A New Year A New Start

 This year is a new start for me.  I am starting to feel more like myself, excited about the year and what it has in store for me and my family.    The last 2 years have been tough ones for me.  I lost a family member to a long illness.  It took a long time to get back my creative flow without feeling depressed.  I always thought I knew what depression was till I went through a period of grief. It has only been a month since I felt like I have my creative energy back.

 
  I decided to do a few online art courses to get me back into the creative flow again.  It is a course by Donna Downey, called Inspirational Wednesday (IW2017).  It is a weekly inspirational art journaling course.  Each week there are video's showing you a new technique.  As Donna is in the USA, I don't have all the supplies for each week, but I am sure I can substitute some of the supplies I have for the ones Donna uses.  My goal for the IW2017 course is to learn new techniques that I can use in my own art. 

  I started out the week before IW2017 making my own art journal.  The journal Donna uses is made of cloth.  I bought the online video that teaches you how to make your own.  I didn't want to buy new fabric, as I have a lot of scrap pieces from when I use to do a lot of sewing.  So, I found an old skirt that was my favorite.  I decided to use the waist band and the zip of the skirt as inspiration for a skirt shaped journal cover.  I think it looks so cute!.  Not very square but the zip allowed me to create a pocket for my clips.  The back area of the journal I folded over for an internal pocket for pencils and brushes.   



I love the stencil I used.  It certainly fits in with a Uni course I am doing on "Creativity and Aging".  I love the quote by Enstien, "Imagination is more important than Knowledge".  (The stencil is a Donna Downey stencil I bought when I went to her studio in Statesville, NC. )  It is so true, that you need imagination more than knowledge.  Without imagination, I am not sure that Enstein would have been able to discover the theory of relativity. 

 

  Much of what I have done in my career and in my business has inspired my art.    This year, I hope to blog about all the places I have been, and how they inspire me in my art. 

Until next time, 

Happy Blogging

Tracy aka Warratahstree

Breaking the Writers Block

  I have to admit now that I have had a year long writers block!  When I started blogging, it was so much fun and the words flowed so easily.  Last year, 2014, I would start drafts of blogs and never finished them.  Today I came up with a theory on how to break that writers block.

  It all started when I was talking to a business acquaintance about an article he wrote about Ideas.(Have-you-got-great-idea By Matthew Farmer).  As I read Matthew's comments about an "Ideas" book and how to use those "Ideas" in your business, I thought about how much I missed writing in my blog posts each week.  I spoke to Matthew about having a writers block and that when I was in University I use to have a special outfit I wore when I studied.  That got me thinking that maybe I should apply that same theory to my blog writing and painting.  Well, that started both of us talking about having a special outfit to help set the mood for writing.

  It was a very interesting conversation. My special outfit of tracksuit pants and a very large baggy shirt were only worn when I had to study for exams and writing assignments during my university days. It helped set the mood for focusing on my studies.  Matthew said he has a favourite hat to wear when he writes.
  All this talk of having a "writing" outfit to set the mood for writing got me feeling confident that I can start writing again.  Well at least it was a great subject for writing this blog post.   I have to find that special comfy outfit that only comes out at writing/creativity time.   It always set the creative mood in the past and I know it will again.   One problem, that outfit is LONG gone. I have to find new tracksuit pants and a big baggy shirt....or maybe a hat....maybe I'll stick with the comfort of tracksuit pants and a baggy shirt.

   How about you?  Do you have something special that sets the mood for your blog writing or creative process?