Then, like a lot of artists, I got busy with life and let some of my art go for a while. But this spring I discovered Twitter, and it all came rushing back as I got to talking to comic and coloring people from all over the world! How exciting! I know I need to work a lot harder and I have a TON to learn, but my enthusiasm level is high and I can’t wait to see where this takes me.

Coming up next, some digital art!

A friend introduced me to this book recently, Now, Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. If you haven’t learned this about me yet, I have an unusual attraction to self-improvement books and programs. If you haven’t read this book or done the assessment, please, do so immediately!  The insight it gives is meaningful and may very well change your outlook on your entire life. 

The concept is that while we all know our weaknesses, we overlook the value of our strengths.  We should focus on our strengths!

Here’s how I stand:

Ideation
People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Activator
People strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Strategic
People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Input
People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Learner
People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

I picked it up in Hilton Head at the conference I went to back in December.  Eric Maisel is a wonderful author, also the author of Fearless Creating.  I was excited because he was to be a speaker at the conference, but for some reason his seminar was cancelled!  I flew ALL THE WAY to Hilton Head just to see Mr. Maisel speak of creativity coaching…OK, so his planned presence was just a bonus but I was terribly disappointed to have missed him.  (So if you’re reading this Eric you owe me a seminar!)

Anyway, if you are blocked or simply want to get a little more “flow” going, I highly recommend this read.

“SunDream”, is representative of a unique experience I had a few years ago. I had minor surgery, and if you’ve ever been fully anesthetized you know that it leaves you feeling as though you have walked the line between life and death. When I woke up at home, I was still in a great deal of pain but was driven, inexplicably, to get up and paint this huge sun on the wall in my kitchen. I sent a photo of it to my Mom, and when she received it she immediately called me. Apparently, the sun I painted was eerily similar to the sun medallion that was buried with my Grandmother’s ashes – a medallion I had never seen and didn’t know existed.

The purpose of this quilt is to honor and remember my Grandmother as she was a great artistic inspiration. She was an Art Education professor at the University of Nebraska and a working artist, even into her retirement. She created the most amazing paintings and everything around her was beautiful and colorful. Her spirit has had a profound influence on me as an artist.

The sun in my quilt represents my inspiration and it’s glow is what nurtures my creative growth. My garden grows with the creative inspiration of my family and those I love, shining down and allowing me to clearly see which direction to go.

“SunDream” was entirely handmade, using 100% cotton fabrics, accented with glass beads and wooden letters. The sun is made of a gold-spattered batik fabric which is appliqued to the surface of a pieced background with a top-stitching technique. The quilting on the top is reminiscent of rays of sunlight, and each “ray” is accented with delicate beads. There are tiny wooden letters, each hand-painted purple and over-sprayed with gold to coordinate with the sun fabric. The letters spell out the following:

WHEN SHE WOKE UP FROM HER DREAM

SHE HAD A VISION OF THE GOLDEN SUN

The back is quilted with hand-stitched sun rays, some of which are also accented with beads. The piece contains two layers of cotton batting quilted together and finished with binding in the same fabric as the sun. It’s finished size is approximately 13″ x 13″.

Here’s the original sketch and some process pics:

And the back…the fabric is shiney so the pic looks a little weird:

 

But first I have to get used to my new routines and get my home in order! I’d like to do some small-budget decorating to really make my home an inspirational place for me to live, work and heal. One up-side is that there’s more physical space at home so that my art doesn’t always require a trip across town to the studio, which should help with maintaining momentum once I get going on a project. I’ve recently finished reading Susan Magsamen’s Living Artfully: Create the Life You Imagine. Very inspirational, it shows how creativity is or can be part of everything you do, and it’s given me some wonderful ideas for my home. I’ll update the blog with my progress!  ~Jennie   

 

  

So on to artistic endeavors. While my life has been a bit hectic what with the trip and holiday preparations and all, I was able to complete two pieces of artwork with which I was quite please. The first was a pair of fiberart earrings – photos of those will follow in the next post. The second was a small piece of fiberart, entitled “Moonrise.”  Here are photos:

 

I gave this piece away to some wonderful people I met on my trip. (Hi Mike and Deanie!) Mike told me about the beautiful moonrise he saw, and I did my best to capture it just as he described. The next night, after they left, I saw that orange moon too.

I learned a valuable lesson from that little piece of art.  I found that my art MATTERS. Not in a little, self-serving ‘yeah my art is important to me’ sort of way, but that I can create something from my heart that will become more than the sum of its materials and take on a life of its own.