So lately I am in one of those creative slumps.  Yes, I get them and I was trying to describe it to my fella.  What is best is putting it in terms of fishing.  When the fish are hot they are biting and pretty much jump in the boat.  Then you go through those times where nothing seems to want to get on the line and you track those fish.  It is something that is not forced but something from within and you just keep working at it.  So some of the things I do during those none-biting time.  I am in a time of sharing more and the creative process has stumped me.

I want to share a time lapse of a journal page I hold dear.  Not because of it’s creative genius.  The background is a napkin of all things but just the word in itself and what it means to me.  I recently responded to someone and said that art for me was every growing and evolving.  Something I am always mindful of.

MATERIALS LIST:  (DecoArt Products can be purchased online HERE)

• DecoArt Fluid Acrylics: (Green Gold, Primary Cyan, Translucent White, Carbon Black, Paynes Grey, Titanium White, Cobalt Teal Hue)
• DecoArt Media Gesso (White and Black)
• DecoArt Paper Decoupage
• DecoArt Spray Sealer (Matte)
• DecoArt Brush & Stencil Cleaner
• Pen:  Stabilo Aquarellable Pencil and Uniball Signo Pen (White)

See how this page came to life so easily in this VIDEO:

I read this the other day from this great article:

……not a day goes by that I don’t use a skill I learned during that seven-year apprenticeship. I wouldn’t have chosen this path, but I can see how everything I’ve done so far has prepared me for where I am today……as I got more comfortable with writing, I’ve started dipping my toe into other mediums…It’s a little scary to do workshops and large-scale conferences, but I’m excited to learn a new form of artistic expression.  The lesson? Our past can prepare us for our future, if we learn to embrace our present and never stop growing.

The work is never done

It seems we are never done creating, never done working, never done expressing what we have to share with the world.

1. Don’t long for a better life — live the one you have. “Wherever you are,” missionary Jim Elliott once said, “be all there.” Making the most of your current reality is the best practice for what’s to come. I write more about this in The Art of Work.
2. Don’t get stuck in a single pursuit — create a body of work. Like Picasso, keep looking for other skills and interests you can develop that will complement your core. You never know where a new fascination might lead.
3. Don’t be afraid to change mediums — keep trying new things. Sometimes, the way we get to our best work is by quitting something else. As evidenced in the life of Walt Disney, there is power in the pivot.

Those words ring so true.  Always be willing to grow and use the tools from your past.  You just never know where they will take you. Mine has taken me to places I never imagined.  For that I am grateful.  This slump shall pass and in the process there are new mediums to explore and new techniques to try!  Maybe today you will look at your napkins differently and see a background in them.

There’s no such thing as a self-made person.  Someone else believed, encouraged and invested in you.  Be grateful and be that someone for others.”