The Colourguru: not sleeping

Tuesday, 07 October 2008

not sleeping

It's 2am and I am not sleeping - I know I should be - with a energetic 2 yo that will be awake in only a couple of hours, but once my sleep is disturbed, I find it so hard to get back to sleep - then I will be ready to sleep, just as she is ready to get up - body clocks are such wierd things. I managed to get a little art done during the evening - these are the beginnings of a set of 3 (12 x 20") canvases. These look a little wierd at the moment, they are just 'shapes & tones' at the moment - mid process & are titled Faith, Hope & Charity. I am doing an online course at the moment & we are working with stick figures! Yep, you got it - stick figures! I thought they were leading to a 'face of the day', but not so far and it has been quite a few days since I have done one! Actually - they are 'masked off' spaces where the 'figure' is going to be - so I am hoping at the end they don't still look like stick figures! The strong red 'blobs' in the lower areas of the first one will be poppies (for remembrance) when fleshed out............ the patch of colours at the bottom of the tree in the middle one are autumn leaves & Charity has a mountain & what started out as a row of trees, but will probably end up as bushes behind her. (I was trying to convey love directed outward)

Today's copyright free images come from the artist English Pre-Raphelite artist - Abraham Solomon who lived from 1842 - 1864.

Posted at 01:52 AM in Art, Artistic Ramblings, Canvases/Canvas Boards, FREE images for you | Permalink

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I just love the colors you're using here. Hope you get some quality sleep soon.

Posted by: Carmen | Tuesday, 07 October 2008 at 04:14 AM

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WELCOME

hi there, thanks for visiting .......
greetings from my creative space to yours....... having been creative my whole life (whether I am cooking, planting a garden, sewing or painting) - thoughts & images here range from art & creativity, techniques, photography, show & tell to family & baby news & travel.. I am keen to share with you BOTH my art successes & failures because I am not putting myself forward as anyone special - just a work in progress - like most of us........
Grab yourself a cuppa, & have a look around.

BELOW is a list of catagories which house archives, each of my previous posts, that have been allocated to one subject or another. So that's the place to click if you'd like to look at one particular type of work. 2008 was a year of 'curve balls' for our family & as a result my life has taken some unexpected turns. I am now 'accomodating' some physical challenges I hadn't anticipated this young & am studying Visual Arts in an attempt to regain my equilibrium.

I will retain this blog as my art blog and keep things here up to date with my art, however as my life is starting to head off on it's own 'altered journey', some places not suited to my audience or content of this blog - my daily musings are on my new blog:

uRBan dRiFTwooD'

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT EVERYTHING THAT I POST ON THIS SITE IS COPYWRITED. I UNDERSTAND HOW YOU CAN BE INSPIRED BY EXPOSURE TO VARIOUS ARTISTS, and I certainly appreciate you commenting & us discussing various aspects of my work. This is why I photograph my processes & explain techniques I use - BUT PLEASE, FOR YOUR OWN ARTISTIC GROWTH & CREATIVITY DO NOT STEAL MY WORK.

EYE CANDY on flickr

THE HOW'S & WHY'S OF SWAPPING ART

WHY SWAP ART
Sometimes, the progression from percieving your self as some one who is a 'crafter' to someone who is an 'artist' is all about the process & the passage of time. Often times, regardless of the outcome, the process is the most important thing! Sometime toward the end of 2005 an online friend from another art group related a story from the book 'Art and Fear' to me (via the online group we were both a part of) & it has literally changed my approach to 'arting'. It goes something like this............. In one of my favorite books about the process of art (Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland) there is a study cited that is interesting. A ceramics class is told by the professor that they can either be judged by the quantity of work turned in over the semester or the quality of one piece. The students who chose "quantity" would turn in their pieces at the end of the term. The pieces would be weighed and they would recieve a grade based on the total weight. The students who chose "quality" would turn in one piece, and be graded on that one piece. The students who chose "quality" spent most of their time planning, plodding, incubating, and designing their one perfect piece. The quantity students just kept turning stuff out. The surprising outcome was that the very best work came from the "quantity"students. moral of the story? Just do it! Skills, techniques & creativity is honed in the caudron of practise:- I have used it as an 'art ethos' ever since.................joining swaps & projects when the topic interests me, which stretches me, keeps me creating & gives me a starting point to create. I learn new things, discover & develop new processes and get help from my friends along the way. NOT every piece of art that you create will become a Mona Lisa HOWEVER, I do not believe that during the time that Leonardo Da Vinci was painting her, he realised what he was creating....He had to create the piece - then put it out there in the world to be critiqued - you need to work through the process everytime.... I believe this to be the single most valuable thing you can do to develop your art skills - take the Nike approach - JUST DO IT!!!!! My addition to that - JUST DO IT - everyday - no matter how minor or how busy you are, art a little everyday, even if it is only organizing your supplies, as it will keep you present with your art.
HOW DO I JOIN IN A SWAP?
The easiest way to join into a swap is to join one of the many online Yahoo groups, that regularly swap art. Paper Traders is a group that I am involved in (link below) & is one such group, but there are lots of others, each with their own flavour, some specializing in particular mediums or formats. Simply type in yahoo groups in your search engine & the home page will come up. You will need to register an 'identity' (it's best that this is a recognizable word & relevant to you as this is what all your messages come up as). IF you would like to do a 'blind' swap with me, ie you send me an ATC & I send you one back, send me an email using the link above.
ONLINE CHALLENGES
Another fun & perhaps a little less stressful way (because your art is for yourself, though you usually post pics of it to show others what you have created) of participating & giving yourself a little nudge is to participate in one of the many online challenge sites. I have a whole list of them here - check them out, I am sure that there will be something that will pique your interest..... Have fun!!!

Bits 'n' Bobs

Here's some other things that might interest you......

GROWING TOGETHER: I want to 'mentor' creativity in fellow artists, knowing full well that I will grow & evolve in the process, so early 2007 I commenced a new catagory called 'THOUGHTS TO PROVOKE CREATIVITY' I hope that you find this encouraging & I always appreciate your comments & feedback.

A LITTLE ABOUT ME: I am an interior designer, entranced by colour & in love with Art Nouveau styling. I am perpetually playing with paint, paper & interesting imagery. I enjoy lots of art - in various mediums & forms, & am happy to swap a needle for a glue brush or my camera or computer at short notice. I am working on developing my drawing skills, particularly drawing people & faces in 2008, but I also rely a lot on ephemera, found imagery & rubber stamping. (my first love) Mid year in 2008 I have begun a challenge to improve my drawing skills by drawing one face every day.... the challenge continues! I was a child bride & had 2 babies in 2 years & a 3rd followed a few years later, so I now find myself at the delicious age of mid 40's with my children grown up, my house to myself, (well, most of the time) & enough time to indulge my artistic passions......quite frankly some days when I am sitting in my art studio looking out the window, it just feels like a little slice of heaven! At the beginning of 2006 the last of our children moved out & DH & I have begun to talk about what 'our plans' might look like. We have extended our home & made lots of adult living space, but lo & behold, we were told by 2 of our 3 children that they were expecting. Well, our two little darlings have arrived......Eleanor Grace (aka Princess 'L') in July 06 & Toby Caleb in Dec 06. Being a 'Nonna' is SOOOO much fun....as someone once said....if I knew being a grandparent was going to be so much fun, I would have been nicer to my kids!!! LOL!! Interests These are a few of my favourite things: ALL THINGS COLOUR; but esp. GREEN, Italy, Art & Architecture, Alice in Wonderland, Pears, GSP's, The West Wing, Hot Rods & I also love the movies....classic fav movie would be Gone with the Wind.....I love Scarlet, she is SUCH a villan.....Modern movies......The Bourne Identity/Supremacy,Swordfish, The Ya-Ya Sisterhood,Life is Beautiful, The Day After Tomorrow

The Colourguru

Tuesday, 07 October 2008

not sleeping

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