Through My Eyes - This Week's Inspiration : Fall, Nature, Texture

Here's a little visual inspiration. These are some of the little treasures I found this week. They inspired me to think about rich, warm colors, subtle tones, bright sunshine and blue skies, texture and organic shapes. I hope they bring you inspiration too!

Through My Eyes - This week's inspiration

Here are some things that inspired me this week. Maybe they will inspire you too:














I love that the giant praying mantis looks like it's attacking the city. I darkened the first photo to make it more of a silhouette bringing out the shaped of the insect and pattern of the screen. Watch out for a praying mantis pendant coming soon for all you bug lovers. I really love the brick, tan and turquoise tones of this Baltimore city photo. Some obvious inspiration for a new cityscape piece.














I love the texture and the angle of the vines in the first pic and the 2nd pic inspires me to use primary colors and patterns and of course it inspires me to make something fun.

This last photo inspires me to use lines and circles and even numbers in my work. I also like the metallic accents of gold and silver against the metallic green. Well, now you know what inspired me this week. If I create a piece from one of these photos, I will make sure to share. If one of them inspires you, please let me know and I will feature your piece here on the blog!

All photos were taken by me. Please don't use them without permission.

***Don't forget to checkout the BEST Fall Virtual Giveaway in the previous post! We are giving away over $200 in Etsy shop gift certificates! Don't miss out!****

Leave Nothing Behind...Again

It was time to clean the old palette out again and of course I had to do something with the dried paint that I peeled from it. I still just couldn't throw it away. Last year I made some wall art and took some fun pictures of the paint blobs. Then earlier this year I made some earrings, and an ACEO and I'm still working on my palette sculpture. This year I trimmed the domes and will be adding magnets for my favorite 5 year old magnet collector. I took some photos of the scraps and the domes and played with them a bit. I like the random nature of this type of art. You never know which colors will end up together or how they will interact.

I upped the saturation in this one to add some fun and interest. I like how it brought out some of the shapes that you didn't really see in the original.








This one has great color and texture. It reminds me of a planet or another world. I love the cracks and the circles created by bubbles in the paint.

When I was done with the domes, I had to take some pictures of the pieces that I cut away. I just randomly piled them up and looked for interesting compositions. It was like a tiny sculpture. One day I will try putting them in some resin. I think they would create an interesting piece of jewelery or just a small piece of art like an ACEO. Another project to add to the "to do" list.


























So keep an open mind and experiment with your leftovers.

Through My Eyes - Inspired by Planting a Little Garden

Spring has sprung, so it is time to it's time to start the backyard garden. My boys love growing vegetables (even if they don't like eating them). Here are some pictures I took while we planted. As always try I to look at things differently. On the surface, planting a small garden isn't all that exciting or inspiring before the plants start to sprout, but if you look at things a little closer or further away or just look that their characteristics, patterns, colors and textures and not just what their purpose it, you may find some unexpected inspiration. I found inspiration in everything from the seed packets to the soil.














The seed packets have great bright colors and images of vegetables.













I love the modified circle in a square pattern of the prepackaged soil flats. The modified square is a nice shape too. The textures of the soil pods after adding water is really cool. The seem to come alive (another great theme a garden can inspire).






















Look carefully at your seeds for unique shapes, textures and colors. Mix some of your leftover seeds together to inspire color and texture combinations. You may even want to create something with the seeds. I know I was ready to get out my glue and make a seed mosaic. The seeds also brought to mind the following words and themes: Dormant, beginning, waiting, possibilities and potential.













So take some time this week to plant a garden, play with seeds, dig in the dirt and get inspired. I will continue to share inspiring pics of our little garden as it progresses. If any of these pics inspire you to create something, let me know in the comments, or share your own inspiration that you got from planting your garden.

Golden Raintree PodsThrough My Eyes

From time to time, I will start posting a little visual inspiration. I enjoy taking pictures, and I already take them for my own inspiration, so I thought I would start sharing some things that were inspiring through my eyes (hence the title). All pictures were taken by me and will show something that I thought was inspiring (disclaimer: I am not a photographer, so bear with me). Sometimes I will include comments, explanations for the pictures and why they were inspiring to me, and sometimes I will just include the pics and hopefully the inspiration will speak for itself.. This week I didn't have to go far for some inspiration. We have a golden raintree (thanks for the name knitsteel and luvmypups) and all year long we have pods everywhere. They are very entertaining for the kids who love to pop them and throw the seeds. They are also quite lovely to look at. They have a great shape and look cool hanging from the tree in bunches (couldn't get a good shot of that because it was too windy). They start out a


very soft green that turns to a bright green that turns yellowish and eventually turns a golden brown. They also have a great texture. Very smooth when they are new and if you look closely they have a web of veins which create some very inspiring patterns. So here is a little visual inspiration through my eyes for those of you who don't have a golden raintree near you! Enjoy and of course let me know if you create anything that is inspired from the photos. I will give you a feature and send you a little surprise in the mail!

Be Inspired - By Food

Well this week, food is the inspiration. Similar to the animals as a subject, food offers infinite textures, colors and shapes. Even the taste can inspire you to create. As with feelings, tastes can make you think of certain colors. To me, sweet is pastel pink, sour is yellow, and spicy is orange and red. Your relationship with food and the feelings food brings up can also be inspiring. Does food cause you distress? Do you eat to feel comfort and pleasure? Do you eat to escape? Do you avoid food for fear of gaining weight? All of these feelings can inspire great art.

Still Life
Originally uploaded by 1bluecanoe

With food being something that is required to survive, it is something that is often on our minds. We are often thinking about what we want to eat, planning where we will eat it, thinking about how we will prepare it. It is easily obtained, as it is in our refrigerators and pantries. How many of you remember your elementary art teacher placing a bowl of fruit on a table to teach a lesson about still life drawing? That teacher new what she was talking about. The gentle curves of a pear, the rippled skin of an orange and the vibrant color of an apple are all great ways to spur inspiration.

These days with a whole network devoted to food (Food Network) on TV and shows such as "Iron Chef" and " Ace of Cakes", the food actually can become art. The way chef's place items on a plate and how pastry chefs create amazing gravity defying cakes can all be very inspiring! I could go on and oon about how food is inspiring, but I better get to the pics! I will delve more into different types of food as inspiration in later posts.

Sushi & Sashimi for 2
Originally uploaded by yiuy

Even photographing food is an incredible art form itself! The two pics I have listed were found on Flickr, the first, "Still Life" , is by 1bluecanoe, and the second, "Sushi & Sashimi for 2", is by yiuy. To see more amazing Flickr Food Photos, check these Flickr groups: Friday Food Fiesta , Food Glorious Food, and Food Porn (not X-rated) or search food in photos or groups.

Here are just a few of the thousands of handmade food inspired items available on Etsy.com ( Just click each photo to see more work by each artist!):








































So, take a little time to play with your food this week. Cook something new and pay careful attention how you plate it. Take a closer look at the goodies growing in your garden and inspiration may grow as well. Take a trip to the grocery store or your local farmer's market and spend your time looking at all the possibilities! Be Inspired!

Remember, if you are inspired to create something from one of the Be Inspired features, please send a picture and description to my e-mail, blockpartypress@yahoo.com and I may feature you on my blog. The piece must be inspired by the Be Inspired post and cannot be an item created prior to the posting. If your Be Inspired piece is featured, I will send you a free pendant from my Etsy shop (I will choose the pendant and it will be a surprise).