What's Up! (all the news that's fit to print)

Wow, the last few weeks have brought so much crazy, exciting, scary stuff that I am kind of overwhelmed by it all. Here are a few of the top news items:

Monster In Me Workshop at Into the HeArt Retreat

I sent in my application to teach at Into the HeArt with a whole lot of doubt and "Oh man this is scary" in my heart. And then I got the email that my workshop proposal had been accepted and I was like, "For reals? No way." I am finding my path and this feels like a big part of fulfilling my life purpose to teach art with a focus on healing and heart opening. I am so excited to be part of this amazing group of artists teaching at and organizing what I know will be in incredible experience.

Into the HeArt is being held in beautiful Harrison Hot Springs May 22-25, 2014. You can find all the details of the reatreat weekend at www.creativefinds.ca and a description of my Monster in Me workshop here.

True North Retreat Weekend

And speaking of retreat weekends, I have been looking forward to this one for a while. I had a vision of gathering a small group of women for an intimate retreat weekend called True North. I wanted us all to have a chance to take a step away from our daily routines for some self-care and reflection. We visited the Perfect Retreat Centre on gorgeous Galiano Island this September, a picturesque waterfront home.  

Before the retreat, I asked each woman to bring an object to represent herself at our opening ceremony. We gathered in a circle after a soul-nourishing dinner of vegetarian lasagna prepared by my amazing friend Aly, who fed us lavishly all weekend long. Each woman had a unique cloth bag adorned with the True North logo, sewn by my co-organizer Amber. The bags contained an art journal kit, a print of my artwork and some sweets. On top of each bag I placed a candle and a goddess card. As we opened our circle, I invited each woman to light her candle and add the candle and her chosen symbolic object to our alter area, and to read what her goddess card said. I chose the goddess cards randomly, and yet each woman spoke to how the card she had received had deep meaning for her. As we completed our alter area, we symbolically left behind our everyday worries and responsibilities, leaving us free for quiet moments of reflection, laughter, tears, and creation.

Our time together was filled with amazing food, heartfelt conversations, yoga, wine, art and journaling. Rainstorms came and went, and in a beautiful clearing offered us an incredible sunset that we watched from a hot tub on a cliff overlooking the ocean while an eagle circled overhead. There was time for togetherness and time for precious moments of alone time. Spontaneous jam sessions happened in one room while art journaling took over the kitchen table. Women who didn't see themselves as artists learned the joy of losing yourself in a new form of self expression.

The time went by too quickly, and as we packed up the next morning to return to our families, we all agreed that next time we would have to spend longer here in this magical place. Each woman took something special away from our time together. For me, it was an affirmation of the importance of radical self-care. Not just survival, but building a life that has room for grace, for gentleness. And also a deep feeling of fulfillment, of finding joy in coordinating this event, knowing that it is just the beginning for me, knowing that I have so many more like it waiting to unfold.

Mumfection Interview

I was recently interviewed by the lovely Eschelle Westwood of Mumfection for her blog series Mom of the Week. I talked about motherhood, art and life lessons. You can read the interview here.

And more to come!

I am brewing some exciting stuff behind the scenes here. New art shows, workshops, and a book that has been brewing in the back of my mind for the last few years and needs some dedicated attention to come to fruition. This coming year is going to be a good one. To make room for more creating, I will be blogging here less, but posting more on my Facebook page. 

So that's all the news for now. Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful day!

Creative Finds Interview

This interview originally appeared on the Creative Finds blog. Enjoy!

Meet the lovely Joyelle….

Posted on September 25, 2013 by artist

 

 Workshop: Monster In Me (Saturday May 24, 2014)

 I love to teach because:  I feel that art should be a conversation, a relationship. And teaching is part of that conversation for me.
Attending an Art Retreat is like: Meeting the best friends you never knew you had, and having a party together that lasts several days!
When I attended my first Art Retreat, I :  Felt like I had just joined the most amazing tribe of creative soul sisters.
Who do you creatively relate with?  I could list a ton of artists here, but I’ll just choose one. My friend Kathleen Tennant makes beautiful mixed media paintings. I love what she makes, and love even more the spirit she puts into her life. She is just an awesome human!
The best part of living a creative life is:  You get to make it whatever you want it to be. You get to be a little crazy, and everyone is ok with that, because artists are supposed to be crazy
What is the worst part of living a creative life?  Sometimes it’s hard to find other creative people like you. That is why art retreats are so great!
What advice would you like to share?  Find a way to do something that makes you happy every day. This sounds simple, but often it is not.
The best advice I have ever received is :  Breathe into the pain.

Photo credit: Robert Brandt.

‘Being creative’ means :  I think painter Flora Bowley said it best: “…human aliveness is inseparable from creativity. We are all artists already… each and every one of us.” I strongly believe that living artfully doesn’t just apply to creating art, but also to creating the life we want to live. Living mindfully, according to our own values, that’s creativity too.
Which Artist inspires you the most & why?  Kelly Rae Roberts. Her commitment to living authentically shines through everything that she creates. I love her willingness to be open and vulnerable, her ongoing personal development and community building. She represents artful living to me.
What are your favorite tools, instruments, materials to use and why?  My fingers! I love painting with my hands. Just getting in there and working intuitively is when I feel the most flow in my painting.
What would you love to try next, creatively?  Painting really BIG abstract paintings! I saw Pierre Coupey‘s exhibit at the Evergreen Cultural Centre and I just love the energy of his large scale works. Sadly I do not have the space to do this currently, so this dream will have to wait for now.
Where do you find your muse/inspiration? Quotes, music, my kids, nature, my struggles. Everything is fodder for art to me.
Do you sell your work? If so, where can your fans seek you out? Yep! I have an Etsy store and a Society Six shop. You can find links to both at www.joyellebrandt.com
Name one of your favorite food, song, poem, book and/or movie of all time?

• Food: chocolate
• Song: Steamroller Blues, James Taylor
• Poem: anything by Brian Andreas
• Book: Onion Girl by Charles DeLint
• Movie: Clerks
  

  Saturday WORKSHOP: Monster in Me

What was your scariest creative adventure?  Sending my art to Somerset Studio magazine.
The thing I love most about my life is :  The people in it. I have been married for 16 years to a wonderful man. We have two little boys who I love more than anything. And I have a circle of family and friends who love and support me unconditionally. I am so grateful to be in this place in my life, surrounded by loving, accepting peeps.
What makes your heart swell with joy?  Hearing my boys laugh.
Three words to describe my work are:  Odd, cute, ugly.
What creative tool can you not live without (so-to-speak)?  Gel medium for layering and adding texture!
My favorite ‘pretend’ curse word is : I prefer the real ones. Which means I have had several conversations with my six year old about which words are “grown up” words and which are not.

CLICK HERE for Student registration

Step by step part 2, and an exciting announcement!

If you want to see part 1 of this process, where I create the background, click here.

So this is my first two-headed princess monster. It's also the first larger scale princess monster I have done (18x24). AND it is also the first time I have used the oil paint sticks, and I have to say I really like the way they blend, and I think they will become my default for skin tones. So here she is, from start to finish:

outline done in white paint pen, filled in with gesso

skin tone swiped on with oil paint sticks

after blending

hair filled in with oil paint sticks, blended by hand

first attempt at faces, not quite right

second attempt at faces, much better now!

and a dress to finish her!

 Sorry the image quality is not great. Next time I will use the good camera instead of my iPhone. But for now you get an idea of the process. My neighbours have been watching this painting progress as I have been keeping it in the garage and moving it out to the yard to work on it during this beautiful sunny weather we have been having. Hopefully I haven't traumatized any of the neighbourhood kids with her ;)

It's easy for me to show you the process of creating this monster, and harder to talk about the inspiration behind this piece. So I will be brief. I have been struggling for months with postpartum depression. It's still too fresh for me to be able to say much about it, except that it's been really hard and I am so glad that it has finally let go of its grip on me. This painting felt very much like an exorcism, and at times it was so intense working on it that I had to step away and walk around a bit to work through the waves of emotion. When I started working on this piece I wrote out a quote "I feel a nameless sadness o'er me roll" over and over on the canvas. That quote came on a piece of ephemera that I received in a class with Danielle Daniel at the Sugar & Spice retreat, and it felt like such a perfect description for how I was feeling. This painting is called The Nameless Sadness. It's quite a departure from my usual light-hearted princess monsters, but for me it feels like a major breakthrough moment, both personally and in my artistic process.

And now for the BIG NEWS! My princess monsters and I will be at Into the HeArt Retreat this coming spring in beautiful Harrison Hot Springs, BC. I will be teaching a workshop called "Monster in Me". This is such a big deal for me, major soul purpose, doing what I am supposed to be doing business. I am so honoured to be teaching at this event! You can check out the details about my workshop here. Registration opens September 21. I'll be posting more soon about the other amazing workshops being offered at the retreat. Hope to see you there!

I think this may be the longest post in quite a while! So I will sign off now, and wish you all a beautiful day!