A Little Creative Help

Creatively, I have been in a funk for quite some time now. Part of it has to do with being busy, but more than anything, I have just been uninspired. It has been almost a year since I've really been focused on it, the last time being when I returned from my trip to Africa last spring. I spent a couple of months, painting, drawing, journaling, writing after that amazing trip, but since then I've had kind of an "eh!" attitude towards it.

It's not that I haven't tried because I have. Many, many times I have gone up to my art room and tried to get inspired, even when I was on break this past month and I had all the time in the world. However I seem to sit for awhile, over thinking what I am there to do, and end up just making a few cards since that part of my brain doesn't seem to be as blocked as the other part. The last couple of weeks this has started to bother me and I'm feeling frustrated.

I happened upon a fellow blogger, Michelle Ward, who is an incredible artist. She has started the GPP Street Team and has monthly creative crusades for art journaling that everyone is allowed to participate in. Each month a new challenge is posed and fellow artists/bloggers take on the challenge and share it on their blog. The crusades are currently at #27, but you can start anywhere you'd like. If you participate by the monthly deadline, you are entered into a drawing!

After reading through the challenges, I felt some ideas and inspiration stirring inside me. This is my contribution to Crusade #2 - journal your playlist. I incorporated one of the best concerts I have ever been to (The Police at the Hollywood Bowl) with my Police playlist on my ipod. So, here it is...

I want you all to know that this is a big step for me. I love to do all things creative, but I don't usually like to share it with others. I felt like I needed to take serious measures to get my creative brain working again, so I've broken down and posted this.

Thanks Michelle for the great ideas. I am looking forward to working on more crusades!

Meeting the Artist

This past week my mom and I visited the Wyland art gallery in downtown Kona for an artist event. Wyland is a marine life artist who is most known for his 100 "Whaling Walls" all over the world. I have seen his work a lot as it is quite prominent in Southern California and Hawaii. On Sunday, Wyland was at his gallery in Kona and I got to meet him.
After some champagne and hors d'oeuvres he painted a picture in front of everyone. It was amazing! His work is not really my style as far as it doesn't go with the decor in my home (plus it's super expensive), but his work is truly beautiful and to watch him paint was so cool. First he sketched out the honu (sea turtle).

Here is a closeup of the sketch.

After letting the paint dry a bit (and signing books and prints), he went back in and added the color and detail to the honu.

Then he signed his name to the painting.

Here is the finished product. The honus are my favorite part of Hawaii so to watch him paint one right in front of me was quite a sight. I also must add that he was very friendly and seemed to enjoy his audience (I'd be a nervous wreck). It was a fun night! Oh, and in case anyone was interested, the painting was put up for sale for $15,000. Yikes!

Cards

Last week I made some card packages for my friend Tami. Tami has been a big supporter of my cards for the last couple of years which is great because I love making them. This year she asked if I would make her some different sets so she could give them as gifts for the holidays. I made 78 cards (packaged into 6) over my fall break from school. Each set has 6 cards and they are inside a small folder tied together with ribbon. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Marey over at elementl-p is doing a fundraiser and I just donated 2 card sets to her good cause. Take a look if you are interested in donating an item or donating to win an item.