Inspired By... Vol 3/2018

Can you believe it's already this year's third "Inspired By"? Well, February is a short month but still. Time does fly again!

Do you remember, that this year we are doing it a bit differently than before? Inspired By is something sweet Marsha and me have been doing for years now. Until 2018 it was that we chose a subject to be inspired by and then did something inspired by that theme, a piece of art or a book. The inspiration could be anything but we both turned that into some kind of project and blogged the creation on the 10th. You can browse the past "Inspired By" posts from here (link).

Inspired By is a playground, a concept we can use to explore, to play and to discover. We can do as much or as little we want and have time for. I guess it's not a surprise then that we both enjoy Inspired By very much but after doing it the same way so many years, we thought to change the things a bit.

This year, 2018, we both just post on the 10th with some source of inspiration we found that month. Or rather on a period from the 10th of previous month to 9th of the current month. It can be a series of photos, a book we read, an artwork we saw, just a pebble on the street or a new product we bought. We can make something using that source, but it's more about sharing just the inspiration. Consider it as a window to our creative minds!

Last month just seemed to fly by and I started actively to search for something I could use in this post. Don't get me wrong! There was a lot happening, I kept two workshops that's always inspiring, I got new play things and naturally the ever increasing amount of light is really inspiring! But I hadn't captivate any of those - partly because they were for other purpose (like the goodies that are going to be an article) or that I completely forgot to document (the workshop, which I actually took something home and turned into Easter cards (link)). 

I was also busy creating for up-coming posts, especially when the kids had a spring vacation and were in my parent's cabin. When we came to pick them up, there it was. Staring me right in the face. The inspiration. It's actually something that's been capturing my eye great many times, but this time everything just clicked in place. It's a simple little art piece my mom has made in elementary school and is humbly pinned to the wall with a tack. 

 

The piece is made on a thick cream colored paper. There's a couple of wall paper pieces adhered to the paper and then a still life painted on top using thick brush strokes and black watercolor. I also love the color palette of the greenish teal, regal purple and the soft taupe and pearly grey. 

After finding my sole source of inspiration came the process of turning that into something. Because this time I really wanted to create something. I guess it's again the fact that I'm quite busy with other DT projects and especially my full-time job, that I really wanted to have a break from it all and just play. It's hard for me to allow playtime at such when there's deadlines to be ready for, but making something for Inspired By allowed me to play and fulfill a deadline at the same time. 

At first I was thinking about an art journal page or even a canvas. Somehow either of these formats didn't make me want to jump with joy. So I actually turned my attention what I have been doing for Inspired By. I clicked the label (link) and started to scroll through the posts. Art journal page...nothing...and it didn't take me longer than reaching the third post under the tag to realize what I would do. The post was this, "Inspired By Stone Matress by Atwood", where I created a set of ATCs (link) based on the characters of the book. ATCs! How could I have forgotten such a great project type!? 

After having all the elements in my head ready - the source, the type of the project, even the colors partly, it took me just fifteen or twenty minutes to do the actual set of seven cards. And it was a fifteen minutes of pure joy! 

First I cut random pieces out of couple of patterned papers that matched my color scheme of bottle green and faded lilac. Then I grabbed some leather brown in there as well and as I was craving for some kind of texture, added pieces or corrugated cardboard in the mix as well. Then I just glued the pieces to ATC sized cards I had cut from a cream colored cardboard, drew the bottles in first with a pencil and then painted them with a small brush and black watercolor. 

I was hoping to use India Ink as I love the subtle shine it has and also the fact that it's permanent after drying, but my ink bottle had been neglected too long and the ink inside had dried into a slimy goo. So I just grabbed a watercolor palette instead as I wanted to finish my vision right away. Need to buy that ink, though, a reminder to myself.

I drew different amount of bottles to the cards. Sometimes I drew them side by side, but somehow the idea of transparency was a captivating one and I also drew the bottles side by side or behind each other. I also wanted the bottles to be unique and really hand-drawn like, not stenciled. So they are a bit lopsided and quirky. 

So that's what I've been up to last month and what inspired me the most. Can't wait to see what Marsha's used for her source! Here's a direct link to her post (link). I wonder if it's a post filled with color and ideas and new trails to adventure like the February one (link) or if there's more like a single source this time... Well, need to see! 

Thank you for coming to my blog today! Have a great Saturday and weekend! Oh, one more thing! If you'd like to get one of these cards, please let me know so in a mail (rkovasin(a)gmail.com)! Ta ta for now!  

Materials: 7 Dots Studio, Prima Marketing