inspiration

I have been thinking about things that I use to feed my creativity and printmaking. I challenge you to do the same. You may be surprised.

Inspirations for Creativity

1 – Shadows

Shadows are a big source of creative ideas for me. I use shadows to create stencils for printmaking and catalyst for drawings.

Cycling shadow was used to create a stencil.

Notice early morning or late afternoon cast shadow.

Long shadows cast by your own body.

2 – Weathered, worn and rich patinas

I am inspired the moss and paint textures of this concrete. I might try to create something similar when gelatin printmaking.

3 – Architectural patterns

These things are everywhere and since many of us have camera phone with us all the time, then it is easy to capture this inspiration.

4 – Family, kids and friends

Family and friends can be inspiring in many ways, as subjects, as energy, and mental ideas.

I have used my twin nephews as subjects for stencils, drawing, paintings and prints. Spread the LOVE!

5 – Books and the Library

This source for ideas is so obvious that we might forget about it. Visit your library today.

6 – Musuems  and Art Exhibits

The art show does not even have to be fancy. I have been inspired by the raw, honest expression of young children at the local elementary school.

7 – View out the Window

The window is like a frame and can focus your attention if you let it. I watched an enjoyable movie Maudie about a Canadian folk artist who painted what she saw out her real window.

After a recent snow storm my eye was drawn to the tire tracks in the parking lot just below my window.

8 – Art Classes stimulate new ideas

This one is pretty obvious. A workshop or longer class always inspires my printmaking.

These sketchbooks were created during an online class on Urban sketching. And they eventually ended up in an exhibit at the Portland Public Library.

I invite you to pause and notice your sources of inspiration. If you need a boost, seek out one of those sources and make stuff!

If you would like to take an online class on Gelatin Printmaking consider the Gelatin Printmaking Workshop, a 15 lesson self-study. It is available to you right now.

Read the details on the printmaking workshop page and register today.

Well we made it through the busy holiday season.

Did you just survive it or did it help your thrive?

There could be a little bit of both. Surviving the chaos and busyness and yet finding moments of thriving with

• pleasure of gift making
• enjoying the joy of gift giving
• being wrapped up in the sparkle of the season
• fresh snow creating a new clean canvas

I challenge you to look back and remember those wonderful moments, before you rush into the goals of the new year.

I hope to bring some of the thriving into 2018.

1. I love seeing others enjoy my gift. – Do this more! Give and watch.
2. Pause in nature – it feeds me. I get ideas and images for art projects.
3. Choosing people and activities that that make me smile.

If making art helps you thrive then you might want to explore gelatin printmaking.

Join us in a workshop this year. Get info on the current workshops.

“Life must be lived as Play.” Plato

Want to add some play to your day?

I can help you with that. Check out the current workshops. 

• Does your art making vary with the seasons?
• Do you have outside and inside projects?
• Does the changes in weather and atmosphere affect you tools or ideas?

As the fall weather settles in on New England, I get inspired to quilt or work with fabric and threads.

I always have cotton sheets in my studio, so plenty of white fabric to do some experimental dyeing with. I got a bottle of liquid Rit Dye, a mason jar, and some salt. And then I had some fun folding, twisting and tying some small pieces of fabric.

I think they will be pieced together to make some sort of quilt.

With the same kind of inside nesting instinct, I have been stitching some small denim patches. Not really sure what I am going to do with them, but I like looking at them. So maybe they will become a placemat. That way I can enjoy them everyday.

It was also time to make a new gelatin plate. I had some plates that had been unused for quite a while and I tried to melt them down and reform them but they were just too fragile. So now let the fun begin with this fresh new gelatin plate!

Maybe some holiday cards or a new freshly preserved fern?

I also have a few things that I am working on that have deadlines coming up.

This image is about the theme, “what’s in my garden?” I don’t have a garden, but I am attracted to the cast shadows of roadside flowers and weeds, as I go on my regular cycling routes.

Do you remember the inspiring 1200 foot wall I saw last spring at the Children’s Hospital in Boston?

The other thing I am exploring is a book with the theme, “When I was 57” That is my current age and some changes are happening this year that I giving me reason to think about what is important.

I am thinking about making the book pages in the shape of 57.

• How is your art practice changing with the seasons?
• Would it benefit from a seasonal adjustment or inspiration?
• Could you feed your art practice with some new ideas, or tools?

Enjoy!

SaveSave

Black Out Poem on an Old Book Page, while having breakfast.

• Do you bounce around from one interest to the next?
• Do you have some many inspirations you can choose what to do first? or
• Do you have a single focus and know exactly what you are going to do next?

screen printed napkin and coffee and sketchbook – alway time to make art.

I think as a mixed media printmaking I am inspired by a lot and often have time choosing what to do next, because there are so many things that I want to do:

• collect
• draw
• rip, tear, collage
• build
• burn
• sew
• scribble
• print

Cast shadow to inspire stencils. Capture them with your phone.

I have been told that I need a focus. Hmmm? Sometimes I take that advice and consider it’s value. And I have reframed it to mean:

I choose a focus for this moment/project.

It does not have to be forever. It does not have to be right or perfect or even the”one” focus. It is just for now. This choice gives me the freedom to work and let go of all the other things that I want to do. It directs my attention to the present project.

My take away:

When someone gives you advice try being open to re-shaping that “advice” in a way the empowers and supports your vision for your art/life.

Shadow shapes for printmaking stencils.