My Art World : August 2014

I have had this old Luella Graffiti purse for some time. Over the years it's gotten very dingy and dirty and stained and has been in need of a bit of a face lift. So I decided I would spruce it up with a little bit of paint. However I don't keep fabric paint around much and I didn't want to tackle it with fabric paint pens (it's a pretty big purse after all), so I dug through my supplies and found that I have some Delta Creamcoat Textile Mediu m. I've never used it before, but apparently it takes regular acrylic paint and turns it into fabric paint. I don't have any other Delta Creamcoat paints on hand, as I usually just buy the Apple Barrel brand. I mixed them up according to the instructions on the bottle anyway, and tried them out. The worse that would happen I figured would that I ruined an old purse and wasted a little bit of paint.

The results turned out a bit better then I expected. The medium seemed to work fine with the paint and while the fabric soaked most of it up pretty quickly, it still spread and covered well. I even added some embellishments with regular fabric pens (sorry, I don't know the names of them right off). The instructions say to heat set the paint which I haven't had time to do yet, and to let it dry for 7 days so it's not quite finished, but here's what it looks like so far. I decided to use the same style I've been doing for my mixed media work lately, as I really like the look it gives. I only used three colors of paint so that it wouldn't overpower the purse and so the white would still shine through as well as the original graffiti design. I really am pleased with how it turned out and can't wait to finish it so that I can start using it again!

(Sorry the pictures aren't very good, especially of the before. I forgot to take them before I started painting!)

I don't do a lot of written posts these days, just because I don't have time and most people would probably rather not read what I have to say (I am VERY boring and can be incredibly long winded, as you'll no doubt read below). However, a written post every now and then can be a good thing... Right?

This one is about something I seem to struggle with constantly in various ways. My inspiration (what inspires / motivates me) vs. my productivity (what I actually create/how I share what I create).

I really really struggle with this a lot. I see ideas, various types of ideas, everywhere, especially online. If you browse the internet even a little, you probably see them as well. People all over are expressing themselves in their own unique way and I seem to love quite a lot of those expressions. (Almost all of them usually. You don't even want to know how long my bookmark link list is.)

Whether it's some cute, frilly, pastel colored girly decor.

Scathingly Brilliant

Or the messy, random, painted, mixed media art that probably makes little sense to anyone who isn't an artist.

Robin Marie Smith

Each one speaks to me in a different way, inspiring me to want to pull out my art supplies and just start making something immediately. Which is hard when you don't always have time to sit down and create something. But staying inspired keeps my love for art growing and I really need that inspiration and motivation to keep me desperate to try new things and explore new ideas.

I imagine quite a few people out there are like me and have fallen into the world of Pinterest. I absolutely love the idea and abilities of Pinterest; being able to share art, decor, recipes, whatever it is you want across multiple places to people who may have never found it otherwise is simply amazing. It keeps me inspired and allows me to keep things organized by categories I choose which is extremely handy. It also has let me see what sorts of things inspire me the most, such as color. My color dedicated pinterest board is full of it.

http://www.pinterest.com/mindylouhagan/color/

As well as some of my other boards...

http://www.pinterest.com/mindylouhagan/mixed-media-3/

http://www.pinterest.com/mindylouhagan/follow-the-white-rabbit/

But sometimes Pinterest can be a bit overwhelming. There's just so much to look at. I've wasted hours upon hours browsing it's pages without anything to show for it in the end. But it makes me happy which is good. I've yet to figure out how to balance it perfectly without being overwhelmed. So far simply browsing it quickly and forcing myself to stop and then not browsing again for a day or so has been working, but it takes diligence. Having very poor internet seems to help though. And another issue with Pinterest is that you're seeing so many voices and expressions at once. How are you able to share and find your own voice and style when you're being bombarded with so many others?

Sadly, I don't have the answer. My productivity comes in various shapes, sizes, and mediums and I share the best parts with you as they come and go, regardless of how they all fit together. It drives me crazy that I have such a mismatched style, but perhaps that IS my style? I've dubbed myself a gypsy artist for years and it seems to suit me perfectly. Maybe with time I'll learn to figure out how to be more harmonious in my style. Or perhaps find a way to make my 'everything goes' style work to my advantage. In the meantime, let me share some of my favorite artists with you, whether you're having the same issues I am or just need some fresh new inspiration in general. These talented ladies all seem to have figured out how to pull off sharing multiple mediums, colors and items in a perfectly harmonious way.

One of my favorite and most inspirational artists to keep up with is Alisa Burke. Her blog is so full of ideas and creativity that I find myself checking it several times a day just to see what awesome new idea or art work she has to share. She's done a brilliant job of combining her personal world with her artistic world and sharing it all together. Not only that but she offers amazing and insightful advice and tips as well as tutorials and online classes. Her journey as an artist has been awesome and I highly recommend it for anyone on the creative path in life, regardless of what it is you create.

Another favorite artist of mine who shares a variety of items in a combination of various mediums is Lori Vliegen, a.k.a Elvie Stiudio. She mostly works with ink pens /microns, etc. and watercolor but she will often mix it up and create something a bit off the wall that fits her style and offers some great inspiration. I've especially enjoyed her Documented Life Project pages.

Speaking of Documented Life, those ladies pages are great places to find inspiration and tutorials. If you haven't checked out their official page, you should. The group consists of five ladies that started the project. The idea is to recreate a moleskin journal and incorporate an extra page each week to document your life. Right now the idea requires a little too much commitment and time from me to try it, but I love seeing everyone's pages and watching their processes. It's a great way to stay creative every day. (On a side note, I'm hoping to share my own take on a daily art project soon so stay tuned to check out my own sort of variation for this idea!)

Right now these are the absolute first pages I tend to visit when looking for inspiration, particularly when it comes to mixed media. My digital inspiration varies, but these are always first regardless of what I'm in the mood to create. I'll try to share a better categorized list of other inspirational artists in the future. I have so many, it's really hard to put them all into one post. In the meantime, you can find a small few of my favorite places here. As the page says, it's still under construction but there's a few in there to hopefully give you some good inspiration. :)

If you've made it this far in my post, thank you! Like I said above, I can be very boring and long winded. I feel like I'm a bit all over the place, so if anything doesn't make sense, please let me know.