A Little Art a.k.a #alittleart

A little art – Big enough to make your mark, small enough  so that you can finish in one sitting.

I am loving Victoria Johnsons #alittleart project. Victoria started this personal project one month ago and invited others to play along. Like all good ideas, this one took off!

The place to play along – Instagram. It even has its own Instagram site to showcase the work of a global bunch of designers.

I  admire Victoria’s work – there is a certain free spirit about it that I  just love. Her colour combinations are unique. Her style fun and playful.

Below is a little grouping of a few of the experimental pieces she started out with. Visit her Instagram site for more insight on her project and a viewing of her current pieces.

Victoria Johnson for #alittleart

I asked others to share their work to give you a sense of the variety of options there are to play with. The only restriction here is size, 2.5″ wide, other than that it is free game.

There are so many reasons to participate. Here are my top five.

(click on the images below to go directly to the artist websites)

Studiobarabom for #alittleart

1.Little art is manageable. It can be completed in one sitting. If time is not on your side than this is a good way to get creative with little commitment.

Tanasa Elena-Daniela for #alittleart

2.Watercolor, collage, paint, markers, mixed media – anything goes.If you are interested in trying something totally different, than this is the place to give it a try.

Janet Broxon for #alittleart

3. Experimental – small art is a perfect place to try new things! Maybe there is a new technique or a different way of expressing yourself that you are interested in experimenting with. Maybe some new colours,composition or textures. Small art is perfect to play with.

Deborah Velasquez for #alittleart

4.Little art goes Big – I have been using my little art to explore composition and themes for Big art. Think of your little art as a thumbnail sketch for bigger things to come.

Claire Wilson for #alittleart

5. Community – A place to ask opinions, get inspired and meet other like-minded creatives. I love seeing what others are posting and what they are using their little art for.

My little art all lined up. I have been playing around with painted and collaged papers in a grid like form. I have been working intuitively just to see how things go together. From there I have started working on a larger scale with concentration on my composition.

I have to admit I am loving these and excited about the possibility of re-working them into the world of art licensing. I can envision these as greeting cards, art prints, fabric panels, oh the list in endless (I hope!)

More info on that creative process at a later date.

Drop by and give #alittleart a try. If you have any revelations or insight to share about your process, I would love to hear them!

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Spring is in the air on #shareyoursketch

Sharing a bit of Spring with you from #shareyoursketch.

Come join our community on Instagram and meet some other like-minded creatives. Share a sketch, your creative process,a new technique or even your finished piece. Just share.

I will start with mine. I have been loving all things tropical theses days. I am feeling the need for a little colour in my life these days.

Lots of black and white spring sketches in my sketchbook too!

Colourbook Studio and her little gouache flowers

Amanda McGee and her colourful flowers, also in gouache. I think I may need to try this medium.

Heather Dutton from Hang Tight Studio and her black and white butterflies.Love these!

Up next, Miranda Mol  and her wet ink work.

Marissa Swinghammer  has a beautiful, colourful Instagram account  full of spring, watercolour florals.

Lots of colour here!  Artist Sonal Nathwani

Lesley Todd of Five Finch and her beautiful water-colour primroses

Hopefully the birds are singing and blooms are starting to pop up where you live.

Have a great week!

The “Illustrated” Advent Christmas Challenge

Well it”s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here, if only in my head.

My imagination is full of snowflakes and twinkle lights all aglow. Walks in the winter snow and skiing through the woods. Eggnog lattes.

Unfortunately, out my window  the rain is pouring down and the weather quite balmy. Not so good when you live in a ski town.

I am thankful for Faye Browns creation of this years #adventchallenge2014. A month-long challenge of  christmas prompts to illustrate, photograph, sketch and be inspired by.

I have been enjoying every minute and have to admit it has helped me get in the spirit of the Christmas season.

I have included a few of my favourites to date. I will admit I am already a wee bit behind, but that’s ok with me now ( I had to talk myself down the first day I missed, but now I realize it really is all Ok:)

I like to use these challenges to try new things. Maybe a new combination of colors or some different hand drawn textures. Anything that gets me excited to jump in and get immersed.

I have found this challenge to be a good exercise for practicing my hand lettering and characters, yes….those things with eyes. Why is it always so much easier to just draw a flower?

I will be tweaking all of these  designs in the New Year and making them ready for art licensing gigs, but for now it feels good to get some new ideas down on paper. I can play around with them later and add the on trend colours and style.

 

There are loads of gorgeous designs over on Instagram under #adventhallenge2014. As Faye says herself, popping by the challenge daily is like opening up your very own advent calendar. I have been enjoying all the colour and interesting interpretations of Christmas.

There is still  time to join in if interested. There is no pressure to create everyday, but if you have some time and need a little christmas inspiration then this is an easy place to start. Get a head start on your Christmas designs for 2016! All info on Instagram under #adventchallenge2014

Below are links to a few of the designers creating their own  advent calendars, either as part of the challenge or own their own accord.

Groovity

Genine Delahaye

Flora Waycott

Dawn Machell

The Print Tree

Tracey English

Sally Payne

Mondaland

Lindsay Buck

Rebecca Stoner

Happy Holidays to all!

Finding Inspiration in Tropical Flora and Foliage

Sharing some inspiration from the Big Island of Hawaii.

I love the assault of my senses here. The colours and shapes are bright and bold. The temperature and trade winds are gentle on the skin.The saltwater invigorating. And there really is nothing like getting pummelled by the Pacific to really feel alive

 

I love sitting here listening to the sounds of seaside living.

Lots of birds, crashing waves, the clatter of geckos and the early morning return of the fishing boats back to the bay. There are no boundaries between outside and in. It’s a bit like living in a treehouse

Everything is just so different from my usual back home in Whistler. I think that is what I love most about it here.

I can’t resist the urge to pick up almost everything on my morning runs here. It makes for a bit of a run/ walk, but is always well worth it.
This is generally how my hat returns home..

I often entertain the thought of moving here one day. It’s a topic of conversation that comes up often when we are here. It’s hard to say whether it would lose some of its magic.

For now I will continue to be a dreamer, taking pictures of all that inspires me here. I know it won’t be long until our next visit.

I was thrilled to wake up this morning and discover on Instagram that Michelle Osorio had also been inspired by my #florafoliage series posted there. (you can see them here)

Look at her beautiful, delicate water-colour. I have to say it made my day!  You can find Michelle here on Instagram

 

I am going to milk out this tropical feeling for as long as possible – pineapples are up next week!

Aloha

So sorry Blog, but Instagram is my true love these days..

I think I may be breaking up with my blog. I am having mixed feelings about it right now.I feel horrible.

It has served me so well and has always been here for me – I talk, it listens. A perfect place to show and tell.

I cannot lie though. I have discovered another.

One that inspires me, motivates me and is oh, so lovely to look at. One that it is so easy to be around and engage with. One that actually comments and shows lots of love. One that I can carry close to my heart and stays by my side..

My new love…Instagram

My goal ~ to post daily about my creative process and finished product. To make more time for my photography. To connect with others in my community.

 

 

 

In our busy world today, it is so easy to find a moment to pick up a phone and connect with Instagram. It is  very user-friendly.

There are thousands of beautifully inspiring pictures posted daily. Take some time to explore and discover. Find out what interests and inspires you. Follow others in your field and leave a comment to connect. You just never know, it might just be your next collaboration!

I thought I would share some of my favourite  Instagram feeds with you today to help you on your way! These are off the top of my head and they vary from pretty pictures, lovely food styling, great design or just real, interesting people living a life very different than my own.

Instagram feeds 

ArtisticallyAfflicted (That’s me!)

MaryJoHoffman

Inaluxe

TheyDrawAndCook

TheyDrawandTravel

Cannellevanille

Flow_magazine

TravelWriteDraw

ShiraMcD

Emily_Jeffords

Tracyporter_poeticwanderlust

 

If you are interested in showing your creative process, please feel free to use the hashtag #shareyoursketch. I started it many months ago and it has gained quite a bit of momentum with people sharing daily. I will be (re)starting a weekly #shareyoursketch column here featuring work from it.

While I am not saying goodbye  quite yet, I believe in fair chances for all, I think I am going to try things a bit differently around here. More frequent posts ~ Less words, more pictures. More about what really inspires me!

#Shareyoursketch with us on Instagram

Get your sketch on and come share with us at #shareyoursketch on Instagram. Meet others in our community, try something new, get inspired. Just hashtag your sketch #shareyoursketch and join in! It can be any medium, any style.anything goes. The creative process has to start somewhere.

Here are a few shots from #shareyoursketch this week.  Starting with me!

An actual photo of me doing what I love best – doodling. I think I was the only one with a smile on my face after 4 hours being stuck on the Sea to Sky highway. I have to admit it’s been about the only time I have had a bit of peace and quiet to actually sit down and just draw with no distractions.

 

I was a little stumped on what to draw, but here I was overlooking the Pacific Ocean so first thing that came to mind…fish! All shapes and sizes here.

Some Fish For You!

Tina of @Tinaliondes shares her work created during some stormy weather and time spent indoors.

 

@artbreaking shows us her thoughts on spring.Her instagram feed is full of zentangles, doodles and just a lot of  art! Have a visit, it’s amazing to see all her marks in one spot.

Diane of @dianekappa spends her morning hours drawing. I love her paisley pattern here with its inky lines.

Patricia of @patricia_zapata has started a #365 project which I have been enjoying. Pop by for a daily dose of what she is up to. Actually here is a little write up on her blog about what she is up to!

 Michelle of @patternandco has been doodling dahlias. I love seeing where people find their inspiration and how they transform it into a drawing.

Next we have two pieces from Wendy Flynn of  @dorisandfred. Her sketches have been digitized, coloured and made into fabric at Spoonflower. She has entered this weeks competition, Wellies and Galoshes. You can see her finished piece and vote for her here

The finished piece looks like this one here!

Last, but not least, we have Heather of @heatherunderground. Heather always makes me laugh. I have only met her once at a Flora Bowley workshop, but we have remain connected through social media.She has a great imagination! I love her sketchy portrait that pretty much sums up how I feel right about now. It’s Christmas design time and everyday is starting to feel like Christmas around here. I am in need of a big dose of summer.I am officially done with christmas baubles and reindeer.

That’s all for this week – more to come later! Pop on by Instagram and search #shareyoursketch for more sketchiness.

Have a fun-filled weekend!

#Shareyoursketch with us on Instagram!

Share your sketch with us! #shareyoursketch on Instagram

I love to see how people create. What mediums they like to use~ pencil, pen, ink or paint.I love to see how characters and motifs are developed. I love to see how people come up with ideas and what sparks their imagination. I also love to see all the different variety of lines and textures used.  I think it’s a great way to get inspired and learn from others.

doodling my surroundings @artisticallyafflicted

I am in the business of making motifs. It takes a lot of time doodling and mark making. Time to practice and try new things. I need all the inspiration I can get so thought it would be fun to try and get others to share their work. Here is what is inspiring me lately on #shareyoursketch.

Heather Dutton (@hangtight) of Hang Tight Studio shares proof that inspiration can come from anywhere. This quirky character is the result of a blob of coffee spilt on the floor.  Heather is pretty active on Instagram. The next two are also some sketches that Heather shared.

Some more doodles waiting to get turned into pattern..

Mary Tanana (@groovity)  of Groovity Designs shares her tropical doodles, a result of her time in Make Art that Sells. I believe these were used for the tropical fusion bloghop which you can see here  – beautiful!

I love this giraffe all zentangled up shared by Angelica Venegas. (@portallerdepapel). This drawing was done by her daughter Rocio.  Her zentangle work looks fantastic here and has inspired me to try some of my own.

Here is another zentangle sketch courtesy of Aryanda Septian (@Ariyandaaa) from Indonesia. Her Instagram feed is full of beautiful sketching, shading and lots of portraits. A whole other world I have yet to explore.

This hipster, shared by Lori Leissner (@leissnerart) just makes me smile. I love his look and his poodle pooch companion. I could see this character developed in so many ways. Lori was in a very loong meeting when she shared this.

Sketches can be in color too! I love this one by Pam Keravuori (@pamkeravuori) created while  hanging at the waterpark with her young daughter. That made me laugh – I first started doodling while spending many an hour at the park with young children in tow. There is lots more color and wonderful type on her feed.

Feeling inspired? Come and share your sketch with us then!
I will be posting some here on my blog every week so that others can get inspired and make new friends on Instagram.

Enjoy your weekend!

From inspiration to pattern making

Finding inspiration on morning runs on the Big Island of Hawaii.  So many unusual shapes and textures native to the Island all begging to be picked up. I almost tripped a few times on my own feet.

Sharing my inspiration ~ journal page

Playing with shapes, colors and different textures found and finding inspiration for pattern making.

Playing with ideas and having some fun. I am not sure how the paint chip pattern came into play, but why not! I try not to think too much, but just have fun putting together the pieces of the puzzle. These patterns are all a work in progress, left to sit and be tweaked upon later.

For me , finding inspiration is all about starting and  getting the creative juices flowing. Some patterns I will love, others, not so much. It is all part of the pattern making process.Sometimes they just need a few days to sit and wait to have fresh eyes upon them.

All patterns contributed to #365 patterns on Instagram. Come on over and join in.

I am always in need of more visual inspiration so click here to follow me on Instagram~ I will be sure to follow you back!