Art is a great way to release stress, have fun, feel creative, and access insights and messages from your inner self!  

You also have something tangible to reflect upon, look back at, and share with others!

So here is an easy project that you may become addicted to creating...a mini-doodle book.  You don't need to be an artist to create one and it's an easy project for all ages.  

You can do this project alone or with others.  You could even trade the mini-doodle book back and forth to see what evolves from more than one person working on the same book.

Supplies:

• A black fine point and a black ultra fine point Sharpie permanent pens.
  
• A pair of scissors.  
• Coloring tools such as crayons, colored pencils and pens, and markers.  
• Other items you may want to use include magazines, glue sticks, and even stickers and glitter.  

Steps:

1) Take a piece of paper--you can work with any size.  I have used 8.5 inches x 11 inches as well as larger pieces. A 12 inches x 18 inches works very well and is what I used for the example I'm including here.

2) Draw lines over the page with a fine point Sharpie pen.  

Here's an example of what your page could look like:

3) There are a variety of ways to make mini-doodle books.

I'm including here a quick and easy way to make an 8-page mini book by just folding a single piece of paper and making one cut.

Click here for a short YouTube video on how to do this or click on the below image.

4) Choose which page you want to be the first page or "cover" of your mini-book.  

5) Use your chosen supplies to decorate your mini doodle book.  

As you flip through the pages, you may find that your lines look like an animal or a person's face or an object like a lamp.   

You may want to include words, phrases, or even write a short story. 

You can also keep everything abstract and create your book as a meditation on color, line, and/or shape.

Also sign and date your mini doodle book--it's always interesting to go back and see what you've created at different points of your life.

Looking for an example? Here's my mini-doodle book you can flip through.  It's titled, Teddy's DreamTime Adventure.

I'd love to see what you create!  

And a special thank you to Wendy Wahman for providing the idea of starting off with creating lines across the page before folding the paper to create the mini-doodle book!   The book I include here I made at her "Insight Book" workshop.

Also, YouTube has a variety of videos on making mini-books, including a circle flip up book and a Roald Dahl mini book! 

So go make your mini-doodle book now and have fun!  

                               ***
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Love beautiful art? Interested in different media? Enjoy supporting artists? 

If you answer "YES!", then stop by North Seattle College's Art Gallery to enjoy a smorgasbord that includes watercolors, acrylics, jewelry, ceramics, prints, sculpture, and photography.

Happy News! Two of Kathryn V. White's watercolors were juried into the exhibit.

The exhibit continues until August 20, 2015. Hours: M-Thu from 12-2PM and 5-7PM.  Click here to find out more.

                                ***
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

• Are you interested in spiritual and self-help topics? 

• Do you enjoy Eckhart Tolle’s writings? 
  

• Are you naturally curious and like to contemplate the deeper issues of life?

Then Eckhart Tolle’s UnCourse is for you!

It can be taken at your own pace and you can fully explore one topic by completing all its lessons or jump from topic to topic, lesson to lesson—creating your own order of what you want to explore.

There are eight major topics which include:

• Ego
• Relationships
• Parenting
• Choices
• Dealing with Emotional and Physical Suffering
  

Each topic includes subtopics which start with a short video highlighting a question from a member of Tolle’s audience and Tolle’s response.  Additional questions are also included that are provocative and good for contemplation, journaling, and discussion.

It’s a well-conceived mini-program that you’ll return to again and again for insight, inspiration, and wisdom!

Find out more here.

                                ***
A lover of learning, Kathryn V. White's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

The Bellevue Art Museum (BAM) is hosting five concurrent exhibits running for the next one to three months.

Read My Pins pays homage to former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s predilection for political statements through her pins.  

Her collection of over 200 pins span from the early 1900s to the present day.  Examples include the face of the Statue of Liberty with clock eyes where both the wearer and viewer get their own perspective of time (my favorite); bejeweled bees, spiders, and butterflies; shoulder mounted zebras (worn when meeting with Nelson Mandela); a clay heart made by one of her daughters as a child (her favorite); and many others.  (Closes June 7, 2015)

Emerge/Evolve 2014 highlights the works of artists associated with the Bullseye Glass Company (located in Portland, Oregon).  Show-cased art includes delicate glass hanging like a lace curtain; an empty chair faces a window in a glass double-façade, miniature vignette; thin, black glass spreads infinitely across a wall creating beautiful, organic patterns; and flowers emerge from fused glass bits. (Closes June 14, 2015)

The New Frontier presents work by designer-makers from the Pacific Northwest.  It’s an eclectic mix that includes large rocks fashioned from salvaged wood (my favorite); furniture; a large woven rug; eclectic lamps; and a high-end dog house that offers beauty, but no weather-protection. (Closes August 16, 2015)

In the exhibition titled, Infinity Fits in My Hand, Jana Brevick’s galactic-inspired jewelry and fully-jointed, robotic pieces mix humor with a high level of metal craftsmanship. (Closes August 16, 2015)

And as a last treat, the Northwest Collage Society's Spring 2015 show, Adornment, is featured until June 28, 2015. 

Don’t wait.  Take a trip to the BAM and enjoy these fascinating exhibits today!

                            ***
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Each week in March and the last postcard arriving in April, a little gift of joy and connection arrived in my mailbox.

Receiving these postcards, plus participating in Kat's scavenger hunt before the postcards were mailed and a blog hop for participants over the weekend of April 18, 2015 (after the post cards were received) has been a fun way to share my art and writing as well as see the cool stuff other folks are creating.  

I received art-filled postcards from artists in Connecticut, Colorado, Oregon, Florida, and the United Kingdom. I also won a beautiful calendar of Patricia Lyon-Surrey's art!

If offered again (say it will be so Kat!), I highly recommend that you take Kat's postcard swap excursion in 2016 to meet others through tangible postcards and social media. 

Connecting with others in this way makes the world smaller and bigger at the same time--and a great reminder of human kindness!

So thank you Kat and all the 2015 participants for making this an event worth remembering, sharing, and celebrating with others!

Click here to see a video of some of the art shared through the 2015 Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap. 

                                  ***

Author and artist, Kathryn V. White is now a "Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap" enthusiast. Her most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness  was recently voted a finalist for the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Award.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Run, don't walk to see the art of 39 northwest woodworking artists at the Bellevue Art Museum's Biennial (on display until March 29, 2015) as well as the haunting, exquisite ceramic works of Jason Walker (on display until March 1, 2015).

As to be expected with 39 woodworking artists—there is a broad range of themes and creations on display. For example, an immense wooden mask by Michael De Forest got me thinking of the Wizard of Oz mixed with Easter Island and allowed for a perfect photo opportunity.      

Through their eyes, a couple of Shawn Nordfors' wooden heads invite the viewer into an inner world (if you find the secret button).

William J. Whipple's whimsical, moving sculpture provides fun and play. Helga Winter's large-wooden, not-quite-spheres are painted with an Australian-aboriginal-feeling design and are also rattles. There is even a wooden piece of furniture by Aaron Levin that actually breathes in and out!

And you won't want to miss Taiji Miyasaka's and David Drake's outdoor sculpture that you can enter into and feel like you're viewing a star-filled sky. 

                                  ***
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

One of the things I like to do on my walks is play “I Spy a...Heart.” 

It’s fun to find how ingeniously this reminder of love can be right-in-front of us and yet easily passed by.  

I’ve found hearts in a window, painted on a bus shelter, and as paper fragments, rocks, leaves, rubber bands, or a bit of string.

With Valentine’s Day on February 14th—it’s a good time to celebrate all the love in your life.  

Just like I’ve found on my walks—it’s all around you.  

Increase its abundance by telling someone you love them, sending a heart-filled note, adopting a rescued animal, and/or doing something kind for yourself. 

Go ahead, help spread the love!

                                   ***
Kathryn's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. She is sharing this book with a wider audience to help others heal their negative body image and increase their self-love.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

And their playful and boldly provocative art continues to influence artists and provides relevant social commentary to this day.

Roy Lichtenstein parodied societal roles of men and women through his comic book inspired paintings.

Iconic Marilyn, Campbell’s soup can, and Elvis images are seared into our minds ensuring Andy Warhol’s fame persists beyond 15 minutes.

Claes Oldenberg raised the mundane objects of our lives into modern megaliths with his clothespin, trowel, typewriter eraser and other humongous sculptures that dominate any place they are erected.

Through their outrageously-magnified imagery, slick pop idol aggrandizement, and advertising-inspired style, Pop Art artists reveal our endless fascination with stereotypical roles, consumerism, and celebrity-culture. 

Seduced by their captivating images of our insatiable hunger for more, we can’t turn away.

So it is with the Seattle Art Museum’s Pop! Departures exhibit—you’ll be entranced by the skill of these artists, enjoy the familiarity of famous paintings, and see some new pieces.  

I particularly liked Margarita Cabrera’s series of soft-vinyl sculptures of domestic appliances and an almost full-size VW bug as well as a Claes Oldenberg’s rendering of a huge faucet-shaped fountain pouring water into Lake Union.  

Perhaps Paul Allen could bring this one to fruition?

The exhibit runs through January 11, 2015. 

As an extra treat, you can create your own Pop Art inspired images at a photo booth located near the museum’s ticket purchasing area.  

With this blog, I’m including a few of my own creations.  

Be forewarned, your images will show up on a large, flat-screen TV in the SAM’s lobby.

To your 15-minutes of SAM-provided fame!  

Kathryn's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Recently, I attended a wonderful, weekend painting workshop—Stewart Cubley’s, The Painting Experience.  I’ve had this workshop on my “To-Do” list since 2008 and with it coming to Seattle this autumn, it was a good time to attend.

I was comfortable with the process shared as it is an approach I frequently take in creating my own art.  Basically, show up, be present, open to whatever wants to express itself, and follow your creative flow.  

Overall, be in the mystery of creation instead of focusing on painting an aesthetically appealing product. These are my own words, so other people and the workshop facilitators (Stewart Cubley and Annie Rousseau) could describe it differently.

What I loved about this workshop was that there were no critiques, no stories to be shared about your paintings, being present amongst others who are delving into the same process, and getting to paint BIG.  I have wanted to experience painting on big canvases for some time.

With the approach of either starting off with one 26” x 20” paper and adding to it or starting off with several papers attached already, I got to experience what it feels like to take a big, paint-tipped brush to big painting surfaces. 
 
I LOVED IT! Especially when I started with several pieces of paper already attached to make one huge canvas.  My pieces ranged from 26”x20” to 52”x60” to 91”x 60.” Yep, the largest one is approximately 7.5 feet high by 5 feet wide!

So here in my blog, I’m sharing with you my BIG pieces.  All done with bright tempera paints.

Now, I just need a BIG studio space to paint BIG paintings!

Curious about The Painting Experience?

Click here to learn more.

Through October 25, the University of Washington's Seattle campus includes 12 pieces of installation art from Mad Art artists.  






Mad Art’s mission is “to support emerging artists in our community, to bring art into our lives in unexpected ways, and to create community involvement in the arts.”

Sounds great, doesn’t it?!

So for this week’s blog and perhaps future ones, I will post some pictures of this “Mad Art.” And while photos can’t give you the complete experience of actually viewing the art in person, perhaps it will inspire you to take a trip and see it for yourself. 

If not, you can still be an armchair explorer.

For more information, click here.

Description of W. Scott Trimble's Wave Sine:  "The shape of this wooden pathway refers to the frequencies and curvature of our universe, as well as how light and matter travel through space. Scott nurtures his childhood curiosity about how things are created, assembled, and deconstructed while allowing viewers to find their own narratives in response to his work." (From Mad Campus  art information sheets)

You must visit the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, WA before September 28, 2014.  Why?  To see some wonderful artists that you won't want to miss.

First, there is Bradd Skubinna.  The picture I have posted with this blog doesn't do justice to the ingenuity and beauty of his work. He takes the regular detritus of our lives such as twisty ties; bottle and pen caps; straws, tape dispensers; pill bottles; as well as other small plastics and transforms them into delightful and intricate mandalas. 

Secondly, there is Susan Skilling who paints with gouache on handmade Thai mulberry paper.  Her soothing work is full of swirls and the colors of white, gray, and black.  

Thirdly, there is Benjamin Cobb with glass art reminiscent of kidneys and other internal organs.  Vibrant colors, organic shapes, and striking compositions fill your visual field as you gaze at his work.

So don't wait!  Take a trip to MoNA today!

One of the great aspects of being an author and an artist is I get to move amongst a variety of media to see the world in new ways and to express myself.  

It's also a wonderful way to go on my own "adventures in expansion" without traveling from my home. 





Yet, many times, the urge to hone my skills, learn something new, and explore our beautiful world draws me forth. 

Atelier is a French word meaning "studio" and I like the playfulness of adding a single "R" to reflect my love of creating visual art.  

The example I include here as well as well as on the Brig Studio Artists webpage will show you that I'm an artist who loves variety and bright colors.  

If you are interested in licensing my art, please contact me through my contact page on this website. Include in the subject line "Interested in Licensing Your Art."  

Expressive abstracts, calligraphic-feeling painted overlays, complex line patterns, moody tones, and vibrant brights reveal the unique perspectives and enduring legacies these artists have left for us to view and learn from for a long time to come.

There's not much time left to enjoy this exhibit!  Make sure you take a trip to the SAM soon!

Last summer, I enjoyed a tour of the Ethel L. Dupar’s Fragrant Garden located within the corporate campus of Seattle’s Lighthouse for the Blind.  

Our tour guide, Helen Weber, encouraged us to look, touch, taste, and deeply breathe in the alternatively sweet, fresh, sharp, and often indescribable scents of the plants.  Not surprisingly, the garden is loved by hummingbirds and bees.

Out of the 80 or so species at the garden, my favorites included: 

• the ultra soft leaf of the Lamb’s Ear,
• the pretty white flower of the Garlic Chives (which also smelled and tasted like garlic),
• the peanut butter scented leaf of the Peanut Butter Plant,
• the curry scented leaf of the Curry Plant (Helen assured us the taste was awful and nothing like curry),
• the refreshing scent of the Lemon Scented Geranium leaf,
• the full-bodied chocolate scent of the yellow flower of the Chocolate Flower, and
• the soothing, fresh scent of Roman Chamomile.

Check out their website for tour dates and times.  

Other fragrant gardens in Seattle include the University of Washington (UW) Center for Urban Horticulture, the Joseph A. Witt winter garden in the Washington Park Arboretum near the Graham Visitors Center, and the UW Campus Medicinal Plant Garden. There is also the Fragrance Garden near Ferndale, WA adjacent to the Hovander Homestead historical site and its gardens.


So don't wait!  Enjoy the loveliness of a fragrant garden today!