I WANT My Crayons!

This morning on Facebook I saw the following:

"Everyone is born creative.  Everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.  Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc.  Being suddenly hit years later with the "creative bug" is just a wee voice telling you, 'I'd like my crayons back, please.'"  Hugh MacLeod

Oh my goodness, did this resonate with me.  And, no, I am not saying that there is not place for algebra or history and that these studies are necessarily dry and dull.  What I am saying is that I recognize that some one took away my crayons and left me with the notion that I should be spending my time studying exclusively and not following my urge to create.

Many years later I did heed the 'wee voice' asking for my crayons back.  And I got them.  And paint.  And printing ink.  And more mediums and papers and canvases than you can shake a paint brush at!

And now I follow where my creative urge leads me.  I explore different methods of making art and different media.  I take classes.  When I am not practicing art I am reading about art, or thinking about making art.

I am reaching for my 'crayons' all the time now.

And guess what?  I feel better!

Art House Co-op Exchange

I am taking part in an Art House Co-op 4 x 6 exchange.  I have been following the Art House Co-op activities for a while now, and have thought about taking part in their sketchbook project, but never got around to it.  It's been too long since I did any painting, so on a whim (and before I could chicken out!) I signed up.

My sister-in-law Gwen gave me an Indian carved wooden fabric stamp for Christmas.  I have been eyeing it of late, wondering how to use it.  This challenge seemed the right time, so I added modeling paste over a layer of gesso on heavy 300 pound watercolor paper and stamped away.  I love the texture it adds.

I also used another gift, a small travel pallet that fits inside a CD case and has a little pad of pallet paper cut to fit.  Nonie gave it to me and it's remarkably useful.  This is the first time I've pulled it out, but it will be in heavy rotation now that I know how useful and convenient it is.  Thanks Nonie and Gwen!

I'm working away on those pesky African photos.  A post will be up soon....

Fatbook Pages*

I have finished my 52 fatbook pages for the ArtFest Fatbook exchange. I am done. I am going to have them in the mail tomorrow and they will arrive before the deadline. When I say before the deadline, I mean, practically on the deadline but a couple of days early. It's that whole procrastination thing I wrote about last time. At least I am not having to overnight the cards!

I am happy with the cards, too, which is a bonus!

I feel like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm freeeeeeeeeeee!

I was able to play in my Caribbean travel journal this morning because I have finished my commitments for ArtFest (ATCs and Fatbook). I entered my notes from a class that Nonie and I took from Dave Fox at Rick Steves' last Thursday on how to "Write Extraordinary Travel Journals (and still have time to enjoy your trip)." Mr. Fox had a lot of good ideas, like writing postcards to yourself and mailing them home as souvenirs and journal entries, journaling about someone you met that particular day, writing about a digital photo you took and leaving room in the journal to paste a copy of the photo when you return home, etc. While most of these things I have figured out for myself over the years, it was very helpful to have them all listed and organized on one sheet of paper (two sided!). Good class, nice man, and a fun evening. The Rick Steves Travel office offers lots of free classes and I plan to take more advantage of this great travel resource that is one block from my house!

I like the way my journal is shaping up and I'm having way too much fun adding backgrounds to my pages and bits and pieces here and there.
*Fatbook=a compilation of a group of pages (4 inches by 4 inches, 4 x 6, etc.) done by a group of artists as a round robin exchange. A fatbook page is often heavily embellished with fiber, ribbon, beads, lace, all manner of dimension additions that add to the thickness of the individual pages rendering the book to be fat! It usually is very thick, much thicker than the binding. Each person sends to the host or hostess of the exchange the number of pages required and receives back a book that has one page from each participant, bound in some manner.

Another canvas

It's been a busy, busy week. And, while I'm thinking of it, how on earth can it be September already???? My little baby boy is about to turn 30.

Gulp.

My baby is nearly 30. He is the father to three darling little girls, the husband to a beautiful wife and son to a woman who must be old enough to have a 30 year old son. I guess that means I'm, what, 30+? I don't feel old. I look old, I know, but I don't feel old! It's a weird thing to realize that I am much more upset by my baby boy turning 30 than I was to turn 30 myself!

I know. Get over it.

I did another painting over the weekend to be the other cover for a sketchbook/journal I am planning on making. This one features a fish (a honeycomb cowfish, I think) and some sponges. I loved painting this and adding some dimention with fabric scraps and some edging (the green stuff around the sponge openings). Thanks again, DJ Pettitt! GREAT technique!

A dragonfly was lying on the deck Sunday morning, almost dead. It was beautiful and sad and a forecasting of the autumn to come, all mixed up together. I had read in Nina Bagley's blog this summer about all the moths she kept finding, day after day, and seeing this large dragonfly on my deck reminded me of her Luna Moth post. It's a magical gift to find something as lovely as a dragonfly waiting for you to discover it.

My favorite clematis has set a spectacular number of seed heads this year. Backlit in the late afternoon, they are amazing.