coloring outside the lines

I'm a hard one to live with. I'll admit it.

I'm full of crazy contradictions.

I am a rule follower.

But don't tell me what to do.

Sometimes those rule following tendencies follow me into the creative world. There must certainly a right way and a wrong way to do things. Right?

As I grow older and more mature (ha!) I am finding out that there are many ways to do things, all of which are not necessarily right or wrong.

I've been wanting to try a mixed media art piece for a while, but it took a long time to find the courage to do it.

There are no rules! You can color outside the lines and it will still be right.

So here we have my first mixed media piece. After letting it sit for a little while and looking at it a lot, I decided it was done. I really could have fussed with it a lot more, but then it might have become too muddled.

Some of my favorite parts are the details that I didn't plan. I love how the piece of magazine with the roses crinkled with the moisture, making it look very vintage and cracked.

There are a few spontaneous swipes of paint here and there that I find quite lovely. I couldn't have planned such loveliness. It had to just happen. This is so true of life, as well. We cannot always plan the lovely moments. Rather they happen spontaneously, sometimes when we are not quite paying attention even.

I've already started another one ~ or two. Everywhere I look I see things that I can incorporate into a piece ~ papers and textures and such. Kim sent me a note in the mail and the front of the card is gorgeous and has a great embossed texture. That will be become part of a painting at some point. I found a library card (where it came from I have no clue) on the floor the other day. Like a bird gathering for her nest, I swiped that baby and put it in my stack of findings.

Oh, don't worry. This girl will remain very much a rule follower. Rules are safe. It gives life a certain needed order. But I won't be so afraid to color outside the lines from time to time.

Linked to Show and Share Day with Just a Girl and Sew Many Ways - Sew Darn Crafty Party.