Nostalgia...

In every real man

a child is hidden that wants to play.

Friedrich Nietzsche

A few days ago,

i was thinking about my childhood

and how fortunate i was

to have such loving parents

and so many cool toys. :-)

I wanted to share with you

some of the toys i remember most.

i'm guessing some of you

might recognize a few of these. 

The 1970's version of an ipad.

Even then, there were selfies.

giggle.

This actually played music.

I was so impressed. 

Who hasn't played with Fisher Price?!

i remember the pig was my favorite.

Just cause he was so damn cute.

Yeah. Barrel of monkeys.

We spent hours playing with these little guys...

hooking one arm into the other.

Why we didn't end up in an asylum

after 2 hours of this

i'll never know. ;-)

colored lights,

the freedom to create what we wanted,

and a dark room...

what more could an artist want?

DON'T BREAK THE ICE...

You had to slowly knock out the ice blocks

without breaking the whole surface.

If the surface broke,

and your little guy fell through,

you were scarred for life.

And you lost the game.

Double whammy.

Who remembers these?!?

Basically, a free trip

to the emergency room.

I smashed more fingers, wrists and elbows with these babies

than i care to recall.

(yes, elbows. I sucked)

For a while back in the 70's

telephone pole wires everywhere 

had these "Clackers" hanging from them.

This is how we rated

whether a town was cool or not.

"Yeah but dad, they're probably really BORING here!!

I see no clackers ANYWHERE!"

Today's Canadian health & safety version.

(yawn...)

Poor kids. They don't know what they're missing. 

ah.... Doodle Art.

An overdose of fun.

And of butterflies.

These large format posters

were sold in tubes back then,

along with the markers.

Kind of like a huge coloring book page

on its own.

They all had specific themes.

My favorite theme was the underwater ocean one...

For obvious reasons.

In one of my past lives,

i was a fish.

Ah... another free trip to the hospital...

Basically, a pen with a metal tip 

that you plugged in until it was hot enough to burn wood.

Or skin.

Or the kitchen table. 

It came with several different tips,

and a series of different wood designs...

Flowers, horses, scary clowns.

Whenever i needed to threaten my brothers,

this was the object of choice.

Who needs Mafia when you have a wood burning gadget?

...and the Etch a sketch... ;-)

Do any of these resonate with any of you?

Did you have a favorite toy as a child,

or a favorite thing to do?

I have tons more i could share

but i'll keep those for another post.

Thanks for hanging out.

xox

The well has dried up. Go figure.

hi everyone.

My, how time flies...

Can't believe it's been a week since i last posted!

(watercolor and micron pen on paper)
There's been very little creativity in my world lately.
I've hit a wall.
A dry spell.

I could always push myself and post something anyway,
but it would most likely bore the hell out of everyone,
and i don't want to do that.

I don't want to be boring.

Plus, I'm not in the practice of pushing - 
myself or others.

Things always get done eventually.

There's enough pressure in the world already.

Living a creative life is an ebb and flow.

Like the tides.

As much as art is an obsession for me,
there is still a need to shut down now and then
and pull away from the paints and pens.

Recharge.

Refill myself.

Breathe in the good,
breathe out the bad. 

Walk on the frozen beach.

Read poetry instead of twitter.

Look at the moon and stars in the night sky.

 (art junk table, piling up)

I've intentionally pulled myself away lately
from social media - something that feels
more right to me with each passing day.

I've got very little art for you,
but i've gathered a few little inspiring videos.
At least i thought they were inspiring.

I hope you like them.

Chuck Close - an american artist who sees through different eyes.

And this - monks making sand mandalas...

So beautiful -

a wonderful lesson in patience

and the impermanence of everything.

including us.

And this. 

How could one not be inspired by this?

A reminder that art is everywhere

and one vision can change lives.

And this one always makes me smile...

so cool.

Thanks for visiting here.

Wishing you a green light kinda day. 

xox

(Linking this to Paint Party Friday, Create Every Day,

Artists in Blogland and Mandarin Orange Monday!)

some art materials i use on a daily basis...

i love happy bunny... :-)

i want to post some of the materials i use,

so that some of you can see that we don't always need

the best of the best to CREATE. I use most of these materials on a daily

(or almost daily) basis.

My watercolor brushes. I usually always gravitate towards the bigger one,
and the one on the bottom (with the white handle). As long as you have a big brush, and smaller one, you're ok. Prices range, obviously, but i don't think you should have to sell your house to buy a brush. ;-) 

My trusty micron pens. These are .05 but i have a few .01 tips lying around too. I prefer the smaller tips, .01

My watercolor set. As you can see, a few of the little compartments need to be filled again. Funny how we always tend to use the same colors. The orange and red at the top are still the original colors. Not colors i naturally gravitate to.

I buy a few watercolors in tubes and simply squeeze the watercolor paint out of the tube whenever i need more. I know there are fancier shmancier watercolor sets, but this one is small and portable - so i love it. It's a Windsor Newton, but i know there are tons of brands out there. Start with a DollarStore set if you want to test it out first to see if you like it.

My brush tip markers. i love these because they don't bleed at all and you can do thick or thin lines with the same tip. You can always buy just the ONE marker to give it a try and see how you like it before buying a package.

i love these color pencils... love the weight of them in my hand and they are SO friggin' smooth... 

a few extra markers - the ones on the left are BIC markers (thin point) and the bleed far too much for my liking. They're great on glossy paper (photographic paper) but i use them very little. The ones on the right are Sharpies. Excellent. 

This is the one material i don't use on a daily basis...
but whenever i DO use it, i enjoy them. Oil pastels.
The cheapo brand from Michael's. 

Some artists feel that art isn't valuable art unless it's done with expensive materials. I'm not one of those artists. I saw masterpieces done with Crayola wax crayons. I think the important thing is for YOU to be comfortable with the materials you use, and to be aware of what's out there. Sure, a $100 box of pastels will probably feel better than a $20 one, but you may be ok with the $20 one...and it may feel totally ok to you. You'll still get the feel of pastels and if you discover along the way that you DO love it, you can always buy more expensive brands later. 

A few of my acrylic paints... in my green plastic basket. :-)

Liquid acrylics, from the Dollar Store. A few are a bit more expensive, from Michael's. I think i may continue buying the more expensive ones. They just feel better to me on paper.

I especially love these for journaling. You can pour the paint directly on the paper and it's easy peasy clean up. 

These i use less often too, but whenever i do, i love them.
Dry pastels i bought like a gazillion years ago, and only recently began using them. Much messier than some of the other material i use, but still - for those who like to get their hands dirty - this will do it. Plus, i love that it's simple to use. This and paper, and you're good to go.

Paper is probably the most important material for me. 

The one i'm willing to spend more money for. i use a variety of papers, depending on what i'm doing and how serious the work is. My journal is basically a black hard cover book (with spiral) and thick watercolor like paper. As long as the paper is not too thin for journaling. Some people don't mind the paper rolling when water is added to it, but it drives me nuts. So i prefer a thicker paper, even if it's not top of the line watercolor paper. As long as it's thicker and able to hold water and gesso and mod podge, and markers, i'm good. ;-)

Painting on paper has brought me a lot of freedom and released a lot of the pressure we sometimes feel when we're painting on canvas. We all know we can wipe a canvas clean or paint over it if we don't like what we see, but i find with paper, it's a much more 'freeing' feeling from the beginning. It may be psychological, i don't know. I only know that it feels good for me to paint on paper, so i do it. ;-) 

Sometimes i use cheapo DollarStore journals like this one... simple, easy to carry around, perfect for jotting down ideas or quick sketches. A little harder to find ones with blank white paper (without lines) though.

a little peek in my semi organized art supplies cabinet. I see photos on blogs sometimes of studios and art supplies and i think "HOLY SHIT!! Where are they going with all these supplies?"

I basically try to buy what i need for now. I never run out of supplies, but i'm not stocked for a nuclear meltdown either. ;-) I always have an extra journal book, cause that's more important to me than anything.

Maybe some people think there's gonna be a shortage of art supplies in the years to come and they're just stocking up?

So i guess i'll buy from them when and if the time comes. :-)  

Some of my brushes - some in pretty sad condition. But i keep them all, even the ones that are all torn up. I still use them when i'm painting. 

Who doesn't need a big box of crayola wax crayons?! 

These are the watercolor tubes (and a few gouache) i mentioned earlier, the ones i use to refill my little watercolor set. I've gathered these for years. It's amazing how long they last.

And last but not least... another happy bunny, to end this post on a high note.
These little notebooks are great. Portable, small and funny. What more do you need to jot down your fantastico ideas?

i know there are surely some materials i use and haven't posted, but in general, when i'm making art, this is all i need. As for canvas, i buy the higher quality ones when i'm doing a serious painting, but i also buy a few cheap canvas panels at the DollarStore, just for playing with paint.  

It's important not to feel like we need a certain brand, or a certain experience, to be able to make art.

EVERYONE can make art.

Not everyone does, but everyone CAN. We are all creative beings, and while most of us have stifled this creativity, for fear of not being good enough or not being seen by society as serious enough, I believe the need to create is always there - the need to express, to share, to connect, whether you do it with cooking or writing or dancing or playing music.

If one could only make art with expensive materials, then art would only be for the rich. And we all know that's not true. I've seen some crappy art done with expensive material, and some fascinating art done with a pencil. Don't ever feel like you need every material available to make good art. The only thing you really need is the heart to do it.

Thank you for all your kind comments. I hate that i can't reply to each and every one of them, but i hope you all know how much your support means to me.

Click here to read about how Henri Matisse felt a deep need to create, regardless of circumstances or materials. So inspirational.

Anyone who stands for freedom is on my pedestal

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains,

but to live in a way that respects and enhances

the freedom of others.

Nelson Mandela

It's portrait time again...

The weather was fine last night.

Far more comfortable for an evening of painting.

First block out the light and dark colors...

I usually use a bigger brush (this one) at this stage and a smaller one

for the details in the end...

can't have Nelson Mandela without strong colors...

strong colors for a strong man.

And there you have it.

I guess i could have made more of an effort to hide those words

"CAMPFIRE SONG" in his hair.  ;-)

Truth be told - i never noticed them much

until i was done. 

Several years ago, I read his book "LONG WALK TO FREEDOM"

and it reminded me of how so many of us take our own freedom for granted.

a lovely signature, wouldn't you say?

While i am a huge advocate of "knowing thyself"...

i also believe we make the world a better place

when we open our hearts to others,

and understand that there is room for everyone.

I still don't understand what most wars are about.

I suspect i never will.

Call me naive...

So here's the book i'm currently reading and loving...

You can often tell the character of a person

by the words he (or she) writes... especially if they are personal letters.

This is a book of letters Vincent wrote to his brother and friend, Theo, and

your love of the man grows with each page read.

His words speak to me of kindness and struggle and generosity and loneliness... and such heart.

Here are 3 passages that i found beautiful:

Oh, if only every artist had something to live on,

and to work on, but as that is not so,

i want to produce, to produce a lot and with a

consuming drive. And perhaps the time will come

when we can extend our business and be

more help to others.

*****

Come now, isn't it almost an actual religion

which these simple Japanese teach us,

who live in nature as though they themselves

were flowers?

*****

...you cannot study Japanese art, it seems to me,

without becoming much gayer and happier,

and we must return to nature in spite of

our education and our work in a world of convention.

*****

Beautiful, yes?

Being an artist sometimes means

feeling out of place in the world.

It's important for us as artists

to see the value in what we do.

To feel good about why we do it.

Too many of us still try to justify why we create,

or we downplay it as "just a hobby".

We create because we must.

Van Gogh created because he needed to.

Because it made sense of what he was feeling at the time.

His words remind me that there is room for everyone,

that many of us face the same struggles (whether in 1850 or 2012),

and his writings make me feel at home again.

Thank you all for visiting.

xox