much. fun.

I got hooked on its convenience and started using it to do sketching blitzes of faces, quickly drawn caricature-looking faces. Each day I try to spend 15-30 minutes doing these quick sketches using the app and my fancy schmancy stylus pen.

It's great fun, great practice and it's already served me in my "real" painting.

Of course I could have done the same thing with a paper sketchbook, but I didn't. The iPad was apparently the chosen prompt.

Sooooo, given how much I like destinations I have given myself a goal: 100 of these iPad faces to present in a final product, most likely here in the form of a slide show. I'm secretly targeting the end of April to complete them, but shhhhhhh... I'm not ready to commit to that quite yet.

After nine days I have 65 sketches, 35 of them I like enough to include in the final product.

This is not about perfection; this is all about practice, play and the satisfaction that comes out of meeting a goal. It's also about learning how new technology can serve me instead of me resisting it.

All that for a pen with a rubber tip and a 99-cent app.

Stay tuned...