Create Your Life Book: Mixed-Media Art Projects for Expanding Creativity and Encouraging Personal Growth

Inspired by artist Tamara Laporte’s popular online art classes (willowing.org), Create Your Life Book presents 18 step-by-step mixed-media drawing and painting projects that encourage self-fulfillment through the creative process. Tamara’s kind, non-judgmental voice guides your way.

What is holding you back? Where do you want to go? Let go of the past! Use these expressive exercises to help you recognize your personal challenges and other obstacles, then work through them. Let go of limiting beliefs, find courage, feel gratitude, heal pain, and develop self-love as you playfully create.

Each themed chapter presents four to five two-part projects. First, you will explore a common issue that hampers creativity and/or positive self-worth. The second portion is a step-by-step mixed-media art project designed to help you work through that issue. Just a few of the explorations:
 

• Let go of what no longer serves you by taking stock of what’s holding you back, then create a zentangle butterfly to symbolize you flying away from those limiting things.
• Embrace and love your inner quirky bird by taking an inventory of your quirky traits, then create a bird that celebrates them.
• Heal old wounds by writing a letter to yourself as a child, then create a house to keep your inner child safe.

Adding rich variety to the messages and art inspiration, some of the project outlines have been contributed by Tamara's guest teachers: Roxanne Coble, Andrea Gomoll, Alena Hennessy, Mystele Kirkeeng, Ivy Newport, and Effy Wild, each of whom are noted mixed-media artists in their own right. The final chapter presents a simple binding method for creating a keepsake book of your Life Book projects.

Steeped in inspirational images and uplifting affirmations, Create Your Life Book can help you achieve both personal and creative growth.

Tamara Laporte is a celebrated mixed-media artist and art teacher who has been running her own creative business, willowing.org, since late 2008. Since then, she has become a creative catalyst for thousands of artists. Her work, which can be described as “mixed-media folk art meets magical realism,” ranges from whimsical children’s illustrations to more stylised fantasy art. Symbolism and layering play a big part in her work, and her paintings often contain healing themes, uplifting messages, and inspirational poetry. Tamara believes that the act of creating art can be a gateway into healing and personal growth. Her art classes often contain an element of self-development along with instruction on art techniques. She is deeply devoted to helping people get in touch with their creative fire, and works tirelessly to bring uplifting, nourishing, creative, and empowering content to her amazing tribe of thousands. The author of the best-selling Create Your Life Book, Tamara's work has been featured in many art magazines, books, and media outlets. She runs a variety of popular art classes on her ning network, which has more than 24,500 members and grows by 150–200 mixed-media enthusiasts each month. She lives in Devon, UK.