Studio Bits, Sketchy Bits, and a Little Inspiration List.

A peek at my studio with a little list of inspirations for your week. Also, I read a poem for the second week of National Poetry Month.

This past week ushered in the close of my 39th year aboard this space rock. J made it a lovely birthday week, showering me with thoughtfulness, generosity, and love. I have to say I felt every bit my age as I closed out the week nursing a persistent muscle injury from work. Flowers and pizza and a little wine made me feel sweetly celebrated, however, and I am so excited for the final year in my 30s. It’s going to be one for the books.

A closeup of my birthday bouquet.

Because of the state of my back, I wasn’t able to sit at my easel much this week, so painting is on hold for a few more days until I find out what’s going on and how quickly I might mend. So, my art practice was done mostly from the sofa this week. As I gathered the drawing supplies I would need from my studio, I took a couple of shots to give you a peek at my creative space.

I have stacks of drawing pads, notebooks, shipping materials, bags of clay and cardboard ready for just the right project.

It’s pretty chaotic. As an artist that works in multiple mediums at any given time, I accumulate a lot of ‘materials’. Some people, like a person I happen to live with for instance, might consider this a bunch of junk. But to me, it’s POTENTIAL. I’ve told you this about me before, that I see potential everywhere and this leads me to accumulate a lot of things that don’t necessarily have a purpose yet, but may SOMEDAY. I try to keep my supplies as organized as possible, but sometimes I get caught up more in the creating than the cleaning up afterwards.

I try to keep all of my art and writing and clay books in my studio to flip through when I need inspiration.

I’ve got painting supplies, drawing supplies, canvas, papers, bags of clay, greenware that never got fired, bisque that never got glazed, clay tools, glazes, underglazes, cameras, lenses, magazines for collaging, books for inspiration, notebooks for ideas, every drawing and writing tool I could possibly need and every scrap paper I was moved by in some small way over the last three years.

This messy surface is where most of the magic happens. It’s hard to believe in this state.

It’s not as bad as I make it sound, just a little cluttered and a little messy. But it’s full of things I like and make me excited to create and that’s really the point. It may look like a mess to someone else, but to me it’s piles of dreams and hopes and goals.

Sketches of dinnerware and unfired clay beads patiently waiting for the kiln.

I’m anxiously awaiting my return to ceramics so I can get all of my clay beads finally fired and really dive deep on a project I’ve been wanting to move forward for a couple of years now. I’m also looking forward to working on new dinnerware pieces for J and I. We regularly use a couple of dinner bowls that I made and I want to add some plates and condiment bowls as well. Here’s hoping I move up the waitlist soon. ✨

My creative practice took place entirely from the sofa this week.

While I didn’t get to accomplish much creatively this week, I did do a little ‘analog' sketching with some white charcoal, ink, and graphite. It’s nice to hop back and forth between that and digital as it forces my brain to adapt to the limitations of each.

I have found as an artist that when I’m not creating, I’m usually soaking up inspiration wherever I can find it and this week’s limited capabilities found me digging into the good stuff:

1. First off, this week’s poetry reading to celebrate National Poetry Month features a poem by Jennifer Tonge titled Self Portrait at 38. (It’s a year off from my age, but it captures the sentiment.) You can follow along HERE.

2. Helena Bonham Carter reading ALLLLLLLL the poetry. <3

3. This pastel artist whose work I adore SO VERY MUCH.

4. I’ve been daydreaming about gorgeous, sun-drenched Sicily and thinking about dropping everything and hitchhiking my way over.

5. Realizing that it’s okay to want to do ALL the art things if you turn out to be Taika Waititi.

6. Grateful for those that rush into crises with food, not guns, not bombs. Donate to World Central Kitchen here.

So, yeah. I hope you found some inspiration in today’s post.

As ever, thank you so much for being here.

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