*Thank you ALL for your heartfelt comments and kind words. I appreciate hearing from you so much.*
Congratulations to the following (randomly selected) winners of my new Brave Intuitive Painting Art Journal Give Away! I am so happy to pass along my new art journals to you all. I hope they offer lots of new inspiration in the new year…
Today on the blog I share some easy + fun tips on how to make your own customized wrapping paper for those you love!
DetailsI’ve always had a thing for New Year’s Eve. Even when I was little, I felt a strange mandatory pressure to stay up until the apple dropped in New York City…while the rest of my family was fast asleep. Alone with the T.V., I would do a little New Year’s dance, watch the crowds of…
DetailsThere’s no better time than the present to re-commit to your creativity! Today I’m sharing thirty (totally doable!) Creative Prompts to kick off the new year.
DetailsAs I type this, my friend Tara is across the street on a massage table receiving an hour of healing energy work from one of my healer angels, Mandy. I gifted this session to Tara because I believe so much in this work and there is nothing I would rather give…
DetailsTruth be told, I’m not really in the mood to blog today. There, I said it. So, I’m going to take the road of EASE (one of my words of the year), and simply link right on over to another blog. Shazam! So easy. I’m actually really happy to…
DetailsSpring has definitely SPRUNG here in Portland and it’s all I can do to not drool all over the amazing flowers blooming everywhere. I rode my bike across town today listening to Sigur Ros on my headphones, allowing my intuition to lead the way. I have an exercise on my online course called, “Intuitive Wandering” that is all about wandering (walking, biking, even driving) without a plan.
DetailsI’ve been thinking a lot about DREAMS lately…not so much the kind I have in my sleep (although that might be a whole different post..woah). I’m talking about the kind of dreams I have in my waking hours. “Daydreams” if you will, but not the kind of daydreams I have while I’m staring off into…
DetailsI mentioned a couple days ago that one of my words for 2013 was EASE. Since I can never seem to settle on just one “word of the year,” I thought I would share my other word with you today… COLLABORATION Why collaboration? Well, ya see, I’m kinda tired of doing…
DetailsAfter the heaviness of yesterday’s news, I’m going to keep today’s post pretty and sweet by sharing a few photos I took today on my annual trip to visit the blooming magnolia trees in Hoyt Arboretum. There is a very special window of time when the entire grove of magnolia trees is exploding with pink…
DetailsYesterday was my sister’s birthday and this is my Ode to her. Erin is three and a half years older than me and lives with her husband, Jeremy (he is an amazing painter…check him out!) in Minneapolis, MN. There are a few words that definitely come to mind when I think of my sis: smart,…
DetailsWoah. This week has been so weird. Everyday has turned out to be so different than I expected. Another way to say that would be: I cannot seem to get anything done! All week, I have been battling my own procrastination monsters, along with what seems like a constant string of interruptions (some created by…
DetailsThere’s a question that seems to come up in every single interview I do. It’s the “Where do you find inspiration?” question. It’s easy to answer this question with the obvious: nature, color, form, movement, trips to the woods, looking at other people’s art, etc. But, when I really get to the heart of…
DetailsAfter yesterday’s thoughts on how I find inspiration directly from the creative process and taking risks, I thought I would give a nod to some of my more obvious sources of inspiration today. Although I find plenty of inspiration from things like textiles, graffiti, shamanism, tribal patterns, personal transformation and music (hmm, that sounds like…
DetailsToday is Day #22 which means I’ve now written 21 blog posts in a row. Wow. What an interesting journey of the soul this has been! I was telling a friend of mine a little bit about the process today and he mentioned that it is supposed to take 21 days to create a new habit. Aha! This totally resonated with me because I can honestly say I feel like writing this daily post has officially become a part of my everyday experience. It is no longer “something I think I should do.” Instead, it is “something I actually do”—everyday. In other words…
DetailsIt’s crazy beautiful today in Portland and my spirits are flying high. I spent the day doing exactly what I love to do: painting and connecting with awesome people. My friend and peer, Rachael Rice (aka the Cosmic American) came over for a painting date. We rolled out a big drop cloth, flung open the studio door, cut up some potato stamps and went to town. Our conversations drifted between blogging, boys, current inspirations and our mutual love for fluorescent pink. Rachael is a new friend but hanging with her is always super effortless and inspiring—exactly what I’m welcoming into my life these days.
Detailsou asked for crush details, so I’m going to be brave and spill the beans…at least a few beans for now.
If you have been following along in my world at all, you have probably noticed that I never, like ever, talk about my romantic life. In fact, up until this lil’ blog experiment, I’ve talked very little about my personal life off the canvas, AT ALL. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that I have a story about keeping things private online which is really interesting because I’m really quite the open book in real life. The other reason is that I’m totally scared I might jinx a good thing.
DetailsWe have an event here in Portland called the Last Thursday Art Walk. It started fourteen years ago as a sort of the rebel offspring of the First Thursday Art Walk held in the downtown galleries. It is truly a renegade DIY event in every aspect of the word—equal parts carnival, garage sale, art fair, burning man, protest, karaoke, dance party, art experiment, parade, ______.
DetailsIt’s ‘Sweet Reminders Friday’ brought to you by two of my favorite wisdom keepers…
All the possibilities of your human destiny are asleep in your soul. You are here to realize and honor these possibilities. When love comes in to your life, unrecognized dimensions of your destiny awaken and blossom and grow. Possibility is the secret heart of time.— John O’Donohue from Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
DetailsFor my entire adult life, I have lived communally (yep, like a true hippie) among diverse and wonderfully inspiring groups of creative folks. Over the past four years, I’ve lived with a mandolin player, a photographer/videgrapher, a raw pie maker, a bike shop owner, a massage therapist/gardener and a shaman-in-training. Our house is now famous for it’s house concerts, potlucks, art nights and backyard sauna parties. We have 15 bikes parked under our hand-built bike storage area right next to our front yard food garden. We don’t have chickens anymore, but all our neighbors do, so the air is still filled with the sound of clucking. Basically, we are our own little Portlandia episode around here everyday.
DetailsI realize this might verge on giving away the ending of a book, but I am going to risk it and share with you the list of “friendly reminders” I offer on the final day of my online course. I hope you find these reminders helpful, and if they leave you craving more elaboration, my next online course starts in one month. I would love for you to join me on the adventure!
I also want to share with you a few of my latest paintings in progress…
DetailsYowza, Day #29, ey? I have to admit that all day I’ve been a little stressed about what I would write today. The “second to last day” of this month-long experiement seems like some kind of big deal that deserves some kind of amazingness. I even considered making a little video for you to really prove how brave I am (ha ha), but after investigating iMovie for about ten minutes, I gave up. My truth tonight is that I’m tired, my hair looks like shit, I’ve been on my computer waaaaay too long already today and I’m definitely not feeling very inspired or inspiring. Huh, I think my shoulders just dropped about two inches after I typed that. The honest truth will do that to you 🙂
DetailsDo you have a cup of tea? You might want one for this post…it’s a bit of journey in and of itself. I promised I would go out with a bang, so here goes. May I present…the never before told story of my most daring and life-changing act to date…
The story of changing my name.
DetailsToday’s post will be short and sweet—just a little peak into the current state of affairs in my studio. There’s a lot going on in here! I’m experiencing one of those rare and precious periods of time when my inspiration is flowing effortlessly and everything that is emerging on my canvas feels new and exciting.
DetailsOh my. This has been a seriously exciting day. Two pretty major things happened today, both in the category of “dreams coming true” kinda stuff. Interestingly, I’ve been feeling this low grade stress (beneath all the happiness, that is) regarding how to share all this goodness without sounding “braggy” or “too happy.” Blah. blah. blah. …
DetailsWell, well, well…what do you know? Seems the topic of shining and celebrating (ala yesterday’s post) was a topic many of you could relate to. It was awesome to read all your supportive comments and it got me thinking about this SHIFT that appears to be happening.
DetailsI’m reading two books right now that are totally rocking my world, and I’d love to share a snippet from each book. Both these passages stopped me in my tracks while I declared something like, “ooooh yeeaaaah…that’s good” to the quiet space around me.
DetailsThe image above is just a small bit of a painting that I’m working on right now, but I decided to post it on Instagram last night with the caption, “Digging more quiet space in my paintings these days…perhaps a reflection of what’s goin on inside? Probably so.”
DetailsI woke up yesterday to a text message from one of my oldest and dearest friends who lives in Boston. It read, “Can I come visit you…like tomorrow?” I would be lying if I said this was totally out of the blue, as we’ve been hoping to make this visit happen for awhile now, but WOW, it was suddenly happening…like tomorrow, which is now…like today. Of course my answer was a resounding, “YES!” and in about three hours, I’ll be on my way to the airport to pick Tara up.
DetailsI spent a decent amount of time this morning thinking about happiness, contentment and connection. I was pondering how to cultivate them, how to recognize them and how to maintain them. And, then I heard the news. Another bombing and this time at a freaking MARATHON, a place where people come together to express their…
DetailsHi ya’ll. I thought I would allow myself to do a little *shining* today and share with you my feature in the most recent Where Women Create Magazine. To say I feel honored to be included in this publication would be a serious understatement. A more accurate description of my feelings would be something…
DetailsWell hello there and welcome to Day #2 of the Blog Love Affair!! Whahoooo! First of all THANK YOU for all the sweet comments yesterday. I didn’t even consider the ripple effect this little love affair might inspire, but I am so stoked to hear that some of you might join me in re-igniting your blogging relationships.
DetailsWow. Can I just say how much I am seriously falling in love with my blog…it’ true! I’m actually a bit floored by how EASY this is feeling, and not just easy, but exciting and soul-filling…like I’m looking forward to writing everyday. What a turn-around.
DetailsAbout a month ago, I had the pleasure of returning to the lovely Teahouse Studio in Berkeley, CA, to teach two Bloom True workshops over the course of two weekends. During the second weekend, my sweet and talented friend, Zipporah Lomax (yes, that's really her name…she goes by Zippy, even cuter) asked if she could…
DetailsHi everybody. Have you heard about Life Book yet? It’s a really lovely year-long mixed media online art class put together by Tamara LaPorte. I had the pleasure of meeting Tamara last year in the UK and she is super fun and dedicated to spreading the joy of creativity far and wide. Life book offers creative insights through video lessons, prompts, images and writing by 22 amazing teachers throughout the year. What a great way to learn some new approaches and techniques!
Life Book 2014 registration opens next Monday. Join us for the adventure?
DetailsThis new website has been emerging behind the scenes for quite some time, and I couldn’t be more happy to finally share it with you today. Seriously — what a satisfying feeling, omg.
DetailsOne of the most meaningful days of my recent retreat in Bali was our Giveback Day, and I’m so happy a little bit about it with you here.
DetailsHi friends. It’s GIVEAWAY time around here, and I want to make sure you are all in the know! We are excited to be giving away TEN FREE PLACES for the upcoming Bloom True E-Course beginning on May 12th, but here’s the deal…we want you to nominate someone else to win the prize! Why? …
DetailsIt’s time to celebrate!!
Whohoo! I’m super excited to announce the winners for the Bloom True E-Course Giveaway, but first let me just say WOW…wow wow wow.
We had over 430 incredible nominations for ten tiny gifted spots, and the nominations were all so heartfelt, so sincere, soooo hard to choose! (need a little pick me up?…read these stories.).
DetailsThe amazing Miss Robyn Kautz It is with great pleasure that I am finally able to share with you a very special project I have been dreaming into creation for months— Bloom True Moves! I am thrilled to join forces with two of my favorite movers who also happen to be two of the most…
DetailsAnother batch of paintings and testimonials from my online course. Next course starts on June 11th! "Learned a lot about play,play, play..and let go! That is the right path I would take. My paintings came to the surface float without any effort. Thanks!" Yvon van Bergen -Yvon van Bergen "I work in collage and…
Details"I loved learning all the layering/mark making techniques… I think I am most proud of this painting as I really took my time with it and tried to listen to it unfold." Nathalie Vachon As promised, here is the first glimpse of some paintings that emerged from my first ever Bloom True online course. I…
DetailsContinuing to share some of the work produced in my first Bloom True online course. The next course starts in just eight days, and there is still time to join! "Learning Flora's intuitive painting process has been quite profound. It re-connected me to the most important part of my being-my passionate, creative heart. Incredible!" -Loren…
Details"I sell most of my paintings, but I think this one I will keep. It is very special for me." Conni Altmann Sharing some more of the lovely paintings and testimonials that have come out of the Bloom True E-Course. Next class starts June 11! I "Bloom True is an incredible journey of painting through…
DetailsHi ya’ll. Thought I’d share a little eye candy with you today. I seriously cannot get enough of the magical blooming flowers in Portland these day. The latest gorgeousness courtesy of POPPIES and IRISES. Thank you nature for all the inspiration!
DetailsWHAT AN AMAZING WEEK THIS HAS BEEN.
Sharing seven soulful days of painting, laughing and connecting with sixteen amazing women gathered from all parts of the globe (U.S., Canada, Honduras and South Africa), has left me, once again, in a state of gratitude and awe for the work I get to do in this world.
Although an incredible amount of energy goes into creating these special retreats, I can’t think of anything more rewarding than being a part of the beautiful transformations I witnessed here this week…on and off the canvas.
DetailsI must admit that trying to convey the magnitude of magic that was present during our week-long workshop in Mexico is a little daunting, but here goes… Yep, that's San Miguel de Allende, a beautiful gem of a city nestled in the Sierra Madres Mountains and fondly referred to as El Corazon de Mexico (the…
DetailsIt's official people. My first book, "Brave Intuitive Painting" has hit the shelves—it's time to celebrate! Creating this book was truly an act of love, a deep journey of the soul and one of the most challenging things I've ever done. I poured myself into this baby, and I'm so excited to share it with…
DetailsHi. I'm so glad you are still here even though I've been such a "bad blogger" lately. To be honest, I've had this snarky little voice running through my head whining, "I don't wanna blog. I don't wanna talk about my life online. I only want to ride my bike through Portland's sunshiny streets and…
DetailsA peek a peek at some of the incredible work that Fresh Paint students have been creating!
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