One sketchbook page at a time. The oh so familiar will soon be far away and left in the past and while the move is exciting leaving our home of nearly twelve years is filled with loss and sadness.
New Starts!
Now that Open Studios is over with I can start planning for the next big event(s) in my art life. On Monday I completed sketchbook #6 and started sketchbook #7 and them almost immediately felt sketchbook paralysis. Not on the first page since I start the first page the same every time with a collection of colors, my name and number and a quote to inspire me. But after page number three or four I started to feel blocked. The perfect cure was a walk around the Arnold Arboretum here in JP collecting fallen leaves. Now I need to paint them and their gorgeous fall colors in my sketchbook before they all turn brown! Following that is a workshop on Moku Hanga Japanese printmaking workshop at the Elliot School here in JP this weekend. Back to printmaking I go but with a big change in learning a new technique that I have been interested in for years now. In a week I will be in Maine...
Relax and enjoy nature.
Friday is here and I am looking forward to getting outside this weekend. Long week here with the kids filled with a lot of fun but not a lot of art time for me. Hope the weather cooperates and I get in a couple of morning jogs that leave me feeling energized and inspired. What inspires you? What brings you down?
Inspired by nature.
The Curse : Sorting through inspiration
On vacation I take many hundreds of photos with my camera and my phone . Along with the typical family vacation photos I took shots of leaves, plants and various things that struck me as having potential. Now I just need to find them so I can use them. Often I take photographs of my surroundings to use as later inspiration for my sketchbook and end up forgetting and never using the photo. Finding it months later and wondering what it is doing on my camera or phone. Digital photography is both a blessing and a curse. I am happy to have it and I certainly don't want to go back to film photography. Plus for everyday pictures digital is much more affordable. But the sorting can be a nightmare. Now we are about planning to take a long weekend vacation to NYC and I will probably take a ton of pictures while I am there, so I should probably go through my Florida photos from April. When do you do the work of sorting through photographs and other tedious tasks?
The big chore : sorting through the inspiration.
On vacation I take many hundreds of photos with my camera and my phone . Along with the typical family vacation photos I took shots of leaves, plants and various things that struck me as having potential. Now I just need to find them so I can use them. Often I take photographs of my surroundings to use as later inspiration for my sketchbook and end up forgetting and never using the photo. Finding it months later and wondering what it is doing on my camera or phone. Digital photography is both a blessing and a curse. I am happy to have it and I certainly don't want to go back to film photography for everyday pictures this is much more affordable. But the sorting can be a nightmare.
Magic
Collaborating with my six year old daughter is pure magic. Printing with her is less than magical, at least with the three year old around getting ink all over herself and anything she touches. But I just couldn't wait until the weekend! Note to self need to plan printing time more carefully without the three year old around or with her at least contained and covered with a smock. My fashionista three year old does not wear smocks without a serious fight.
A Little Winter Wonder
Winter walks taking in the beauty whenever the sun is shining. I miss biking but these walks help. Spring is coming.
