Be Inspired by Patterns

Just about everywhere you look, you can find patterns. From the lines on the road to the rows and rows of windows in a skyscraper to the tiny patterns of veins in leaves. Patterns also are prevalent in home decor and clothing. I find a lot of inspiration in these patterns. There are so many possibilities; stripes, dots, checks, florals, diamonds, etc... Something about the repetition is very appealing to me and I enjoy sketching patterns and creating patterns with the textures in my work. Apparently many other artists are inspired to create and use patterns in their work. Check out the creative use of patterns I found on Etsy (click on each picture to see more work by the artists featured):



































Take a little time this week to look at the patterns around you and think about how you can incorporate patterns in your artwork. Create your own patterns by repeating a design. Go to a fabric store and browse the different fabric patterns or browse scrapbook papers for new and interesting patterns. Here are some great Flickr groups all about patterns: Patterns and Designs, Patterns in Nature, Repeating Patterns. Please remember to use all of these things as inspiration and not outright copying. I leave you with my idea of a perfect pattern. Wake-up, be inspired, create, go to sleep, wake-up, be inspired, create, go to sleep and repeat everyday!

Be Inspired by a Favorite Book

I don't know about you, but I love to read. I can easily get lost in a book and they can be very inspiring. This month's PCAGOE Challenge was to create a polymer clay item inspired by a favorite book. My entry was the inspired by the "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. Eric has been a favorite of mine since childhood. The bright colors and texture and childlike quality of his illustrations have always inspired me. This book was also the first book I bought for my first son, Trey. I knew I wanted my kids to have a love for Eric Carle and his books too. We now have a small library of just about all of his books, and they are always favorites at bedtime and while I will probably pass most of their kids books on to someone else once they outgrow them, my Eric Carle library will stay and hopefully I will be able to share them with my grandkids too! The other reason I chose Eric Carle is because I wanted to try a new polymer clay technique. I received some alcohol inks from PolymerClayproductions.com (they also have a tutorial available) and was waiting for a reason to use them. The water color painting in Eric Carle's illustrations was something I thought I could duplicate. It was fun to try something new. They had frames on sale at the craft store, so I thought a frame would be fun. I ended up backing it with strong magnets, and now it is on my refrigerator!

The other PCAGOE Members really found some creative ways to interpret their books. Some created images of main characters, some used the illustrations as inspiration, recreating colors, textures and patterns, others created scenes as they "saw" them, while others used the meaning and themes of the book to translate them into art. These are all fantastic ways to be inspired by books. Take a some time to vote for your favorite entry in this months challenge. Just go to pcagoe.com to vote! You will automatically be entered to win 1 of 2 polymer clay prize packs worth over $75 each!! Here is a mosaic of this month's entries:

After you vote, take a little time to find a good book and enjoy a little reading. Let the book speak to you and think about the characters, themes, events, illustrations, the emotions, and even the words and see where inspiration takes you! You may be surprised to find that reading is not only fundamental, but it is also inspiring!!

Be Inspired by Hives??

OK, This is not actually the be inspired post I promised, but for the last week we have been dealing with my oldest son, Trey and his mystery hives. He has been breaking out in big itchy for hives off and on for the last 5 days and last night they were really bad, so today we headed to the doctors and have spent the better part of the day trying to figure out what is causing them. So far, no luck and Benadryl and Claritin are not helping. So the mystery continues and needless to say, I haven't had time to create a proper inspiration post, but in honor of Trey's hives, I will post a little visual inspiration for you from some Etsy artists who also have hives, lumps, bumps and spots (and a little oatmeal soap for the itch)! Please click on the pictures to see more work by the artists whose work is featured!

We Have Winner

Sorry I was a bit delayed in announcing this, but since my blog is pretty visual, I was wanted to get a photo of Kyle doing the drawing and I had a hard time wrangling him this weekend. The weather was just too gorgeous, so the boys were outside exploring, bug collecting and digging. Once I finally got them in, it was too dark to get a decent picture. Fortunately I was able to get him to cooperate this morning (he'll do anything for Doritos!).

The little sculpture was a Moray Eel (anyone that guessed Eel was included in the drawing!). Check the comments for the some of the other great guesses. Kyle's older brother Trey is extremely fascinated with animals, and he "studies" them daily by reading his animal books and researching them on the internet. Recently Kyle has started to be interested and was looking through one of Trey's books and found the moray eel and decided that he could make one too, so he did! Now that we know what it is, on to the winner.

Drum roll............The winner of the $25 gift certificate to the Block Party Press is Knitsteel!

Congrats to Knitsteel and thanks so much to everyone who participated and joined the new Flickr Group, My Kid's Art! Don't forget to check the group today for this week's theme! Here is a mosaic from last week's theme, Flowers:


1. The BEST Flower I have ever received, 2. postcard, 3. 4yo's EtchASketch of Spiderweb, flower, ant butterfly and sun, 4. 9 yos Spare clay rosebud, 5. 9 yo's Waterlilies in Watercolor, 6. My favorite picture by my older son, 7. kid art 4, 8. kid art 6, 9. Pink Flower Guy, 10. Volcano detail - Kyle's flower, 11. Rose, 12. Flower Spy

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

I will post my Be Inspired feature tomorrow, so come on back!

My Kid's Art - A New Flickr Group and a Contest

Well, if you have been checking my blog, you will notice that I post my 4 year old son Kyle's latest art project on my side bar. He loves seeing his artwork on the computer so much that it inspired me to create a new flickr group just for kid's art called My Kid's Art.


The group is for showing off your kid's artwork. The group is like an online refrigerator where you can share your kids' artistry with the world! They will get a kick out of seeing it on the computer and will love all the comments receive (don't forget to comment on other artists too!). The art is by kids 18 and under and can be in any medium. You do not have to have kids to join the group, your can also share the art of your nieces, nephews, children you babysit, your students, brothers and sisters, grandkids and just about any kid who's art you want to brag on.

There will also be a weekly theme and kid's projects so you can encourage your kids to create something each week. Come by, check it out and join in the fun!

We already have over 100 members, so to start the group off right I have decided to do a contest. I think part of the fun of kid's art is trying to figure out just what it is they made. Their views are so different from our own that sometimes it is difficult to know what they created. How many times have you looked at one of their pictures and said, " That is a great house, only to be told it is a tree?" Take a look at Kyle's clay creation in this post and leave a comment telling me what it is. Everyone who guesses correctly will be put into a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to my Etsy shop. You have until midnight (EST) Friday, September 21, 2007 to get your comment in. Only one guess per person please! I won't post the comments until after the contest!


Create a little art with your kids everyday!

The Playground Through My Eyes

OK, I have been busy juggling responsibilities all week and have not been able to post anything , and today I really don't have time to catch up on my Be Inspired feature, so I will just post some inspirational pics I took this week at the playground. I thought the shapes, textures and colors were very inspiring and hopefully you will too! Happy Creating!

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!