My Creative Space

I love looking at everyone's creative spaces each Wednesday and I've been meaning to join in for ages. This is my first go. I've got lots of reading to do today - some research and some for my Indie Biz course, and lots of brainstorming and ideas to come up with so this is where I'll be most of the morning!

Thanks to ninianlif for the free photoshop overlay I used in playing with the photo.

Check out other creative spaces at kootoyoo

subterranean - Illustration Friday

EDM Challenge #262 & #263

It's been years it seems since I posted any EDM sketch challenges here. Firstly, here is my shower. It's amazing how something you look at every day just isn't 'seen'! I am definitely moving on getting that new shower rail after this!
This one is 'draw your favourite cleaning product'. Favourite cleaning product? Well, as much as I hate cleaning I must admit I do have a favourite 'product'. Because I hate all products (they make me sneeze and the skin on my hands peel off, I make my own which is not only Jan friendly but environmentally friendly too. I've been using this for a decade or more now. What more recommendation could it need?
I'm wondering what others 'like' to clean with now actually. Do you go for 'smells nice' or 'cleans like paint stripper'? Or do you make your own?

Let's talk about inspiration..

Sometimes I can be as empty of inspiration as this patch of wall in my studio. Luckily it doesn't happen very often. The subject of inspiration has come up in my Indie Biz course, of course! The suggestion is to make an 'inspiration board' to pin up images and things that inspire and, with luck on your side, the juxtaposition will spark off some new ideas.

Great! I've been meaning to do this for ages, however, the last thing I need is yet another 'thing' in my tiny studio. Space is my biggest issue these days and I was reluctant to even think about another object vying for wall space. Luckily I have one wall which is almost entirely pinboard! I chose that section of it which is now near my 2nd desk (is it any wonder I have no space!) to turn into my inspiration board. A Poscar pen and a bit of acrylic paint and I now have... ta da!

An inspiration board!!

I wrote "dream a little dream"; I was thinking "dream a little dream of me"; I often think I 'need' to dream big; encouragement to dream little is what I need right now (while I'm dreaming big in my Indie Biz course, of course!) And here it is now - completely filled to overflowing!





Inspired? Show me your inspiration board, please!

3 reasons you should invest in an artwork (and whose)

1. It will improve your life.
Usually we are told that art is a good investment because it will increase in value (sometimes enormously) over time. This is true for artists who gain the right attention, hang in the right galleries and, dare I say it, know the right people. If you are looking for that kind of investment this is not the blog to advise you.

However, a small investment in art will improve your life. Art elevates us, speaks to us in nonverbal ways of things we never thought but always yearned to, it moves us. You can have this everyday simply by placing a work of art in your room where you work, in your home, wherever.



2. Buying art will help save the world.
Usually we are told that donating to various charities will help save the world. I don’t want to suggest that this is not true or that you shouldn’t make donations, but please consider the plight of the artist.

When we look at history we look at its art. Artists today reside in a place in society far from the traditional one with its studio spaces in shabby but trendy parts of Paris or Greenwich Village and its patrons who could be relied upon to emerge from the shadows at an exhibition and buy just enough works to keep the artist going until next time. There are no cheap studios today and no patrons. That means we are all needed to step up to play patron on occasions or artists will go the way of the recently extinct Thylacine. How will the history we are making today look without the diversity of vision artists bring?



3. Art is better than sex.
In researching this article I googled the phrase “art is better than sex” and apparently I am the first to claim this. I’m not surprised. It is really the new taboo in our society.

A statistic commonly bandied about by art-loving bureaucrats is that more people visit art galleries each year than go to sporting events. While this gives me a warm fuzzy, what does it indicate on the ‘sex’ front? We all know we would prefer to have sex than sit and watch some stuffy sport program, so the obvious conclusion is that art is better than sex.



Now that I have you convinced, whose art should you buy? I could suggest many artists but I will give you three that I myself have invested in (yep, I am the lucky owner of these 3 artworks) and have consequently found my life vastly improved - James P Gilmour, Emma Kidd and Annie Matheson (in order of appearance). Actually, I'm going to put in a plug for my etsy shop here too, if you don't mind.

I changed my banner...

What do you think? I just added my tag line and a little humor. Does it work?