{"id":10014,"date":"2019-07-01T13:24:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T17:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindfulartstudio.com\/?p=10014"},"modified":"2023-07-06T13:50:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T17:50:01","slug":"creating-mindful-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindfulartstudio.com\/creating-mindful-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Mindful Art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dear Wonderful, Creative You:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am always fascinated by the topic of paying attention and inspiration as an artist.The more I pay attention with a curiosity, and a sense that, yes, I WILL see or experience something that inspires me, the more I do gather inspiration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination.” – Mary Oliver<\/em>
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This quote from Mary Oliver has always spoken to me. I think the world does offer itself to us, beckoning us to pay attention and notice what’s there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve hung around in this community for a little while, you know that I pull a LOT of inspiration from nature, but I also love to feed my inner artist seeds of inspiration from other artists. Rowan Mersh is an incredible artist I have been following for the last few months, and I want to show you how his work with shells has kicked off a series of work for me in both pen and paper cutting, and has serendipitously tied back to nature.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I saw this piece and my eyes practically bugged out of my head. <\/strong>It reminds me of rocks and feathers, and it’s so incredibly tactile. I was immediately inspired to interpret this idea in my own way, picked up my pen and journal, and this is what emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I love the simplicity of the marks and the way they move across the page. See how the groupings of the skinny ovals are influenced by Rowan’s work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, I decided to see what I might do with this idea in paper cutting. Here’s what emerged:
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Of course this piece also has a relationship to a bunch of other paper cutting pieces I did too. I love how inspiration spirals out, in this direction and that, and back around.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was on a plane a few weeks ago, I came back to this pattern in my journal<\/strong> because it’s simple, soothing, and I still had more to discover and understand about it. Doing what feels good in art is part of my mindful art practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the way home, I decided to fatten up those ovals and see what might happen, and then add some color. That’s how I started the opening page of my Moleskine watercolor journal. (Since you often ask.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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