IVY NEWPORT

Studioworks

Journal
a letter from ivy

Dear creative friends,

Welcome to Issue #23 of the Studioworks Journal! As always, I’m super grateful you are here with me and I’m excited to share this with you. This month, I wanted to explore the topics of soul work, expansion and light and shadow.

Whew… I know that seems like a lot but they are actually beautifully interwoven in our creative practice. Let’s delve deeper together…

xo,

So you may be wondering, where do I start? To that, I say, wherever feels right to you. Each month we will have a theme, a creative affirmation, a power word, a color palette, sketchbook exercises, art projects, articles, recommended reading, and access to wonderful inspiration and resources. I want you to think of this as a delicious new magazine, you know the ones you occasionally splurge on, with soft, velvety pages, beautiful images, and inspiring content!

Each issue will invite you to explore your creative practice in whichever way works for you. Experience each issue at your own pace. Take what resonates with you and put the rest aside for another time.

Grab a cup of something lovely and dive in.

MONTHLY THEME

Creative Soul Expansion
“The expansion of your own consciousness, love capacity, humility and compassion – this is the path; this is the way”
– Bryant McGill

I’m excited to tell you that your soul is expanding right now – in this very moment! As you listen or read these words your heart is opening, your mind is aligning, your body is attuning. Why? Because your soul recognizes that in this moment, you are taking time to nurture yourself, to feed your artistic spirit, to awaken your muse.

Investing in your creativity is a direct action that leads to expansion. This is inevitable. For when we reach for something beyond us and we embrace the experience of journeying towards that thing – we grow. We stretch, we bloom, we branch, we root, we shine, we expand.

Each time you show up in your studio or at your art desk, you grow a little bit. As you move into action and co-creation with the Divine, you open and the learning begins. The discoveries, the failures, the inspirations, the risks, the mistakes, the triumphs, the moments of existential bliss…YES – this is true soul expansion.

You may think that your creative practice is a lovely pastime, a hobby or a sweet distraction but don’t be fooled, your soul has guided you gently to this path. It has illuminated the stones where you gingerly placed your foot, unsure, your doubts threatened to hold you back but know that your soul will continue to tug your hand and lead you across the waters.

Alternatively, the artistic path can be thrust upon us forcefully. Often at the depths of darkness and despair, a great loss, a tragedy, a life fallen apart. This is when our soul entreates, a quiet flame burning in the corner of a darkened room. We stumble and crawl towards it, yearning for the light. We are called to open a discarded sketchbook or scribble on an errant scrap of paper. We suddenly find ourselves emptying the contents of our torn heart onto those pages. Why? Because ART is the expression of the soul.

So what does this mean for us? Well the good news is that, if you are making art you are doing soul work. The more art you make, the closer you are to experiencing the true essence of your universally unique, beautiful soul.

Have you noticed that the more you experience your artistic path, the closer you feel to yourself? You are engaging in this relationship and developing a deep, healing intimacy with self. When we do this, so much can fall away. So many external limitations, so many false truths, all that we have been told about ourselves by others. These things fade into the background when we commune with creativity. By creating, by expressing our souls, we grow stronger, more loving, more free.

This does not mean we shed our shadows and become all light. This does not mean life gets easier or our troubles evaporate but the stronger our soul connection is, the more capacity we have to endure life with grace and gratitude. The more judgements we can leave behind. The more room we have for love to grow within us.

When we falter, or feel deep pain we can always come back to our Art. To come home to ourselves.

“I want painting to be my flashlight.”
– Squeak Carnwath

I love this quote. For indeed, I wish the same. Let your Art be your light…your soul light. Let it guide you and push you, let it mold you and open you. Let it be the path towards infinite love and infinite expansion. Let it be your way out of darkness.

“Art is not an amusement, nor a distraction, nor is it, as many maintain, an escape from life. On the contrary, it is a high training of the soul, essential to the soul’s growth, to its unfoldment.”
– Lawren Harris

 

Creative Soul Expansion

by : Ivy Newport

Writing Prompt

As previously discussed, I truly believe that Art is the work of the soul and leads us to expansion, healing and love. So let’s explore this topic a bit further in our art journals…

Take at least 10 minutes of meditation before you begin to write. Set an intention that you are going to be open to this writing session and that you welcome all loving wisdom.

Let’s begin by asking some questions and have faith that you have the answers. Take deep breaths after you ask, then wait for the urge to write the answer. Don’t question your answers.

In your journal or sketchbook list these questions…

  1. How is my Art expanding my life experience?
  2. What has Art taught me about my true self?
  3. What way of Art making (mediums or techniques) feels most in alignment with my soul right now?
  4. What can I do in my art practice that will encourage further creative expansion and growth?
“We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us.”
― Marshall McLuhan

Writing Prompt

by : Ivy Newport

CREATIVE EXPANSION PROMPT:
  • Look back at your older works, be kind to yourself. Instead of picking these apart, see the growth, witness the expansion.

WORD OF THE MONTH

Expansion

DEFINITION

  1. To open up : unfold.
  2. To increase the extent, number, volume, or scope of : enlarge.
  3. To express at length or in greater detail.
“The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness”
– Deepak Chopra

Crown Chakra Illumination Meditation

This month, I’m excited to yet again feature one of my favorite Meditations Muses – the songbird, Rachel Hillary. I’ll let Rachel describe this journey for you…

This is intended to be more than a simple guided meditation. I have created it to be an immersive experience. We find ourselves on some rocks by the sea, and experience water that resembles liquid light, as we gently awaken our crown chakra, connecting it with our heart… cleansing and clearing, opening to a new and rejuvenated divine connection. I very much hope you enjoy this piece, I had to wait for the right, perfect moment to create it.

xo,

Rachel

Crown Chakra Illumination Meditation

by : Rachel Hillary

Learn more from Rachel and download her meditations:

You can also connect with her via the Insight Timer App:

“Shine like the whole universe is yours”
– Rumi

EMBRACING LIGHT & SHADOW

As artists, we seek to see clearly, to feel deeply and express freely. We therefore must learn to embrace both the light and the shadow. It is the only way to experience the fullness of life the richness of it, to embrace its duality and divine magic.

Imagine a landscape with only light. The trees do not cast their beautiful shadows. The hills recede into nothingness. The sky is flat. There is no sparkle on the water. Forms become lifeless and dull. It is in this vision, that we can witness the importance not only of light, but in equal measure the power of shadow. While the sun may wash a scene with light, it only begins to radiate and glisten and glow when it interacts with its partner – the shadow.

This is why you won’t often see a plein air artist painting at midday when the sun is high and the shadows are scant. Rather, they will set up their easels in the misty mornings when colors and light blur with the receding shadows of night. Or, they will begin their paintings in the warm afternoon, in the enchantment of the gloaming, as the sun has slid across the sky, lavishing forms with a golden edge and the shadows are lengthened and lingering. This is when magic can be captured on canvas.

 

We can experience this as we hone our visual observation – as we seek forms in space, as we train our eyes to trace the contours of shapes, as our hands learn to follow suit. We can clearly see that without light and shadow, forms are flat. Only when we pay equal attention to both light and shadow do we render an illusion.

What is exquisitely sublime is that we can also apply this practice with ourselves. We can overlay our artistic training with our soulwork. This is yet another lesson that art teaches us and this is not by chance. We are drawn to create because our souls desire for us to see truth. The truth that you are indeed made of light and shadow and that both are beautiful, whole and worthy of great love and compassion. Remember this as you create. Let it echo within the chambers of your heart. When you add those beautiful lights into your artwork remember that you are illuminated in this same way, that your shadows emphasize the exquisite beauty of your light.

“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present. “
― Sir Francis Bacon

Embracing Light and Shadow

by : Ivy Newport

Monthly Affirmation

Each month we will have a positive affirmation. I recommend you print out this affirmation and put it in your sketchbook or somewhere in your studio. Recite the affirmation out loud each time you show up to create. Saying words aloud is powerful and can begin to re-write some of our own limiting beliefs or calm our fears. Try it now…

Color Palette of the Month

This month, I was tempted to keep us in shades of black and white to enhance our learning of value and light and shadow…however I couldn’t resist the opulent colors used by our Master Artist – also known as the Master of Light – Johannes Vermeer. So we will use the beautiful hues you so often see in his work as our palette for the month. Deep vermillion, golden ochre, ultramarine blue, pale lemon yellow and soft earthy tones.

“Light is a thing that cannot be reproduced, but must be represented by something else – by color.”
– Paul Cezanne

Color Palette

by : Ivy Newport

CREATIVE EXPANSION PROMPT:
  • Lean into something that is challenging you on your creative path. Cultivate self compassion and patience while you toil and practice your craft. Challenges always lead to growth.
Master Artist Guide

JOHANNES VERMEER

This month, I felt that since, one of the aspects we are focusing on is light and shadow that we must study – “The Master of Light”! This title is aptly applied to this great master! One only has to glimpse at his work to marvel at the way he handled light. Sparkling, glowing, delicate, intimate…he studied and expressed his sensitivity to light. How it touches a pearl earring, a velvet drape, a woman’s neck, a pewter pitcher. His incredible and intricate works are a complex framework where light takes centerstage…of course it can only truly glow with the depth of his shadow work too. He really should have been called “The Master of Light AND Shadow!”

Alright so let’s learn a little more about Johannes Vermeer…

“The Art of Vermeer must have been there on the morning of creation. “
― Frederick Sommer

Johannes Vermeer was born in October 1632 and passed in December 1675. He was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes depicting middle class life. During his lifetime, he was moderately successful and locally recognized.

Relatively little was known about Vermeer’s life until recently. The main reason for this is that he produced a small number of pictures, perhaps about forty-five (of which thirty-six are known today), primarily for a small circle of patrons in Delft. Similar to other major Dutch Golden Age artists such as Frans Hals and Rembrandt, Vermeer never went abroad. Also, like Rembrandt, he was an avid art collector and dealer.

 

A LADY WRITING A LETTER

Although Vermeer’s work was known to other connoisseurs in Delft and the neighboring court city of The Hague, and a few of his paintings sold to individuals farther afield (Antwerp and Amsterdam), most Dutch painters turned out hundreds of pictures for a much broader market. Adding to his image as an isolated figure are the fact that Vermeer’s teacher is unknown, and that he evidently had no pupils. However, the artist was a respected member of the painters’ guild in Delft.

It is known that Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, and frequently used very expensive pigments. He is particularly renowned for his masterly treatment and use of light in his work. In fact, Vermeer was intensely preoccupied with the behavior of light and other optical effects such as sudden recessions and changes of focus. These qualities in Vermeer’s work may have been inspired by an interest in the camera obscura (which projects actual images), but its importance to the artist has been greatly exaggerated and disputed.

PAINTING TECHNIQUES

Vermeer may have first executed his paintings tonally like most painters of his time, using either monochrome shades of grey (“grisaille”) or a limited palette of browns and greys, over which he would apply more saturated colors (reds, yellows and blues) in the form of transparent glazes. No drawings have been positively attributed to Vermeer, and his paintings offer few clues to preparatory methods.

One aspect of his meticulous painting technique was Vermeer’s choice of pigments. In Vermeer’s work, only about 20 pigments have been detected. Here are some he commonly used – lead white, yellow ochre, lead-tin-yellow, vermilion, madder lake (deep red), green earth, azurite(deep blue), ultramarine, raw umber, and ivory or bone black.

There is no other 17th-century artist who employed the exorbitantly expensive pigment lapis lazuli (ultramarine) either so lavishly or so early in his career.

THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING

THE GIRL WITH THE WINE GLASS

A remarkable use of natural ultramarine is in The Girl with the Wine Glass. The shadows of the red satin dress are underpainted in natural ultramarine] and, owing to this underlying blue paint layer, the red lake and vermilion mixture applied over it acquires a slightly purple, cool and crisp appearance that is most powerful.

Even after Vermeer’s supposed financial breakdown in 1672, he continued to employ natural ultramarine generously, such as in Lady Seated at a Virginal. This could suggest that Vermeer was supplied with materials by a collector.

LADY SEATED AT VIRGINAL

Vermeer’s works are largely genre pieces and portraits, with the exception of two cityscapes and two allegories. His subjects offer a cross-section of seventeenth-century Dutch society, ranging from the portrayal of a simple milkmaid at work, to the luxury and splendour of rich notables and merchantmen in their roomy houses. Besides these subjects, religious, poetical, musical, and scientific comments can also be found in his work.

“There is so much mystery in each Vermeer painting, in the women he depicts, so many stories suggested but not told.”
― Tracy Chevalier

ENJOY THIS SLIDESHOW OF SOME OF HIS WORK…

I don’t often assign Studioworks Homework BUT this documentary on Vermeer is really worth a look! It reveals so much about his work and is rather fascinating!! Grab a cup of tea and enjoy.

Here’s a Pinterest board full of his work to inspire you!

MUST SEE VERMEER RESOURCES

Master Artist Guide

by : Ivy Newport

Sketchbook Explorations

EXPLORATION 1

Value Study

When studying light and shadow it is first key to under value i.e. the lightness or darkness of shape or form. For this exploration, I’m guiding you to a lesson from my Pencil to Paper class. We will be working on toned paper (or you can add a wash of a middle tone to your paper) and we will do a value study portrait together. What’s great about working on a toned paper is that it serves as your mid-tone value. This helps you define the lights and darks with relative ease. Don’t get too hung up on getting a perfectly realistic drawing…it’s more important you see the range of values. If you have already done this lesson, I encourage you to give it another go. You can’t practice drawing and seeing your values enough!

If you enjoyed that try this one –

EXPLORATION 2

Light & Dark Soul Collage

Go through some favorite magazines and clip out “light” elements that appeal to you. These could be anything that feels and looks like light to you. Don’t overthink this. Then do the same clipping out “dark” elements. Combine these to create a collage relating to the light and dark within yourself. Play with contrast here! You can add some of our color palette to the collage if you like.

EXPLORATION 3

Vermeer Master Study

Choose a Vermeer piece you love and do a little master study. Since his works are rather complex you can focus on one section of the painting if you like. I couldn’t resist doing a study of “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” on my iPad using Procreate! It was great fun! I took a picture of my sketchbook so I could feel like I was still working in it while painting on my iPad! Lol! Once I’m moved into our new home I hope to do one with my real-life paints!

NOVEMBER ART PROJECT

The Gifts of Imperfection
By Jenny Grant

I’m so excited to share this gorgeous lesson with our talented guest teacher – Jenny Grant – with you! She’s a fantastic artist and teacher! This month she will be guiding you through beautiful soul work in her art journal.

I love how Jenny weaves her essence into her work in many layers, textures and faces she creates. Allow your soul to speak and give yourself permission to just explore and layer!

Let’s begin…

STUDIOWORKS

Submission Calls

If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming Studioworks Journal, we’d love to have you join our Creative Network! Our intention with Studioworks has always been to cultivate community involvement and collaboration. Featuring members from our creative community is such an honor and a beautiful way to share the light you all bring. Come join us!

STUDIOWORKS PODCAST

issue twenty-three

You can also listen to this month’s issue of the Studioworks journal. I find I love listening to books, podcasts and music while I draw, paint or go on a long walk. Enjoy.

Studioworks : issue twenty three

by : Ivy Newport

inspiration: curated

One of my favorite things to do is to curate inspiration. From Pinterest boards to books, resources, playlists, and more – I love to share anything that might facilitate learning, expansion, and sparks of curiosity! Being an artist, we naturally crave these things so here are some of this month’s picks from me to you.

Books to Discover & Enjoy

MUSIC PLAYLIST

I had so much fun curating this list. I hope you enjoy!!

PINTEREST BOARDS

Interesting things to watch

FAVORITE SUPPLIES THIS MONTH

CLASSES TO TRY

These classes carry much of the same feeling of magic and exploration. I highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t already. Enjoy!