More Art, Synchronicity, and Block Busting Fun
March 30th, 2008
As promised...some more art! First, some atc's on the backs of playing cards that I worked on yesterday. I just want to say "ooshie booshie!" when I look at them. They're so little and cute! It seems that I like everything miniature. Yesterday morning the hubster and I were in Dunkin' Donuts and there was a display of bags of coffee beans. I picked up the mini bag of ground beans and said, "I like this one!" To which the hubster replied, "You like everything that's small!" Busted! 
Yesterday was super fun and busy with loads of errands and then creative time for the hubster and I. He was working on some music in his office while I painted in mine. I popped out this miniature canvas (4"x4") of a cat in a box which I'm calling "This End Up." It's dedicated to my orange cat, Tabbers who has never met a box he didn't like.
A fun synchronicity occurred yesterday when Cris emailed to say hello and made a comment about the little postcards I had made for my 200th post giveaway. Cris was the first commenter on that post and I sent an art card to the first five commenters on that post. It just so happens that later that day that her card arrived and I'd sent her the card that she had wanted (without mentioning which one she liked.) I felt like I made a cool connection with each person I sent a card to and sent the right card for them. It's so cool when I can tune in with another person like that.
K commented on the last post, "do you know what i could do to unblock myself? i feel that my school work has killed my creativity. sad and frustrating..." I figured I'd address this question here since I think this happens to many of us at some time or another, where we've had some job or class or other obligation that seems to suck the energy and creativity right out of us. There are a variety of ways to deal with a block, but here's one of my favorites: doodle. I'm an out of control doodler. I will doodle on anything and everything including school notes. If you're in class and taking notes, you might try doodling in the margins for fun. I often get ideas for art pieces from my doodling. You could try drawing designs on the cover of your notebook. Try bringing a pocketbook sized sketchbook with you and whenever you get a moment, pull out your sketchbook and draw whatever is in front of you, make notes of inspiration you've noticed during the day and things you'd like to explore further. So that's one way to get started. Hope that helps! If you've got other suggestions for K, leave a comment!
16 Responses
Ooshie Booshie? Dunkin Donuts rocks! I love the little canvas of the red cat Tabbers in the box. So cute!!!!
Posted by: Julia | Mar 30, 2008 at 8:44 pm |
I love everything small too! Those ATCs are great!
Posted by: Karen Beth | Mar 30, 2008 at 11:28 pm |
The only trouble with doodling is if you get so caught up in it you don’t see what is going on in class anymore. That happened to me in 9th grade algebra to the point I had to retake the class before going on to geometry. I didn’t do any more doodling in class but that wandering away so completely into my mind world may just be a problem of mine not everyone else’s.
I say cut up some card into ATC and inchie sizes and leave them out with some pens and colored pencils. If she does her doodling on them she’ll even have an artpiece started and/or finished before she knows it. Sometimes just getting one little project done gets you going again.
Posted by: freebird | Mar 30, 2008 at 11:39 pm |
Forgot to mention that you made an adorable cat in the box picture. Soooo like a cat I know!
Posted by: freebird | Mar 30, 2008 at 11:40 pm |
i was sick this weekend. a friend’s kitty tried to climb into my tissue box! they do love boxes!!
Posted by: she | Mar 31, 2008 at 11:37 am |
love the art, that cat is so cute too!
Posted by: iHanna | Mar 31, 2008 at 4:57 pm |
Hi Leah-
You are amazing – so prolific! I have been running around so much lately that I haven’t had a moment to create. Hopefully soon, though. I NEED it!
Posted by: dream | Mar 31, 2008 at 9:07 pm |
I like the kitty in the box. My cat, Henry V, likes boxes and grocery bags to get into.
Posted by: lynn | Apr 1, 2008 at 12:13 am |
Hi Leah !
I have just rediscovered the joys of doodling ! A participant in a class I gave not long ago was the most talented doodler I have ever seen – such fine details and depth to it – amazing. She inspired me so much and my New Year’s resolution this year was less t.v., more doodling. Very profound, don’t you think ?!It is one of the only resolutions I have ever kept though !
PS – love the kitty !
Take care, Kim
Posted by: Kimbo | Apr 1, 2008 at 6:30 am |
wow – I just got 5 posts all at once. Slow down, woman! Yaro Starak has a good post in his newsletter today on breaking through the blahs (I wish he’d written earlier – have been in the total blahs for a month)(am hoping I’m better now. We’ll see this week).(Meanwhile I’m jealous of all your productivity! Love the card idea!)(and the cat – love the cat).
Posted by: Tammy Vitale | Apr 1, 2008 at 8:09 am |
Your ATC’s and the cat painting are awesome! I love the colors in both. I think the crow atc one is my favorite. I’m a huge plaid fan (and stripes too, lol).
Hugs,
a.
Posted by: andrea | Apr 1, 2008 at 9:42 am |
Love the new kitty painting! Too cute and funny. Our cat had us in stitches with her box shenanagans yesterday.
For getting unblocked artistically, I like to experiment with materials I havn’t tried yet. Maybe K would also like some new art supplies
?
Posted by: Shayla | Apr 1, 2008 at 5:34 pm |
Leah, Love your kitty.
Thanks for all the ways you give inspiration!
xox
Posted by: regina | Apr 1, 2008 at 10:51 pm |
thank you for answers, but i’m not sure if anything can be done in next 2 weeks… have no time, everything’s for yesterday and millions things for next week. ahh…
and yes, i’d love some supplies, would love to try them and feel like when i was a kid and got new pack of pencils, but.. it’s quite hard to get good art stuff here, and they’re really expensive, as a student i sometimes can’t afford.
you see, the world wants to stop me!
Posted by: k. | Apr 2, 2008 at 1:11 am |
I lost interest in creating after university too – they seem to teach everyone that if it isn’t ‘high art’, it isn’t worth doing, and I didn’t feel like my work was high enough. It took several years before I got out of that slump, but trying new activities helped me the most. I started teaching a course for my colleagues each year before Christmas, and after I had exhausted my repertoire of basics (candles, soap, etc) I started looking on line and trying new techniques. It would be considered quite crass by the university and gallery types, but I started enjoying my art again, and had a blast.
Posted by: Susan | Apr 2, 2008 at 11:14 am |
hi there. i have a kitty who will sit in any paper box too. i just used a giant cardboard box to make my dog a bed and she loves hers as well. thought maybe i would paint it like a castle at some point.
Posted by: dana in boulder | Apr 21, 2008 at 6:12 pm |