The Art of Creativity

'Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it'........... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What makes an environment conducive to create? In order for me to be creative and productive I find I need to be alone and away from the rest of the household. My work space is in the downstairs area of my home, it is not fancy but it serves the purpose. Since I moved into this house 8 years ago I have really enjoyed the large amount of counter space, it allows me to be able to spread out projects and also to leave pieces that are in progress laying somewhere that I don't have to be constantly moving them out of the way. As you can see I am a bit of a 'neat freak'. I like to know where my things are. My family seems to get a lot of enjoyment out of this little trait of mine, at my expense of course! My husband and son like to play a game called 'lets move something and see how long it takes for mom to notice.
I like order and routine in my life. All is right with the world as long as my space is neat and picked up so to speak. That happens to be a weird quirk of in my personality. Over the years I have learned to accept and even embrace some of these oddities about myself.
Not to self analyze or anything but often I think I am this way because I have a storm of ideas going on in my head just waiting to get out somehow. So in turn my enviroment needs to be calm and tranquil in order for me to weed through the chaos in my head. That's why starting my Etsy shop has been such a great outlet for me. Usually I have 2-3 projects going on at a time. I move from one to another depending on what gives me inspiration that day.
Speaking of inspiration I would like to talk a little about my materials They are such a big part of what I do and how I create. What I use has evolved over time. I started out fully hooking my pieces but because I am impatient I developed a technique to see results a little faster, it allows to incorporate more materials into my art. Mainly I hook with stretch velvets, I love the richness and texture it creates. Once my subject is hooked, I secure the back with an all purpose glue. Then I cut it out with an exacto knife, at this point I have I have a sort of applique to work with. Then the real fun begins because I get to decide whether I want to apply it to a fabric background or a decorative paper background. Once that is decided I further embellish with scrap booking elements to finish 'Viola!' a finished piece.
So where does all this inspiration come from you ask? Well I don't really know to tell you the truth. Sometimes It's a particular color or fabric that I just feel I have to use or at other times it is art that inspires me. I love to browse through art books to get ideas. For a while now I have been obsessed with the painter Vermeer, particularly 'Girl With a Pearl Earring'. She seems so mysterious to me, almost haunting in a way. I just wanted to capture that feeling somehow.

I did a recent reproduction piece called 'New Lady in Waiting'. When I first started I did a wall hanging based on the famous painting, but I was very frustrated then because I was just learning how to do shading on faces and I also think I was trying to figure what my style was. Since then I have made another attempt at it with greater success I think. It is not a direct copy of the painting 'Girl With a Pearl Earring', my hope is that my style emanates from it and that it evokes the feeling of that piece of artwork. I used it as sort of a study to learn more about myself and what I was capable of doing.

I hope this gives you a little insight into my world. I enjoyed very much sharing a part of myself with you. Just some final thoughts, I do what I do because it makes me feel alive. Maybe that's what art is, the universal feeling that what we do matters. Creating provides this for me..............Later, CadiGirl