Just Mary Designs

[caption id="attachment_622" align="aligncenter" width="687"] This IS the Life I Want To Live
Click Here To Purchase Print[/caption] I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about what kind of life I want to have.  Where do I want my company to go?  What do I want my romantic life to look like?  How do I want to guide my kids and my grandson as they grow up?  How do I want to look?  How much do I want to exercise?  What do I want my future to hold?  Where do I want to travel to next? I think the secret to having a joyful life is actually wanting the life you already have. Sometimes the desire for things - material things, relationships, jobs, experiences - makes us feel that our lives are not good enough. Like we somehow are failing because we don't have everything we want right now.  I have come to think that the act of wanting can be good - it can be a driver, a motivator.  It can drive and motivate us in two ways - one positive and one negative.  Wanting can  make us feel small or hopeless, or wanting can make us feel abundant and grateful.  If we want for more out of life from a starting point of wanting what we already have, then I believe that wanting can help his grow in a aura of hope and expansion of the light  in our life. I hope this piece reminds you that the life you want to have starts by wanting the life you DO have! [caption id="attachment_624" align="aligncenter" width="692"] Print Available For Purchase By Clicking Here[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_613" align="aligncenter" width="692"] To Change Your Body
Purchase Here[/caption] We all want that magic pill...that miracle diet that will immediately transform our bodies into the icon of beauty that we desire to be.  The path towards that body doesn't start with anything external - it all starts with something inside of you.  Your thoughts are the key.  I learned from the amazing weight loss coach, Brooke Castillo, that your thoughts create feelings - and those feelings create actions - and those actions create results.  If you want the results in your life to be a body that is changing towards what you want it to be, you must start by changing those internal thoughts. Our internal thoughts sometimes are really mean.  So many women beat themselves up - for eating that extra cookie, for saying something dumb, for carrying that extra 20 pounds (again!), for somehow failing as a mother, as a wife, or as a friend.  If we are not busy beating the crap out of ourselves with the negative track that runs rampant in our heads somedays, then most of the rest of the time we are busy ignoring ourselves.  Distracting ourselves from things we are afraid to feel.  Sometimes we disguise distracting ourselves with being busy.  Or caring for others.  Or working too much.  Or eating. The path towards finding peace with your body all starts in your head.  Pay attention to your thoughts.  If you don't like them, find some new ones that you do like.  Some new thoughts that you can buy in to.  Thoughts that support the direction you want to go.  That support the fab-YOU-lous life and body you can have!

[caption id="attachment_603" align="alignleft" width="692"] Art Journal Page - I Really Am...[/caption]   Ever have those days where your fears rise up - even if they don't make any logical sense?  I took a class about art journaling and the assignment was to journal about your fears on one side...and your reality on the other side.  I think women tend to universally fear some of the same things.  We fear loosing love...our health...our money...our very lives.  We sometimes even fear looking in the mirror to see how our pants fit today, or fear stepping on the scale to get the same bad news day after day.   I'm done with these fears.  They really don't serve me.  I don't make forward progress with my life when I sit in a puddle of fear.  Or when I anxiously fret about what "could" happen or what "they" might think.  When I think about being bold, embracing my strength and the beauty within me - well it just makes me feel strong.  Like I can conquer the world.  Like I am solidly here and a force to be reckoned with.   So here is what I really am....I'm a damn good business woman.  An emerging artist.  A loving mother.  A doting grandmother.  A pilot with a sense of adventure that goes as far as my airplane will take me.  A classy girl with a little flair and a lot of pluck who intends to live her life on her own terms.   Goodbye silly fears.... hello sweet life!

[caption id="attachment_584" align="aligncenter" width="692"] Alluring, Apple Bottomed, Amazing - Rock Your Look
Click Here To Purchase[/caption] We all have our look. Girl - it's time to ROCK IT!   Some of us are pear shaped women.  Some of us are hourglass shaped women.  And some of us are apple bottomed.  Whatever you are - it's time to love your look!  I believe beauty shines through more in holding yourself confidently rather than by the size of your jeans.  Enough with the message that we need to disguise our look.  Embrace your look! This is the latest painting I have done in y Body Fab-YOU-lous line.    The full line can be found here.  The Body Fab-YOU-lous line is dedicated to helping women find peace and end their struggle with weight loss and body image challenges. I create this line because it comes from my heart - from my own struggle over the years with finding peace within a body that is not model perfect.  You can too.  You truly ARE Body Fab-YOU-lous! Choose today to Rock Your Look!

Tonight  have been playing!  In my Surface Pattern Class by Rachel Taylor we were given an assignment to create a line of stationery from a brief.  The brief specified the elements desired in the line, and that it is to be aimed at a contemporary audience, trendy with a touch of sophistication.  Do you think I hit the target audience?  I hope so! The class is comprised of many wonderful and talented aspiring designers.  Most of them design digitally on their computers.  While I am fascinated by what they create, I am too "hands on" (or maybe that should be "hands messy) to design that way.  So I have taken my mixed media designs and manipulated  them to finish this assignment.  It's much more my style...and much more fun for me! I started with this background that I painted.  I scanned it before adding the words or picture. [caption id="attachment_575" align="aligncenter" width="692" caption="Believe In Your Beauty
Click Here To Purchase"][/caption] Then I manipulated it to create this pattern board - taking snippets of it that I thought were visually interesting. [caption id="attachment_576" align="aligncenter" width="692" caption="Wild Garden Pattern"][/caption] From there I took the pieces of this pattern and repurposed them into the pieces of the stationery set according to the size specs from our brief.  This was really fun for me to do.  I am imagining seeing it on the shelves of Barnes & Noble and wanting to write on these with a fresh sharpened pencil!!

[caption id="attachment_541" align="aligncenter" width="692" caption="Click here to purchase!"][/caption] It's finally here!  I am excited to unveil my new art line - Body Fab-YOU-lous!   The Body Fab-YOU-lous line is dedicated to helping women find peace and end their struggle with weight loss and body image challenges. We all spend so much time wishing for that thinner version of ourself to reappear. But here is what I have learned - it's not the thinner version that gives us what we want. What we want is to FEEL the way we think being thinner will feel. We want to be energized. We want to feel strong, lean, and alive. We want to feel beautiful. And we want to feel free - free from the struggle of weight loss and body image negativity. I don't think I have all the answers, and I am certainly not inside what I perceive the ideal body to be.  But I have learned how to find peace from what has seemed like a never ending struggle - peace right now as I am today. The key to ending the weight loss and body image struggles that so many women have begins with changing the thoughts that fill up our own minds. I hope my art in the line will be a beautiful reminder that a better future is possible - one filled with belief in your own beauty!  I want to help women believe - believe in themselves and that peace can be found right now, in the body you inhabit today. The full line can be found by clicking here!  Enjoy the images! Prints of my work can be purchased on my Etsy Store.  Come on over and have a look at the different inspirational weight loss art.  You truly ARE Body Fab-YOU-lous!

[caption id="attachment_479" align="aligncenter" width="692" caption="Available for sale in my Etsy store"][/caption] Love is all around us.  We see weddings, engagements, and anniversaries happening all of the time.  People honoring their love with celebrations. [caption id="attachment_480" align="aligncenter" width="692" caption="Available for sale in my Etsy Store"][/caption] Sometimes it is easy to overlook the love around us....to feel lonely.  Sometimes it feels like everyone else has the love we desire.  When that happens to me, I begin to look inside.  I firmly believe that we have to have love inwardly for our own selves before we can love outwardly for someone else. [caption id="attachment_481" align="aligncenter" width="692" caption="Available for sale in my Etsy Store"][/caption] When you love someone, you do make promises.  And you create expectations.  I have yet to figure out the secret of loving someone unconditionally, without expectations of what THEY will do for ME in exchange for my love.  But I am working on it!  I believe in the power of love.  I believe that love can help create positive change.  It can inspire people to be the best version of themselves possible.  Love can change a person from the inside.  I hope this brings a little love to your day!! [caption id="attachment_482" align="aligncenter" width="692" caption="Available for sale in my Etsy Store"][/caption]

Here she is.  Dancing.  She continues to dance and delight in life even in the midst of challenges.  The bolder reds paint a picture of strife, power and passion, muted by the smokier blues that suggest uncertainty and the unknown.  Throughout it all, she dances bodily and brightly on, radiating color and light to those around her.  She is the Dancing Girl.  A Dancing Queen. This painting emerged through many, many layers.  It started here with some drips and squiggles and a spray bottle of water....   I learned from the Flora Bowley e-course Bloom True the art of intuitively adding color without being attached to the outcome.  Layering on paint and enjoying the process of what emerged.... Adding more color.  Just having fun.  Making marks with odd things.  Starting to look like a cacophony of color!  One of the funniest parts of this was painting with a foam brush.  Yep - a 25 cent foam brush.  Doesn't seem very hoity-toity or artistic....but it makes great marks and was fun! Next I added some black and white to gain some value contrast.  Amazing how depth was instantly achieved.... Still no dancing girl here...but you can sort of see the beginning of the flower in the lower left hand corner.  From here I loosely painted on the images flitting through my mind as these colors seemed to dance lightly on the canvas.... I began to add color....making some bold moves.  The blue came out of nowhere and seemed to dissolve into a mistiness.  The red came out of my heart, which at the time was breaking for my struggling daughter.  Trusting my intuition to cover some parts with new colors and let the amazing under layers shine through in other places.  Feeling my way. And finally finishing it out (same as first picture above).  Dancing with her as she dances.  Becoming the Dancing Queen in my own life.  Dancing my own way through struggle and strife, boldly radiating love and light. Dance on!

Who are you?  Jackie by day, Marilyn by night?  I think as women all of us struggle at times to define not only our own personal style, but fundamentally who we actually are.  We are taught as little girls to be cute, and good, and quiet.  We are told as women to be bold and to own our power.  Somewhere in between is probably who we really are! Jackie by Day - that means to me being classy and elegant.  Polished and professional.  Handling life with grace and calm.  Being responsible.  Getting things done.  Feeling satisfied with a hard days work.  Smart and subtle clothing.  Matching shoes and purses. Marilyn by Night - that means to me being bold and daring.  Living it up.  Wild fun.  Chasing boys.  Sparkly clothes.  Plunging necklines.  Short skirts.  A little naughty and a lotta sassy. I am very sure that the soul of Mary Sterk lands somewhere right in between - a mix that is unique to me.  Just Mary.  Who are you?

She was ready to bloom.  But not just bloom into a lovely small flower.  She was ready to bloom big.  Bigger than life.  She craved a big life full of adventure, romance, and fabulous experiences.  She was ready to live a big life.  Are you?