7 ways to shake up your art schedule !

Now that winter is fast disappearing and we’re all getting back into the same old routine again - you might be feeling a bit stuck in the grind, and worrying that your all-too-well-known timetable is cramping your style, and your creativity.

If any of this sounds familiar, you’ll want to read these top tips for shaking up your schedule. Sometimes, just moving things around a little and making minor alterations to what you’re used to can make the daily routine seem refreshed and new.

1) Make a point of taking a mid-morning/afternoon break. It can be for coffee, a light meal, or even just a walk around. Move about, stretch, and try to leave the studio for a short time. It’s tempting to spend all day working when inspiration strikes, but often a short break will help you get more out of the time.

2) Put time aside for experimentation. This could be with a color that you don’t usually work with, or a material you don’t often use. Alternatively you might be exploring new subject matter or themes. You’ll enjoy the time you spend experimenting, and you’ll go back to your planned work with more energy and, perhaps, more ideas.

3) Swap your scheduled times around. If you generally work with acrylics in the morning and clay in the afternoon, try doing it the other way around. You might be surprised by how much difference that can make to your perspective when you’re engaging in either activity. Small things like this can make a significant difference.

4) Take your work outside. If you’re beginning to find the studio atmosphere oppressive, but don’t want to take a break from work, take your work outside with you. Locate a spot nearby where you can create undisturbed, and where you can get a breath of fresh air at the same time.

5) Schedule in time with friends or family. Interaction with other people will often help you refresh your ideas and thoughts, because of the connection with someone who thinks a bit differently. Also, giving yourself some social time will prevent you feeling isolated or sick of the same four walls – both of which can be problems for artists who generally work alone.

6) Find out what’s on in your local area. There might be an event that is relevant to a project you’re working on, or if there’s something that touches on an area of general interest to you it might give you material for a future project. Plus, similarly to social time, it will get you out of the studio environment, and help you take time to rearrange your thoughts.

7) Consider new ways to market your work. This is important to your career anyway, if you’re a professional artist, but it will also help you to clarify certain things about your work in your own mind. In addition, if you decide to build your portfolio, present work at an art fair, accept a new commission or anything of this nature, you will have a new project – and a new deadline – to work around. This can be both motivating and rejuvenating.
http://the-pastel-cat-artist.com/

Overcoming artsits block

Have you ever experienced the dreaded creative block, that horrible feeling you can't shake that you'll never produce a single decent artwork again ? Yes I have it but I'm putting it down to having to get myself aligned again and back into the thread of normal life after a month overseas. Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it ! Here are some wonderful tips that made me feel better about my current state of inertia, maybe they will help you because it's not just creative block, sometimes it a life block where you just can't get motivated to do anything.

Beating Artist’s Block Tip 1:
It's the fear of not being able to do it that is making you feel you've lost your inspiration. To get rid of the fear, you must approach your painting as if it were a job and DO IT.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 2:
Force yourself to set a goal of ‘X’ number of paintings. Copy if you must, use kitchen tools as models if you must, but simply getting into the paint itself will begin to inspire you, even if you don't like the subject matter. There's always something to learn.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 3:
Change media. If acrylic, go to oil. If oil, go to printmaking.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 4:
Search for new painters on the web, using Google's image search. Go to galleries. Try to find an artist who's doing something that appeals to you, something that the voice inside you says, "I could do that" or "I'd like to be able to do that." Secure an image and copy it to find out what that artist did and how. Then think about recombining ideas.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 5:
Play the "what if?" game. What if I painted this old subject matter on a tire? What if I put together a still life of bricks? How can I use a new material, a new subject matter, a new style. Be wild in your considerations.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 6:
Remember that everyone has fallow periods. I don't consider them really fallow, just the subconscious taking a breather and getting ready to take a different direction.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 7:
Check out some books on creative thinking to give you a jolt.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 8:
Take a trip to somewhere you've never considered, even if it's only to a local town you've never explored. Always take a sketchbook, everywhere you go. Or a digital camera. Imagine yourself a Lilliput or a giant to change your perspective.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 9:
Keep a journal of drawings and writings for a month. Pick something from the journal to paint. Review it in six months or a year.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 10:
Compile a scrapbook of family portraits -- not just faces, but each family member doing something typical -- a ‘candid’ sketch with writing about the person, the time, your impressions. Keep it in a journal for your kids' kids.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 11:
Go to a senior citizen center and draw the people there. Talk to them about their life stories. Try to express your response in mixed media using copies of their old photographs, etc.
Beating Artist’s Block Tip 12:
Take a class that forces you to produce in a structured environment.

Where does the time go ?

Just back from a month overseas and how wonderful it’s been not to have to blog, spend hours sitting at the computer problem solving website issues, getting frustrated with it all and wondering why would anyone choose to spend time in such a fruitless pastime. Here I am doing all those things again my first day working and why ? well I chose to change my wordpress theme. It looked good until I tried to find where my blogs had gone only to realise my archives were only apparent on some of my pages and not all of them. Being away from the computer gives you a whole other perspective on the amount of time most of us spend looking at one and my personal strategy from now on is to spend a lot less time on it and more on my art. The first thing I did was clean up and unsubscribe from any unnecessary mail, then left some facebook groups and suddenly there is a lot less in the inbox and more time available since I don’t have to deal with all that useless stuff. What about the ‘funny’ emails friends send ? well I’m going to delete them all but I’m thinking of writing to everyone and asking nicely if they could take me of their list of recipients and hope no one is offended.

4th place winner

I'm really pleased to have won 4th place in an online art exhibition recently.........

Our theme for the August Art Competition was “Seasons”. The submission process and competition for the artists began in the middle of July and ended on August 29, 2011. We received 394 entries from 13 different countries from around the world, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Poland, Croatia, Russia, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hungary, Romania, Greece and Denmark. In addition, we had entries from 21 different states. We received a broad selection of media including, watercolors, oils, acrylics, collage, digital art, fabric, photography, mixed media, ink, charcoal and pencils. Overall, we tried to include these different media and styles. We believe that the show is representative of this as well.

Due to the volume and the quality of the entries received this month we also included 55 artists who were chosen for Special Recognition. The artists in this group could have easily been included in the upper tier of our winners, as their art is exceptional. In addition, most of the artists who were not chosen could have easily received Special Recognition awards, as their art was also outstanding. We hope that you will take the time to also enjoy their beautiful art work too.

http://www.lightspacetime.com/exhibitions/current-art-exhibition-seasons/
http://the-pastel-cat-artist.com/

The Cat Retreat

They don't know it yet, but today we take the cats to their holiday home. It will probably be a bit emotional leaving them but they will be in safe caring hands I know. Rueben will take things in his stride as he always does even if he is a bit perplexed by what's going on. Fergus will probably be quite upset and we know Sasha will be spare for at least a couple of days, hiding under her blanket. I think they know something is going on because they keep creeping into the room where our suitcases are. Leaving on holiday is so exciting and my second trip to the UK,  I can't wait to get on the plane. There is something liberating about leaving responsibilities at home, no meals to cook, no cats to feed, no house to clean, oh yes !

Echidna not a cat !

Just a couple of days ago I spotted this little critter on the edge of the carpark when we pulled in. It's the first time I've seen one not in captivity. Those sharp spines are the only thing he has to defend himself with and yet he let me get very close and even touch him gently on the back. The Echidna is one of Australia's native animals and features on our 5¢ coins. He appeared to be in good health and it was thrilling to get this picture to add to my collection of animal photographs.

Brave Women

Just a few days ago I ran into a friend I haven't seen in a long time. Only weeks ago I'd heard that her husband had died which was quite shocking since he was only in his 60's. I knew he'd gone to hospital for surgery and when I couldn't make contact I knew instinctively something was wrong. Childhood sweethearts they'd been together 47 years. She told me she'd struggled to nurse him at home to the end after a diagnosis of cancer in his bladder and lymph nodes. Life can seem so cruel at times and listening to her story I was struck by how brave she was in the face of overwhelming sadness, and wondered not for the first time about the incredible spirit some people have. We laughed and joked and made irreverent fun while she told me what had happened and I found myself amazed at her capacity to still have a sense of humour after the loss  she and her family had endured. She has battled cancer herself on and off for at least 25 years. Where I wonder do they get the strength to go on ? She says she can't fall apart because she doesn't want to burden her family. Now she lives with her daughter and son in law who have supported her through this ordeal and she is getting back into her art once again, a therapy I guess. I salute all those brave women out there.