Showing posts with label watercolor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watercolor. Show all posts

Friday, October 23, 2015

How to turn your dream into a color scheme - Week 5


HOLY FRIDAY I've been slacking on the blogs! Everyday I think about the blogs but I have been struggling to make time and for that I am sorry. But some good news is that it's DREAM SCHEME FRIDAY! My favorite day of the blogs. For those of you who are new, Friday's I take a dream that I have had either recently or from one of my past dream journals and turn it into a color scheme!



We are on the 5th week of Dream Scheme Friday's and since I began them, I haven't had one usable dream! That is very shocking to me because I have always been someone to have many dreams and very vivid ones. So that fact that I haven't had any really bummed me out! Thankfully I have loads of dreams to refer to from my past that I have taken detailed notes about since I was a young girl.


Guess what! I had a dream last night and it was so different. I am very excited to share a recent dream and it might not make much sense as I felt the dream skipped around a lot and randomly kept showing me different images but I am thrilled to share it with you and turn it into a wonderful color scheme! Here we go!
 This dream was from last night
Thursday October 22nd, 2015

The dream started out in a subway and I felt depressed behind the counter where it was very slow. I went into the back room and my mother was working there too. She was on the phone and seemed very busy. I realized I was at a second job that I picked up for extra money and she probably helped get me in. It felt right seeing as I could spend time with her even if I didn't want to be working there, at all. 

I went back in front to check if anyone come in and it was packed. There was an old man that had come behind the counter and started making his own sandwich. He had his hands completely submerged in a green vegetable and was scooping it out for his meal. I was panicking and gently told the man he couldn't be behind the counter and that he needed to go over by the tables. I rushed back to my mother, who was still on the phone, hoping for help. She signaled for me to go and so I did.

I was walking down side streets and seemed to have a far walk. Next thing I remember I was entering a building that was a mix between I large open office, a Barnes and Nobles, and a Game Stop. I knew everyone that was working there and I realized this was my main job. I felt content with my position there. I was treated equally and paid decently but wanted better for myself at the same time. I did feel relief when I walked in and we all sat down for a meeting. 

It was a laid back meeting and my boss was a woman that I seemed to have a good relationship with. She was talking to everyone about how some people had yet to come and pick up there diamond car decals. Then I saw sheets with random works in different fonts that were comprised of little studded diamonds. 

I spaced out and spun my chair around to see a big glass window  and there was a family with two small children walking by. One of the toddlers came up to the window and put his face against the glass and was looking at us. His face from our side looked hilarious and I interrupted the meeting so everyone could see him. Everyone laughed and waved to the kid and that's all I can remember.



              This dream had many different visuals but when remembering it to record for the blog I got the sense of a few colors!  Each color represents a certain part of the dream or feeling the dream gave me. The color scheme works backwards through the dream.

Color 1 - The blue/grey is for the comfort & stability the main job gave me and also the feeling of wanting more. 
Color 2 - The lighter shade of the first color represents the pause in meeting to laugh at the child through the glass.
Color 3 - The blue jean blue is the overall color that I felt the main job's wall and desks were when I entered.
Color 4 - The brown in for the in between state I felt when walking from one place to the other down the side streets.
Color 5 - The pale mustard yellow is the color that represents the subway job. Behind the counter and the lighting.
Color 6 - The final green is for when the older man has his hands in the food behind the glass. It was something like green peppers or pea pods. 

There you have it! I was so excited when I woke up this morning. At first I knew I had a dream and could remember if I just relaxed and didn't try too hard. Then after I got out of the shower, the image of the child through the glass appear in my head and the entire dream came flooding back! It was amazing. What great timing!



This is something anyone can do! Write down your dream and create a color scheme from it. Use it to make a meaningful painting for your bedroom or to pick out your outfit for the day. I believe we have dreams to guide us and show us things that are hiding in our subconscious. This is just one way to use the wonderful information your mind has given to you while asleep. 


That's all for today!   Has anyone had any dreams that they have written down lately? Have you tried this yourself? Let me know in the comments below and maybe I can make a color scheme of one of your dreams! Don't forget to subscribe and everyone have a wonderfully inspiring day!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo





Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Candyland Tote bag - printed heavyweight canvas tote bag - by Mab Graves



Song of the Day:

One Direction - Drag Me Down



Color of the Day:
BENJAMIN MOORE COLONY GREEN 694


Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Slow Down and Enjoy the Process.


Hello, hello, hello! I have a feeling today will be a unique blog. I have been fighting a pretty bad migraine since last evening so I am in a different mental space. I wanted to try and get a blog for you guys today regardless and maybe typing can help take away from my focus on the pain. Anyone have any great migraine relief that's natural? I have pretty much tried everything. Hopefully it will be gone by the time you read this, but maybe for next time! ANYWAYS!


Today I figured I would talk about something that seems to be happening in my own life and I think I might be able to avoid it by acknowledging it. OVER DOING IT. This is something I fall victim to far too often. I go, go, go and leave little down time for myself to recoup until my body rejects my efforts to be superwoman and I fall sick.


Now I am not saying I am sick or am going to get sick, but I think this migraine is a warning sign that I need to slow down. How is this relating to art? I am getting there....but let's think just for a second about how fast everything is now. All the pressure of deadlines and due dates, appointments and meetings. Rarely do we take the time to slow our view of things down and focus on what is in front of our faces, instead of what is in the next coming week. I am one of those people but I work to fight it everyday. 


With all of that said, I have been spending every waking moment I can inside my art studio trying to prepare for my very first art fair. I wake up and go to work to come home and go straight to work until the moment I fall asleep. I am determined to be properly prepared and ready! I even worked through a movie my boyfriend and I were watching late at night because I didn't want to waste time just laying there when I could have been working. 


I know that my work process isn't always like this, but I want to remember two things. The First thing is to slow down and have confidence in myself that it is alright to take an hour before bed to read my book to unwind and relax my mind. I don't have to work every single second. The Second thing is to just slow down in general. I am knocking out a lot of great work very quickly but I am missing the those beauty of the process! I had painted three adorable wine bottles yesterday and worked on a wood burned piece that I had started and I barely remember doing it.


For any astrologers out there tomorrow starts another Mercury Retrograde. Click here to learn all about it if you haven't heard of it. Recognizing that I need to relax and slow down to enjoy the process of my art and life, is a great way to start into a new Mercury Retrograde. With that, I will leave you to your peaceful day! 

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo



Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Sleep Eye Mask - The Fantastic Fox (Orange Burgundy) by - littleoddforest



Song of the Day:
Coldplay - Trouble


Color of the Day:
Benjamin Moore Regal Harbor Haze 2136-60




Friday, September 4, 2015

How to turn your dreams into a color scheme - Week 1


HELLO EVERYONE!
I am super excited for today's blog! Today starts the first weekly Friday Dream Scheme post. Friday's blog post will be about one of my dreams that I have had either recently or from past years that I recorded in a journal. Then I will make a color scheme to go along with the dream! Let's do this.


I haven't had any dreams this past week that I remember, so I decided to go back in my dream records and revisit one from my past. This was written in my dream journal dated for 
Tuesday Feb 28, 2013 - 3:19pm

It started were I felt like I was on a type of school field trip and I had entered a magical little gift shop. I knew I had to buy one item as if it were some assignment but I couldn't afford anything except an ugly trucker baby blue baseball cap. I kept looking around the shop though and something caught my eye! It was an incense burner in the shape of a detailed castle and the stick poked out the tower. I wanted it so badly. I also saw a miniature chess set that had really beautifully carved pieces and the board could fold up into a little cube that could fit into your pocket. 

Then somebody entered into the store and told me to run and hurry up, it was time to go! The next thing I know, I am in the sky held up by a giant orb shaped cage. There were a few other people inside it along with me. I didn't have my proper balance and the orb shifted or tilted and I fell onto my stomach. It scared me and I grabbed the bars of the orbed cage to make sure I couldn't fall through. My baby blue hat fell off of my head and glided to the ground far below me. I felt depressed about watching it float in the wind for awhile and I knew I wouldn't be able to get it back. Then the dream ended.  


Here is my dream color scheme! Each color represents a certain part of the dream or feeling the dream gave me. The first color is the baby blue of the baseball cap. The second color is the sky blue I see when I think of the cap floating away in the wind. The third color grey is the general color I get from the castle incense burner and the following fourth color brown is the actual incense sticking out. The fifth color of light grey was from the feeling of panic I felt when being rushed out of the shop and loosing my balance. Lastly the sixth and final color represents the bars that confined me and the others in the orb-shaped cage in the sky.


This is something anyone can do! Write down your dream and create a color scheme from it. Use it to make a meaningful painting for your bedroom or to pick out your outfit for the day. I believe we have dreams to guide us and show us things that are hiding in our subconscious. This is just one way to use the wonderful information your mind has given to you while asleep. 


Not every dream you have may be a nice dream. What if you have a reoccurring nightmare or you have a dream so vivid it frightens you throughout your whole day. I say embrace it! Write it down and create a color scheme. Using those colors on a piece of paper with colored pencils and then setting it on fire or tearing it up and throwing it away, might help release the negative attachment to the dream. 


What do you think! Every Friday I will be doing this in the blogs and I hope it will inspire you to create color schemes from your dreams! You might even find that you connect with my color scheme that I came up with and feel compelled to do a piece of artwork with it. Let me know your thoughts below in the comments about your dreams.


Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo




Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Blue and Gold Sweet Dreams Little One, Hand Painted Log Slice Nursery Decor by - FieldandForestDesign



Song of the Day:
Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams



Color of the Day:
Benjamin Moore Milkyway: a very soft, pale blush of yellow cream



Wednesday, September 2, 2015

What's new in the world of Cloud Nine Studios?


It's me again! I have a lot of things to cover today and I am all over the place, so let's just dive in shall we! Today I have been working hard on posting the Michigan Greeting Cards I have recently mentioned in a past blog on my Etsy Shop. It is a lot of work to post new items. This will be the first time I am posting Greeting Cards to my shop so I wanted to do some research on the normal listings of successful cards first. I found some of the cutest greeting cards! Here are some of my favorites!


Making my Michigan Greeting Cards was just a spur of the moment idea I had to have smaller items and less priced items in my inventory for the DIY Art Festival at the end of the month. I had so much fun making them and now I am super inspired seeing all the wonderful cards on Etsy. Anytime I make any product even if it's sold, I try and take pictures of it and post it on my Etsy shop. If it is sold, then I post it on a made to order basis. The more images and listings you have in your shop the more chances to get noticed and create a sale!


Also today I am getting ready to meet with my Artists Talking Art Group for the second time! I am not expecting many people as I have been so busy in the studio I admit I have been lacking on the posts about it reminding people to come. Either way even if I have one person show up I will get some relaxing time to drink some tea and talk about art. Can't complain about that!
**Cue adorable tea cup picture!


Isn't this cute? Tomorrow's blog is going to be dedicated to collecting things. You'll get to read about why I love a good collection and how it can inspire us and increase happiness. Which reminds me of my next thought I want to mention today....weekly dream color scheme. I have so many dreams that I am always wanting to share but I have no reason to. The blog I did about creating color schemes from memories had such great responses, that I thought I would dedicate one day of the week of this blog specifically for a dream that I had where I will describe it in as much detail as I can and create a color scheme that goes with it. So FRIDAYS will not be dedicated to my weekly dream inspired color scheme. Any clever names I can use for the title? 


Told you I was all over the place today! Still with me? Great, you are the best. :]
I have so many ideas for the blog that the more feedback I get the easier it is for me to post what you all want to read about! Is there anything that you would love to hear me touch on? Let me know in the comments below and help this happy little art blog bloom into a beautiful flower of happy goodness! 


Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo


Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Hummingbird Rustic Hand Printed Wrapping Paper - Three Sheets by - HandmadeandHeritage



Song of the Day:

Alle Farben - She Moves feat. Graham Candy



Color of the Day:
Split Pea Green


Tuesday, August 25, 2015

DIY - PAINT BRUSH CLEANER (Made with hot glue gun)


It has been a weird couple of days but also an AMAZING couple of days. My love took me away for a night to the west side of Michigan with another couple. We stayed in an amazing castle and saw my favorite band Lake Street Dive. It was a magical two days and I felt very inspired and in love.


Since I have been away all weekend I wanted to use my last day off to really get things done in my studio. I entered the room this morning and felt SO OVERWHELMED. There were things everywhere. I have started so many pieces and each are different mediums. I just couldn't get my thoughts together so I decided it was time to clean and reorganize everything.



I started by getting all the random trash out and creating more space. I felt cramped and anxious and now I feel free! I had also been putting off cleaning a ton of my brushes that were just sitting in old mineral spirits. I was actually convinced I had ruined all of them because they had been sitting there for so long. I remembered this great idea I saw and decided to make one of my own!


I understand that this video was made for make-up brushes but it works the same for paintbrushes. I made one on a metal tray that I had left lying around. It works so well I wish I had more brushes to clean. I not only saved every single brush I don't think they have ever been this clean. It took maybe ten minutes to make and if you are an artist with deals with paintbrushes of any kind I DEFINITELY recommend making one of these.


ANYWAY! Now that everything is clean and has a place I am going to organize my inventory on paper which is something I have never done before. I want to do this because like I already mentioned I keep starting all these little pieces for the DIY Art Fair but not finishing them and I feel all over the place. I want to know exactly what I have and how many of each so I can focus on what I want to have for the fair. I know as of now that I probably need to at least DOUBLE my inventory which is terrifying but I know if I can just get my thoughts straight I will make it happen.



Before I left for the weekend adventure I did however finish my lovely little Alice in Wonderland inspired Watercolor piece! Sometimes I make pieces and I think "oh, that's cute.....moving on" but every now and again I make something I love and it might be vain but I CAN NOT stop looking at it. I really want to make more pieces like this and get prints to sell but I feel like I need to stick with what I can do for the fair for now and after this month dive a little deeper into my watercolor ideas.


So that's all I have for today. I really want to get to work in here now that it's cleaned up but I wanted to make sure I blogged since I couldn't while I was away. I hope you all have a wonderland day!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo




Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

USB flash drive 8 GB, kawaii blue cat, cat with constellation big dipper, back to school , cobalt cat usb flash by - CloverPower


Song of the Day:

Garden Sessions: Lake Street Dive - "Look At What Mistake" - Radio Woodstock



Color of the Day:
 BENJAMIN MOORE CORLSBUD CANYON 076

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

5 things to remember when you feel like you're falling behind.


Look who it is! It's me the slackiest slacker on the world wide web of blogging! Oh man guys and gals I really haven't done anything with the blog in three days! See I miss one day and BOOM three days later here I am. All or nothing kinda gal......What's that?.....You forgive me! Great! 
You are the best.

These past few days I made a mental promise to stay away from my studio for the most part and spend more time with my boyfriend's two kids. They will be going back to school soon and I have been hiding away working on pieces for the DIY Art Festival.


I did manage to get a little time in the studio for myself and started a fun watercolor piece themed from Alice in Wonderland! It is going to be very dainty and girly with flowers! I love it already. What do you think so far?!



Even though I started a piece and worked on a few others I still can't help feeling like I have totally fallen behind. I have this feeling more than I realize. Behind what? My expectations? Due dates? Have you ever given up doing something completely because you felt you were too far behind for it to even matter? I didn't choose painting as a major in college until two years in because I felt that since I never took any courses in high school I would be so far behind everyone else that why bother. Switching was one of the best things I ever did! 

So are you feeling behind? Do you feel you're stressed because you can never get ahead of your laundry? Do tasks at work keep piling higher every time you finish one? Feel like your business will never succeed because so many just like it are already so popular? Have a new blog and think will this ever take off......wait....oh how silly of me I am getting off topic.

Here are 5 things to remember when you feel like you are falling behind:

1. Take a breath and enjoy life. You only get one.
I have mentioned before what taking some time to meditate and breathe can do for you. If you haven't heard....it does wonders! If you feel like you are falling behind you probably have some anxiety and stress along with that thought and closing your eyes and breathing can help wash that away. It will make it easier to continue on with getting those things caught up and back to normal without the pressure of guilt and even depression!

2. How did you get here?
Is this the first time you have felt this way or have you been in this position before? What lead you to feeling so trapped and helpless? Take a step back from the situation and look to see how you could have avoided it, if at all. If you could have avoided it, let yourself feel disappointed (BUT ONLY FOR A SECOND!) You have to acknowledge your feelings. Then move on! Get up and try again better next time. If you find that you couldn't have even avoided getting to the point you are at....then make like Elsa and LLEETT ITT GOOO!

2. You are further ahead then you think!
Ever look back at a stressful time and think....why was I so crazy I did great! I think 9 times out of 10 when I think I am behind I really am ahead! I guess this depends on what you are feeling behind.

..if it is you're own goals then you might want to reevaluate your goals or the manor in which you are trying to reach them. BUT, if you are feeling behind "others" or some sort of "work" I bet you will look back on today and say that you really were ahead of the game.

3. Need some reassurance?
Sometimes I think I am like Gretchen Rubin and need a ton of gold stars. Reassurance can so important to people (especially artists) that they create this sob story in their heads when they don't receive it enough. I am guilty of this. If I am not getting enough good feedback I can make myself feel like I am falling behind. When someone gives me a gold star and recognizes my good work I feel a lot better. So what I need to learn is that I need to give myself a gold star whenever I start to feel behind. If you have trouble with this like I do here is one free golden star just for you: YOU CAN DO IT! WOW WHAT A GREAT JOB YOU HAVE DONE SO FAR! DON'T WORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE LOOK AT ALL YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED! 

4. Just do the best you can do.
All you can do is the best you can do. Odds are you are doing just fine. If you can say you are putting 110% into everything you do and are still feeling behind, then you might want to think differently. 



There you have it! Just remember life is about having fun and love! I hope today's blog makes you feel a little more at ease and you can forgive me for being absent the last few days. Oh and I almost forgot! Gues what came in the mail today! My brand new business cards! Take a look and let me know what you think! 


Until Tomorrow - Dream Away
Samantha Menzo



Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Pinback Button, Magnet, Mirror, or Bottle Opener by - PinMeDown



Song of the Day:

Fun.: We Are Young ft. Janelle Monáe (ACOUSTIC)



Color of the Day:
Glass Slipper