In the Zone

Do you know when you are in the zone? Most days I am so busy, creating art is the last thing on my mind. But I need to be more aware of when I am in the zone and act on it. Today it was driving home from town, no boys, music cranked up and a feeling came over me. A feeling of peace and no worries about such things as dinner, homework, laundry, or baths. Now when I say no worries, this doesn't mean that I will not be completing these chores, but rather, I must change my thinking. I can hand off some chores to Daddy-O (after all he got his free time in the garage tonight), leave chores that can be done later, and crank up the music! Music is an escape from my non-stop mind, which allows me to create and feel joy!
Soon the little ones found me, as they always do, and wanted to draw as well. It is great to create alongside my boys and I am glad they love art as much as I do! In fact they goth got outstanding marks in art on their report card! Woohoo!
So here is some awesome work created by my youngest son tonight.


Drawing from a tin print on the dining room wall.

Even if you do not consider yourself an artist, please sit down and draw with your children. They may be an artist waiting to blossom! Even if we are not writers we read to our children, art is equally important.
Have a good evening!

The Lincoln Project

Worked on a project that has been formulating in my artist brain for awhile now. Inspired by a PBS show on Lincoln/Civil War, the election year, and now there is a new Steven Spielberg movie coming out, Lincoln, I have been working on a big sketch of Lincoln. I haven't decided if I want it to be a watercolor or fiber art yet, either way the color scheme will be green.

Lincoln's face expresses a multitude of emotion.
 

Lincoln was a leader at a very crucial time for our nation. We could have been torn into two countries, and yet he pulled us through, amidst his own depression. How he had the courage to make any decisions is beyond me. The weight of two sides who both claim God was on their side, must have been a heavy one to bear, especially when he was questioning his own spirituality. I think Lincoln's courage was most evident in the fact he explored the hard questions and went to the darkness. Most people would shy away from that, and most citizens do not trust their leaders right now which is a shame, because only when we delve into our darkness can we find the light.

Days Off

Hurt my shoulder today, so typing, drawing cutting, chopping all to a minimum for now. Hopefully ice and ibuprofen will improve things quickly.

Coffee Cup

My friend Amy, who is a phenomenal artist and could easily have her own gallery show, is doing some art lessons on Facebook for free! I'm taking advantage of this. Here is today's lesson.

And here is my homework.
I like the block/graph method of drawing, Amy is great at using her eyes. Check her out, I'm sure you'll find something you love.

Lazy Sunday

Make that lazy Saturday! Yesterday I was cooking/baking, but not much else. Today seemed to be going the same direction but then I decided to tie up a few to-do's on my list.
My art/sewing room is a project I have been avoiding. A recent picking expedition left me a small path to get into my room. This does not muster any creativity out of me at all!
Little bags of scraps were over flowing and stashed in various places making it difficult to find fabric for my projects. Little scraps are perfect for small projects, plus I have a future, not so small, project in mind to diminish my supply.

Organization can be so beautiful.

 A trip to the department store brought home three clear containers and a rainbow of scraps to my sewing room. Really my mess was not that bad but there were just some big pieces needing a home, besides it's really a shame to have your brother make you a custom art desk and not use it!
I find a constant battle in my mind over being overwhelmed with projects and not producing anything, to being focused and clear on a project and following through with it.
I try to roll with the waves, since life is never smooth sailing the whole way.
I ride out the lazy days and slowly work on small projects. Today's small projects were hemming some jeans, organizing my sewing supplies, and removing a tail and belly patch from last years Halloween costume. It feels good to accomplish these small tasks, perhaps I am on the start of an upswing.

Fueling your inspiration

I am completely sucked in to watching cooking shows lately. I always love watching cooking shows but the time to watch them is usually not available. Plus I have to compete with the boys for the TV sometimes, but today I was in a cooking mood, and I got that inspiration from watching others cook. I wish it were that easy with art. Beside occasionally catch old Joy Of Painting episodes at midnight they do not have many art shows on television. Such a shame!
Luckily artist are inspired by many subjects, so what refuels your inspiration? Usually plugging in my ipod and cracking up the tunes gets me inspired and submerged in my art. Unfortunately due to theft I am with out an ipod at this time, something I must replace soon.
Today I created pumpkin art! Pumpkin cranberry bread and Spiced Heirloom Pumpkin Pie. The bread turned out great, the boys loved it and the pie is cooling now. If it turns out well it may make it into my Thanksgiving menu.
Please share what inspires you to create.

What inspires art?

Watching "Sweet Genius" with my boys, and they are using bacon(not such a challenge?) and puppies to create desserts. "What are the puppies for?" my youngest son asks. Giggling to my self thinking that he is having visions of puppies going into cupcakes, I assure him "They are using them for inspiration.". "What's inspiration?" Children have the best qusetions. One definition, to stimulate to action; motivate, brings to mind a question. What inspires my art?
Surely I am aware of artists being inspired by love, poverty, religion, and money, but when I create art, I am not sure what inspires me. In a general statement I could say beauty, but really there is beauty in everything, and what calls to me in certain objects more than others? No answers....but perhaps no answers are needed. Here's what I do know, drawing faces, particularly women's faces, brings me much joy and challenges me.
Today I sketched, what else, a woman. I am not satisfied with her, but I rarely am, another curse of the artist, so I decided to stop. After all, this is just daily practice, not creating masterpieces!