You Just Didn't Want It Enough

I've sat on this post for a while, because while the Olympics were happening, people were hot and bothered about a lot of things, and didn't have the distance from an event that gives you a better perspective.

This Olympics was fascinating. From the controversy about Rio being a disaster, to the mind-boggling swimming performances, the (insert nameless poor decision maker here) - it was a newsworthy event from start to finish.

To me it seemed like there were more CHARACTER moments than in many Olympics past. Usain Bolt shushing a reporter when the US National Anthem came on, for example.

But as exciting as the swimming was, the moment that really captured my heart at this Olympics was this one.

A lot of people criticized Shaunae Miller - the winner here - for this dive, which is completely legal in track and field. Uninformed people (and clearly people who are not baseball OR track fans) jumped to an unwise conclusion, in defense of who they considered the anointed winner.

But what really happened here is that that Shaunae Miller wanted to win more than Allyson Felix did.

And because of that - she won.

Up until the second that she made that decision to be "the first athlete whose torso (as distinguished from the head, neck, arms, legs, hands or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the closest edge of the finish line" - it was a horse race.

But the sheer force of her will decided it.

She wanted it more.

And quite often, the person who wants it more, wins, which is why you should really, really think about what you want. All the time. All day every day. And you should also never, ever, ever think ill of a person who wants something more than you do and gets it. You have the same opportunity. Be creative. Pull out that baseball move when everyone else is worried about form. You'd be surprised how effective it is. And someone might get an epic picture of you doing it. I love this picture. I find it very inspiring.

One of my proudest moments at my retreat this fall was getting a beloved friend of mine - Diana Gibbs - to break form and get her hands dirty. She does NOT like to get her hands dirty. She won the cleanest workspace award for the entire weekend.

Seriously - look at it.

She didn't want to get inky, and it was very out of character for her, but she bravely tried the technique, and ended up loving her card. I love it when people get out of their comfort zones and make art. It always ends well.

That's what we try to do with the MIX-Ability challenge at Splitcoast. We try to show people that mixed media can be whatever you want it to be - messy, clean, quick and simple or long and complicated. I used to be so intimidated by mixed media until I figured out that all it means is you use multiple mediums, and heck - I do that all the time.

Today, I'm hosting the challenge and I decided to do a twist on a cling wrap technique that we did at my retreat. Cling wrap (like Press 'n Seal) is WAY more fun in the studio than in the kitchen, believe me. So I made two cards with this technique - and it LITERALLY took a minute and a half. So I hope you try it.

The first card was with a bigger panel used for a background.

 The second card was to show you how pretty the same technique can be on a card with tons of white space if that's your comfort zone - it is mine, for sure.

links to all supplies used

InLinkz.com

The mediums I used were powdered watercolor. I used Paper Artsy Infusions - these are similar to Bister - they contain walnut shells in addition to just pigment, and that adds little spots of warmth into the powders. As if Tim Holtz and Brusho got married. :)

Here's a quick video of it.

This will work with any water soluble medium - ink, watercolor - whatever. Even acrylic paint - just water it down or use a fluid acrylic.

But whatever you do - experiment, get your hands dirty.

Break form.

It's how you win.

Loveyameanitbye.