Moving to a New Space!

Hi, there! I am leaving this space and moving to a brand new corner of the web. You are welcome to my new website https://ashleynicolerodgers.com/ where you can find all new posts and scroll through a curated gallery of my art! See you there!

Get Messy 2017 Creative Team Blog Hop

Hi, everyone! I've enjoyed being a part of the Get Messy creative team so much. As the year comes to an end and Get Messy Art Journal gets ready for a whole new team of Mess Makers in 2018, the current creative team decided to put together one last blog hop. This go round we each created a page inspired by one of our fellow creative team member's art.

So, today you can call me Sasha! Recently Sasha started a "Call Me" series where she creates art journal pages inspired by her favorite artists. I created this page based on her abstract painting style.

I am most inspired by Sasha's use of color. I always recognize her work by the bold swatches of color in the background, and the color combinations are so fresh. She is a true messy artist who's not afraid to play with paint, mix colors, and make marks. It's completely intuitive.

I also love how she uses black to balance the page and usually adds an inspiring quote to complete it. I've learned so much from Sasha as a member of the creative team this year. Besides creating beautiful art, she leaves the most sincere and thoughtful comments and is just as eager to learn from others as she is to share her own knowledge.

Be sure to follow #getmessysasha to see more of her work and visit her Instagram (@sasha_zeen) for the next stop in the hop!

Get Messy Art Journal: Painting Galaxies Class

Last week Get Messy Art Journal launched a new course, Painting Galaxies, and it is out of this world! I've been so inspired by the course I made an art journal just for it! The incredibly talented, Katie, teaches the course, and I love how she breaks down every single step for you to paint your own galaxies, moons, and milky ways.

Katie makes it so easy to follow along, and shares so many great tips and techniques for using both watercolors and acrylics. With watercolors, the colors blend together so beautifully, and I love the softness. I enjoyed following along and creating this abstract watercolor galaxy, and I plan to frame it as a piece of art in itself.

I thought it would be difficult to create an acrylic galaxy, but Katie's blending methods helped tremendously. After several attempts using a paintbrush, I switched to using a small sponge, and I love the effects. There is great contrast between the watercolors and acrylics. While the watercolors are soft and dreamy, the acrylics are more bold and vibrant. In either case, the results are pure magic!

This course is as brilliant as the stars. As I was painting the moon following one of the lessons, I remembered this beautiful quote from a poem by Pablo Neruda: "As if you were on fire from within, the moon lives in the lining of your skin." I decided to print a photo of my hand on vellum, and I think the ink smeared in the process. I considered reprinting it, but another look and I realized it illustrated the quote perfectly. Even though it was an unexpected mishap, it's almost like it was written in the stars!

As I mentioned, Katie's teaching is beyond amazing, and there are so many possibilities. This class will spark your creativity in whole new ways. I even "painted" a galaxy using a collage technique I learned from Essie's Heart Journal course!

If you want to learn how to paint the cosmos, this course is for you! It's in the Get Messy shop waiting for you to sign up here!

*This post contains affiliate links. If you decide to enroll in the course using this link, I will receive a small portion of the sale which supports me and my art. Thank you for your support!
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Get Messy Art Journal is an art journaling program/community. We are a group of like minded art journalers who have come together under this art form to learn, share, practice our skills and push past our creative limits with hopes to inspire. Our community values consistent creating, encouragement and support, and trying new things. We would love to have you join us as a member of Get Messy Art Journal. Join Get Messy now!