Hosted by Olivia Lin of Atiliay |
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“Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see.” |
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Here we are at our fourth and final week! Let's revisit all the different materials, techniques, and prompts we've explored and bring them together for our final days of the un-slump. I chose “Horizon” as our prompt since it's the point where land, sky, and sea meet. Layers is our technique, a way we can utilize all the materials we have tried so far-- paper, text, dry and wet mediums--and combine them into one piece. All the suggestions and ideas below are optional and open to your interpretation. There are no right or wrong answers, just how you feel and what you want to express. Follow your curiosity, notice what you gravitate towards, and enjoy the process that unfolds. |
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ENVISION & EXPRESS - Materials to use: gather all the materials you've used previously and/or any you'd like to use but haven't had a chance to. You can add as much or as little as you'd like of each depending on what feels fun and good to you! This is our last prompt, let's enjoy it! :)
- For paper / collage / photography inspiration: Tree, Line, by Zander Olsen
- For text inspiration: Stippled hand lettering by Xavier Casalta
- For dry materials inspiration: Helen Ahpornsiri uses dried botanicals to create beautiful images
- For wet materials inspiration: Mom makes water outlines with her kids (may be fun to borrow this technique, block out an image with paper or tape, then add watercolor all around to create the outline! I also wanted to share Robert Roth's landscape paintings.
- Other words related to “horizon”: perspective, vista, range, field of vision, skyline, distance, reach, remoteness, future, possibilities.
“No borders, just horizons - only freedom.” - Amelia Earhart
Ada Limón's poem "In Praise of Mystery” was engraved on NASA's Europa Clipper, which launched into the horizon and up to space on October of 2024. The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles to reach Jupiter in April 2030.
Arching under the night sky inky
with black expansiveness, we point
to the planets we know, we
pin quick wishes on stars. From earth,
we read the sky as if it is an unerring book
of the universe, expert and evident.
Still, there are mysteries below our sky:
the whale song, the songbird singing
its call in the bough of a wind-shaken tree.
We are creatures of constant awe,
curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom,
at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow.
And it is not darkness that unites us,
not the cold distance of space, but
the offering of water, each drop of rain,
each rivulet, each pulse, each vein.
O second moon, we, too, are made
of water, of vast and beckoning seas.
We, too, are made of wonders, of great
and ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds,
of a need to call out through the dark.
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TRY YOUR HAND AT… Layering All The Materials You've Used So Far To Create A Mixed Media Piece Here are a few ways you can approach this… - Focus on one layer at a time, using it to inspire what comes next. Start with the background (since a lot of this layer will most likely get covered up, you can go with something bold and bright so it can still peek out under the layers.) Once your background is done, notice what you want to cover up or show then pick your next material and create another layer. Keep repeating this process until you're piece is done.
- Go in with wild abandon and start adding things to your paper without thinking too much of it! Let your intuition guide you, work quickly so you don't get caught up in worrying about perfectionism, doubting, or hesitating. Have all your materials and adhesives nearby so it's easy to grab different things.
- Try a more measured approach: split your paper into 5 or more horizontal sections. Fill in each section as a way to represent a different material or prompt we've used.
- Create your own “paint” by numbers piece. Outline your drawing / subject / shapes. Then fill in each section with the color you'd like while using different materials in each.
Below are a few examples from my sketchbooks: the white/gold page is about replacing negative talk / beliefs (I wrote them out as the base / background layer) with the truth / reality / positive affirmations (I wrote these out on top, added paint, paper, more writing, and embroidery floss). Next to it is a larger scale mixed media 100 Day Project that used lots of materials and layering! The bottom sketchbook page has flaps that open up with different images on each one representing the life cycle of a plants / flowers from seed in dirt to being in bloom. |
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We are almost at the end--keep going! Whichever prompt you're on--keep creating. It can be easy to lose motivation after 3 weeks of this or get really busy that it's hard to make time (life happens!) You can always jump back in whether you missed a day or a week, whether a a few days have passed or many. It can be challenging and sometimes you may need to give yourself a little extra push or pep talk to start again but once you do, it'll be worth it. Have a great start to your final week! Talk to you soon, |
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PS: Don't forget to take a look at your Flickr Gallery to see what our community has been making! The link is below. There are some AMAZING pieces being created! I am still catching up on uploading photos but hopefully by the time you get this I'm caught up :) |
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IF YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS SERIES & WOULD LIKE TO, HERE ARE A FEW WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT MY WORK Visit my website & shop for the Creative Spark Deck, prints, PDFs, and more. Share with a friend! There's nothing like good old fashioned word of mouth and the more the merrier :) Thank you for being a part of this and your support! |
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The beautiful PNW
Renton, WA 98058, United States |
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