Finding Your Style – Page 3 – Dragonfly Spirit Studio

What is Creative Energy Journaling?

So many of us are over-busy, stressed and fully occupied with just getting a few more things crossed off our to-do lists. Deep down, we know we need a way to keep our thinking creative and flexible. We need a way to recharge and get back in touch with our dreams. But we get stuck on the “not enough time/space/skill” stumbling blocks. Creative Energy Journaling is a collection of the activities and practices I use and share with my students to keep my creative energy flowing even when life is biting me in the butt!

Three loose little bottle sketches, done right on top of previous "test scraps". All the stray marks already on the page help you let go of "blank page" anxiety.

Finding Your Style | Planning Your Own Watercolors

Loosen Up Your Watercolor Painting—Here’s an Exercise to Try

Every time I lead a class or workshop, more than half of the participants mention the goal of “loosening up”. Here’s a skill-building exercise to help you move in that direction.

I'm still struggling to figure out how to approach a new series, but this little piece is capturing something I want to keep.

Finding Your Style | Planning Your Own Watercolors | Studio

What Makes a Good Painting?

That pesky inner critic! I don’t know about you, but simply telling her to sit down and shut up doesn’t work for me. Oh, I can get her to leave me alone. It just doesn’t lead to paintings I’m happy with. I need my inner critic. We all need time to explore, experiment and follow…

I used a spray bottle to soften and allow the color to run on the right side of the "background". I like how the yellow color of the lemon ran and softened, giving it some atmosphere and bringing the viewer's attention more to the crisper edges in the bowl.

Color and Color Mixing | Finding Your Style | Planning Your Own Watercolors

Go (a Little) Wild!—How to Loosen Up (Just a Bit) in Watercolor

Are you a control freak when you make art? Or does your inner child go wild? Most of us want to make art that combines structure and spontenaity, but that’s not easy! In workshops and classes at all levels, when we go around the room and talk about what we want to get out of…

The tan color in the background of this painting was an accident, but the piece that resulted is one of my favorite paintings.

Creative Energy Journaling | Finding Your Style | Planning Your Own Watercolors | Studio

“No Mistakes” Art-Making

Do you ever make mistakes when you’re working in your journal? Or doodling? Ever put down a wobbly line? Smear some ink? Drip watercolor where you didn’t mean to? How does it make you feel? Perhaps a bit aggravated or disappointed? Do you ever want to tear a page out of your journal because it…

Creative Energy Journaling | Finding Your Style | Planning Your Own Watercolors

Digital Doodles

I know many of you have iPads (or other tablets) or smartphones. Have you ever thought of using them to make art? There are many, many fun apps that allow you to draw, doodle, “paint” and modify your photos—and a lot of them are free, have free versions, or cost only a few dollars. Even…

Creative Energy Journaling | Finding Your Style | Planning Your Own Watercolors

Get Out of the Moment

Huh? Everything you read these days seems to extol the virtues of being “in the present moment”. I’m not questioning the value of being attentive, appreciative and aware. In fact, a few weeks ago, I suggested some ways to use art-making to deepen your appreciation for the beauty and wonder in your everyday routine and…

glowing orange spiral on deep red background, painting by Lynne Baur

Creative Energy Journaling | Finding Your Style

Spiral In, Spiral Out

The 30-Doodles-in-30-Days Challenge is drawing to a close, but one thing I have discovered is that everyone has enjoyed having a daily doodling suggestion (a “prompt”) as a creative springboard. Since I’ve been on a spiral kick myself lately, I invite you to create a “doodle” (or doodles) based on a spiral or spirals. (Remember,…

Creative Energy Journaling | Finding Your Style

The Sound (and Look) of Music

Last week, I talked about the power of “doodling” or art-making to focus your full attention on a sensation or experience. This is one of the main reasons I make art. Not to hang something on the wall, but to enhance my experience of life. Sketches while traveling or walking the woods, watercolor washes capturing…

Pink and yellow doodle expressing the feeling of celebration.

Creative Energy Journaling | Finding Your Style | Planning Your Own Watercolors | Studio

The “Mindfulness” Craze—What’s It Got to Do with Art?

I want to talk to you for a minute about mindfulness. Wait! Before you hit “delete”, please hang in with me for just a little bit. I promise I will get back to art and creativity in a minute. Mindfulness is trendy. Everywhere you look there are articles on the health benefits of a meditation practice….

Creative Energy Journaling | Finding Your Style | Planning Your Own Watercolors

Explore and Inspire Yourself with Word Clouds

Have you ever noticed the cluster of words that sit in the sidebar of some websites, some of them bigger, some smaller, sometimes in multiple colors? Bloggers often “tag” articles with keywords to help readers search for topics of interest. The bigger the word in this “tag cloud”, the more often the author has used…

Creative Energy Journaling | Finding Your Style

Pattern Play

Do you love intricate patterns? The wild popularity of Zentangle tells me a lot of us do! What is the fascination? The soothing repetition? The almost-magical emergence of form from a few simple shapes? The need to pay close attention that blocks out cares and worries? The echo of Nature’s beautiful intricacies? Whatever the reason, winter is a perfect…

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