Still Inspired

I thought I was finished with the Christmas cards, but I continue to be inspired by grids and what is in my stash.

I love these little stamps by Studio G but I've never figured out how to use them.  It turns out they go nicely on this paper that I love but couldn't figure out either!

Creativity and Making Choices

 

It is much easier for me to start the creative process if I begin by limiting my choices.  I wanted to make some "guy cards" - what we cardmakers call cards suitable for men and boys.  It has been awhile since I printed some trucks, but with my huge selection of wonky drawings, how did I choose which to print?

I have a file which has a few folded cards all ready cut and folded, so I dipped into that and found two brown cards that have been there for far too long.  That limited my choice of trucks by color - perfect.  The card below is going to my nephew for his birthday, and the one above will go in the box for when I need a card quickly. 

 

Thoughts on #30x30DirectWatercolor2019

Someone in the #30x30DirectWatercolor2019 Facebook group asked, "As we head into the final week of this exercise, what, if anything, has everybody learned about their painting, their process, their work?"

I might have learned that 30 day challenges are not for me. At least, not this kind of focused challenge.  I like to bounce around between media too much, I guess. I keep wanting to draw in pencil crayon when I'm "supposed" to be painting. This was supposed to be fun, right?

Someone else agreed with my thoughts, adding that sometimes these challenges can hinder creativity rather than help it.

I knew going into this challenge that I might not stick with it for 30 days.  I've probably done 30 direct watercolor paintings, because one day I did about 15 (small) chairs before realizing that chairs are not the greatest subject for wet on wet.  (OK, I'm a slow learner.)  I guess it depends how you count to 30.

One night recently, I looked out the window and saw a beautiful sunset.  I was moved to paint the journal page you see above.  I considered it a fail, but later realized that this is exactly the kind of "whim" that Joanne Sharpe would add a quotation to and post on Instagram.  So, maybe I didn't "fail" at #30x30DirectWatercolor2019, I just made it my own.

Note to self:  Lighten up!

And then this crazy, wierd thing happened

While I was painting gouache flowers in my art journal, I found a background done in acrylic.  I drew some flowers and added some gelatos and more acrylic and the background became a foreground.

Where Does Inspiration Come From?

Every so often I ponder the vast subject of inspiration.  Sometimes it eludes me, sometimes it hits me like a ton of bricks.  Maybe it is only me, the perceiver and receiver, who varies from day to day.  Maybe some days I'm just sleeping.

Almost fifteen years ago, when I was just beginning my art journey, I took two courses through our local school board.  They were both taught by the same woman, who I just realized recently, has played a profound role in my life.

I was recently  privileged to take another course from Carolynn, and to get another glimpse into her amazing journals.  I made this birthday card for her using the technique that I learned in her Word Art class.

As I was pondering what to make for Carolynn, I realized what a significant inspiration she has been to me.  Not only did I return to calligraphy ten years after taking that first Funky Letters course, but the art of the journal has become my main focus.

One of Carolynn's journals that I recently saw was a travel journal from Maui.  It brought back the lushness and atmosphere of Hawaii so powerfully, that I am returning there soon after a four year absence.  Now that's inspiration!!

Who was a profound inspiration to you?  If you can, I encourage you to tell them.  They deserve to know.

Permission to Play

Coincident with my desire to get messy with paint, I found Carolyn Dube's free mixed media workshop, "A Permission to Play".  The premise seemed to answer my desire - I was looking simply for permission to play!  I'm still in the middle of it, and look forward every three days to the release of the next video.

One of her recurring themes is to free your creativity by using art materials which aren't precious.  At the beginning of the series, she leads you through making an art journal out of an old cardboard box.  I didn't follow the instructions (I think that's allowed if we're giving ourselves permission to play), but instead starting using pages of scrapbook paper.  Why was that?

Towards the end of October, I was noodling around on StampingMathilda's blog and found a post about using up her scrapbook paper.  I'm not sure where she got with this plan, but I gessoed a few pages of scrapbook paper with the plan to make a new journal.  The binding of the journal never happened, and Carolyn Dube works on unbound pages in her workshop.  So, eager to play, rather than make another journal, I grabbed what was closest - gessoed scrapbook paper.  Will it ever get bound?  Who cares - I've given myself permission to just play!

Scrap Inspiration

Stamp by Kelly Panacci

I've been very inspired by the scrap projects at Some Fiddling on the Kitchen Table and at Stamping Mathilda lately.  Thanks so much, ladies, for your ongoing dedication to your blogs and for the inspiration they provide.  Prayers are happening for a speedy recovery, Godelieve!

They have provided the inspiration for another bookmark for the bookmark project.

Idea Books for Inspiration

6" x 6" Idea Book

I've mentioned challenges and prompts this week for art inspiration.  I also take classes, follow many blogs, and borrow art books from my local library.  When something that I see gives me an idea that I want to save, I put examples and journaling in an "Idea Book".  This one is 6" x 6" square and I have a much larger one for those BIG ideas. LOL

Journal52

Looking for weekly journal inspiration?  Sometimes daily challenges are just not practical with our busy lives, but weekly prompts can be more doable.  Journal52 is a free, year long art journaling workshop, with over 10,000 participants.

Silly Scraps Saturday

This is an exercise from Nick Bantock's book Trickster's Hat:  A Mischievous Apprenticeship in Creativity.

The instructions were to make a landscape collage from torn postage stamps, and the exercise was to take 20 minutes.  He listed a pencil in the required materials, so I don't think I cheated too much.  We'll call this "Westcoast Mountains and Rainforest". 

Gathering Inspiration or Seriously Blocked?

I'm taking Alisa Burke's Watercolor Blooms class.  As usual, she is seriously fun.  Enthusiastically, I did an exercise on playing with my supplies:

Then I stalled, for some reason.  The weather is beautiful and I've taken to the streets and parks to gather inspiration instead.  (This is one of Alisa's suggestions, so I'll say I'm doing my homework.)

But at the back of my mind, I'm wondering if I'm suffering a creative block.  The section of the course I'm at now should be my favorite - Painting on a Wet Surface.  Yet I'm fearful, somehow, of continuing.  Too many choices to make - size, color?  Will it be as good as others I've seen?

Oh brother, I think I'll go and slop paint on my Painterly Days coloring book.  Maybe that'll get me over it.

Silly Scraps Saturday is Back!

 

4 1/2" x 6 1/2"

 

I've been thinking about creativity, (or in my case, lack thereof) a lot lately.  A few years ago I kept a scrap journal, inspired by Hanna's post here.  Each Saturday, I would post a page of these silly scrap collages.  My last Silly Scraps Saturday post was here.

 

When I filled up the journal, I thought that I would keep doing them in another journal.  Only I didn't.   My scraps are proliferating but my collages aren't.

 

What does this have to do with creativity?  I feel like I need a creativity boost, and I'm wondering whether consolidating all of those journals was such a good idea.  Each medium needs a different size or type of paper, and without a journal to do them in, I feel creative block setting in.  Too many choices!  If I have a journal for collage, maybe I'll do more.

 

Just as I was thinking about this I read this post over at Daisy Yellow.  (Tammy is also an accountant, so our brains might just work the same way.)  She says that a decade ago she would have found multiple journals too disorganized, but now she finds that it gives her energy.  That works for me!  I love it when I get "permission" to do something from someone I respect.  Tammy is the queen of creativity - she runs the Index Card A Day project.

 

This morning I made a new Scrap Journal and did this first collage.  It looks like Silly Scraps Saturday is Back!



Being Creative During Difficult Periods

 

 

There are times when I find it difficult to get inspired.  Right now it is tax season, and our home office is a zoo.  (In Canada, this goes on until April 30.)  I get to the end of the day before I know it, and enjoy a brief respite when my sister calls me on Skype. 

 

My pencil crayons are always on my desk, and sometimes I doodle while we chat.  In my desk drawer I keep a file of gelli prints and other painted papers waiting for the muse to visit and tell me what to do.  These days I drag a piece out and add a layer of pencil crayon.

 

This was a piece where I'd cleaned off some stencils.  A boring brown and red thing.  Now it has new life.  I have no idea what I'll do with it next, but I'm starting to like it!