Navigating life through grandparenthood, chronic illness, dream work, and other inspirations
Trees have stories to tell. I’m sure of it. I find my lens drawn to holes and broken places, wonder about the life that finds shelter there, wonder what the tree can teach me.
The art of creativity means setting aside the logical mind, listening to nuances, allowing the expression of the irrational. I let the ink translate the trunk’s image, resulting in the featured image.
Then I add colour.
(What the Tree Told Me is available on Society6.)
I hit a dry spell over the holidays. Felt deflated as far as creativity went. So Ric bought me new materials – ink pens, markers, pastels, and paper, lots of paper. Still, none of my photographs were inspiring me. I really wanted to create something from my own imagination, but have little faith in my ability.
So, I doodled vines. Over and over again, till the idea for the featured image came to my mind. Then, I thought of trees. I once loved sketching trees – why not try again. I got whimsical:
Now, I’m stuck on trees, and enjoying the ink so much:
Looks like trees are fulfilling my creative need for the time being.
(Submitted for Eugi’s Causerie weekly prompt: alive. Look for my art on Redbubble, Society6, or Zazzle.)
It began simply enough; I just wanted to draw a simple Christmas tree, but the lines went a little crazy and well…you can see the result. The pen had a mind of its own, so I decided to let it talk.
Trees with character started to emerge, and began to haunt my dreams.
Christmas trees will have to wait….I am otherwise occupied.
I know it’s early, but since I do most of my shopping on line, I don’t like to leave anything to chance.
My adult children no longer want to exchange gifts at Christmas. For them, it is just more stuff they have to contend with. Fair enough. Doesn’t mean they are not going to get something though.
The grandchildren have long lists, basically anything mentioned in the catalogues that arrive this time of year. Our budget says otherwise.
Last year, for birthdays, I painted a watercolour for each of family members. Unique and personal goes over well. I liked to carry the theme on for Christmas.
As some of you may know, we created Print on Demand accounts with Society6, Redbubble, and Zazzle. These companies allow you to apply your artwork to quality products, creating one-of-a-kind gifts.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will be updating my SHOP page with gift-giving ideas taken from these pages.
First on the list is the Moon Goddess floor pillow featured. My stepdaughter has been mentioning this for some time now.
To keep learning is a blessing. This week, I signed up for a sketching workshop, with no idea what to expect. Turns out we were learning the art of meditative doodling, trademarked as Zentangle.
The featured image I created in class. I thought it would be fun to do my granddaughter’s initial. This is where I’ve gotten to so far.
Ric immediately went out and bought me more pens, so the addiction is now full blown.
Flowers are such an inspiring subject for creativity, likely due to their willingness to stand still. I continue to work with my photographs to create interesting designs. This is a quick and shameless reveal of recent works.
These roses are from my garden. Roses connect me to my maternal Grandmother, who loved them and always smelled of rosewater.
In celebration of Fall colours, I’ve created this red on gold pattern. Art board pictured.
Thanks for humouring me.
For more, check out KnutsonKr8tions at Redbubble.com
KnutsonKreations at Society6.com
KnutsonKreations at Zazzle.com
Ideas follow me around like little children tugging on my pant leg, begging attention. I’ve been brushing them aside, too unwell to give any them any energy, but with summer’s arrival and pending visits at Grandma’s camp, I push myself to get out the paints.
Untrained myself, I watch videos to gain knowledge and inspiration. I look for ideas the children will want to do,
and try them out to make sure they’ll work. The stack of pancakes, I discover, is easy and definitely doable with a 6 and 7-year-old.
The girls are eager to paint with Grandma, and naturally, full of their own creative ideas.
We play with the paints, and working with these uninhibited minds helps expands my own possibilities.
Each girl leaves at the end of the week with a framed masterpiece as a memento of our time together.
Sloane is a week shy of seven, and when I ask her what she would like me to paint for her birthday, she is very specific: two unicorns with the colours blue and purple.
“How on Earth do I paint unicorns?” I mention to Ric.
In his usual smart ass way, he responds: “You draw a horse with a horn on its head.”
Argh! I’ve never drawn horses before is what I meant. So I research again. This is the first attempt.
It feels wonderful to be sketching and painting again. I have one more birthday gift to attend to and then I’ve completed my year and I’ll start listening to those ideas tugging at my pant leg.
