inspiration

Yesterday I came across this blog Operation NICE and had to read through the whole thing. It’s always a little disheartening when people are surprised to see the door held for them. I remember a few months ago Josh and I had a cart full of groceries at Meijer. A guy and his son came in line behind us with about six cases of pop. I told the guy to just check out before us. He stared at me in disbelief and I think even said, “Are you sure?”.

I try to do something nice everyday but it’s easy to get caught up in my own world. Sometimes I don’t even see what’s going on around me. Or sometimes I see things I could do but chicken out. I still kick myself for the time I didn’t help the single dad bag his own groceries.

Check out the blog and maybe we’ll all remember to be a little nicer this weekend. I love the idea of leaving little postcards saying nice things around town. Maybe I’ll try that out…

So I realize I’m a bit behind on times but I finally saw the movie Amelie. It made me want to wear a red dress, dye my hair a bit darker and chop it off in a cute bob. It also made me want to learn French and ride a moped with a cute boy. The movie was captivating and the imagery was incredible. Two days later I’m still thinking about it…

“To acquire knowledge, one must study;
but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.”
-Marilyn vos Savant

My little art journal is coming right along. I’ve been averaging about a page a day. Some are really simple, some take a little more time… Sometimes I can feel myself looking at them critically but I stop myself. I’m not trying to create pieces of art to sell. I’m just creating.

Often times throughout the day I think about what I will paint that night. A couple times I have even been inspired by something random during the day. I’ll sketch it out on a scrap piece of paper and then tuck it in my art journal for later use. I really like this routine of creating art in the evenings. I also really like going to work with yellow paint under my fingernails.

I did it! I started an art journal last night. Josh and I got some Chinese and then went to Hobby Lobby. I walked up and down the art supply aisles just looking for things that jumped out at me. I got some paintbrushes, acrylic paints and some cheap pastels. When we got home I set everything out and just started painting. It felt really good. I kept it pretty simple but I already have ideas for more pages. I’m excited to see where this goes. I’m really trying to work on my perfectionism when it comes to this stuff. I didn’t even worry when paint got on other pages. I think this is going to be good for me!

I’ve been reading Donna Downey’s blog and she’s been doing a painting a day. That pretty much blows my mind. Although I consider myself a creative person and have always loved art, there is some very intimidating about it all. I’m sure it has something to do with my self confidence or something, blah, blah, blah…

Yesterday she linked to a lady on YouTube that talks about art journals. Her name is suziblutube and I think she’s fabulous. Start with her video “How to Keep an Art Journal #1” She’s like a zen master for creating art or something. But she has totally made me think I could keep an art journal. I think I’m really going to try and do it. We’ll see how it goes!

Some Flickr groups that have provided inspiration:
daily something
art journal
collage crazy

Did you ever watch Commander Mark Kistler on “The Secret City” or “Imagination Station”? Oh man, I loved him! I can remember turning on PBS, getting out my paper and pencil and drawing whatever he drew.

Yesterday I found that you can actually watch videos of him on his website. Within the first five minutes of one he reminded me why I loved him so much. He started by asking us to get out our pads of paper. Then he said, “Now you’re ready to flow across that paper like the genius that you are.” Killer mustache and awesome sound effects… I think that I need to meet him. I sat there with my head rested on my hand with this sappy, reminiscent smile on my face. For a few minutes I thought I was eight and my mom was making cookies in the kitchen. He makes me want to draw and be a little kid. So…I paused the video and drew.

“Stand back, Paper Dominator! Hi-yah!”

“Dream it, draw it, do it…” I now have his book added to my wish list on Amazon.

It’s true, I’m a sap. Always have been…always will be. I blame my parents. My mom taught me that it’s okay to be emotional and to wear your heart on your sleeve. (She does. I do as well.) And my dad gets choked up at sentimental parts in movies but you only know it because his face turns red and his nostrils flair out a little.

I watched these videos and I’ll admit I teared up. It’s funny though how something like a commercial can inspire you. Anyway, I just thought these were good videos. Watch them, then give a hug or do a random act of kindness. You’ll feel better. I know it. And don’t worry about being a sap. It’s not so bad, really.

Did you see Jay McCarroll’s Spring line at Olympus Fashion Week? I loved it! He was my favorite designer from Project Runway Season 1. I love all of the straight lines and colors. The jacket in the bottom middle…love that. When I first saw the top middle shirt I thought aloud, “Looks like a pixelated gradient”. Unfortunately Josh heard me and has been making fun of me about that all the time. Okay, yeah…so I’m a nerd. I’ve accepted it!

Unrelated…I have added a blogroll under links. I have about a million links but these are the blogs I regularly check. Let me know if I’m missing a good one!

You never know what might inspire you. Music, art, random things you walk past… Here are some things that have inspired me lately.

Music
I am completely obsessed with the song Fidelity by Regina Spektor. I caught the video on TV a week or so ago and have listened to the song about a hundred times. Great video.

Yesterday I listened to Ben Kamen for awhile. Totally rainy day music…

I was perusing Pure Volume and happened upon these guys: The Elliot Project. Very enjoyable.

Art
I ran across the artist Rania Hassan. Check out these awesome paintings that incorporate knitting. I love them! I think they would be perfect for my craft room.

I’ve been enjoying the Flickr group: get crafty!

Also check out Tiny Showcase. I ordered this one in June.

Creativity
10 Steps for Boosting Creativity – “Don’t watch TV. Experiments . . . show that watching TV causes your brain to slowly trickle out your ears and/or nose. It’s not pretty, but it happens.”

Surviving a day job with your creativity intact