Freedom and setting myself free!

As you may know from my last blog post, I've been taking part in a 7 day miniseries challenge. I'd posted the first four days so here's what happened next!

This is day 5. I wrote free spirit then covered it with swirls, which is a technique I have used before. I see it when faced with a lovely large canvas that I was given and I felt intimidated by, so I wrote on it, then painted over it. I knew the messages where there but you couldn't see them, so the painting, or in this case the drawing, has to speak its own message!

Day 6 and I'd had some useful feedback via the Facebook group that was set up for the challenge that perhaps my free spirit was getting a bit trapped! It certainly feels rather squashed and the swirls have become rather heavy. 

Day 6 part 2! This is a collaboration between my and my mini artist! At 16 months old he is just beginning to make marks, so I held his hand and we did some scribbles together. This was an 'ah ha' moment! He picked the colours that grabbed his attention, and just placed the marks where he wanted, even if they were on top of each other, without worrying about balance or composition. I wanted to be this free!

Day 7 all my own work this time! I used pencils, just picked the colours I liked and tried to copy Simon's mark making technique. It was very freeing, although I did not that I wanted to try and make it balanced!

Here's the whole mini series starting top left and heading down to bottom right.

I learnt that I need to really chuck out the 'rules' that I have in my head, and it definitely takes me to another place creatively. Don't do what you think you ought to, try and go with feelings or intuition! Exciting to see where I go next!

Free spirit, swirls and a seven day challenge

As I have mentioned in a previous post I had signed up to a mini 7 day challenge on this website http://taraleaver.com/  It's been great to see what others have been doing via her members only Facebook page, and I have been encouraged by others comments. It's also nice to encourage others. 

The challenge is to create a series of art works, which is not something I did very often until I did my art foundation course, and learnt to repeat and refine my work, and to explore other possibilities. I am not the best at sticking with things, preferring to move on rather than revisit, so it was a useful and frustrating skill to learn! 

So what have I been doing? Well we are now on Day 4 and here's what I've been up to! I used the free spirit drawing I'd previously done as a starting point. It's on this blog post http://joscreativeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/days-away-time-to-play-and-making-gifts.html

Day 1 using thin pens and exploring text. I like how it flows, but it is a bit wispy and doesn't have the strength or boldness I want. Interesting to explore my ideas in words though.

Day 2 I got out the sharpie markers and mixed text, swirls and stars. Flowed much better, colours much bolder. Not sure about the dots.

Day 3 I used coloured pencils. Not as flowy due to the texture in the paper, and not as bold. A worthy experiment, but not the ideal medium for this image. Like the 'flow across the page'.

Day 4 back to the sharpies and I joined all the swirls up so the flow was even better. Interesting to do as I had a certain small person demanding bits of banana I between swirls! Working while he eats his dinner is good in that I can sit with him (we eat later) but it isn't exactly uninterrupted!

It'll be interesting to see what happens next! We have been continuing with our Harry Potter filmathon, and I so want to capture some of that magic. I also want an immediacy and a sketchy look. I am wondering how the swirls would work as a monoprinting technique.

Day 5 here we come! 

Inspiring and nurturing creativity...and pasta

I've got a bit distracted...I decided on Wednesday night that I wanted to watch Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I loved watching it again but it meant no evening to do much creative. Then we decided to keep going and watched most of the Chamber of Secrets last night. 

When time is limited, sometimes you have to make a choice. I had to choose sit and immerse myself in a great film that's a real favourite or spend some time doing some drawing or sewing. Tough choice, but both have their benefits. Although I didn't get to do much creative, watching the film topped up my sense of creativity and magic and possibility. Creativity needs to be fed and natured, not just by doing it yourself, but also by enjoying the work of others. After my last blog post with the free spirit drawing, a friend recommended a song of that title by her favourite band. I had a listen and downloaded it because it captured some of what I am trying to capture. Inspiration comes from many places. 

So have I done anything creative over the last couple of days?

I did some more work on the gift I am making, but no photos!

I also made pasta bolognese in the slow cooker. Simon enjoyed it, but me and Adrian decided the sauce was good but slow cooked pasta is not so great!

Here's the leftovers for Simon's dinner tonight!

Days away, time to play and making gifts

We've been away for a few days so I haven't been able to post, or indeed had much to post! But now I'm back home here are a few creative things I've been doing.

I started this doodle drawing before we went away. No plan, just drawing what comes to mind. I've been musing on the idea of free spirit, of being less weighed down, or making life lighter and more fun.

I added a bit more here. I'm not keen on the lower right hand corner, but I may do more, or just leave it as it is. I also let Simon help and you can see his contributions on the left hand side.

I am also working on a gift for someone, so I can't post anything here other than this little teaser!

It's been ages since I did any cross stitch, and I have compiled a design from a book with some text for this gift. Pictures when it has been given to its recipient!

Oh, and I did create one more thing...

When I took the weekends catch up laundry off the airer, Simon crawled under it to get a toy. Cue to make a tent with a tablecloth! He sat and had a 'cup of tea' in there and posed for a photo before being off and about in his usual busy way!

Future plans include 

- a mini course doing a series of drawings, signed up for via this website http://taraleaver.com/2016/08/mini-painting-series-7-day-challenge/

Should be fun!

- doing some monoprinting, perhaps when my gift is finished

- this list of toys

I love to think about what I could do, getting it done is harder! I have very detailed plans somewhere for a Doctor Who themed quiet book, which may never get made...but planning it was half the fun! 

Starting a new thing, and finishing an old thing

The last two days have been full of preparation for a new thing. Strictly speaking I'm not starting a new thing, as it's a journey that started in about November last year, when I decided to become a childminder rather than go back to teaching!

Today was the day of the Ofsted pre-registration visit, where they come and spend a couple of hours checking you have child locks, know which end to put a nappy on a bay, and are aware of how to spot a toddler terrorist. I may be kidding about some of that...but only a little!

Anyway, the lady who visited us was very friendly, and encouraging. She waded through all my paper work (3 folders of paper!) and did the tour of the house, and said...she would be recommending me to go on the register! Ofsted now check her report and make the final decision, but I feel like it's done now! My new career as a childminder will be starting very soon! 

So all this creating a good environment and 3 files of paper has left not much time for other creativity, until tonight when I finished something I started over the weekend.

Here it is...

It's a Bible journalling page which I've had a mind for a couple of weeks. We're working our way through Luke's gospel at church and hearing about the stories of the rich ruler and of Zaccheus helped me make some links and comparisons. 

The rich ruler thought he was perfect. He had obeyed the law entirely since he was a boy (our vicar pointed out that the rich ruler was lying about this, and for some reason that had never occurred to me!) and he wasn't prepared to change his lifestyle and give away his wealth to follow Jesus. Zaccheus knew he needed Jesus, he knew he had done things wrong, but he was prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to see Jesus. He was a man of wealth and power but he shinned up a tree! He gave away his wealth by his own volition, Jesus didn't have to ask him. 

What a contrast! I know I sometimes forget I'm a sinner, just like the rich ruler, I know I can be unwilling to give away the things that hold me back, just like the rich ruler, but I hope I would also be willing to shin up the nearest tree just to get a glimpse of Jesus, just like Zaccheus, and that an encounter with him would inspire me to change my life, just like Zaccheus.

The image shows Zaccheus up the tree, which is all my own, and the rich ruler in the front, looking sad because he was very rich and did not want to give away his wealth. This image is copied from this website http://ministry-to-children.com/skit-the-rich-young-ruler/ 

I'm pleased with the shading, with the composition and with making a link between two bible stories that I have known since I was a child, and had become probably over familiar with. A new insight always feels good, like a precious nugget of something wonderful that has come your way.

Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes!

This weekend has been a little odd - I'm writing this on Sunday morning - as Adrian has been away, leaving just me and the little guy to amuse ourselves! So what did we do, and did it involve creativity?

No smoothies for a start! I joined the boy and had cereal and toast breakfasts, but I think I was less messy than him! (I hope so anyway!)

No dinners either! Fish and chips on Friday - Simon loves both! And leftovers on Saturday.

Trip to the park Saturday morning with Aunty. Good conversation and fun, which always energises me. Somehow, for me, things seem better, funnier etc if you can share them with some one, either at the time, or afterwards! Perhaps that's why I like to make art? I like to share my feelings and experiences!

And my evenings?

Friday was creative in that I worked in paperwork for my childminding business. I don't really call writing policies creative, but it is working towards the life I want to create I suppose. I'd still rather not be doing it though!

Saturday was fun! I'd set that aside for creativity and did the following...

I finished the I spy quilt! Yay! I'll try and get some better photos, but this shows that I gave it a test run and snuggled up in the sofa to do...

These are blind contour drawings, where you look at the object, not at the drawing! I've recently started following this blog http://taraleaver.com/ and she offers a free drawing course! Free! Drawing! Got to be worth a try, right?

So this was the first lesson, and it was fun. It reminds you to look and frees up your hand to move. Drawing definitely needs practice to get better.

Tomorrow's post will include food...I'm welcoming my big fella home with a nice meal! 

Erm...

Erm...well...yesterday was a busy day, spending time with friends, then out line dancing in the evening. So what did I create?

I made a breakfast smoothie, but no new recipe.

Dinner was stuff out the freezer, so no real creativity there.

And that's it. No time for any sketching, or sewing, or baking. 

But I had lots of fun anyway. So I have learnt that though I need creativity in my life, a day off is not the end of the world, especially if it full of fun stuff! 

Scribbles and visions

After my doodles on Monday I did some more doodling, trying out shapes and just going with whatever came into my head, no plan, no design.

It's so nice to just get drawing again!

To inspire me further I bought this book, all about drawing with red, blue and black biros! Perfect for this time of life, when I might just have those lying about the place, when I don't have time to get out lots of paints or want the 'help' I might get from a certain small person, when I don't want fabric full of pins lying around everywhere in case it gets stepped on. It's full of good starting points. I can't wait to try some out!

I also got this book.

Well, maybe I don't mind fabric with pins lying about in certain places, like behind the closed door of the spare room where I have my sewing corner! Plus it's just full of cute ideas I could adapt and make my own.

It's always tricky when you get to a certain level of expertise and in a way you don't want another step by step book as you have the techniques already, but they are good for ideas, and you can adapt them.

I like to have a vision, to have ideas for what I want to work on next, and I think that has been missing for a while, as my vision has been all about the house. Now is the time to re-envision myself, to think about my hopes and dreams.

One thing already in my plan is some monoprinting. This is a cool, quick, fun technique. Here's a quick YouTube tutorial from a guy called the Snake Artist...the video has got some snakes at the beginning so if you don't like snakes...the tutorial is good though!

https://youtu.be/El6aIKAIvTA

Tracey Emin, who is one of my favourite artists, has done lots of monoprinting. (If you google it you will find some stuff that is not suitable for kids, just so you know!) 

Here's a longer tutorial that she's done, which is more the technique I've used.

http://www.ideastap.com/IdeasMag/the-knowledge/sky-academy-southbank-show-masterclasses-tracey-emin

Just need to find where I put all my printing stuff when we moved...

Doodles and dinner

Yesterday was a rather paper heavy day, but not in a fun, creative way! Instead I was busy preparing policies and procedures for my childminding business.  I suppose it could be viewed as creative, because I am making something, but for me, it's a bit like mopping the kitchen floor; yes, it helps create a clean and welcoming home, but...

Perhaps I am missing out on something here? Perhaps these tasks that I deem boring, repetitive and relentless have creativity in them, or at least are building blocks to creating something bigger. The policies are needed to create the successful childminding business, with my vision of fun, creative, home from home care I want to provide. Mopping the kitchen floor means my home is clean and so I can cook without giving anyone food poisoning. It is also part of the tidy up after being creative in the kitchen, never my favourite bit of any creative project, but unless you tidy up, you haven't got space to do something else, or enjoy what you've done.

So what creativity did I have space and time for yesterday? 

I did some doodling on some redundant documents!

I also made dinner and forgot to take photos...again! The trouble is, by the time it's cooked I just want to tuck in!  I made chorizo and potato jumble, my own invention.

Boil some new potatoes until just cooked. I did 10, chopped into quarters.

In a roasting tin, put some chopped mushrooms, red onion, tomato slices and chorizo. I used about 100g for two of us. 

Add the potatoes and drizzle on olive oil. Add some black pepper.

Bung in the oven, on 180 for about an hour. Keep an eye on it and stir occasionally to get those lovely chorizo juices on everything.

Yummy! 

Paint...everywhere!

Yesterday's creativity was mostly aimed at helping Simon be creative.

I made a breakfast smoothie...back to khaki I'm afraid, as it had strawberries in it!

Simon and I then did some painting. We went into the garden and I put down a plastic cloth and a big piece of paper and put some paint in a dish. I stripped Simon down to his nappy and let him get stuck in!

We had a great time! Simon preferred to paint his body rather than the paper, and he liked the paint being squirted directly on to the paper rather than in the dish. He found it easier to move around like that, and kept asking for 'bore' which means 'more!'

This was the final masterpiece, and he was so pleased with it! 

After our last go at paining like this (see my post 'plagiarism and getting messy' http://joscreativeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/plagiarism-and-getting-messy.html) I tried really hard to just relax and go with the flow, and I think I did well, as Simon was basically a multicoloured baby, and I had a fair bit of paint on me too. I'm glad we were outdoors though, as when it came time to wash off the paint I discovered it stained - Simon now has a tide line of brown round his tummy where his nappy was, and I have stained trousers! Thank goodness it was a hot day, the paddling pool was out and Simon quite likes being squirted with the sprinkler on the hose! Once the worst was off I cuddled him up in a towel and up into the shower to warm up!

As the saying goes 'you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs' and if you are going to be creative you have to be able to cope with mistakes, stains, disappointments, disasters, successes and going with the flow.

When I was doing my final piece for my Foundation diploma, I so didn't want to do an installation...it was just too art studenty. And what did I do? Take a look here http://joscreativeblog.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Foundation and at other June 2012 posts. I remember a sense of inevitability that it HAD to be an installation, as in the piece wanted it. It wasn't my choice, other than I went with it, but it was the way the art work needed to go. I hadn't really experienced that before, but it is exactly what happened. 

Smoothie...and it isn't khaki!

Here is yesterday's creativity!

It's a mango, banana, almond milk and kale smoothie...and it's a beautiful shade of green...and it's not khaki! It was also delicious!

That was all yesterday. No baking, no drawing, no colouring and a dinner of ready made pies, oven chips and baked beans. And I had a great day!

Noticing my creativity is not another stick to beat myself with, it is just noticing; no judgement, no guilt, just awareness. Good lesson learnt! 

Weekend

Weekends...those days I used to get off from work, but now, being a parent...well, it's not exactly the same!

But I try not to do housework on the weekend...unless it's an emergency...like an exploded nappy, or exploded blender, or actually anything that explodes really.

I do cook though, and this Sunday I made pulled pork. Here it is before it's been pulled. It was very easy. Put it in a pot with a lid, with 500ml water and cook at 160 for 4 hours. Then pull apart with forks.

I added celery and leek to the water, plus thyme and rosemary and garlic, and I rubbed on brown sugar, cumin and pimento.

It was soft and delicious but needs a sauce...a nice rich barbecue type sauce...

I had a bit of a blah week last week, culminating in me writing down some crappy (excuse the language) mummy myths which needed busting. For example, in my head last week feeding Simon baby food pouches meant I had failed and was the equivalent of giving him turkey twizzlers and putting cola in his sippy cup. 

Yup, my head was FULL of that sort of rubbish, so I wrote a list of crappy mummy myths, wrote refuting arguments and crushed 'em!

Then I drew this...

I'm going to colour it in...maybe...or maybe it served its purpose and now I can move on and leave the crappy mummy myths behind. (Did you know that even if you have managed to avoid juice and chocolate but have caved on biscuits and crisps, even the baby ones, then Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are already on their way to picket your house, publicly berate you and lead you through town wearing a placard saying 'bad mummy'? Apparently, it's true!) 

I did do some more creativity related stuff, but I will save that for tomorrow! 

And to the friend who posted on Facebook her beautiful colouring...most definitely creative!

More thoughts on that tomorrow...

Support and permission

After a busy week, me and the little guy had a stay at home day. It started with the groceries being delivered and ended with a night out for me and my big guy!

And in the middle...no housework! 

We all need days like this and it was possible due to support and permission. Adrian said 'don't worry about the housework today' so I didn't! I let it go. And I gave myself permission to do on online shop, rather than drag myself and little one round the supermarket. And Aunty came to babysit so we could have an evening out.

Support and permission - it helps creativity!

Because I didn't have to go to the supermarket, or cook dinner I was able to

Do a couple more lines of quilting on the I spy quilt

Paint my toenails...sorry for the fuzzy close up of my feet. I couldn't decide on the colour so I went for all three that appealed!

Make chicken smoothie! No, it's not a new breakfast smoothie for us, it's pressure cooked chicken, leek, celery and potato which I blitzed in an attempt to get fussy toddler to eat some meat. I even split it into three batches with different flavours. And did he eat it? Of course not! He squished it through his hands until I took it away when veggie Aunty arrived to babysit!

I made Star Wars space ship biscuits using my new bargain cutters from Lakeland. As you can see, some of them have the details showing, but not all. I think I haven't found the right recipe yet. This was a Mary Berry one from her Christmas book, but, unwilling as I am to criticise Mary Berry, it uses self raising flour which meant all the details got lost. Love the shapes though!

To end the day I went out to dinner here http://sabaideethai.co.uk/ with Adrian.

The food was delicious and beautiful. Here's my Pad Thai, with a delicious eggy net across the top!

Sneak it in when you can!

Yesterday just seemed to fly by as we had a play date in the morning, and then me and Simon both crashed out for an afternoon nap! Zzz! Can't be creative if you're too tired, so these naps are important! 

I did make smoothie for breakfast...blueberry cinnamon, but I forgot the cinnamon, oops! And it was khaki...

I also did some lettering practice.

I recently started Bible journalling, which is illustrating, making notes, writing things in your Bible. My handwriting needed some improvement as it is sadly underused these days! (When I was a teacher and regularly using a black board - yes, I am that old - and a white board it looked quite good...now not so good!)

The key to good lettering is practice and experimenting, so here's the lettering I tried, complete with crossing out where I didn't like the result.

And what about the sneaking it in? I did the lettering in 5 minutes while waiting for Adrian to come and join me on the sofa to watch an episode of Death in Paradise! I'm learning to snatch those opportunities when I can!

Creativity on a busy day

Yesterday was crazy busy...swimming lessons, lunch with Adrian, a play date with a friend and then popping in to pick up a bib I'd left at another friend's house.

So did I do anything creative?

Yes!

I made a strawberry, banana and kale smoothie! We've been having green smoothies for breakfast for a while. I guess they are called green because of the kale or spinach because they always look this colour! It's a shame because this one started out a beautiful pink but once the kale got involved, it was khaki breakfast time!

Simon had a brief nap before swimming (as in I put him in his cot and he burbled for 20 minutes before I decided a nap just wasn't going to happen!) so I did a couple of lines of quilting on his I spy quilt....which I now have to unpick as they ended up horribly wrinkled and even a good press did not solve the problem! Oh poop! Such is the challenge of using 4 way stretch fleece as a quilt backing! But it's just soooo fluffy and such a cute design that I will just wield the seam ripper and sort out my stretchy wrinkles! (On the quilt not on me...)

I decided to do my blog about the previous day so if I sneak in any cheeky creative stuff later in the evening it can all be included. So bring on Tuesday and let's see what I can create today!

How can I find time to be creative?

Life is pretty full on at the moment. Having a 15 month old is a big part of that. He's amazing but balancing his needs, my needs, Adrian's needs and the house's needs is definitely a juggling plates act. When Simon naps I feel torn between trying to do something creative, trying to get some much needed sleep or doing that household task that has been nagging at me since I got up, or if it's the weekend, talking to my husband!

I realised recently that I need to be creative, as in I need to breathe or eat or sleep. Life without a creative outlet is not much fun. In fact it seems like half a life, tiring, boring and relentless.

So I started thinking what creative outlets do I already have in my life? What do I do in the day that's creative in any sense? I want to notice it and enjoy it.

Then I came up with the idea of journalling it here, just for a while, and maybe not every day, but when I can manage. I am determined not to burden myself with stuff that makes life not fun! So no tutorials, and photos if you're lucky!

Here's how I was creative today...

I cleared weeds from this bed, hoping to turn it into a fruit and veg bed in the future.

I weeded the front garden and weed killered the shrub that we dug up, which keeps reappearing! (Does killing stuff count as creative?!) 

I made fish pasta al forno from the River Cottage Baby and Toddler cook book.

Putting this stuff on my blog is not about me saying 'look how fantastic I am'. Blogs that make you feel rubbish because your life isn't the perfect image that they project are just so damaging. In fact it's that kind of blog that makes me feel inadequate and like I am failing all round at life. So this isn't about that, it's about me noticing that I still have creative outlets in my current stage of life. Creativity isn't relegated to the back burner until Simon is bigger; it's running through my life like Brighton through rock.

So expect all kinds of creativity - cooking, sewing, drawing, gardening, making tea, playing a game with Simon. But it'll be honest, the best I could manage in the circumstances type creativity, and I want to notice it and celebrate it!