Monday, January 17, 2011

Creative every day


This totally relates to my resolution to do more art in 2011.  The Creative Every Day blog encourages people to find a little space in each day for something creative, whether it's cooking, drawing, knitting, decorating, taking photographs, writing....well, you get the picture.

I actually had quite a creative time over the weekend.  I went with a friend to Galiano Island to attend a small group workshop to learn some encaustic techniques.  Encaustic is essentially painting with hot wax with pigment added and it's usually combined with collage and other media (oil stick, gold leaf, etc.)... so it's very open ended and creative.

It was fun spending the day with my artist friend Maria and the seven other women who were learning and playing.  Here you can see some of the work that was done. 










But I wasn't all that happy with my results: two little square boards with very busy abstract designs.  I put them away in a drawer in my work room yesterday.




Today for me wasn't much about creativity as my task is to spackle and sand both sides of sixteen cupboard doors.  But in the spirit of finding a little creative opportunity I took my camera and decided to take  a photo of the two encaustic boards.

As soon as I looked through the camera I could see that sections of each of these boards were much more appealing than the whole.  I can't cut the boards up, nor do I want to but I can find some parts of each one that please me.  Here are a few.
















These could be the basis for paintings or drawings.  It's all grist for the mill.

Now I must get back to sanding the cupboard doors.

If you'd like to see other entries for Creative Every Day, just click here.

13 comments:

  1. joanna - how very cool!!! i find in many situations that the detail carries more weight than the whole. steven

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  2. When all else failed with some of my pieces I would shrink my pieces and it usually looked so much better. Of course they were not paintings.
    I think your first photo is fabulous! I like it very much.

    cheers, parsnip

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  3. You actually had a bonanza of creativity! I visited Galiano Island a long time ago to ride bike with Backroads touring group. It was a wonderful trip!

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  4. I love the all of your creative offerings today. There is even creativity in sanding and painting our surroundings.

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  5. Steven, you're so right. It's often in the details.

    Parsnip, the blue encaustic painting on the right actually has in it the photograph of the water drops. If you look closely on the left towards the top you'll see it.

    Hi Barb, yes Galiano is a lovely island. It would be nice to tour it on a bike.

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  6. Rudee, it's true that the cupboard sanding can also be creative. These humble tasks can be quite calming as well.

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  7. i really liked looking at these this way. There are some gorgeous parts to them, they'd make great shots to put on the front of cards.

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  8. Thanks B, that's a really good idea.

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  9. They would make wonderful cards! Like looking out through a small hole, it's exciting to see the world in a different way. Just a bit at a time.

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  10. Hey Steph, that's a cool analogy. I often find I'm attracted to the tiny rather than the large.

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  11. I like them! I especially like the one on the left. I think I see a dog snout. :)

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  12. hi lisa,
    yes i see it too--and the eye!

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  13. Hallo Joanna
    I loooooove your two paimtings !!!!!!
    I just discovered them in creativ every day. They are my favorit artwork out of at least 200 pieces I saw.
    I hope you got them out of the drawer again.
    ; ) Susanne

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