I've been reading and catching up on my magazines the past week and caught an article in Cloth Paper Scissors, November/December 2010, issue. The article by Loretta Benedetto Marvel found on pages 94-95 under her regular feature called "The Artist's Journey" --"artist, heal thyself!" In this article she discusses how she began to lose her creative footing and fell into a creative slump. Oh, man oh man, I felt her frustration as I read the article. I knew the feelings when looking at "the disastrous state of the studio; piles of half-read books; art purchases unopened. . ." I kept reading on - yes, she had me at "disastrous state of the studio." She then managed to touch my spirit again when she mentioned writing posts on her blog and hitting delete before they were published. YES, I have been skating on this thin ice since last spring and don't know when I lost my footing. Yes, before the breast cancer - i can't blame it on that - I was in the slump prior to that. I was bored and frustrated with tennis, I didn't feel like creating, I didn't even want to go blog viewing. The slump had me stumped. I heard her heart cries when she talked about walking away from all of it instead of fighting to get back. And then...... yes the rest of the story -- deals with the spark that "jump-started" her...a painting class.
To be real honest with you the one activity that has forced me into creating is the 6X6 round robin I committed to last August. All of a sudden in January, I really had fun working on the "tree" theme (not to say the other themes that went before were not enjoyable, I was just in a weird mood when I created the pieces for the others....) but my weeping willow reminded me of a wonderful creative time back in 2005 and the scrapbook I created around the London and Paris trip.
Anyway, moving on - I am really excited about the next creation for my wonderful group of artists and the theme I need to work on is rust. I have been piddling around for two days looking for rusty stuff (besides me) and it has been fun. Here are some bits and pieces that are beginning to take shape and wiggle in my brain:
Rusty Book Pages:
Beautiful old materials and a rusty button:
Other stuff just sitting around waiting for me to begin the process.... yes you can see a little bit of where I have already been sewing on paper below ....... but remember you will not see the finished pages until Elizabeth receives them.
And another spark for me on Saturday was a workshop with non-other-than the charming, adorable, Claudine Hellmuth! The workshop at Angela's A Happy Stamper was fantastic. I so enjoyed the three hours of creating a simple paper wreath which involved using up scrapbook paper I was tired of. . . a little paint. .
and then the wreath:
A closer view of the papers,
and so much fun, thank you Claudine!
and so my ramblings for today come to an end...... am planning to cruise the web and visit some of my favorite blogs! Until the next time, my honeysuckle peeps - until the next time,
10 comments:
Hello dear Marlynn!
What an interesting article. I know how that feels too, now and then I just feel "uninspired". It is great that you have your 6x6 swap to inspire you. Sometimes it is a swap I committed to that gets me going again too.
This rusty stuff creativity is looking fab! It will be very interesting to see what becomes of your rusty finds!
I hope you are having a good week and feeling better each day.
Hugs,
Terri
I am the same place you have been. I'm totally uninspired. I don't want to post on my blog, I don't want to be on the computer, I don't want to deal. I am glad the 6 X 6 swap inspired you. And I am so glad you found inspiration in the rusty bits, too. Now all I need is to get motivated and have a bit of fun like you seem to be having with your art. I also hope you are feeling good. That is far more important than anything right now.
glad you're getting the creating vibe back! yes, the challenge of rust really forced some different (and pretty good, I think) work out of me, and from the looks of your accumulating materials, yours will be wonderful! can't wait to see the results...
I think it's probably the worse thing that can happen--losing your desire--even worse then getting a "block". I'm so glad that your spark has re-ignited--I truly believe that creativity is thee best medicine!
Cute photo of you and claudine! I think we all go through those slumps and wonder if we will get "it" back. But then I remember that before they were flowers, they were just little seed resting quietly in the dark earth, waiting to bloom. Glad you are blooming!
I don't post often but I just wanted to tell you to keep your chin up! If you have not noticed, my own blog is suffering from neglect as of late... Sometimes life gets in the way of our art. But thank goodness we have the internet and such great online friends. When we don't feel like posting we can just read our friends posts. I am sure we can inspire each other. So just hang in there and when the time is right, the art and the blog will still be there :)
Hugs!
Inka
Hiya M.
I know the feeling...finding inspiration, wanting to create but can't..looking for that edge to get me over that hump..Oh man, it's been tough at times but through prayer and grace from God...I find a shimmer every now and then to create something beautiful. I'm glad that you have found inspiration again too. I'm also happy that you have opportunities to take classes from Claudine. You look so happy...always smiling...you are an inspiration to me...see little glimmers here and there to get us going.
Well...you got me also at "disastrous state of the studio"...it's bad when it has eeked out into the rest of the house too OH MY!
I have the best intentions of going back to magazines to actually READ them....tfs here...this much reading I can hold still for...creativity certainly can't be forced...but I do believe it can be nudged...'starting' always being the biggest challenge for me...once we get going there's no stopping us LOL!
Cannot wait to see your rusty pages for Elizabeth...I sure enjoyed making pages for her theme. I have been collecting sunflower things in anticipation of your pages...but really must focus and START on Gina's White pages...I am finding that challenging on many levels just now
great post Ms M...and I can relate to the o-l-d and rusty remarks too...thankfully not every day :)
oxo
p.s. word verification: hyper
LOL
OOOH! so jealous you got to meet Claudine! Hope you are doing well, I think about you all the time! xo
Great post today, Marlynn! Loretta's essays in the back of Cloth, Paper, Scissors ALONE are worth buying the magazine for. She always lifts and inspires me too. And man, talk about creative slump. Don't we all go through these awful things? I don't know what to blame mine on, either, but even getting a piece accepted into a prestigious competition isn't enough to nudge me off my butt and back into the studio. I am working on it...
Most of all, I love the wreath you made, and of course, I envy you for having a chance to attend Claudine's workshop. These workshops don't seem to come to Michigan, so I guess I need to get myself on a plane and attend one, someplace warm. Maybe someday, Marlynn, I can meet you at one!
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