It's a Busy World

Lately my world has been moving at a clip I find hard to keep up with...seriously. I have 16 waking hours in a day and I feel like each day I have 20 hours worth of 'stuff to do'.

I don't think I am alone.  All the technology in this world have made the world a busier place, especially if you are running a business (or two, like me) and have to maintain or create websites, blogs, and social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr)...not to mention write and photograph content for them.  Sprinkle with a dash of volunteering (did I really raise my hand to do that??), parent meetings, soccer games, husband traveling and it feels even busier.  Add in the usual suspects of grocery shopping, bill paying, cleaning, landscaping, and cooking and it can feel like a busy world.

I think that is why this piece evolved. I really wanted to carve out some time to create art but I was feeling overwhelmed.  My mind kept racing while I was trying to paint ~ the whole time thinking about things I should be doing.

Meet my new piece ~ Busy World.

Here is a quick photo tutorial showing you steps I took while creating her.

(1) I first started with a 12x12 canvas covered in book paper and painted in green and blue.

(2) Then I took Cecilia Swatton's Link stencil and added more white texture with titanium white paint.

(3) I then took the Seth Apter Numbers Stencil from StencilGirl Products and stenciled through with Raw Umber.  After that, I sketched out a woman figure.

(4) Using a palette knife and white paint I add in paint on the canvas. After it dried I decided to use light molding paste instead to ramp up the texture.

(5) After the molding paste dried, I added in some blue paint.

(6) I decided to paint the background white, leaving geometric shapes open with the background peeking through.

(7) I reinforced the circles by going around the inside with my green Faber Castell pen.

The rest of this post is a photo progression of the piece as it continued to evolve, using the same palette of paint.  

I think there are so many options with this piece and with this stencil you can continue to add, take away. It's art after all!  I purposely did not give my woman a face or hair...I wanted her to look "lost" in this busy world with lots of balls in the air.

Hope you enjoyed!