coloring outside the lines..

okay.. so you know me... once in a while I get pretty serious and have to speak my mind and today is one of these days..

One of my FAVORITE parts of teaching and specially teaching online is the ability to connect with women, men and children from around the world who are either artist themselves or learning that through mixed media they ARE an artist and can be an artist...

LOVE getting emails from people who say that art has changed their life. That through watching videos or taking workshops (and not just mine).. but in general.. about mixed media art.. they have found their "Wings" so to speak.. and feel confident and happy and they find themselves with more to look forward to each day. One of the things of course I guess I am famous for.. is NOT following the rules when it comes to art and well I guess life and general.

I have always believed rules are meant to be broken (when they don't hurt other people of course).. but you know what i mean. I have a friend who always makes fun of me for making up new words or misspelling or MIS USING a word.. and I say.. hey..who decided that word needs to be used that way anyway? just because the VAST majority of people in the world use that word "This" way.. can't I make up my own word? and use it the way i want? and the response is always.. Yes I guess you can.

Its like my son who showed up to church one sunday wearing one green flip flop and one blue. You would expect any mother to be mortified for one.. that he was wearing flip flops in the first place.. but the fact they were two different colors.. probably even more. My other kids (this was my son Ethan by the way.. I believe around 6 at the time).. my other kids were like.. MOM! That is so embarrassing! They don't even match!  To which my response was.. SO? who says they have to match? WHen did someone make up the rule that both shoes had to match.. or that our shirts match our pants.. or whatever the case may be. Sure it might be more pleasing to the EYE if both shoes matched but i have always taught my kids to be individuals and there is no wrong or right when it comes to that (again as long as it is morally correct and doesn't hurt someone else or themselves).  So I just put my arm around him (he had his head hung low.. because now he seemed embarrassed).. and I said.. Ethan! I LOVE your choice of shoes today! So unique and SO creative! might have to try it myself sometime"

and you should have seen the smile on his face as I reassured him it was okay to be different. Now granted he PROBABLY wore different colors because he couldn't find the matches.. but still okay in my book.

Anyhow.. im just a girl who likes to color outside the lines.

SO recently as many of you know, I was on the show Craft Wars.. and I have already wrote about my experience in THIS blog post.. and since that episode has aired I have received SO many emails from many of you saying how you just loved that big old yellow bus and how disappointed you were that I didn't win.

So let me start by saying this.. I am TRULY not disappointed I didn't win. I went onto the show KNOWING that I only had a one in three chance of wining.. so I didn't go on thinking I would.. but I went on because I LOVED the idea behind it and wanted to see if I could stand up to the challenges presented.  So don't be sorry for me that I didn't win. TRULY i am okay with it.. had a GREAT experience and would do it again in a heartbeat!

However I have to admit.. and I haven't gone back to read my last post about this.. but I am pretty sure I didn't tell you this.. but I was actually EMBARRASSED almost for the episode to air because honestly as we were applying the mod podge over the front and sides and back of the bus with all sorts of mismatched fabrics.. I kept looking at this and thinking.. wow.. this really looks like crap! lol.. Mostly because some of the products being used weren't great for mod podge (Like felt.. just goes a gross color specially yellow when it gets wet).. and also because it was applied so this way and that. Which of course my helpers did.. BUT I won't let that be their fault either because I should have been better at directing them on how to put it on.. (wanted more of a quilt like pattern with straight edges). But it's okay. I think no matter what It just didn't turn out as intended. I also had great intention of doing wood scallops in blue, with red and black and yellow doodled scallops and strips within the modeling around the top of the bus and around windows and doors and stuff and again.. didn't turn out as expected and used foam instead because I kept being reminded that this was craft wars.. not design wars and crafting is all about using fun mediums in my opinion.

ANYHOW so I was actually very embarrassed about the finished product and kinda nervous for my friends and family and well you guys to see it. But then the episode aired and wow your response was SO different than expected.. YOu LOVED the creativity behind it.. the idea behind it.. the out of the box .. and unepexted way to color a playhouse. You also appreciated the fact it wasn't perfect and that there were bubbles and wrinkles in the walls (which was one of the things the judges dinged me for.. which I was thinking.. oh they must not know about mixed media.. because in mixed media we LOVED bubbles and wrinkles.. its texture and its fun! lol)

anyhow.. I need to get to the point of this post! lol

okay.. so on saturday this last week I was driving on my way to utah and my daughter was checking my emails for me and read me this email that I received from a dear sweet women who has taken my classes and and loves mixed media art. It was a very long email and mostly about the show and her opinion on it and her take on the bus.. she said somethings in her email that actually brought tears to my eyes. She reminded me how SILLY i was being for being embarrassed about the look of the outside of the bus. About it not being perfectly as I had intended it.. and how silly I was for not embracing how the bus took on a life of it's own.

I teach all day long in my videos in in classes.. that art is NOT perfect.. nor should it be.. That there are NO mistakes in art. That whatever happens through the process is beautiful texture and layer that just adds character to it. An accidental spilled paint. Or a color that you didn't just quite like.. and I don't just teach it. I BELIEVE it!

Her email really made me think.. she is right. I should be embracing this wonderful BIG YELLOW bus of messy modpodge mixed fabrics and all. So I wanted to share with you a few of the things she said to me.. if that is okay (and I already asked and she said It was okay with her as well)..I won't share all of it.. but here is just a few things that actually brought tears to my eyes..and was a gentle reminder of why i do what I do.. and why we should ALL love what we create.

 

"About a week ago, I finally had the time and was
utterly delighted when I recognized that you were one of the contestants! 
One of the qualities that I genuinely admire in you is that you are a
free-wheelin' risk taker of the best kind.  By that, I mean that your
boundless joy is represented in how you happily color outside the lines in
every aspect of your life, especially your artistic life.  I respect this
in you.... 

As I watched your wonderful yellow school bus
take shape with the joyous abandon that I personally hoped would occur all I
could experience was boundless delight myself as layer upon layer of visual joy
was added to create your masterpiece!  Thinking of the type of playhouse
that I would want for my own little grand-daughter, my giddiness only grew as I
watched you lead your team to what I thought was certain victory...

From my experienced perspective, the entire point of a hand-made playhouse is
to inspire the imagination of the children who will play in it, to show them
that there are no mistakes in an artistic creation, whether it be a small
canvas or a giant yellow playhouse or a Watts Tower mosaic garden in the middle
of an inner city slum.  Further, art is not supposed to be perfect, nor
matchy-matchy, nor non-stimulating... 

The texture that you created by
ModPodging-a - notebook and decorative papers was perfect for
showing little one's that it isn't necessary, or even desired, to carefully
smooth out each and every piece of paper to create a slick, manufactured
result.  The messier, the better cause there ain't no mistakes in
art!!!  The amazing exterior enticed my own ever-present inner child to go
inside and I was NOT disappointed!  The creative, colorful zones you built
and decorated prompted me to immediately want to go and make some art. 
I truly delighted in watching you create such an
exquisite environment that children of any age would revel and be further
inspired to play, create, and dream in.  Suffice to say, your loosing was
an injustice and only proves what is wrong with our public education and
dwindling art programs today.  Children are born as question marks...and
our school systems stifle most creative children until they are left as 
periods. 

So, my dear fellow creative soul, in my eyes, and I am most certain that in the
eyes of many of the viewers, your design was a winning one! ... Given what has been happening in the world, and especially
in Aurora, CO these past days, your objective as an artist should be to
continue your important work.....  and Heaven knows, this battered
world needs you (and I say all of us)... creating beauty in it.

- Shawn

 

WOW was all I could say.. and I do have to say.. this is NOT about wining or loosing..In my very HUMBLE opinion I loved cherly's playhouse. The red Schoolhouse. It was HER art and her perspective and her beautiful imprint on this  world of creativity. So I am okay with not wining.. but what her email made me realize is that I was NOT okay with thinking mine look like crap because it didn't turn out the way I had intended. She is right!  there are NO mistakes in artist creation whether it be on a small canvas or a big Mosaic garden in the middle of an inner city slum!  Art doesn't HAVE to be matchy matchy or perfect.  It can be.. in my opinion.. but doesn't have to be. ANd not all of us will like everyone's art.. and the best part is.. that we don't have to! Maybe what is visually appealing to us isn't visually appealing to another person.. but we should never call it ugly or wrong because it isn't what we thought it should be. we should respect it and encourage our difference and embrace that art is so unique! I love that through art we are teaching our children to be unique and to be themselves and create a mark in the world that is unique only to them. To be okay with being different and quirky and respecting OTHERS in the same light and way. To recognize that we are all artist whether it be with paint, or food, frosting, or a camera or beads and pliers or a saw.. we all have some bit of creativity in our souls that our Heavenly Father put there long ago.. and I love that teaching ourselves and reminding ourselves of that and to embrace it.. is what makes doing what I do worth it.

I don't actually even remember what the judges had to say to me about my bus.. I wasn't bothered by it and actually I respected their opinions of either not liking or it liking it.. BUT since then I have watched the other episodes and I have been bothered by one thing.. the continuous put downs of the contestants for using a product the wrong way or not creating something the way THEY thought it should be. I know the show was designed to be like Cupcake wars and also chopped.. but ARt is SO different than food. There isn't one kind of baking soda that makes a cake rise and be fluffy in art. Meaning.. there isn't only one glue that can get the intended job done. That is the great thing about art. Is taking a product or a paint or anything and using it in new, different and creative ways! Who says white glue is the ONLY thing you should use to apply glitter (hated that comment in the glitter episode).. or that you can't use a glue gun to apply something.. or that you should ONLY use fabric glue on fabric.. sorry folks.. I just don't believe that is the case. I wish instead that the show and the judges would focus more on the creativity of the project created.. to embrace the uniqueness of someones birdhouse made  or dog palace. To be estatic that someone found a new way to use felt or apply glitter or whatever. I also wished the show let the true creative nature of the crafters show through. I wish they weren't so negative and saying "well this wasn't right and you didn't do this right".. sorry but that isn't what art is all about.. or crafting.. not for me anyway.

I wanted to reach through the screen and hug those contestants and say "heck I LOVED what you did! It rocked and I love how you used that product" .. it creativity as its finest.

So thank you shawn for reminding me that art isn't perfect and by me continually saying to friends and family.. I hated that bus and thought it looked horrible and wasn't perfect.. is me totally being a hypocrite when it comes to what I teach. It was art and its what I created in the time I had and what the products and challenges I was given. I would hope kids would run into the playhouse and see the imperfection in there and think.. heck if she can be imperfect in the way she creates.. then Maybe I can do and heck.. yes I am an artist too!

I recently got an email from a 12 year old girl in Pakistan.. and it also brought tears to my eyes.. in it she talked about how she has never felt so inspired in her life to do or be something.. then learning how to create mixed media art.  She says she never has anything made her lay awake at night glued to her Ipad being inspired by art and dreaming of what she can create and what she wants to do.  She said she has found something that truly has inspired her to live life differently. She said that the only thing they have in Pakistan is paint.. no other art supplies because they can't bring in good from other countries.. not allowed by the government.. but that she still loves to create and loves that I teach people to get out of their shells and just create. There is no wrong.. just create! She finished by say this.. and I have to put this in here because this was another email that seriously brought tears to my eyes.. just imagining this 12 year old girl laying on her bed .. across the world in Pakistan.. dreaming of this..

"  I want to teach at workshops and inspire people as well just like you and I don't at all know
how I will ever do that, I don't even know how to get into a workshop. Never
mind I'm only twelve and have my whole life ahead of me...  I'm going to start art journaling again.
I want to be that person who inspires a twelve year old to lay down, go through art , be inspired to start art and be stuck infront of the iPad
until her mother comes and scolds her so I really have to go or else I'd get scolded,or I could spend whole night writing bout you.

Take care

Luv

H=

 

Um holy cow.. that just gives me chills.. "H" I ADORE YOU!!!

I hope you don't want until you are my age to teach and inspire others.. start NOW.. she has four brothers and sisters.. start teaching them! Spread the art love and creative fire that you have.. it feeds the soul and seriously gives wings to the heart.

So thank you for everyone who sends me emails and inspires ME to keep doing what I do.. to those of you that REMIND ME to keep coloring outside of the lines.. that art is not perfect and there are NO mistakes in art. That we are all creative souls and no matter our likes or differences in art.. we all have one thing in common.. we are all artists and should respect each other as such.

I want to end this post with a picture of canvas my son created this past week. Noah and I had an art day and he I just pulled out all my paints and stuff and let him play. He has watched me creative over and over so I didnt really give him much directly..a nd when I tried he would say "mom i already know that".. he is 7.  CRazy and LOVe that at seven he is so independent and carefree about creating. Not worrying about staying withing in the lines.. or that he might have messed up.. he just created and ended up with a beautiful freaking awesome canvas.. HE inspires me. ALL of you inspires me.. truly :) thanks for letting me share.   (ps. come back thursday I will have the july Mixed media video posted!! )

Happy Tuesday!

(oh and one last thing.. I tried four times to use spell check and typepad kept timing out.. so yea sorry for misspelled words. Its just me lol)

  

 

 

 

Comments

[Bev Victory]

Just saw this post - I didn't see the show, but just reading your post I know your bus was awesome! It's because of women like you and Junelle and so many more that I'm no longer afraid to just play with art! I love that nothing is wrong or right but just art! What's funny about your post is that I loved all of the typos etc. Thought to myself, wow, I wish I would just type on my blog and not worry about the spelling etc., but just share my heart, my dreams, my art! You always make me smile and I love you and your art! Thanks for being you.

[S.]

greetings, christy...

i am new here. took a chance on ur button over on some other site.

i like it here.u try new things, show us, write about it, goof up, let us see it, create new (!) stuff and let us see that, 2.
i am grateful.

i think i have about 15 years on u. my oldest child, a son, is now 20. i used to play art w/ he and his sister for many, many years. Yes, ur darling, Noah has a knack for it alright...something to foster.

in time, he will come full circle & truly love these minutes/hours spent painting,doodling, glueing,taping, coloring...his creative gene seeds may not manifest as a poet or mixed media-ist, but may bloom in his journey as a disease-fighting scientist,amusement park architect or even a problem-solving politician. u r giving all of ur children, as well as every visitor to your blog... the capabilities to soar as creatives. thanks for leading the way down the path. (esp.for those in all areas of the world :))

gidget

[Leslie]

Oh, sweet, sweet Christy! Your school bus playhouse was the bomb diggity! There was so much meaning behind it. If I remember correctly, you did a school bus because it had a special memory for you and your kids. That alone made it priceless! With crafting and art usually comes a lot of HEART with it. I must confess, I have already stopped watching Craft Wars. The negativity was just killing me, and that was only after two episodes! And all the building! What the heck? It seemed like there was more building than crafting, lol, it was not at all what I was expecting, and I certainly was not expecting three judges to be sitting there and judging the contestants on whether they used the products the way they personally do, when art and crafting is all about shaking things up and doing things many different ways. How boring our world would be if we all did everything exactly the same. All of the judges comments made me feel bad for all the crafters involved. I love Tori Spelling, but her little stint where she has to walk around and evaluate what everyone is doing and rattle their nerves on what they are doing wrong, instead of what they are doing right, well, that was pretty much the straw that broke the camels back for me. I feel like that show is missing the fun factor, which is what I need to watch it. However, watching you on TV doing what YOU do BEST was thrilling! You stayed true to YOU and that is what is most important, and that, my friend, is what we all love about you!

[Michelle Hambly]

Christy, you are an inspiration. Everytime I create I always wonder if it is good or right. I always keep reminding myself there is no right or wrong way with ART. It is your personal thoughts, imagination - it is who you are. My daughter loves to create when I create especially with mixed media. She is 9 - she always stumbles at the start as to what to do. I always encourage her to do whatever she feels to create. Trying big time to bolster her confidence - I keep telling her there is no right or wrong. So to get back on track - YOU ARE SO RIGHT!

[Kim Fisher-Anctil]

I really enjoyed this post and am soooo thankful you mentioned the comments of the judges on Craft Wars. I was really looking forward to this show but have been taken aback by the comments. They seem to use the word 'perfect' or 'right' a lot! I agree with you also about the way they ding someone for not using a product in the 'correct' way. I've been very disappointed with this show mainly because, as you said, art is so different from other things like cooking or baking. Especially mixed media! As so many others have already said, I loved what you did. It was fun, whimsical and out of the box. Really, isn't that what they were really asking for? To think out of the box?

Someone else commented on how they were taught when younger - coloring inside the lines, using things as they were supposed to be used. I could sooo relate to this! It's only as I've gotten older that I've learned, and continue to learn each day, that just isn't so. I greatly admire your freedom and am always inspired to go outside the lines. Thank you for that Christy!

[Jen Clark]

Wow, Christy. This post was so right on. I am so so proud of you - b/c I felt exactly the same way about your school bus - I LOVED it, and I couldn't understand why you didn't!!! I love you for how you've opened up my mind and heart to so many possibilities and different ways of seeing things in life...whether in art or otherwise...and I could never ever begin to put into words the impact you've had in my life. It's a bit strange, in this world of technology, how big of an impact someone can have on our lives, through a computer screen (or an iPad screen!)...but it so totally happens! I just love you to pieces and always will!!

[Janet Meslovich]

Just would add one thing about the Craft Wars program--after the show you were on they pictured the kids playing in the playhouse that had won (which was lovely, :) . I would bet any amount of money, though, if they had let the kids choose a playhouse they would have made a beeline for Christy's for sure. It had so many cool activities that the kids would have loved and used their imaginations to build on and that is the object of a *play* house after all... :)

[vicki boutin]

I love you Christy.
I am thankful that I have gotten to know you better. Sitting here crying...like a dork.

[Retta]

Thank you for saying that the one thing you don't like about Craft Wars is the criticisms and what appears to be put downs by the judges. I thought the same exact thing....I mean, really...not nice! The only reason why I watched was because of you. Kudos to the gal who won. I haven't watched it since.

[Amy]

Christy--
I let my 4-yr-old son watch the first episode of CRAFT WARS a few days ago. He got really into it and absolutely LOVED your school bus. He wanted to me to "buy it" for him. When the judges didn't choose your school bus as the winner, he got so upset that I was shocked. Big fat tears pouring down his cheeks. He pointed at the judges and yelled, "I don't like those crafty ladies!!!"

In the end, the point of the challenge was to make a playhouse that children would love being in. My child chose YOUR playhouse. And he got so upset when it didn't win that my husband told him he couldn't watch CRAFT WARS any more unless he calmed down. Who knew the show would have such an effect on a preschooler?

Keep doing what you do, Christy!!!

[Marysu]

This post says it all and you completely won my heart here. I saw Craft Wars and kept thinking I know her until almost the end when you kept saying your trademark love it, love it, love it! Then I went oh yeah, she's one of my 21secrets workshops!! I've watched tons of your videos and they really inspire me to just do it with the art supplies, but this post completely won my heart, for your honesty about the bus but even more your honesty about how you feel about the creative process, your passion for this thing we do and call art. I feel really blessed to have come across you and your way of working and teaching. I am too OCD to not keep my supplies neat but I' seeing that keeping the supplies neat should not override creating the art that only I can make. So, love you love you, LOVE YOU!!! Thank you for being YOU because you help the rest of us be ourselves, too.

[Kim T]

And that is exactly why I don't watch Craft Wars anymore ... they don't get it AT ALL - I wanted to love it, but it's just too scripted and stiff. As you point out time/time again, art is about freedom, not rules ... keep on keepin' on Christi b/c you have been such an inspiration to me in so many ways, but the no. # thing is to not be afraid, embrace the mistakes ... it's just a project:) .... love this post and your courage to put it all out there! Kim

[Wendi]

Honestly? My 12 year old daughter and I LOVE to watch your videos! We were both very excited to see you compete on Craft WArs and very disappointed that you didn't 'win'. And when it was over..I said to my dd: The problem is that Christy is more of an ARTIST than a CRAFTER and those judges just didn't 'get it'...

[Lisa Ciaravino]

OK #1: I agree that the judge's should not be telling contestants that they are using a product in the wrong way, whoever thought flip flops would be used in paintings!Hello....that's being creative. #2: I wish I would have learned to "color outside the lines" back when I was a little girl because not only does that effect your creative mind it also effects your everyday life of having to be "perfect" in other's eyes. #3: Christy, I hope you realize how many lives you touch with your art, personality, wisdom, compassion etc, etc.........it shows by the young girl H. What an inspiration !!!!! and I hope H continues at this young age to learn it's ok not to "color in the lines" and shares her love of art with everyone. I know you have helped me not only in my creativity but in my heart as well !!!! thanks for being you !!!

[Kristen]

Thank you Christy for your wonderful post! You have inspired me so much on your blog and in your on-line classes. I have just started doing mixed media art this year, but feel like it is what I was meant to do. I love that you don't have to be perfect when doing mexed media art. Whenever I make an accidental drip or splatter on my page I think of your videos when you say "oh well, I guess that's the way it was meant to be". You don't seem bothered by that at all. Just letting go of rules and creating is what I love about mixed media, and about you and your art! This post also reminds me that my art doesn't have to appeal to everyone! It bothers me sometimes that my friends or family just don't get it, but thats okay!! I will just keep enjoying your posts and videos, and finding other people that love mixed media as much as I do!! Thank you for being such an inspiration!!
Kristen

[Judy]

Christy, Just had to write to tell you how very much I admire you! I love your work and simply couldn't get over your video with your son....simply amazing. He's adorable! I loved your bus....it was so clever and so much fun. Loved the inside...so many fun things for kids. Until I discovered you and Donna Downey I've tried to let loose as you do. It's taken me some time. I grew up learning to color inside the lines, to use things as they were "supposed" to be used. I started art journaling and am having so much fun using all the fun stuff that is out there. I've learned so much from you. I love to watch your freedom with your art.
You are an inspiration to me!
Judy

[Kim]

Chrity~always inspiring! Thank you for your words and your art!!

By the way, I have probably just missed reading it somewhere, but can someone tell me if you've said what happened to the bus? Where did it end up after the show??

Thanks so much!

[Anna Pontikis]

Christy such beautiful confirmation from all those you inspire to continue to do what you do and how you do it. Everytime I watch you on video I want to just break out the supplies and play. I also usually crack up laughing at how you use your hands a lot, so cool and just totally giving the rest of us permission to do the same. xo

[D]

Hi, I am D from craftilemma. a friend of H ..You are a beautiful person and ur work is so inspiring.Your blog made me realize tha living in pakistan,I dont need all those fancy supplies.Art isnt about that.Its about creating with what you have and I hope someday, I can be like you, my role model.

[Kristal Norton]

Wow. I have never read such a long post so intently. lol ;0) You and your fans are simply amazing. I agree with everything you've said. Art is just an extension of your soul, and no one is perfect. Art can't be perfect, because everyone is different, and everyone views the world differently.

I did love the school house playhouse, and I can see why the judges chose it. But it felt a little commercial to me. I could definitely see it being displayed in a store. But it wasn't inspiring, it wasn't truly creative, and it showed no peek within the designer's soul.

Yours on the other hand, I could see children playing in for hours. It was SO YOU. Your heart and soul went into every inch. You could spend hours just looking at it. THAT is creativity.

OH and I just loved reading the letter you received from "H". It must lift you up to feel the love and influence you have on even the little ones!

You are one amazing woman Christy!
~Kristal