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