I hope that you are well and are feeling good.
I know it's New Year's Day but what better day to start as you mean to go on right? In fact today is the absolute PERFECT day for me to tell you all about this fabulously creative book that I just know you are going to LOVE.
Tamara Laporte is HUGE in the mixed media art world - trust me I don't even do this type of art but I have a beautiful friend who does and I know through her just how BIG the mixed media art world is. Think of the book and blogging community and relate that to art and you have an idea. So from what I know before diving into this book Mixed Media art is literally an art form that is meant to be therapeutic and anything goes. Literally. You take any book ( they can be our books - and by "our books" I mean our novels) or art sketchbook with the right type of paper and you literally create art in them. I know, my fellow bookish lovers the thought of painting, drawing even writing in our precious books causes us to gain a beating heart in need of steadying. But these beautiful artists do it with such love and creativity that you kind of forgive them. A little. The book cover shows what Mixed Media Art generally looks like - from what I know of the one circle I was aware of. Let's take a closer look.
Celebrate and honor your creative potential with Create Your Life Book!
Based on much-loved mixed-media artist Tamara Laporte’s popular, multi-year series of online classes, Create Your Life Book offers mixed-media drawing and painting projects that can raise your awareness of and help you work through personal challenges and other obstacles to creating art and achieving self-fulfillment.
Each themed chapter presents 4 or 5 two-part projects: The first part of each project explores a common issue that hampers creativity and/or positive self-worth, and includes a worksheet or list of questions to be answered; the second part is a step-by-step mixed-media art project that provides a way for artists at all skill levels to contemplate and work through that issue. Also included are projects contributed by some of Tamara’s Life Book guest teachers--Roxanne Coble, Andrea Gomoll, Alena Hennessy, Mystele Kirkeeng, Ivy Newport, and Effy Wild--who are noted mixed-media artists in their own right. Along the way, Tamara shares inspirational photos and uplifting and encouraging affirmations. The final chapter presents a simple binding method for creating a keepsake book of your Life Book projects.
Tamara Laporte created an online art class called Life Book, and it's where you take a theme such as "Gratitude" or "Letting Go" and you create an art piece about all things you're grateful for, or you want to let go and you draw/paint/blend/pastel in your representations of the theme. You can add words (perhaps cut out from books/newspapers/magazines/printed from online/calligraphy by hand etc) to your work to add personal touches. This is where the journalling comes in (I think).
Anyway, the course proved so popular that Tamara has finally been able to bring us our very own Mixed Media Art class into book form. I was so excited to review this and try out the techniques because having a friend who is so talented at this stuff I have always been in awe of her and her talent. It's no secret that if I could do this art style then I would be so happy. So I had to try.
The first art project in the book is themed around Letting Go - and I think it's perfect to try and do at some point this month if you can as it's another way of setting goals and intentions for the coming year.
If you're new to creating Mixed Media Art or any form of art then you might be worried that you will be overwhelmed by it all, but Tamara has written this book with you in mind. She takes you step by step through every piece of the art projects, and includes colour photos of each step to give you an idea of how to do your piece. At the start of the book Tamara talks you through the things you'll need and alternatives. Now, you might feel like it's going to cost you a fortune but again, from my lovely friend, I learnt that you use what you have and build up your art stash slowly.
Each year since losing my Auntie I've kind have promised myself and my auntie that I will do things that will create memories for me and my friends and family. The first year was Crochet which I still do (and will be blogging more about), last year was lifestyle blogging/instagramming, and 2018 will include all that and more. But I would love to create some Mixed Media Art pieces this year, so watch this space as I've NEVER done any of this type of art before. The most I've ever done is sketching and using pastels. So it will be quite a journey.
From the moment I opened up this book to review I knew it was going to be an amazing way to start 2018, and I knew I had to buy it for my friend for Christmas. Keeping it a secret from her for over a month was SO hard! I just wanted to scream "Look what i've got you!!!" but I kept quiet. I love this book... And I know you will too.
I am awarding this book 5/5 for the creativity, the beautiful layout, the projects and their therapeutic benefits, and the amazing opportunity it gives us to document our lives adding to our life, happiness and legacy.
You can purchase your copy of Tamara Laporte's Create Your Life Book here
* Thank you Quarry Books for sending me this book to review, Happy New Year *
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