A Thought for Sunday, October 30, 2016

"Music is the art of thinking with sounds." -- Jules Combarieu

Use What's Handy to Make Art

Are there any old magazines laying around your house? Do you have a bin full of leftover collage or scrapbook papers? Don't throw them out! Instead, use them to make art. It's a great way to keep your creativity sharpened, while turning your scraps into small treasures. With a glue stick, scissors and some small supports (watercolor paper scraps, blank artist trading cards, even cut up cereal boxes) you can make postcards, greeting cards and small collages.

I enjoy making note cards, which I use for personal correspondence, or give to studio visitors as mementos. It's easy to whip up several while watching TV at night. Here are some examples of designs I've made using cardstock or watercolor paper as supports, and then affixed to the front of blank note cards:

Magazine images, typography from a sales flyer, collage paper and scrapbook paper were used  here

Scrapbook paper, part of a painted Tyvek envelope, collage papers and a sliver of a photo in an art magazine were used to make this design

Small pieces of my own hand painted collage papers were used here

This "landscape" is made entirely from leftover scrapbook papers

Even old phone books can be useful. The white circular object is a piece of plastic label from a soft drink bottle that was heated using an iron. Parchment paper was inserted between the iron and the label to protect the iron from being damaged.

Lots of odds and ends from my found paper stash make up this design

This was made from a single magazine ad. I was drawn by its Matisse-like shapes and bright colors! I simply punched out  one inch squares with a paper punch and rearranged them

The two pieces below were made by cutting out and cutting up typography. Headlines and article titles are good sources of interesting and unusual fonts.

I hope you're inspired to try this form of entertainment if you haven't already. It's quite satisfying to create small works using papers already at your disposal. Making pieces such as these can teach you much about color, composition and other elements of good design. You may even find that creating art from scraps is often more fun and less intimidating than larger, more "serious" works!

Text and images ©2016 Lynn Edwards

A Thought for Sunday, October 23, 2016

"It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life. The rich colours of grass and earth were intensified by the mellow light of a sun almost warm enough for spring... " P.D. James

Finding Inspiration at a Farmer's Market

Your mom was right: fruits and veggies are good for you. (And so are flowers!) They're also good for igniting your creativity. Need proof? Take a peek at the dizzying array of colors, forms and textures you'll find at any farmers market....as I did recently at the Saturday Farmers Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico:

Chile ristras glow bright red in the clear morning light

It's a social occasion for both growers and customers.

Just look at these lively color combinations! (Love those red shoes!)

These sunflowers were HUGE -- the size of dinner plates!

Who could resist capturing these dazzling colors?

There's nothing like a farmers market to wake up your senses and summon your Muse. What are you waiting for? Grab your camera and go!

Text and images ©2016 Lynn Edwards

A Thought for Sunday, October 16, 2016

"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." -- Pablo Picasso

Rock On! Finding Creative Inspiration at the Tellus

Nature has a way of creating the world's best abstract art. Take a look at these amazing examples of Her work, photographed at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. It's hard not to be inspired just looking at these fabulous examples of color, texture and pattern, found inside the exhaustive collection of rocks, minerals, fossils and gem stones on display there. They're sure to make you want to grab a brush!

If you feel uninspired, look to Nature to revive your sense of creative excitement. You can't go wrong if you take the time to study her handiwork. It's readily accessible to every artist, no matter where they live. Whether it's found in museums, like the specimens above, or simply the colors of autumn leaves, the soft contours of moss, the stark lines of limbs and branches, or the glimmer of sunlight on water, Nature's infinite sources of inspiration are yours for the taking.

Text and images ©2016 Lynn Edwards

A Thought for Sunday, October 9, 2016

"We are the hero of our own story." -- Mary McCarthy

Who's Afraid of Blue?

I learn something new every day. This past week, in a conversation with my doctor, I found out there are people who have phobias about colors. Fear of the color blue, for example, is known as cyanophobia. Cyanophobia has its own medical code number, as do phobias regarding red, orange, green...every color on the color wheel, it would seem. (The fear of color in general is called chromophobia.)

I can't help but wonder how a fear of blue, say, or purple, develops. Perhaps a very traumatic event in early childhood triggers a lasting, deep seated fear. For example, I'm guessing a young child might become frightened of a particular color if something in his or her environment is that color, and that environment suddenly proves threatening or even terrifying. Such as a would be kidnapper attempting unsuccessfully to pull a child into a blue car. This is conjecture on my part because I haven't has a chance to research this, but a scenario like that would seem plausible. I'm very curious about this subject and am planning to look into it further. Do any readers have any experience with chromophobia?? If so, maybe you would be willing to share some information about it with us. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to learn more.

A Thought for Sunday, October 2, 2016

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." -- Isaac Asimov