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As you can see from the following photo, I'm a wild wild party animal and I spent my New Year's Eve like this:  That's me, embroidering by the light of a small clip on flashlight that my partner in crime there attached to his hat for me. And here's the project I was working on:  I printed the green tree python (from a hand-carved block) on Muslin with dye ink, and then stitched away. Once I was done stitching, I tinted it with alcohol inks. Now to figure out how to finish it up!
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I've been carving up a storm lately! Here are some of my newest printing blocks:  Praying Mantis: Iris oratoria
Everybody starts somewhere, so I'm going to be a little bit vulnerable today and show you one of the first things I made, back when I was just starting to work with polymer clay:  Sure, a little bit embarrassing, bumpy and lumpy, and very simple cane work, but this was made with love for a set of my "bonus" (in-law) grandparents for Christmas. I did the best job I could, at the time, with the skills and tools I had available, and it brought me joy to both make this little ornament, and to give it as a gift. (And they hung it on their tree every year until they both passed away, and this little memory was returned to me.)
When I have had my artwork on display in my booth, I have heard all sorts of comments "Oh, I could never do that!" "Oh, I'm just not creative like you are!" "Oh, I tried that once and it came out terrible!" Well, here's the thing. I believe, down to my toes that creativity is like a muscle. And like any muscle, it get stronger if you put the time and energy into nurturing it. Your creativity is not going to take the same form as my creativity - but it is there. if your skills are mediocre in whatever artistic outlet makes your little heart sing? Well. there's no magic wand to wave to improve those skills. Time and practice, time and practice, time and practice. Twenty years later, and looking back at things I made when I was learning may make me cringe a little bit - but mostly, they make me smile and realize how far I've come.  Brown Paper Bags printed with my new "Creative Moves" carved printing block.
 I've recently embraced the fact that the more you actually draw, the better your skills become. (Shocking, I know.) It's never an area I've felt especially skilled or comfortable in, even though my printing blocks all start from a drawing. (Although for some reason calling it "doodling" seems so much less intimidating. For me, anyway.)
It used to seem that drawing skills were a mysterious thing that you were either gifted with or not. The idea that practicing drawing made you better at it hadn't occurred to me when I was younger. Considering that I understood that practice was necessary both for playing an instrument and performing on stage, this was an odd oversight on my part. Having a kid who draws a lot, and seeing how they improved over time helped me realize this, along with their frustration with people who just assumed they had a "natural gift" and did not see the hours of work put into building those skills. So, here's a little mermaid doodle. Nothing finished, definitely nothing perfect, but a step along the way.  I opened up a society 6 shop! Mostly art prints, but there are a few cards, phone cases/skins, and Laptop/ipad cases/skins available as well.. Check it out!
http://Society6/creativemoves Pictures from the last couple of weeks. Hover over the picture for captions. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! All the white stuff from our firt snow fall has melted, but you can still use the coupon code "LETITSNOW" to receive 10% off any order of $10 or more at the etsy shop! http://creativemoves.etsy.com |
