Saturday, January 7, 2017

Create Every Day 2017

I need to be creative as much as I need to breathe oxygen. When life gets so busy that I let my creative time get eaten by the stress monster, I begin to feel like I am dying inside. I'm not using hyperbole here. I believe my soul starts to wither if I can't make something that, hopefully, adds some beauty to the universe.

I decided I wanted to challenge myself to create every day; and interestingly enough, so have a number of my artistic friends on Facebook. I guess our world needs as much beauty created as it can get right now.

I tend to work small and fast when I am in my creative mode. My mind begins to race, in a healthy way, and I allow the muses to take flight and guide my hands. It's freeing and restorative, and allows a short window of time that is all about feeding my soul.

This first week of 2017, I played with two mediums. First is alcohol inks. I had taken an alcohol ink mini-course last winter, and love the free and unexpected nature of the medium. They can be a you-know-what to control, but that is what I love. I might start out with an idea when I first drip the inks on the paper, but end up with something completely unexpected. Here are the first few pieces I made, some of which will be used as background for mixed media pieces in the future.

Practice with blending colors and using a felt pad to create texture

More practice creating texture, and trying to create some floral motifs. 
An attempt at a sunset...I like the texture on the beach, but that's about it. 

This started as a landscape-oriented piece, but I extended the path too high on the piece. I ended up rotating the piece and creating a field of flowers instead.

Another piece that started out with a landcape orientation. My idea was to create a Northern Lights effect. It wasn't working, as I wanted, but I kept playing. Then when I rotated the piece, I saw the face profile...do you?

More attempts at an aurora, but using a different technique. I picked contrasting colors on purpose, and have plans for using this in a mixed media piece about dreams.


This was the most recent piece. This one started out completely upside down...and as I played, it turned into more of an alien landscape of cliffs and a gorgeous green sky.

Finally, I am taking a Photoshop class. Here is the piece I like most from this week's assignments. Fun with masking, filters and making composite pieces.

 I plan on playing more with the alcohol inks, and begin to add some techniques using brushes to add details. And who knows what Photoshop assignments might strike my fancy this week? Or I might make some glass beads, or a piece of jewelry? As long as I create every day, the possibilities are endless!