Feeling inspired.

For me, the toy aisle of any store has always been a treasure trove of inspiration, obviously. However, when you get older, it's rare you have a reason to go down the toy aisles as much, and even if you do, you have to fight with your children on whether to buy this or that and really don't get to *look* at any of the items there. So, I try to make a trip down these aisles every so often just to see what's new and what kids like and what I like. One such recent trip found me going home with one of these dolls. A Moxie Girl doll. The "Creative" one was my first choice, of course, but after getting her home and finding out how utterly adorable she was, I couldn't stop for going back for the rest, as you can see from the pictures below.




I don't know much about them but did read somewhere on a blog while trying to research them that they're made by the same company that makes the Bratz dolls and apparently were/are going through a sort of custody battle with another company for the rights to those. Therefore, the company came up with these dolls, just in case they lost the lawsuit. Regardless, I think these dolls are much cuter than the Bratz dolls (I've always been a Barbie doll gal myself) so even if they do lose, I doubt they'll have much trouble finding some new buyers for these. :D They also have a much larger version of these (these are only about a couple of inches tall) that you can design with markers and stickers. She comes with little accessories you can design as well. I'll have to wait until next time to get her. ;) Now I just need to get a good office and desk to set these on to enjoy properly. :)

Looking for Inspiration?

Then check out these awesome sites!

Redbubble - just type in a subject and check out all the awesome art there!

How about orange? - for lovers of orange and colors. ;)

And how cute is this?

Definately is giving me some things to think about for this spring. ;)

Where I do what I do

Because I love to see pictures of where people work and how they do what they do, I thought I would show my own work area first (on the left). So, this is basically my work area. And it's usually a mess! It's a small picture of my desk, which is actually a really tall desk. It folds into itself and ends up looking like a dresser for your clothes or something. As you can see, I have some of my inspirational art work and letters around me as well as some of my art suppllies and other necessities. I don't have a studio, so for now, my bed has to do. :)

This other picture (on the right) is basically some more inspirational art that I've found. I got the first one as a sample from a magazine, and I decided to make a sort of collage out of it and some more that i've found. This way, I feel like I'm drawing some informaiton from some of the greats. :)

Inspirations

I have had many inspirations for my art. I can only think of 3 famous artists who have made me the artist I am today. One is Thomas Kinkade. I love his work. The only problem, I could never do art like that. But his work has inspired me to be more creative and to try to paint things realistically. The second artist who has inspired me is Mary Engelbreit. My mother bought a calendar of hers a couple of years ago and I have been entranced by her work ever since. It was her work that actually pushed me into art. Before I merely twiddled my thumbs with it, but when I realized that I could use markers and colored pencils instead of paints, it launched my love for art. If I hadn't worked with those mediums first, I don't think paints would have been so easy for me. I learned to mix and create colors with colored pencils first and then I realized how to do that with paint.

Third, the artist who has inspired me for many years, is Bob Ross. I absolutely love watching his shows on the educational channel. He is the funniest artist I have ever seen and I wish that I could have met him. With his artist views of "Happy accidents" and "furry friends" he has played a huge role in the shaping and progression of my art. Recently I studied his work from one of his workbooks that I have and I loved how it came out. I've tried to imitate his work before, just for practice, but have never been able to do so. I always imagined that if I ever did anything close to his work, then I was a true artist. And now, at last, I have created something similar to his. Because it is based on his work, it is not necessarily my own ideas, but I did indeed paint this myself. Of course, if you love Bob Ross' work as much as I do, I'm sure you'll be able to tell the difference. I plan to give this painting to my mother as soon as I can frame it.