Testing My Wings

Thank you all for the kind comments regarding my crochet. I feel inspired and motivated now! I am meeting so many amazing artists as a result of Kelly Rae's e-course. I am enjoying that immensely.

I had a couple of projects that I had laid aside a few months ago. Here they are, completed:

A pencil cup holding my i-Pod. :-)

A fiesta of a basket. I'm thinking it could hold picnic table supplies.

I started and finished this basket over the weekend. I used silver rat tail cord. I enjoyed making it because the cord was very soft.



This "acorn" is one of my first designs. I included a squirrel charm from glamourgirlbeads on the cap.

I truly do feel inspired, but I also feel a bit overwhelmed. One of my biggest struggles is with balance. I am a stay-at-home mother to my two children. I have them to think of as well as a home and garden. I want to learn how to stay involved in all areas of my life. It feels as though as soon as I start concentrating on my artistic goals, something or someone is getting neglected. Any suggestions on how to manage everything and not feel completely wiped out? I would appreciate any feedback.

Learning to Fly

Here I am after nearly three months of silence. Once spring arrived, I ran immediately to my garden. I am growing a few veggies this year. I harvested some broccoli as well as snow and early peas yesterday. The peas taste like little green balls of sugar! Yum!

Sunday began Kelly Rae Roberts' online class, Taking Flight. She designed it to help hopeful artistic types (like me, yes, ME!) launch our creative businesses. Our most recent lesson was about blogging and how important it is to document our process and our growth. So I have made a commitment to write at least one to two times per week. I realized that I had only 30 posts since starting this blog back in September 2008. I am looking forward to changing that habit. I want to share more of myself, my goals and dreams.

In my last post, I talked about some crochet projects I had been working on. I photographed them on our patio table this afternoon. As I was displaying and photographing them, I realized what has been holding me back as far as opening an etsy shop. It was that nasty monster called PERFECTIONISM. I thought my creations had to be absolutely pristine and perfect for anyone to be interested in them. I want to change my perfectionism to "high quality and attention to detail". That should be a more achievable goal. Here are my creations:

The first is an oval basket made out of satin rattail cord.

A square basket made out of the satin cord.

An oval basket made with three colors of hemp cord.

A square napkin basket made with natural hemp cord.

A round beaded hemp basket.

A purple hemp pencil cup.

Red hemp pencil cup.

Purple hemp tiny square basket. Right now it is holding my favorite rocks, but it was designed for business cards.

Today is my 44th birthday as well. I feel much better about my life and myself than I did a year ago. This is going to be great year, one of growth and wonderful opportunities.

Christmas Crochet

I spent a lot of time crocheting gifts for Christmas. I really enjoyed it. What did I crochet? First, a poncho for my daughter:

I also crocheted lots of earrings for family and friends. Here are some samples:

These designs were all developed by other people. While I was crocheting all of these gifts, I kept thinking about how I would like to open up an etsy shop and share my own designs. Since then, I have been working on my creations. The process has been a bit slow, lots of trial and error, but I am starting to create designs that I really like and would love to share with other people.

Crochet Creativity

Crochet has been my creative outlet lately. This weekend I crocheted these fingerless gloves. It was an enjoyable project. I have been perusing lots of crochet as well as handbag-making books. I am seeing lots of inspiring designs. I have also been browsing books on acrylic painting and collage. What was my last post about? Focus? Hmmm, my interests just seem to be everywhere right now.

Focus

That's the word!

I made this illustration last night to remind myself. I seem to have my attention all over the place, and I have been like this for as long as I can remember. I can't even tell you how many books I'm in the middle of right now. So I am going to focus my energy on my creativity. I really want to explore my art. I have neglected it for far too long and I am feeling the effects. Not good! One of the books I'm reading now (and I plan to put all others aside) is Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams by Lucia Capacchione. She suggests doing collage work to determine exactly what the life of your dreams means to you. So that is my starting point.

Abstract Creativity

I have become interested in abstract painting so I read Abstract and Colour Techniques in Painting by Claire Harrigan this week. It is not a step-by-step instruction book. Instead, it gives narrative on how the artist makes decisions about her paintings. All of the painting in the book are Claire Harrigan's work and they are gorgeous. I especially love her use of bright colors, reminiscent of Matisse. She inspired me to start sketching to get some ideas for an abstract painting of my own. I used a photo I had taken at Shenandoah of a leaf on a fallen log for my sketches:





In the first sketch, I tried to incorporate too much detail. So in the next two sketches, I tried to simplify. I like the last sketch the best. I also drew a sketch of Belle sleeping:

Dream

Not much creativity today, unless you count wrapping and storing Christmas decorations. That is one joyless task, no doubt in my mind! I doodled last night with my girl. The result is Dream, something I try to remember to do. To hold onto my dreams of living a creative life.

Light a Candle

I drew this last night as I was lying in bed. It is dedicated to the people of India, especially those who live in Mumbai. I also wanted it to be a reminder for the rest of us. We can all do our best to make this world a better place, regardless of the people intent on destroying it.

What Is Artful, Anyway?

I was playing with some frames tonight to see if any of my art is "frame-worthy". I had two frames which would only fit my 8" x 8" canvases. I did not like how any of my art looked. Perhaps it was the frame or the mat. Afterward, I felt a bit dejected, like maybe I am kidding myself that I have any artistic talent. I realize that everyone who attempts any kind of creative endeavor feels this way from time to time. I know I just need to keep working, practicing, and trying new things. Maybe I need to stop looking at the amazing work other artists are creating and focus on my own art. But my art feels so insignificant. I have to remember that my work is a part of me; therefore, it does have worth, regardless of the quality of it.

Here is a link to my work for the Art Every Day Month challenge which I have been participating in for the month of November. And a link to the AEDM pool, to see everyone else's work. I know, it is too early for me to give up on something that has tugged at my soul for a very long time. I will find my artful purpose, as long as I continue the search for it.

Painting Pumpkins

Not too much creativity this week, but my children and I painted pumpkins. We enjoyed this small fall project.

Childhood

My creative project for today was inspired by a technique taught by Judy Wise as well as an idea I found in The New Acrylics:

In Photoshop, I converted the photo to BW and used a stamp filter on it. Once printed, I covered it with Self-Leveling Clear Gel Medium. Once the medium was dry (it took a couple of days), I wet the photo and peeled the paper off the back. Now my image is translucent! The inspiration for my background was Simultaneous Open Windows by Robert Delaunay. I read about it in one of my favorite books, Sister Wendy's 1000 Masterpieces. Finally, I added some pressed flowers and a few paint swirls.

Fiddleheads

I have decided to take the Creative Every Day challenge for 2008, even though we are already in the tenth month of the year. I painted this last night:

I did not paint with any plan. I just went on instinct, and the result reminds me of emerging ferns. It was definitely fun just putting layers of paint on my canvas and seeing the result.

Mixed Media Collages

Inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts' book, Taking Flight, I have begun to explore mixed media collage. I have always admired collage and have even collected materials, but have never ventured forth to actually create something. My first attempt:



The lyric "Because we all have wings" is from the song Never Tear Us Apart by INXS. The cute elephant paper is a freebie from Jackie Eckles on the Little Dreamer Designs blog.

Second try:



Most of the elements on this page are from the Angel Kit by Lily Designs.

I enjoyed the process of making both collages, especially getting to paint. I already have other projects in the works, and will be trying some new techniques. Ahh, art is bliss!