Strathmore Workshop 2 and a Little Inspiration

Page from Workshop 1 showing progression
of page through weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4

 

Workshop 2

The second Strathmore Visual Journal workshop started this month. It's "Start Where You Are" with instructor Linda Blinn. Rather than work on a single page, this workshop focuses on a variety of techniques you can use in your journal. I'll show you later what I've done so far. I got a bit of a late start. That's the nice thing about these workshops. You don't have to start on the first week if you're busy with something else. Just to wrap up Workshop 1, I thought I would show you how the pages progressed during the workshop.  Click the pictures to embiggen.

Another page from Workshop 1 showing
progression of page through weeks 1-4.

 

A Little Inspiration

I'm a selfhelp-aholic. I always buying self-help books and downloading eBooks and audio files, more than I can read. Sometime last summer I downloaded an interview with Steven Pressfield on Lateral Action. I've forgotten how I found out about it. It sat on my computer until the other day when I was looking for something to listen to driving to work. Steven Pressfield writes military novels but for most artists he's probably better known for his book, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. It was a wonderful interview. He talks about resistance to doing the things you want to do and how to overcome it, as well as some of his own experiences. It was a lively and inspiring interview, with just a bit of woo-woo. I ended up listening to it a couple of times.

I'm off to work on Workshop 2.

SF: Travels

This week's topic for Friday January 12th suggested by Hanne: TRAVELS!

"Travelling is a wonderful possibility to open for new inspiration and ideas. I´ll say it´s actually one of the greatest advantages to travelling!

A lot of new impressions and probably also new materials to bring home for future artwork. Maybe new friends - who knows? Anyway, I thought it could be very interesting to know where other bloggers travel. And if you don´t travel right now because of limited econonomy or other restrictions - I think we always travell in our mind: dreaming of somewhere in the countryside - or maybe a big city loaded with museums, galleries and flea markeds for new "input" for our studios and art."
~ Hanne

The first place I thought about when I read this week's topic was our trip to the Grand Canyon in Arizona year before last. Pictures just can't express that feeling you get when you first see it in person. Miles of ordinary desert landscape suddenly drop away into an immense canyon. I've gotten more inspiration from the Grand Canyon and its history than any other place I've visited.

When a major trip isn't possible, though I like to visit a museum.

See more Studio Friday here.

Studio Friday: Autumn Inspiration

This week's topic for Friday October 20th suggested by Kerri: AUTUMN INSPIRATION!

"Autumn inspiration - According to my calendar, today (Sept 22) is the "Autumnal Equinox," and it's my favorite season, so show me what you love about the fall - the colors?... the leaves?...etc."~ Kerri

Here's some pictures from around the house, except the tree. The picture of the tree was taken down the street. Autumn is one of my favorite seasons. I love the crisp, clean feel of the air. I love the colors of the leaves, the berries on the bushes, pumpkins and winter squashes, and the bright blue sky on clear days. It's also the time of year when the smell of homemade breads, soups, pies and warm apple cider permeate the air. Autumn is full of good days for staying at home, planning projects, painting, knitting, and cooking.

See more Studio Friday Autumn Inspirations here.