Creative Every Day

Entries Tagged as: creative every day 08

Trust

November 2nd, 2008, Comments (20)

I'm glad the widget (in the last post) is working!! I'll post one of them each day, so that you can post a link directly to the page or image of what you created that day if you have something that you want to share. Here's what I created today, a mixed-media painting called "Trust." It's 6"x12" on canvas and was inspired by reading "Soul Coaching" and responding to the questions posed in today's passage in the book. Each week in the book has an element theme and this week is wind. I went for a walk today through the loads of fall leaves scattered around and breathed in the crisp, cool air. I also answered the questions in from the book in a journal that I'm keeping separate. I may blog about it when I've had some time to reflect or may be not, but I'm appreciating the thoughtful questions and the time spent writing out the answers. Something about writing things down can be powerful, just like showing up and creating each day can be powerful. I'm going to keep on moving and trusting. It feels good.

Singing Her Own Song

November 1st, 2008, Comments (24)

I didn't start this piece today, but I worked on and finished it up today. It's come a long way since the beginnings where I started with some intuitive strokes, then brought out what I saw in it, and now here it is today. Right now, it's called "The Song", but I'm not settled on the title. As it developed, I felt that it was about singing your own song, listening to that still small voice and acting from your essential self. The birds are singing songs or stories that can blur the woman's song or can be part of a harmony. In this case, they don't seem to be interfering or stopping her from singing her song at the same time.

The painting is about 16"x20" on canvas, with acrylic and some collage layered in there that didn't end up showing much except as texture in the final piece. I had fun playing with this piece. At one point, it was stopped dead and I was considering starting over completely. But then I used my favorite method of getting going and gave myself permission to completely ruin the piece. The simple act of giving permission to "fail" is so freeing to me and I was able to let go, get playful and connect with my intuition once again.

I'm so thrilled with the excitement and energy around AEDM this year! There is a fantabulous group of creative people participating and I'm looking forward to sharing this month of creating with you!

I also want to add that I'm participating in Jamie's Soul Coaching group this month. It's already had an impact on me. The other day, I was inspired to clean the window next to my office desk, a small thing, but it let more light into my room. The clarity seemed symbolic on many levels. I was also inspired to organize my paint, selecting some that I'm going to give to my bff (who has begun art journaling). It seemed like it might be too much to do AEDM and the Soul Coaching book at one time, but I think they'll go hand in hand. I feel like I'm transitioning and as with most of my artwork, this painting tells a story of where I'm at. As I go through the process of tapering off anti-depressants, clarifying what is next in my career, and thinking about starting a family, I am excited to clean and clear my space while also creating from that authentic place inside of me. As someone told me this week, I want to "keep moving my feet and trust." So that is my intention for the month, to keep moving forward while trusting my core to know the next best step. 

AAA: Animals, Art, and AEDM

October 31st, 2008, Comments (13)

Happy Halloween! I saw these tampon ghosts on the whip-up blog and cracked up. Ew, I just thought about putting ketchup on them, like they were bloody ghosts. Ha! Gross!

Um, so, anyways, I'm not one to dress up my pets, but it can be rather funny to see animals in costume. South Park's latest two-part episode made fun of the movie Cloverfield. The plot involved Peruvian flute bands and the monsters they protected the world from. It was all pretty silly, but what absolutely killed me was that the "monsters" were live-action guinea pigs that were made to look enormous. They were SO cute! The plot continues and other monsters arrive, such as giant bees...which turn out to be guinea pigs in bumble bee costumes. I was laughing so hard watching it that I nearly cried. Here's a link to a pic of "the most horrible monster of all," the guinea pirate.

Speaking of ridiculously cute, I can't help but share some kitty pics today. I realize I've been sharing a lot of cat pics and videos lately. No particular reason, just feeling the kitty love. So, this is my oldest cat, Sadie who is a wonder-snuggler, monster-purrer, super love bug. Sadie, like many cats, loves bags. She enjoyed making a nest in this one, above. And here's my big boy, Tabbers, who teaches me how to be completely and totally relaxed. In this pic, he's sleeping on our new Angela Adams duvet cover that the hubster and I are totally loving right now.

O.k. enough of this kitty business. I'm working on two sketchbook swap projects at once at the moment. For the first one, I recently did some ink blots (with acrylic paint) that I planned to create something from. Here are the first two ink blots. What do you see in them? I've already done something with one and I'll share that later.

      

For the second swap, I'm doing something in a journal for the "Do Not Leave Unattended" sketchbook project. I created this drawing which I'll be putting into the journal. I'd been doodling octopuses and then imagining them as umbrellas.

The paper I drew on was from a late 19th century journal where it appears that quotes and poetry where written in German. I love the look of the script.

Art Every Day Month (AEDM) begins tomorrow and I'm so excited about it! I've put the AEDM participants up in the sidebar to the right (just above the CED participants), so if you've joined in, please double check that I have you up there. I may have left you off the list entirely by accident, so just let me know if you should be up there or if you've decided to join in, let me know that too by commenting or emailing me (my email link is in the top left sidebar.) Also, feel free to join in the AEDM flickr group to share pictures of your creations!

I'm working away on a painting. The purple painting from this week has completely transformed and continues to do so. Perhaps I'll share it with you tomorrow. In the meantime, have a safe evening. And I'll be seeing you tomorrow for the start of AEDM! Hooray!

Feeling Colorful

October 29th, 2008, Comments (16)

I saw this rainbow yesterday and it totally made my afternoon. I thought, "lucky day! a rainbow!" And even before I saw the rainbow, I felt more colorful yesterday than I have in awhile. I played in a sketchbook that came as part of a sketchbook swap, I drank cocoa and did yoga (not simultaneously), I babysat my bff's little girl and played silly games, and cooked a yummy dinner. The rainbow seemed to symbolize a little shift in me and I so appreciated this timely wink from the universe. I love sharing links and even though I just shared a bunch yesterday, I have more to share today, so here we go:

• I was thrilled to be interviewed by Christine Valters Paintner of Abbey of the Arts about my artwork and spirituality. The interview, along with some of my art, is up on her site today! Thanks so much for the interview, Christine!
• I'm such a big fan of Patti Digh's writing and this post is a great example of why. It's literally full of magic and inspiration! If you enjoy it, be sure to check out Patti's latest book release, Life is a Verb!
• Artist and author, Christine Mason Miller is selling some lovely new miniature originals and she's also offering some great giveaways. Check out this post for details.
• Hanna has shared an ultra cool, handmade, letter stamp set on her blog. Love it! I want to make one for myself! You can see the pics of her process here and here.
• Here's a fun way to make your own photoshop brushes courtesy of the One Good Bumble Bee blog.

And now I'm off to ship out some artwork and do some errands (cat litter and vedgies and seltzer, oh my!)

Inspiration Share

October 28th, 2008, Comments (12)

• So proud of Jenn for her first t.v. appearance talking about life coaching. Yay, Jenn! You can see it here. Also, be sure to check out the project Jenn is participating in  called "Kiss the Paper," which presents the illustrations of two sisters creating a response to a prompt from Jenn.
• Modish has some great articles up about internet marketing for crafty entrepreneurs. I enjoyed this one and this one.
• Over at Queen of Arts, Kim has a tutorial and info about the colorful rocks she's painting and leaving out for strangers to find. They're gorgeous and I love the way she's spreading the love!!
• I just came upon the blog, Creativity Prompt which is all about sharing fun tutorials and creative sparks! There are a lot of journal tutorials there that make great use of re-cycled materials. I'd been thinking I'd do more creative prompts for next year's Creative Every Day challenge, so it was great to find this site full of creative ideas!
• Sharon of the Authentic Art Visions blog has a great podcast about contemporary art in D.C. and beyond. She interviews people in the art world and discusses issues such as framing, art collecting, and decorating trends. You can find the podcast, the AAV Artcast here or through iTunes.
• Melissa of Wild Wondrous Wanderings has a new litter of kittens (squirmy wormers) at home. So adorable! Warms my kitty-lovin' heart!
• Loved this post by Brandi at the Wishstudio blogzine about how you are always an artist.
• This morning, I woke up to a window full of bright, bright orange. I thought it was the sun in my morning fogginess, but it was a tree bursting with autumn leaves. The dark wood behind it and rain sparkled leaves made such a gorgeous picture that it made me smile.
• Sweet, snuggly kitties.

Creative Every Day: October 27th – November 2nd, 2008

October 27th, 2008, Comments (14)

What I Saw

October 26th, 2008, Comments (5)

This is the next stage in the painting I shared here after I did some more work with it on Friday. I SO loved hearing what you guys saw in the first strokes of this painting. That sort of thing fascinates me. It's fun to see where our imaginations can take us. I also loved hearing what you did with the intuitive art exercise!! So you can now see what I was seeing in the brushstrokes. I saw a woman with her hand to her heart, singing. And in the salt-made patterns, I saw what looked like the patterns of butterflies. She's not done yet, but I like the direction she's going in.

In this moment, I'm wearing pony tails in my hair and comfy clothes. I'm sitting in a pile of blankets and the hubster is next to me on his laptop checking his fantasy football stats. There's a sleepy kitty with us, the fish tank is lit up and alive with life, and there are street lights glowing through the windows. I'm cozy and full. There's laundry in the dryer. I feel like I'm fighting a cold. Generally, I'm quite happy and relaxed, this weekend was ultra relaxing. I'm looking forward to doing a little art supply shopping in preparation for AEDM. I don't need much, but I'm going to pick up a few fun accessories to play with. Wee! I hope your weekend was full of creative goodness!

What Do You See?

October 22nd, 2008, Comments (16)

About a week ago, I participated in a call with coaches of creative artists, chatting about Art Every Day Month. At the end I led the call in an intuitive art exercise meant to help get you going if you're feeling stuck creatively. In case you didn't get the chance to listen in, here's the exercise I shared:

1. You'll need a writing utensil (pen, pencil, marker, crayon, etc...) and piece of paper. I used a page in a sketchbook, but you could use something in any size available.
2. Put pen to paper and close your eyes.
3. For at least 15 seconds, scribble, let your hand move across the page freely doing whatever it pleases (but try to avoid drawing on yourself.) You can do this to music if you'd like.
4. Open your eyes and look at what you have there. Do you see a face, a figure, an imaginary monster, a house, a fish? One person on the call saw symbols.
5. Whatever you see, use your pen (or whatever tool you'd like) to begin to bring it out.
6. You can continue to develop this drawing into something more or use it as the starting point for a journaling or writing exercise. Sometimes this kind of scribble inspires a future piece of artwork and sometimes it's just play. Often times it gives me a little glimpse into where my mind is at.

I told the folks on the call that I'd post a picture of the scribble I did along with everyone else, so here it is:

In my scribble, I saw girl, perhaps wearing a crown, with her hands dug into her pockets.

Last night, I had an urge to paint and pulled out a canvas, some supplies and worked in big strokes of purple fluid acrylic along with a sprinkling of salt that made great patterns in the paint. I stopped there to let it dry and worked on other things. Out of the corner of my eye, I realized I was seeing something in the painting. It's fun to paint like this, with no plan, just beginning and see what it leads to. I had to leave it be as it was time for bed, so I snapped a quickie pic to share.

I'll tell you what I saw in it later on. But I'm curious, what do you see?

Back from the Big Apple

October 20th, 2008, Comments (9)

We had a great weekend in NYC, visiting the hubster's family and then heading into the city to surprise my brother for his 29th birthday. I snapped this picture on the way into town with my iphone. Didn't quite work, but you'll have to trust me when I say that the city was looking spectacular all lit up. That green smudge up top is not a U.F.O., but the empire state building. Somewhere in the outskirts we saw a building that had "Vote Obama" in gigantic lit up letters taking up one entire side.That was cool.

After a weekend full of travel and socializing I was seriously exhausted when we got home last night and today felt like a day of introvert-style recovery. This evening I followed my urge to draw by sketching out faces I saw on television, in magazines and online for fun. Here's one of them (above.)

I used a new journal (decorated with kitty faces) to draw faces in. I plan to use this journal while reading Denise Linn's Soul Coaching which I'll be doing along with Jamie's online book group. If you're interested in joining in, you can check out all the details here. I think the book will be helpful as I do Art Every Day Month next month and I'm looking forward to both challenges!

Speaking of AEDM, I'm enjoying visiting the blogs of some of the folks who signed up to participate and wanted to share some of the fabulous things I found!

• Check out the amazing, hand-cut letters at the Mudglue blog. The letters were cut from autumn leaves! Love it!
• These family-made lime green votive candles at Lemon Dingo's blog are just lovely!
• These adorable kitty sculptures from 3CatCreations make me smile ear to ear!
• Chirsty at the Cesky Jewels blog makes beautiful jewelry and will be teaching a class on how to re-vamp your vintage jewels in D.C. this December.
• Pearl has wonderful posts recording her perspective as an American living in Paris. We can all live vicariously through her.

I'm off to relax and then catch some z's. Hope you had a wonderfully creative weekend!

Creative Every Day: October 20th – October 26th, 2008

October 20th, 2008, Comments (9)

 

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