I Dream to Create …
I have big creative dreams: to create something that makes a huge impact – I mean HUGE!
1) Interiors
I dream about people entering the room and feeling that they almost faint. Colors, patterns everywhere! The best thing would be to see their reaction: “OMG! You must be kidding!”
2) Exteriors
I dream about painting street art for buildings and great architectural places. I would change all those white boxes to something overwhelmingly colorful. It did not matter if it would be a temporary mask. At least the building could say: “There was a time when I was alive!”
3) Huge Paintings
I dream about people sitting on the bench nearby staring at them. A big company could have them in their lobby area. What a wealth of colors!
4) Big Quilts
I dream about designing every single fabric piece which is sewn in them. All original, all full of patterns!
5) Stage Backgrounds
My ultimate creative dream: Creating a stage background for a concert – a picture show which visualizes the music! I dream about the steps to design the backgrounds: how I would listen to the music, again and again, create sketches for evaluation and work with a big team to make it all happen.
Obviously, all the photos here are trick photos created in Photoshop by combining my own photos. These creative dreams might never come true but dreaming is kind of playing. And playing is a key factor in creativity, so let’s keep on dreaming – BIG!
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Fun Designs from Decorative Papers
Were you ready for the color bomb? I just could not resist creating this design with the vibrancy that is almost inappropriate. Hopefully, you are like me and need to get your overdose of colors and patterns now and then!
Collage Elements
I have created this surface pattern from handmade collage elements. I often mention how I create single decorative elements which I use in collage art or art journaling later. This time, I made a pattern that is based on those odd elements. These elements are like mini collages. They were made by cutting handmade decorated papers and adding some doodling with markers.
The elements might look complicated but are super simple to make:
1) Combine few paper pieces.
2) Add details with markers.
3) Cut the combined piece in half.
4) Repeat the previous steps changing some of the pieces as you go.
Cutting and combining the cut pieces repetitively is fun, and the result is like a mini quilt. Especially if you add seams with markers like I have done.
Surface Pattern
When creating a surface pattern, you also need something in the background unless you will put the elements tightly together. I wanted to add the background to make the design more interesting. The plain black background was something that I considered first. But it looked too separate from the pieces.
Luckily I save all kinds of doodles, even the ugly ones. I found a file called “blue mess,” a scanned image of the paper which I made a long time ago.
At the time I had thought this doodle was horrible, but now it would be just fine!
I processed my scanned images at Photoshop image processing software. At Photoshop I created a solid colored background, added the blue mess as the second layer and changed its color. Then I removed the white background from each of the four decorative elements and added a stroke to each element.
The repeat was created so that one decorative element is in the middle, two at sides and the fourth one at the corners. It takes some accuracy to place the elements so that they match when the design is repeated. It would have been easier to have each element separate, but I wanted to create a sort of appliqued look.
If you do not make a commercial pattern, you can just create an artwork manually instead of composing a repeatable pattern on the computer.
Here’s the design again, with more muted colors. This design reminds me of an old quilt, colors faded a bit unevenly but still suitable to be the centerpiece of any room.
I call this pattern Kira.
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Experiencing Art
I read an article about how strongly people respond to art. It claimed that art museums are like churches. A visit to them is an experience which can change you. That reminded me of the unforgettable experience which I have illustrated in this digital art journaling page.
Art Museum Experience
About 15 years ago I visited a modern art museum in Nice, France. I was traveling alone, attending a conference which was located near the museum. Walking in the isles of the museum, I began to think of my busy life and how I approached it. Suddenly I noticed that I was staring at a painting. I could not take my eyes off it. It. Half of the painting was painted black, and another half was white. It was the kind of artwork that many people would have commented: I could have painted that!
But really, if I talk about myself, I could not have painted that! Still, it was not only the visualization of my thoughts but also some kind of solution to my anxiety. I realized that I loved that painting because I so strongly believed in black and white: how good it was to pursue extremes. I had difficulties to accept that most of the days are practically various shades of grey. There in the museum, I was in my church seeing my ideals. When I left the museum I decided to make some compromises, make my life a bit easier. It did not anymore mean that I had to work against my values. It was more about accepting human errors as a part of the life.
Even if I never saw that painting again, thinking about it still gives me consolation and perspective to life. And even if I often write how you need to experience art by creating it yourself, art can truly offer experiences in many other ways too if we just open ourselves to it.
What has been a significant work of art for you and where did you experience it?
If you art journal – now there’s a subject worth documenting! (Read my tips on how to get inspired by fine arts)
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Hand Bags Only You Can Make
The fashion themed Smash book is just perfect to show my love for bags. When I made these hand decorated papers became heavy fabrics and leather in my mind. It was so fun to draw stitched seams, add layers and choose decorations.
I have a lot of ugly papers in my hand decorated paper collection. I do not take my papers too seriously. Their common nominator is that they are made by myself and thus they fit together whether pretty or ugly.
If you prefer to make cards instead of art journal pages, you don’t have to miss the fun. Create bag themed cards like I did! This card is a birthday card for my sister. She loves everything red. I also added some stuff that could be found inside the bag: a lipstick, perfume bottle, small scarf and a necklace. We can always give dreams, even for people who have everything and do not want to own more.
I want my art journals to be like catalogs: full of items to pick and choose. I am like a dream shopper with a hand made credit card (how would that look like, or a row of them!). I could ask from the maker of the turquoise pouch: “Do you make these in green too?” And the maker would respond: “Of course, which tone would you like?” With a little help of image processing in Photoshop, the options are right there.
Think about it: there are millions of hand bags which you, and only you, can make!
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