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Faces / Portraits Windows to the Soul
Create a soulful painting of a close up of 2 eyes!
Create a soulful painting of a close up of 2 eyes! -
Animals The Glorious Gorilla
Create a captivating watercolor painting of a silverback gorilla!
New
Create a captivating watercolor painting of a silverback gorilla! -
Holidays and Festivals Whimsy Wonderland 2019 – Self Study Course
Join this joyful, whimsical, festive fun and light, arts & crafts course!
Let’s bring some joy, fun and whimsy with over 12 whimsical projects! Join us now! -
Animals Messy Raccoon in Watercolour
Create a Messy Raccoon in Watercolour painting!
Create a Messy Raccoon in Watercolour painting! -
Animals Portrait of a Cow in Watercolour
Create a Portrait of a Cow in Watercolour painting!
Create a Portrait of a Cow in Watercolour painting! -
Magical and Fairytale Goddess of Nature
Create a Goddess of Nature painting!
Create a Goddess of Nature painting! -
Inspirational Themes Kaleidoscope 2022 – Inspiration Bundle
Buy all of the ART lessons from Kaleidoscope 2022 in this one awesome bundle and get all the taster sessions to boot! yay! :)
Learn a wide variety of mixed media techniques from amazing inspiring teachers including Tam! Create mixed media art journal pages themed around inspiring people and places! In the Kaleidoscope 2022 Inspiration Bundle, these wonderful teachers will show you how they add their unique spin on their chosen inspiring person or place! This bundle also includes Tam’s very popular taster week sessions!
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Inspirational Themes Kaleidoscope 2023 – Inspiration Bundle
Buy all of the ART lessons from Kaleidoscope 2023 in this one awesome bundle and get Tam's taster sessions to boot! yay! :)
Learn a wide variety of mixed media techniques from amazing inspiring teachers including Tam! Create mixed media art journal pages themed around inspiring people and places! In the Kaleidoscope 2023 Inspiration Bundle, these wonderful teachers will show you how they add their unique spin on their chosen inspiring person or place! This bundle also includes Tam’s very popular taster week sessions!
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Inspirational Themes Kaleidoscope 2024 – Inspiration Bundle
Buy all of the ART lessons from Kaleidoscope 2024 in this one awesome bundle and get Tam's taster sessions to boot! yay! :)
Learn a wide variety of mixed media techniques from amazing inspiring teachers including Tam! Create mixed media art journal pages themed around inspiring people and places! In the Kaleidoscope 2024 Inspiration Bundle, these wonderful teachers will show you how they add their unique spin on their chosen inspiring person or place! This bundle also includes Tam’s very popular taster week sessions!
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Inspirational Themes Kaleidoscope 2021 – Inspiration Bundle
Buy all of the ART lessons from Kaleidoscope 2021 in this one awesome bundle and get all the taster sessions to boot! yay! :)
Learn a wide variety of mixed media techniques from amazing inspiring teachers including Tam! Create mixed media art journal pages themed around inspiring people and places! In the Kaleidoscope 2021 Inspiration Bundle, these wonderful teachers will show you how they add their unique spin on their chosen inspiring person or place! This bundle also includes Tam’s very popular taster week sessions!
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Animals Portrait of an Elephant in Watercolour
Create a Portrait of an Elephant in Watercolour painting!
Create a Portrait of an Elephant in Watercolour painting! -
Faces / Portraits Meditation Girl
Join Meditation Girl! :)
Create a meditation, namaste or prayer girl in ‘lollipop’ fashion. :)
Products
Creating Cuties
Join Tam in her newest SOLO course and paint a series of super cute cutie pies! 😃 Learn to paint sweet, cute, adorable animal characters full of joy and innocence!
Join Tam in her newest SOLO course and paint a series of super cute cutie pies! 😃 Learn to paint sweet, cute, adorable animal characters full of joy and innocence!
Expressive Soul Portraits
Join Tam in her newest SOLO course and paint a series of Expressive Soul Portraits with her!
Join Tam in her newest SOLO course and paint a series of Expressive Soul Portraits with her!
Mastering Mixed Media – Expo – 2025 – VIP
Purchase your VIP - All Access Pass for Mastering Mixed Media!
Mastering Mixed Media – Expo 2025 is a two-week, online mixed media art event celebrating the joy of creative play, experimentation, and expression. Hosted by renowned artist and author Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts, this event brings together 35+ inspiring mixed media artists from around the world. Together, they’ll share a wide variety of lessons exploring texture, layering, colour, and mixed media magic to spark your creativity and expand your skills. – Life long and downloadable access available for VIP students!
Just leaving this little guy here on my timeline here for your moment of serotonin release. It`s the boy version of the other kitten I did the other day. He has such a sweet quality to him! 😍😍😍 - Make this painting with me? --> https://bit.ly/CreatingCuties (or link in bio/ link tree). ♥️♥️♥️
"Kitty Love & Whimsy" - I ran my very first online art course in early 2009. It was called World of Whimsy, and I think I had around 100 sign-ups, which felt absolutely amazing at the time!
I was pregnant with my first son Dylan and had just left a job in market research to follow this new path. Back then, hardly anyone was running online art classes. Online events with video were still rare. YouTube was just starting to become known, and the idea of watching anything online felt brand new and exciting.
Compare that to how things are now with so many people doing this kind of work! Crazy how things change!
What drew me to running online classes was how they brought together so many of the things I loved and was (sort of) good at: teaching, making art, editing video, Photoshopping, building website. I’ve always enjoyed tech, which is unusual for an artist! Just two years before that, I had been teaching art, music, and drama at a British international school in Sri Lanka. And beyond all that, I loved that I could support people’s mental health through creativity, it was a win-win-win-win-win kind of thing for me haha. 😊
The painting I’m sharing today was the promotional image for World of Whimsy, the course. It has that sweet, quirky charm I loved at the time that helped me so much to get reconnected to that inner child space and heal some of the trauma wounds that were still lingering.
I was enchanted by the idea of a cat-like creature walking its pet mouse on a leash. And if you’re wondering about the words in the background; they’re the lyrics to “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat” from The Aristocats. 🐾🎶
This is day 7 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱
“I cry glitter.” ✨
A lyrical quote from a song by Antony and the Johnsons (now Anohni and the Johnsons), whose music I was utterly obsessed with; so vulnerable, poetic, and soul-baring. One of my favourites, Bird Guhl, is from their hauntingly beautiful album I Am a Bird Now. Anohni’s is one of my favourites; full of ache, truth, and beauty.
This painting, also titled Bird Guhl, was part of my early Paint Over Collage series published in Somerset Studio (2013). I enlarged it in photoshop today and was struck by the wild abandon in the marks I made back then; loose, expressive, instinctive.
It reminded me of beginner’s mind; that freedom we have when we start creating, before perfectionism creeps in. Funny how we spend years striving to “improve,” only to realise that joy lives in the unlearning. As Picasso said:
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
I often feel torn between the illustrator and the painter in me; one seeks polish, the other freedom. But I’m learning that spontaneity has its own kind of perfection.
Thanks for reading. 💗
I’d love to hear if you’ve ever tried to return to that playful, messy, beautiful beginner’s mind in your own creative journey.
#BirdGuhl #Anohni #MixedMediaArt #BeginnerMind #ExpressiveArt #CollageArt #ArtMusings #Willowing #arthealing This is day 6 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱
