Day 4: Almost Can't Believe I'm Keeping Up!

I am still at it, and more excited about this creative journey every day!

It rained like cats and dogs here today. However despite the rain, it was filled with fun! It started off with spending time in fellowship with my church fam and a good word. Then Meli made a fantastic taco going away din din to bid farewell to Bora and Michelle. Prinky and Brianna stopped by...doesn't she look fabulous with her Flower Fairy hand bag!!!

I forgot to mention yesterday that I went a little wild with buying the pens below. Those that know me well know that I spend lots of time journaling. That means that I go through plenty of pens, and I just couldn't pass up these beauties. They were a dollar a pack. Yes, I said a DOLLAR a pack!!! Uniball pens aren't cheap, and at that price, I should have brought the whole store out.



Anywho, the creation for the day is along the same vain as yesterdays. I am enjoying working with hemp. The material is light and easy to work with.

There you have it for today! Stay tuned though, I am going to start giving random free giveaways for those that post comments. I snagged the idea from Marisa over at A New Dress A Day.

Pearls of Wisdom:

"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe, and it will come naturally." ~ David Frost

Be blessed!

Day 3 - Making It By The Wire!

Ugghh..it's day 3 and one would have thought that I would have written an entry by this hour. Instead of it being 11pm, it's almost midnight. I have an early am tomorrow, but need to make sure that I keep up with this creative motion this go round.

Today I actually managed to finish a piece. That's right...no cheating going on today. It was a rather busy morning filled with fellowship with my church family. Shout out to Tammy & Rich...my flyer buddies! We (along with several other folks) handed out flyers for a community outreach program that will be taking place on Memorial Day weekend. It's one thing to have, but it is a blessing to also be able to have in abundance in order to bless others.

After walking quite vigoriously, I was pooped and took the afternoon and much of the evening to take a rest. As the night fell, I ended up trying my hardest to not look so much on ebay for this lot of broken jewelry, but it was calling my name. Anywho, while talking to a wonderful friend, I managed to get the majority of the necklace below done.

My beautiful Mum modeling today's piece for me!

So....that ends my brief description of today's creative journey. I look forward to updating you ladies and gents manana!

Pearls of Wisdom:
Our life is not our own...to GOD we belong, and we should desire to give ourselves to HIM!

Be Blessed!

It's Day 2

Hey folks! It's day 2 and I am just making it in by the skin of my teeth. It's now almost 11pm in what some like to call the "Dirty Jerz", and I am just getting to take pics and write concerning my creative whims for the day.

Okay, so today I am kind of cheating. I didn't really create anything, but I am in the midst of searching endlessly for broken jewelry. Yes, I said broken jewelry. I find so much potential in what people deem trash when it comes to products that can be recycled. So, here is the call to all those that are out there in blogging land:

IF YOU HAVE BROKEN JEWELRY YOU NO LONGER WANT...SEND IT MY WAY!!! TO SAY THANK YOU, I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO MAKE YOU SOMETHING IN RETURN!!!!!!!!!!

Now that my plug is over, a twee about today's featured piece. A few days ago a dear friend of mine was so gracious to pass along a pair of earring. They broke a few times and fed up she trusted that I would be able to transform them into something beautiful. This is what I have come up with.

The earrings consisted of the floral pieces. I added the chains, some aventurine stones, and a toggle. I have also created a pair of earring as well.

There you have it! A short but sweet post for the day. I look forward to continuing tomorrow. Perhaps I will do so before the hour of 11pm :)

Pearls of Wisdom:

"Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love."

~ Rick Warren

If we fear the journey, we will never get to the destination. Getty up and ride the journey express! It's not always guaranteed to be a smooth ride, but one that assures you will arrive to your destination when, and how God desires you to.

Be Blessed!

Welcome Back Inspiration!

Okay, so using horrible vernacular...you know how I do! I fall off the map, and then I pick back up where I left off last.

This pick up comes at the hands of a young woman by the name of Marisa, who concentrates on spending only a dollar a day (for 365 days) on transforming ordinary clothing found at garage and flea markets into shabby chic apparel. She takes before, after, and how to pictures, and blogs about them everyday! Read it...New Dress A Day @ http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/about/

I first caught an article about the Julie & Julia type story yesterday on yahoo. Her inspiring story of turning one mans (or womans) trash into treasure has caused me to really push myself to do a little something every day.

What is the challenge? Well, I am so glad that you have asked! I won't put a time limit on it, but I am going to try my darndest to blog about what I have created daily. Although I journal faithfully (those that have been reading know that I sketch in my journal) it is probably safe to say that I will be blogging most about jewelry for the next couple of months. I have jumped back on that bandwagon again.

Although the thought of blogging daily seems daunting, I find it hard to believe that I can't post a little something...regardless of how exhausted I may feel. Afterall, I am sure there are folks out there that manage to do it while carrying more responsibilites than myself.

UPDATES:

While I was gone...perhaps contrary to popular belief, I was working. A friend and I sold our creations at a marketplace in the Piazza. I created approximately 75 pieces for the show. Buisness wasn't as jazzed as I would have liked it to be, but we got to meet several talented craftsmen/craftswomen.

I am blessed to have family and friends that will "don" my creations, and as a result I have gained the opportunity to have a few jewelry shows.

The painting has ceased for the moment, and Buddy has been sleep for a minute, but not for long. I can feel the need to put those brushes on canvas, and capture whatever I deem appealing coming up soon, and when I do, I will post them.

So, I thank you all for taking this journey with me. And thanks Marisa for letting me know that it is indeed possible. Let's ride it until the wheels fall off, and hope that they don't fall off tomorrow...LOL!

Melissa and I with our table at the Piazza!

My first jewelry post...one of many to come.

Pearls of Wisdom:

It's not how fast you get to the finish line, but the journey that you take to get there that counts!

Be Blessed!

In Motion

It amazes me how time flies. It seems as it has been about two days since I have last blogged, however clearly it has been about 2 weeks. 

Nonetheless, I have been busy, busy, busy. This go round...this blog entry, there is nothing super duper deep (as I can tend to get here), but just some pics of the works that have me on the grind. 

Last entry I talked about how ignorant I have been to the history of the art community, and its greats in the past. As an attempt to correct some of my destructive behavior, I have been doing a bit of studying of some of the artists work that I like. 

The first is Georgia O'Keefe. I have always admired the way that she portrayed flowers and fruit. Her work always has an organic, yet sensual feel that pulls you in to wonder where her thought process was at the moment. In my research I learned that although it was Georgia who created the artistic work, it was Alfred Stieglitz who made her well known to the art community.  The art world deems to be no different than the world of other professions. Sometimes it is not about your work and how well you do your work, but about the people that you know or those that know you. 

Bottom line...her life was fascinating to me and more in depth than I will get into here. 

As a start to a new venture of this great motion that has been started in learning more about art history I have started a new series called "Pieces Of". They are studies of an artists work that I happen to like, and perhaps some that I am not too fond of.  The first is "Pieces of O'Keefe". 

                         

These past few weeks have been busy and in addition to painting, I have been doing a lot more sketching, bedazzling and making clothing. I really use whatever medium I need to get my point across. I do what I feel, and this is all a part of this creative journey that I am on. 

Sketches & Bedazzling: I don't know what got into me!

T-Shirt Dresses: Thanks to my creative cohort Khia! She gave me the instruction and inspiration on these tees. We are gonna do big things together!

I thought my UArts folks would love this one! I managed to make a dress out of old UArts orientation tees. I almost think that this is my fav of the those that I have made thus far. 

             

Everyone needs a black number in their repetoire

        

These Goodwill tees turned into a fun, printed number.

        

As you can see, I am a tad addicted to making these...LOL!

   

There you have it for this post folks! I will be posting again soon!

Pearls of Wisdom:

GOD will finish the good work that HE started in you!

Be blessed!

Ignorantly Me

I will be the first to admit that I have been ignorant when it comes to my craft to some extent. Ignorant meaning lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact. In my case by choice.


I am fascinated with creativity; how a piece is formed, what materials were used, and what was the inspiration behind the piece. The questions go for art as a whole...visual, performance, and literary. But what I have had a hard time accepting is history.


I remember being in college, and hating art history. It was part of the information I needed for my craft, but I couldn't stand it. I was excited for my studio classes, which taught me how to strategically create visual masterpieces. However, honestly I could have cared less about the masters that created those visual masterpieces. All which probably had lots to due with the way I viewed history.

For such a long time, history had been such a bad word to me. Instead of finding history interesting, I looked at the word as two words instead of two syllables (his story). In my mind I would always wonder who "he" was. Who was giving the information about the "he"? Was "he" a reputable source? Did "he" know the subject in question personally or through years of studying second, third, and perhaps fourth sources?

I often struggled thinking studying other artists would taint the style, and sometimes message of my work. I had my favorite artists. They were my favorites because of their work as opposed to their life. I didn't understand that their work was a reflection of their life. As an artist, I should have made the correlation, but I didn't. After all, I created from my life experiences, and my life circumstances...and still do!

After a succession of conversations with other artists where I made major blunders about art history, I started to process things a tad different. Perhaps I was missing out on a wealth of knowledge that could propel my work to the next level instead of hindering it.


I am convinced that ignorance is a direct result of fear (fear standing for "false evidence appearing real"). So here I am present day studying what I should have been bothering to learn years ago. I am no longer afraid of what is to come of my work from studying artistic giants. I am sure that my work will stand on its own two feet!


Pearls of Wisdom:
History is a tool to learn from others, but more importantly a tool to learn of yourself!


Be blessed!

Philly's Pulse

I am a person that marches to the beat of my own drum. I realize that now more than ever. Some call it unique, different, eclectic, and perhaps even a tad weird.

As I strolled home from the UArts AAP Emerge gallery opening at the Sande Webster Gallery (which was great!), I managed to pass by Rittenhouse Square Park. It reminded me why I am just a train ride away from the city.

What a variety of individuals. I was drawn into the people that were just as eclectic as I am. There were some who juggled, some who did tricks with hula hoops, some strummed the guitar, some walked their dogs, some played with frisbees, some were on dates, and some practiced acrobatics.

I am connected to Philly's pulse, and with each reverberating wave I feel a need to create. A need to express just who I am through my work. It's just enough push without being overwhelming. It's unassuming, but holds expectations...great expectations for those that too absorb all the incredible things it has to offer.

Thanks for the inspiration Philly! I am soaking you up!

Pearls of Wisdom:

Find the silver lining in the clouds, but more importantly, find the inspiration that comes through and after the storm!

Be Blessed!