Friday, March 28, 2014

I Think I Have Chosen a Direction

I seem to have made a decision about a direction.

 I have been buying books about drawing, mixed media, and who knows what else for years. And I've got a bunch of art supplies as well. Not as many as I think I need because I've bought still more books, a couple of downloaded tutorial files on two kinds of drawing, and a bunch of art supplies that are different from what I already had in the house.

I want to draw and I also want to do mixed media Art Journaling. I've known that I wanted to do those things for a long time. I was an art major in High School and in College. The problem was that I didn't like the stuff I was doing and didn't have a whole lot of respect for it either. After I left college I never picked up a pen or a pencil, and every time I tried to I discovered that I just felt awful and clumsy.

Instead I used both needlework and computer arts as creative outlets. I did digital scrapbooking for years until Joe got so sick I could not stand the idea. And I did very nice work. But it just wasn't enough. I kept buying books.

 Here are just a few of them.
I also took some photos of some of my art supplies.

I never had a full set of pencils when I was an art student. So those were fun to buy. And the Prismacolor pencils were actually bought for a quilting art project that I couldn't get to because of the Fibromyalgia. I did practice coloring on one of my sample  free motion quilting pieces, and they are an amazing tool.
 I did draw a few flowers from the How to draw a tulip. And it felt OK, so we will see where that goes as I go through the tutorials. The one already in the house is for what I call Art Journaling faces. I followed along with my first time watching the first half of that and sure enough I got a reasonable face.

The second downloadable tutorial is on regular pencil drawing. I need to find out how to get that after I finish here.

But I think my next hands on project will be to make some background pages using some of the paint I've got in the house and a couple of the surfaces I've already bought. I'd do that today, but I've got some gesso coming from Amazon and one of the YouTube tutorials I've already seen tells me that I need to put that on the paper first to make the grounds work better.

There are a couple of other things going on in my life that I have not blogged about. I bought a Roku box when I upgraded some of the television equipment earlier this month. I am slowly learning how to use it and adding channels. YouTube is one of the ones I want to add.

And I'm looking for a new church. My neighbor goes to one that is local and I went with her last Sunday and will do so again this Sunday. I was shocked when I received two "hello" notes on Thursday. Very pleasantly surprised. It is the one thing that my old church never managed. When I first went there I asked for someone to contact me for weeks, but no one ever did. And when I got sick they didn't figure out that I was missing for a very long time. I've discovered that I need a congregation that manages that kind of thing better.

Take care all.

6 comments:

  1. It is good to hear your excitement about your new art projects. Yes, churches should be caring and reaching out to those that are hurting. Our church is doing a much better job of it now. I really have someone I can talk to that will listen, and make suggestions. I make prayer shawls and baby blankets that she gives out to those who have been hospitalized, suffered a loss, and every new baby gets a blanket. Are you aware of GriefShare --www.griefshare.org ? It is a 13 wk. video series on grief and was helpful to me, but wish I would have had it sooner after my husband died.

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  2. Looks like you have some wonderful art in the making! Hoping you will share as you go, I can't wait to see what you create. Good luck with the church hunt! xoxo

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  3. I see you are another queen of lightly used art supplies. You should try sketching instead of drawing. Drawing is hard work, sketching is loose, relaxed and fun and no erasing no mistakes just for fun and learning. I know finding a good church is hard as many times as I have moved. Keep trying and get involved. My experience is you have to make the first move.
    prayers and blessing --Ann

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  4. I love the idea of reaching back to something that spoke to you when you were young. I had a friend who went back to playing a french horn that she'd only played in high school. After 20 years she picked it up again and now plays in orchestras. I believe in you. You have done so many wonderful things in the quilting world since your husband died. This is a whole new journey. I admire you. Glad you've gotten the health information you needed so you can pursue creative things.

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  5. Sounds like you have a lot of fun options to explore. I can't draw worth a flip, but I've tried my hand at digital art journaling recently. Enjoy your new endeavor.

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  6. I had a feeling I needed to check your blog today, and I'm so glad to see that you're back. You're an inspiration to me because of your creativity but also because of your ability to continue moving forward despite life's challenges. You mentioned you need a church congregation that is more aware of its members. I love how the church I attend handles that. We are asked to be "visiting teachers," which means me and a partner are assigned several ladies to visit monthly, or more if desired or needed. We visit about life in general, and we always discuss a gospel message. I have made some of my very best friends through this inspired program. Priesthood leaders also visit our family once a month and are often called on to help with projects, moving big items, or giving a sick family member a priesthood blessing. Our church is worldwide, with small congregations in just about any place you can imagine. Feel free to email me if you are interested in learning more. Tywilson@digis.net

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