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Pleasant Surprises

This spread is from a lesson in Wanderlust 2021, and I didn't want to do it.

I'm not too into watercolors, at least not with the techniques like sprinkling salt, tapping wet paint off the brush, sprinkling alcohol. It feels fussy, and the paint never goes where I want. Plus, I'm not super comfortable with sketching. This lesson had me dragging my feet a lot. But yesterday I finally sat down and did it (finished the writing and words today, though). And I liked it! I like that galaxy look and how it blends into the lighter blue area I put into the top left. I even liked sprinkling the gold and silver paint!

I could have (maybe should have) made this a little easier by doing it on separate paper rather than right in my journal, but my supplies are really disorganized right now so that felt kind of hard. But I probably would have been less resistant if I had done it in a way that felt temporary, that felt like I could just throw it out if I didn't like it.

So what's the message here? Do the thing. Try it! Experiment! Find a way that makes it feel easier, or at least less hard or scary. But do the thing. Cool stuff happens when we just do the thing.

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14 thoughts on “Pleasant Surprises

  1. Helen Patrice

    Every time I see a creation of yours, it makes me want to run to the page, and then I have the mental conversation of 'it'll never look like that, you'll stuff it up', and I end up reading instead.

    1. Kim

      I am working to see the "won't look like that" part as a good thing. As we create, even when we take the same steps someone else took, we add part of ourselves and make something new and different, and so we add to the beauty of the world. Read! Then go make something--make it you!

  2. Donna

    This is beautiful! You've done a great job, and I love your message, yes we should just do it.
    Funny enough I loved that lesson, but I also hesitated to do it. I don't have alcohol inks, I refuse to buy more actual stash. I did it in my journal too, which annoying is a ring bound book, so my pages are always split.

    1. Kim

      I love that you found your way to do it, and without buying more stuff!

      Ring bound and spirals are great for how they lie flat, but I also really dislike the split.

  3. Cheryl Turtlemoon

    Your pages are great and your message even greater. There’s tutorials I’ve got left to do (I have many classes) and I just look at them and freak out. I’ll take a leaf out of your book, and give things a go! Thanks, you’ve inspired me!

    1. Kim

      I'm so glad you're going to give things a go! I hope you'll share some of it with us. Have fun!

  4. Susan Renshaw

    Well done on giving it a go! Great result!
    I still have not done lesson 3 , the self portrait!

    1. Kim

      That one was another one I dragged my feet on! Some of these do stir up the resistance, don't they? But I think it's in a good way, helping to find those places inside us that need a little nudge.

  5. Francine

    This is fabulous and yes! We need to try it out. I'm in a full period of art exploration right now, and I am inclined to try all the things!

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