Happy Creative New Year!

Here we are again! Another new year to be creative!

I visited Michael's Art Supply store here in Fort Lauderdale between Christmas and New Year's and splurged on a "real" set of watercolor paints. Talens Transparent Watercolours! They cost way more than the Crayola water colors I'd been using, but they are so worth it! The colors are wonderful! It also came with a tube of white which I assume is to mix with the colors. I guess it's clear I have a lot to learn! What fun!

I also purchased a sketch book.

It took me a few days to figure out what to do with it. I read some of my favorite art blogs and finally decided I just had to DO IT!

So, I had this old thing from my days as a typesetter. It's a Bill Cosby quote from the 1980s (when typesetters still existed) and it's on Kodak photopaper for typesetting. I had it tacked up on the wall near my desk for the longest time. Then it was relegated to one of my many notebooks where I stumbled upon it once again.

Here's the first page ... It's just stuck to the page with rubber cement.  I'll be adding something to the page, I just don't know yet what that will be. That's the "creative" part, right? 

Playing Catch Up!

I haven't been here in a while, but I've been being creative all over the place! In February and March, I organized, promoted and hosted two, count 'em! 2! art socials at a little park in my neighborhood. The artists are so wonderful and they delivered a lovely evening of art and food and friends! Maybe, with a little luck and a lot of help from neighbors, we'll do it again next year!

In April, it was the children's art exhibit, "Everglades Eyes." I started this as an annual event in celebration of Earth Day back in 2006 and it's definitely taken on a life of its own! My boss was amazed that this year was the "fifth annual" and he was impressed with the amount and quality of the art submissions! 105 students from five area schools produced some amazing images! Like, this one ...

In May, working with my Soroptimist club, we presented the "Live Your Dream" Luncheon. I posted all the collateral I worked on at my Veer page, here, if you want to see. And, now, I'm working on a Barbie doll exhibition at the Old Davie School! (http://www.olddavieschool.org/)

I'm a huge fan of Kelly Kilmer, a mixed media artist and instructor, and, while my pages look nothing like hers, she inspired me take pictures of what I've created and share it here, on my blog. So, here you are!

The left page above is my first draft of my "doll list" for the upcoming exhibit at Old Davie School. I know the school's four rooms really well, so my goal has been to link the dolls to the exhibits (however thin that link might be!) and create an experience that is entertaining AND educational.

The page on the right is my notes from a meeting on a capital project that I attended for my day job. The flower doodles didn't get colored until after the meeting, during a phone conversation that involved a good deal of time "on hold."

These pages are what's happening right now. My "to do" lists, a new vocabulary word (and, what a word it is!) and paperdolls I cut out during a brainstorming session. I think it's clear what's on my mind! Dolls and their fashions!

So, there's my creativity contribution for today! I've got to design a "tee shirt" for the special Barbie event in July, so I'm off to do that now. I'm so glad it's Friday, aren't you?

Great Room!

    

When my darling husband and I married in 2005, each of us had a home with lots of stuff. He had lived on his own for 13 years and I had been living on my own for nine years. We had known each other for six years, through mutual friends, but it wasn't until we started taking ballroom dancing classes that we really got to know each other and fell in love.

When we married, it took about six months to decide which house we were going to live in together. Once that decision was made, it became a process of merging all our "stuff" and doing it with style and authenticity. I'm posting photos of the room where we spend the most time together ... the "Great Room."  I've lived in this house since 1987 and love that it has a fireplace made of stones from North Carolina and a vaulted ceiling. There are also a lot of trees on my street which provides habitat for native wildlife.

The one thing that neither of us had was a nice sofa. Mine was ratty and worn. So was his. So, when we had the new tile floors laid, we decided to ditch the sofas and shop. So, we shopped. And, shopped. And, shopped. In April of 2007 we attended a theatre in Delray Beach and there we saw the sofa we wanted. But, of course, it was an antique and not for sale. So, the search continued.

Finally, over Labor Day weekend in 2008, we were shopping in furniture stores looking for a new mattress (we settled on a Tempurpedic, which we love!) and guess what? We found our sofa! From the Tommy Bahama furniture line, it was solid wood with beautiful details and we had a terrific selection of upholstery materials to choose from ...

It was a wait of nearly two months, but, finally, one day in late October, the furniture store called to schedule delivery of our sofa. It was still another two weeks of toe tapping and finger drumming, but finally ... it arrived. Since then, there hasn't been a single day when I haven't admired it and said to dh how glad I am we bought it. I am absolutely certain I can live with it forever! Yes. I know ... I may have to reupholster or replace the cushions at some point down the road. But, the sofa? It's destined to become an antique on its own some day!

Below is our new storm resistent door. We've had it for nearly a year now, and it took six months to get used to all the extra light coming in. We kept looking to see who left the door open!

The pendulum clock next to the door belonged to my mother and was a gift from my aunt last summer. I love the quiet of the house, with just the sound of the pendulum ticking back and forth. It's soothing and very peaceful.

More recently, we created an art gallery. He had art. I had art. It was stacked here and there because we couldn't seem to make up our minds what to do with it. Then, one Saturday afternoon not too long ago, I said, let's hang it and, together, we created our very own little art gallery. I enjoy it every day and I think dh does too!

It has taken quite a lot of time to merge our lives and possessions together, but as the room takes on its new style, it is emerging to be a room filled with beautiful woods (dh's cabinets are from Italy), Persian carpeting and artistic details that we brought with us or acquired since we joined forces.

I don't know if the Great Room will every be finished. We're working on the kitchen now. DH has built custom cabinets for the kitchen area and we've selected the stone for the counter top. But, one thing is certain ... it is a great room, furnished with love and affection and the shared joy of coming home every day to our artful life!

I have long admired those blogs with photos that have cool borders. So, today, I googled "Photoshop Borders" and found step-by-step instructions here, and, "Voila!" it was done! How cool is that?

Not much time to actually make art, as in painting, cutting, pasting, etc.

Doodles and lists will just have to do!

One of my favorite blogs, The Gathering Nest wrote in her Tuesday entry, "I can't believe where the time goes, I haven't posted for over a week, bad girl!!!! I am finding it hard to get any fun stuff done, but I am sure that I am not alone."

Nope. You're not alone. I haven't been writing much during March and April. Been too busy with environmental awareness in the schools and in the community. I have such an Earth Day hangover! Where I live, things have just been growing and blooming like crazy! I take my camera almost everywhere and I've captured some shots I like ...

I don't know what these flowers are called. They were a gift from a gardener friend last year and they're blooming all over my yard. If you notice the dark spot in the center of the flower ... (look carefully) ... it's a bee. They're really quite spectacular and I actually sent a printed version of the photo to my gardener friend thanking him for giving me these wonderful blooms!

So, I was fooling around with the focus of my camera and the flowers versus the wine bottles and I shot a "happy accident" ...

... my dog, Buddy, reflected in the glass, soaking up the rays and sniffing the wind.  :o)

And, let me not forget the tabebuia. The unusually long and cold winter we experienced seems to have had a remarkable effect on anything that blooms, especially these! For the past few weeks, they have colored the landscape and garnered much attention. They are simply spectacular!

Mother Nature's creativity has clearly run amok, but OH! What a joy it is for all the rest of us! Happy Spring!

Creativity Run Amok: The Blog

My New Year's Resolution for 2010 has been "to cultivate my creativity."  Over the past two months, I've posted on my "all purpose" blog about some of the artistic projects I've taken on and then, this weekend, it occurred to me I needed a blog dedicated to my creativity.  I like to write. And, that's what my "all purpose" blog is really for.  But, as my inner artist unfolds, I want a place where I can show what I create and share about the designers (and I'm not talking about Ralph Lauren here) who inspire me to achieve my own creative voice. There are many, so it's likely to be a fun ride!

• I love taking pictures. My Number One favorite subject is people, but I'm very respectful of their personal space, so I don't just shoot pictures of people I don't know without their permission.
• I love letters and words. I worked for 20 years as a typesetter and find letterforms to be the ultimate communication tool. There are probably a hundred fonts in my head that I can identify on sight. Don't know if this is a particularly useful skill, but they're there, in my head, and often influence what I do on paper or computer screen.
• I love nature. It's my second most favorite subject to photograph.
• I love to doodle and draw. I don't know that I'm particularly good at it, but it's a sure bet that the more I do it, the better I'll get!
• I love-love-love fashion. We create ourselves every morning when we get dressed and I find it to be the ultimate art form!

So, welcome to my art blog. I hope you'll enjoy the journey with me. I'll try to restrain myself with those exclamation points.  Meanwhile, it can be great fun when creativity runs amok!