Today the grandkids were painting with poster paints. Ninja Boy finished his painting, asked for a new piece of paper, and decided to try something he saw demonstrated last week. Remember our post about Julie Rice, the ink fingertip painter? The kids finally got to meet her and watch her at Silver Dollar City. Ninja Boy stuck his finger in the paint and tried out the fingertip painting technique.He wasn’t satisfied because it wasn’t achieving the same look he’d seen Julie doing.So we pulled out an ink stamp pad and everything changed!My Princess finished her poster painting and wanted to try ink fingertip painting as well.
I didn’t catch it in the video, but My Princess told me that Julie does good work just like they do. Let’s become like children in our confidence of our creativity!
It’s handy to surf the web looking at pictures of art when you want to get inspired for your own creative works. You can even take virtual tours of some of the art museums around the world from the comfort of your own home. But you definitely get a different feel for the art when you are walking through a large gallery room seeing the works of art in person. Yesterday my mom and I had the opportunity to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR. The buildings themselves are unique works of architecture, adding to the feeling of being in a special place. Nestled in the beautiful Ozark mountains, the museum also has over three miles of outside trails with various sculptures to observe. We happened to visit on a rainy afternoon, so the trails will have to wait for another visit.
I thought I would take you on a little tour…Now that you’ve had a sneak peek, make plans to visit Crystal Bridges yourself! If you don’t live near, check out the art museums closer to you. Even if you are not up on your art history, or don’t think you like certain styles of art works, keep an open mind as you visit an art museum. Look at color composition, details, lack of details, how light is represented, how different types of mediums are used, types of brush strokes, look at the works from far away and up close. You just might learn things that will help you with your own creative endeavors. Take yourself on an art date!
It seems to be wedding season around here! Yesterday I went to a wedding of a couple of our former Junior High students from five years ago. It was a beautiful wedding, and we are so proud of them. I wanted to give them a card that was special from me and meaningful for them as well.
I like to fit gifts or cards to the theme or colors of people’s events. This particular wedding invitation clearly showed the colors were blue and red. I figured I would start with that color palette for my papers.
I started by putting together some random pretty wedding-like things and got the idea to use parts of their invitation on the card as a way to keepsake their invitation. I didn’t get a good before picture, but you can kind of see the parts that I took from the invite.After finishing that card. I was feeling motivated to do another card. Next weekend there is wedding, but we will not be able to attend, so I wanted to make sure to give them something meaningful too. The other couple had a great invitation with lots of pictures for me to choose from.
I stuck with the coloring of the invitation to make this one too.
A little part of me wanted to make sure I made a card they couldn’t possibly throw away!
Next time you are invited to a wedding, instead of throwing out the invitation, make them a card using elements from it to give them an extra special personalized card.
A couple of weeks ago, I signed up to participate in the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap 2013 hosted by the website, Do What You Love. Each participant creates a regular sized postcard using any kind of materials desired. The only requirement is it has to have some kind of stitching on the postcard and fit the current theme of the swap. The theme of this swap is “Celebrate”. Then they pair you up with another swap participant, you create your card, mail it to your swap partner, and watch for a creative card to come to your mailbox.
In pondering what to “celebrate” on my postcard, I could not think of anything more deserving of celebration than the recent news of new grandbabies joining our family next year.
I decided to make the background of my postcard a quilt with fun designs on the quilt squares. I made my own stamps from craft foam. (If you missed our post about making stamps and printing your own fabric, you may stop and read it now.)I stamped these designs onto fabric using fabric inks.I stitched bias tape around the edges of my “quilt”. To add soft puffs to my quilt, I layered polyester stuffing between the quilt top and a piece of heavy card stock for the postcard backing. I machine quilted the rows of blocks all the way through the card stock. (Hint: Save old sewing machine needles that get dull for such a time as this.) Using embroidery floss, I tied knots in the center of each quilt square.
I needed a picture of baby footprints and pulled out my baby book, scanned my footprints into the computer, shrunk them to the right size, and printed them onto decorative paper.I also printed out the words “Celebration of new life!” onto decorative paper, drew a blanket stitch design around the paper on each word and attached the papers to the quilt top with super strength Glue Dots. And now I will show you the finished product…Well, that’s the backside! I plan to put the postcard into an envelope to mail it to my swap partner who lives in the United Kingdom. Here’s the front:
This project was lots of fun to do. I am excited to see what my swap partner has created. If this sounds like something you would like to do, I would imagine the event will happen again. This is the 6th Postcard Swap they have done. You can keep an eye on our blog and we will let you know when the next sign-up will be happening (because I want to do it again) or you can go to Do What You Love and sign up for their emails.
Over three years ago a longing to learn to paint with watercolors began to grow inside of me. I bought watercolor paints and some paper and brushes, and they sat on a shelf waiting for me. Of course, my excuse was that I was working so many hours and had to go out of town often for work, and I wasn’t sure how to start. So about two years ago I bought a book about painting with watercolors. I think I made it through the first three chapters over the course of a few weeks on my days off before something interrupted the progress I was making. Eventually the paints and supplies got put into a box waiting for “someday” to come.
A year ago while making plans to visit my kids in New York, I thought it might be fun to take a watercolor class with my artist son. After checking online, I finally found a studio, Michiyo Art Studio, that offered one time beginner workshops in watercolor. Though my son had never worked with watercolor (and it wasn’t a medium he was particularly interested in), he loves spending time with his mom (he’s so sweet). We registered, and I was so excited. You can check out my son’s art on his website.
Melinda and Miss Tickles flew to NYC with me for a five day visit with my other daughter and granddaughter near the end of October 2012. My son, who is always on the go somewhere in the world, flew to NY about the same time. I was having a great time with my kids and eagerly looking forward to taking the watercolor workshop when Hurricane Sandy decided to threaten the east coast. In anticipation of the storm, NY transit decided to shut the subways down the day of our class, and Michiyo had to cancel her classes. I was very disappointed, but we were safe at my daughter’s. And because of the flooding at the airports, we ended up staying six days longer than planned. I really didn’t mind having to spend more time with my kids!
Since then, my job ended, Melinda and I started this blog, and my days are filled with creative activities. And the watercolors still sit in the box waiting. Every time I see a beautiful sky or sunset or flower I wonder how I could paint that in watercolor. I notice colors and shades and shadows and light and wonder how it would look in watercolor. And the watercolors still sit in the box waiting.
Last week my son blessed me with a trip to NYC, and the only day the watercolor workshop was offered was on the last day of my visit. I prayed no hurricane would decide to head our way before the end of the week! Though the east coast did have bad storms that day–we just had rain in the city.
I finally got to take a watercolor workshop from Michiyo.
Dan and I learned so much about watercolor in our workshop. Michiyo encouraged me to keep pursuing watercolor painting.
Michiyo helping a student in our workshop.
My son learning watercolor painting.
Early stages of my painting.
Adding waves to my painting.
Mountains, shrubs and trees added.
And finally some birds!
After interviewing many crafters in the past few weeks, most of whom tried many crafts before finding their “thing,” Melinda and I have been wondering what our “thing” was that we felt each of us were especially drawn to in expressing creativity. We love doing many creative activities and have so many more we want to try. After our painting class, my son and I talked about that.
For so long now I have been drawn to watercolor. It fascinates me. At the same time I think I have been fearful to really do it. What if I am no good? I want to be able to do it well. It’s easy to default to creative activities that I already know I can do well. I even feel no fear in trying new creative things and posting the results on the blog (even if they are not that great) in trying to encourage you (our readers) to find the creativity in yourselves.
Perhaps watercolor will be my “thing,” and that is why I am having a hard time starting. I have been fearful of failure. As long as the potential is sitting there in the box, I can continue to dream about doing it. I can paint great creations in my head without anyone being able to see whether or not I can really do it on paper. But now I have taken a class from a master watercolor artist who encouraged me to keep going. A few bricks have been knocked out of that wall of fear. I need to pull the watercolor supplies out of the box and paint and paint and paint until the bricks have all been knocked out. When we interviewed Skip and Racheal Mathews, we found out Skip determined to make 15,000 flame painted butterflies in order to perfect the process when he was first learning to flame paint. If I really want to be a master watercolor artist, do I have that kind of determination? I have to start… and then keep going…
The last few weeks, we have shared several crafters from the Ozark Folk Center and Silver Dollar City’s Fall Festival. Each one has their own unique craft and story of how they got where they are today. We can learn so much from the creative people around us. These are the things I learned from our time interviewing the crafters.
1. True artistry encourages others to try.
The people that are truly artists, people who really love what they do, seem to want to talk and share what they do. They want you to be inspired by their art. They teach others how to do what they do. They aren’t afraid of you stealing their work because they know it takes creativity and hard work to make it happen. If you put in the time and effort, then you deserve success. People who are just trying to make money are afraid of inspiring you. They just want you to buy their stuff. I choose to create for the love of it. If I make some money off of it, that is great and helpful to my family, but if I can inspire someone to tap into their own creativity, then I have accomplished something even greater.
2. If you think you aren’t creative, try new things till you find your niche.
Many of the crafters we talked to tried several artistic mediums before they settled into what they really loved. Mom and I are always asking each other what our “thing” is. We love to try new things all the time, but we felt like we hadn’t figured out the thing that we love and are best at. Through talking to other crafters, mom and I have realized the things that we love the most (mom and I will share those in other posts). We will continue to do other forms of creativity, but we have admitted to ourselves what we must not be afraid to pursue. Maybe you haven’t found what you truly love, but you should keep trying things out. Take a class. Ask a friend to teach you what they do. You just might find it.
If you already had your niche and something prevents you from doing it, you might just have the opportunity to find something new that you will love just as much. Many of the crafters started off doing one form of art, and for one reason or another had to move into something else. It ended up that it was even more successful for them. Don’t be afraid to try something new.
3. Creativity breeds more creativity.
If you just start doing something, anything, you will get those creative juices flowing and you will find yourself with more and more ideas. If you are needing to do something creative but don’t feel into it yet, do another form of creativity to get your mind thinking in the creative direction. If you need to paint and are stuck, try writing first. If you need to write and you can’t find the words, try drawing a picture first. If you need to write a song and nothing is coming, cut out inspiring pictures and make a collage. Sitting around saying that your are stuck or that you aren’t feeling creative will not get you anywhere. Start with something and you’ll find the new ideas will come.
If you know anyone around you that is pursuing creativity for a living, talk to them, and I am sure you will learn something too!
If you missed any of our posts about the crafters, check out their inspiring art.
Last but certainly not least, we are finishing up our posts about some of the crafters at Silver Dollar City. Today we share about a woman who paints on silk.Rose Monzyk started off with oil painting but realized it was getting more difficult to make a living selling her paintings. She had always loved fabric and wanted a way to make art that was more useful. She had the idea of painting on silk for a couple years, but she didn’t jump into it until she gave herself permission to ruin a few pieces of silk. She taught herself through trial and error, and she has now been hand-painting silk for seven years.Rose was so kind to talk with us while painting her silk even though she likes to focus in on her work. She starts off with a water based resist that will wash out later. She free-hand draws the pattern she wants onto the silk, and the resist acts as a dam for the color. Rose is inspired by flowers (maybe because of her name). When planning to paint a scarf, she doesn’t start with the pattern she wants to paint but asks herself, “What color do I feel like today?” She doesn’t start off with the “thing” to paint, but she starts off what what color she wants and figures out something that is that color.By using various concentrations of dye and water, she is able to get variations in colors on the silk. If she wants to change the color even more after painting, she can just add more water to thin it out. When she is done painting the silk, she lets it dry and then steams it before washing. The silks can then be hand-washed or dry cleaned.We stood and watched her paint for awhile, until we felt like we should move on to some other crafters. We checked back regularly to see her progress.Beautiful!Rose also makes hats and started making them even before she started painting silk. She got started making them for herself because she couldn’t find any small enough for her at the store. She has even won awards for some of her hats.
Check out more of Rose Monzyk’s work at her website and find out more about classes she teaches on hat making and silk painting.
Thank you, Rose, for showing us your beautiful way of making art!
We love sharing what other crafters do, and the fall festival at Silver Dollar City is a great place to find out more of what others create. We met an enthusiastic lady who makes a unique kind of jewelry.Suzette Nesbitt, also known as “The Rowdy Blonde,” used to be a hairdresser. She loved it. However, it’s a business that is hard on the body, and she never wanted to be an old hairdresser. She wanted something new she could do. Suzette grew up drawing and doodling, so art has always been in her blood. She tried pottery, weaving, sewing, and painting, but nothing stuck. At least not until a friend in Arizona who is a jeweler taught her how to make jewelry. She found that she loves it!She doodles on silver, bronze, or copper with a sharpie. The sharpie acts as a resist, so when she puts the metal into acid, the metal gets stripped away everywhere but where the sharpie was colored onto it. She has to be careful not to let it sit in the acid too long though or the metal will completely disintegrate. She cuts out pieces and cold connects them with rivets. The rivets then become part of the artwork of the piece. After it is complete, she coats it with a clear lacquer. Suzette is inspired by absolutely everything, especially nature. You can see in some of her pieces a connection to the sea and to flowers and plants. She loves to teach and is interested in doing classes someday. She has already taught a few others what she does and loves to see how they make it their own.
We didn’t get as many good pictures as we wanted, but you can check out all the beautiful pieces of jewelry at her website.
Ready for another Fall festival crafter from Silver Dollar City? This time we talked to another basket maker. We enjoyed seeing the different styles and techniques from the one we saw at the Folk Center in Arkansas.
Robbie Wisdom has been a basket maker for 24 years and has been a part of the fall festival for 11 years. My dad met her several years ago while singing with his trio, The Sons of the Silver Dollar. They became friends and made some exchanges of baskets and CD’s. Mom has a few baskets around the house made by Robbie because of it.Robbie had a good friend that taught her how to crochet and then how to knit. After her friend took a basket weaving class, she taught Robbie how to do that too. She loved it and kept making them. She doesn’t use patterns for her baskets. She knows the skills and makes whatever she can come up with. Robbie can make custom orders (which I am glad because I need a sewing basket for Miss Tickles like My Princess’). She will also do classes on how to make baskets. Contact her by emailing wisdombaskets (at) yahoo (dot) com. Robbie likes adding fun and colorful designs to her baskets.
Did you enjoy the post about the fingertip painter yesterday? We interviewed several crafters at Silver Dollar City. There were just so many of them, there is no way we could interview them all. You should go check it out each booth for yourself! Our next crafter is a painter with an amazing story.Mike Sears, before becoming a fine arts painter 37 years ago, was a custom car painter. One day, he heard on the radio that there was a family in need, and they were going to have a quick auction to help raise money for them. Mike decided to try to paint a picture that he could donate for the auction. It sold! Since then, Mike has donated 1000 paintings to charity. The amazing part of the story is that Mike has Parkinson’s disease. However, His hand becomes steady as soon as he starts to paint. His wife, Susie, believes that God has given him the ability to still paint because his heart is so big.
He can get 2-3 paintings done in a day if he wants to. However, if he doesn’t feel like doing another painting, he will paint on his board to keep him from having to do more. His painting board will be too wet to put another piece of wood to paint on it, so he gets to be done for the day.Most of his paintings are done on kiln dried basswood from Wisconsin. Because of his background with car painting, the paint that he likes to use is a sign paint. Some of his paintings are sold as prints and bookmarks too. Thank you, Mike and Susie, for your inspirational art!
Ninja Boy stuck his finger in the paint and tried out the fingertip painting technique.
He wasn’t satisfied because it wasn’t achieving the same look he’d seen Julie doing.
So we pulled out an ink stamp pad and everything changed!
My Princess finished her poster painting and wanted to try ink fingertip painting as well.
I didn’t catch it in the video, but My Princess told me that Julie does good work just like they do. Let’s become like children in our confidence of our creativity!
She doodles on silver, bronze, or copper with a sharpie. The sharpie acts as a resist, so when she puts the metal into acid, the metal gets stripped away everywhere but where the sharpie was colored onto it. She has to be careful not to let it sit in the acid too long though or the metal will completely disintegrate. 
