Sundays

Trying to design a logo, brb.

Happy Sunday!

Materials with which to create art

Here's what I'm going to experiment with coming up:

-ink

-crayons

-chalk/chalkboard

-wood

-coffee

-watercolors/oil

-powder paint

-fabric

wish me luck! happy Friday!

Inspired today

inspiration - images by Dana Tanamachi.

Today I watched Art21 videos and got inspiration from this lady. She's brilliant. I'm thinking of installing a chalkboard in my studio, no?

Here's a quote that's been inspiring me lately: get out of your own way. We have been talking a lot about 'the devil' in creative practices class and in chapel, and I'm convicted about his power over us. He tells us that what we want most is impossible. So what if I want to be an artist? What if that's what I want most? The world will tell me I can't make it as an artist. The devil, or 'Resistance,'  or the evil one, or (more commonly) the voice inside my head will tell me that I can't make art well. I can't do it.

BUT. I know that I can get better. And if its what my soul feels called to the most, the devil will put up the most Resistance (capitol 'R'). So once he gets out of my way, I'm the only one left.

Today I just sketched. That's all. 

Happy Thursday!

Shenanigans

Today I made this! And I did another page of small sketches/studies of Hebrew manuscripts. These guys... they are simply gorgeous. And what I love about them is that you can tell they are hand-drawn. They aren't perfect, and its awesome! Cause then there's less pressure on me to be perfect.

Day 2 of #artdaily has worked out juuuust fine. I'm starting to like this studio setup. I'm putting everything I do every day on my wall next to my workspace, and I like it. It feels accomplished. I tell you what, no place better to look for inspiration then stuff you've already done. ba dum.

Happy Tuesday!

The almost-daily experiment

Hey yall.

I'm in this class called Creative Practices this semester, where I have to do an hour and a half of creating 5 days a week. I thought this would be a fun challenge to blog about! Today I did my first hour and a half, and I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised with what I can do.

I had to pitch a proposal for a semester-long project to work on, and I'm REALLY stomach-hurts-can't-wait excited about my proposal. I plan to explore the beauty of words through the way they are written and the physical way they are designed. I'm exploring hand-lettering, typography and decorative design through drawing and painting, and using digital media as little as possible. Another part of my exploration is written words. I'm doing research on old-eurpoean illuminated manuscripts for inspiration, and to find a way to modernize this ancient design. I'm also studying modern typographers and graffiti artists. My written-word inspiration choice is everything by F. Scott Fitzgerald. And I'm STOKED.

So I'm going to try to post what I work on every day on here. The photo above is my first "experiment." You can also follow me on Instagram to see daily updates:)

Thanks for being with me on this, hope you enjoy!! We'll see how it goes.

emma

Peace out, America

The obligatory "2013 is ending I have to reflect on it properly" post. Here we go.

To be honest, this hasn't really felt like the end of something as much as it's the beginning of something else. I leave for Kenya on January 2nd, so there goes that whole reflecting stage, taken up by shopping and packing and preparing for summer weather in the middle of the coldest month of Minnesota weather. It's the strangest thing. I have almost no desire to even celebrate the new year because that has been consuming my thoughts for the past couple weeks. 

I'm preparing for healing, heartbreak, sunburn, friendships, and toilet trauma. I'm not prepared for school, American society, and not in the least prepared for celebrating new years the typical way. I sometimes feel like making a million little new years resolutions or one big unachievable one, but this year I just don't feel like it. And I don't think I will! So there. And that's okay.

I'm preparing for rest. For peace about my circumstances, for happiness in the moment, for loving people I'm surrounded by. I'm preparing to be uplifting, to be the one that comforts and encourages, to be the one that gives perspective and peace to myself and others. 

This year has been hard. And incredibly busy. The busiest of my life. And I'm ready to start off the new year in peace and relaxation, in no need to hurry along, to do things the Kenyan way. Take your time to make things beautiful, take your time to make something you're proud of. This is what I want to learn this year. And there is no particular goal that goes along with this, just peace. This is what I want.

xoxo

"Give me a museum and I'll fill it" -Picasso

I made these.

Enjoy.

xoxo