LifeBook Week24: Self-respect

I hate to admit it, but my last LifeBook post was nine weeks ago! This was last week's lesson, by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, titled Fertilizer for your Creativity. I'm somewhat familiar with Julie's work as she was one of the first artists that I came across on my mixed-media journey, so I was happy to see her name pop up on the teacher list this year.

Julie's lesson included an exercise to transform negative words into something beautiful, so we started out with some nasty messages from our inner critic - and let me tell you - I didn't hold back! These words were written in large block letters all over the page, which were then transformed into abstract shapes and flowers. Mine are probably more abstract than necessary - it looks more like a flow-chart LOL!

I used my Inktense blocks to colour them. Julie used gouache paints, which I haven't got. I've ordered a cheap set to try them but it hasn't arrived yet. I think I managed to achieve similar results with the Inktense. Some outlining and doodling completed the process and voila, my negative opinion about myself were transformed into some funky, VERY abstract flowers. Here are three stages of the process: (I'm deliberately not showing the original words - too embarrassing!)

I added the word 'self-respect' as an afterthought as it seemed like a fitting title for my page. If you have self-respect, you don't continually slag yourself off, like I do sometimes.

I really enjoyed this lesson - it brought me back to my doodling roots. I'm easing myself back into a more regular blogging routine and hopefully I will be able to catch up with some of the other lessons that I missed. However, I do not intend to do all of them this year. At least I'll have something to work on next year without having to spend more money on courses. I think I have enough unfinished classes to last me a couple of years!