Sunday, November 14, 2010

Escape!

Usually every few months I need to escape the family routine to reclaim my sanity.  Normally I enlist the help of a couple of girlfriends who also need to escape and we head to an idyllic spot that the budget can allow for and do whatever we want for the weekend.  Usually breaking routine is big for me.  You know, dinner at 9pm, late lunch (if at all), walk along the beach whenever I want instead of when it fits in with the family, that kind of thing.
A few weeks ago, something caught my eye. I found it here.
http://bit.ly/ArtCorp I already had taken some scrapbooking classes with Jilly http://bit.ly/JillGG at a retreat I frequent with Direct Scrapbooking Warehouse http://www.scrapbookingwarehouse.com.au/ which I loved.  The pages I completed were very different to my 'usual' style and were very creative.  So I took the plunge and attended the workshop for altered canvases (I guess that's what you would call them).  WOW!  What a fantastic day.  This is so totally not the type of creating I would normally do in regards to construction and results yet it was exactly what I needed.  In the morning I was certainly ready for a break from routine, leaving the house after having a rant about feeling like I was taken for granted and that I had just given up on the housework due to the fact that no-one picked up after themselves.  Once in the car, all was forgotten with some great music and enjoying the drive in my new car. 
Well, 7 odd hours later I had in my hot little hands a canvas that just needed a bit of tweeking.  I came home, put some finishing touches on it and now it is on display in my lounge room.    I learned some great techniques and how to prep a canvas from scratch.  Talk about motivation.  I have already prepped the three canvasses I had in the cupboard.  A couple of years ago, I was going to do a mixed media painting of the ocean and never had enough courage or knowledge on how to complete it.  Who needs courage?  And now I have the knowledge.  I have mapped out in my mind the process I will use to complete this new project and am already hunting around for other things I can use on my canvasses.  I feel renewed and refreshed and like I had a weekend away.  It helped that the cleaning fairy came whilst I was away and picked up and vacuumed and washed the floors.  Isn't he a wonderful cleaning fairy!  So if you have the chance, break routine as soon as you can, allow yourself to do something out of the box and enjoy the moment!

2 comments:

ngaire Bartlam said...

yay!!!! and we loved having you join us Jill!!!!!

Your canvas looks awesome! :)
Ngaire
x

Jill Brown said...

Thanks Ngaire! That's because it was an awesome workshop! :o)