This weekend I was compelled to work on something besides clay and jewelry. I have a show coming up this weekend ( the 2nd one this month) and I needed a break from the production. I wanted to make something just for the sake of making something with no pressure about getting sales, feedback or promoting. What was I going to make? I didn't want to use clay, I didn't want to spend money on supplies and I wanted to make some "green" art since polymer clay isn't very green and I do like to upcycle whenever I can. The answer came in a stack of catalogs that have been sitting in my closet forever. I knew they would come in handy at some point, so I just couldn't throw them a way (Yes, I'm a pack rat when it comes to possible art supplies). Earlier in the week, I helped feed Kyle's creative bug by having him cut out shapes from magazines to create a collage, so I figured I would do the same. I don't like cutting much so I grabbed my trusty circle cutters that I use for making stickers and tags for my promo materials and atrted punching. I punched a bunch of different sizes and separated them by colors. Now I had to decide what to make, so of course I immediately throught of trees. I have made bubble tree ACEO's and pendant;s. so I just went with it and I like how they turned out. I actually spent most of Friday and Saturday punching and arranging and gluing (Yes, I did stop long enough to feed my kids). I started with simple trees the like the ones above and below and uses some cedar wood samples as my canvas:
Then I started getting a little complicated:
While I said I wasn't going to worry about sales, I do plan on offering the trees as prints in my new Etsy shop that will be opening this summer which will focus on prints of my artwork and photos (of course there will be a big blog announcement and grand opening sales once I get it started). I wanted to wait to share them until then, but I hadn't blogged in so long and they really gave me something to blog about.
Take some time this week to create something totally new. Don't put a lot of thought into it and just go with what you're feeling. Lose yourself for a while in your new endeavor. Try to upcycle something that's laying around your house (or stuffed in your closet). If you make something inspired by this post, please send me a photo and short description, and I will be sure to post it here.
I leave you with a collage Kyle was inspired to make after watching me create mine. He's already asked me to add it to my Etsy shop too:
