Entries Tagged as: creativity
Day 11: Thought Birds
November 11th, 2011, Comments (9)
I had the general idea for this piece a few weeks ago, sketched out in my sketchbook, but the way it developed today with the paint splotches, was spontaneous and fun. I like it!
Today, my mom watched Annabelle, so I could get my hair cut (heaven is getting your hair washed!!) and she brought over a hat she knit for her. Oh my goodness, it's adorable! Thanks, mom!
Day 10: Fall
November 10th, 2011, Comments (23)
Another day of starting art during the morning nap and finishing it after the baby's bedtime. This is good! I'm finding ways to fit art in that work for all of us, even if it is a tight squeeze, especially on days like today when Annabelle fought tooth and nail to stay awake. Oy!
I had the inkling of an idea for this piece at the end of last month and today felt like a good day to bring it to life! The woman at the center is letting leaves fall from her hands. I think it's an homage to letting go. She is like a tree herself, letting the leaves fall to the ground.
Someone asked me today what medium I've been using. In this piece and the last, I worked with acrylic paint on watercolor paper, with a bit of ink for the small details.
Day 9 – Tree Moon
November 9th, 2011, Comments (22)
Last night was a long one. As I was up, I noticed the bedroom was well lit by the growing moon, which will be full tomorrow. I had the idea then to paint an image of a figure in a forest looking up at an overwhelmingly large moon. And today, I painted it!
Day One: Night Mother, Work-In-Progress
November 1st, 2011, Comments (41)
For day one, I had my husband helping me out a bit during the day and was able to spend a little extra time painting. How nice! I had already completed the collage background for this piece, but I'm SO happy to have started painting the image I've had in my head since Annabelle was about a month old.
It has to do with the strange time that is the middle of the night when you're up constantly, nursing a newborn baby. It's like this whole other world. Kind of lonely, but kind of sacred.
I've still got more to do on this piece, but I really like the way it's going so far! I know that many days this month, all I'll be able to do is part of a piece, but as long as I'm creating every day, I'll be happy with that.
I hope everyone has had a beautiful start to Art Every Day Month! And even if you haven't, keep at it. It's a long month and every day is a new beginning.
Arts and Healing Network Award Nominations
October 18th, 2011, Comments (2)
Danny from the Arts and Healing Network asked me to pass on the word about the 2011 AHN Award Nominations. They're looking for nominations of healing artists, ages 18 - 35, who are making an impact in the world and are doing work that combines creative arts with healing/transformation/social change. What a wonderful offering!
If you know someone you'd like to nominate, you can get more details and fill out their form here.
You can also check out my interview from last year with Britt Bravo on the Arts and Healing Network's podcast, here. In the podcast, I talked about Art Every Day Month, which is coming up again next month!
Autumn Flowers
October 14th, 2011, Comments (6)
Oh, autumn. You dazzle me with your colors!
It's like this last hurrah of fall fireworks before the bleakness of winter hits. A mix of death in bare branches and dying leaves and brilliant life in full color. What an inspiring sight to behold.
Normally, I'm immediately drawn to the fall foliage, but this year, I've been noticing the fall flowers. Aren't they lovely?
The Spirit That Moves Me
October 7th, 2011, Comments (14)
I've been working for a while now on a piece for Kristen's blog, "The Spirit That Moves Me." It took a bit longer than I may have wanted, mainly because I don't have many long stretches for art with Annabelle's (lack of) sleep schedule. But in the end, I told Kristen, that it happened just the way it was meant to because when I was able to work on it, I felt like I tapped into something deeper, some bit of magic and intuition that brought it all together. I love when those moments happen in art-making! The process is a lot like Kristen's blog name actually. How fitting!
Those are the moments you can't plan for, you can only provide the opportunity by showing up and going with the flow. Creating art for someone else is always tricky, partly because the way I work includes a lot of going with the flow, something you can't really describe ahead of time. It's hard to know exactly what the end result will be. Fortunately, Kristen was very patient with the time it took, the way I worked, and happily she is pleased with the result. Hoorah!
It seemed appropriate to share it during this month of autumn because there is an Fall feel to it, maybe something about the color. I do love the colors of fall.
p.s. If you haven't already, be sure to sign up for Goddess Leonie's (totally free!) World's Biggest Summit! There are so many inspiring speakers! My video about living the Creative Every Day life was posted yesterday (day 6), but you can view it anytime once you've signed up.
Using Items with History in Your Work
September 18th, 2011, Comments (7)
There's something really fabulous about using items that have a history to them in your work. I feel like it gives a certain depth to a piece of art, a layering of stories. Sometimes the stories are so juicy that I have trouble covering them up! In Roots (above), I made use of a fun "Today's Woman" magazine from the 50's. The ads from that magazine were pretty interesting!
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I've found collage items at flea markets, bought them from people online, and found them amongst my own stash of papers. They may be blueprints, dress patterns, handwritten recipes, maps, or old photos. Collaged together, their stories combine to tell a new tale, one which I might not expect when I start putting them together. In What's Behind (above), it felt like the story created was one the woman in the painting is trying to leave behind her.
Family History in Your Art
September 8th, 2011, Comments (7)
This month's theme called to mind some of the pieces I've done relating to my own family history. While working intuitively and learning about encaustic art, I created a piece called "Memory Tree." It related to my family tree and my grandmother who at the time was suffering from Alzheimer's. She has since passed away.
I later created other memory trees in encaustic. I loved the medium, but didn't love the fumes (they gave me a headache), so I had to stop.
Family history, stories, memories, loss, and joys can be such a powerful place to draw from in your creations. What sort of family history could you pull from for your own creations?
p.s. My mother and sister are walking to raise funds for Alzheimer's research this fall in memory of my grandmother. If you feel called to, you can help support the cause here. Thank you!
Work in Progress with Red
August 24th, 2011, Comments (2)
I got started on a mixed media piece yesterday, sneaking in some art time after my little girl fell asleep. She's not sleeping through the night yet, but she's sleeping a good chunk (usually 3-5 hours, once it was 7.5!) for the first part of the night, which if I'm not exhausted, gives me a bit of time to create. I'll take it!
This is just a piece of the collage, which will be a background for the painting that will soon be going down on top of it. It's made up of handmade paper, bits of rice paper I'd stamped with leaves, stamps, or stencils, old book pages, and blueprints. The splashes of red fit oh so nicely into the red theme. Ah, it felt so good to play with collage again!
