Year: 2019

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Considering Composition

Good design is important in the making of any artwork.  The elements of design are the visual art equivalents to grammar, spelling and punctuation in writing.  Take a look at these two images that I took of the same landscape:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which one makes a stronger overall composition?  Consider each image as a whole, then break down the parts and compare the location of each part in the two images – the pine tree, the graves, the shadows.  Are the elements balanced in relation to each other?  Does the distance of the objects have any effect on the overall image?  What about the use of space – the size of the grassy lawn, the different gravestones in each image.  What objects are emphasized in the two images?  To sum things up, which one is more interesting to look at?  Which one holds your interest more than the other?  These are all things to consider when making and original piece of art, whether it is abstract or representational.

Meanwhile, I am having fun with this week’s index cards, check in on Tuesday to see the results.

 

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Even More of Those Crazy Index Cards!

I just keep going, week five from 2018 is done!  The prompts were: patisserie, tarot or playing card, curtain, compass, denim/blue, picnic and mosaic.

I remember while attempting the challenge last year, that this week was the one that derailed me.  I completed patisserie, playing card and compass, and let myself get hopelessly stuck on the rest of them.  It almost happened again in my bid to belatedly finish the bunch.  The remaining four cards that I needed to make to finish week five, I did in the last day and a half.  Yes, I know, the point of a daily project is to do a little, well, daily… I’ve said it before, starting and maintaining a good habit can be just as difficult as stopping and staying off of a bad one.  I must admit, in the end, the card in this group that I had the most trouble starting is the one that I like the best –  the one on the far right, for “curtain.”

On Thursday, maybe some stitching, maybe some other rambling.

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Listening To the Leaves

When was the last time that you were in a place so quiet and serene that you could hear a leaf fall?  I have that opportunity this time of year, if there is no wind, and the cattle are quiet, to listen for the barely perceptible swish of a spent leaf coming to rest among its companions now carpeting the ground.

Being creative is not only about observing things around us that often go unnoticed – this demands a high degree of awareness of the many things in our day to day lives.  Creativity is also being able to zone in on one of those little details, and for a moment, focusing on that one thing, shutting out all the other chatter and clutter.  Then, we must find our own way to capture that moment, that detail, in a way to share with others.  Listen for that one little leaf, and tell someone about it.

Check back next week, I’ll share some more of my little creative moments from the weekend – more ICAD adventures and moments of stitching.

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More ICAD, from 2018

A quick post today… I have made some progress filling in the missing cards in my attempt at the 2018 index-card-a-day challenge.  Again, some days, I made a card like I was supposed to, other days, I skipped.  Sometimes I didn’t make the time to do the card, other days I just didn’t want to deal with the prompt.  Now, over a year later, I am determined to make something for all of the prompts.

Week three prompts were sea green, super hero, path, suitcase, legend, “greetings from” and treasure.  I especially like how that “greetings from” card turned out.  That one was inspired by vintage large letter postcards.

Week four was sky, castle, the Jetsons, tangerine, meerkat, magic carpet and garden.  Will I keep this momentum going?

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Autumn Postcard from My Corner of the World

I meant to get a post out on Tuesday.  I also had intentions of working on a promotional letter for a trunk show, or one of several ideas for classes.  In a corner rests a pile of things I wanted to take pictures to put on my forthcoming online store.  None of that happened.

I took what was to be a short walk to clear my head, and I stopped halfway up the hill to admire some fallen sassafras leaves.

While wandering in the woods, I gathered a bucket of sticks for kindling in the wood burner, and found a few twigs with lichen encrusting them, and I studied the ruffles wrapping around the sticks a bit too long.  At the top of the hill, I watched a couple of deer munching on acorns for a while, and then turned back to the west and watched the sunset in horizontal ribbons of blue-gray, peach and orange, striated vertically by the dark outlines of the trees.

After dark, I lit a candle in a pumpkin that volunteered in my garden this year and I carved a couple days ago, watching the flickering light while sipping on some hot cider.

I don’t feel that I wasted any time.