Let the wisdom and enchantment of timeless fables and fiction help you achieve your creative goals! From celebrated mixed-media artist and author of Create Your Life Book Tamara Laporte, Ever After is a rich collection of step-by-step mixed-media art lessons inspired by fairy tales, folk tales, and classic fiction. Based on one of Tamara's popular series of online classes, Ever After addressesthe most frequently asked question she receives from her students: "How do I develop my own creative style?" In addition to the beautiful art lessons created especially for this book by Tamara and eight other noted mixed-media artists, each chapter offers creative exercises that invite readers to explore stories, their symbolism, and a specific aspect of style development as they work toward and ultimately achieve their artistic goals. The Story of You. Explore the experiences, feelings, and ideas that stir your passion, and how to adapt and change motifs and other visual elements to make them your own. Inspiration: How to Find It, How to Use It. Examine how to stay open to inspiration, incorporate it into your art practice, and integrate it into your artwork. Comfort Zones & Productivity. Learn strategies for working through your fear and dedicating time to your artmaking. Dealing with Challenges & Deepening Your Voice. Find guidance for starting a mindfulness practice to help you deal with harsh feedback, and for allowing yourself the joy of continually evolving your story, your message, and your style. Ever After will teach you to tell your own unique stories through art making so that your wish-to become the artist you've always wanted to be-is sure to come true! Guest Teachers Includes lessons and tips from these renowned mixed-media artists: Kara Bullock Lucy Chen Danita Andrea Gomoll Annie Hamman Marielle Stolp Effy Wild Micki Wilde Fairy Tales, Fables & Fiction Featured stories include: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Bambi Beauty & the Beast Goldilocks & the Three Bears Mulan Peter Pan Sleeping Beauty The Little Mermaid

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.