Tag Archives: musical instruments

Sep12

Inspiration Comes From Everywhere!

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Inspiration Comes From Everywhere!

Good Morning Everyone!  We have another cool morning here in Oceanside, California, and I am loving it!  Inspiration comes more easily for us all when we aren’t surrounded with heavy, humid, hot air!

Yesterday I said I’d do a sketch with charcoal, but I admittedly didn’t do that.  I used Shades of Gray PITT pens.  They come in a Pac of six with three being cool gray, and three being a warm gray.  I love grays, and always have fun with them.  These pens are a great addition to our supplies.  Everything is a great addition to my art supplies!  My motto is, “You never have too many supplies!”   Oh, and  “You never know!”  (Mixed Media artist coming out!)

Each day I put out a challenge however, I’m only giving suggestions.  We are all inspired by different things, at different times, and the thing that triggers me, might not trigger you.  So by all means, do your own thing, don’t be limited by my ideas!  After all, I’m only  trying to keep going and get better at my craft!  Some of you are very precise in your renderings of a subject, some  ” wonky ”   like myself.  There isn’t any right or wrong .  Each of you has your own way and  that’s what makes us all so special!  If I can inspire you to do the same, it’s a double win for all of us!

The sketch I’m putting up for you today is one of a pod I found on a walk with my son Dennis, and grandson Nolan.  Dennis noticed me eying this pod, and on the second pass said to me, “Mom, pick it up, I know you want to!  You keep eying it!”  I didn’t want want my son to witness me grabbing yet another treasure off the ground, but he understands, being a musician, and gathering inspiration from nature, his surroundings, and experiences!

Inspiration is all around for artists, whether they are writers, painters, photographers, or musicians.  We inspire one another with ideas, our creative energy, places we visit, a walk, it’s all good, and it’s all valuable.

For Thursday, I’m going to look for a picture that inspires me to either paint, draw, collage, or in some other way use my creativity.  I invite you to post your pictures of intention on FaceBook or  talk  about them in the comments here on my blog.   I also need your input to give me inspiration to keep going!  Get your intention out there, that will hold your feet to the fire!    So,  look for something that inspires you to sketch, or paint for Friday!

Sep10

To Cool For School!

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To Cool For School!

This is such a beautiful morning, I’m so inspired by the artwork I’ve been seeing, by the slightly cooler weather, the rainy Sunday afternoon, and by the creative energy my friends so generously share!  I spent Saturday with two of my grandkids!  My granddaughter  Sage, was telling me she found a big bag of broken, used crayons at school ready to be trashed.  Sage went to the teacher , and asked if she could  have them.  Happy to rid themselves of another bag of trash, they gave her permission.  She was the happiest of campers!  I asked Sage what she was intending for the crayons, and she responded,”art work!” Used crayons to work into art, ” Now thats my girl!”

While we were on a family vacation the end of July, one of the projects I planned for the kids was to melt crayons on a canvas.  If you ever try this fun project, make sure to buy good crayons, I didn’t!  Since I had two kids to work with, and I thought I needed many crayons, I bought eight packs from the dollar store, they don’t melt very well,  and it took me two and a half days!  Finally I gave in, and   pulled out the heat gun.  Yes, even on vacation, I take my heat gun, ’cause, ” you never know!”    The crayons finally melted, Sage chose flowers to add to her work of art, and she was happily showing everyone what she had created!

Since our Monday challenge is to sketch something repurposed, I do this regularly,  I’ve been trying to think of something just a little different to show you.  We probably repurpose things without even realizing it.  Things such as using a wine bottle for a flower vase, or an empty jelly  jar as a juice glass.  I frequently cut pockets off an old pair of jeans to reuse on a journal cover, or  cut up a piece of fabric to use in a journal, or even in a painting.  What can you come up with?   Every time I think I’m really clever, one of my artist friends, shows me something I never would have thought of.    It takes a little thinking outside the box, but we can all do it!

How cool is it to make musical instruments out of fallen trees, or old spoons?  I have instruments such as these all over the house.  Drums are fun and pretty easy to make, although the one I sketched was a little more complex.  My son Chris brought me a hand made Rain Stick over the weekend, and these are the items I chose to sketch.  They really do work, and are fun to have around the house for parties, or even for the grandkids to play with when visiting!

What can you come up with?  It doesn’t have to be this complex, or it can be more so.  There are times when we have all the time in the world to create, and at times very little if any, so do what you can.  The idea is each day if we can do a little something, pretty soon the gates open up, and creativity just flows abundantly.

How about if tomorrow  the challenge is to draw and/or, paint something “green!”  Anything green, a kid green with envy,  a green dog, an avocado, the sky is the limit!  Check back to see what I created, and post yours on FB!