Kandinsky for Today…

Lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting,

and…stop thinking! 

Just ask yourself whether the work has enable you

to “walk about” into a hitherto unknown world. 

 If the answer is yes, what more do you want?

Kandinsky, 1910

 

 

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Cute Keyboard Ring How-To!

Cat Morley at the website Cut Out and Keep posted instructions to make this cute ring.  I was really taken with it…wouldn’t it make a great gift for your niece or a co-worker?  I thought it was adorable, and so easy to do!  I have an old keyboard downstairs that I was just going to – gasp! – throw out.  Not any more!   This website has instructions for lots of other cute things, too.  Cat and a lot of other artists post instructions on hundreds of items…check it out!  It really got my creative juices flowing. Thanks, Cat!

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/keyboard_ring

I’m an Etsy girl now!

After waiting months to get up the courage, I have finally started filling my Etsy store, and I’m very excited about it.  Like all new things, this was difficult, because there is always that doubt that anyone will actually like my stuff.  I mean, what if they laugh?? I hate self-doubt, but unfortunately I battle it constantly.  I finally chose to conquer my fear and JUST DO IT!

I invite you to check out my shop @ www.sweetanniesjewelry.etsy.com/ . I’m working hard in my spare (!) time to take more photos and get them uploaded.  For any of you artists out there who are wondering about Etsy, you really should give it a try – almost immediately after listing items people are looking at them.  It is all very gratifying and empowering to put yourself out there.  I would welcome your comments and feedback.

If I can do it, you can!

Creativity unleashed!

Yesterday my friend Karen and I took a day off because we had to go pick up some artwork from Peninsula Art School in Fish Creek, WI.  What a great day we had!  A short ways into the ride over, which takes about 2 hours from home, Karen suggested I start writing things down because the inspirations were flowing fast and furious.  It’s like that with “kindred spirits,” and Karen and I have always been that.

As we drove up the Door County Peninsula, we started brainstorming some ideas of things we’d like to do, and on the way back home we ended up dreaming about that gallery we’d like to have someday – a place for artists to work and show their work.  Neither of us is anywhere near a place in our lives where that could happen, but we can dream.  And yesterday was a day for dreaming.

Even with sub-zero temperatures, the drive up the Door Peninsula is exhilarating and stimulating.  I love to see all the unique shops and galleries.  It is an artists dream!  Even though most shops are closed for the season, the promise and potential for inspiration are still there.

The kind of day we had yesterday don’t happen very often, unfortunately.  Jobs, families and responsibilities prevail.  That’s what made yesterday special for Karen and I both.  It was a chance to let our inner artists come out to play.

A Creative Companion for Creative People

While I have tried to be more conservative about my budget, one item I could not do without was my subscription to Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion magazine.  What a feast for creative people!  I get excited when I see the magazine in my mailbox…I can’t wait to turn the pages.  It is filled with artists and ideas and inspirations.  If you haven’t seen this magazine already, you need to get ahold of a copy really soon. 

I had seen an Internet rumor that the magazine was ceasing to publish and I panicked!  But after visiting the website I am now calm again – my bi-monthly fix is still alive!  Hurrah!

From one artist to another, take a minute to check them out.  I think you’ll be happy you did! 

What Do You Know, I’m an Artist!

Artist In Residence, Old Church Gallery

I don’t know why being called an artist always surprises me, or makes me feel all funny inside.  Does it sound pretentious?  Is it wishful thinking?  I don’t know exactly, but it still gives me a thrill and yet makes me feel like a phony at the same time! 

This past weekend my good friend Karen and I were the Artists in Residence for The Old Church Gallery in Cedar River, Michigan.  We brought our respective work and spent the day there, meeting the customers and having a ball together.  Karen Brabender and I have been friends since grade school, and we are each other’s inspiration for artwork in a lot of ways.  Karen does gorgeous mosaic glass paintings under the business name Re-Creations Mosaics.  She takes a lot of old windows and does mosaic work on the glass.  Anyway, the day was a great success and they have already asked us to do it again next year, and they are going to be having a lot more artists come in also.  People seemed really excited to see us working on our things right in front of them. 

I love the contact with people – I have always been very outgoing and I love to socialize, so these kinds of events are something I really enjoy.  I hadn’t had enough beading time lately, so it was nice to get back to designing and creating jewelry.  I have been so busy with other things that I have been neglecting my creative side – my internal artist – and that has to change.  That artist inside is important and I need to let her out to play more.

 

Cedar River Gallery with sign