Let There Be Light - WBC Take 2

If you read my previous post, my original entry for the Where Bloggers Create Party, you'll know I had some electrical difficulties producing a dark studio. Since there was some interest in how I found ways to fit a 20' x 20' studio into a 9' x 9' room, I am sharing more, now that the lights are back on.   I have tried not to repeat what I already showed you in the WBC post.  So, if you didn't see those, you can do that here.

The biggest secret is to go UP with everything!

In moving from a spacious space where light and room were generous, to an itty space where everything seemed a frustration and challenge at first, I learned to look from a different perspective at what supplies should be out where they were visible.  In my large studio, I loved having everything out and visually available at all times.  That was no longer an option.  Well, actually at one point I did have my stainless steel shelves on one wall and the printer/scanner shelves (which is just like the cat's bunk beds) were out.  But I found that in this tiny space, all that utility felt very uninspiring.  So the closet houses the printer/scanner shelves and the large stainless shelves filled with mixed media supplies.  I also have some less than lovely plastic drawers in the closet holding decorative papers and odds and ends.  

My antique dental drawers filled with pencils

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I had to think through what I really use on a regular basis.  Could this still be convenient in the closet or does it need to be in the room?  Maybe less than convenient in the closet (the printer and scanner) but maybe worth it to not look at it every day.  Does it really need to be on top of the work table or could it just be in a handy place close by?  I play with mixed media art but artist's pencils are my premium medium when I work professionally.  So having the pencils out and available is most important.

I use altoid tins to hold my most used colors of Derwent Artbar and Derwent Intense blocks.  They take up less table space and are great cases for travel when I want them.

   This is a vintage laundry table.  The top is porcelain so paint just washes right off.  The drawer holds markers.  

This little folding tray is so handy.  It extends my work table.  It is easily moved to the desk should I need it for drawing supplies or beside the sewing machine.  Or I can just fold it up and put it away if I need the room.  I have one more I use sometimes but I think its in another room right now.

Kenya and Rose in the bunk beds

This vintage ironing board folds up and takes up little space.  But I can easily set it up when I need an extended table top to spread out supplies or finished pieces.

My daughter's ballet shoes

 

The folding drawing board substitutes for my drafting table.  It works fairly well as I rarely work larger than 11" x 14" anyway.  I loved my drafting table and I did have it in here for a while.  But there was hardly any room to walk.  I realized the real need was for a drawing space that could be elevated at an angle and a safe place to leave the paper while a project is not yet finished.  The table top board solves that need without taking up 3' x 3' of the room and it can be moved should I need the desk for other purposes. 

Cigar box for drawing supplies

I love vintage objects.  Previously I had the luxury of being able to place them in my studio just for the purpose of inspiration.  Many boxes and jars were empty.  I just loved looking at them.  But in my new small space everything has to have a purpose.  So if there was something I really wanted in the room I found a job for it.

Matchstick holder for drawing brushes

Lydia, Studio Supervisor in charge of holding the floor down

I love rocking chairs.  I found that I neeeeded a rocking chair in my studio for it to feel right to me.  But, of course, there is no room for it.  I do kind of have a thing for rocking chairs.  I have 7.  This one is the most light weight one making it easier to move about if necessary.  My sweet husband, the Poet, bought me a keyboard that I can hold on my lap in my rocking chair and a large monitor.  So, this can be my desk chair.     ---I know, I know........

Kenya, my muse

As I said before, the sewing machine tucks away neatly on the typewriter shelf.  And there is room underneath inside for my light box.  

 

The bookshelves are hardly seen but are still available.  They are behind the door and beside the desk.  They hold up the chair my daughter Kate made that holds the tv.  

Some finished pieces available to purchase.

 

I want to recover this chair but don't have the sewing skills to do it properly.  I welcome suggestions or ideas!!!

 

And then when all the necessary things were in place I found a few places, mostly on the walls, to add a bit of decorative fluff just to make me smile.  

Bo.  The Old Man.  

 Thank you for indulging me this 2nd run through.  I am still learning how to make this space work more efficiently and yet maintain an air of creative whimsey.  It is a growing experience.




Wind and Honey Creations
Creative Pencils - Online Drawing Lessons

Rain and Life's Rhythms

 

Its raining today. Everything in me wants to sit with a nice cup of tea and draw while listening to the raindrops tap dancing outside. I am not unique with this thought. I've heard it so many times from others. The rain calls us to be still, to slow down, to be calm.  The birds outside are tucked away somewhere under large tree leaves or the eaves of a house.  Even the dogs and cats inside are more sleepy today.  

Of course slowing down isn't what we do.  We curse the rain or we choose to ignore it as we bustle around trying to get 36 hours squeezed out of 24.  I've been thinking a lot lately about the rhythms of life and how we press so hard against them.  It would seem to me that paying better attention to the patterns set by the Creator might be the wiser route to go.  That isn't an easy task in our culture.  

Our lists for "to do" are longer than our arms, and then just a few moments spent on popular social media is enough to remind you that whatever you might have gotten done today, surely you are behind what everyone else is accomplishing.   

I propose that we proclaim a respite from those dreaded lists and try, at least a little bit, to listen more to the rhythms of nature.  I propose at least one hour of each day be set aside to live life rather than run the list.  I imagine this will be life altering and life giving.  I'm going to try it.  I dare you to join me.

Wind and Honey Creations
Creative Pencils - Online Drawing Lessonshttp://creativepencils.com

Living A More Creative Life, Part 3

We've talked about ways to bring creativity into our daily life by taking the time to use more soulful objects in our activities.  Now let's look at ways to bring creativity into our lives and the lives of others around you on a broader scale.  What are ways that we can reach out beyond our own experiences and make a difference for those around us?  Studies have shown that one of the strongest things we can do to lift our own days is to make an effort to lift the days of others.  I find, as a teacher, that the creativity I watch in my students is contagious. Let's look at some ideas for how we can develop creatively contagious moments.

What is it that you enjoy doing?  It doesn't have to be obviously creative.  

Perhaps you are a seamstress, perhaps a cook.  Maybe you are an organizer or communication is your gift.  Maybe you are naturally inclined toward hospitality. How can these gifts be used in a more creative way?

I know of a woman that taught sewing classes to young girls.  She taught 4 at a time with 2 at the sewing machines and 2 sitting on the couch doing handwork.  The teacher would sit on the couch with the ones doing handwork.  As they stitched, she would talk with them about what it meant to grow up to be strong and gracious women.  She found a creative solution to her own need and changed the lives of her students at the same time.  

What if a gifted cook invited 3 or 4 different children (or maybe even adults) over to their kitchen once every couple of months for a cooking lesson?  Many young mothers are swamped and tired from working and don't have time to teach their children and maybe don't even have time to cook.  What a gift of creativity to teach them to make a great pie crust. They would never forget it.

What if a beautician invited young girls over for a day of spa treatments. We live in a time when young girls are struggling to understand what true beauty is.  The spa instructions could be laced with talk about true inner beauty that reaches out to others.

I have a friend who is a very organized person and she has a heart for homeless families.  Determined to find a way to help, she began working with the administration end of a ministry to homeless families.  She not only uses her organizational skills to help make the ministry function, she uses her creativity for 'outside the box' ideas that help the ministry to soar.  She is able to use her creativity to help the people she cares for.  That is creative thinking!

I have another friend who started a ministry in her church based on a creative way of using her gifts.  This woman is a shopper.  She can find a bargain!  And she can talk people into giving her an even better bargain like no one else I know.  A few years back this friend became aware of a need at the local women's shelter in the town where she lived.  The women were only allowed to stay for 30 days at the shelter.  Most of the time they had left home in a hurry and with only what they could carry.  So when the women who had sought refuge in the shelter had completed their time they had nothing to begin setting up a new home.  My friend began going regularly to garage sales and buying furniture and housewares.  She then got permission to store these things in an unused room at her church. She also discovered that if she explained her mission to the garage sale owners, that often they would simply donate their items.  Then as the time comes for each shelter guest, she is invited to the church to "shop" for items needed for her new household and for her children.  And its all free.

Creativity can enrich both our lives and the lives of those around us.  And really, what good is a gift if it can not bless those around us?

So I don't know what your gifts are.  They may not look like the examples I've given.  But maybe these ideas have sparked some thoughts for you.  I don't know what your creativity looks like.  But you can be sure, its there somewhere.  My challenge to you today is to dare to look for it.  Dare to give it some time to develop in you.  And then to dare to step out with creative action to enrich both your life and your world.

Next time we'll look at this more from the perspective of those already living their lives as artists.

Wind and Honey Creations
Creative Pencils - Online Drawing Lessons

Grow Your Blog Party

Dancing Swan

Today I am joining the Grow Your Blog Party hosted by Vicki at 2 Bags Full.   I will begin by telling you the obvious.  I am Elizabeth Johnson of Wind and Honey Creations and Creative Pencils.   Wind and Honey is the name under which I create my own personal art.  I have used that name for almost 25 years now.  --I was but a toddler when I started.  Hahahahaha!!!!!

This has nothing to do with anything.  I just thought is was pretty.

 I have created a variety of types of art.  But in my wanderings, I always end up coming home to my first love, artist's pencils.  The sparkle and excitement of paint and glitter call to me.  But bringing life to a blank piece of paper with nothing but a simple pencil is what makes my heart sing.  Somehow when I've drawn something I love, it feels as if a part of that subject is then in my heart in a way that cannot ever be removed.   My passionate first and forever subject of choice is animals.  I love them all -- domestic and wild.  I strive to capture each one's unique personality and show it to the world. 

Just some of my pencils

Mattie

Creative Pencils is the name under which I teach drawing 

workshops.   I first began teaching in my local community 14 years ago.  I started with children and eventually grew up to adult classes.  I have taught almost as many media as I have experimented with.  But, as with my own art, I always return home to my pencils.  I have taught many students my right-brained approach to drawing.  And it has been a delight to watch them blossom and discover they could do something they thought they could not.  I love watching the look on their faces as they begin to realize they are actually drawing.  Last year I opened an online site called Creative Pencils where I teach online with a video format.  That has been quite an adventure.  

Lydia

I began blogging when I had a shop on Etsy some years ago and it was suggested that it would be a good thing to do.  Oh my!  I had no clue what I was doing or what to say or what to do!  But I stumbled in anyway.  Through visiting other blogs and basically following what I saw in others, I found this to be an enjoyable place to be.  I much prefer blog hopping to spending hours on other social media.  When I visit blogs I feel I've spend time in someone's living room or had tea in their quaint gift shop.  I hope my blog communicates that kind of warm atmosphere too.  And, although I do brag on my students here, and I do show my work here, my blog has become much more than just a place to promote my business.  It has become a place to visit friends and share my world.  

Kenya

As to my personal life, I have been married over 30 years to a man that spends his free time writing poetry.  And yes, ladies, some of those poems have been written to me.  I have to say, its pretty nice. 

I have 2 grown children.  My son is a chef and my daughter is a sculpture artist.   They are the delights of my life. 

I have 2 cats and a Great Pyrenees who grace my home with warm snuggles, lots of laughter, and constant studio supervision.  

Thank you for visiting me here today.  I am giving away a prize!  Fun, fun!  And anyone can participate.  I will hold a drawing on February 1, 2013 using the names of those that comment here.  The winner will receive a Giclee fine art print of my Dancing Swan created with mixed media pencils.  It is the image at the top of this post.   It is 10" x 8" and will come ready for you to mat and frame as you wish to coordinate with your own personal decor. 

 
Wind and Honey Creations

Kid's Make the Best Art Continued

More art from my 7 year old students.  Cute puppies this time.....  I like the floppy ear tossed out to the side.  He has personality.

Wind and Honey Creations

Wind and Honey Creations

Matchbox Swap

In February I participated in the Petite Inspiration Box Swap an art swap event sponsored by Speckled Egg.  This swap featured altered matchboxes.  We were divided into groups of three.  Before mailing our artfully decorated boxes, we filled them with tiny vintage goodies.  I absolutely love both of the boxes I received.  I thoroughly enjoyed this event and getting to know my two group members.  Here are pictures of the wonderful boxes they sent to me.

Jan of JaN'sArTyJouRney sent me this great box of goodies.

And Jen of On a Journey created this beautiful altered matchbox.  Look at those cute little shoes.  Love 'em!

And here are the boxes I sent to them.  I forgot to take a picture of mine with the goodies showing.  So, you'll just have to imagine these boxes filled with itty bitty great stuff.

This little bunny box is decorated with a digital collage that I created months ago but had not used yet.  This box went all the way to England to Jan of JaN'sArTyJouRney

And this peaceful little girl was sent to Texas to Jen of On a Journey

Did you notice what I did?  We didn't plan what we would be sending.  We talked about color preferences and style.  But made no particular plans.  Do you see that Jan used music on my box and I used it in hers?  And Jen used white textured embossed paper on my box and I used it on hers.  Isn't that interesting?

Now I have something funny to share.  Lydia and Bo have a DogIt water fountain.  The reason they have such an elaborate water bowl is a long story that I won't get into.  But last week the Poet was helping me out by doing the weekly cleaning of the dog fountain.  It is not exactly the most pleasant thing to do as there is usually a pretty generous quantity of slobber involved.  However, this time the reservoir was abundant with crumpled leaves and dry grass.    ---  huh?!!?     You have to wonder if Lydia is trying something new, carrying grass and leaves around in her big lips like chewing tobacco.

I have to admit that I felt a certain degree of relief that I was not the one cleaning the fountain on this particular day.  I left the room intent on another task.  Later, when I returned, I found this not-so-poetic note written to Lydia and Bo and taped right at their eye level above their water fountain.   LOL!!!

I'll let you know if it works!!!

Wind and Honey Creations