So having recovered from my stress attack, I am now looking both outward and inward feeling creative and hopeful. So to start off the week, here are a few things that are inspiring me right now:
1. Yoga - My lovely sister returned last week from an incredible 2 week yoga certification retreat, and she is excited to start teaching classes and brimming with lots of yummy information about healthy living and body awareness. I've always been big on having an active lifestyle and living healthily, and I've practiced yoga part time for several years now but havent really dedicated myself to the art as I probably should, considering I have a very slight curvature to my spine. (I am currently on the hunt for a yoga video that I can do with my son in the morning.) I was inspired by my sister's new career choice and want to honor her with some Yoga art. I've been searching for other art that is out there that touches on the subject but there is surprisingly little that I would consider to be very good. But I remembered that Curly Girl Designs did several pieces with yoga poses in them. She always does beautiful artwork, I adore the prints and cards they put out, and they gave me a few ideas to try.
So dont be surprised if you see a standing tree posed girl show up soon. Do you practice yoga? Does it inspire you to make changes in other parts of your lifestyle? I am hoping to start adding more raw food into our family diet (something I've been talking about for awhile but havnt really tried). My sister is currently all jazzed up about organic/local/raw food to fuel the body, and I am feeling inspired to try something new. I think this week we'll try a totally raw meal and see where that takes us (i'll keep you posted on the outcome.) ;)
2. Great Design Elements: This last piece was done by Jessica Gonacha, and I find myself more and more drawn to her work. Its simple and fresh, but expertly designed and thought out. I have to admit that I am a secret junkie for good design in artwork. It was a raw talent I discovered while in my brief stint at art school. I have very little technical skills right now, but I find it is my ability to recognize and plan out a few good design elements that helps me pull off halfway decent paintings. I do really appreciate spontaneity and organic creation of art (like the beautiful signature backgrounds that Kelly Rae creates for example), but there is something magical about a precisely planned design to a piece. Something that draws your eye perfectly to the page and makes it follow the story the artist intended. JG is a master at this. She designs but doesn't over design, and its refreshing to look at her work.
If you dont understand what I mean by this, here's an example: This artwork above seems very simple, almost childlike in what it is, but I am drawn to it, it evokes calm feelings in me as if I were in that peaceful spot in that restful pose. You see there are layers of design and thought to be discovered here. In this piece JG chose a simple line drawing slightly off center - so that it is a focal point but not screaming for all of your attention, the repeating pattern behind her is also off center and balancing each other without creating vertical lines (allowing the body and balloon to create the vertical dimension), the lighter yellow stripe draws your eye across going behind her pushing the figure towards you while the parallel heavier green line goes over her head (balance), the string of the balloon match the curve in her body and pull you up to the top where there is a negative space in the green stripe - so its almost like the balloon is not even really there!, the background and the focal pieces interchange in this way (balance), and dont even get me going on her choices for where to let the images touch the edges. I think she is genius in design and I am really enjoying perusing her portfolio some days for inspiration and lessons I badly need to learn. Here are a few more of her paintings that can be found in her ETSY SHOP.
Just gorgeous! What design elements do you notice in her work that excite you and draw your eye in to take a second look? How does it make you feel to look at it? Good design in a piece can really affect a viewer's experience when looking at the art, and I find that this exercise really helps me understand what draws me in and what I may need to start incorporating into my new pieces.
WOW! I feel like that was a lot, even though it was only 2 things, but they are both really deep and rich wells of inspiration for me right now, and I think it will be good to just sit with each of them for a while this week and see what comes! Hope it brings you a bit of creative energy as well :) Oh and I'll be posting up a Shop Sale for Art Journals in my Etsy shop later this week, so if you need a notebook for school or a creative outlet for your thoughts, or even a unique and special gift for an upcoming occasion, check back for the coupon code. It'll be a good one, since I need to unload some of the art journals that dont work for the craft shows I am preparing for right now. Time to clear off some shelf space and find new homes for a few journals :)
yay for yoga- my daughters (6&2) do wii fitness yoga together and they love it! your blog is beautiful, love your artwork ♥
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