Entries from: February 2012
Creative Every Day Theme for March: Mixed-Media
February 28th, 2012, Comments (26)
At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. For the month of March 2012, the theme will be Mixed-Media.
As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it inspires you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between. You can sign up for the 2012 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime. More info can be found here and the sign-up page is here.
I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. I'm thinking of mixed-media in terms of the style of art, but also in the broadest sense of mixing medias. Get creative with that! If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:
- *Create art in a mixed-media style.
- *Write words with condiments across a plate and serve dinner on it.
- *Create a design with a mix of items from nature and art supplies.
- *Film yourself at work and share it.
- *Put on a piece of exciting music and draw the way the music makes you feel.
- *Create a collage of items found around your house (junk mail, screws, keys, bits of yarn.)
- *Start with a collage base, paint on top of that, then draw and write on top of that.
- *If you've never tried it before, express yourself in the pages of an art journal.
How to use the CED themes:
If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.
Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.
And have fun with it!
Paint with whatever material you please – with pipes, postage stamps, postcards or playing cards, painted paper, or newspapers. ~Guillaume Apollinaire
p.s. The art above is adapted from my piece, Geese Flying Over, available here.
Creative Every Day Check-In: February 27 – March 4
February 27th, 2012, Comments (26)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 2/20/12 - 2/26/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for February is Night, which you can read more about here. The March theme will be up on Tuesday!
Happy Creating!
Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas. ~J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, spoken by the character Mad-Eye Moody
Layers of Loss
February 23rd, 2012, Comments (29)
I'm still knee deep in grief here. But I've found some comfort in art, which is nice. I don't always feel like drawing and painting when I've experienced loss in the past, so I'm glad it can be a good way to let things out now.
The piece above was completely spontaneous and a lovely surprise. I had a pad of tracing paper in front of me on my art table, left out after making a playful Valentine's Day card for Andrew from Annabelle. I picked up some brush pens and started to draw on the top sheet. It felt a bit other-worldly. I then had the idea to turn to the next page to draw another layer, with a tree and roots. And then one last layer with a cat and roots.
Sometimes, when there are no words, thank goodness for art to be able to get out what's running through my mind.
Thank you to everyone who has left kind words for me after Sadie's passing. I really appreciate it!
Creative Every Day Check-In: February 20 -26
February 20th, 2012, Comments (37)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 2/20/12 - 2/26/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for February is Night, which you can read more about here.
Happy Creating!
Moonlight is sculpture. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
Good Night, Sadie
February 19th, 2012, Comments (38)
This weekend, I had to say good bye to my dear friend of 14.5 years, Sadie. Gosh, I miss her so much already. She was such an amazing cat, more person than cat sometimes. Andrew and I were able to be with her in her final moments as she passed peacefully into the great kitty beyond.
I will miss her monster purr, her insistent snuggle, the way she wedged herself between Andrew and I in bed, with her head on the pillow and her body under the covers. I will miss her feisty personality, the way she loved up the other kitties, her passion for food, and the way she dropped Space Ghost at my feet every day, as if she had just caught and killed some prey.
She really was a special animal. I feel so lucky to have been her cat mommy. My heart hurts so badly right now, but I know the pain I feel just shows how much I loved her.
I painted a little piece of her sleeping today. It made me smile. And cry a bit too.
Sadie, we will all miss your beautiful presence. You were a special cat. Thank you.
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Starry Night
February 18th, 2012, Comments (12)
For the night theme, get inspired by this interactive, animated version of one of my favorite paintings, Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. Here's more details on the animation. Beautiful!
Love and a Work in Progress
February 14th, 2012, Comments (6)
Happy Valentine's Day to all you creative souls!
I had a lot of fun making a little Valentine for the hubster with Miss Annabelle. I traced her hand and doodled some hearts on tracing paper. And she added her own touches with some dots and lines. So sweet! Later I took the tracing paper, taped it over some colored paper and wrote in a Valentine's Day message. Writing it out in chunky pastels, I unintentionally made it look like Annabelle wrote the message herself. haha! He loved it. 
This week, I've been working in bits in pieces on a larger piece that's been a work-in-progress for a long time. And it still is! It's been more challenging to work on larger pieces because I don't have big chunks of time right now, but it's coming along. I had the original idea back when Annabelle was a newborn. Up late at night, I had the image pop into my head of a woman nursing in the middle of the forest, surrounded by night animals and trees. In the summer, I started the collage background. During Art Every Day Month, I dove into it. And then I set it aside for a while. I'd love to finish it up during this month of Night! We'll see if I can wrap it up. I don't want to rush it either, but it's getting closer!
Creative Every Day Check-In: February 13-19
February 13th, 2012, Comments (30)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 2/13/12 - 2/19/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for February is Night, which you can read more about here.
Happy Creating!
The dawn is not far away, but before you can reach the dawn, the dark night has to be passed through. And as the dawn comes closer, the night will become darker. ~Osho
Mother Holle, Guest Post by Joel Le Blanc
February 8th, 2012, Comments (9)
Mother Holle
Sometimes it is really difficult to remember what ever bewitched me to begin on the creative road. Most people who attempt to turn their creative pursuits into their career know the feeling -- when maximum effort yields minimum rewards, and the numbers just don't ever seem to add up to more than a handful of small beans.
It's at these junctures that I slow down my troubled mind and return to the things that move and inspire me and make my spirit dance. Ever since childhood, that thing for me has been fairy-tales. Stories of myth and magic and dark forests and witches. Like a bramble of blackberries, fairy-tales wrap their way around my heart and mind, thorns and all, and perform the most important task -- they remind me about the things I care about.
One such story that has recently helped to inspire me to keeping going on my creative endeavors is the Grimm's brothers story of "Mother Holle." This is a lesser known fairy-tale, but it is based on ancient Germanic folklore about a crone goddess known as Hulda -- a sort of patron spirit of children, the art of weaving, and the seasons.
In the Mother Holle story, we are introduced to a woman with one daughter and one step-daughter. As fairy-tale fate would have it, the daughter is lazy and selfish while the step daughter is hard working and kind. After a brief but painful encounter with a sharp spindle, the industrious step-daughter falls down a well by accident and finds herself in a strange meadow she does not recognize. While exploring the meadow she encounters a talking loaf of bread and a talking tree, and completes tasks for them both.
Lastly, she encounters a old house and an old woman with large, fearsome teeth. This is Mother Holle. The old woman puts the girl to work in her house -- but unlike many other stories of witches, this old woman treats the girl kindly, feeds her well, and asks the girl to shake out the feathers from her blanket each day. Whenever the feathers from the blanket are shaken out onto the breeze, it snows in the real world.
Finally the girl requests to go home, and Mother Holle guides her back -- but not before rewarding the girl's industrious efforts with piles of gold.
After the girl returns to her family, her step-mother sends the step-sister down the well to repeat the adventure, hoping to get even more money from Mother Holle. However, the lazy daughter is idle once she arrives, and refuses to do many of the tasks given to her by Mother Holle. In return, Mother Holle covers the girl with black soot and sends her back home.
Often stories and books come to me when I need them most; speaking in silent whispers, "Open and read me!" when there is something relevant in the pages within. That is what happened with the Mother Holle story just recently.
For the first time I am realizing, this story is more than just a moralistic tale about working hard. It's about being authentic and honest about who you are, and what are your reasons for doing what you do. Sometimes work is difficult. Sometimes being a creative professional is hard. Sometimes it really does feel like you are shaking out the feathers of a freaking heavy blanket.
But if I am just being a creative person (a writer and a poet and sometimes painter), for the money, then maybe my motivation is too shallow to carry me through the bad times. If I am writing and making art just because I love to write and make art, I will continue to do just that -- and whatever financial rewards come to me will be a wonderful and welcomed bonus; the icing on the cake to a flavorful and happy life.
And if I am steadfast and hardworking and honest with myself each step of the way, who knows what small beans might turn into?
References
1. Surlalune Fairytales; Frau Holle (Mother Holle) A German Tale; 2003
Joel Le Blanc is a freelance writer, poet and medical herbalist. He has published articles on health, alternative medicine, literature, art and food, and is currently completing a BA in English and Creative Writing at the University of Canterbury. Joel runs a blog for creative people wanting to learn more about natural and alternative medicine at The Wormwood Files.
Creative Every Day Check-In: February 6 – 12
February 6th, 2012, Comments (32)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2012 Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 2/6/12 - 2/12/12.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2012!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for February is Night, which you can read more about here.
Happy Creating!
Night is a world lit by itself. ~Antonio Porchia
