Playing Catch Up

Observe

I've been through a busy time of creative output in the last week finishing up my Sketchbook and now I find I'm at the point in the cycle where I need to take a break and refill the creative well.

I've also been busy with the Women's 2012 Olympic soccer qualifier, so I'm a bit behind in my Getting Through the Grey assignments. I'm hoping to do a bit of catch up over the weekend. The weather's supposed to be beautiful. I hope so! *fingers crossed*

In the meantime, here's what's rocking my world:

(Images by my talented classmates.)

1. there is something about nature that takes care of your heart, 2. porch steps, 3. footprints, 4. fossil rock, 5. Queen Anne's Lace, 6. The architecture of plants 01, 7. Black and white with a touch of colour, 8. Row of Trees, 9. Fearless Pup, 10. Viewing the Christmas lights, 11. Morning Light, 12. P1220393.JPG

We See Things

We See Things

Have I mentioned lately that I am thoroughly enjoying Getting Through the Grey? Yes indeed! In fact it's kind of reignited an idea I once had, so that's percolating in my mind at the moment.

As always, I am continuously inspired by my incredibly talented classmates. Here's just a small sampling. Take a look for yourself:
(I highly recommend that you click on the credits to see the full size images.)

1. Untitled, 2. Moon Square, 3. Buddha, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. stardust, 7. Viewing the Christmas lights, 8. oaks rink, 9. sunlight through a moth's wings, 10. love on a shelf, 11. Untitled, 12. holding, 13. Morning Light, 14. When the sun comes out, one must lay in it., 15. Sea glass, 16. , 17. mary neutrals, 18. My shoes in the snow, 19. Autumn Leaves, 20. Autumn leave

Fabulous, non? It's exciting to go to the class Flickr group every day and see what's been posted. We're all busy preparing for the holidays, but still making a point of finding time to show up for ourselves and one another.

That in itself is a gift and one for which I am most grateful.

From My Fellow Swans

This morning, I wanted to share with you the beautiful artistry that has developed in Swan Dive. This is a small sampling of the pieces that I've "favourited" over the last 4 weeks. (I highly recommend clicking on the credits below to view each of them in all their full sized glory.)

1. fairy (#1 of 8), 2. Wedding Lights, 3. Deb gets layered, 4. give thanks, 5. July 7, 2011-The Old Red Barn, 6. warm hearts, 7. 3. Growth, 8. island, 9. , 10. What we think we become, 11. Kate walking, 12. field of leaves

One of the best things about taking Vivienne's photography classes is meeting  other artists and getting to see their work. What I love about this is that as we are posting our work to share with one another, we are also spurring each other on. There's this communal energy that develops, whereby the bar keeps getting raised and ultimately, it pushes each of us to do our best work.

That's not to say we won't post things that aren't perfect-we do-but we're learning from one another and supporting everyone's learning process through our own. It's kind of like that famous quote by Marianne Williamson that says in part "as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." It's a beautiful thing. I am so grateful to my classmates for their generosity of spirit.

Eyecandy

1. ice blue winter heart, 2. Syncopation: all done, 3. side one, 4. pincushion mania 001, 5. selvedgewristlet2, 6. pods, 7. RotD Journal II, 8. january-17-2011, 9. Grunge Chic Journal - Teal, 10. paper wrapped spiral stratum ring, 11. Primarily Detail Journal page, 12. Harry's cushion, 13. inside my bag, 14. RotD Journal II, 15. DSC_0011, 16. above.

Oh my goodness do I love vintage aqua! I was going through my Flickr favourites and realized that there's a dirth of this hue in my collection. I figured I would share what's inspiring me of late.

I don't know about you, but I enjoy looking at other people's mosaics-it's a good way to discover other artists. It also lets you learn a bit about the person who posts it. You get a glimpse of what makes their world go 'round. 

See that pillow with the View Master reels on it? Well I had one of those toys, a red one when I was really little. My grandparents bought it for me and they would travel all over the US, a good part of the time with me in tow and buy reels for it. They'd get them at touristy places like Disney Land, Carlsbad Caverns and such. It was cool seeing where they had been and having reels to remember our trips together. I also had cartoon reels from various Disney movies. I wish I still had it. I'd love to have this pillow because reminds me of these good memories.

There's a story behind why I like each thing in this mosaic, but I'll just let you enjoy it for yourselves.

*EDIT: I tracked down that fabulous fabric via Etsy and bought myself some. YAY! It's called Ruby Star Rising. If you have to have it too, you can find it here. The shopkeeper, Francis is super nice and I've never ordered fabric all the way from Japan. Fun! What ever did we artists do before the internet?!

Speaking of eyecandy, over the weekend, I was busy in the studio working on zines of all sizes. We got some sneaux here on Saturday (highly unusual) and so it seemed prudent to just hole up and get creative. My mini zines have been flying out of my Etsy shop. Thank you! I am just finishing up some copies of Manual Dexterity Issue #2.

 I had a couple copies of issue #2 left over from the zine exchange which I posted for sale and they were snapped up, pretty much instantly and then I never had the chance to restock. I've finally gotten around to it now. (It's pretty labour intensive, so I needed to wait till .I had time to work on assembling them.) This will be the last run of issue #2-there are only a half dozen copies and once they're gone, they're gone! If you'd like one for your very own, please visit the Tattered Edge Mercantile. I'm now beginning work on issue #3!

iLike: Flickr Favourites

1. Journal Pages, 2. Ghiaccio, 3. paper wrapped sprial pendant - robayre, 4. orange and aqua, 5. fabric and paper page, 6. Red clothespin detail, 7. Pincushion, 8. playing with scraps, 9. RotD Journal II, 10. DSC_0005, 11. inner circle., 12. nest is best., 13. Front Cover, 14. RODpg1, 15. sky high., 16. stamp garlands 4

So for ages, I've watched people posting their Flickr favourites to their blogs and never got around to posting mine. I don't have a very big collection, not because there aren't many, many, many wonderful things posted to Flickr, but because I just don't have enough hours in the day to sit and peruse them all very often. I am going to try and find more time for that this year. Maybe I can surf Flickr while I am stuck waiting in Doctors' offices or at the hospital 'cause lord knows that would be a better (and happier) use of my time!

Anyway, I finally decided to share some of my random favs* with you. (Random, meaning I wasn't aiming to have a particular theme when I made this mosaic-it's just things that make me happy.) I thought they might help chase away the January blues.

If you have a Flickr mosaic you've posted, please drop me a line in the comments here so I can view yours. It's always interesting to see what inspires other people and to explore the worlds of other artists.

*Some of the photography (11, 12, & 15) is by my friend Lisa Ryder from NZ. Isn't she amazing?