Happy Thanksgiving

Filling the Well

Those familiar with Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way will understand the concept of "filling the well".  Julia recommends a weekly "artist's date", to renew the supply of images and inspiration used up as we go about creating things.  I think of this as fuelling of creative fire.

A trip to unfamiliar shores is like an extended artist's date, and I'm recently back from three weeks in Spain and Portugal.  I won't inflict our tourist snaps on you, but I will say that to lovers of art, history and architecture Spain is a goldmine.

One of the things I cherish about such a trip is a break from the familiar.  I took very few art supplies; aside from travelling carry-on, who has time to create when there is so much to see?  I made a small journal to capture travel moments, itinerary details, etc. and took a black drawing pen thinking that a Zentangle would make good airplane amusement.  I collected lots of ephemera and will make a travel journal with some of the pictures my husband took.

Here's a Zentangle from my journal:

August Vintage Collage

Although I'm not home to receive them, the August Vintage Collage Artist Trading Card swaps have probably been received by everyone.  I decided to try a black and white theme this month, and used a variety of clip art I had on hand, from a Dover clip art book.

Tranquility

Wondering what a "clean and graphic" Artist Trading Card might look like, I made this, using a stamp I'd recently used in a vintage style.  (See Card Style and Tea Time).

The teapot is mounted on foam tape, providing a little dimension that you can't see in the scan.

Inchies for a Swap

At a recent stamp club meeting we gathered to share some paper engineering and distress ink techniques, and to swap cards.  Here are my swaps:

Zentangles

Zentangles have become quite the rage amongst my artist friends, so I thought I'd give it a try:

"Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns." They are traditionally done only in black and white, although many artists use them as a base for adding colour. You can learn more about it here. The repetitive patterns are called "tangles", and you can find lots of patterns here.

It is fun and relaxing, and I'll definitely try more. It feels like it might be a good airplane distraction, so I plan to do some on my upcoming trip to Spain. (I might be doing one while you are reading this.)

Never Too Early

It's never too early to start Christmas cards, especially when you've got new stamps!  (Well, they're new to me, and that's what counts.  I bought this set at a local community centre swap meet for $5 - it isn't complete, but I got 4 stamps - such a deal!)

This is definitely a "clean and graphic" card, right in my comfort zone.

I hope you're all enjoying a lovely long weekend!  We're off to Spain on Tuesday, for three weeks, but I've been so neglectful in posting that I might have some things scheduled in my absence.