After a full day of hiking and exploring, I have enjoyed spending my evenings making these painted beach stones.
Hand Painted Alaskan Beach Stones
Painted Driftwood
Painting driftwood is a fun summer project that is easy enough that kids will enjoy it too. There isn’t much to it, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. So, let your creativity run wild with this one. If you feel like you would like some direction in doing this project at home, there are a number of tutorials that can be found on the internet. These are some of my favorite pieces. Maybe they will inspire you like like they have me.
by Jessica Turnbow
original source unknown
Jessica Turnbow, has a cute shop on Etsy where she sells her painted drift wood.
NeSpoon
I first came across this image on the internet a year or more ago. I was instantly inspired by it and used it as a desktop image for a long time. It got my wheels turning, as I thought about ways I could do something similar on our favorite beach.
It only seems fitting that I share some of this artists work with you here as I begin looking at driftwood in the Creating with Nature series.
The artist creating these art installations goes by NeSpoon and is from Warsaw, Poland. Much of her work is street art, but she also enjoys bringing her urban touch to the beach. Her work can be found all over the world. Here is an installation she created in Goa, Indiana.
Mr. Sajid is a homeless man living on the beach in the Sinai. Here, the two of them are working to add some art to his home. More pictures of this installation can be found here.
I am a long time admirer, and avid scouter for street art. I am the only person I know who actually enjoys waiting for a train to cross. When you live in rural America surrounded by small towns, trains are the best place to find awesome street art! Anyway, I am greatly inspired by this artist in her way of combining street art with fiber art.
. . . and this is just awesome. . .
Tibetan Jewel Dream Catcher
The lands of Tibet hold a special place in my heart, that inspire much of my work. This dream catcher is no exception. The silks remind me of the prayer flags found among the Himalayan foothills, and the metal bangle and amber bead reminds me of the traditional adornments the Tibetan women wear to the horse festivals.
For those who are interested, this dream catcher is available in my shop!
Wisteria & Lilacs
Dream catchers are something new for me that I am really enjoying making. What I love most about them, is the combination of textures, fibers, and nature. I love the process of gathering together all the bits and pieces of what I find inspiring at the moment, and using them to create a piece of art. I made this 6″ dream catcher over the weekend. It is inspired by the month of May, the scent of lilacs in the air, and blooming wisteria.
If you are interested, it is available in my shop!
Warp & Weft = Life
My dear friend and mentor, is currently working to complete her master’s degree in social work. It has been her joy to find ways to use the fiber arts in her work.
How setting up the loom parallels to life
By Kim Hanes
Good evening…I was thinking throughout the week, as I was in and out of families lives how our lives are like a weaving. The warp is the “strength” of each weaving. It is the foundation. Just like our families and our community is our foundation. If the foundation is strong, then the weaving is sturdy. It is the same for us. If we have a strong foundation, then we are able to be more resilient.
In contrast, if our ” warp” in weaving is not strong, our weaving will have holes, and is weakened. In life, if our foundation is weak, it easily breaks, and we have gap. Sometimes I experience individuals that break easy.
The weft is like the lives we live. The more colors and texture we have, the more variety we we have in life, the more beautiful the overall weaving becomes. However, if we do not have enough fiber, the weaving is never finish. In this circumstance, it is hard to even visualize a final project. I have found that within families it is quite similar. Without enough resources, such as friends, money, food, etc, it is hard to visualize a goal. Working as a social worker in people’s lives, I can walk with them to seek more resources, teach them how to develop positive friendships, and find mentors. I then see them start to set some goals. The weaving develops into a beautiful piece of fiber art. As we unravel life together, there are many lessons that lie in a ball of yarn.
A conversation I had . . .
My mind has been racing with projects. I’ve been waking up early, eager to start. My days have been spent trying to make my hands keep up with my ideas. I love these times in my life when my inspiration seems to be a bottomless well to draw from. Everything else is abandoned as my mind is distracted with art. I can’t help it.
I had the following conversation with my husband:
ME: You know, if I didn’t have to eat, or sleep, I think I could work on these projects for DAYS without stopping.
HIM: (stopping to look at me in my eyes) Is this like crack to you?
ME: YES! Yes it is, and I am addicted
note: The yarn above is one that I made by unraveling a woven fabric that I had from Tibet. I plied 3 strands together to give it strength. It has been a long time since I sat behind my spinning wheel. It felt so good – like having tea with an old friend.
Thoughts on art & sex
The other night, I found myself at home working on a crochet rug when I began to contemplate. . .
What is God’s purpose for art?
I asked myself, “Why did God create human beings with the ability and the desire to create?”
The first thing to pop into my head was “We are created in God’s image – God is the creator of all things. Therefore, we also create”
Okay, yes – of coarse, but that answer does not satisfy me. There has to be something more. When I am creating, I can see inside my soul. My heart overflows with passion. I can feel God, and I can hear His voice speaking. For me, creating is a spiritual experience, and I am wondering, what I am suppose to do with this. Does God have a purpose for art? Does He have a higher purpose for MY art? What if there is no other greater purpose than to give me the enjoyment of creating, and Him the pleasure of my artistic praises? What if art is like sex and it exists only for the sake of passion, as an expression of my soul?
I truly believe that God LOVES to create. He is creating all the time. Look around and you can see this is evident. Every child born was first knit together in the mother’s womb by God himself. Every morning & every evening God paints the sky. Every pallet of color that is found in nature is a perfect color scheme. I am reminded of a quote I once ready from G. K. Chesterton:
“It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that god makes every daisy separately but has never got tired of making them. . . . The repetition in Nature may not be mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.”
Is it that God so sweetly enjoys creating, that He wanted us to share in this experience with Him? Has he given us this gift simply for the edification of our souls?
Blue-Violet
Recently, I have been working on a fiber project. I kept running into a problem with the logistics until one night I woke up at 4 am with the solution. The next day, I was in the car with my 9 yr old daughter l when I mentioned that I was tired. Of course my daughter asked me why and I told her about solving my fiber project problem at 4 am.
I went on to explain:
“Sometimes when you are a creative person, you wake up in the middle of the night with an idea. It can be impossible to fall back to sleep until you try out your idea.”
My daughter’s reply:
“Yeah, that happened to me once. I woke up in the middle of the night wondering what purple & blue make when they are mixed together. I just couldn’t go back to sleep until I figured it out. So I went out to the kitchen & got some paper so I could mix blue & purple. It just made a purple color, but at least then I knew. Colors – you gotta love ’em.”
This little conversation warmed my heart.
Creative Genius
I woke up at 1 am on a Thursday morning. I was unable to sleep with this unsilenceable notion that God had something for me. So, I rolled over, turned on the light & picked up my laptop. This is what I found. It is a speech given by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. As I laid in bed & watched this video, tears streamed down my face as a resonate “YES!” was heard in my heart. I am not alone in this need to create, & the task of meeting this need is not left to me alone. I often have a difficult time expressing my thoughts with words, (this is why I am a visual artists), but on this night God gave me Liz. She has said in 20 minutes what my heart has been trying to tell me, but has struggled to find the words.
artbycarriejoy.com 