Monday's List- Inspiration

I love lists. Today, I am sharing a list of five things currently inspiring me. 

1. R. H. Shumway's Catalog

I love the vintage drawings in their catalog. This illustrated catalog is full of line drawings that are absolutely gorgeous, which a great bonus when flipping through to plan a spring garden in the winter weather. I get a little giddy every time this catalog arrives in the mail. It is a wonderful winter treat.

2. Local Vintage Neon

Tacoma has a ton of vintage neon signs that I drive past daily. Here are a few I love every time I see them. For no apparent reason, I especially adore the Tavern sign. Something about the arrows, the weathered look, and the simplicity of the sign just makes me happy. 

I feel lucky to see these reminders of the past daily. My grandparents ran a fishing lodge that had a neon sign, and I am pretty sure my love for neon started there.

3. Scripts

This book is gorgeous. Vintage lettering has an elegant simplicity that I find beautiful. 

4. Art Nouveau

This art style from the turn of the century is ornate, and many images have women at the center stage. I find these images inspiring because of the ornate detail and layers in the images.

5. Clifton Metal Works

I am adoring the metal work from Clifton Metal Works. He creates, builds and paints each piece by hand. In person the works are just stunning. They mix a industrial vibe with whimsy. I have a Clifton heart that I am absolutely in love with. 

<This is mine!!! Love.

~Venetia

Atomic Project: My creative journey "Do the work"

Seriously, get something done. Make something awesome, or not awesome, so you know what not to do next time you try. Put the time in even if you don’t feel like it if you want a creative life. Let me share my first piece of advice on my creative realization, "Do the work" All of the pictures in this post are a result of at least one of the techniques listed in this post.

Journaling- 25 great prompts

We all get "it".  It goes by many names:
-Stuck
-Lost my mojo
-Uninspired
-Frustrated
- (insert yours here)

Journaling prompts are a good way to get away from "it", whether scrapbooking, painting, journaling, sketching, or writing. Prompts take away everything so you can focus on something.

Art Journaling- Lost Peacock

Sometimes it is hard to find inspiration, and sometimes, it is sitting in your driveway on a Friday afternoon. I live in the middle of Tacoma, WA. I love city living because of the colorful atmosphere of the neighborhoods. There are no HOAs or covenants, so as long as homeowners aren't cooking meth, or housing enough junk to create a health hazard, people can pretty much do what they want. This creates an eclectic mix of houses. Yes, I have to put up with neighbors having grass a little long, and dandelions in the yard. Since my yard isn't particularly gorgeous, its okay. When the girls color the sidewalk, it can stay there until the rain washes it away. There are odd colored houses, and boats and RVs parked in yards, and I just don't care. The people around me care about their homes, and they may not maintain them in the same manner I would, but we all get to live and let live, and I love that. There is so much personality in each home, and that makes me happy.

Pinspired Challenge #5

I like doing challenges as a way to find inspiration.  Pinspired Challenge #5  is the first of their challenges I have tried, which is awful of me because my sweet friend Jen is on their Design Team and I adore her talent, especially with stamps. She is seriously one of my stamping heroes. This particular challenge was tough for me because I have a love/hate relationship with rainbows. I felt like this was a great way to challenge myself to use their selected pin to work with something that I don't normally do. Of course, a heart had to sneak its way onto the card, and I am going to hand-letter if I get a chance. I can't change everything that makes what I do mine, right?

I used a 7 gypsies paper, that was black and white patterned and used my Prismacolor Colored pencils to color in the swirls.  Then, I punched the heart, and added a doodle to mimic the swirls. I was happy with how it turned out, and it is always fun to get to play along with friends. There's still time for you to play too!

 Have a sweet day!

~Venetia

 

Why I scrapbook

Hobbies are intensely personal. I scrapbook. Early on, when I started, my Mother shared a scrapbook my great-grandfather gave to her that he created. Looking through the album, and reading the three page letter inside was one of the most powerful moments I have experienced.

"This album has been prepared to show you a part of your Dad's life of which he has no remembrance" The hand-typed opening line of the letter is a simple, yet powerful beginning. In the album, he documented the meeting, courtship, and marriage of him and my Great-Grandmother, Bessie. He detailed their meeting, and their five year courtship through letters, the holiday that lead to their engagement and their marriage. There are documents including their marriage license, her report card from college, her librarian's certificate, and a handwritten letter of recommendation from one of her former employers. The pictures are small, and he developed and printed them himself, using the brake light of his car.

From the album, I learn that she was modern 1920's woman, with a short bob, a university degree, and worked as a school and children's librarian. Reading his letter, I learned that he was an incredibly pragmatic man, who loved my great-grandmother dearly. I also read the heart wrenching story of her death in my Grandfather's early childhood. She suffered from diabetes, and in the 1920's insulin treatment was worse than the disease, and eventually, he lost her to the illness.

I hold a piece of my family history that would have been lost to time, an understanding that can only come from a personal narrative, and a story that was intensely honest. The most important part for me is understanding who they were, not in the best moments, but in all moments.

The reality is that the story is the powerful part of the album. The photos, without the captions and the letter, would hold no meaning today. I try to remember that. I try to document the good with the bad, and capture the true essence of who we are as a family.

Sketchbook- Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler-or Forcing Inspiration

"I do want to express myself, okay. And I don't need 37 pieces of flair to do it. " ~ Office Space

I seem to run hot or cold on inspiration, and as I have said before, forcing contstraints is a great way to get out of "Stuck". I found myself feeling stuck recently, and failed at finding inspiration pieces to help. Even my typical sketchbook "theme" exercises were dead ending. I was frustrated. After days of not drawing went by, I decided to give myself an ultimatium. I had to draw something, sketch something right now. Of course, I found myself at a loss, and half ideas tumbled about. The circular "I could... no, but I could... no." Silence. Repeat. trap began within my mind.

"I believe the ratio of people to cake is too big" ~Office Space

Frustrated. I told myself "Self, you better think of something, or I'm going to make you draw this stapler." Begin debating the pro's and con's of subjects (Use whiny inside your head voice here):
My daughter... people are hard to draw (which is the point, but lazy was winning)
Flowers... I've done those to death, and have spent a lot of time on that lately.
Landscape... its dark, and I would have to find a photo

This continued for a bit, and I finally told myself that I had to draw the stupid stapler. Which began the stream of Office Space quotes in my head. Drawing a stapler turned out to be harder than it seemed, and a great exercise in perspective and shading. So now I have a drawing of a stapler. And that is how a stapler got me unstuck, which I find funny.

"I could put... strychnine in the guacamole. " ~Office Space

~Venetia

My experience supporting a future artist

My youngest, Budgie, is three and a half.  She loves to draw and paint. Her preferred medium is marker, because she gets terribly upset when she gets dirty, but she likes the saturated color that you get with a wet medium (marker, paint). It has been interesting to watch her grow as a small artist.  For a while, she was in a literalist phase. I would ask her about her drawings, and her reply would be "I drew pink" or whatever color she used. I found myself contemplating whether she was literal, or gifted, as the concept of pink as a subject is pretty advanced. She has always been precisely verbal, so when she says something, she means it, and pronounces it perfectly. I settled on literal. She has since evolved into drawing symbolic pictures of family. Everyone is round, has two arms and legs, and a bellybutton. In her world, the bellybutton is important.

Bridget loves using my supplies, but is eager to have her own as well.  This three and a half year old got a crayola set with a plastic molded tray for each marker and crayon for Christmas, and the markers and crayons are still precisely in each spot, almost two months later. It is that important to her. She has filled numerous sketchbooks, much to my chagrin, as they are usually intended for mommy, but I am glad she is happy to create her own images.

The other day, she came home from daycare with a grocery bag full of her work. "This is my collection" she proudly announced, and proceeded to pour over every piece with me explaining each one. "This is my name, this is my skeleton, this is a bus." The collection was incredibly important to her, and an unholy mess. Every time she reviewed it, glitter spread further throughout the house, turning it into a sparkly princess paradise. After watching her with her collection, I decided she needed a book.  I had an old Creative Memories album lying about, and we proceeded to put all her work into the album.  When we finished, she proudly kept pouring over each page. Anyone who comes into our home must now view her collection.

The importance to her is real, and by honoring that, I am helping her to become her own artist. So many people have stories of passions in their youth squashed by an adult minimizing the importance of what a child is spending their time on. Let's stop the business of killing dreams, and let them grow, a small gesture of support means the world to a child. Find what they need, take the time to let them know that their ideas matter, because they do.
 

How to use a sketchbook

I use sketchbooks.  I have found that the work, ideas or messes I leave in sketchbooks eventually grows into something else. Typically I use a plain paper book, and a quadrille (graph paper) book.  I have a hard time using my plain paper books because I decide they are “too nice” to ruin. I don’t mind destroying my composition notebooks, so I use the two in different ways.

Why are my reviews never bad?

Have you noticed my reviews are pretty favorable?
I usually am not compensated for my reviews. Jetpens.com  sent me a Stabilo Point .88 Fineliner and a Fisher Space Pen to review, and I reviewed them both (I should reblog the space pen, that was a fun test). I liked them. I have also been sent some scrapbook supplies for blog hops or guest post. However, I am usually reviewing something I have chosen and purchased on my own. How can you, my reader, tell? I always mention if something has been provided. I believe in transparency, so no glowing reviews for something just because it was free.

The thing is, since I purchase most of what I review, I pretty much like it. I am particular, and I do a certain amount of research before I purchase supplies. For the most part, I am moderately satisfied with things I choose, which is why I mostly rate between a 3-5.

There is the occasional purchase I end up loathing. The Sharpie Liquid Pencil was one. I could erase the ink with my finger, so if I moved my hand across the page, any marks were gone.  Useless pen. I didn't review it. It's junk, and I feel mean saying it because I've been a Sharpie fan forever.

Have you noticed I like links?
I link to things I am talking about, or things I like. They are not affiliate links (links where the blogger gets paid for click-throughs). The links are there because I am forever opening another window to Google a product or idea someone is discussing.

I link to stores that have provided me with good customer service, and that I frequent. I give them my money, I like them, and I want them to stay in business so I can keep giving them my money. I link Jetpens.com constantly, I also love highlighting my local hangouts.

I also like to give credit. If I reinterpret, steal, or borrow your idea intentionally, I will link to you and give credit. Sometimes, I like to post what I am looking at for inspiration. Those links are starting points in my thought process. I make a judgment call based on the process I use to create the item.  I feel transparency is respect.

I hope this helps you understand how I review, link and credit .

~Venetia

Roses for Monday

I have been playing with line and contour lately. My inspiration is Art Deco designs from the 1920's and these really large contrast paintings that were on the wall of my high school that had to have been painted in the late 1970's or early 1980's. I find Art Deco designs gorgeous, and the contrast paintings at my high school, I'll abide by not saying anything if I can't be nice.

It is fascinating how line and contrast interact. I have many pre-sketches of this work, and subtle differences in each bring a different feel to the image. Sorting out ideas in a sketchbook helped me put together the elements. I'm working on a post about how I use sketchbooks in art and scrapbooking later this week.

~Venetia

Supplies:
Stabilo Point .88 Fineliner
Bristol Paper

13 for 13- Book 1 "The Happiness Project"

One of my 13 for 13 goals is to read 12 books in 2013.  So far, I have read two. I started with  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  I read this book because my "One Little Word" (concept developed by Ali Edwards), is Joy, and I thought a book about developing a happiness project would be an excellent start.  

13 for 13- Book 2 "Steal Like an Artist"

This is a review of the second book I have finished as part of my 13 for 13 list. I started with this book because it lit a fire within my soul.

“Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon has been sitting in my bookcase for months. I ordered it from Amazon last spring in the hopes of gaining some inspiration. Like many of my good intentions, I didn’t really follow through on reading it until this weekend, and I am wondering why I put off something that would so deeply resonate with me, that I so deeply needed for so long.