Being Creative Gallery ~ November

Hello!


Welcome to the Being Creative Gallery Check In for November.  The theme for November was....


VINTAGE!


Before I launch the gallery link I just want to apologise for not getting an inspiring email support letter out to you this month.  November has been Bursting-at-the-Seams-Busy and before I knew where I was, it was almost Gallery day again.  Somehow I bypassed the part in my To Do Book which said 'Being Creative Email' and sailed forth.  This has taught me that sometimes with even the best intentions, we sometimes cock up and forget stuff, and that's OK, it shows how spendidly human we are I think!


I hope you have managed to find some inspiration for the theme, and I look forward to seeing what you've been up to!  


If you have a piece of work you would like to post in the Gallery this month, then you are welcome to add your link using the widget at the bottom of this post.  The link must lead back to a picture of relevant work, either on your blog or on your Flickr or photo hosting account (I do ask that you please don't link back to any online market place, such as Etsy or Folksy, thank you).


The Flickr Group is also open to post your images on a daily basis, while this gallery will be open from 1 - 31st December.  You can easily access any of the gallery pages from the link in the right hand side bar.


Don't forget, you can still sign up to receive the Being Creative Newsletter, which I send out once a month.  You will receive a free mini Being Creative e-book with this, along with links to some blog entries that you may find inspiring, and which may help you get started on your creative journey.  Although there's only one more theme this year, you are still welcome to sign up and join if you haven't already by clicking the tab at the top of the page.


The theme for December is...


WINTER.


Thank you so much for taking part, I look forward to seeing your Vintage inspired work!


Julia x x x

Being Creative Gallery ~October

Hello


I hope the 1st of November finds you well ~ the theme for the gallery for the month of October is Fire...I have a feeling this may have been a tricky one, but all the same I will look forward to seeing what you have created, or hearing about your ideas.

'Fire' for me conjours up many images and ideas; the colours of fire are so inspiring and are so in tune with our current season: burning ambers, golds, oranges and reds...but the heart of a flame can also be blue and green and white.  
Fire can also mean passion - a passion of the soul, a fire in the heart...I wonder if any of you chose to take the theme in that direction, and create a piece of work based around that?


The Being Creative Project has so far being an eye opening journey for me, and even on the months where I don't actually create anything I find myself still thinking about ways I could tackle the theme, and I'm being inspired in new and different ways.  I see this as positive growth ~ as artists it is easy to become comfortable within the boundaries we create for ourselves, to work with what feels OK and familiar.  It sometimes feels a little scary to push beyond that, to consider something new, to have to think about something we may not ordinarily do so.  I am pleased that from this project I have been able to work with clay, have rediscovered embroidery and also considered getting into linocut print work again.  I wonder what avenues it may have opened up for you?


If you have a piece of work you would like to post in the Gallery this month, then you are welcome to add your link using the widget at the bottom of this post.  The link must lead back to a picture of your work, either on your blog or on your Flickr or photo hosting account (I do ask that you please don't link back to any online market place, such as Etsy or Folksy, thank you).


The Flickr Group is also open to post your images on a daily basis, while this gallery will be open from 1 - 30th November.  You can easily access any of the gallery pages from the link in the right hand side bar.


Don't forget, you can still sign up to receive the Being Creative Newsletter, which I send out once a month.  You will receive a free mini Being Creative e-book with this, along with links to some blog entries that you may find inspiring, and which may help you get started on your creative journey.  Although there are only two more themes this year, you are still welcome to sign up and join if you haven't already by clicking the tab at the top of the page.


The theme for November is: VINTAGE - I hope you'll have fun with this one and I look forward to once again seeing all your creations!


Thanks for taking part,
Julia x x x

Being Creative Gallery ~ September

Hello to you!


September seems to have whizzed by very fast, and I can hardly believe that it's the 1st of October already!  I imagined that when I wrote up this gallery page about our Autumn theme, I would be looking out my window at stormy grey skies, and frisky breezes whipping up carpets of fallen leaves into spirals of colour.  But today, as I write this the temperature is creeping up towards the 80's, the sky is pure azure blue and there is a magnificent yellow sun cracking the pavements.  Butterflies are wafting about the garden lazily, and we are wearing our t-shirts and coolest clothes.  Autumnal it is absolutely not but there we go, that's the Great British weather for you!

I decided I would add my most recent painting to the Flickr Group this month. After all, it was painted with this time of year in mind and represented a coastal Autumn to me.  I've also noticed some new offerings in the group pool which I haven't had a chance to comment on yet (but I'll make time to visit and have a good old nosey as soon as I get the chance) and there looks to be some really interesting offerings this month.  
I continually love how creativity is expressed in so many different ways - the members of the group who share their work surprise me each month with the variety and ingenuity of their creations.


So!!  The theme for September was Autumn.

For those of you who would like to share your work via your blog/Flickr or other photo hosting webpage, you are very welcome to add your link to the widget at the bottom of this post (please just link to the page your work features on).  Don't forget to use the whole caboodle of http://www...etc or else the link won't work.

Anyone who has already posted in the Flickr Group are also encouraged to share your images in the gallery here too.  Please don't be shy about sharing...encouragement and support is the key to growing in confidence with your creativity, and although it can feel a little scary, I think you will feel a huge sense of achievement when you share your work and get feedback from the other participants or blog readers here.

You will be able to add your 'Autumn' themed work to the gallery here until the end of October.  There is also a list in the sidebar so that the gallery pages are easier for you to find.

For those of you who are working on the project and don't have the facility to share pictures of your work, then you are welcome to add your thoughts about your creative journey so far in the comments section at the bottom of this post.
I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on taking part in the Being Creative Project, so please do share or feel free to email me privately.
The theme for October is: Fire

You can post your work freely in the Flickr group as and when you like; don't forget to make use of the Discussion facility if you have any questions, or require some support :)

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you've done this month - thank you so much for aking the time to share your colourful and glorious creations! 

Much love
Julia x x x

(edited: oops, seems I got ahead of myself on the calendar! We're in October, not November as I previously wrote, but the theme is still Fire - apologies for the confusion) x

Being Creative Gallery Check In ~ March

Hi Friends!


First of all, apologies for yesterday - Blogger decided to somehow simultaneously publish two posts of mine at once, so I'm very sorry for any confusion there!  I've decided to post the Gallery Check In a day early for the Being Creative participants (originally planned for tomorrow) seeing how that post sort of self published itself, I figured I might as well put it out there now in case participants were looking for it and wondering why they couldn't read it.  

I'm really looking forward to seeing what people have come up with for this month's theme of Garden.
For myself, the project so far has been really inspiring.  I've made time for creating art in mediums that I rarely use and without any real purpose in mind other than having fun with colour and having a theme to work with.  I liked the focus having a theme gave me, and I decided to create some art based on the bird life in my own garden working with collage and pastel crayons.

I think, working as an artist, it was a really relaxing process for me to be able to switch off from the business side of it all and just allow the freedom of Creating For Fun to flow.  I have been blown away by the gorgeous work that has been popping up in our Flickr Group already, and the group has only been established a couple of weeks.  Thank You to everyone who has subscribed to the group so far, and to those who have been adding work to the Flickr Group.


For those of you who would still like to share your work via your blog/Flickr or other photo hosting webpage, then you are very welcome to add your link to the widget below (please just link to the page your work features on).  Don't forget to use the whole caboodle of http://www...etc or else the link won't work.  Anyone who has already posted in the Flickr Group are also encouraged to share your images in the gallery here too!  It's going to be wonderful to have a monthly source to access everyone's work ~ and please don't be shy about sharing...encouragement and support is the key to growing in confidence with your creativity, and although it can feel a little scary, I think you will feel a huge sense of achievement when you share your work and get feedback from the other participants or blog readers here.


You will be able to add your Garden themed work to the gallery here until the end of April.  I will also be creating a list in the sidebar so that the gallery pages are easier for you to find.


For those of you who are working on the project and don't have the facility to share pictures of your work, then you are welcome to add your thoughts about your creative journey so far in the comments section at the bottom of this post.
I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on taking part in the Being Creative Project, so please do share or feel free to email me privately.

__________________________________________

Oooh!! An one last thing before we start to add our links - the theme for April is DESSERT

Again, this theme can be interpreted or taken in any direction you wish, or you can use the word as a focus point.  There will be another gallery opening at the end of the month here, but the Flickr group is available for you to add your pictures to every day if you wish.

If you would like to join the Being Creative group and haven't already then you are so very welcome to do so - it's totally free and you can take part on a regular or more infrequent basis, whatever works for you best.  You can register your commitment to taking part by clicking here and adding your link at the bottom of the page. 

And now...here's the gallery for March - it's your turn! :)

A New Painting and the Big Blanket

Hello there!
Well, its been a week of completing things! Just this morning I put the final strokes on this latest painting which Ive titled 'Evening Stroll' and which is an acrylic painting on a deep edge box canvas (20x20cm).

Im very pleased with it, I love how the fox is skulking through the autumn flowers in the early evening light, and the unsuspecting hens are absent mindedly wandering about in the garden...!


Ive noticed that I like painting scenes that capture that lovely time of the evening, just between the fall of the night and the ebb of the day - crepuscular is the name for it! I like new moons, water, skies and working with ochres and blues on my palette. I find Im increasingly drawn towards nature, birds and animals as subject matter. I still enjoy character work very much though, and I think my next piece may feature some human beings...yes, already there is an idea on the cards for my next painting which Im rather excited about but which may have to be put on hold as Ive been asked by the gallery that stocks my cards (and some of my prints) to send some Valentine's themed cards asap, so Im going to be busy making those over the weekend.


But...without further ado (insert a tremedous drumroll here folks) - the Big Blanket is finished.

Yes, and oh how delighted I am with it. My first foray into crocheted blankets and already Im itching to start another one! Do you want to see it? Of course you do!! :D

Here we go....

Ta-Dahhh!!!

Just look at all that cheerful hooky gorgeousness!! All ready to snuggle into!!

Its about 1.5 mtr square, its taken me 10 months (on and off) and I love it to bits - I love that its unique, there is only ONE in the WHOLE WORLD!!! Right now it has pride of place on the back of our sofa, for snuggle emergencies and tent building (heartily engaged in by our Small Person with gusto when she found it yesterday morning!).

So there we are - a most productive week in our little house! Im still reading my business books and learning a bit more about the art of marketing and selling, and Im finding it very interesting. I think Ive surprised myself a bit, as that side of things never appealed to me before, but its certainly helping me see that whilst its good to have dreams and goals, the actions are what makes things happen!


Im just going to mention (before I go), a big "Thank You"of gratitude to everyone who comes to my little blog and reads my wanderings and ramblings each week. I started this blog after a friend suggested I do it as a weekly challenge (during a creative dry spot, to give me something to think about). I never thought that I would meet such lovely people through it, and it means such alot to me that you come by and comment and even read the thing!


So! Im looking forward to catching up with your delicious blogs now - its about time I put my feet up under that blanket with a cuppa and trawl through your inspiring posts!! Just the tonic if you ask me!


Hope you have happy weekends, sprinkled with tiny snowdrop discoveries and winter sunshine - chat soon

Julia x x x