Create More Light: November 2017

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

#30mandalas Continues...

It's such a weird thing, to think about how other people see your artwork. Lauren (@llaurenb on Instagram), the amazing artist who inspired my #30mandalas project, once commented on IG about always being able to recognize my work by my style, saying, "No one else does this." She was talking about how I add illustrated elements and doodles to collage. It kind of floored me. Surely someone else has done this. Do I really have my own unique style? One that is recognizable?

Nowadays, it honestly seems like everything in the art world has been done. Artists are trying to do something different, but also we want to stay true to ourselves. What happens if the things we create resemble someone else's? We get accused of copying? We get accused of being unoriginal? What happens if and when our style looks like someone else's? Our work is less valuable, because we didn't get it out there first?

The online world of artists sharing and trying to be successful with our work can be a very confusing place.

While those can seem like negative thoughts, they don't feel like them to me, as they have been swirling around my brain as I continue to create these mandalas. The internet has changed the artistic world, and we are all just trying to grow and flourish along with the times. All we can do in the meantime is create, and be in love with the process of creation.

Here are the next few days of #30mandalas :

Water Mandala - Day 6

Mandala Headdress - Day 7

Hot Air Balloon Mandala - Day 8

Monday, November 6, 2017

#30mandalas : A New Project.

All artists have creative ruts. Some have specific reasons, some have possible reasons, and some unfortunately present themselves with no reason at all.

For the past year almost, I have been experiencing one of the largest creative ruts ever. I create things here and there, but am feeling utterly uninspired. This one has all the types of reasons mentioned above, which I will get into in a later post I am sure, once I sort out all of my thoughts.

But, I feel like I have just been letting it happen. I've been busy. I've been tired. I've been absolutely broke.

I've been making excuses.

Art is my passion, yet I cannot find 30 minutes to even doodle something on a piece of cardboard I have hanging around? I cannot make a collage using the hundreds of books and magazines sitting on the shelves right here in my studio? Oftentimes, artists emerge from creative ruts naturally. They let them run their course, then move on. Mine has been out of control, so I am taking action with a challenge.

My challenge is The 30 Mandalas Project, or #30mandalas for those following on social media. I got the idea from an amazing artist named Lauren Bergold, who I met through Instagram (@llaurenb - check her out!). She is a fellow mixed media artist who loves collage and doodles and mandalas and color. She also creates almost every single day. There were days that I would look at her work and wonder how she has time to create so many beautiful things. I slowly realized that it's more about making time, not having time.

One day, she posted a mixed media collage mandala that she created, inspired by my style. It looks like this:

I was in LOVE. Inspired by me?! I hadn't created much at all and felt so un-inspirational. I couldn't get the image out of my head. I began to buzz with ideas, inspired by her (inspired by me.... isn't this called a Mobius Strip or something??) and all of a sudden realized, "Holy crap, I am inspired."

I began jotting down the ideas of mixed media mandalas I wanted to create, itching to bring the first one to life. And that is how #30mandalas was born. I am working on creating 30 pieces, all mixed media, on 12" x 12" watercolor paper. I am inspired. I am creating. I am so overjoyed to have overcome this insane rut, and am so thankful to Lauren (she also has a blog - find her here!!) to have sparked the fire that I have been missing so much.

Here are the first five creations from The 30 Mandalas Project: