Creativity

These past two months I've been an artistic rut. Everytime I've sat down to create something, it turned into a disaster. I have probably about 4 canvases that need to be painted over so I can try again. Needless to say, it's been frustrating.

This video from TED spoke to me today. What a very unique way to think about the creative process! I would emphatically say, though, that the "genius" that Gilbert talks about is God. It blows me away to think that I can somehow connect with the Creator when I make art. My artistic endeavors are just feeble attempts at mimicking what God has already created.

With this fresh perspective on creativity, I finally sat down an finished a painting I am proud of. :)

What do you do when you are in a creative rut?

Spring Color Swatches

Spring has been on my mind. I've been experimenting with a bunch of different fresh color tones in my artwork, a few of which will hopefully be making their debut here soon. Here's some of my inspiration.

All images are from Design Seeds.

Finding Joy

Little things this week that brought me a little joy. :)

New shoes. I rarely rarely buy anything that is full price (I'm a clearance/thrift store girl) but these instantly won my affections. It's nice to "splurge" every once in a while.

Hebrew has been taking over my life! I have vocabulary flashcards ALL over the house. I memorize about 250 words/week (!). Yesterday, I even found a flashcard in my shoe. :)

And finally, an art journal I've been carrying around with me. It was super handy for the intensive class I had last weekend.

Catching Up...

An intensive class covering Hebrew grammar has left me playing "catch up." I have all of these creative ideas in my head, but feel way to swamped to take the time to paint them out on canvas, let alone experiment with some new styles. Here are a few quick pieces that did give me a breather from the stresses of schoolwork this past month:

"The Great Summer Escape"

"Lexington"

"Longing for a Friend"

All of these are available for sale in my Etsy shop.

Portrait Painting

A friend requested a custom portrait as a surprise for his wife. What a creative anniversary gift!

I couldn't have asked for a better composition to paint from. :)

Color Inspiration

I've been working on re-decorating my art studio, and am super inspired by the colors in this picture I found. Vibrant greens, soft beige, and rich earth tones... This is the perfect feel. I drew some swatch colors from it:

Hmmm... Now how to replicate it?

Christmas Break Visualized

My Christmas break visualized

1. Painting... Mostly a portrait for my friends' anniversary. It's a surprise, so pictures will be up after they've received it.

2. Organizing... One of my Christmas presents was some cube storage space for my art studio. Fantastic!

3. Studying... I'll be taking my modern foreign language competency exam soon so I can write my thesis.

4. Pink eye... One gift I was not happy to receive.

5. Christmas... Spent with my family and parents-in-love back home.

6. Running... It's been in the upper-50s all break. Running in shorts in December? Awesome!

7. Drawing... Pages for my web manga.

I am SO not ready to go back to school. This is all too much fun! :)