Artist studio tour 2

It's been a weird month August and I can't believe it's nearly at the end already, I have been having a hard time the past few weeks (damn that full moon) feeling totally exhausted, my immune system has taken a battering and I had mastitis and Hidradenitis suppurativa, I have been running on empty for a while but kept going to be supportive and I felt I needed to be strong for everyone else. 

I feel my hormones are all over the place and making me feel totally disconnected, snappy and tearful, I have been keeping in my emotions of feeling unlovable and slightly depressed to myself, but I shared them with Mr Delightful in a heart opening way, I allowed myself to feel vulnerable and explained everything, after his kindness and total support in finding ways to change my diet and take supplements to help me and after using some natural remedies, I could actually face up to these past few days and share with you. 

I didn't want this truth to break the 'always positive' delightful me, but I feel you deserve to know why I haven't done any art, posted on my blog or been attending anything.

I have some wonderful friends who are so caring and their messages have kept me going on the dark days, I have been reading, watching films, resting and restoring myself. 

So all I have to offer is some photos of my studio, this place brings me joy, I am so grateful for this space.

Little things here and there, that have been given or collected over time.

My easel really needs a good tidying up, it is full of unfinished projects.

Always got to be feeling the love no matter how dull things seem, if you have no one else to love, always love yourself, and I am sure there are plenty of people who love you, even if you don't think there are, I love you, each one of us is a miracle, I mean check out how amazing it is and the odds you are actually here, its something crazy like there is only 4 hours a month in which you can get pregnant, that's is if a sperm actually reaches the egg and the egg actually gets fertilised, I won't go on, this isn't a place for biology lessons, but I hope you get my point, before anything else, how amazing is it we are actually alive!

Old books, new books, god I love books, I love the smell of musty bookshops, crammed from floor to ceiling with so many possibilities and ideas in those pages.

Rose quartz for love and my studio angel

These little 50p storage pots from Ikea are great for keeping all my bits and pieces in one place. My tiaras are in there too for the days when I need an extra princess vibe.

The summer holidays are nearly over, Autumn is nearly here again, what are your plans and how have you been feeling with this crazy moon?

Love Dotty xx

I'm having an art sale!

It has been a busy week in the studio, I did a fair last weekend at Avenham Park in Preston as part of the mad hatters tea party, and then had another this weekend at St Anne's music festival so I was making loads of art. 

I loved to paint and make mixed media pieces, it stops me getting bored of doing the same things.

I love doing both but the mixed media ones develop and evolve as I go where the rainbow ones, I already know the kind of way it will turn out. I also love getting the glue and paint on my hands, it makes me connected.

As I have 3 males in the house I love making girly pieces with glitter and loads of pink, my studio is pink and girly and I love it, if I need to reset my feminine energy, I just come in here and do a big breath and feel myself relaxing and recharging. Sometimes living with all males is hardwork.

I always love to put positive words and quotes on my art, I think words are so important, that is why it's called spelling, you create spells with your words.

I am having a sale over on facebook if you want to have a look, I am also open for commissions at the moment, until I get booked up again. Hope you have an amazing week, remember the possibilities are endless.

Love Dotty xx

Scrapbooking tutorials and positvity art video

I made a video today with some of my rainbow positivity art and handmade makes on it, 

what do you think?

It's a pretty cool site called stupeflix where you can choose themes, add music (they have a library to choose from) or you can add your own, you can then add your photos, then you can publish directly to Youtube. 

Make sure you change the settings on the video to high def before watching. 

I have spent most of the day, after walking the dogs on the beach, researching about different paint techniques and found some really interesting blogs with different tutorials on them.

Birgit Kerr has some great scrapbooking techniques, I loved this one where she teaches you how to transfer print onto your canvas with mod podge. 

The daily marker has done an easy tutorial on using distressed ink too, something I want to have a go with but haven't got round to yet.

I am looking forward to making more Alice inspired canvasses, all 3 of these sold at the fair I did on Saturday.

I really enjoy getting my fingers full of glue, glitter and paint and creating something which develops and grows with each thing I add to the canvas.

I have had an idea to do a big rectangle one with her falling down the rabbit hole. I have collected some patterns and images from an old copy of Daphnes diary, have you seen it yet? its such a wonderful magazine.

Love Dotty xx

We're all mad here -all the best people are!

This is what is going on in my studio today, making Alice inspired canvases and cards ready for the stall I'm sharing with JuJu Kuchoo at Miller Park this Saturday. 

It is part of The mad hatters herbal tea party -

"Be ready for a day of love, fun, tea and music. This 1 day festival is gearing up to be a action packed and glorious day. From Theatre, Music, Circus and Fitness, a whole range of fantastic events will be bringing in the sunshine and all the party atmosphere!

We have Live Music, Circus, Stalls and more!

Thing's to do, watch & hear!

Cirque Du Alice, the Contemporary Magical Urban Circus.
Catch our breath taking circus performances throughout the day, every hour. Bringing in the arts of Aerial, Acrobatics, Acro-Balancing and Fire! These shows will leave you breathless!"

 If you want to come tickets are available on the gate (donation), bring a blanket and a picnic.

It's boiling today, the sun is coming through the big window so going to have a lunch break and eat some coconut ice, then I'm going to make skirts and dresses this afternoon for the fair.

 It was 32 degrees here yesterday, really unusual for Blackpool. I don't cope well in the heat and just want to be fanned!

Hope you are having a wonderful day

Love Dotty xx

How I made mixed media art in one evening

Plan for it, learn new things, keep growing, thats all youve ever needed to do, that will take you to your goals - Leonie Dawson.

With that in mind, I was watching some Youtube videos and mixed media and altered art and was so inspire to make my own piece. So I did! then I made this video all about it, I kinda go off topic about moving house and internalising guilt that makes you ill but its all good ;)

Check me out ;)

Always learning something new and playing around with new techniques, I tried making some mixed media artwork, this was my first attempt. I am in total love and really enjoyed feeling free, the creative process just flowed from me.

I was so in love, I stayed up and made another one!

 

Ohh I can see me becoming addicted to these! someone on my facebook page has asked me to do a workshop on them, so when I have moved and got the studio set up, thats what I shall do - awesome!

Love Dotty xx

Supercharge your income as an artist

Hey gorgeous souls! I want to share some on my art I have been making lately, and share how on earth I am actually selling stuff!

 if you want to keep up to date on a daily basis pop over to Facebook as I am on there a lot ;)

So I have been such a busy bee lately since I have gone ahead and become a full time artist, its amazing, I get to wear my fluffy My Little Pony pjs, eat Green and Blacks chocolate, watch films like Cinderella and paint and draw, plus get paid! I think this is THE happiest I have ever been in my whole life.

I feel truly blessed and thankful for this kind of abundance and life I am living.

How am I doing it?

You know, there are a couple of key things that have really resonated with me and I think they have been the key to me believing in myself, being able to have the knowledge and guts to go ahead and start living my dream. One is this amazing book  The magical Path by Marc Allen and his amazing meditation:

Watch his video

The other is the amazing Leonie Dawson she is an inspiration, I have joined her academy to do the business goddess workshop and it has been invaluable, the support from the groups and women you connect with is amazing. I love that it is not stuffy business and that its filled with rainbows, unicorns, love and really useful information that you can implement as a creative person.

In the academy there is a magic money making kit where you predict the total you would like to make that month (there is a brilliant workshop that goes alongside it to help you learn) I was a bit nervous about saying, too big a figure, its got to be believable for me and even though I have had mini successes in the past earning money, it's never been constant or I never thought it would be, anyway I put £500 for the month, to someone on a full time wage this probably doesn't seem that big, but you need to remember this is coming from an artist (in fact its even weird for me to call myself that, do I have permission?) but to me thats a great amount, so imagine my delight when I totalled up the amount of sales I have had for the month so far (5 days in) and it came to over half the total for the month!!
Like holy shit I am actually doing it!

I can only imagine it growing too, I have only been a member for just over a month and I feel like my life is transforming before my eyes. Its magical.

Hard work?

I do keep thinking someone is going to come and say "you can't do this, work is hard and you are having fun!"

We are conditioned at an early age with sayings that work is hard, such as:
“Nothing worth having comes easy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
"Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work."Booker T. Washington
 Hard work brings prosperity; playing around brings poverty.     -- Bible
Or a favourite is well meaning parents saying you have to do a job you hate because you have to pay the bills. 

Yes the bills need paying, yes you need money to live but don't forgo your happiness for this, find a way that works for you and your family, do something you love and you will never work a day in your life


 Contrary to popular belief with some friends, I don't loll around in pjs all day ( I do get dressed occasionally to go out haha) I don't spend my days faffing about, eating chocolate, watching films whoops! ;) in all seriousness, I have a whale of a time but I don't keep conventional hours, I don't finish working at 5pm, sometimes if I have a commission I am up till 2.30am, the housework gets rejected until its a must, I have to literally prize myself away from the computer sometimes to go to bed, the painting canvasses is a tiny part of running your own business, especially if you are a one woman show, theres all the marketing, admin, accounts etc but I wouldn't change a thing, to some it seem like 'hard'work but to me I am loving it. You can love your life and job too.

Like my work?

If you like my art and want to help me feed my chickens, children, rescue dogs and my chocolate habit you can pop over to my Etsy page or come stalk me on Facebook, get in touch if you want a commission piece painting, I love, love doing them so much!.

Love Dotty xx

Elderberry dying and planetary shifts!

What have I been doing?

 Yesterday I went to my friends farm for a catch up, I haven't seen her for so long and since finishing my job I have felt pretty low, I am sure there are a lot of us now feeling the planetary shifts and the pull of the Moon, I keep getting very emotional and feeling pretty sorry for myself for no reason, so i have been honouring myself, listening to my body and feeling what I really need to do and that has been resting, getting back into nature, playing with herbs and drawing, my wonderful friend Helen has been feeling the same as me too but she is so lovely she did some crystal healing on me and my spirit animal was a unicorn!!! how happy am I, it ties in perfectly with this commission I did for a friends daughter for Christmas. (did I mention I take commisions #sorrynotsorry)

Today I had a lovely day watching children's films including Spiderwick Chronicles for the 3rd time, eating dark chocolate infused with orange oil and doing some art, I finished off this boho box, perfect for storing smudge sticks or fancy pants jewellery, it has glitter on the top too, can't ever have enough glitter!

You know the other day I was making elderberry tonic for winter? well I thought it would be fun to have a go at dying some clothes with the leftover pulp, I attempted to tie dye a pair of big bum warmer knickers and a vest top, I haven't done tie dying since I was at textile college years ago, so I just winged it with pennies and string! 

I put the clothes in the pan over night to steep in the cold berry pulp and next day rinsed them off, I didn't use any setting stuff so maybe when they have been in the wash it will come out but for now I am really pleased with the result.

My knickers look great too but I have kept them for the Mr hahaha!

Have you been feeling the planetary shifts? What do you do when you feel off balance?

What is an energy shift?

You can have a personal energy shift effected by things like physical ailments, eating certain foods, taking certain medications or herbs, etc. What I am mostly referring to in this article is a Planetary Energy Shift. So that is when we have something like a Solar Flare that creates a geomagnetic storm on earth and we all start feeling the effects from that. Each Energy Shift is SLIGHTLY different and each person might experience it slightly differently. You might have a severe headache and dizziness, with a lot of emotional stuff coming up like crying at the drop of a hat with one shift ... and then when another one rolls around days or weeks later (they occur sporadically!) you feel really good emotionally but are maybe just really tired. Or you might have repeat symptoms every time a specific energy shift takes place - nearly every time we have a large Solar Flare or CME that is earth-facing, I get headaches. Sometimes I even experience dizziness and tiredness along with a headache before I even know about the solar flare and it doesn't last too long - maybe an hour or less. The headaches sometimes will last nearly the entire day. - Read the full article here

Love Dotty xx

You can have a personal energy shift effected by things like physical ailments, eating certain foods, taking certain medications or herbs, etc. What I am mostly referring to in this article is a Planetary Energy Shift. So that is when we have something like a Solar Flare that creates a geomagnetic storm on earth and we all start feeling the effects from that. Each Energy Shift is SLIGHTLY different and each person might experience it slightly differently. You might have a severe headache and dizziness, with a lot of emotional stuff coming up like crying at the drop of a hat with one shift ... and then when another one rolls around days or weeks later (they occur sporadically!) you feel really good emotionally but are maybe just really tired. Or you might have repeat symptoms every time a specific energy shift takes place - nearly every time we have a large Solar Flare or CME that is earth-facing, I get headaches. Sometimes I even experience dizziness and tiredness along with a headache before I even know about the solar flare and it doesn't last too long - maybe an hour or less. The headaches sometimes will last nearly the en tire day. - See more at: http://www.adriennedumas.com/ascension-energy-shifts.php#sthash.1Kdu7Vga.dpuf

You can have a personal energy shift effected by things like physical ailments, eating certain foods, taking certain medications or herbs, etc. What I am mostly referring to in this article is a Planetary Energy Shift. So that is when we have something like a Solar Flare that creates a geomagnetic storm on earth and we all start feeling the effects from that. Each Energy Shift is SLIGHTLY different and each person might experience it slightly differently. You might have a severe headache and dizziness, with a lot of emotional stuff coming up like crying at the drop of a hat with one shift ... and then when another one rolls around days or weeks later (they occur sporadically!) you feel really good emotionally but are maybe just really tired. Or you might have repeat symptoms every time a specific energy shift takes place - nearly every time we have a large Solar Flare or CME that is earth-facing, I get headaches. Sometimes I even experience dizziness and tiredness along with a headache before I even know about the solar flare and it doesn't last too long - maybe an hour or less. The headaches sometimes will last nearly the en tire day. - See more at: http://www.adriennedumas.com/ascension-energy-shifts.php#sthash.1Kdu7Vga.dpuf

You can have a personal energy shift effected by things like physical ailments, eating certain foods, taking certain medications or herbs, etc. What I am mostly referring to in this article is a Planetary Energy Shift. So that is when we have something like a Solar Flare that creates a geomagnetic storm on earth and we all start feeling the effects from that. Each Energy Shift is SLIGHTLY different and each person might experience it slightly differently. You might have a severe headache and dizziness, with a lot of emotional stuff coming up like crying at the drop of a hat with one shift ... and then when another one rolls around days or weeks later (they occur sporadically!) you feel really good emotionally but are maybe just really tired. Or you might have repeat symptoms every time a specific energy shift takes place - nearly every time we have a large Solar Flare or CME that is earth-facing, I get headaches. Sometimes I even experience dizziness and tiredness along with a headache before I even know about the solar flare and it doesn't last too long - maybe an hour or less. The headaches sometimes will last nearly the en tire day. - See more at: http://www.adriennedumas.com/ascension-energy-shifts.php#sthash.1Kdu7Vga.dpuf

My dream job - making art

I have a dream, I have had it since I was 12 in art class at school, I drew a pair of hands, shaping a bamboo handle, it was a pencil drawing and my teacher really praised me for it, it built my confidence and I knew I wanted to be a fashion designer, I loved the feeling of making marks on a page and it transforming in front of my eyes, when I was 16 i went to art college and loved it so much, I learnt so much and I really wanted to be an artist and live in Paris (after studying fashion design in London) but alas fate had other ideas and I met someone and was pregnant at 17, I had my first baby one month after turning 18. I had to drop out of art college because I was so ill from pregnancy, I then went onto having 2 more children all before I was 22. I lived life in a domestic bubble (not one of love either, but that's a whole new story) eventually we split up and I was a single mum with 3 children under the age of 5, no time for drawing or painting or much else to be honest. Then after a couple of years of madness and me trying to 'find' myself things settled down and I began painting again, I was a single parent for 8 years then I met my one true love.

No matter how many different jobs I have had or hobbies I have tried I have always come back to drawing, I have always wanted to do it for a living, I can't imagine anything better, I am always telling my sons to find a job they love and they will never have to work a day in their lives, I want drawing, creating art and painting to be my work.

I haven't put this 'out there' before but I have changed a lot this year and next year I am 40, I am just going to be honest and say it as it is from now on, I have been self employed for 14 years and although I have had wonderful successes, its never been constant, from one week to the next I don't know if I am going to earn money, I trust the universe will always look after me and my loved ones, I truly do, but it would be so nice to be able to not even think about money, to be able to know I can do amazing things and help others without having to be thinking where the next bit of cash is coming from. So now I am putting it out there to the universe and the world....

 I want to draw and paint and sell my beautiful creations in an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, in it's own perfect time for the highest good of all.

So I am now taking commissions, Shhh Christmas is coming (#sorrynotsorry) so if you would like your own piece of bohemian art making for your loved one, get in touch or send me a message on Facebook

angels calling?

                                       *

Lately I have been thinking alot about angels, I have been painting and drawing them, I was brought up a christian and have always known angels exist, as I got older I moved away from religion and still dont follow one "god". I believe in angels, in mother nature, in being kind to others, trying to be a good person. I do think angels protect you and watch over you, I'm not sure if we are allocated an angel each or if its some relative that has died and now is your guardian, I do know they are bless and make me feel safe. I have been engrossed in all things to do with the goddess circle, have you heard of it?, if not pop over and have a look round, were all very friendly and there are some awesomely positive affermations, videos, courses, meditations and so much more. Since joining the circle a few weeks ago I feel so much calmer and in tune with my body, I know this may sound like fairy talk (as my boys often tell me I'm saying ) but its true, I feel like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, I have written an e-book, this is the first one I have done and it excited me so much, I just need to find out how to put it on my website which is currently having a makeover to go along with my transformation. It's called " A beautiful you, from inside out"I can't wait to share it with you gorgeous ladies

For now I will leave you with the amazing Leonie

* Thats my little boy in the top picture, if you would like me to transform your child into a little angel, email me at ruby_coupe@hotmail.com all I need is for you to email me a favourite photo of your child, I will email you back with payment details, its £9.99 per photo for the first 2 photos, anymore after that and its only £5.99 per photo. I will then do my magic and email you your own little angel photograph back within 3 days (5 if I'm super busy - but I would let you know in advance). You get to keep all rights to the finished product, I will not use your photo for any promotion etc. Plus the best thing is you can re-use your photo as many times as you like, you can print it, coo over it, share it with family and friends!

Lots of love and sunshine x

New year new art

I put my sewing machine away on Christmas eve and haven't had it out since, I felt like I have become all sewed out. I have been inspired to draw and paint instead and I'm loving it, each one of these is mixed media on boxed canvas, they are embellished with glitter and gems, I'm hoping to sell them so I can start my saving up account for us to move to Portugal, we're dreaming big this year!! Each one is £30 including postage within UK, I will post abroad so ask me for a quote