inspiration

One of the things, that I hope to do is inspire you to see the beauty that is before you.

I was looking out the window on the dirty parking lot below and at the abandoned building but that is not what I saw.

1. I saw the shadow cast by the scrub tree that manages to grow in the inner city.
2. The shadow is what feeds my art making.
3. Now the shadow can become a photo, a sketch, a stencil, a tool to make a print.
4. Then I wonder if everyone would see the shadow or would they just see the dirty parking lot

The other thing is that shadow is temporary. Tomorrow it will be different or not even there.

• Awareness of what is before you
• Willingness to SEE it
• Ability to choose what to do with that new awareness

Sometimes, I do nothing more than SEE the thing of beauty. Seeing it builds my awareness for the next thing. Sometimes, I run for my camera and sometimes, I will sketch it.

This awareness, willingness and ability to choose it one skill that I hope to foster in the folks who take my printmaking courses. If this sounds like something that you would like to add to your art making skills then join us in Monoprinting on Fabric. Read the details on the printmaking workshops page. Class starts soon, so join us today.

As mixed media artists we love lots of different media and methods. We love to explore and combine tools and materials in a myriad of ways. That is what makes our art work unique.

But for me that love of “everything” finds me wandering around my studio from one idea to the next and never quite finishing anything.

I made a decision that is helping me to complete some work. This one boundary actually gives me just enough structure to create some freedom to play.

This is the one boundary that I have given myself with my mixed media printmaking projects:

1. I am working in a fixed size, 5″ x 7″.
2. This gives me freedom to play and low risk because is it just an inexpensive piece of paper.
3. It also frees me up because I know that when I do finish the piece it will be a easy to frame standard size. Finishing and framing is often a hurdle for me.
4. I now know that any stencils that I cut will be cut to fit on that 5″ x 7″ paper.

What about you? Do you use boundaries to set yourself up for success?

Want to feel like an artist?

I believe that the key to feeling like an artist is working like an artist.

You need guided time to work at your craft. Imagine Matisse in his studio or Ansel Adams in the mountains.

Are you ready?

Give yourself the gift of time and guidance.

Time is not enough, because you will always have something else competing for your attention. Day job, kids, laundry and all the other bits of life.

Here’s some guidance:

1. Take photos of shapes for 10 minutes a day for one week. It is about capturing shapes not necessarily great photos
2. Keep it super simple simple – tie it to something you already do: a time when you are waiting, having your coffee, walking to school, work or the store
3. Here is the part that will make a big difference.
4.  Tell a friend that you are going to do it.
5. This will make the promise to yourself even stronger.

Now simply begin.

Enjoy,

Linda

Winter makes the landscape black and white. The branches of the trees are visible. City shapes stand out against the simplicity of white snow.

I see inspiration for stencils when this happens in my neck of the woods. I know not everyone has white winters, so maybe you have another environmental condition that quiets the visual noise and feeds your printmaker’s heart.

Maybe it is a time of day or a foggy day.

Be open to seeing a simplified landscape

to inspire your next printmaking project.

I see shapes with just enough interest to become a stencil for working on the gelatin plate.

• trees
• twigs
• birds on a wire
• buildings on the horizon

If you would like to be inspired by other artists – join us in the next online workshop.

Play is essential.

• Do you give yourself time to play?
• Is your best work created with an open playful mind?
• What do you believe about work, money and play?
• What kind of space do you need to play?
• What “toys” make it easy for you to play?
• Are there “rules or boundaries”?

Give yourself permission to play at something today. Notice what happened.

If you would like to play with gelatin printmaking, then check out the current workshops.