Unleash
The Call: Unleashing the Sun — Jessica
Today was one of those days. One of those days that makes the burden of a 365 project almost unbearable. And to make it worse, what an awesome word! There is so much power in the word. Unleash. It makes me think of wild power and freedom. It reminds me of black lab, India, running down the road after she has escaped from the front door.
My shot? Well, just the late afternoon sun warming up the trees in our backyard. Unleash the power of the sun? A bit of a reach? Well, it will have to do. For today.
The Response: Creative License — Cheryl
When I saw Jessica’s tweet with the word UNLEASH this morning, I thought of my dog Caddie. A second later, the phrase, “Unleash your creativity” came to mind, and I knew what my shot would be. That drawer holding ink pads, embossing powder jars and other rubber stamping paraphernalia was custom designed and custom made for my studio. Dennis installed the cabinets recently, and I filled them with my stuff before the drywall screws had even cooled. I am amazed by how much more creative I’ve allowed myself to be in the past few weeks. Those cabinets are one reason: with paints, markers, stamps, paper, etc. within reach, it’s easy to be artsy for ten or twenty minutes at a time. The other stimulus for my creative vigor is that issue of Art Journaling magazine you see on top of the drawer. Art journaling (my first one is open atop the magazine) is a marvelously liberating pastime. There’s no wrong way to do it. I’ve painted on my pages, stamped, added my own drawings, glittered, stenciled — you name it. For now, the writing is secondary, and that’s perfectly fine. I’ve given my right brain a taste of freedom, and it wants to remain off-leash from here on out.
I’m sorry about your day, Jessica, and your shot. I got awfully tired of shooting trees when I was doing my poetry 365. I hope tomorrow’s Call works well for you.
It wasn’t a bad day, really. I shouldn’t have complained so much — it was just full of obligations that kind of kept me away from my camera. It was frustrating because I had some really great ideas….just no time to attempt to execute them. Oh well!
I love your shot — I’ve longed to try art journaling but I just don’t have that much “stuff” (stamps and paints and all) and I’m afraid it would be such an expense! Ah Stampington!!
Only 5 more months until we can send in our little blog for consideration! ; )
Actually, Jessica, all you need to get started with art journaling is a journal of some sort and a pen or pencil. In that issue of Art Journaling, I was reading about Ingrid Dijkers, who likes to use interior primer, cardboard from packaging and Elmer’s glue in her journals. Check out her site: http://ingriddijkers.com/ Another great thing about art journaling is that you don’t have to show your work to anybody else, unless you want to. Wouldn’t it be nice if we lived within five miles of each other? You could come over and use all my stuff.
Oh, and what’s up with the “only five more months until we can send our little blog in for consideration”? Do you mean for publication in Artful Blogging? Why five months? Is that the next window of opportunity for submission? You’ve gotten my attention, girl.
Oh man! I would be there in a heart beat too! I was just drooling over that picture of your new studio and all those pens!!!
As for Artful Blogging, you can submit your own blog for publication after it has been active for six months…but maybe they would count our personal blogs and give us a bit of slack? What do you think?