Where’d it go?
January 27th, 2008, 12 Comments
Oh, that's frustrating! I wrote post yesterday with all these links and then last night I saw that it wasn't there. Where'd it go? I don't know! How frustrating! Anyways, I'll try and replicate it to a degree. I've got some new "Subway Stories" art to share with you. This first one (above) is 10"x10" and it's titled, "Kenmore." The father and son figures are thinking about the baseball game they're headed to. And the woman is a graduate student and is going through her to-do list.
This next piece is 8"x8" and is titled, "Newton Center." The man on the right has twin babies at home and he's exhausted. He keeps nodding in and out of sleep and hoping that he won't sleep through his stop like he did last week. The woman on the left has noticed the man behind her is snoring. She's thinking about her plans for the evening and a friend of hers she hasn't seen much of lately because she's tired of hearing about how her boyfriend is treating her like dirt when she won't do anything about it. Both pieces are on cradled wood panel with collaged papers (subway maps, phone book pages, train schedules), acrylic, and ink. These pieces will be available at the Nahcotta show in Portsmouth, N.H. next month. I'm so excited about this show and the opportunity to see the artwork of some truly awesome artists in person. You can check out the postcard for the show here and see the list of artists involved. All the artwork in the Tiny Enormous Show III, will be 10"x10" or smaller and affordable. If you can't go to the show, you can still contact Nahcotta directly and make a purchase through them. More about this later in the week.
It's snowing here and I'm feeling sleepy despite the yummy coffee that the hubster made for us. But I've got a soft kitty on my lap, so life is good! 
Yesterday, some of my creativactivities involved re-vamping my inspiration/cork board. I'll share some pictures of that later on. I'd actually love to get some new and bigger cork boards. There's actually a very cool flickr group of inspiration boards and a blog dedicated to them too! Do you keep an inspiration board?
Creative Cooking
January 24th, 2008, 19 Comments
Making a new recipe always feels creative to me. I traveled to a brand new grocery store in town and enjoyed the new signage and the fresh, clean feeling of it. Everything seemed so perfect! Every product was well stocked, all the produce looked spectacular, so much color! I enjoyed picking out fresh ingredients: cod and clams, parsley, potatoes, leeks, celery, and some pricey, but fun saffron threads. Chopping vedgies, smelling the stock cooking, tomatoes, chicken broth and clam juice. Toasting up crusty bread in the oven and hoping, hoping, hoping that it will taste good. Phew, it did! Then setting it up in the white bowls and plates, I felt like I'd made a bit of food art. Pretty enough to eat and warm-your-insides good.
Andrea mentioned today that she's enjoying the CED challenge and how it's really all about perspective. Opening our eyes to the endless ways there are to be creative, we see the opportunities every where and life becomes more rich and full. How lovely is that?
An artist I admire, Michelle Caplan, has joined in the CED challenge this week. She is doing this great collage-a-day project that she's chronicling on her blog, Collage Lab. Also be sure to check out her fantastic blog called, Creative Swoon (I love the name), which is overflowing with inspiration.
Flowers in the Winter
January 23rd, 2008, 6 Comments
Yesterday's creativity involved doodling on an old drawing, picking out colorful tulips at the store, and putting them in vases to brighten up a gray day. Flowers in your home are another super sweet and simple delight. You may think that you need a special occasion for flower buying. You don't. Treating yourself to a bright bunch of tulips is a wonderful way to take care of yourself and bring more color and creativity into your life. The pictures in this post are from my trip with the hubster to Seattle last summer. We were visiting the Pike Place Market and my mind exploded in color at the sight of the flowers they had for sale there. Gorgeous flowers in every shape and color. They seemed larger than life, so full and thick, almost surreal. Perhaps its the moist Seattle air that makes the flowers so gorgeous? And they were incredibly cheap too!
I mean, look at those peonies! I stuck my face in a few to take big whiffs and feel their soft petals. If I lived in Seattle, my home would be overflowing with flowers, I'm sure of it. Wintertime in New England, flowers are not so cheap and full, but I did find some cheery yellow tulips with reddish pink edges that look quite lovely in the blue vase I have in the window. And two extra tulips are in a little red vase in the kitchen too.
Brightening your space in small and large ways can be a wonderful way to express yourself creatively. Simply changing the arrangement of your furniture can give such a fantastic change of perspective and new energy to a space. I'm trying to figure out how to rearrange my studio right now.
Here's some more juicy inspiration for you:
- The blog housemartin is all about home decor and floral design. If you're needing some floral inspiration, do check out all the gorgeous pictures there!
- Kara of Mother Henna has a cool online exhibit of art relating to Peace on her website A Peace Of... Check out the cool art there and maybe submit something you've created!
- The website Normal Room shows pictures of interiors from around the world. Loads of fun interior spaces to see there!
- Lastly, from one of my favorite websites, decor8, check out Holly's flickr group of Creative Collections. I love the cool and quirky collections there.
Doh!
January 23rd, 2008, 5 Comments
I just found a lot of emails in my spam folder from people wanting to join in CED. Sorry about that! I will get those up on the list later today. Sorry for the delay and sorry if you felt like I was ignoring you. I need to check my spam folder more often apparently!
Update: O.k. I've cleared out my spam folder and I believe I have responded to everyone who as asked to be added to the list as of today at 3:30 p.m. EST. So, if you don't see your name up there and it should be, please let me know!
Creativity from the Top of Your Head to the Tip of Your Toes
January 21st, 2008, 18 Comments
I love the way CED participants have been noticing the endless ways to be creative. Today, I was thinking about the little things that bring me delight. It's so important to notice those things that make you happy and bring them into your life as much as you can.
A few months ago, I'd seen a little girl running around with the cutest, sparkly shoes. They were so adorable that I giggled when I saw them. I think I even said, "Oooo, I want sparkly shoes!" Well, shortly after that I saw a pair of inexpensive, but super sparkly shoes for sale. It was already winter time and they certainly weren't super practical shoes for the time of year, but I've definitely gotten my $15 worth. I wear them around the house all the time like slippers, while going up and down stairs with laundry, and in my parents house when I visit to keep my toes warm. And I'll be able to wear them outside in the spring. They are blue (my favorite color), so sparkly, and they still make me smile when I see them. They make my feet dance when I wear them. That's always a good thing too. And my small, but fun creatactivity of the day was taking these pics of my shoes and a very curious Tabbers cat.
It was so nice to get home last night! The hubster and I were very excited to be together again and we had a really fun day today. We drove around and looked at houses (just from the outside), saw a movie (Cloverfield), and I even fit in a little nap with the kitties. It was a good day. The movie was good by the way. It was definitely spooky and fun. A friend of ours worked on the film, so we waited to see his name in the credits and cheered. Hehe.
Hope your weekend was a lovely and creative one!
Creative Every Day – January 21st – January 27th
January 21st, 2008, 34 Comments
CED2008 participants! Feel free to leave a comment here with a link to post(s) about your creative activities during the week of 1/21/08 - 1/27/08.
Happy creating!
Tiny, Little Things (that are actually Big)
January 20th, 2008, 8 Comments
A big part of what I'd like the Creative Every Day challenge to for myself and others, is to help us notice the little things and the small ways we can be creative. We may not have time to make a masterpiece every day, but we can always find some way (no matter how small) to be creative. And by looking at the many ways we can be creative in our lives, we bring ourselves into the now. In our computer culture, many of us (myself included) get a bit of information add, slowing down to notice the little ways in which we are creative in our everyday lives helps us to stop and focus on all the small things that make our life beautiful. And that's beautiful!
I was just over at Violet's Ink and she talked about a cool blog called Overlooked. I'd never heard of it before! But it's a new challenge that is all about the everyday little things in life. And in a bit of cool synchronicity, there's a picture on the blog of the mug that I posted a picture of last week...yes, the one that says "Do Something Creative Every Day." Gotta love that. I don't really need another mug, but I think the Universe is telling me to get that one as a little reminder of my daily practice.
Today's creatactivity was varnishing up the two pieces I finished up yesterday and collaging the background for three more. I'm a posting maniac today!
Etsy Updates
January 20th, 2008, One Comment
3 of the prints I put up on my new Etsy store sold today. Hoorah! So, I've replaced those prints and added one more "Subway Stories" print there.
I also wrote about my etsy store along with some cool etsy shops I've enjoyed (just a few out of many I love to watch and buy from!) on my Blue Tree Blog. So, go check that out for some fun linkage. I'm going home in a couple hours and I'm so excited to snuggle up with the hubster, his homemade cooking, and some cute kitties to keep me warm. It is frigidly cold outside today. Brr!
Art and Picnics
January 20th, 2008, 6 Comments
Some new pieces, I've been working on. Still have a little touching up to do on these two and they need names still, but here's a sneak peek!
These two are 6"x6" and 8"x8". I did a lot of work on them last night when I experienced some night time energy again. The night owl in me enjoys making art in the evening hours. So, I stayed up late working on these and finishing up on the last one.
I started feeling much brighter in the afternoon yesterday and today the world feels much less heavy. Hooray for that! I think that the best thing to do with a low mood (if possible, it's not always possible), is to create with it. If I can turn that blueness into some thing, if I can use it as the paint in my brush, then I tend to feel better as a result. Sometimes just expressing that emotion can help to lift it away or at least lighten it.
If you're feeling low, try having what I call an "art picnic." I do this regularly and it's a wonderful practice. I'll set up on the floor and lay down old blankets and pillows and make myself comfortable. I'll put around me whatever art supplies I have: paper, glue, paint, cups of water, ephemera, old books, pencils, pastels and then I wait a moment to see what draws me in. What materials do I feel drawn to? What colors are calling my name? I let go of any expectation to create something "good" and just let myself create whatever I'd like to. I give myself permission to make "bad art." And I follow my intuition where it guides me. Very often I find my underlying emotions spilled across the page and by getting in touch with that deeper feeling within me, the one that might not be sitting on the surface, I feel more connected, grounded, and whole. Perhaps by working on the floor, I'm able to feel more grounded or perhaps by getting down low and meeting myself where I'm at, I'm better able to connect. Try it for yourself and see how it works for you! I have art picnics in every sort of mood, so you don't need to feel low to try having one!
Comfort
January 19th, 2008, 10 Comments
I keep hearing, reading, and seeing the word, "comfort" everywhere lately. It was on the receipt of my purchase at a bagel shop this morning which was advertising a new sandwich that they called "creative comfort foods." Inspire Me Thursday this week is about moving beyond our comfort zones (and last week was also about comfort). Jen Lemen mentioned finding comfort in her clutter today. And those are just a few examples. Perhaps it is because I am seeking comfort at the moment.
I have clinical depression and the winter can be difficult for me. I've been doing o.k., but this past week has been a bit of a struggle. I have been endlessly exhausted, teary, and low energy. I say this because I know that this is a difficult time for many people and perhaps my words will help someone else who is struggling too. Fortunately, I've been through this enough to know that it will pass. I don't feel hopeless as I might have in the past. The best thing I can do is have compassion for myself, practice good self-care, and keep taking those baby steps forward.
My week at my old job ends tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to a snuggle reunion with the hubster and my kitty meows. (The picture is of my kitties, Sadie and Emma, snuggling on a box in my closet.) I hope that if you are needing some comfort today, you will allow yourself to seek it out, to relax and soak it in.
