Sharing My Creative Week

Getting Ready for a Mini Creative Retreat

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Happy Monday. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and maybe even got some creative time in.

I have been having a tough few weeks. I am struggling with the whole family/life/creativity balance and sometimes it feels a lot more like drowning than balance. On Sunday the hubby took the kids to visit with his parents and I had the house to myself. It was a beautiful spring day, the house was clean and I was able to dig into some creativity and some creative corner cleaning and I thought it would be fun to share a little update with you.

First I want to share with you my first foray into Paper Mache! I know it’s hard to believe but I have no memory of having ever done this before in my life. I have wanted to do it forever but just never got around to it. I think some of the things I read seemed a lot more challenging and it put me off trying it. The truth is-it’s so much fun!

I had ordered Sarah Hand’s book a while back which lead me to her website and then to her online class. I purchased the class and have been watching it over and over working on my ideas for my character and the other day it came to me-a bird with a sunhat!

I have some more plans for this girl to show up in other projects and I’ll be sure to share them with you when I do. For now I just have the base all done and dry and then I need to give it a quick sand and add the paint-something I think I am going to save for my Mini Creative Retreat.

If you are interested in paper mache and a unique project I highly recommend Sarah’s class. It’s really fun and I love her approach.

While I was waiting for my characters to dry I decided to start a much needed creative corner clean-out. We have a built-in hutch in our room which was holding just a miss-match of items so I went through and cleared it out. I also did a big recycle of cardboard and junk mail I was keeping to use in projects. I still have lots to use but it was time to get rid of the hoard.

As you can see I had project baskets (and boxes) and just things tossed everywhere! This is behind our door so it’s usually out of sight which I think is why I let it get so cluttered. The printer is even in the mess of stuff.

And this is how it looks now! It feels so much cleaner and I was even able to get some things off the floor in my creative corner (the giant bag of foam for starters). Now I have everything organized and yet I can still see what I have. I am very visual and if I don’t have my supplies and projects out in front of me I forget I have them. I also need to move things around after a bit because things tend to blend together and I don’t notice them. Like hiding in plain sight.

I also tackled my desk which was full of stuff from a recent project. It didn’t take long at all and I was so happy with the results I couldn’t wait to sit down and create something. I am thinking of going back to putting down paper on my desk to catch all my drips. I stopped doing it because I have such a small space to work on it seemed that I was running out of dry spots on the paper to actually do work on. I might give it a shot again though because I love having the paper to use in backgrounds and mixed media.

This little clean up inspired me to make this a regular habit. I don’t know about you but I always feel so inspired when I am cleaning and “finding” all these supplies. I might just make a mini clean up a regular part of my creative practice.

What about you? Do you like all your supplies hidden away so your space is neat and tidy or do you need to see things? I would love to hear!

This week I am hoping to work on the shelves and the cabinet above the desk along with my sewing cart. I’ll be sure to share more pics when they are done.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Weekly Doodles #2: Video

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I am back today with another weekly doodle session. I am not sure if I will do this every week-consistency and routine is not a virtue of mine. I am however, enjoying the challenge of making little sketches of what I have been up to in the week.

Art shows us so much. It highlights the voices in our heads-sometimes the critical ones that whisper, “you aren’t going to share that are you?” I try to remind this voice that creativity is what we love and what we share not perfection.

This week I am greatly inspired by artist Mindy Lacefield. She does wonderful sketchbook pages adding stickers, washi and pulling them all together with color. I keep that in mind a bit here as I play with some of my newer materials and blend in a few stickers and some her washi.

This week we picked up groceries-including some really yummy french bread.  I went for a few drives in my minivan which I loved, worked in my garden and my 2 youngest had a blast sledding down the giant mulch pile we had delivered in our driveway. I also took part in a zoom call for Mindy’s sticker club which was just so much fun that I had to draw a little sticker book. I also ordered some goodies for Easter so I added a little Easter basket as well.

I colored everything in and had lots of fun with the colors. I would love to tell you that I have a pink minivan but I do not. White however wasn’t really something I could color so I added some whimsy and painted my van my favorite color.

The same is true for my garden fence-it is not pink although I am thinking a pink fence would look beautiful-what do you think? I also don’t have an arbor-yet but it’s in the works for this year.

Have you done any doodling of your week? Having fun and not worrying about it being an exact representation can really make your art so much more enjoyable and interesting. I would love to hear what you are working on.

This week I decided to film my little process and share with you. I sped everything up and added some music so if you have a few minutes why not pull out some of your favorite art supplies and play along?

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Little and Often: Sharing My Creative Week

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I am sitting with a cup of coffee as the snow and ice fall outside. My oldest two are enjoying their video games and my youngest is happily pushing her dolls around in her Hello Kitty carriage while simultaneously sneaking candy.

I was able to enjoy a decent amount of creative time this week and to spend it in my favorite way-little bits of time through out the day. Embracing my natural self, the person I truly am seems to be a longer process than I had thought it would be. Realizing all of the ways I have limited, trimmed, scolded or adopted things that really have nothing to do with me seems to be a process I don’t imagine I will ever be done with. Even as I write this I hear voices whispering their beliefs and criticisms of what I am saying. Recognizing what’s truth and what’s not is a practice I am learning to be gentle with so I can see it and then just let it go.

I have been reclaiming my creative time too.  Letting it be time spent being creative without expecting anything other than time enjoyed being creative. It’s a subtle switch but one that releases me into my creativity and allows me to play and enjoy my time in my little creative world.

Little and often is my favorite way to be in the world. I am not a project person-someone who likes to clear a day to dig in, upset and resettle something. I like to pick, doing a bit here and a bit there as I move through out a day consisting of little or no plans other than to eat and sleep at some point.

It’s a different way to exist in a world that has times for everything. A time we should be in bed and a time we should wake up. A time we should accomplish certain things and a time when those things should come to an end. I releasing myself from the burden of “shoulds” and of time as much as I can manage. I have long thought about letting go of clocks all together, perhaps even dates and days of the week all together. To focus more on just being and experiencing life rather than rushing towards a destination.

As with anything it starts small. It starts with releasing expectations around the easier places, the safe places like my creative corner. To allow myself and my creativity to be with one another without the expectation of more or tainting the experience by a judgment for what it should look like or result in the end.

I hope you are able to find some gentle time with your creativity. To meet it happily and with no other goal than to enjoy each other’s company. I hope as you move into the weekend you are able to do so with a gentle disregard for time and to focus rather on the being in the now.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante