Around the world artsy blog hop

I was invited by Minerva Levinston to take part in an artsy blog hop, where each of us participating give answers to the following 4 questions:

• 1.      How does my creative process work?

• 2.      How does my work differ from others of its genre?

• 3.      What am I working on now?

• 4.      Why do you do what you do?

Minerva is a beautiful ex-closet tradigital artist who has just recently come out of the closet by launching her blog in May this year.  Like a caterpillar turning into a beautiful butterfly, she has decided it is time to fly.  Please visit her blog to see her beautiful tradigital creations.  To see her answers to the 4 questions of the artsy blog hop, click here.

At first when Minerva approached me to participate in this blog hop I felt overwhelmed when I read the questions.  I thought: ‘I am not a real artist, these questions appear to be directed to an established artist.  How can I answer these questions?’.  But Minerva encouraged me to give it a go. 

I have recently read that if you want to follow your dreams, you have to overcome your fears and mental blocks.

Leap and the net will appear. 

Well here I go.  Hope someone will catch me if I fall:

How does my creative process work?

 

My inspirations come from:

• ·        Watching online art videos

• ·        Reading blogs and admiring other peoples creations

• ·        Going to local art and craft workshops

• ·        Visiting art and craft supply shops

• ·        Sorting out my art and craft supplies

• ·        Looking through magazines

• ·        Visiting home ware stores and stationery shops

All of the above bring images into my head, which I then like acting upon, by trying to create what I am seeing in my mind.   Other times I just like experimenting with my art supplies and see what unfolds whilst creating.  I will let myself be surprised.  This experimenting with supplies is something I learned through online workshops.  Artists like Jane Davenport and Tam Laporte encourage you to use and play with your art materials  and just have fun with the process of creating without the need to create a master piece.  This is a great way of creating to help you move through your creative blocks.  You can’t learn to swim by just reading a textbook or watching ‘a learn to swim’ video..  You have to get into the water and get wet.

So with my art supplies, I have now learned to use them, rather than hoard them.  They need to be used.  This has been one of my creative blocks I have managed to work through by following these online classes.  

I still have my first box of artist quality coloured pencils from when I was a child:

Many years I was too worried to use them.  I did not want to waste them on creating something that was not worthwhile.  Now in my forties, I realise I have wasted many opportunities to create because I was so OCD to keep my box of pencils looking neat and perfect as if just bought from a shop.  The best advice I got in the ‘Supplies Me’ online workshop by Jane Davenport was to take the pencils out of their original box and put them upright in a container:

How does my work differ from others?

Not sure.  I am still trying to find my style.  Finding what is me and what I like doing through experimenting with different products and techniques.  My first to go to art supply as a child was always coloured pencils.  I have loved coloured pencils my entire life.  But growing up and in my adult life now, I am constantly exposed to more and different art supplies.  I really like to try them all.  When I have drawn faces with coloured pencil and posted these in online art classes in the last few years, people have given me the feedback that they recognised my drawings because of the way I have drawn the eyes and the girls hair.

What am I working on now?

I usually have a lot of projects going at the same time.  I often start a drawing or a project and don’t complete it till months later.  I start something and then get distracted by something else that has grabbed my attention.

This weekend I created these ICAD’s:

I picked up a box of Gelatos on Saturday morning that I had ordered and wanted to experiment with them on a small scale project.  So I thought a small index card would be the perfect thing.

Why do you do what you do?

I love creating because it puts me in a happy frame of mind.  When I create it feels like time does not exist.  I has been my saviour in life to keep my sanity.  Like a friend who is always there for me, happy to listen and allow me to express myself.  It has allowed me to move through difficult times in my life.  Art is a great way to express your emotions and feelings. 

In 2006/2007 my mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer and my husband had a terrible accident. In 2009 my mum past away.  Living on the other side of the world (Australia) as to where I was born (most of my family lives in Holland), I felt that due to these experiences, my whole world I was living in had become unpredictable.  With the loss of my mum (who always shared her creativity with me) I also lost my trust in life.  Lots of stuff I normally would not even worry about, now started triggering the feelings of fear in me.

Through re-discovering art in 2011 and the wonderful art community online, I learned to trust in life again.   Art and craft has been a wonderful healing journey for me to transform my grief.

I have also learned that each person you encounter in life has a story to tell.  People might appear on the outside as if they have got it all together and have a handle on life. But most people have lived through some type of hardship or adversity.  Knowing this, never judge a book by its cover.  We don’t know about other people’s inner world  they live in.  Artists create from a well of images that come from their inner world.   From their life experiences.  So for an artist to share their creations with the outside world, they are putting themselves in a vulnerable position.  They are now open to criticism.  Most artists already struggle with their own inner critic, let alone being exposed to outer critics.  It takes a big leap of faith to share your inner world through art with others.  But it is this vulnerable part of each one of us, that makes us all unique.  It is this uniqueness, that is likable about us to others.  We do ourselves and the people around us injustice by not sharing this part of ourselves.  It is the uniqueness that makes each person shine when they are willing to share this part of themselves with the world.

 

I am so glad I participated in this blog hop.  Through answering these 4 questions and reading the blog posts of other artists we are linking to or linking from, I now understand what it means to be able to say:

‘I am an artist!’

It does not just come from:

• Gaining a formal art qualification

• Having a certain amount of experience creating art

•  Having achieved a certain level of skill to qualify in naming yourself an artist.  This level of skill achieved would also be subjective to whom is making the judgement:  the beginner or the advanced artist

‘I am an artist’ to me means:

• I love creating art and sharing this love with others who like to share this journey with me.

• Being an artist is a life long journey of creating.

• Creation is the natural order of life, so creating to me means living life.

So I urge everyone out there, if you are still reading this post by now:

Start creating!

Start using your art supplies or whatever else you like to create with and start doing.

Stop living your creative life in your mind only, or hidden away in a closet.

Take action today!

Being an artist is a way of life, not a tittle or a goal to be achieved in the future.

Being an artist is the journey of dedicating your life to creating and sharing this love with others.

Thank you Minerva for coming out of the closet and sharing your beautiful self to the world.  You have taken the leap of faith and now so many of us can admire and learn from your creations.

Next week:

Next week I will be linking to the artsy blog post of other artists answering the above 4 questions.

One of these amazing artists is Iris. Her blog is called: IrisImpressions.  I met her through this artist blog hop as she posted a comment on Minerva’s blog and also Gracie Howlie, one of the other artists on the blog hop Minerva is linking too. 

Iris is a mixed media artist who is passionate about mixed media art, art journaling and inspiring people to be free to create the way they are meant to create and shine the way they are meant to shine!

One of the posts that I loved reading and highly recommend is:

Am I an artist?

Reading this post has helped me to transform my believe from: ‘I am not a real artist’ to ‘I am an artist’.

I am very grateful for meeting her and helping me dissolve this mental block.

I was so delighted when she replied that she wanted to participate in this blog hop.  Last week she launched ‘a free 20 page guide to get you creatively inspired’.  Go and get your copy here.

It might be just what you need to start creating.

Another wonderful artist I have met online is: Denise.  Het blog is called Denthe.  She loves turning everyday items into colourful and special objects, using a variety of techniques.  Her paintings are very bright and colourful with the presence of human beings, birds and fantasy elements, all organised in a beautiful pattern of colour and shapes.  She also has a passion for poetry which she likes to combine in her paintings.  She has several online shops where you can buy her stunning art work featured on lots of everyday items.