Want to Know a Secret??

21 What? Ways to bake a cake? NO!

21? Ways to do narly tricks on your skate or surfboard? NO

21? Types of drinks you can make? Umm...potential class but NO

How's about 21 AMAZING secrets you can learn from AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, SENSATIONAL artists, including ME!! That's right....I will be joining 20 artists on April 1st for the most magnificent art journaling journey.

From April 1st to August 1st, 2011 you can bask in all things art journaling on the 21 Secrets playground.The cost is $59 and you get SO much material...videos, pdf's and months to get to know these artists, art therapists, writers, and creative extraordinaires.

But don't take my word for it. PLEASE check out all the phenomenal women I will be working with...it will blow you away. Visit Dirty Footprints Studio and the fabulous Connie - the founder of this art sensation for more information.

I truly hope you will come play on April 1st. Registration starts Monday, March 14th, 2011. I can promise you, you will LOVE it!

True to Myself

It has been a LONG time. Please forgive me! How are you all doing?? I've missed you very much so here's a BIG hug from my heart to yours!

Happy Belated New Year to each of you. How has the New Year been? Tell what's new?

The start of the year has been rather interesting for me. I know normally people slow down at the end of the year and then come January 1st they ramp up again with resolutions and energy to take on all the things they hope to accomplish but this year wasn't like that for me. 2011 started with a call for stillness and silence. So much happened at the end of last year that I needed quiet and so I went with that thought and feeling.

I started the next installment of the BIG painting series at Dirty Footprints Studio called DEEP which has allowed me to get quiet and get into a place where I can grow personally, professionally, and creatively.

I needed time to sort through things and slow down enough to begin to hear the sound of my own inner voice and heart. I needed to be more at peace with myself. I am still immersed in that process but I know in my heart that I am ready to return to blog land> I want to connect with each of you and get this place going again.

As I mentioned last year, I will be merging CreativeNachos and Thursday Sweet Treat. CreativeNachos is where this all began and it's time for all of this to live under one roof and expand. In addition, I will be teaching new classes on Nachos and have some other surprises.

I want to thank you for all the love and support you always share with me and all the patience you have had as I've worked to grow as an artist, writer and woman in this life. I would love to hear how your lives are going, what your hopes are for this year and all you would like to share so please feel free to comment or email.

In the next week or so, you will begin to see changes. Please bear with me as I make this transition. My goal is to be set up completely by the first week of February.

Love and shimmy shakin' magic to you!
Tasha

Here's What We Are Going To Do

The Home of My Passionate, Creative Heart
Created by Natasha Reilly

I wanted to begin by sharing this piece that I created for Week 6 of BIG, created by Dirty Footprints Studio. This is a deeply personal painting ...it's huge and wonderful. I am very proud of this work as lots of love and passion went into it's creation.

Since I began the Thursday Sweet Treat, I have loved all of the creative souls I have met. There have been some amazing times and some tough times here and the entire time I have learned and loved in more ways than I ever imagined possible.

The time has come for the TST to change a bit. Before I began this, I was writing a blog called Creativenachos. I have gone back and forth between both for awhile but the time has come to combine these worlds. As I grow and change as an artist along with all of you, I feel it's only right that my blogs grow and change with me.

So, aside from the merger, I am going to change the way we do things on the TST a bit. I want to delve a little more into process so we not only see what we create but we learn more from one another as artists. It won't require a ton of work on your part just a new way of exploring this artistic journey together.

I will be closing the TST for a few weeks again in order to bring about the changes needed. I think it's ok to do that now as the end of the year can be crazy for everyone and this allows time to focus on relaxing, being with family and friends and gearing up for the new year ahead.

The TST will open again in mid-January. I will post more as I get closer to being ready and of course I will be posting off and on throughout the holidays. I will be in touch and it is my hope you will return next year for a whole lot more artistic fun. Also please check back as I will be teaching some new classes and I will be posting lots of info about them.

Much love to you and thank you for inspiring me to grow the TST and create something bigger than I imagined!

xoxoxo,
Natasha

How Do These Artists Share Love?

PLEASE NOTE: Please join me tomorrow for an important TST announcement. Thanks!


This week, I am in LOVE with the beautiful works these talented, professional artists created. Each one celebrates inspiration, blooming, the layers of love, poetry and love shared between two people. It's just wonderful! The work that I created was twofold - it was for a class I am in and for the TST. I have not revealed it in either place yet but will share it here tonight.

Please join me on a LOVEly journey....




Maureen, super talented artist, created this gorgeous piece.

"What can I say? Feeling "I love you" makes me feel like flowers blooming inside me . . .and any sense of gratitude, felt and/or expressed, also feels like beauty blooming. So, that's what got painted," said Maureen.

"I want to be sure to credit Amanda/PersistentGreen for being my artistic muse on this. A few months ago she showed me a new style she was trying, with abstracty flowers, brilliant colors, and black highlights. I was captivated. I'm trying to play with the ideas and make them my own, without copying her. For me, it's combining a sort of stained glass outlining, with the "loud" colors and flowery shapes."

http://aquamaureens.blogspot.com













Felicia Kramer, creator of Another Bright Idea and More Bright Ideas, created this stunning piece.

"I love texture, and with this piece I simply played with various textures, overlays, opacities to see what kind of effects I could get," said Felicia. "There’s about 6 layers here, I think. I topped it off with two lines from a poem by my favorite, e. e. Cummings."

www.etsy.com/shop/anotherbrightidea
www.etsy.com/shop/morebrightideas
www.feliciakramer.blogspot.com










Amanda, creator of Persistent Green, created this phenomenal Live Laugh Love, mixed media wall hanging, approximately 6 inches across.

"This week's theme made me think of a phrase that's been special to my husband and me for years now--Live, Laugh, Love," said Amanda. "The funny thing is that now the saying has become really popular; we see it in gift shops all the time (and often can't help buying pillows, plaques and all kinds of things with variations on the phrase). I couldn't resist making an artful object of my own!"

http://PersistentGreen.com






Now tell me, is your heart not full? Are you not madly in love??

Growing BIG

What does it mean to you to be BIG?

When I joined Connie Hozvicka, creator of Dirty Footprints Studio, in her BIG workshop I thought I knew the meaning of the word but over the course of the last six weeks, I have learned an entirely new definition. BIG is powerful. BIG is transformative. BIG is a celebration not just of life but, more specifically, the life force within you. It taps into the meat, the heart of you and invites you to release in a way I guarantee you haven't since you were little, if ever.

When I joined, I knew I would be creating paintings but even that word has taken on new significance in my life. My paintings are massive in size and in heart. I began having done little painting outside of art journaling, and now I wake every single day wanting to create, wanting to paint.

If you have an opportunity to take this course, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend it. It has been an incredible experience that is changing my life. My husband even commented that he was in awe of what a positive effect it was having on all of my life.

If you have a moment today, stop by Dirty Footprints Studio and check out some of the amazing art created by Connie - a truly remarkable artist who inspires me to no end - and that of my fellow FEARLESS painting Tribe members, all of whom I adore!

Sending you BIG love!

Something is Coming

Something exciting is on the horizon....I will be sharing this week.....anything exciting you'd like to share?

From My Heart to Yours

How you choose to interpret the theme is completely up to you. It simply needs to be tasteful – no pornography or messages of hate here. When you sit down to create, you cannot think about how people will or will not receive your work. You are required to simply enjoy the act of creating.

This Thursday is Thanksgiving, a day to give thanks for the many riches such as friends, family, food on the table and so on. We will not be playing as we will all be surely eating but this TST will be revealed on Thursday, December 2nd.

For this treat, I'd like you to do three things. First, turn on the song below and dance around. I mean it, get up from your chair and dance around your house with joy! Second, I'd like you to think about the words - I love you. How do those words apply to your life right now? Maybe you haven't taken care of yourself the way you would like and need to say, I Love you, to you or perhaps it brings the thought of someone in your life, a loved one, daughter, son, grandchild, friend, etc. Think about that person during Thanksgiving. Finally, give thanks for them and then create something new with them in mind.



Important Guidelines



The work submitted must be something you have created and/or worked on between the time the theme was revealed and the Thursday unveiling. Please submit your response to Natasha@creativenachos.com no later than end of day Wednesday, December 1st if you would like it to be posted on Thursday, December 2nd. OR send me a link to your response to include in the comments section of the post.





With your response please include:


1. Your name - either first name, shop name or both.

2. The name of your piece (if you choose to give it one)

3. Something you'd like to share (process of creation, idea behind piece) if you'd like to share anything. Please limit this to 2-3 sentences

4. The shop and/or blog links you'd like to include

5. Two photos of your piece or of each of the pieces (3x5 or 4x6 and 72dpi or a max of 96dpi - if you need any help with that please don't worry I'd be happy to help!)



Most importantly, make something from your heart!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!