Entries Tagged as: elements

Creative Every Day Theme for December: Air

December 1st, 2010, Comments (18)

At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. Continuing with the elements theme, for the month of December, the theme will be the element of Air. 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.

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. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

  • *Get outside and take pictures of the sky at different times of day.
  • *Use hot air in your work. Try blowing wet media with a blower or try encaustic.
  • *Capture the movement of wind in drawing or painting.
  • *Make clouds out of fabric.
  • *Focus on the air or negative space in your work.
  • *Write a poem about the way air feels on your skin.
  • *Turn on a fan and take some fun wind-blown self-portraits.
  • *Create more airspace around you, by clearing out some clutter.

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!

The sky and the strong wind have moved the spirit inside me till I am carried away trembling with joy. -Uvavnuk

p.s. The art above is adapted from my Wind in my Hair piece, prints are available here.

p.p.s. I will have info about signing up for the 2011 Challenge later this week. In the meantime, I would love to hear some of your ideas for monthly themes for next year. Brainstorm away in the comments!

Creative Every Day Theme for October: Earth

September 29th, 2010, Comments (15)

At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. Continuing with the elements theme, for the month of October, the theme will be the element of Earth. 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.

As the fall leaves begin to turn, this theme feels perfect. I'm thinking of this theme in terms of exploring the idea of earth in creative ways. You could play with natural items in your work, go exploring this beautiful Earth for your inspiration, or play with the colors of earth.

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. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

  • *Collect leaves and other natural items to make prints from.
  • *Walk your corner of the Earth and take photos of whatever catches your eye.
  • *Sit quietly on the ground and meditate.
  • *Mix dirt into your paint and play with texture!
  • *Make mud pies!
  • *Sculpt with clay.
  • *Find creative ways to take care of the Earth.
  • *Take your sketchbook outdoors.

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!

If a healthy soil is full of death, it is also full of life: worms, fungi, microorganisms of all kinds ... Given only the health of the soil, nothing that dies is dead for very long. - Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America, 1977

p.s. The art above is adapted from my Fall Birds piece, prints are available here.

Experimenting and Off to the Lake

September 15th, 2010, Comments (10)

I'm playing around with some medium on a new little piece. I've got some ideas of where it will go, but the fun in experimenting is that I'm not sure exactly how it will work out! In the meantime, all that medium is going to take some time to dry. I plan to play with it more when I return. I know it doesn't look all that water related yet, but just wait! :-)

Today, I head off with the beautiful Jenn to Squam to get my art on. I'm so excited to play with other creative folks and to be by the lake (perfect for the water theme!)

I hope you all have a beautiful week, filled with inspiration!

Shower Power

September 9th, 2010, Comments (16)

I was in the shower the other day, thinking about the water theme, when it hit me that I was currently in water and that the shower is one of my favorite places to think! Perhaps it's because all other sources of stimulation are gone and I'm just focused on the simple tasks of cleaning my hair and body. I enjoy the sensual nature of taking showers or baths, they're so relaxing, but they're also a place where my mind roams, a bit like it does before I'm falling asleep and little ideas and inspirations will occur to me.

As the shower lingered on, I thought about how much I love to be near water in general when I'm thinking, writing, or doodling. I find sitting by a still lake or pond to be relaxing and meditative. Being near a fast flowing river is where ideas and writing will move more quickly. And then sitting by the ocean, I'm soothed by the far away horizon, the big sky, and the regular woosh of the waves.

Do you find ideas occurring to you while you're in the shower? Or near a body of water? Pay attention this month and see if you are. I'd love to hear about it.

I was also inspired to draw this cute little shower girl. I wish I had a shower cap that was that cute! :-)

Mermaid with Stars

September 2nd, 2010, Comments (10)

I started this mixed-media piece thinking about the water theme and how water is so much of who we are, the foundation of life. I put down pieces of rice paper to create texture, putting them in a circular shape. Water makes me think of circles, the womb, life, an individual cell.

The stars were unplanned, they just came up. I think I was inspired by the teeny tiny baby starfish I've seen wandering around our fish tank at night. So cute.

Where is the water theme bringing you?

Creative Every Day Theme for September: Water

August 29th, 2010, Comments (16)

At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. Continuing with the elements theme, for the month of September, the theme will be the element of Water. 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.

I'm thinking of this theme in terms of exploring the idea of water in creative ways. You could play with water based media, go to sources of water for your inspiration, or play with the colors of water.

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. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

  • *Play with watercolors or other water-based media.
  • *Take photos of water in still, moving, and/or frozen forms.
  • *Sit by a body of water and write (one of my favorite things to do!)
  • *Explore the colors of water in your art.
  • *Go for a swim, a float, or even a soak in a bath.
  • *Reflect on the fact that we are made up of up to 75% water!
  • *Paint creatures that live in the sea.
  • *Splash in some puddles!

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!

The sea pronounces something, over and over, in a hoarse whisper; I cannot quite make it out. ~Annie Dillard

p.s. The art on the right is adapted from my Dive Deep piece, prints are available here.

Fire Underneath

August 26th, 2010, Comments (6)

I've been feeling a little fire-less this summer, but lately, I'm starting to feel an inner-fire kindling away beneath the surface. Sort of like in this painting that is all reds and oranges underneath, even though the top is all in blues. At the joining of sky and land, you can see a bit of the red poking through.

This weekend I'm heading north into the mountains for a wedding. Since it's a drive, we'll be staying at a B&B and I plan to soak up the sights and soak myself in the big bathtub in our room, the perfect place to start pondering next month's theme, which I'll be announcing soon!

Playing with Fire

August 20th, 2010, Comments (14)

With the fire theme in mind, I had the inspiration to play with some red yarn on paper. I really didn't have a plan in mind, just wanted to play. I used some matte medium to hold the swirls and curls in place. After it dried, I thought I saw a few different images in it, which I brought out in paint until this tree emerged. Fun!

I enjoyed doing it although, I did not like the way the yarn felt on my fingers when coated in matte medium. Ick!

Hope you all have a magnificent weekend!

Fire and Water

August 12th, 2010, Comments (14)

I'm a total water person. I'm soothed by the sounds of water, blue is my favorite color, and my sign is Cancer (a water sign), so it's an interesting challenge to focus on fire this month. As I was working on the piece above, a play between reds and blues, I received my weekly horoscope email from Rob Brezsny, which reads:

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Here's a thought from the Cancerian
philosopher Gaston Bachelard: "He who listens to the singing of the
stream cannot be expected to understand the one who hears the singing
of the flame: They do not speak the same language." While I mostly agree
with that poetic formulation, I think you're about to be a temporary
exception to the rule. Normally you are acutely attuned to the singing of
the stream; your skill at reading its nuances are supreme among the
zodiac. But I expect that in the coming days, you will not only have the
power to appreciate the song of the fire; you'll even be able to empathize
with and understand people who are entranced by the song of the fire.

How perfect is that?

When I read the horoscope, there was just blue below and red above. After reading it, I drew in the tree which intertwines the two. Are you resistant to firey natures? How do you bridge the gap?

Creative Every Day Theme for August: Fire

July 25th, 2010, Comments (16)

At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. I've been wanting to do a theme about the elements for some time now, so for the month of August, the theme will be the element of Fire. It seemed like the perfect month to play with this element as August is blazing hot in this part of the world and it's also the month of the firey sign, Leo. As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it sparks you (no pun intended), continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between.

I'm thinking of this theme in terms of exploring the idea of fire in creative ways. You could focus on the idea literally and make pieces using heat, focus on your own creative fire, or play with firey colors. There are endless ways you can play with the theme and I'm open to any interpretation.

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. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

  • *Write about your own creative fire, what sparks it, and how you keep it burning bright.
  • *Play with a medium that uses heat, like encaustic.
  • *Use firey colors in your work.
  • *Light something on fire! Play with burnt edges in your work.
  • *Note what fires you up, explore it in a piece of art or writing.
  • *Be a sun worshiper. Spend some time in the sun and notice what it inspires.
  • *Burn some candles while you work.
  • *Try a hot yoga class.

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!

My candle burns at both ends.
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -
It gives a lovely light.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay