Sunday 25 January 2015

Questions & Answers about Creating {the 411!!}






All images in this post are not my own but can be found here

I don't know about you but I am crazy nosy when it comes to finding out how 
others do things & how I compare.  It's a bad trait I know, we are each on our
 own creative journey, but it's also good to have a yardstick to measure up
 against sometimes too, so when I saw these questions posed recently to the
 team at Mixed Media Place I thought it would be fun to ask them to myself too!! 

 I would LOVE to hear from you all about how you do things too, 
so please do leave me a comment telling me all about it!

I need to keep this in mind for my English papers! hehehehhe
1) How many hours a week do you spend in your studio/creating?

Not as many as I would like!!  Life has a way of giving me other jobs to do...

I'm in my studio almost every day. It's a tiny space so sometimes, 
if I have just computer work to do, I move to our dining room table
 or into the lounge with my laptop.

I enjoy working in my studio most of the time though as it's just off our
 lounge & dining-room so I never feel cut-off from the rest of the family.

I try to create something 5 or 6 days a week & I spend around 3 - 4 hours 
in one creative session although Saturdays often turn into a marathon :)
That includes cleaning up time as I get really messy!!  I love creating fast
& freely but I ALWAYS tidy up & clean afterwards as I hate a messy house!

193725221440586165_l0ruaSSV_c[1].jpg 500×697 pixels

2)  Where do you find your inspiration & how do you begin?

I save anything that inspires me (that I see online) to a desktop file each month
 & always flick through my inspiration file before I begin a new project.

Most of the time I'm creating for design teams so I start by getting out the products
 I'm required to work with & selecting from them specifically the products I want
 to use for my particular project.

I decide beforehand whether I'll be making a layout, canvas, card set, off-the-page
 project, mini-album or art-journal page & this will guide my product choice.

Once I've decided what I'll make and with what, I choose a photo that matches
 (if I'm using one) or look for a suitable quote (I love using quotes!) then
 I'll study my raw materials carefully to decide how best to use them
 (what can be fussy-cut, etc) & what mediums I want to play with.

It takes me 20 - 30 minutes to start "feeling" my project 
but after that I'm on my way & excited to get it finished!!

I would love this for a craft area!   10 Best Organized Spaces | Camille Styles

3)  What artists do you admire?

Wow, that is not easy to answer and honestly it changes all the time.  
I don't like to name names for fear of upsetting someone by leaving
 them off the list!

I am inspired by so many scrapbookers and for so many different
 reasons! I love watching artists develop. To me this is more exciting than
 those celebrity artists that are already there, so I often follow up & coming
 creatives & love watching them find their wings.

I find Eastern Europeans the most inspiring scrapbookers in the world 
(generally speaking of course). So many of them are very young when 
they start and it just seems to come naturally to them, which makes for
 a really effortless, uncontrived look that I adore. 

This year one of my aims is to be less influenced by other artists & 
really latch on to the type of artist I want to be.  There is a GREAT
article about that HERE.  It's a revolutionary read.  

At least one wall FLOOR to CIELING shelves and nooks [artist studio]

So TAG!  You're it!!  Spill your answers to me too & let me know
 if you enjoyed this post.  It was so easy to write - I could talk about
 this stuff for hours!  So will make it a regular thing if you like it ♥





10 comments:

Margaret Mifsud said...

I LOVED this post!!! Awesome to see how others go on their creative journey. A lot of the things you said relate very much to me as well. I don't spend as much time crafting as I would like and, unfortunately, don't always know exactly what I want to create. Once I make up my mind as to the what, things usually fall into place, although they don't always turn out the way I originally envisioned. Would love it if you make this a regular thing! Would be fantastic!! ox

Lizzy Hill said...

Very enjoyable - a subject close to all our hearts, I suspect!!! I really liked those inspiring images, too :):)

Heather Jacob said...

fabulous post, loved hearing more about you helen ,.... hugz x

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Loved reading more about your process!!!!!

Paula Calvanico said...

Sadly I don't spend nearly enough time at my desk creating. Real life is a MAJOR buzz kill, cooking dinner, cleaning the house, folding laundry, running errands, helping the youngest with school projects or home work and now keeping an eye on our new 12 wk old puppy(wth was I thinking) I find that I'll put a project on my desk and then come back to it for 20-30 miniutes at a clip over several days to get it done :( So not how I like to work.

Favorite artists that help get my juices flowing and mojo pumping, Gabrielle Pollacco, Di Garling, Lisa Gregory. I lean towards romantinc, shabby, elegant. I love clean pretty soft layouts. Not a big fan of the kitchen sink dumped on your paper.

Pinterest that wonderful time sucker, get on there think it's only 15 minutes later, and realize it's tomorrow! I find so much inspo there as well as scrapbook.com. I don't worry to much about is it my style or someone elses. We're all taking a little bit from those that make our hearts happy. I know what I like to create and makes my soul happy. Usually I have an idea no matter how small budding in my brain, I put my papers out and the pic that I want and just let it take me. My hubs always says that quote, the last original piece of art was on a cave wall, so when I see some rant about copying I just laugh. When you look at all the pieces on Pinterest and scrapbook.com, truly everyone could be called a copycat.

Great post, it's neat seeing how others create :)

Paula

Jean Bullock said...

One of the reasons I am not creating as much as I should is because my craft supplies are not organized. I am working on that right now. But it's taking some time. Then I stop and make something but I can't find what I need because I am only partly organized, lol. I tend to function best when I have an assignment. A specific thing to make. Then I will spend every spare moment on the piece. Another reason that I don't create as much as I should be is that I don't have enough of the right supplies, so I end up having to be extra creative.

Lynette Jacobs said...

Loved hearing more about your creative process xx

Val-Belle said...

I also loved this post. I like to see the creative journey of others as I always feel like I am a little odd..... I agree with Paula for me life is totally getting in the way now with the twins, the wedding and loads of travel so I just need to breathe and go with the flow. I agree with you on the EU style and I love it does look effortless and I have kind of felt that I am all over the place with my style trying this and that which is a good thing. BUT I like a CAS with lots of layers.... Maybe that has been my problem... trying too hard to be like others.. my word for 2015 is BREATHE.... go with the flow and see where it takes me. <3

Annie Claxton said...

I really enjoyed reading about how you work Helen, it's always fascinating to see how other people tick, especially creatively. Love those photographs too, and very jealous of those workspaces! I love the whole process, from "shopping" my stash to working through the highs and lows of a project, to photgraphing and blogging the finished result. Sometimes spend far too long wandering through the internet searching for inspiration and getting sidetracked, sometimes get frustrated when something doesn't come out "right" but whatever happens I wouldn't be without my creative time and I'm all at odds with the world if I don't do something creative every day. Thanks for sharing a bit of your creative world :o)xxx

Denise van Deventer said...

Such a cool post and I loved reading about your creative process and what inspires you! It's always nice to get a little inside the artists head and see what the little seeds of inspiration are! A great post! ;-)