Poppy Rain
November 28th, 2009, 16 Comments
The funny thing is, I didn't feel much like making art when I got home. I was tired from a full day of traveling and from a very long week, but once again, I'm so glad I did sit down to create.
I had so much fun and things were just flowing as I played intuitively with collage, rice paper, ink, colored pencil, and paint on this 6"x6" mixed-media piece. I used a piece of clayboard as my surface (which is great for collage) and began with scraps I had handy. I randomly had the idea to trace a silhouette of a woman from an Anthropologie catalog onto rice paper along with some circles and then collage them over the collage I'd started on the clayboard. I moved things about, creating this image I was pleased with. Then I came back to it later and created the clouds with Inktense water soluble colored pencils.
I love the way it came together and how it fits my mood although I couldn't explain to you why. I think it says it visually and that's enough for me at the moment.
So glad to be home. So much to catch up on!
Art Every Day Month Check-In: November 28th
November 28th, 2009, 12 Comments
Today is the 28th day of Art Every Day Month. I love how peeking around at what you're all doing lights me up with excitement and inspiration. What beautiful things you are all doing in the world. Please know that you all inspire me. Knowing when I inspire others thrills me too, so I hope knowing how much your work fires me up helps inspire you to keep on creating in your own unique way!
The box below is a widget that I provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) to that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other participants are creating! Check out the links from today's post and the links in the sidebar for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!
If you use the widget, please link to a specific blog post (or specific image if you're linking to a flickr page or other website) instead of your main blog page or website. If you want to share, but don't have a specific page to link to, feel free to use the comments section of this post to share what you're working on. If you're posting less than once a day, no problem! Simply use the latest one of these posts to share a link to your creation. For some, it's too much to keep up with posting every day, but don't let that get you down. Do it if you can and if you can't, just keep on creating, that's the most important part. If you get off track and miss a few days of creating, don't let that freeze you up either. Just pick up where you left off and keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. You are making your life a more creative one with each step.
If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the AEDM info page for all the details, then send me an email to sign-up before you use the link widget to share your creations. (If that email link isn't working, you can email me at leah at bluetreeartgallery.com)
Instructions: Please see the Art Every Day Month Instructions post if you have any confusion about how to post your link or how to sign up.
Twitter: Are you participating in AEDM and you're on Twitter too? I'm on there as @leah_art and I've been using the hashtag #aedm to mark Art Every Day Month tweets. I also started a Twitter list for AEDM which can help you easily find Twitter folks who are participating. If you're not on the Twitter list yet and would like to be, send me a DM (Direct Message on Twitter.)
If you keep following your own footprints, you will end up where you began, but if you stretch yourself your artwork will flourish. ~Donna Baspaly
Inkblots: Blue-haired Sisters
November 27th, 2009, 7 Comments
Just got back from an afternoon in Manhattan. So inspiring! More to share when I get home, but for now, my art of the day, a playful inkblot.
Hope you all have a fabulously creative weekend!
Art Every Day Month Check-In: November 27th
November 27th, 2009, 23 Comments
Today is the 27th day of Art Every Day Month. So close to the end of this particular journey. How would you like to wrap things up? What would make a beautiful ending for you?
The box below is a widget that I provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) to that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other participants are creating! Check out the links from today's post and the links in the sidebar for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!
If you use the widget, please link to a specific blog post (or specific image if you're linking to a flickr page or other website) instead of your main blog page or website. If you want to share, but don't have a specific page to link to, feel free to use the comments section of this post to share what you're working on. If you're posting less than once a day, no problem! Simply use the latest one of these posts to share a link to your creation. For some, it's too much to keep up with posting every day, but don't let that get you down. Do it if you can and if you can't, just keep on creating, that's the most important part. If you get off track and miss a few days of creating, don't let that freeze you up either. Just pick up where you left off and keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. You are making your life a more creative one with each step.
If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the AEDM info page for all the details, then send me an email to sign-up before you use the link widget to share your creations. (If that email link isn't working, you can email me at leah at bluetreeartgallery.com)
Instructions: Please see the Art Every Day Month Instructions post if you have any confusion about how to post your link or how to sign up.
Twitter: Are you participating in AEDM and you're on Twitter too? I'm on there as @leah_art and I've been using the hashtag #aedm to mark Art Every Day Month tweets. I also started a Twitter list for AEDM which can help you easily find Twitter folks who are participating. If you're not on the Twitter list yet and would like to be, send me a DM (Direct Message on Twitter.)
Sometimes when you think you are done, it is just the edge of beginning. Probably that's why we decide we're done. It's getting too scary. We are touching down onto something real. It is beyond the point when you think you are done that often something strong comes out.--Natalie Goldberg
Traveling Inkblots
November 26th, 2009, 8 Comments
Super busy here in New York, so I brought along a sketchbook with some inkblots in it to play with for my Art Every Day while I'm away. Here's what I did today. Love how portable these are! I'm going to keep trying to post while I'm away, but I don't have much access to the internet, so I may have to share what I've been up to each day in batches. We shall see.
If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday. I'm stuffed and happy to be with family. Thank you again for all your sweet words about my Grandma. Your support was so helpful.
Art Every Day Month Check-In: November 26th
November 26th, 2009, 16 Comments
Today is the 26th day of Art Every Day Month. To everyone in the States, a Happy Thanksgiving to you! I'm feeling especially grateful for this fabulous community and all your amazing creative expressions. Thank you for being you!
The box below is a widget that I provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) to that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other participants are creating! Check out the links from today's post and the links in the sidebar for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!
If you use the widget, please link to a specific blog post (or specific image if you're linking to a flickr page or other website) instead of your main blog page or website. If you want to share, but don't have a specific page to link to, feel free to use the comments section of this post to share what you're working on. If you're posting less than once a day, no problem! Simply use the latest one of these posts to share a link to your creation. For some, it's too much to keep up with posting every day, but don't let that get you down. Do it if you can and if you can't, just keep on creating, that's the most important part. If you get off track and miss a few days of creating, don't let that freeze you up either. Just pick up where you left off and keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. You are making your life a more creative one with each step.
If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the AEDM info page for all the details, then send me an email to sign-up before you use the link widget to share your creations. (If that email link isn't working, you can email me at leah at bluetreeartgallery.com)
Instructions: Please see the Art Every Day Month Instructions post if you have any confusion about how to post your link or how to sign up.
Twitter: Are you participating in AEDM and you're on Twitter too? I'm on there as @leah_art and I've been using the hashtag #aedm to mark Art Every Day Month tweets. I also started a Twitter list for AEDM which can help you easily find Twitter folks who are participating. If you're not on the Twitter list yet and would like to be, send me a DM (Direct Message on Twitter.)
I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating. I don't care if it's a book, a film, a painting, a dance, a piece of theater, a piece of music. Anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us. This world would be unlivable without art. Thank you for inspiring me. ~Steven Soderbergh
Itty Bitty Kitty Art: Cat in a Bag
November 25th, 2009, 27 Comments
Oh, today was long. But the service for my Grandma was very nice. My sister read a lovely eulogy. And it was great to see family I hadn't seen in a long time.
Tonight, the hubster and I and two of my siblings will be driving to New York for Thanksgiving. It's going to be pretty busy, but I will do my best to post some art while I'm away. Today, after a nap, I did this itty bitty kitty about another favorite cat hang out, the grocery bag. Cats in bags crack me up, so it was fun to paint this little 3"x3" canvas. I did the final touches with an actual cat (Sadie) in my lap. I wish we could take our kitties to New York with us, but they would not like the drive. 
I wish you all a beautiful Thanksgiving!!
Creative Every Day Challenge Theme for December: Recycle
November 25th, 2009, 12 Comments
When Art Every Day Month comes to a close at the end of the month, I'll be returning to my focus on the Creative Every Day Challenge, with its weekly check-in and monthly theme. And December's theme is Recycle.
As always, the themes for the Creative Every Day Challenge are totally optional. Use it if it sparks you, continue being creative every day in your own way, if it doesn't, or do something in between. For the theme of Recycle, I'm thinking in terms of re-using and recycling materials you already have, using found objects in your art, re-purposing clothing, bringing new life to old work, etc...
I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month. 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:
- *Find ways to use "junk" in your art.
- *Use recycled materials in your work.
- *Try re-purposing an item of clothing, making it new again.
- *Re-work an old piece that you've abandoned.
- *Tear up old art and use it in a collage.
- *Bind old computer paper into a sketchbook.
- *Create something with used wrapping and tissue paper.
- *Dig through your supplies and re-discover what you already have.
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.
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.
Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.
And have fun with it!
Good art looks new because the artist has recombined something old to make something better. -Darby Bannard
p.s. I'll be posting about the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge next week along with a nifty sign-up form, so stay tuned for that!
Art Every Day Month Check-In: November 25th
November 25th, 2009, 11 Comments
Today is the 25th day of Art Every Day Month. It's interesting what comes up during Art Every Day Month, the things that challenge us, the themes that pop up in our work, the connections, the beautiful surprises. It's interesting to notice. What has come up for you? What has surprised you?
The box below is a widget that I provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) to that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other participants are creating! Check out the links from today's post and the links in the sidebar for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!
If you use the widget, please link to a specific blog post (or specific image if you're linking to a flickr page or other website) instead of your main blog page or website. If you want to share, but don't have a specific page to link to, feel free to use the comments section of this post to share what you're working on. If you're posting less than once a day, no problem! Simply use the latest one of these posts to share a link to your creation. For some, it's too much to keep up with posting every day, but don't let that get you down. Do it if you can and if you can't, just keep on creating, that's the most important part. If you get off track and miss a few days of creating, don't let that freeze you up either. Just pick up where you left off and keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. You are making your life a more creative one with each step.
If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the AEDM info page for all the details, then send me an email to sign-up before you use the link widget to share your creations. (If that email link isn't working, you can email me at leah at bluetreeartgallery.com)
Instructions: Please see the Art Every Day Month Instructions post if you have any confusion about how to post your link or how to sign up.
Twitter: Are you participating in AEDM and you're on Twitter too? I'm on there as @leah_art and I've been using the hashtag #aedm to mark Art Every Day Month tweets. I also started a Twitter list for AEDM which can help you easily find Twitter folks who are participating. If you're not on the Twitter list yet and would like to be, send me a DM (Direct Message on Twitter.)
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. ~Albert Einstein
Itty Bitty Kitty: Laundry Basket
November 24th, 2009, 20 Comments
Another 4"x4" Itty Bitty Kitty today. This orange tabby is napping in a favorite napping spot of all cats, a basket filled with warm laundry. If I were a cat, it would be my favorite napping spot too. Actually, while looking through old photos this weekend, I saw one of myself as a two year old, napping in a pile of freshly cleaned laundry. Heh. Perhaps I was a cat in a past life!
