Exploring Culture & Identity in Collage - Class 9: 100 Days of Collage (Day 57 - 63)

1. Introduction: Welcome to the studio. It's Frole Here, and I'm so glad you've joined me. Today we're exploring culture and identity in collage. It's going to be so fun. It's going to be a little personal as we explore meaningful expression through our mixed media collages. As a mixed media artist with over three decades of experience, I'm passionate about two things creating beautiful opulent artworks and inspiring you to unleash your creativity. In this ninth chapter of Our Adventure exploring culture and identity in collage, we're diving deep into storytelling through our artworks. Together, we'll explore personal and global narratives using materials, textures and colors that symbolize the richness of the human experience. Each collage you create will become a piece of art that tells a story, honoring your cultural heritage, your personal journey, and the connections that shape who we are. This course is about freedom and self expression, and we're journey through 100 days of collage. Through this particular class, we're working on day 57 to 63 and we'll be creating a series of seven collages that explores your roots, your memories, your identity, and the dreams for your future. You'll start by honoring your ancestry in day 57 ancestral roots, and then journey outward with day 58 patterns of the world, drawing inspiration from global cultures. You'll turn inward with day 59 with a self identity map, designing a collage that tells your personal story. Day 60 textures of home invites you to gather memories and textures that feels like home. In day 61, portrait of resilience, you'll create a powerful portrait that celebrates strength, your own or someone you admire. Day 62, traditions and memories will help you capture meaningful traditions and celebrations. And finally, in day 63, a vision for the future invites you to dream forward, imagining how your story continues to evolve. By the end of this project, you'll have a beautiful, meaningful collection of class, a visual journey that celebrates where you've come from, who you are, and where you're going. Doesn't that sound fantastic? Who is this class for? This class is for everyone. Wanting to create with our art, beautiful, deep and meaningful works with mixed media and collage. Whether you're just beginning your creative journey or you've been making art for years, you'll find plenty here to inspire and challenge you. I'll be guiding you every step of the way, sharing the exact materials, techniques and creative prompts that I use to help you create stunning personal pieces. And if you're a more advanced artist, this class will stretch your imagination and help you deepen your artistic voice. I can't wait to see what it is that you're going to create. So let's gather our materials. Let's create art and let's get going. 2. Material List: Last nine material list. Now, if you've been traveling along with this fabulous journey, then you're going to have most of these art supplies already. Of course, we're going to be jelly printing. That's always a good place to start, and we'll be using some of my favorite acrylic paint. I'll be throwing in some of my acrylic sprayings as well, especially the gold and the rich colors and some of my new favorite liquitex spray paint. Now, this spray paint is an acrylic spray paint, so it's compatible with the other acrylic products. I absolutely love it. Oh, you have to dry it. We'll also be pulling out some personal items. As this class is all about your story, exploring your culture and identity, then you're going to have some personal items that you're going to want to put into your pages. Now, I'm going to be sharing my stories with you, but make sure you're rummaging through your drawers, pulling out all of your personal mementos and bits and pieces that are going to really express who you are, what you're about, what your story is, especially with your culture and identity. You want to add all of your significant and meaningful items into your collage pages. This is going to be so much fun. Now, it is going to be a little personal. I'm going to be sharing with you my stories. But This is a great opportunity for you to really dig deep and use this fabulous art medium to really express who you are. Now, remember, you don't have to use exactly what I'm using, but I will give you a full detailed art materials list in your class notes. So check your class notes if you want to find out exactly what I've used, where I got it from, and don't forget the discount codes. Of course, we're using all of our basic supplies that we use all of the time. Easy, easy. I hope you put together a box for your class to keep working through each lesson because then you'll know where all of your pieces are easy to get them out and ready to start. Right, so I can't wait to get going. I'm so excited for this class. I'm going to share so many secrets with you. It's gonna be a lot of fun, and we're going to be making beautiful art. So let's gather our materials, and let's get going. 3. Day 57: Ancestral Roots: Welcome to Class nine exploring culture and identity in collage. It's going to be so much fun, a little bit personal, and I know we're going to really enjoy these fabulous lessons. Discover the vibrant layers of culture and identity through mixed media collage. In this class, I invite you to explore personal and global narratives using materials, textures and colors that symbolize the depth of human experience. Each collage becomes a piece of storytelling art that captures the essence of cultural heritage, self discovery, and the connections that make us who we are. These prompts are crafted to encourage deeper introspection and connection with culture while incorporating diverse materials and techniques. Each project invites you to layer meaning, texture, and symbolism in ways that celebrate both individuality and shared human experience. Enjoy this creative journey as you explore your identity and heritage through mixed media. O. It's gonna be so much fun. Now, I've been on a bit of a cultural journey. Eight years ago, my friend Allison decided that I needed to find my birth family. I was not impressed with her suggestion at all. I was very hesitant. I was already dealing with rejection issues and an identity crisis being an adopted person. I had felt out of place all my life, and the thought of facing those fears of being rejected again. Oh, man, I wasn't keen for it. But Alison was insistent. I was living in Australia at the time, and she had already returned to New Zealand. So I traveled across the oceans to the homeland of my birth. With my dear friend who was absolutely adamant that we could find out all the information through public records. Now, we actually did. It's a bit of a story, and it really didn't seem to be that hard, and it wasn't that long before I was sitting opposite my birth mother, Carol, in a cafe. Yes. Yes, it was terrifying. Now, this was eight years ago, and it really has been a bit of a personal journey. I am so grateful that my friend was so insistent because it really has grounded me as a person. It has strengthened me in the knowledge of what I've found and the understanding of my culture. So Carol gave me Daubert, my birth father's photo, an old black and white photo. That's actually all the information she had. And that set us off on another journey with my beautiful friends, Dean and Trina, who helped me find the other half of the family. And that didn't really take too long because New Zealand's very small. We found not Dalbert because he had actually died many years ago, but we found his children whom he had quite a lot of. And in the process, I found a beautiful sister who I love and adore Malta, and she then introduced me to our brother Brownie. Now, Brownie is the one in the family with the cultural understanding, and he has our ****** Papa, which is our genealogy and can trace it right back to the very first walker that arrived on New Zealand shores. I know. It's pretty amazing. When I met him, he sung over me in Torreo, which is the Maui language and the Lord's Prayer. And I felt this incredible sense of belonging as he was talking about each of the family ancestors and where we come from and what tribe we belong to. And it really was incredibly profound and deeply grounding. He then took a pendant off his neck and gave it to me, and that was the beginning of my creative expression in outworking all of these feelings from the journey and the understanding of where I come from, who I am and my cultural identity. The pendant is absolutely beautiful. Brownie had carved it from a mother of pearl shell, and it's the curve shape or the waves that lapped up on the walker or the canoe when the ancestors arrived in New Zealand. It also represents the kuru or the spiral shape from the unfurling of the fern from, which is a native fern of New Zealand. Quite a significant symbol, and it was so profoundly deep for me and impacting to receive such a beautiful gift. So I took this knowledge of my ancestors and this beautiful gift and the shape and symbol of the pendant, and I started to create art. This was the inspiration. I also sought the inspiration of the Kofifi which is the rafters on the meeting house. And I also started looking at other Moriart. I did a year at the Bachelor of Maui Visual Arts in Palmerston North at the University there, and I developed my ideas and my outworking looking at different Maui art contemporary art, but also the traditional and historical art as well. My designs developed over time as I explored the different themes and the culture and their identity, and each time I developed and expressed my artwork through this different understanding, it strengthened me as a person and really crowded me. I absolutely love the series of paintings that developed out of this inspiration, and I did hold quite a few exhibitions at the time. It really was very impacting. And then recently, I took one of the beautiful paintings that developed in this series and created stencils out of them. And that is such a joy and so much fun. When I look back on my visual diary, and I can see just from the pendant, the development of the artwork, the progression, the inspiration of the Mirt both traditional and contemporary, it really is such an incredible series. The paintings were stunning. The exhibitions were wonderful. And now we have some stencils. What I love about the stencils is I can use them straight on the paper or we can pull out your gel plate and have a mighty fine time printing up a storm with these beautiful shapes that means so much and are so personal. Now, that's just a small glimpse of the story. And before we get stuck into the jelly printing, stop and have a think about what symbol might be relevant for your story or what shape that you can incorporate into your artwork that can represent your ancestry or your identity. It doesn't have to be as elaborate as mine. It doesn't have to be so intensive. It can be very simple. As long as it's meaningful to you and the symbol is significant, it's going to be fabulous. So I'm using my beautiful stencils and printing a heap of papers to use in my collage. I'm starting with my absolute favorite iridescent bronze, and I'm pulling a print onto wet strapped tissue. What I really want to do is remove the outer layer of the paint so that the paint that's trapped under those stencils becomes a mask. And then I want to pull that as a print. So I've got the fabulous bronze on to tissue, which I'm going to add some color later too, and I've got the shapes of the stencils on the elk flat. I'm starting with some beautiful deep blue and turquoise cause really, these are the colors of New Zealand, the deep ocean, the sky, the expanse of the landscape, and it makes me feel like home. I'm particularly drawn to the colors of the power shell because when I was a kid and I used to visit my dad all the time, I always brought home power shell. So I'm starting with these fabulous, beautiful colors, and let's see what prints we can pull with these. Now, I'm wanting to create more texture on my print, so I'm giving it a squirt with some water to get the paint moving around and create more of that organic flow that the water technique creates. Then I'm putting bock, blue, and pains gray on the plate to pull the print, and I'm going to pull it with wet streng tissue. Look how fabulous the first print looks. I've got the glorious turquoise. We've got the blue and the fabulous bronze. Don't all these colors work well together, and you can see the fabulous shapes of the stencils. And now you know a bit of the story of where those shapes come from, why they're so significant and how much they really mean to me. In the next print, I'm just using the fabulous idscent rich gold, putting it on the plate with the stencils and pulling it with ordinary doll store black tissue. Now the trick about using the Dolste tissue like this is when you put it on, make sure you pull it off straightaway. Otherwise, it gets too wet with the paint, and it would tear. But if you do it straight away, pull it straight off ta ta. You've got a beautiful print. You paid fractions, pennies for it. It looks fabulous and it makes fantastic collage paper. That leaves the fabulous. Goes print on the plate. Look how great the shapes look under those stencils. Next layer I'm putting on is the transparent red oxide, putting it on in patches, giving it a squirt with water, wanting to create that textured mark. Now, this layer has to dry before you put the final layer on to pull the print. Now, before I pulled the print, I decided to add a layer of the beautiful red violet. Oh, yes, I really was building some texture. And then I added the beautiful liqutx muted violet to actually pull the print. The colors are going to work well together, especially with that beautiful rich gold. I pulled the print with wet streng tissue, and look how stunning it is. Look how metallic that rich gold color is. It looks gorgeous with those deep colors behind it. Yes, that one's a winner. Hmm. I wonder if I'll use it today or maybe. Let's create some more. You know how it goes. O you start printing it it's a little addictive. I'm putting on the beautiful liquitex muted pink. These muted range of colors really are my favorite right now. I just love them. Put that on first, put the stencil down, and then I'm pulling the first layer of the paint off the plate with the coso paper. Now, this beautiful soft handmade paper, doesn't really resist the paint and pull it up because it's very soft in the fibers, but it absorbs the paint. So you get the shapes onto the paper. It looks quite fascinating. And because the paper is so beautiful, it really does work well. It doesn't clean it off the plate, so your next print might be a little bit more fuzzy, but I think it's really fun, and I love trying and experimenting with different papers. I'm pulling the print with the Amsterdam bronze. Love this color. Absolutely one of my favorites. I decided to put different sized pieces on the plate. I'm using the Japanese sketch pan rice paper. Now remember, all of the info for what I'm using and the art supplies will be in your class notes. Don't forget to check your class notes if you want to know the paint I'm using, the paper I'm using all the information's there, I've even added links. It's so easy if you want to find out exactly what I'm using. Amsterdam bronze is such a beautiful color. Put it on the plate. And I'm using the sketchpad, rice paper. And as I'm pulling it up, you can see the incredible prints, and they're coming in sections from the different size of the paper on the plate. I'm using my big 16 by 20 gel elf plate, so I'm getting to put quite a few different pieces, and look how beautiful they are. Oh, man. To me, this is the print of the day. I am loving these as I'm pulling them up. The colors just worked muted pink, Amsterdam bronze. Beautiful stencil. It looks amazing, and I'm thinking I'm definitely gonna have to use one of these. Now, this time I'm being a little bit dramatic. Again, I'm using the Amsterdam bronze and then I'm pulling the first print with the Czo paper. This turned out quite different from the Doltoblack tissue because it's more absorbent, so it sucked up more of the pink into those beautiful soft fibers of the Czo paper. And the beautiful Amsterdam bronze color looks stunning on that glorious soft fibrous black. Right. So I think I've pulled enough prints to be able to create an art journal bag. The thing that I love about starting the class is we have seven lessons on the same theme. So what I don't use today, I can use tomorrow. It's fantastic. You can't stop printing when you're on a roll. So now I've got this fabulous piece of beautiful wet streak tissue with my bronze print on it. So let's put it on the table. Let's add some of the acrylic inks. I'm throwing it on my tissue. I love this technique. It's one of my favorite absolute best. Collage making techniques is to put the beautiful inks onto the white tissue, spray it with water. Number one, tip, make sure it's on plastic, or it will never come off, and don't touch it until it's dry. So I'm spraying the beautiful inks on the tissue. It looks stunning. And when the beautiful tissues dry, look how glorious it is with that beautiful bronze stencil on the pattern as well. So which one of these beautiful prints? Am I going to be using today? Well, it depends on the colors that I feel like working with. I love these beautiful blues and turquoise. Didn't this print turn out well? And it does have that feeling of the power colors, which is very New Zealand. But I might use this another day, and we have quite a few lessons on this theme. So I'm going to put that for another day. Look at this one so rich and opulent. That would make great focal points or highlights. And I do love how clear the beautiful stencil shapes are. Now, when you look at my prints, you can see, Oh, there's the pendant shape. That's what it started with. And these little shapes here, represents the unfurling Fernfro the kuru shape. These shapes here the fifi from the rafters of the meeting house of the traditional art. And then I've got this influence here from the more modern Mulirtst. When I look at it, I can see where my inspirations come from, how the shapes have come together, and what it actually means, which is really fun. And that's what makes art so personal. So maybe some of that. This is the black tissue. Oh, you can see the shapes more on this one that I was just talking about. Very clear. A whole lot of fun, although I do like the bronze on the black, and I love the feel of the Coso paper. Printing up even more beautiful than the black tissue because it absorbs more into the fibers of the paper. Maybe some of that, I think I'm loving this, but this is still my favorite for today. This print here is definitely my favorite. Look how clean and clear the shapes are now I've shared that very personal story with you. You can see why it means so much to me. I'm loving these. I'm going to have to use definitely one of those, maybe some of that. Mm. A little of that. Not sure exactly, but I do have my fabulous art journal. Can't believe we're up to class nine. It's so exciting. Have to go and get the map medium and make some serious decisions. Or what about this one? I love this one with the print already on it from the gel plate. That worked really well. That's a great way to use. Prints that you take the first one of, and then you might not want to pursue it anymore. Put them on your table, splash some beautiful acrylic inks on them, especially if they're on tissue. Works absolutely amazing. I love the colors. I love the shapes of it. All very opulent, but maybe another day. I'm feeling like these colors today, and I do think this is the best print. So I'm going to put this one in here. I'm just going to stick the whole thing on like that as much as I can get possibly on the page. And then I might add something to it or I might leave it. I haven't decided, and I'm definitely going to go with a piece of the black because that's rather stunning, as well. That won't need much added to it, either. So I'll cut those, stick those on, and then think about if I want to add some kind of embellishment. Now, I was 50-years-old when I found my birth family. I'd lived in Australia all my life, and I always felt out of place. When I found out where I came from, my culture, my tribe, my identity, I basically went back to Australia, packed up everything, and within three months had moved to New Zealand. I know it's a little extreme, but it meant so much to me, and it was so incredibly important to understand more of the culture. So if you allow yourself to really tell your own story through your art and your art journal, you don't even have to share it with everybody. It's really therapeutic. It's incredibly validating. And I do know that my personal sense of identity is so much stronger now that I understand where I come from and who I am. There's so many traits that I have that are very Mori in the expression, I'm loud, intense. And I always felt in Australia, growing up I was too much too much, too loud, too intense, too much color, too much expression. Actually, they thought I was Italian. Which is totally fine. But when I came home to New Zealand, I see myself everywhere. And when I started studying the Multi art and understanding about the symbols, everything's deep and meaningful. Everything has a place and a knowledge and understanding. And I really resonated with that my art always has such meaning and purpose. So it just made me feel so much better about myself to know and understand where I come from and who I am. I just wanted to encourage you. You might have a story like mine, or you might have one completely different. Or you might just have a really nice easy life. That's fine, too. Create something personal in your story. I'd love to see what is, but you don't have to show me. But allow yourself to really express that part of who you are, the deepest part of your identity and your understanding of even why you're here on the planet. I know we're getting deep today. They glued down, beautiful. I'm already in love with my beiges. And I definitely don't want to add too much. Just a little something. For an embellishment or a highlight or a focal point, I have this fabulous material that I forget where I got from, and it's got the wonderful spiral shape. So I'm thinking I'm definitely going to add it onto this side. The colors working well. It's beautiful and textured, and I love it. So I go that way. Or up there or maybe I'll go vertical. That could work, too. What about? Yes. That's all I'm going to say about that. I'm going to go down. This side like that. That looks great. So I'll put that on with some mac medium. I'm thinking, What am I going to put on this side? Well, I've got some of this, which is like a piece of something, had it for ages. Have you got boxes of stuff? It's a vinyl, I'm thinking. And I got it. I can't remember where I got it from. It's been in my drawer for life forever. I've used one piece of it. So this to me, represents the beautiful mother of pearl shell from that pendant. That set me off on my incredible adventure of artistic discovery. So I'm going to use that. I've got this shape that I've used before, so I'm going to use as a template, and I'm going to cut that shape out of this. I think it's like a vinyl. And then that's gonna look like the mother of pearl shell shape from the pendant, and I'm going to put that in the middle there. I'm not sure if I'm going to put it on something or just stick it in the middle. I probably won't know. Until I actually try it if I like the idea. Because you know, having an idea is one thing, having it work is another. But we'll give it a go. I'll draw around this, use it as a template, and then try it on there and see if my idea works. If it doesn't try something else. Not to worry. Oops, better hold it still. It didn't seem to want to draw very well, but I'll give it a try. Not so easy to cut. But we got there in the end. I think it'll be okay. It's a representation of the pendant, so it doesn't have to be perfect. I'll make that work. And I'm thinking of putting it on like this. It's got the mother of pearl color. Do I need something underneath it, or shall I just put it on like that? Hmm, not sure. Oh, I might get a bit of coso paper. Alright, bit of Coso paper, stick that on there, stick that on there. And then that's that. I'm going to leave these pages I absolutely love them. I really hope you enjoy this lesson and this encouragement and my story because self acceptance is the best gift that you can give yourself, and you can only give it to yourself. Understanding who you are, your culture, your identity, exploring that, expressing that in your artwork, it really will encourage you with self acceptance and strengthen you as a person. And I really encourage you to go as deep as you want in your creative expression with this lesson. So I'll stick that on give you a close up when it's dry and I can't wait for the rest of the week to unfold. 4. Day 58: Patterns of The World: Day 58 patterns of the world. How very exciting we're going to explore different patterns and motifs unique to different cultures. Now, of course, you can choose any culture or any country or anywhere in the beautiful big wide world to express your art in the collage today. But I'm going to take you to China. Last year, actually, it was a year before 2023. I went to visit my son in Shanghai in China. He'd been living there. Hm, six years at that time. Mantime goes so fast. He loves it. He's a drama teacher there, and he has an absolutely fabulous life immersed in the wonderful culture of China. Now, I found it a little hectic. It's a little more fast paced than beautiful New Zealand, especially in the little fishing village where I live. There was a lot more people, a lot more traffic. But it was fascinating to see all of the huge city and the incredible architecture. We went for a boat ride out on the river, and I absolutely loved the afternoon turning into the sunset, and then the evening at night, the lights the lights were amazing. It was so fascinating, so incredible. We were served a dinner. That was just interesting, let me say. But the scenery was incredible and we had such a beautiful time. I wanted to really explore a lot of the traditions. So we went and had tea at a temple. Jordan, of course, was being an absolutely fabulous til guide. Light f and then light the sticks and flip them in the sand. And as it burns, your fortune increases. Money, money, money. Let's go see the Buddhist, shall we? Okay. And we went to this fabulous museum. The building in itself was absolutely incredible. There was a lot of traditional art, but there was also a substantial amount of contemporary Chinese art, as well. It was entirely fascinating. I do love all the characters and the way the language is written. But there were some fascinating sculptures and some different mixed media pieces that I really enjoyed looking at. Now, my son's favorite place on the planet is Disney. He worked in the Big Park in the USA for quite a few years before he ventured onto the ships and traveled around the world everywhere before he settled in Shanghai. So, of course, we had to go to Disney, but I found it really strange, watching the same characters that I'm used to but listening to them in Chinese. Are you wet? No, not at all. Oh, my God. It was a little bizarre, but we had a lot of fun. It really was incredible. He took me to a traditional Chinese painting class, and that was really fun. We were using the calligraphy brushes on the beautiful Chinese paper. I was trying very hard to do it, like the instructor was showing. But I'm pretty sure Jordan went off on a tangent completely. It was a lot of fun, and there was so much to learn. And it's really fascinating when you delve into different cultures. Of course, then I did come home with an abundance of art supplies because I had an app on Jordan's phone and I could just see pictures and just push by it. And they would turn up on the doorstep half an hour later. Oh, man, something like that would take three days, maybe a week to turn up in New Zealand, half an hour later, I've got what I've ordered. Yes, there's something to be said for the super size of a country. And it was absolutely fascinating. And next time when I go, maybe next year, I think I'll take one suitcase of clothes and an extra suitcase to bring all the uplies home. Right, so now I just have to decide, what am I going to use? Because, yes, I do a quite a few different options. I've got some of these fabulous boxes that the inks came home with the inks are amazing, let me tell you. And when I flatten them out, they look so nice. I couldn't throw them away. I've got a few of those. I've got some beautiful little pieces here that I can use. I've got this. Talking about ordering online on the app, when it came in the bag, I loved the bag. It was The paper bag itself was red and had these beautiful characters on it, had to keep it. So I've got that I can use. I also have this fabulous traditional paper, which I love. This is a poem, a Chinese poem that's quite famous, actually. I can't remember what it says. I did tell me, but I have forgotten, but it's a really beautiful piece. It's incredible soft rice paper, and I love this pattern on here. So I'm thinking I'm going to use some of this with my collage today. Also, I've pulled out some jelly prints that are going to work. This one is going to work very well. I do think it's a little Asian looking with the colors and the textures. Now, I first of all, put a gold stamp on the gel plate on the big gel elf plate, the 16 by 20 size plate, put the gold stamp then I put on some muted violet, rolled that on, and added some of my favorite transparent red iron oxide. I sprayed this with water to create that fabulous watery texture. It breaks up the paint. So when you put the next layer on, you can see it come through. Now, don't forget if you're doing this technique, you need to wait for each layer to dry. This is definitely one of favorite techniques for jelly printing. I love that watery look. It works fabulous. Every time the only drawback is waiting for it to dry. So when the layers were dry, I put on the idscent bronze fine and pulled it onto wet strength, tissue, turned out fabulous. I've already used a heap of it, and I've only got this piece left. So I'm thinking that's going to work really well. With these colors, and probably some red. I also have this fabulous print here. This one I pulled on the gel plate, and then I've added my dance moods. Now, these are not Chinese characters, let me tell you. They are my own original designs, my dance moves designs, which I created, must be a couple of years ago now. And they have a meaning. Each symbol has been assigned with an alphabetical letter. So I can make up some words, which I did. Recently, I created this fabulous pack of stencils. They're brand new. They say words. They're already made for you. So we can create messages in a secret code. It's absolutely so much fun. So I've put them on with Simon Hurley's Luna Paste loving this found it recently. Oh, that's a new addition to your materialist, if you want to know. And they look absolutely beautiful. This one says, health, wealth, and happiness. I mean, Oh, that's what we need. So I'm putting these messages into my artwork, and it's going to work really well with today's Chinese theme. So I've got some traditional lettering. I've got some of my dance moves lettering, and I think both of them are going to work really well, oh, I've got some of this. This is also the poem, which I could use on the page. Oh, man, how am I going to decide? These colours are going to work? Well, this I used also the lunar paste on CzoPaper absolutely stunning. That says, Don't give up. Don't give up. And this one says we can do this. Great messages, positive encouragement to put into our artworks and push us forward. I've got some more here, I know, right? Why print one when you can print ten? This one says We can get through this. Loving it. Loving it. Beautiful colors. This one's going to work really well with this color scheme. This is another health, wealth, and happiness. So easy putting them on with the stencils when the words are already made. I know, I know. I just love it. And I've got this piece here. This was another beautiful gel print. It had some leftover ghost print of my fabulous poem script stencil, and then I sprayed my favorite bronze shimmer onto the plate. Creating that fabulous texted, watery look. And this one has some beautiful copper in with the fabulous red violet, which I put on once the first layer was dry. I put on my favorite quinacridone violet and pulled it with the wet strength tissue. The print looks stunning. You can see all of the incredible layers from my palm script, stencil, some splashes of the bronze, some iridescent bronze, fine, and the quinn violent. And then I used the beautiful print to create more of my inspirational phrases. This one says, Look, you can see it 'cause I made sure I wrote it down the side 'cause I'm not gonna remember. We can do this and don't give up. Yes. Yes. And this one says, health, wealth, and happiness. Are you feeling the theme? We've got to encourage ourselves and push ourselves on to make beautiful art that inspires us. So I've got all of these options today. I'm definitely going to mix some of the traditional Chinese symbols in with some of my modern dance move shapes. All these colors are going to work well together. Definitely going to go with some traditional and some of these gel prints. I just have to decide which ones I'm going to use because they're not all going to fit on my very too small art journal. Oh. And also, also, I forgot. I've got these. Have a look at these. Actually, I picked this up when we went to the traditional Chinese art class. Look at the stunning stamps. They're absolutely beautiful. They mean different symbols, and I've got them written down somewhere. They're all positive because I picked them out myself. I also have some of these ones. I told you I came home with so many supplies. I've got some of these ones, and well, are they cute? They're just gorgeous. And then this is what they call stamp Md. Look at it. It looks like mad. Wait till you see me use it. It's absolutely amazing. I've already tried it. It's ooh, really thick and really sticky, and it creates the incredible stamp from the beautiful gorgeous little shapes. So I'll have to do some of that, as well and show you how stunning these symbols are. Right. So which section am I going to use of this beautiful paper? I wish you could feel it. It's amazing. It's just so soft. Incredible. Oh, I like this. I'm thinking, Do I want? Well, my pages are so small. Maybe I could do three pages. I've just got so much I want to use. Alright, well, I think this section maybe with all of those symbols on it. That could work well, 'cause I'm only going to put it over one side. And then I'm definitely wanting to use either I use this stunning paper, which I just think it matches so well or I could use the one that's already. But if I stick that on, then that's the page done. I'm doing more pages. That's all I'm saying about that because I've got too many beautiful prints. I'm going to put that on there. I'm going to put that on there. And then, what am I going to add to this one? I think Let's go with a circle. I know. You're so surprised by that. I could use some of this one. That would work, or I could use one of my fabulous dance moves. That could work with that color, maybe, baby. Oh Oh, this one could work. It's a bit more dramatic. Are we feeling dramatic? We're always feeling dramatic. This is health, wealth, and happiness. We definitely want some of that. So if I cut that as the circle and put it in the center of these symbols, that would look really cool. So I'm going to put this on this side. And what will I add onto it? Maybe some of this on here. Shall I run that down there? Maybe. Maybe. Alright. Or maybe some of this on there, 'cause that color works well. Alright, big decisions have to be made. And I could always do an extra page. I absolutely love this page. I really love having the traditional Chinese characters on the page, the beautiful writing. And then my dance moves symbols. That's so fun to me, merging the cultures, especially because my dance moves not actually a written word, and it's my own organic designs. That page is looking beautiful. You know, I don't even want to add anything else to it. It's very simple, but I think it's elegant, and I think it's representing the Chinese culture absolutely beautifully. Also, on this side, look at the bronze and gold. It's like the temple in the Buddha. So much fun. Now, I could add some of this, which I really like. It's actually also some of that poem like this one on here. That could go down there, maybe some of it, probably not as wide as that because I don't want to take up all my gel print. I really like it. I was going to add some of this because the colors are so nice. So are we going to add the Chinese writing or are we going to add the dance moves? Is the question. Or we could add some of this one. That's such a nice bright pop of color. And, you know, we do have other days in the class, so maybe I'll keep some papers for another lesson because I really wanted to use this one as well. I absolutely love it. So I'm thinking I'm keeping this for another lesson because it's just beautiful. I want to use it, and I'll make up my mind on what I'm going to put on here. There's just so many options. This one looks really nice. Actually, I do think the color works beautifully. That? Oh, man. Decisions. This one says, We can get through this. Yes, we can. Alright, I'm going to make a decision. I'm going to go with this one. I think the color is working beautifully. It's quite a nice contrast to the strong gold and bronze, that's on that page. And then I was gonna show you the stamp mud because it's so stunning, so I'm going to have to put it somewhere. Oh, let's just do it. Okay. Let's just do it with one of these beautiful stamps. Look at that. Look at that. It's just beautiful. So It's so thick and lush. Ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Ta ta ta da. I love it. I love it. I love playing with new things, but I absolutely love other cultures. Now, I'm going to put one up here so it balances out my composition because, yes, I am a bit like that. Tara. Oh, I could keep stamping all day. I wait. So that's the damp, absolutely fabulous. Love it. Love my little stamps on there. They look beautiful. I'm going to put this one on this side, I think. But you'll see once I've actually decided, and then it's all gotta dry. Maybe some of that hot, man. A. The pages have dried up. Absolutely beautiful. I love this design. It's very simple, but it's effective and I love having the combinations of the symbols. The colors are great. And this page really developed as I was making it. I knew exactly what I wanted to put on this one, but this one just come together piece by piece. I put that one down. I put that one down. Then I thought of the black. I wanted something a little dramatic. And each shape and texture came together in the making of the collage. So I'm pretty happy. I like the style and the design. I think it's a great nod to China. Wasn't my trip fabulous? Thanks for letting me share it with you. It really was a lot of fun. And do you like my circle cutting? This is a set of bowls. My son brought me back from China in the first few years he was there. They're great dessert bowls, but even better for cutting circles. I love it. So much fun, and I can't wait to move on to the next lesson. What are we doing next? 5. Day 59: Self-Identity Map: Day 59 self identity Map. I know. This could be a little challenging and definitely get a little personal. Now, today, the challenge is to create a map of yourself using collage elements to reflect your journey and identity using a mix of printed maps or geographic shapes or directional symbols, maybe even some compasses or arrows, combined with images or colors that represent important places, moments, or experiences in your life. Let this piece show where you've been and where you're going. Now, my self identity journey definitely has a this story continues afro at Lesson one. I think my stories will continue all through this class. As you know, I was adopted, and I was nine days old. Now, when I found Carol my birth mother, I was 50-years-old. And she gave me my father's photos, told me the story, and then she proceeded to go on to tell me that I was a secret. I was a 50-year-old secret. She had never told her family that I existed. She didn't tell my birth father that she was pregnant. She didn't tell her parents that she was having a baby. She found out she was pregnant, and she decided to go up to Auckland to work away somewhere else where nobody could see her while she had the pregnancy. I was born in Auckland Hospital, and then she adopted me out straight away. She didn't tell anybody, not her friends, not her family. And then she returned back home and kept me a complete secret. I was horrified. It definitely wasn't turning out like the TV show where you see all the tears and the hugging. Oh, man, not for me. I was sitting in front of this woman telling me I was a secret, and she was never going to tell her family. How does that make you feel? I felt like I didn't exist. I felt like I wasn't important. I felt like there was no value for my and that really had an impact on my identity and sense of self worth. So, of course, being an artist, that's how I express all of these feelings. And this painting here is called Here I Am. When I exhibited this painting in the very first exhibition after returning home, of course, the exhibition was called The Journey Home. I felt like I was the representation of the Hoya feather that's in this painting. Now, this beautiful, now extinct bird of New Zealand is sacred to Maori people, absolutely stunning bird with glorious tail feathers in the black with the white tip. In 1901, the Duke of York, then heir to the British throne, was visiting New Zealand. And one of the Maori took the Huya feather out of her hair and put it in the hat band of the Juke. A seemingly small event as the Huya feather being from the sacred bird was an act of respect and honor. So she was honoring the visiting Juke. However, this act of respect had consequences that led to the extinction of the bird. Carrying the bird's feather in his hat band back to England, it became a status of fashion. The Duke, returning to London with this stunning looking representation of social status, became a fashion icon that helped hunt the bird to extinction. So my painting in the exhibition was pretty much a knee jerk reaction to carol announcement that she was never telling her family that I existed. I felt extinct. So I'm using the feather in the painting as that expression. It's not exactly like the Hoya bird's feather, but it's my representation. It's got the beautiful black and the white tip. And these feathers were only worn by chiefs or high ranking family members. I love the painting. I think it's absolutely stunning. It's one of my favorites. It hangs in my bedroom. But then five months later, when I did my second exhibition called Inheritance, I was looking at the painting, and I was thinking about what had happened and how Kara responded and how I felt. And I decided that I could be the master of my own destiny, that I could look at my own identity and decide what it meant for me. And then looking at the beautiful representation of the Hula feather on the painting, I decided to give myself this gift of honor and respect. And then the meaning of the painting changed for me. It then became about the sacredness of my own self identity that I was giving to myself because I was choosing to be respected. I decided that I could now choose how I view myself. I can be the one to assign value to my own life. The a feather is also a symbol of value, something precious. So I decided to give this gift to myself. I choose to believe that I'm valuable and I'm important. So the painting, Here I am now had a shift of perspective to me because I was saying, I'm here, I'm important, and my life is valuable. This perspective then changes the meaning of the painting, instead of being a negative knee jerk reaction. How dare you not acknowledge my existence? It actually became about, here I am. I'm value. I'm important. My life matters, and I'm here for the world to see and know. So it shifted. My self identity had a journey. I traveled from one place in an exhibition to the next place in an exhibition just with the shift of a mindset and perspective. And we can all do that. Self acceptance is the gift that only you can give yourself. I decided to give myself the Hula feather because I was worth it. So I want to encourage you today, whatever your journey is, whatever your story is in your own self identity. Maybe you've traveled a few miles to embrace self acceptance and self validation and express that in your collage. Now I'm going to use the Hula feather. Well, it's my representation of the feather. I've got this stencil. I'm putting it on some beautiful coso paper. With the fabulous stencil butter in black and a little white paint, don't the colors look stunning. I'm going to use that today as a reminder to myself that I'm valuable, I'm worth it, and giving myself this precious gift of self acceptance. So now what papers am I going to put with Michela feather? Hmm. Not sure. I've got a few that I've already printed, so I might have a rummage through those ones, or I might print out some more. Always possible. Right. So I've pulled out some of my papers that I've already jelly printed. I did get in a bit of a frenzy from the first lesson when I was using my fabulous stencils on the gel plate. I mean, why stop at one when you can create 50? So I've got these prints here. Absolutely, beautiful. These colors work so well. The print that I used in the first lesson, I was using the muted pink, and this one I've used the muted violet, pulling it with the Amsterdam, bronze. The colors look stunning. This one's a lot deeper in tone. And don't these stencils work so well? I absolutely love them. They're so unique and so individual. So I've got these to use. I've also got some of this black with the Amsterdam bronze because I'm really loving the way this one printed on the so paper. It's sucked up really well. It's a little fuzzy in its line, but I really like that. And you can see the curves and the spirals and the kudo really easily. That's fun to me. I've also got some of this gold one. If I really want to be lavish, you never quite know what I might feel like. And I've got my Hoya feather. Ready to go, I'm definitely placing this in it because it reminds me of the painting and the significance of the painting and how I felt and how far I had changed and moved. By the time the second exhibition came along, I was no longer captive to Carol's attitudes or ideas or her limitations. It didn't matter to me anymore what she thought or who she told or didn't tell because I had gained my own self identity, and I decided to value who I was. And that just made such a huge difference. So we have to have one of those, and I found this in my draw from the actual exhibition that rather a life changing exhibition for me personally. So I might cut that symbol out, and now you can see that that's the symbol of the fabulous pendant that Browning had given me. And I also have this print. I'm loving this one. This is the stencil butter in white pearl, and it's on a piece of white coso paper. I've literally just put the stencil on and then printed through the stencil with the stencil butter, leaving the fabulous pattern on here. White on white always looks stunning. So I have all of these papers to use. Which ones am I going to decide on, and I can't fit all of them on my page. Right, so that sides done. Now, I feel like what contributed to the demise of the beautiful Hodia bird was the social status. Everybody wants social status and seeing the Duke of York with the stunning feather in his hat band. Yes, everybody wanted it. So they hunted the bird. But also the whole invasion of the Europeans to New Zealand, the land loss, the encroachment of the environment also contributed to the demise of the beautiful Hoya bird. But as it related to me, I felt like Carol had thrown me away because of social status because she didn't want anybody to see that she was pregnant. It was out of wedlock. It was to a Mori boy. It was 1967. And the shame of it meant that she basically went away, had me adopted me out, and gave me away, like I was nothing. You see, it's a deep deep. But I had to choose for myself, and I had to make a stand and say, This is who I am. This is my life. I'm worth something, and I'm precious. I give the Hoya feather to myself as an act of respect. So, there it is. Told you my story now, I knew we were going to go deep with this class. There's the beautiful representation there on my page. I love the white on white. I think it's beautiful, and I like the deep tones of the muted violet, as well. So what am I going to put on the other side? Ah, keep tossing it around. Oh, I added some of the Coso paper onto here because I wanted to add some more texture. I like the different layers, and I like the texture, and it's very traditional in multi culture to use that fibrous material. They used it for a lot of weaving fork baskets and mats and the Toki Toki panels in the meeting place. So it's kind of a symbolic of the particular traditions. This side, I'm thinking, maybe I might go with the black on here. And I'm still thinking about putting my beautiful symbol from my exhibition because it was so life changing. Right, so what am I going to put with these elements? I'm thinking I could even go vertical with a piece of that. That would be nice. I definitely want to use this particular symbol because it is so significant to the whole story. Now, I've also got some other bits and pieces. I've got this fabulous picture of the Hoya bird. It's very stylized, so I like that. It's very arty. I also picked up this card from my favorite art gallery Museum. And it's from the painting, which is called winds of Change. I mean, hello. That's so relevant to my story. It's got a stylized shape there of the country of New Zealand, which she's, like, got hold of it like a guide. Winds of change. I think that's so relevant to my story. That could go on. I also have a fabulous lens cloth with a gorgeous map. New Zealand on there because we liked the map idea, didn't we? We liked the map. As the lesson is called map of identity, so I'm liking the map, and I've also stamped out some fabulous compasses, which look beautiful in the iridescent bronze on the purple Coso papers. As you can see, they're not all going to fit on that side of the art journal, so I will have to decide which is the most important element for my story, but also, I can keep it for the next lesson as we have a few more in this class with the culture and identity theme. So I'm winning here. Which ones do I want today? Right now is the question. Hm. I might keep that one maybe for the next lesson that could work. Think I should have some of this beautiful purple compass on here, and definitely the card. I think that's very relevant for me, having moved countries, up ending my entire life and moving home to New Zealand. I could put that on this side. I could put this over it. I just have to decide what do I want to put on the background? I could put some of the black. I love this print on the black Coso paper. I think it's so striking. That could work maybe baby perhaps a compass down here, or shall I go with some of the gold? Oh, that might work, too. Alright, I'll have to decide. Which one? And my Huya bird, which is a stunning stunning picture. Maybe I'll be keeping that for another lesson as well, but I'm definitely using it for this class. Right, so I'm making decisions about these. Which ones will I put on? How will I configure them Loving the purple. I think I might have to use that. The pages are all dried, and I'm pretty happy with my self identity map. It really has been quite a journey. I'm loving the representation of my Hoya feather because it just means so much to me. I know it's very deep and meaningful. I love my prints and the textures that I've made on this page. And I absolutely love the story on this page, the card that represents the wind of change and returning to New Zealand, the fabulous Kuro here, which is a symbol of dependent that you know means so much to me and my background textures I love. Compass, the beautiful print there in the bronze on the purple, the colors look stunning, and the whole story has really come together. Well, it really is such a pleasure sharing this with you. So make sure you dig into your own story and create your own self identity map. Remember, nobody can tell you who you are. You have to determine that for yourself. Put some beautiful symbolism into your artwork. Allow yourself to really think about it and to really feel the implications of the journey and what it means to you. Right. So now we're moving on to the next lesson. What's the next one going to be and what stories am I going to share? 6. Day 60: Textures of Home: Day 60 textures of home. So today, we're going to craft a collage using textures or items that remind you of home. When you think of home, what does it remind you of the house that you're living in or the house when you were a child? For me, it's more like the country of New Zealand. When I was young, my parents divorced when I was 7-years-old. My mother stayed in Australia with us, and my dad moved back to New Zealand, and I would visit him on holidays every few years. Now, when I did visit my dad in New Zealand on holidays, I always took home Powershell. This is the beautiful powershell. Isn't it absolutely glorious? The colors. The power is actually a sea snail, and it's related to the abalone. So it's a black kind of slug looking creature that a lot of people eat, but I don't I don't like shellfish. I absolutely love the shells themselves, the beautiful colors, and of course, you can get the fabulous power shell in anything, especially if you're a tourist and you're visiting. You're going to pick it up in jewelry or in knickknacks or in items of everything. In fact, when Mom and I were touring around New Zealand a few years ago, we went to Power World. There was everything you could possibly think of that was made of the beautiful shell. So, for me, textures of home really has the meaning of the colors of the power because I always went home with the power shell when visiting New Zealand. So I've got this beautiful print that I took in the first lesson. I did this on the gel plate with these glorious blues and green turquoise and the bronze colors. So I'm thinking that's a great place to start. I also have these prints. Now, with these ones, I used my fabulous stencils, and then I sprayed them with the liquitex acrylic paint. I love using the acrylic paint because it's compatible with other acrylic paints. It doesn't smell, and it's really easy to wash off. So I've got a few of these. I think they printed up really well considering I was just spraying them through the stencil. I also have this one from the last lesson with the map. I'm pretty sure I'm going to use the map today because my homeland is basically the country, isn't it? I can't tell you an exact house that I would consider my home. I know some people have their family homes. I don't have one, but I have a country, so I'm okay with that. I'm going to use the map. Oh, I've got this piece, which is actually a lens cloth, and it's got the beautiful pattern of the power. That's another option. And I have some glorious pieces, of course, of power, which I got from Power World. I actually have a whole box of them, so you never know I just might have to pull them out. And go crazy. Of course, I'm going to pull out some so paper. Mm. Have a little rumba, see what else I might want to add to my pages. But this is where I'm going to start. You might want to use old photos or fabric or items or cheris memorabilia from your homeland or from your childhood home, or even where you are right now. What is it for you when you think about the textures of home? What colors? What fabrics, what textures? What items are going to really be that kind of symbolic expression for your collage? Right. So these papers have dried and look how good that bronze looks in the light, doesn't it look fabulous? I love it. That print came up so well, and you can clearly see my fabulous shapes from the stencils. Ya. It's working beautifully. So now I'm going to put the next elements on. I'm definitely going to go with my map of New Zealand because that's my textures of home. And I have to use the fabulous power shells. They're going to look good. I think what I might do is use some of this fabulous so paper. I love it. Beautiful handmade, glorious paper. I'm going to cut a strip across there and put it on there and then add some of the power shells onto it. That's going to work. I'm going to put this map on here. Not sure. I think I'll cut it out around there maybe, then I'm thinking I might add a little pop of red because these beautiful colors in the flowers here would look really nice with just a little bit of this fabulous coso textured paper. That's what I'm thinking, and then do I want to add anything else? I'm just not sure. I might go and have a look, I might find another trinket to put there. But I'm definitely starting with these textures, heading in this direction and we'll see how that looks when I've got them all glued down. Right, the pages have dried up, beautiful. I'm loving my textures of home. I love the glorious jelly print and the fabulous stencils with the coso paper. I added some more of the beautiful blue coso paper to the edge. There I just loving the texture and the feel of it. It works so well. And the power shell oh, I just love it. It's stunning. Now I did get a little carried away on this side. I put my beautiful map, which looks great. I'm loving it. And the red that highlights and surrounds the map looks beautifully against the blue spray of the stencils. And then I put this trinket. I just had to. Look how beautiful it is. It's absolutely stunning. Now, it might be a little bit fat for my art journal page. I'm hoping that it's still going to close right. But I had to have it. It's very New Zealand, especially in the Kuro pattern and style of it, but also the deep jade color. That's another really strong element of New Zealand culture is the greenstone. So, pages are fabulous textures from home. I love it. Doesn't matter to me if the art journal doesn't actually close in the end because I can look back through and see all of the beautiful textures and the memories and how much joy I had in creating the pages. So, don't let the technicality of not being able to shut your art journal stop you from creating rich, vibrant and elaborate textures. Well, I've had a lot of fun with this page. I really loved it. Look at all my glorious power shell. Yes, I do have quite a few. What are we going to do next? What's the next lesson? 7. Day 61: Portrait of Resilience: Day 61, portrait of resilience. Create a portrait collage of yourself or someone else who represents resilience in your life. Combine bold colors, metallic foils, or other vibrant materials with softer, warm textures to convey strength and vulnerability. Use symbols, words, or images to reflect personal or cultural challenges that you've overcome. Making this piece a tribute to resilience. So we're still on the pursuit of sharing personal stories, validating our sense of identity and cultural expression. Now, the last six months for me have been a bit of a challenge. I was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, which is a cancer of the blood. It's attacking my lymph nodes, and it's really not very fun. The cancer cells are throughout my whole system, and it causes me to be very unwell. I've been having a chemotherapy treatment, and that's even worse. I did. It's just no fun. And the challenge is to push on to keep creating, to stay positive. And to keep believing. Now, last month was my fourth treatment, and my little treasure came to be with me. My beautiful daughter insisted on coming. She said she was gonna come and visit for two weeks and she'd be here through my chemo. And I said, No, no, no. Don't bother. It's no fun. The chemo, it makes me really, really sick. I get cranky and it's boring. Don't come during the chemo, but she wouldn't take no for an answer, she insisted on coming. And she taught me an absolutely valuable lesson. We need each other. I didn't want her to come and see me sick and sad and unwell. I wanted her to come during a time when I might have been feeling much better, so we could have fun. But she said, Mum, that's the point. And when she came with me to my chemo appointment, it really helped me much more than I realized. And she taught me the lesson of being vulnerable and needing each other. I wanted to be strong. I didn't want to see her to see me weak and sick. But in all reality, that's when we need our family the most. We actually had a really nice time. She filmed with me on my YouTube episodes. We actually did, too. And it was her very first ever experienced jelly brnding. There was a lot of laughter. She helped with my mom. She even cooked us some dinners, and we had such an incredibly beautiful time. I really missed her when she was gone. And it taught me that sometimes we can try to be strong and not show anybody our weaknesses or our vulnerabilities. But that doesn't help. It really helps us to embrace the love and support that's around us when we have to overcome these challenging times. It really was a beautiful time spent with her, and I'll actually treasure the memories and the laughs that we had. So today, I'm going to do an image transfer with an image of my beautiful little treasure and put this together in my collage for my portrait of resilience. So I'm starting with muted gray on the plate and putting down my image. Now, don't forget you need to have colour laser copy prints to make these image transfers really work well. Well, that's what I've found. I get them from warehouse stationery, and I've tried the black and white, and they don't work for me. So you'll have to find where you can get the prints from that are going to work for you. If you're using a home laser printer, you might need to run your print copy through twice because you have to build up the toner in the print copy because that's what resists the paint and causes it to stick to the gel plate. So I'm starting with liquitex, muted gray, beautiful color, one of my favorites in this muted range. The image is down on the plate, and then I'm stamping it with one of my older stamps. It's got a great pattern on it, and it's fabulous, especially for background designs. So I'm taking off some of the paint on the print because I want to break up heavy element so I can get more color into it. And then I'm using the same stamp to add the beautiful iridescent bronze fine around her in the background. Now, I wanted to get a little experimental with this print, so I'm adding some acrylic spray paint. Now, you do have to wait for each layer to dry completely. Completely. But I'm spraying on Adena Wakey, acrylic spray ink. I just want to see what it would do on the gel plate, how it's going to look, how it's going to blend with my beautiful image transfer. Now, once that layout was completely dry. I'm rolling on iridescent copper onto the plate. I'm going to pull the print with this because I really want that beautiful metallic shine. And the print turned out absolutely beautiful. Doesn't she make a fabulous image transfer? I'm so fortunate that I have such beautiful photos to be able to use. So I'm using her for my portrait of resilience because she really did help me through my chemo treatment to keep pushing on. We had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, especially in such a difficult circumstance. Right. So now for the other side of the page, what am I going to do? Well, I pulled out this fabulous Lotus stencil. It's absolutely beautiful, and I'm putting it straight on with the Simon Hurley Luna paste. This one is in Cookie Dough. I know. It's a strange name. Why would you call a paste cookie dog? I don't know, man, but it looks really good and beautiful on the Coso paper. Straight through the stencil, easy peasy. I'm using a lotus flower design. Now, the lotus flower is representational and symbolic of resilience. Because the lotus flower blooms and thrives in murky and muddy waters. Yes, I'm feeling it, too. I'm feeling it deep. We have to bloom and thrive and grow in whatever circumstances we find ourselves because that's the strength and resilience that we need to push on and fight through the difficulties and keep smiling and creating. So right now, I'm really feeling the symbolism of the lotus flower with my current situation because we have to keep blooming and growing and thriving. Now, I created two different prints because I always like to have choice. The second one, I'm using my favorite color, which is refined copper. And again, I'm putting it on a coso piece of paper. This one's one of the beautiful textured fibrous papers because I wasn't sure really which one I wanted to use, but I wanted to have options. I'm using a lot of the beautiful earthy metallic tones. Again, it's symbolic of blooming out of the muddy waters. And I'm really enjoying this today for this particular theme of our collage. So I'm going to use this print as well. Now, I showed you this print in Lesson number two. It's a jelly print, and then I've put my dance move stencils over it in my inspirational phrases. And this one says, health, wealth, and happiness. That's what we need, baby. So I've got this print I'm going to use, and then I've got my two versions the lotus flower, isn't it beautiful? They look really well. See, all my colors today are earthy and metallic. That's how I'm feeling, so that's what we're creating. I'm not sure which one I'm going to use. Either of them will work. And then on the other page, I'm putting my fabulous print of my little treasure, and I've pulled out some colored tissue. You know how to make this. I've showed you a few times beautiful colored tissue works so well. So I'm going to add some of these lush rich colors onto the pages as well. And between the image of my daughter and the lotus flower blooming from the murky waters, I'm going to have my portrait of resilience. Isn't this such a beautiful print? It turned out so well. I love the stamp on it and the background of it. Now, I'm not sure if I want to tear around it and put it on with some of this color for the background. That's a possibility. Or I could just stick the whole print on there like that because it's really beautiful. I actually love these textures of the stamps behind her. So I might just give her a trim up and think about that. And on this side, I'm going to definitely put this print, health, wealth, and happiness. We need some of that and some of the lotus flower, as well. Either that one or that one. I'm thinking maybe we'll go with the darker one. And then I was definitely going to put some of this beautiful color on there as well. But really, I tell you, we're not gonna be out to fit much more on them. My art journal's too small, and my prints are too beautiful. But that is a great problem to have. Right, the prints are all stuck down and my pages are looking beautiful. Rich warm textures of resilience. The lotus flower rising up from the murky waters below. It is I just love it. It's a little bit dramatic. I know I'm feeling dramatic. And my beautiful little treasure looks stunning there as a glorious image transferred print. I added a little bit more of the colored tissue along this page because I just wanted to continue it. See how the composition there. It starts up there and it trails down like that. So your eye follows that line across the page, connecting the two beautiful collages. I love the lotus flower. It looks beautiful in the refined copper, and then I've got the background texture of the health, wealth, and happiness. In my dance moves, inspirational words, I think it's come together beautiful. Now, my prognosis is very good. I've got one more chemo treatment to get through, and then those little nasty cells will be smashed into remission. I'm quite sure and very positive about it. Now I want to encourage you today. Whatever you're facing, it might be a health crisis or a financial crisis or a family member crisis or anything that comes against us and in adversity to push through, to be positive, to keep believing. You'll get there, you'll get through it, gather all of your strength and resilience, and don't to receive help from the people around you that love you. No point being stubborn about it. Just receive all of the love that you possibly can, all of the support, keep smiling and just know we are all with you. Now, my pages are beautiful. I'm going to let them dry. I'll give you a close up, and then we're going to be pushing on to the next lesson. 8. Day 62: Traditions & Memories: Day 62 traditions and memories. We're going to make a collage that captures the spirit of a cultural tradition or holiday. But last year I was living up north New Zealand and my family came to visit. I took them to the Waitangi treaty grounds. This is a very significant cultural place, and I wanted them to experience it. The treaty grounds are in Pia, of the beautiful bay of Islands in the Northland, and on their grounds, they have a fabulous heritage buildings, museums cafe and a wonderful cultural performance. Waitangi Day is the National Day of New Zealand and marks the initial signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 18 40. The treaty is an agreement in Mauri and English that was made between the British crown and about 540 Maori chiefs. The treaty agreed to the terms by which New Zealand would become a British colony and is regarded by many as the founding document of the nation. We had an absolutely fabulous time looking around. They have the huge big Walker there, which is really impressive, fabulous museum, and the cultural show was really impacting. Each year Waitangi Day is celebrated the Walker goes out on a journey. A lot of people come and they celebrate Today, there is still controversy around the treaty principles with arguments over the interpretation of the Multi and English version of the treaty. But every year, Waitangi Day is remembered with both celebration and protests. Now, I can't really speak to either side of the arguments because I have very limited understanding. I was raised in Australia, quite separated from my cultural heritage, and coming I've learned bits and pieces. Not enough really to have an informed decision about the principles of the Waitangi treaty, but I do understand a little about colonization and land loss. I think what's really beautiful about the nation of New Zealand is that the Maori are represented. You hear the language. There's significant events that happen around the culture, and they haven't been completely decimated, like in some other indigenous cultures. The presence of Maori in New Zealand is relatively strong compared to other countries with their indigenous populations. And the Waitangi treaty grounds is really significant for all of New Zealand. My own cultural expression, I really am a bit of both, a bit of Pakeha, and a bit of Maori. So my point of view really is quite mixed, and this is outworked in my artwork. So, what am I going to do today? I've still got all of these beautiful prints from the first lesson. I love that. And I'm really loving this one. This one is a jelly print with the mutard violet on the plate and my fabulous stencils. And then when the print was dry, I ran over it with the pearl white stencil butter. I'm really enjoying this one today and every day that we create, we're a little bit different. You might want different colors or textures. So go with the flow of how you're feeling in the moment of creating. You know, you could always repeat the classes and the lessons and create something completely different next time. But today, I'm enjoying this one. I've also got these other prints from the first lesson that I've taken, and they're really beautiful, too. Now, the cultural show was so impacting the sound of the songs and the calls and the way the performers explained what they were doing. It was really fabulous, especially for someone who really doesn't know very much at all, and my family loved it. We had a great time. So I'm drawing from the inspiration of the beautiful cultural show that I experienced, and I have some glorious feathers. Look at these beautiful feathers, which I bought online. They're absolutely beautiful. I have to put them in my art journal because I think they really do represent the beautiful traditional cloaks that the Mauldi were wearing. So I'm not sure exactly how it's going to work, but I want these in my page today, and I want some of my prints. I'm loving these colors. Oh, it's so nice to touch them. And so this is what I'm going to use today for my traditions and memories. Right. So how am I gonna make this work? The feathers are such a strong part of the traditional cloaks in Multi culture, so I just have to have it. It's my traditions. It's going to go on this side of the page, and I could just put a strip of glue along the binding there and put that on. That's what I'm thinking. Ah, they feel amazing, by the way. So what do I want to put underneath? Well, we could go dramatic with the black. That could work alright. Yes, that would work just fine. I'm loving this piece. It was a great print from my stencils. Or there's the one in the bronze that might work even better. Maybe, baby, I've still got these prints here I could use. Oh, that doesn't look too bad. Those warm colors are pretty nice. Or I could use some of this one here, I really do like this print. I could use some of this one or this one, which is a bigger piece, that would cover the page like that, and I could put them on. And then I probably need something dramatic for the top section. Maybe some of this fabric that I used in the first lesson because it's got the fabulous Kudo symbol on it. I know, haven't I got such cool bits? Where do I get them all from Online. That's where I got these from. Right. So I'm thinking, maybe, baby, that could work. I could put that like that and then glue that down. Do you think it's too much for my art journal to handle? Nah, it'll be alright. I did. I'm liking this idea for this side, although I did like the black as well, but I think that might be better on there like that. And then what will I put on this side? Well, today, I'm really partial to this print, and I'm not sure if I want to actually add more to it because it's really, very beautiful like that. Maybe I could cut out some black. Maybe I could do half black along the bottom there, and half of that one maybe. This one looks really beautiful with the bronze. It could work. So I'll just have a little think about that as I chop them up and decide if that's what I want to do, I might put something else there. I might find some more coso paper, maybe and put it on there because I really like that textured feel of the different papers. That could work, as well. So what are you going to do for your traditions and memories? How are you going to express that and create that? I'm loving the use of my Stetzel in this particular class, it's just such a great way to create such personal symbols, and they're so deep and meaningful and significant, it's been a real pleasure sharing my stories with you. So I'm going to glue those on, and then we'll see where we're at. Don't know how long the feathers will take to glue on, but I have to have them. Right, the papers are all stuck down and don't they look fabulous. I'm loving this print. I'm loving my feathers. And this piece of material at the top, I put a piece of coso paper underneath the black one, so it was more plain and you would see this design. And I'm just loving it. I'm just feeling it today. This side, I've got the beautiful print down, and I was going to add some more pieces to it. Maybe I was going to put some of the black on it, as well. Should I? What do you think? Just tell me, should I leave it alone or shall I add some of the black? That's the question. I'm a little partial to adding a little strip of the black at the bottom. Okay, I'm going to do it. You've convinced me. Where's my scissors? I think I'm just add a little piece of black at the bottom, because then it kind of matches the black on the other side of the page, and I like that idea. So let's start from here. We'll trim this up like this. These printed so well these beautiful stencils. This one's on the Coso paper, and cause it's so fibrous and soft and thick, it really sucked up the paint nicely, and this color is the Amsterdam bronze, which I totally love. I'm trying to get a little straighter because that wasn't very strained. So I'm going to put that on there like that. Perhaps at the bottom, I don't know, man. Now that I've got it on there, I don't know that it needs it. Without or with tough decisions to be made. Oh, that side I'm liking a bit better. Just like that on the bottom. So then it kind of matches that side over there. Or down that way? No, that's not working that way. Alright, we're back to this way. I'm going to have to make up my mind to put it on or not put it on, and you'll find out when I give you the close up. So now these pages have to dry completely before I can continue on. Pretty excited with this art journal. It's got some really fabulous lessons in it and some great ideas, beautiful papers, and I think that's the pleasure of having it in an art journal, so I can come back to it another day and have a look at it and remember what it was I was creating or expressing. And that makes me feel happy. It's a treasure book of incredible ideas and textures. So I hope you're doing well with your lessons this week. I really do want to see what you're creating. So don't forget to show me with or without, can't decide. Oh, man. I think I'm going to just leave it as it is and not stick that extra piece on because I just love it. I love the colors and the contrast and I love the way it makes me feel. So that's it. I'm leaving it. You can't change my mind this time. A 9. Day 63: Vision For The Future: Day 63 vision for the future. So where are we headed next? Reflect on how you envision your cultural or personal identity evolving in the future. Create a forward looking collage using futuristic colors, abstract shapes or translucent layers. Let this collage be an exploration of where you see yourself or your culture going with a focus on growth, change, and hope. Doesn't that sound so exciting? So what are we going to create today? I still have quite a few of the beautiful prints that I've been making throughout this class. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a lot to choose from. Now, let me continue my story of Carol. Do you remember my birth mother who I met, and she hadn't told anybody that I existed. I was an extinct bird. I know. So dramatic. Well, she started calling me on my birthday each year. Once a year, she phoned me for 5 minutes to say, Happy birthday. She still hadn't told her family that I existed, and I thought it was a little weird. In fact, one year, I was so annoyed by the whole thing that I didn't pick up the phone. I know. What can I say? I was still out working and processing the whole development. She only tried once, and if I didn't answer the phone, she didn't try again, and she only called on my birthday. So, this went on for quite a few years. And then, last year, hmm we're talking about seven years since I met her. She called me out of the blue, and I'm like, What? It's not my birthday. Why are you calling me? She called to tell me she was going to tell her sons all about me. News flash. I'm like, why? What happened? I didn't really find out what had prompted this, but I did know that both her parents had passed away. So maybe she felt more relaxed to be able to share the news of the daughter she never told anyone about. I don't know. She didn't really give me an answer on that one as to why. And it really came out of the blue. I knew that she had one son from the marriage that she was in, but she also told me she had another son before me. Really? When she had this son, the father was Pakeha, and the baby was accepted into the family. Somebody else adopted the baby. But when she got pregnant with me, my father was Maori, and that was so unacceptable to her family that that is why I was a complete secret. Here she is now seven years later. I'm 57 by then. She's decided that she's going to tell both her sons that I exist. Oh, man. I'm like, mm. She wanted to let me know she was going to do that in case they actually reached out. So she says to me, I'm going to tell my sons about you, and I'm going to do it at Christmas time. I'm like, oh. What the heck? Can you imagine sitting around the Christmas table when you're having your Christmas lunch and say, Oh, pass me the roast pork, and by the way, there's a sister that you never knew existed. I couldn't see how that was going to work out. I couldn't imagine it. Why would you wait till Christmas? I don't know, man. Anyway, I'm not really sure how it worked out 'cause she's not great for communicating, as you can understand by now. She didn't really give me details. She just told me she was going to tell them. So I'm no longer a secret. But h. I'm not extinct anymore. And if you're wondering, no, they didn't reach out and make contact, but that's okay. I have quite a few part siblings that I've never met and who haven't wanted to connect with me. So, that's okay. I think it's just the fact that I'm no longer a secret is kind of really cool. Not that it affects me anymore anyway, because I had decided, as I shared with you about my painting to shift my focus. And instead of it being a knee jerk reaction of how dare she not tell anyone I existed, my beautiful painting became a reminder of how important and valuable I am. So it really didn't matter to me that she had decided to tell them or if she hadn't decided to tell them because her actions were no longer affecting my sense of self. And I think that is a really empowering place to be. In fact, it's the first time in my life I've ever really felt I belong. I'm valuable, and my identity and self esteem is really strong. I think this is because of the knowledge, knowing where I came from, my cultural heritage, and understanding of the circumstances of when I was adopted, and my birth family has really empowered me as a person. And I would encourage you if you are in a similar situation and you really want to know to just go for it. I mean, it is terrifying absolutely, and it might not turn out exactly how you want. My story definitely didn't turn out like the TV programs. With all the tears and hugging. In fact, one of the brothers that I went to meet from Dalbertside of the family was supposed to pick me up from the airport. I flew to Sydney to meet them, and he just left me there. He just didn't follow through. I don't know what its problem was. So sometimes it doesn't turn out exactly how you want, but the knowledge of what I've learned about who I am and my cultural identity has really empowered me. It has strengthened me, and I feel like I've given myself permission to be valuable. And I believe that freedom is to know who you really are, who you have been created to be, and who you can become. So today's collage is all about that becoming. Where are we headed? How do we envision our sense of self and cultural identity into the future. Right. So I have all of my fabulous prints laid out. I do have quite a few left, and I think that they're absolutely beautiful. I've really enjoyed creating all of these glorious prints from the stencils that, you know now are so deep and so personal. I've got this fabulous card that I didn't use in the other lesson. Of the Hooea Bird. And I'm going to start with that because this is a representation of how I felt about being extinct. But I'm not extinct anymore. So I've got this other card that I picked up at my favorite gallery museum, and I'm loving the way the birds are in flight. So I'm liking the symbolism from the Hoea Bird and then these beautiful birds in flight. It's like heading into the future. The sky's the limit. Where are we going, and what are we? Actually, I'd like to be traveling more next year. That's my plan. So I might pull out some little travel symbolisms or stickers or pictures or something because yes, definitely, after we're finished playing with this horrible cancer treatment, we're going traveling. We're going to be embracing those horizons. That's where I see my future. So I'm going to use the Hoeer bird on this side, and then the birds in flight over here and add some of these beautiful prints. I've got so many laying around. I'm not sure which colors, but this one that turned out so well with the spray paint, I'm going to do that again. That was actually a lot of fun and super easy. Super easy to do. That we, I might put the beautiful purple compass on because we've got to be headed in the right direction. And do I want some more of the blues on this side or more of the warm prints? Not sure. Not sure. I've got so many to choose from. Maybe those ones, baby, or maybe some of the colored tissue. All of it's going to work. I just have to decide which one today I want to use, how I'm feeling, and how I want to represent heading into the future with strength, courage, and freedom? Right, the papers are all stuck down, and don't they look fabulous. I've so enjoyed this class. I absolutely love the deep and meaningful significance of my colleges and the stories that I've got to share with you. Now I'm going to put some travel stickers on the bottom of this page because that's where we're headed next year. Past all of these horrible treatments when I'm in remission, I'm definitely going traveling. Now, which one is the question? Because I have this pack of beautiful, fabulous looking travel themed stickers, and I like them all, so I don't want to stick all of them on there. I am going to have to decide. Oh, man. Oh, I'm liking this one with the suitcase and the world map. Where should we go first? Mm, I'm thinking Paris. Or Italy. Either of those places would be fabulous, so I could put the suitcase. I do like this one. It's got the map on it, as well, and a few bits and pieces. I think there's a watch and a compass. That's gonna work. Or maybe the treasure chest. That's fabulous because the world is one big treasure chest, and we're going to be off exploring. So maybe those three like that, that kind of works, although I do like the travel journal cause we're going to have to make a travel journal along the way. Won't that be fun? I love dreaming about the future, especially next year when I'm feeling a whole heap better. That's going to be great. I'm liking those. I might and R about it for a little bit, but I'm thinking I like these ones the best. I like that that page is open, and I like that both these trunks and suitcases are full of possibilities. Or I do like this one, as well. So I'll try and decide which ones I like the best. I'm definitely going to stick them on the bottom here of the page. Let the pages dry. I'll give you a close up. And that's the end of the class. Oh, man. There'll be one more lesson for me to say, all of the final remarks. Now, I hope you're really enjoying this class and these very deep and meaningful and personal lessons. I really hope you explore your cultural identity, your self esteem, your sense of self worth. You put it all out there in your collage, and you really speak to yourself because you're the only one who can determine who you are, who you want to be. And that is so incredibly empowering. To the Pacific Shoreline. I'll go anyway, you'll be by my side. It's right. We'll leave everything behind. And I'll say, follow me. 10. Let's Celebrate: Thank you for joining me on this epic adventure. I truly hope you've been inspired and encouraged to push on to create beautiful artworks, glorious collages that are personal to you and that are expressing your culture and identity. I enjoyed sharing my stories with you and don't forget you can find more information in your class notes, the paints that I've used and some of the links to the different bits and bobs that I gathered along the way. If you really want to know where they are, have a look in your class notes. There'll be a material list there. Now, remember, you don't have to create your collages like mine because you've got your story, and I'd really love to know what your story is and see your beautiful artworks. So you can find me in my Facebook group, creative Adventures making Art, and you can show me all of your fabulous masterpieces. I would love to see them. You have any questions, you can email me directly froletfrolt.com and I can answer them if you have any problems or you're not sure about something, or you just want to make contact. Email is my best friend. You can also find out more on my website, frolt.com, if you want to have a look at scrap bags that are for sale or look at my latest paintings. Come and have a look at the wonderful world. On Froleart. Which of the pages or the prompts did you like the best? I was thinking about it, and I was flicking through the pages to try and pick one, but I just can't pick one. I absolutely love all of them. I think because they were so meaningful, each and every prompt from the class was meaningful to me, had a story to share, and it was so personal. So I can't wait to see which ones you like the best. Don't forget some of the links in the art supplies have discount codes, so you want to grab the discount codes for the Coso studios, all the stencils and stamps from PMR to studio because every dollar we save is another dollar we can spend on glorious papers. And if you're not sure where we're up to, have a look at the fabulous treasure map. It's so much fun. I've got the whole hundred days of collage written out, plotted the path for us to head. It's really exciting. I absolutely love making these classes, and I so appreciate you being on the journey with me. So we'll be up to class. Class ten, which is going to be a travel theme class. I'm so excited for that because I can dream about next year future plans of travel, and I'm so excited that this just happens to be the next class in the list. Ya, for us, we did it. We completed another class, and I can't wait to see you again in the next one.