by Linda | Feb 22, 2010 | my creative journal
Yay! I am participating in sfgirlbybay’s blog it forward and it’s my turn to share a bit about what inspires my art, craft and musings. Thank you to tiny-ass apartment for passing the torch to me.
I am originally from Los Angeles, a total SoCal valley girl for the first 20+ years of my life. Long story short, I was ultimately driven by love to quit my soul-draining corporate job and pursue my dreams in a new land. I moved to the Tuscan hills of Italy, got married to my love and now living my dream. I design, craft and create art…and really loving my new life! Yup, I know it sounds a bit like those mushy love abroad, cliché life changing movie plots, but it’s really my life and through this blog I share it with all of you!
My experiences in this foreign environment inspires me every single day. I am constantly learning new things about the history and culture of Italian life. It’s amazingly uplifting to be presented with a different way of thinking and living. Some ideas are refreshing, others can be annoying but overall it’s an eye-opening way of living. In the end, I choose how I want to live, meshing my new learnings with my existing culture. Everything inspires me… or perhaps I should say, anything can inspire me, because it’s how I decide to interpret what I see and experience. From the landscape, to cool bikes to crafting with my 4-year old niece to random textures and patterns to the details of nature… all of it…
You can check out my Flickr stream for more random photos. I hope you enjoyed a little look into my dolce vita! Thanks for stopping by and I now pass the torch onward to two brunettes who will post tomorrow. Enjoy and be inspired – by anything!
by Linda | Feb 1, 2010 | my creative journal
A while back, I signed up an online workshop called Color Beyond The Basics taught by Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen. Although I’m starting out a bit late, I’m so happy to be a part of the 125+ people learning together online and discussing explorations in color. I’ve never had formal training in color theory and have always found it all a bit intimidating. I seem to naturally have very different preferences in color, super bright as you can tell from the yellow scheme of my blog or perhaps unsuspectingly combinations that look good to me anyway…but I don’t really understand the whys of it all. We are starting from zero in the class, so it’s really been eye opening for me to just stop and notice the color all around.
I’ve also gone ahead and done some research online, trying to read up about color inspiration and color combinations from the masters. There’s definitely great resources online, but having Julie and Chris available to ask whatever silly question I might have really really helps. Online workshops are the next best thing to real life workshops, which don’t come by often here in Italy! Although at some point I would love to be an apprentice for some of the craftsmen here, talk about cool…one day! I started taking a lot of pictures around the house of color combinations that inspire me…also playing around with going RAW with my camera as well…
That little cute cactus is from my 4-year old niece who wanted to cheer me up when I arrived home from the hospital. I had two other succulent plants that sadly died this winter – it’s been so humid here in Tuscany and it seems root rot got them! Perhaps full fledged cacti will be able to live through my black thumb skills!? Either way, I just love the styling of the plant in the wooden bucket with the complimentary purple flower decoration…all so country chic to me.
Now I’m off to finish off my color swatch library, painting squares in an old grammar book, hehe…it’s pretty amazing to see the differences in the various paints I own and how mixes change the transparency and quality. I wonder how far I can go with the mixing, so many to do! I just started doing some simple skintones, but the possibilities are endless. Hope you have a great Monday and don’t forget to stop and notice the color around you and take it in as inspiration!
by Linda | Jan 25, 2010 | my creative journal
An American abstract expressionist artist born in Rotterdam, Willem de Kooning is considered one of the most important artists in 20th century. There’s a Pulitzer prize winning book about his personal and professional life, de Kooning: An American Master (affiliate link to Amazon)
, which is the next book on my reading list. I was intrigued to read the book after learning that de Kooning was always in doubt with his work. What? A great master in doubt? I find it very humanizing and started thinking perhaps it’s necessary for artists to doubt…otherwise we would never experiment and push ourselves to the limit in order to grow – always seeking that something…that feeling when you know a work is complete and the excitement that surges inside of you.
Willem de Kooning, Elegy, 1939
De Kooning’s work also came to mind as I’m experimenting with more freedom in painting and techniques that stem from spontaneity. Abstract expressionism is sometimes called action painting – perhaps they aren’t the same thing really – but the idea is to spontaneously drip, splash or smear paint onto the canvas to emphasize the physical act of painting itself rather than the finished work. De Kooning actually destroyed some of his ‘bad’ paintings, which is so weird if he was supposed to be concerned more with the action rather than result of painting. It was mentioned that he regretted destroying works later in life, more interesting stories compelling me to read the book and find out more! I’m just so attracted to the idea of not having to plan – sort of stream of consciousness painting and seeing what happy surprises pop up. Perhaps this is an opposite reaction to my past job as a project manager? Of course, this style of painting is also really messy and fun…maybe it’s just regression, going back to finger painting! As I ponder my thoughts, I keep looking at de Kooning’s work, taking in the energy and visual inspiration.
Willem de Kooning, Pink Angels, 1945
Hope you can draw some energy from the idea of action painting as well. Thanks for stopping by, now go splatter some paint somewhere…feels good, doesn’t it?
Willem de Kooning, Gotham News, 1955
by Linda | Dec 21, 2009 | my creative journal
Can you imagine a blanket of white snow gracing the Tuscan countryside? That’s the view I’ve been privelged to witness this whole weekend as it snowed in many parts of Italy where normally it would never snow and actually stick! It’s been super fun having a winter wonderland to play in, but now it’s a cold Monday morning and time to get back to work. The weather has certainly caused trouble for many trying to commute to the workplace. I feel so lucky to be able to work from home, especially since I always take Mondays to collect myself, organize and fill my mind with inspiration for the week. Today, I’m snuggling up with a warm cup of coffee and the beautiful works of Lena Corwin.
via Lena’s Flickr
Lena Corwin is a pattern designer and illustrator living in Brooklyn, New York and I first encountered her work when I purchased her book, Printing by Hand: A Modern Guide to Printing with Handmade Stamps, Stencils, and Silk Screens (affiliate link to Amazon). I love how the book starts from zero, explaining the how-tos and whys. Even though I might have dabbled in some of the techniques, it really helps to start from the basic foundation. I like it so much that I purchased another copy to give to a friend this Christmas! I’ve read through the book a few times, but still have to get through all the projects in a practical sense – she presents a project for each technique including patterns if you want to use her designs. I totally love all her design work and I started following Lena’s blog as well. From there I found that she not only creates wonderful patterns in her textile work, but also print items and works in various other mediums.
via Lena’s Flickr
I love her sense of style and the feeling her work invokes. To me her designs exude that organic natural feeling as well as homey comfort that I love, yet the professional finish goes hand in hand as well. I always aspire to create handmade and art from the heart, but also strive for that professional finish and quality. You can check out Lena’s shop for a sampling of the beautiful products she creates.
via Lena’s Flickr
As if that is not enough, Lena also works to curate a book/zine called Lines & Shapes. It’s all about connecting with other artists, sort of a showcase of art and design. It’s so fascinating to see how her work spans across so many mediums and it’s very inspiring to me especially because I love so many different facets of the creative life and can’t see myself focusing only on one aspect. To see other succeed in multiple avenues, makes me feel less scattered and gives me hope that a jill-of-all-trades isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Isn’t it all so very exciting and wonderful? I hope you can soak in the inspiration and have a fabulous holiday season as well. Today is official the first day of winter after all!
by Linda | Dec 14, 2009 | my creative journal
It’s easy to find inspiration in art and craft blogs daily or seemingly constantly these days. I often get sucked into browsing site after site, lost in a frenzy of ideas. Probably doesn’t help that I have a million feeds in my Google RSS reader! Although people are amazingly generous to share their work, thoughts and techniques (for that I am so grateful) it can also be information overload at times. I find it calming to turn to my classic art history books to learn from the masters every once in a while. Maybe it’s being off the computer or maybe it’s the whole story that can be so intriguing and different, inspiration-wise. With contemporary artists you are following their journey nearly in real-time. With those from the past, you have the journey already complete before you and a lot of analysis has already been explored to reflect upon. Henri Matisse is considered one of the best artists of the 20th century and the more I have learned about him, the more I am driven and inspired to create.
Young Woman with Parasol, 1905, via Web Museum of Fine Art
Many of us have heard and seen bits of Matisse’s work either in school, a museum or a TV program . However, it’s immensely interesting to explore the life of an artist and the entire progression of his work. Matisse is famous for his paintings, but he was also a master at drawing, worked in printmaking and even sculpture. It’s hard to believe that even though his paintings sell for millions today, he actually didn’t have a solo exhibition until the age of 35, which was not a success either! The greatness of the legacy makes me forget that every artist started as a student. They went through many different trials…probably comparable to what we go through today as an artist trying to make it in this world. Matisse’s Fauvist movement paintings were so controversial, he had trouble providing for his family with all the criticism. Can you imagine that? Matisse had troubles? Oh, I should probably mention that Picasso was one of his best friends. Just stop and wonder, perhaps one of your friends might be the next Picasso?
The Blue Dress Reflected in the Mirror, 1937, via Web Museum of Fine Art
I am personally attracted to a large body of Matisse’s work because of the bold and bright colors he used. Many also call him a master colorist! He emphasized the subjects with bold lines and expressive strokes rather than going for all the detail. He went through many different periods and styles of work, but I also find the collage work in his later years of life to be fascinating. Who said collaging is not a fine art? He called it “painting with scissors” as he was too weak to stand at the easel in older age. It’s also interesting to note that although Matisse lived during a very politically turbulent time in history, his work shows no trace of opinion or conflict. Perhaps in his art he sought for the opposite…balance, comfort and refuge from a violent world. All to allow the viewer comfort in getting lost amongst the colors, shapes and harmony of the works.
The Acrobat Dancer, 1949, via Web Museum of Fine Art
If you don’t have any books on Matisse check out the artst.org gallery of his work and get inspired. Coincidentally, there’s also a great post about collage trends and inspiration on Smashing Magazine. Oh the planets sometimes align for us all, right? I think I’m going to do some collaging now…ciao!
