FORMIDABLE FRIDA

 

FRIDA IS MY FAVORITE ARTIST! 

We all love Frida! We all know the story of Frida, The pain and sorrows of her life. Her tragic accident that left her crippled for life, her many miscarriages, her philandering husband whom she loved above everything else in her life, and then there was her paintings. She poured out every emotion she had om the canvas. I would imagine that her talent for painting probably saved her many times over as she used art as a way to express her feelings about the troubles she had in her life. Art was how she coped with the pain and sorrow. But it is her Strength her Courage her Audacity, and her Great Resilience that I have always admired and loved the most about her! 

No matter what she went through, she maintained such a sense of style in her appearance and her warmth and love of life towards others. She never gave up in spite of her obstacles but fought for what she believed she could become and did become a world-renowned artist. She was stubborn and outspoken and sure of what she wanted for her heart and for herself as an artist. 

The clothes she wore was not the style at the time, but she carried it off with so much flair! Every picture you see of her, she is dressed beautifully, make-up flawless, jewelry from head to toe! She was a magnificent creature. I believe she also presented herself as a work of art of her own making in how she dressed and especially how she wore her hair. The flowers she wore in her hair are symbolic to who she is. She was genuine in everything she did! There was no one else like her!

But I think what Diego said about her sums up who Frida was: "Her work is acid and tender, hard as steel but fine as a butterfly's wing. Lovable as a smile, cruel as the bitterness of life. Never before had a woman put such agonizing poetry on canvas as she did."

Frida said this of herself, "I don't paint dreams or nightmares I paint my own reality."

So, with the theme this week, create your own version of Frida and how you see her life and her work. I posted a page of Frida's portraits, her paintings, and many photographs. of her life. You are welcome to use them in your artwork this week

Here are my Frida Creations:

         "I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you."                                                                  ...Frida Kahlo

TWILIGHT ZONE WITH VAN GOGH

  I decided that the Month of January we would continue to create art with an abstract, surreal theme each week. 

This week has us creating art with the Theme:

 "Twilight Zone with Van Gogh". 

When you create your art this week, think of Vincent's style of painting and his masterpieces. Incorporate into your artwork what your interpretation is and create your own masterpiece!

Here are a few of Van Gogh's painting to inspire you!

Try to use texture and lots of color in your art piece but also give it an abstract, surreal effect.  See how in some of these paintings his images are a bit out of kilter and somewhat skewed. Use that effect in your artwork as well. And as always, let your imagination be your guide, dark or otherwise.

I cannot wait to see what you will create this week with your vast creativity and wonderful talent! 

Here are my: 

"Twilight" Creations:

Digital art created from Gecko Galz Dreamweaver ATC Set, Surreal Gems Collage Sheet and Pixabay

THROUGH A MIRROR DARKLY

 Our Theme this week is about Mirrors and Reflections in an abstract way as to distort time and imagery of another place or another time. A world not in the real world.

Use your imagination to bring about an image that does the same. Create a reflection beyond the realm of time that hovers between what is real and what is imaginary, making what is real an image of the surreal. 

                             Here is mine:

Digital art created from Gecko Galz Collage Sheet Gothic Nights, background from DreamFusionPrint, Mairiam's Digital Kit Scraps, and Pixabay

WORST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER

 Remember when you were young and hated to get clothes for Christmas? You would get a Christmas present out from underneath the tree and it would be wrapped so beautifully with bright paper and lots of shiny ribbon, and you could not wait to unwrap it.  You just knew it had to be that special toy you wanted all year! 

You would tear into the paper and open the box and see that it was not the toy you so desired but something else...clothes!! You would try not to act disappointed but where was the toy you wanted so badly???

I could get clothes anytime of the year...it was Christmas!!! I wanted toys...not clothes!! I guess that was bad of me seeing as this was the 60's and there were so many starving children in Cambodia that had no clothes, and one had to be thankful for what they were given or so I tried to think that way, but socks???

 So Socks was always my "Worst Christmas Present Ever"!! I always got them every year ...no matter what...socks! The irony of it is that I am much, much older now and want socks for Christmas!! Go figure!!

Now it is your turn to create a art piece depicting your "Worst Christmas Present Ever"! 

I cannot wait to see what you will come up with!!

Here are my 

"Worst Christmas present Ever" 

Creations!

Digital art created from Miriam's Digital Kit Scraps and Pixabay

NAUGHTY ELF

 Look what that Naughty Elf did!! 

He turned the Bright and Cheerful North Pole! into a Dark Gothic Land! Gone are the colors of Green and Red and now he is celebrating a Black Christmas!!! He turned the elves into witches and skeletons and placed black presents underneath a black Christmas Tree! Oh, what will Sant do now with Christmas only days away? He will have to work his Christmas Magic, which is much stronger than the Naughty Elf's powers, and restore the North Pole back to the Enchanted Land it was! But can he do it before Christmas gets here? Time is running out!! We can only wait and see! Maybe if everyone says "Merry Christmas" 3 times really loud enough for Santa to hear then that would be the only magic Santa needs to bring back the North Pole that we all know and love! 

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!

Make it dark or light, it is your choice! Make your elf naughty or just mischievous! It is up to you and your creative imagination!!!

And I noticed everyone had Elf Themes this week! See great creative minds think alike!

Cannot wait to see what you will come up with!

Digital art created from the Digital Kit Black Christmas and Gothic Christmas from Craftnest

YOU'RE A MEAN ONE, MR. GRINCH!

 THE GRINCH THAT STOLE CHRISTMAS

This was one of my favorite Christmas Cartoons as a child growing up and watching it year after year. We never outgrow the Grinch!! I couldn't wait to see it on TV....it made Christmas more special! Dr. Suess and His Mr. Grinch! I loved the music and the characters....little Cindy Lou Who and Whoville and that poor dog that the Grinch made pull his sleigh! And when I had children, I couldn't wait to watch it again, year after year with them! So, I had to make it one of our Christmas Themes here at My Soul's Dark Imagination! 

So this week your Challenge is to create a special art piece from your childhood memories of 

THE GRINCH!! 

Have fun with this! I cannot wait to see what you will create! 

Don't forget to check out the Freebie Section for all kinds of Grinch images and Christmas Backgrounds for you to use! Thank you, Sim, for the Grinch images you sent me. I included them with the other free images!

Here are my Grinch Creations!

Digital art created from Gecko Galz Digital Collage Sheets, Graffiti Street ATC Sheet, Dear Santa ATC Sheet, And Retro Christmas ATC Sheet, and Pixabay

A DICKEN'S GHOSTLY CHRISTMAS

 THE CHRISTMAS SEASON IS HERE!!

 I have some fun but quirky Christmas Themes for the Month of December 

The first Theme for this Season is 

A DICKEN'S GHOSTLY CHALLENGE!! 

It is about Charles Dicken's beloved Christmas Story, 

"A CHRISTMAS CAROL"! 

As the story goes, there are 3 Ghosts sent s messengers to Mr. Scrooge! 

For our kickoff for the Christmas Dark Art Challenges for December, we are going to create art with those same 3 ghosts in mind!

You pick which ghost you would like to create to scare Mr. Scrooge so his miserly, selfish, cold heart will be filled with holiday love, good tidings, and cheer!!

SO WHICH GHOST WILL YOU PICK?

The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, or The Ghost of Christmas Future!

If you would like to skip the ghosts and go with a lighter theme, then you can create an art piece to personify that mean, miserly, hardhearted Mr. Scrooge! Or you can do both themes! It's your choice! 

I posted some Freebie Dicken's Ghostly Christmas Images for you to use in your artwork if you wish!

I cannot wait to see what you will come up with this week! 

Have some Spooky Christmas fun!!

Here is my Dicken's Ghostly Christmas Theme Artwork!

Digital art created from DreamFusionPrint Digital Kits Christmas Fantasy and Christmas Free Pack, Backgrounds from Gecko Galz Merry Little Christmas ATC Digital Collage Sheet, frames from Miriam's Digital Kit Scraps

THE SNOW QUEEN

 Our Theme this week is from the Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tale 

"THE SNOW QUEEN". 

There were 7 chapters to this Fairy Tale, so I picked the last one to go with our Theme. I created a Page with the Fairy Tale for you to read about the story if you want to! I also created a page with the wonderful illustrations for you as well! 

Since my children are all grown, it has been 15 years since I have read a Fairy Tale so it brought back some warm, nostalgic memories for me and maybe will do the same for you!

Here are my Snow Queen Creations!

Digital art created from images from Gecko Galz Challenge Blog, DreamFusionPrint Backgrounds, and Pixabay

WOOD NYMPHS

 Thank you for making another Dark Imagination Challenge such a success! Everyone's Fall Faerie World was absolutely enchanting!

I created a Page to Highlight some of the artists from each Theme to showcase your fantastic work! The link to the page is on the sidebar!

I also created another Freebie Page with Fantasy Backgrounds and PNG Images for you!

Our THEME for this week is WOOD NYMPHS!

In the Greek World, Nymphs were everywhere. They are nature goddesses and rarely seen by humans. They can be found in all the places that trees grow, water runs, winds blow, and mountains soar. While not immortal, they do have some supernatural abilities and are spirits of the oak trees. They are often shy but have been known to dance in revelry if no humans are watching!

Here is my Wood Nymph Creation!

Create your own interpretation of a Wood Nymph with all of the enchantment that they seem to have! Cannot wait to see what you will come up with!

Digital; art created from DreamFusionPrint Digital Kit Woodland Creatures

FALL FAERIE FOREST

I'M LATE!!! 

But better late than never, right???

Before I talk about the theme for this week, I just wanted to take the time to say that I am so very proud of the amazing art that everyone has been posting each week! Just when I think you have outdone yourself...you go one step further and create something more fabulous than the week before! It is definately Art Eye Candy for my own soul's dark imagination!!!

I am going to start a page to highlight some of the artwork each week to showcase your wonderful creations! And yes, I must say this for sure...I am so proud and honored to know and create art with such a talented group of people! Thank you for your wonderful, spooky creations and for all of your support!

As I promised at the start of this challenge blog, not all the themes would be dark and gloomy but that we would also take an artistic venture into the light side as well. I am excited to tell you that this month will be filled with Fantasy Themes of Magical, Mystical, Faerie Lands and other Creatured Beings who are the Guardians of the forests and the glades. I also thought the Theme of Fairy Tales with a dark, little twist would be fun! I will give your more info on that next week. And of course, with Christmas just around the corner, I have thought of some really fun, magical themes for the season as well!!

Now on to our Theme this week... a magical, faerie land waits for you! Create your idea of a far, far away land of your choosing and your design filled with mystical faerie creatures. There should be no limits to where your imagination will take you as you create your own version of a Fall Faerie Forest. I cannot wait to see what you will come up with, but I am sure it will be spectacular!

Here is my own 

Little World of Magical Faeries!! 

I could not stop at just creating one art piece but as my imagination flowed, I continued to create until I had four little mystical creations completed to share with you!

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!

Digital art created from FusionDreamPrint Digital Kit 45 Cute Whimsical Autumn Fairies

Dark Angel

Our theme this week is.  DARK ANGEL! 

I am posting a free image from Gecko Galz for your prompt! You may use this image or a image of your own. I cannot wait to see what you will create. Remember you do not have to create a digital image but can also create anything mixed media as well.