I Am Here for You

Easter Mandala

Blog 8

Now, that we have been at home for a couple of weeks, how are you doing? Are you enjoying the time at home without having to rush out of the house? Or are you getting lonely without your friends and your regular routines? How can I help you right now to distract you from the scary news feeds so you feel more connected? Creating art is a wonderful way to relax, have fun and to dream of the possibilities ahead of us. Are you looking for short workshops where we create easy art projects together or are you looking for weekly art classes that are live and customized for your needs?


This past week, I have been working on creating some online courses. I will continue to offer short weekly workshops on Wednesday and Saturday and the weekly Crafters Afternoon. I still have to create a project for next week. It will once more be a Easter-themed project. Please check out my website www.KerstinPeters.ca. where I will post the project by Sunday. There is still time to register for this Saturday's session. You can register until 30 minutes before the event.

I also create some new courses for the months of May and June. The first course starting in May will be a collaboration of both my businesses. As you might know, I also teach German to all age groups and levels. Learn Basic German Through Art will be a six week course for children aged 6 - 12 consisting of two 40-minute Zoom classes per week. The children will learn to introduce themselves and identify and ask for things in their house. Each class will consist of an art project that is related to the vocabulary of each class. While I will provide all the language related materials, the children have to come equipped with pencils, coloured pencils, markers or crayons and white paper. As I am testing out this programme for the first time, I will give a 50% discount for the first group. Groups will run with a minimum of four and a maximum of six children. For the first course the fee is $60 per child. After this first run, the fee will go up to $120 per child.

Once I told some of my adult friends about this new course, they were also very interested. Therefore, I will offer the same course also for everyone who is 13 and up. The price will also be the same for the first course.

On Monday, May 4 and 11, 2020, I will also host the first online needle felting course. We will create three-dimensional spring flowers that can either be realistic or your invented species. I will post a list of materials and suppliers on my website this weekend as you probably have to order the materials online. The course will be delivered through the Zoom platform. Once you have registered, you can let me know which flower you would like to create.

I will post further details for both courses on my website www.KerstinPeters.ca and on Facebook  by Monday, April 6, 2020.


Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at info@KerstinPeters.ca. In the meantime, I invite you to also check out my Facebook pages https://www.facebook.com/KerstinPetersPaintings/ and https://www.facebook.com/Germanapplied/.

Making Art More Accessible

Blog 15

For this week, I had a completely different blog planned, but then I experienced a week in which lots of smaller and bigger obstacles were put in my way, obstacles that needed my attention. Therefore, I was sitting in front of my computer on Thursday evening needing a blog for the next day. At first, I started to panic, but then I realized that I had to make the best out of the situation. Sometimes, life takes over and you have to deal with difficult incidents. In these situations, it is important to remember the joyful moments when living felt easy.

Last Sunday was a time like that. I hosted my first Art Cafe, an event that I created because I enjoy having guests, and I am on a mission to make art more accessible. Getting a group of people together around a nicely set table was the perfect setting to get to know each other while enjoying coffee/tea and some treats. These days, we spend more time connecting through social media than actually meeting people. I truly cherish the face to face conversations, and I feel that more and more people are looking to reconnect in person, instead of depending on video and social media communications. 

However, it was not only a social gathering. Many of us are so busy that we do not make time to be creative. I wanted to provide an inviting atmosphere for people to experience art. I had taken down the paintings that usually decorate our living room walls, and replaced them with flower paintings as inspiration for playful floral doodles. We were only a small group, but we had so much fun doodling. We shared lots of stories, laughed heartily, and were amazed at our very different and unique doodles. If you would like to be part of the next Art Cafe, please join me on June 9, 2019, at 3 pm. I am not sure what little project I will prepare, but I think, it will include old magazines and books. Please check my website www.KerstinPeters.ca for updates.

Creativity Challenge 2019 - Week 5

Blog 5

I had a busy week both on a personal level as well as at work. It started with a three day family reunion at our house, which made it challenging to fit some creative time into my life while entertaining. Nevertheless, I was able to squeeze in a couple of minutes both on Friday and Saturday.

Day 25: I used the time at the restaurant when I was waiting with my daughter for the arrival of the rest of the family to create a sketch of my daughter. I am not happy with the sketch but it was a good exercise. Later, I was even able to continue my temperature shawl. Now, I only need to knit the rows for the last 7 days of 2018.

Day 26: While the whole family was at the fabulous Museum of Nature in Ottawa, I managed to sit down for two quick sketches. One is of a water bird, while the other is of an interesting branch in one of the insect habitats.

Day 27: The Winter Sunset Painting Party was a lot of fun. I enjoyed guiding the participants to versions of the painting that bring out their uniqueness. After the event, I felt so energized that I created a heart-filled Valentine’s painting for the February painting party.

Day 28: In preparation for my next Cartooning and Drawing Class, I checked out the characters of the Lego Movie 2. The students had asked to draw a character from the movie. At the end, I picked the Apocalypseburg Unikitty. I also created one doodle for my mixed media class and two quick doodles of a snail and a cat which were fun to make even though they are not very sophisticated. It is important to play, especially when creating art!

Day 29: Tuesday was not my day; a lot of things went wrong. The snow caused additional delays and inconveniences. At the end, I only had time to demonstrate the drawing process for the students of my class.

Day 30: What a nice break after the messed-up day! I met with two of my friends for an hour of crafting. This gave me a chance to continue felting my cardinal.

Day 31: On this last day of the month, I continued felting my cardinal. He is definitely going to be a big bird but I am excited to see how he will turn out.

It is already the last day of January! I managed to create something almost every day.

The accountability of the blog certainly was an extra encouragement. I will continue with my daily creative time but will also add some different content to my blog. For upcoming events please check my website www.KerstinPeters.ca. I have decided that 2019 will be all about fun and spending time with old and new friends. I hope that my workshops and painting parties will help you to improve your skills and create new relationships.

One Zentangle A Day - Book Review

I created all the art works in this blog getting inspired by the book.

Blog 32

Three years ago, my supervisor asked me if I would be interested in promoting my Famous Artists art courses for kids in the upcoming summer camp “Doodle'n'Draw” and I did not hesitate at all to accept this offer. For my regular four week sessions, I determine the artists we will study before posters are printed for the promotion of the course. This way, the parents and children know ahead of time which artists' works we will be working from. On the other hand, in my 10 to 12 week drawing course, I only prepare the first class, then ask my students what they would like to draw. It is their course, and I want them to enjoy the things we are drawing because if the like a subject, they are much more eager to participate and also more successful. However, for the camp, I did not know what the kids were expecting. I was also aware that I would not be able to support everyone in the group of 20+ children the same way I can do it during a class with up to 12 students. Therefore, I decided to start the week with a warm-up exercise of doodling.

While I was browsing for ideas, I saw the word “Zentangle” for the first time. As I always like to be well prepared I wanted to find out more about this new trend. I wanted to know the difference between a doodle and a Zentangle. A bought a couple of books in preparation of the camp, one of them was “ONE ZENTANGLE A DAY” by Beckah Krahula (ISBN 978-1-59253-811-9). I did not use the book for the camp as I was sure that the 7 – 12 year old children would not be able to calm themselves in a big classroom setting to follow the strict method of Zentangling.

The mindfulness and complete focus on the creation of the design that stays within a fixed format and with a prescribed method of using repetitive patterns is the big difference between the Zentangle and a doodle. Doodles are generally created while you are otherwise occupied, e.g. during a not so interesting class, a meeting or during a long phone conversation. The doodle is done without full attention.

I did not even look at the book after that for a long time. However, whenever we go to the cottage with the whole family, space is an issue. In general, the car is so packed, that my painting gear does not fit. Instead, I usually take some pencils, watercolours, and a sketch pad. The last two times, I also brought the book. I am not too worried about doing a design each day. I just work through it when I feel like it. I wanted to try out the approach of learning new tangles for every exercise to increase my repertoire of patterns, and see some examples of interweaving the pattern so make the designs more interesting.

I have been following Krahula's instructions and enjoyed the many suggestions and examples. However, sometimes, I had a hard time understanding her explanations, or I had to look for definitions of terms in a later section of the book. In addition, some of the step-by-step illustrations of the tangles miss steps or the steps look different than the final tangle. While I see all the names of the different tangles, I will never be able to remember them, nor do I feel it is necessary to create beautiful pieces.

The list of materials for Zentangling is thorough, and the descriptions for the use of the different kinds of pens, pencils, watercolours, markers, and pastels very useful. However, I got annoyed when the author explained the difference between Zentangles which are done on the 3.5” x 3.5” official Zentangle tile and Zentangle inspired art (ZIA) which is done on a different surface, or in a different size or shape. A nice marketing scheme to increase the sale of the official products!

While you can follow most of the daily pattern with some basic equipment, you can spend a lot of money if you want to try out all the materials used for the exercises.

All in all, you get a ton of inspirations, even with regard to 3D creations. When I went through the book, I loved all the delicate patterns, and look forward to trying out the rest of the zentangles in the following chapters. I will definitely not buy all the equipment suggested but will modify the exercises to use the materials I already have at home. For me, it is all about adapting the exercises to my own style, and to use the materials that help me to express myself. This does not mean that you should not try new equipment but get comfortable with some basics first before you invest tons of money in materials that will end up somewhere at the bottom of a drawer, never to be seen again.

Have you already worked with this book or can you recommend another book? Do you enjoy the relaxation from doodling, or Zentangle inspired art? How do you feel about the many names of the different tangles? Do they matter to you or do you just enjoy the different patterns? Do you use the technique to relax? Please share your thoughts with me.

Valentine's Day Doodles

Blog 6

It is February, and Valentine’s Day is only a week away. Many are already planning a nice dinner, frantically thinking about the perfect gift to show the special person in their life how special they really are, while worrying about spending too much or maybe not enough money on jewelry, flowers, perfumes, and expensive outings.

The retailers are certainly really happy about this commercialization of Valentine’s Day but is it really necessary? While it is a good thing to show your love and affection to the important people in your life to make them feel special, there are more personal ways to say “I love you” than spending huge amounts of money.

Why not change this buying frenzy by creating something home-made? Let’s start with the Valentine’s card. I just hosted a Valentine’s card doodle workshop recently, and while it took all of us more than two hours to create our card, it was not only lots of fun but also so very relaxing. Here are some examples of the truly unique cards that were created:

 

You can even use your doodle to make this a theme, and create a matching placemat and place cards for a romantic dinner at home. As Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, you could plan a nice winter activity (outside or inside depending on your interests), followed by a wonderful meal cooked at home. You save yourself a lot of money and also the stress of being squished in a tiny spot in a restaurant waiting with all the other clients to be served.

Just remember that less is often more. You do not need to prepare a four star gourmet dinner. There is nothing wrong with getting the decadent chocolate cake from a local bakery, or getting some help from the frozen food section of your local supermarket.

As for a gift, I know many people just love personal coupons which contain promises to do favours for your partner. Again doodling could make those coupons very personal. Cut out some hearts decorate them with doodles and offer some very special services. From dishwashing to massages, the limit is just your imagination. Just make sure that it is something your partner likes and not something that is foremost for yourself.

Making someone feel special is not a one time affair. It is something you have to work on during the whole year, and definitely not something you can buy. It is rather about spending time together having fun.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you enjoyed this blog and would like to get more information about my art, I encourage you to sign up to my monthly newsletter on my website www.KerstinPeters.ca. The newsletter is published on the last Wednesday of every month. When subscribing, you will automatically receive my free eBook “I Am Ready To Paint But Where Do I Start?”.

If you know someone who might also like to read my blog, please share it. Thank you in advance for helping me to reach a bigger audience.

Creative Challenge Part 4

Blog 4, January 30, 2015

This week was the last week of my January 2015 Creativity Challenge. While I was not creative every day, I worked on an art project most of the days. I am quite happy with this result even though I would have liked to spend more time painting. Hopefully, I will keep this new habit up during the months ahead. Sometimes, after a long day, it is hard to motivate myself to be creative, but once I get going I am quite happy with myself. It is basically like going to the gym: Sometimes, you really do not feel like it but once you are done you feel even better for sticking it out.

I started this last week of the challenge with a quick drawing of my son on the bus while we were going downtown to the Rideau Canal last Friday.

Saturday, I started another heart doodle inspired by all the Valentine’s Day advertisements. The big day is coming fast. Creating a unique card for the special person in your life is easy and fun. If you would like to be inspired, there are still a couple of spaces available for tomorrow’s workshop. Please email me at kpeters@DomingoInformatics.ca if you would like to join us. We will create a doodled Valentine’s card while enjoying the company of others, and some sweets to get us into the right mood. The “Creativity and Me” workshop runs tomorrow, January 31, 2015 from 1pm to 4pm in Cumberland. I will give you the driving instructions when you register. There is a $10 fee.

Sunday, I took a creative break. 

 

Monday, I drew a fish at our dentist’s office, then spent about two hours finishing Saturday’s doodle.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I spent hours working on my winter sunset painting which I finally finished. It took me a long time until I was happy with my sky.

"Evening Glow", acrylic on gallery canvas, 16" x 20"

$ 450

Tuesday, I also worked on another heart inspired doodle.

 

Thursday, I worked on the little watercolour pencil drawing of a tropical beach which I had started last week. I finished it Friday morning.

 

I hope you enjoyed my Creativity Challenge as much as I did. It would be great if it inspired you to put some more creativity into your life. You do not have create a masterpiece. It is all about the process of creating, the exploring, discovering, and experimenting with different mediums that has the greatest value. It is a great way to express yourself and have fun. The more you work on projects the more ideas for new projects you will get.

If you enjoyed today's blog I would love to hear from you. Please leave me a comment in my guest book http://www.kerstinpeters.ca/guest-book.htm or on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/KerstinPetersPaintings. 

 

To hear more about my career, please go to my website www.KerstinPeters.ca where you can read the previous blogs. There, you can also sign up to my monthly newsletter and receive my free eBook “I Am Ready To Paint, But Where Do I Start?” as a token of my appreciation.

Creative Challenge Part 3

Blog 3, January 23, 2015

Welcome to my blog! If you have followed me the last two weeks, you have seen my successes and shortcomings during my January 2015 Creativity Challenge. My goal was to create a new art piece every day.  Last week, I already revised that goal to working on an artwork every day because I realized that the quality of my artwork is more important to me than just producing a large quantity.


This week, I started really well by drawing a seal and a killer whale in preparation for my kids drawing class.
 
  


















Sunday, I created a Valentine’s Day doodle for my upcoming “Creativity & Me” workshop on January 31, 2015 from 1pm to 4pm at my house in Cumberland. I would like to host one workshop a month with different art projects to bring not only more creativity into my life but also yours. We will create an artwork while chatting, and enjoying some goodies. I would like it to feel very cozy like a coffee date  with friends and have limited the number of participants to 12. If you would like to join me, please contact me through Facebook or directly at kpeters@DomingoInformatics.ca.

Monday, I did not feel like painting or drawing at all after I found out that I would not be able to join my painting buddies on our yearly fall trip to Kamouraska, and that our family March Break vacations plans also fell  through.  All my frustration was vented by shredding the piles of papers I wanted to get rid off for a while.


However, I was back in the studio on Tuesday and Thursday working on my sunset painting. This is the stage it is in right now.  Next week, I hope to finish it but working on the snow will still be a big job.





Wednesday, the only thing I drew was the demonstration for my kids in the drawing course as I had a lot of office work to do.  Being an artist does after all not only mean that I paint and draw.  I also have to make sure to register in time for my exhibitions and shows, do marketing for my courses and events, write my blogs and artletter as well as do my bookkeeping.


Thursday night, I also started a watercolour pencil drawing of a  seaside destination. After all the cold days lately, I would not mind spending a couple of days under the warm sun.




Next week will already be the last week of the Creativity Challenge. I hope you stay tuned in.

If you enjoyed today's blog I would love to hear from you. Please leave me a comment in my guest book http://www.kerstinpeters.ca/guest-book.htm or on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/KerstinPetersPaintings.

To hear more about my career, please go to my website www.KerstinPeters.ca where you can read the previous blogs. There, you can also sign up to my monthly newsletter and receive my free eBook “I Am Ready To Paint, But Where Do I Start?” as a token of my appreciation.