BEACH YOGA
CATCH SOME RAYS & BREATHE FRESH OCEAN AIR
WHILE HAVING FUN
WHEN: MORNING CLASSES
 STARTS JULY 12th
            ENDS AUG 25th
TIME:  TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS MORNINGS
               9:30 TO 10:30
TEACHER:  KIM CRAGIN
WHERE:  SURF DRIVE BEACH, FALMOUTH
across from Mill Rd parking lot
CERTIFIED YOGA TEACHERS:  KIM CRAGIN
                                                                    BARBARA  NICKERSON
INCREASE STREGTH AND FLEXIBILITY
       WITH 
TRADITIONAL HATHA & VINYASA FLOW
APPROPRIATE FOR ALL LEVELS
COST:  $10
EMAIL: kimcragin@gmail.com

EVENING CLASSES WITH BARBARA NICKERSON
WHEN:  JULY
TIME:  MONDAY & WEDNESDAY EVENINGS
6:00 TO 7:00
WHEN: AUG
TIME: WEDNESDAY EVENINGS
6:00 TO 7:00
www.yogiegirl.com
EMAIL:barb.nickerson@comcast.net

                                                       
 Join Kim and Barb for a fun beginner's hatha vinyasa style yoga class series on the beach to improve flexibility, strength and overall wellness.

Bring an over sized beach towel, mat and water.  Dress in layers for the Cape Cod ever changing weather and don't forget your sunscreen.

The summer beach series will be for the months of June, July and August on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Kim will teach the morning and Barb will teach the evening classes.  

Beach classes are held on Surf Drive Beach in Falmouth, MA. Park at the lot on the corner of Mill Rd & Surf Drive. Walk across street and down the beach to the right......there we are!  

Cost is a suggested $10.00 donation.  Please arrive ten to fifteen minutes early to set up. Class will cancel one hour prior if weather is an issue.
 
June morning classes are 9:30 to 10:30
June evening classes are 6:30 to 7:30

Kimcragin@gmail.com                   www.kimcragin.com

barbnickerson@comcast.net         www.yogiegirl.com

My first time creating a postcard for a swap.  It was so much fun, I will defiantly participate again.  The theme of the swap was "create" and there had to be some stitching included. 

                                  
 Hello friends,

As most of you know, I am a lover  of “art journals” and the art journaling process.  The reason is…..there are no rules!  That is right, there are no rules.  There are numerous books, videos and  workshops giving lots of ideas, prompts and suggestions on "how to art journal".  But the reality is, that art journaling is all about what you want. How you feel and what you want to create. 

The essence of visual art journaling is the process, the process of creating your story, not the end result. It is a private journal just for you.  This  is your opportunity to create with the freedom of no judgment, no criticism and with no one watching .  Art journaling is your chance to relax and allow the process of creating and expressing who you are and how you feel. Art journaling is not about technique it is about letting go and  creating in color with lightness or darkness, with passion, with anger and /or with joy.  You are free to create, free to create   without explanation.  Your visual  images are your personal language, your way of communicating and expressing with  yourself.  You are able to allow  yourself the freedom to explore and the possibilities become endless. 

Now don't get me wrong, I love fine art.  I truly enjoy learning the proper form and techniques of the great master painters.  And I love trying to reproduce an image to canvas in a painterly way.  Capturing the proper lights and shadows with accurate proportions and perspective. Yet, this can become a  huge burden to me.  To create like this I  need to feel inspired.  I have to  see an image or scene that I want to represent.  Then I have to fight the inner battle of the demon thoughts…."will people like it?", "will this be sellable?”, “how  will the public perceive me?”.  All  these thoughts are very counter-productive to the creative process.  I have finally found a way to combine the two with “paper painting”. 
 
Paper painting allows the freedom of art  journaling and if you want, combining this with the proper form of the artistic painting process. Paper painting is creating with hand painted papers that you personally create with paints, inks, stamps, stencils etc.. In any shape, form, texture or color you choose at  the moment.  You can paint on rice papers, deli paper, watercolor paper, old book pages, recites, bills,  letters anything you choose.  Next,  sketch in an image or scene with charcoal and paint in a simple  background and under layer.  Finally, you are ready to use your hand painted pages for collage.  Begin to look for different colors and textures to fit the areas you are painting.  Then rip the pages into  shapes about an inch or so and glue them down with gel medium. Sometimes one  area will have many different layers to create the shade and texture you are  looking for.     

In the painting below you can see that the majority of this painting was created with my hand painted papers.  I found the process to be incredibly centering and fun.  A great technique to incorporate into your art journals and collage backgrounds.  Why not give it a try ????  It is just another avenue of self expression.

That's all for today......until we meet again, I hope you remember to enjoy the process, in everything you do!

Thanks for visiting.

Kim 
  
I would love to hear about your experience with hand painted papers and your journaling process.  You can leave your comments below or e-mail me at kimcragin@gmail.com
 
PS:  Wow.....Big news for me....I now have an ETSY store!  You can check out my products by going to http://kimcragindesigns.etsy.com          
                                  
 

Being creative and having fun!

If we weren't friends before we are now!

Intently working

Look at all the cool supplies we use.

I had a fabulous day on Saturday at the Falmouth Public Library.  Conducting an art journaling workshop with twenty wonderful guests.  We had a lot of fun, while creating some meaningful pages and celebrating "ourselves".  It may sound corney, but the truth is, that we don't spend enough time and energy celebrating our specialness, our uniqueness.  It is very easy to think of all the things we are not, or who we should be.  And it is very easy to say to ourselves or out loud, all the critical negative things about ourselves.  People and society seem to have a hard time saying good things about themselves.  As if it is bragging or boosting.  In the art journaling process the best part is nobody has to hear you except you.  The art journal is your true and trusted friend.  Your journal is someone you can share all your secrets, all your feelings and all your emotions. While having fun creating at the same time.  

During our art journaling workshop we learned how to create background pages with decorative paper, paints and stencils.  We drew, painted or cut out focal images to represnt ourselves  An tied it all together with different words, statements and stories that celebrated our specialness.  

This process helps to develop self enpowerment, self esteem and personal beliefs.  It is a wonderful tool for adults, teens, children,  families and healing groups.

I love conducting the art journaling workshops.  I have the opportunity to meet so many new and interesting peoiple and share my day creating with them.  I am looking forward to my next workshop which is November 9, 2012 at The Falmouth Art Guild.  I hope you can join us.    
  

   

Living the creative life.  So what does that mean?  To me it means following my passion and making a life and living creating.  The way I choose to express my creative self is through painting, collage, art journaling, writing, teaching and healing.  Living the creative life and working independently allows me freedom and flexibility to explore all of my current loves and allows me to explore and learn new techniques and expressions while I grow.

With this independence I enjoy the freedom of being my own boss and work from home.  Some of the advantages of working from home are; less overhead expenses, ability to work any hours I choose, I don't have to dress up every day and I am not stuck working within the same four walls.  I can decide to take a break and go for a walk and refresh my psyche.  Some of the disadvantages of working from home are; my house is in constant disarray, my studio is my kitchen, my tools and materials are stored in plastic bins and my office is the living room couch.  I sit on the couch surrounded by papers, notebooks magazines and a computer on my lap.  With all this messiness, I have FREEDOM.....and I love it.

I began actually living my dream of "living the creative life" in January, 2012. This lifestyle has brought me the luxuries of freedom and flexibility as well as the strain of STRESS and ANXIETY.  I have constant worry and anxiety about not having a stready stream of income.  I worry and stress over creating, (what do I want to paint, what medium do I want to work in, will people like what I create????).  I worry about not being "good enough".  I stress and get anxious over calling leads and plugging my workshops.  I agonize over my workshop content (I stay up till all hours making sure everything is perfect).  The list goes on and on..........It seems ironic to me, that now that I am finally able to live the creative lifestyle I have been so hungry for, it also brings with it a whole new set of unexpected fears and anxities to contend with. 

I am learning slowly, to accept fears.  My new mantra is "face the fear and do it anyway".  I am trying not to allow my fears to rule my world.  I will continue to face my fears, acknowledge that they are there and do it anyway.........

Thanks for visiting,

Kim   



 

Welcome to my blog!  Scary words for me.  For those who do not know me, I am basiscally a private person.  Although, it isnow time for me to spread my wings, take a risk and explore life with an online presence.  I am reading an interesting e-book by Kelly Rae Roberts called, FLYING LESSONS:  Tips & Tricks To Help Your Creative Business Soar.  THE WHOLE SHABANG.  Kelly Rae believes to create an online connection you need an online presence and to achieve the online presence she highly recommends BLOGGING.  So, I will give it a whirl.  Now that I have decided to blog, I ponder what I would like this blog to be about, what to focus on.  Then I realize what I want to share with you, my new on line friends, is the same interests I share with my real life friends.  My desire is to share in the process of living the creative life.  A creative life that is devoted to the mind, body and spirit connection.  Which I believe will open the door for many, many creative and thought provoking discussions. 
Until next time.........

Thank you for visiting,

Kim