Black Friday News

 

You have the opportunity this weekend to save some money while staying at home in your comfy chair!  Just think... Black Friday savings and no crowds.  You don't even have to get up early.  How fun is that?!

Creative Workshops is having a Black Friday sale.  If you purchase my Pencils 101 workshop, you will get the Pencils 201 workshop for 1/2 price!!  You could buy it for yourself and then again for a gift to a friend.  Then the two of you could work through it together.  That would be lots of fun.  You can inspire each other.

And then at The Graceful Artist, there are 3, count them..., THREE drawings for prizes over the Black Friday weekend.  Each prize is a stash of enticing art supplies.  Oh, the things you could create!  You can find out all about those prizes and how to get your name in the pot several times, by going to the Graceful Artist blog.

Have a very blessed day of thanks whether you are in the USA celebrating the tradition of Thanksgiving or if you are just a person filled with gratitude.

Wind and Honey Creations
Creative Pencils - Online Drawing Lessons

Living A More Creative Life - Part 1

 

I have been thinking a lot lately about this series of posts that I did almost 3 years ago.  I have decided to rerun them as many of you won't have read my posts 3 years ago when I first started blogging.  And also, simply because I think this may be something we all should read again from time to time.

Sometimes life comes along and just sits on your heart challenging you to even breath.  These are the times when creativity is elusive.  And yet, finding creative expression can be a life saver at just such moments.  Some of you are artist by vocation or by hobby. Others may just enjoy art. For the artist, hard times can lead to a creative block.  But for all of us, hard times are, well just that - hard!

Finding ways to incorporate creativity into your daily life can be like a breath of fresh air in a heavy time.  This is Part 1 of a series of posts on Living A More Creative Life.  It is my hope that it will help you begin to think in a new direction as you come up with ways to bring creativity into your day to day life.  If this series inspires you or you come up with new ideas, please come here and share your ideas with us all.  



Creativity comes from the right side of our brains.  If you've read anything about the right brain/left brain differences, you know that scientist have learned that the left sides of our brains are our logical sides.  (My husband says I don't have a left side.  But we won't get into that!)  And our right sides are where we find our creativity and our feelings.  Creativity is a mindset.  And most certainly it is about taking risks and having fun.  If its not fun then what is the point?   

 Creativity is more than painting or drawing or pasting or sculpting.  It is tapping into the feeling right side of your brain to find a solution to a problem.  Creativity is breaking out of accepted patterns and solutions in order to find a new way of doing something.

In Part 2 of Living A More Creative Life we will talk about some practical ways to move your life into a more creative direction. 


Wind and Honey Creations

Quiet Tones on a Journal Page

I have been nose to monitor for 3 weeks now as I have been learning web designing.  This is not something I aspired to do.  But the Ning system is failing me and the necessity to move our Graceful Artist site became evident.  And, of course, the need arose just when it necessitated immediate action.  So, with no time to spare, I've been learning a lot.  But I am very proud of how lovely it looks.  I hope you will pop over and take a look.  The instructors are working so hard to present a wonderful and enriching experience.  They deserve a great site to feature their work.  Click here to see.

This year I have focused more on working in an art journal than I have in the past.  I've learned some ways to work around the need for paint and lots of elaborate supplies and have enjoyed expanding the thought of what my pencils can do on those pages.

But this week I enjoyed just a simple approach.  I have a Strathmore toned sketch paper journal.  I've not done much in it as the paper is so thin that it seems less than ideal.  But the colors call to me!  We had to be out of town the other day and had a block of time with no particular plan and not many options for filling that time.  So, I took along my toned journal and my Derwent tinted charcoal.  I took nothing else so I wouldn't be tempted to take another approach.

This drawing of Kenya was the result.  The toned sketch paper is not the ideal texture for charcoal but it worked and I enjoyed the process.  Now, if they would make some vellum bristol board in these toned colors, I would really be a happy girl!




Wind and Honey Creations