I didn’t realize it would conjure up such conflicting emotions as I sent my artwork off to SLC for the second round of judging in the art competition.  On the one hand, I’m thrilled and excited to have gotten through the first round.  On the other, it was difficult to part with the piece.  As an artist, I feel like I put a lot of myself into my work - so it’s like sending a tiny bit of my soul away.  Thankfully, it regenerates.  Another thing, is I’m trying to trust that it will make it there safely.  It’s not so good for encaustic work to travel in 35 degree or colder weather (which it is).  It could crack and come right off the substrate.  But, it had to be done, and now.  And, actually, I’m glad it left yesterday, because today, it’s about 11 degrees outside!  Oh, and the sticker shock - <gulp> - I had to overnight it to minimize the transit time.  That was painful.

The photos are of an accordion book I had made for parents & grandparents for Christmas (front, back, folded).   An inexpensive gift that they really enjoyed, especially since we’re far away and they haven’t seen the kids in a few years.

I had mine professionally printed (saved a lot of time), but I think it would be a project which could be do-able by hand.

Creativity Question:  Do you ever get stuck in the middle of a project?  And you can’t figure out what to do to fix it, and/or how to proceed?  What do you do?  Do you have a recipe for clearing your creative roadblocks?

This happens to me A LOT.  Really.  It happened when I was taking design classes, and it happened when I was designing our Christmas card - of course it seems to happen frequently when I have a deadline closing in.  I admit I don’t always know what to do.  A lot of times, I just entirely scrap what I’m doing and start over with something completely different and it works (like with the Christmas card).  Other times, if I just set it aside for a while - a few days sometimes, it will come to me.  I wish I had a more consistent method.  Any ideas? It seems like if I think about it too much, it just makes it harder.  Hmm.

Ok, so maybe “fun” isn’t the word most people would choose… but, for me, it was rather fulfilling in a fun sort of way.  Actually, creative projects are what I deem “fun”.  This is what I did Friday night.

I realize this does resemble my recent encaustic painting a bit,  but, what can I say?  They came from the same person, plus this just fit what I was trying to do.  My recipe:

1 good sized Canvas (18″ x 36″) with small hole - unsuitable for a painting

+

Piles and piles of Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple magazines desperately needing to be thinned

+

1 creative with pack-rat tendencies not wanting to let so many lovely photos go.

Select pages with favorite colors and objects, slice thoroughly.

Add a bottle of brown paint, a dash of decopage, plus some matte acrylic medium to finish it off, and

Shazzam!

Instant wall decor.

A close-up. Ok, so it took a few hours.  And, I started collecting pictures a few months ago - but, it didn’t take as many as I thought it would.  Oops, maybe you can see a spot I missed.

 Creativity Question:  Do you ever feel like your idea fountain is full, or is it more often thirsty?

I am always thirsty, it seems - even when I already have sketch books full of ideas.  It just never seems like enough.  Not to mention, that there are more things I want to learn than I could possibly fit into one lifetime.  That’s just how I am.  Rarely content, I guess.  A gift and also a curse.

Ps - I’m still planning on adding the hooded towel tutorial - when I get to it - heh.