Here it is, the little spot in my house that holds the vast majority of my art supplies. I tend to arrange and focus on my supplies when I’m in a creative slump like now. Argh! It’s killing me!!! This happens from time to time. I can’t seem to draw or paint anything of substance. I can’t see the lines, the shades, light, nothing, nada, zip. It bugs the heck out of me but stressing over the dry spell has always proven a waste of energy. I just have to wait it out. While I wait I”ll arrange and rearrange my supplies. NEVER when I’m in a creative free for all will you see my supplies this organized. So here they are, photos of my little area where art happens.
If you go to my Flickr page there are a few more with notes. The photos on Flickr get quite large which should please the nosy people. 
What the photos don’t show is the 4 drawer dresser with stored sketchbooks. It doesn’t show some of the gel pens, some of the larger tubes of oil, the crayola crayons OR the huge supply of exceptionally beautiful 2H pencils I got at Dollar Tree for…wait for it…wait for it…. a dollar. Not shown in the few shots I took are paint thinners, glues, fixatives, blank canvas, canvas sheets, exacto knives, erasers, rags, sponges, scissors and stuff like that. Some of those are stored behind the box where the two second hand girls are sitting. You’ll have to go to Flickr to see what I mean by that.
The photo in this entry shows an unintentional close up of the Daylight bulbs I purchased a bit ago. They do a wonderful job with seasonal depression. I don’t put a shade on them. I let them shine as is. Hanging over the side of the fireplace is my watch that I had with me when I left my mother’s house a big 18 years ago come this February. It’s a broken faced pocket watch with “gold” trim and a “gold” chain. It’s also the watch that shows up in the painting called “My Time To Heal“.
fma
when I’m in a creative slump I organize my scrapbook supplies. I also find that I have to “straighten up” my work space after each layout before I can find the creative energy to go onto the next one.
Part of my organizing is to have that brick in the house. I felt the need to go shabby chic and use it to stabilize my pencils and what not.
When I’m in a slump I do a heck of a lot of organizing.
Hey, how is your sister’s finless placo algae eater? Did he develop Post Traumatic Spoon Disorder or did he make a full recovery?
Our little wannabe an artist inside is quite jealous of your collection. Hers is relegated to one tub. Poor thing! lol. I’m curious what you think of the process of painting over black and white pictures? I like that process.
By painting over black and white did you mean a black and white sketch then you add paint? I think it’s fun. I like to let the colors run when I do that. It’s kind of like defying the boundaries so that there are two pictures in one. The vast majority of the time when I do a drawing (my art therapy stuff) it’s drawn in black and white first then color is added. I mostly draw with a black gel pen. I find that I make fewer “mistakes” than if I draw with a pencil. If I use a pencil there are all sorts of eraser marks and stuff.
We collected stuff gradually. My little ones are even allowed to use the oils and whatever other medium we have available to us. They just aren’t able to use it in huge quantities but they are able to use it. We buy stuff cheaply too. I take advantage of closeout items from Hobby Lobby and Micheal’s. A lot of what is seen in the photos was 50 cents or 10 cents, around in there. Dollar Tree is an awesome place to buy cheap supplies. They even have quality sketchbooks as well as a variety of gel pen packs. We’ve gotten a host of glitter there as well as stamps and food coloring. We use the blue and yellow like watercolor paints. The red is too dark for us as is the green. Here’s a tip though, food coloring DOES NOT flow the same as watercolor. It stains nicely but it doesn’t flow very well even on watercolor paper. Great stain, no flow.
As if I haven’t talked enough
when I draw or doodle or whatever I sometimes do it not so it can be posted as art therapy or for prints and stuff on my other site. I sometimes just need to slap color on paper or doodle because it helps me release anxiety. I like the movement of the pen or brush. It’s soothing. So even if your little artist doesn’t feel qualified to call herself one she can still reap the emotional satisfaction that we artists get simply by moving the pen or brush. There’s such a sense of peace for me even if what I created is nothing but lines and color. There’s almost a musical sound the brush makes as it hits the paper. There’s a different tone with pencil or pen, even marker. A painter could create his own symphony with one multi media project. It’s all about love my dear, all about love….even if that love is in a small tub its still about love.
Austin
Alas the finless algae eater has gone to the land of ever after for fish – wherever that is. They now have a new algae eater. I think this one is Bob the VI. A house with 3 kids is not so kind to fish. Although this time it was not the kids’ fault. When my sister and everyone were visiting, they had a neighbor looking out for the fish and cats (They brought the dog with them). Apparently the cat decided to try to take the lid off the huge fish tank. Failed, but knocked the lid into the water. We think it shocked the fish – whether an electrical shock or a scary shock. But many fish lost their lives that day. And the new lid is now locked into place.
The little one is excellent with photography but drawing/painting defeats her-in her mind at least. I”m all-if you try then its wonderful. I’m not much for clutter and really into mimimalizing our stuff (due in part to our losing our “stuff” due to fire and really crummy roommates at one time). So we keep things to a minimum. She likes gel pens as well and dollar tree is a great place for a budding (and accomplished artist such as yourself!).
You were right about what I was trying to describe (black/white). I also like the effect of painting on photographs.
rambly here tonight lol…”j” likes to play with food dyes in coffee filters! but as you said learned its not really for painting.
Thanks for sharing you art thoughts/processes, etc. We love looking at your paintings.
You do coffee filters too? Ah, isn’t that the coolest thing ever? They stain so nicely and they’re cheap. I like to collage them by gluing them white board. So much fun on so little money and with such simple things. I saw a lady do an entire painting with make up. I was thrown at the amount of detail she got with lip stick. I was like damn woman you go. Cover Girl like you’ve never seen it before. It was amazing. She used blush, eye shadow, liner and everything else. You couldn’t tell either. Now that’s what I call painting outside the canvas. I so love to experiment and to take things where most wouldn’t even think to take them. Gotta love it.
Painting on photographs sounds like a cool idea. I’ve never done it before but it sounds really cool.
Austin
We love going to folk art fairs where you’ll find ‘paintings” of buttons, soda drink tabs and coffee filter flowers, etc. Amazing what folks can find in their heads and hearts to create! I think a lot of your paintings would look very good on tin or really old boards. Oh to have endless budgets to go it all!