On Change

On Change:

I’ve been thinking a lot, listening to a lot of creative podcasts, writing in my journal a bit; and something that comes to mind  is how tastes and what you make as an artist change over time.

I used to embroider a lot, like, all the time. I remember working on a commissioned piece on a lunch break at my old job. I don’t remember the last time I did any sort of embroidery and you know what? That is totally ok. I can be hard on myself thinking that because I don’t do certain things anymore that I am being lazy. It’s not lazy, it’s changing tastes and styles. It could be a long break was needed and I’ll come back to it naturally. I don’t want to force myself to embroider in my art again because I most likely won’t enjoy it, or it might even come across as forced to the viewer and look totally out of place in a piece. If I get the urge to embroider something I will be happy but I’m not going to get down on myself right now.

Currently:

A real quick look at some fun I’m having in old sewing and craft books right now. Inspired by Lisa Congdon’s painting in old books, I thought this would be a fun exercise the other night to transition from day job (I work at home most days and my desk is for work and art) to working on creative projects that evening. It was nice to immediately close the work laptop and paint on paper. Then I took a break to make dinner and get in some TV, and later worked on writing a review for my new project, Belmont Book Review.

Creative Challenge

I decided to give myself a creative challenge to get myself out of my normal process. I've been really stuck with getting something to look exactly as it does in my head and I think it's slowing me down. I end up putting a lot of pressure on myself! 

So my challenge was to pick some random supplies without thinking what the end game is, and make a piece of art. 

The supplies I picked for this challenge

 I ended up choosing some scrapbook paper and wallpaper sample (both floral), decorative paper flowers, vintage book paper, embroidery thread, buttons, and a few small decorative odds and ends.

I ended up creating a mixed media piece in which the base was the floral scrapbook paper, cutting out the shape by following the flow of two flower bunches. From there I figured out the basic layout of the bigger bits and added the detail. Pretty simple and quick challenge for myself! I don't think I could of created this piece any other way and I find that so interesting.

Thanks for reading! If you have any creative challenges you like to do let me know in the comments. 

What I'm Listening To

Hi again! It’s been awhile and this is my first post of 2016! I hope everyone is having a great year so far. We got back a little over a week ago from a 9 day vacation and I am feeling rested and relaxed (and still fighting getting back to “real life”).

Back in April 2015 I posted about a creative podcast I was listening to, and since then I have discovered so many more and wanted to share what I’m listening to. I look forward to new episodes being posted every week and my mood gets a good boost after a listen to any of these.

Being Boss-

This podcast from Kathleen Shannon and Emily Thomson is geared towards creative entrepreneurs and gets into the nitty gritty of being in charge of your business. Not everything applies to my “side gig”, but I enjoy listening and can often apply things they discuss to how I work as a fine artist and even my day job in finance.

The Lively Show-

Host Jess Lively discusses how to live life with intention and talks about topics from health to living a creative life. I never really thought about living with intention before, but at this stage in my life in my 30’s I am glad to be learning about it.

Creating Your Own Path-

Jennifer Snyder interviews all types of creatives to see what inspires them and how they work, which is a great way to get inspired to create myself.

The Jealous Curator: Art for Your Ear-

I absolutely love the Jealous Curator’s website and her impeccable taste; so I am so happy I can hear Danielle Krysa interview artists about their work and how/where they got their start.

What are you listening to to get your creativity flowing?

I'm an Obliger

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how I can get more accomplished in my daily life, especially when it comes to making art. I recently read the book Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin and had a suspicion that out the the "Four Tendencies" that I am an Obliger. After this brief Twitter exchange with the author herself, it became even more clear.

 Brief explanation of an Obliger from Gretchen's book:  meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet expectations they impose on themselves

So taking this into consideration, I am trying to approach my day to day differently. Realizing that I am an Obliger and having that definition and awareness alone has pushed me a bit. If I think "well why don't I have the motivation to sketch tonight?", I know it is because no one is waiting for me to do a sketch, there is no deadline. I work better under a deadline. How do I work creatively under a deadline on my personal projects? I'm sure my various art director friends are great at this, but I need some help.  I have been meaning to write and blog more, so there is an idea! If I create more, I can share it here. Two birds, one stone. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, so I'll start with this one idea and see how I do. 

For now, I will publicly shame myself here and post photos of various ignored projects in my studio at the moment

I bought paint and pastel pencils Sunday afternoon with every intention on painting that night. It's now Thursday evening and I have yet to touch only the pastels for just 1 quick sketch. 

This finished collage needs to be listed on Etsy, but it hasn't been done yet. I clearly need to vacuum this rug too...

I have no idea why this ball of fabric is laying on top of brushes and various items. Maybe as a reminder to go through my fabric stash to get ideas for a new piece?