For Brain Injury Awareness Month 2021, I shared a video on YouTube about my artist journey. I talk about how I started on this path to becoming a full time artist after my head injury.

I also made a video playlist on YouTube. I shared quick tips for artists and creatives who are recovering from brain injury or head injury.

I hope the information I shared is helpful to those recovering from head injury, their loved ones or caregivers.

Watch the Videos

I don’t always create paintings that are spiritual or religious. But, lately some of my work has been reflecting my personal beliefs. I’m not sure how often or when I will paint from a spiritual perspective. I am thankful to do this work freely. I’ll see where this takes me on my art journey.

For this collection, I was inspired to create small pieces of art about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the the Spirit are found in the fifth chapter of the book of Galatians. It states:

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22, 23 ESV

Why I Chose Flowers

I chose flowers as focal points for this collection instead of fruit because many fruit bearing trees bloom with flowers.

Some flowering fruit trees are:

• apples
• apricots
• cherries
• peaches
• pears

These beautiful trees are some of my favorites. In my neighborhood we have cherry trees and not far from here are farms that grow apples and peaches. Yum! One of the most exciting times of the year is when I get to pick my own fruits. I love visiting the local orchards or farm stands.

So rather than painting literal fruits I decided to paint abstract flowers and buds.

The Gold Lettering

I wanted to add text for the fruits on the front of each painting. While I was planning for the paintings, I remembered something from the scriptures about words with apples and gold. Or something like that. I couldn’t remember the whole text, but I thought gold would be awesome.

If you’re curious about the verse, it reads:

11A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

Proverbs 25:11 ESV

Everything seemed to be coming together perfectly and I was so glad. Until…

Back To The Drawing Board

I had everything set. Canvases were prepped, color schemes were chosen, paints were ready to go.

As I started working so much went wrong! I couldn’t believe it. The color scheme tanked and the design was not right. The painting “ugly stage” had set up shop and it was not great. Ugh. So I took some time off from this collection to focus on other things.

Faithfulness

The only painting that worked out at the first stage was “faithfulness”.

I’m totally serious. I was close to giving up. I thought maybe things weren’t going to work out. I considered giving up and working on other projects that I had to finish.

The “faithfulness” painting sat on my bookshelf for a while. Then one day I set out the canvases and got back to work. The paintings weren’t perfect, but the longer I worked the more aligned things became.

Collection Completed

I’m so happy that I persisted through that tough phase. I learned so much creating these tiny works of art. I wanted to add them to the garden series and I did! It seems like a small accomplishment. For me, it was important to continue and achieve this personal goal I had set ahead of myself.

Each time I work on my paintings it’s almost as if I’m remembering life lessons. I realize that nothing is perfect. When things are difficult, will I keep going or quit? By moving ahead, I gain knowledge and experience to do better next me. Quitting means never knowing what I could have accomplished.

Like I stated in the beginning of this post, I don’t always create paintings that are spiritual or religious. But somehow, I’m going through a new process with my art, work, and life. Not all of my art is based on some learning experience. Most of the time I’m learning by having fun. But creating work like this changes the scene of my art journey.

Video Clip

I created a product video to show the paintings from different angles and lighting.

Thank you so much for your time and support! I hope you have a great day.

It’s been super difficult dealing with this whole COVID-19 quarantine. I’m trying to keep a consistent schedule for creating art. It isn’t easy to “push through” when things are so uncertain. What I’ve been going through over these past four years has taught me to keep a simple routine.

Working on projects like this in my sketchbooks and art journals gives a purpose to my day. They’re a positive distraction.

I hope that you like seeing my process and it encourages you to take some time to be creative today.

Remember the purpose of working in a journal is to express yourself and have fun.

VIDEO NOTES

In this video, you will see my process in my Brave Intuitive Painting art journal book written by Flora Bowley. The pages I’m working on are part of an ongoing 2020 art project. I will be writing more about it later.

I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever added narration to one of the videos. I’m still learning how to create video and audio content. It’s a lot of extra work, but I’m really glad to learn and grow.

It also gives me a whole new appreciation for videos and how they’re created!

FINISHED PAGE

Working with contrasting orange and blue has been a challenge for me. Working on pages like these helps me to explore color, texture, and mark making. I then use these elements in other artwork.

ART SUPPLIES

I made a list of supplies I used in this process. I do not have any sponsors or affiliates. It is just to help viewers that want to know what products I used during the video.

You can use whatever supplies you have. It doesn’t have to be the same as mine.

Paints

• Craft Smart https://www.michaels.com
• Ceramcoat https://www.hobbylobby.com
• Martha Stewart

Thank you so much for your time. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Since my head injury, I live with lingering effects that impact my abilities. My injury was considered “mild”, but the effects are not “mild”. I don’t want to go into everything here because the story is too long. However, I would like to share a little about how it has changed my work experience.

SOME WAYS MY WORK LIFE HAS CHANGED

I used to read and write very well. I actually loved reading, but it’s super hard now. There are days when I literally have to read one phrase repeatedly because I can’t understand the words. So writing and remembering spelling and grammar rules are just not a thing for me right now.

I was pretty good with using technology and completing admin tasks. Actually a good part of my adult life was working on computers daily. Now, it’s a huge challenge working on computers or other devices.

WHY I STILL WANT TO CREATE BLOG CONTENT

I believe sharing written content is important to my recovery. So I know I can still work on admin, just not the same way I used to. Even if my writing is not up to the level it used to be. I have to write super short sentences. I’m going to keep working at it. I just have to keep going.

MY BLOGGING STYLE

To show more about my work and process I will offer:

• short to medium length written posts (if you notice errors please bring it to my attention and I will do my best to correct them – thank you)

• video posts to share my art process, products and services

• audio from my upcoming podcast

If you’re interested, please subscribe to my social media and the newsletter to get up to date information.

To learn more about brain injury awareness, please visit the Brain Injury Association of America website: https://www.biausa.org/

Thanks so much!

Lapto Photo Credit: Pexels.com

MY INTENTION FOR MY NOTEPAD/BLOG IS TO SHARE:

• insights into my creative process

• tips for art lovers and artist

• inspiration and encouragement for creatives

• information about products and services

It will also be a record of sorts of my journey as an artist.

Please subscribe to the newsletter.

For more frequent behind the scenes posts follow me on my social media.

Thank you so much for sharing your time with me and supporting my work.

Yolanda