I crawled around a bit today, trying to hoover under the sofa.
Today the first sketchcrawl of 2010 also took place, so I also did some drawings. I didn’t crawl during the sketching though, not good for the knees…
Feb
27
2010
category: creativity
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Feb
25
2010
I have this thing about art supplies. I get all happy and giddy when walking into an art supply store. I don’t necessarily have to buy anything (although I wouldn’t mind), just seeing all the colourful paper and the paints, and smell the paper makes me happy.
Every once in a while I do like to buy supplies though. Last week I went out to get a tube of China White waterpaint, and I purchased a better paintbox. Back at home I ordered a few things online, including a Derwent Safari Journal, several small canvases (5×5cm and 10×10cm), one Winsor & Newton Artist watercolour half pan (finally checking myself if it’s worth it or not) and a small paintbox. The paintbox I accidentally found in that online shop for 1 euro, and it holds 12 half-pans (oh, I finally figured out the difference between half-pans and regular, I have half ones = square, and regular = rectangle).
I like the small paintboxes (I bought several cough), very light and easy to open / close.
I also like the feel of the Derwent journal. The paper feels nice and smooth, but not too smooth (like the Moleskine sketchbook). I’ve read that it doesn’t do to well with classic watercolour, however, I use pen and a watercolour wash mostly and I think it’ll do just fine (unlike that Moleskine ;) ). I like how the outside cover feels nice and soft. Now to think of something to draw in it…
Feb
24
2010
category: creativity
This morning I drew my washing up brush. It has a compartment for the liquid and when you press the button on the top, the liquid comes out a bit. I bought a bunch of them when I found them, because I quite like them. They feel nice in my hand and comfortable to use.
Earlier I drew my toy mini car. When I grow up I want a real mini. Yes, with these colours!
I found a new paintbox for my watercolours. My previous one, though not really broken, annoyed me. Every time I would toss it around or hold it sideways or upside down, they pans would fall out and everything got messed up.
With this new one, the pans sit firmly between two metal bits, and I have enough space for two small tubes (black and white) and my (water)pensils.
Feb
10
2010
I used one of my hemp sproutingbags to store some sweet potatoes. They liked it so much they started to grow.
Feb
7
2010
category: creativity
I made the first drawing in August of 2009, of my precious toy. The second one I made today. Months and months of not drawing…
Feb
5
2010
category: creativity
I spent 15 minute batches clearing and cleaning the desk and it went surprisingly well. The windowsill had (a lot) of dirt on it and some dead bugs, so I let my all-purpose cleaner do its magic — spray on, leave for 10 minutes or so, and then wipe off. Works like a charm.
I’ll have to figure out what to put where, for easy access, and I want all my creative stuff together. This means I need room for my pens, notebooks, yarn, needles, camera and such, and possible my seed-collection. It would make sense keeping that all together…
Feb
1
2010
I’ve spent a few 10/15 minute dashes clearing out the desk. I got rid of some stuff and put other stuff in a better place. Found some sketchbooks in the process. I’ve almost got it cleared out and might even buy a chair tomorrow.
The side part slides in, very handy.
Jan
31
2010
category: creativity
I bought a crochet-pattern on Etsy for a bull terrier and made it. My youngest sister has a bull terrier and a Bernese mountain dog, and I made this one for her. I hope to find a nice pattern for the Bernese so I can make that too, or I’ll adjust an existing pattern to make it look like it (for a mobile charm for instance). Hopefully, she’ll like it.
TG said ‘Rude dog!!’ :P
(Now, who remembers Rude dog? Come on now, raise your hand!)
Jan
24
2010
Hidden on the left part of that photo you may (or probably not) see my desk. I have stuff on it and under and next to it. Though I did tidy up the rest a bit (really!), my desk has remained a collection of… things…
I don’t remember if I’ve ever really used it.
Right now I barely do creative stuff, and I wondered. Do I need a desk? Do I need a dedicated place in my flat to burst out into creative outbursts? A place away from my sofa and laptop. A place only for creative stuff (with a nice view of the park, I may add). You’d think I could do without, that I could do creative stuff everywhere. Do I use this as an excuse to not do anything creative (because the desk has so much stuff on it, I couldn’t possibly do anything really creative), or do I deny myself a calm area for my creativity (because I don’t get myself in that mode linked to the desk)?
I think my brain will implode soon. Advice needed!
p.s. I don’t even have a proper chair and I would really need a proper chair…
Jan
22
2010
category: creativity
I’ve had a hard time trying to get into some form of stability. I had a bad cold after Christmas and I thought it went away, but it came back. Whenever I feel ill / weak, eating doesn’t go well either, which in turn makes me more weak and causes highly undesirable weight-loss. I take my (many many) vitamins and take my medication, and make my food and try to handle it all. Unfortunately, I haven’t felt happy or stable for quite a while.
I don’t seem to have the energy to do much, fun or needed, which results in TG doing my laundry, which makes me feel bad for not doing it myself. I do want to do fun stuff, but I feel so (physically) tired and my head just doesn’t want to work straight. I so very badly want to do fun stuff and crochet and draw and be creative, but most of the time it feels like the button for my creative juices got stuck on ‘off’ and I don’t know how to turn it on again. It makes me sad.
I’ve comforted myself by watching other people’s drawings and bursts of creativity, and sort of feeding on that. I especially look forward to Michael Nobbs’ 4th Beany and have splurged a little on some new crochet-books (I only had a twenty year old one…). I need to re-think my attempts to get some sort of schedule, I think I’ve based it too much on my old ideas of myself. I need to stop hanging on to the idea that I can actually do all those things I could do, before. I need to start over with many things, basically starting them at ‘0’ again and see how far I can get.
I miss bread and pasta etc. I found gluten-free pasta and bread, but it just doesn’t taste the same. The gluten-free baguettes however did work very well in my cheese fondue (I’ll get some more). I’ve also eaten a lot of roasted vegetables, which go down extremely well, and I rarely feel ill after eating them and they taste good (big win). I haven’t yet figured out how to optimise my eating, and I wish I could use the freezer more for that but somehow, that hasn’t worked out so far. One of these days I’ll get it though.
In the meantime, there’s always tea. Tea fixes everything.
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