Creative Compulsives, gather here!

[QueenofQueens]

I would like to call to order the first meeting of the society of CC's (creative compulsives).
If you feel compelled to bring forth words, images, melodies, movement, or any other manifestation of the human imagination, please make yourself at home.
Please post resources, calls to artists, interesting anecdotes, surreal tales of art gone awry, links to your work, invitations to events, strategies for survival as an artist/writer/performer/creative type, and all other useful, helpful beneficent boons to assist your fellows and yourselves in following our bliss.


Bienvenidos!

[Medusa]

This probably wont be helpful or even interesting to anyone but I would like to tell a tiny tale about our recent cross-country move.

I had been trying to purge huge amounts of stuff because of the premium space on our 26-foot Penske. Cutting loose furniture, mementos, books, clothing, you name it.
When it came to my art supplies, I became frozen.
All of the little found objects that I had been saving for the "maybe one'days", the little pieces of nature, the stacks of journals with writing, sketches, and such.
Paper sack of bird feathers? CAN NOT THROW OUT!
Dozens of plastic doll faces? CAN NOT LET GO!
Sequins? String? Fabric? Those clearance jewelry molds?! NOPE! NOPE!

Jack was very understanding.

But imagine my giggly embarrassment as people showed up to help load the truck and toted 13 boxes of "art supplies" out of the house, multiple torsos, heads, and arms made of paper mache, 3 easels, and a gaggle of canvases in various stages of completion.


(and feel free to confess your sins too, Quockers.) :P

[Diva]

I love to write.
I love to write in fountain pen most of all.
I have a bazillion journals.
But MY problem is, I will begin to write in one journal and then forget what I've done with it.
I have a completed book of children's poems......somewhere.
I KNOW it's here somewhere.

Of course, I have multiple plastic totes with all manner of heinous fuckery inside....not much of it is organized.

BUT........help is on its way.........I have just purchased a label maker! Oh dear gay, who inVENTED this thing? I want to marry them and have their babies......ok, maybe not.

I would put a label on their little foreheads, of course.


~Diva

[Bit]

*starts snickering, then laughing* I can just see the little Divettes with their forehead labels! hahahahahahahaaa!

I miss my label-maker. They really do make it easier, at least until the labels fall off.

Dusa, when we moved I threw away recyclables *aaaack! That HURT!!* but I moved the "art supplies."

No, I'm NOT sure how to tell the difference.

Before the plumbers came to make That House livable, I.... it aches to admit this... huge ache.... I threw away the art supplies. Four thirty gallon bags full and one fifty gallon bag, and I. Threw. Them. Away.

I just wanted to cry, but then I discovered that I had missed two bags and I felt better.

Do they make sense to anyone but me? Would anyone else ever see that they are the raw materials of art? Heck, no! But do I feel better knowing they are not part of the Trash Stream? Oh yeah. Now if only I could find the right wire--all my sources for straight 18 and 20 gauge uncoated floral wire have dried up--I could get back to working on my ornaments.

[Jett]

Originally Posted by Medusa

This probably wont be helpful or even interesting to anyone but I would like to tell a tiny tale about our recent cross-country move.

I had been trying to purge huge amounts of stuff because of the premium space on our 26-foot Penske. Cutting loose furniture, mementos, books, clothing, you name it.
When it came to my art supplies, I became frozen.
All of the little found objects that I had been saving for the "maybe one'days", the little pieces of nature, the stacks of journals with writing, sketches, and such.
Paper sack of bird feathers? CAN NOT THROW OUT!
Dozens of plastic doll faces? CAN NOT LET GO!
Sequins? String? Fabric? Those clearance jewelry molds?! NOPE! NOPE!

Jack was very understanding.

But imagine my giggly embarrassment as people showed up to help load the truck and toted 13 boxes of "art supplies" out of the house, multiple torsos, heads, and arms made of paper mache, 3 easels, and a gaggle of canvases in various stages of completion.


(and feel free to confess your sins too, Quockers.) :P

Hah... I'm totally feeling this... because despite my upcoming move across the country and efforts to lighten the load, and despite my ongoing practice of Voluntary Simplicity... and considering my appreciation for minimalism...

...I haven't looked at my art supplies, because that's simply unthinkable....

*s*

[dixie]

I love to write, anything and everything. I journal and write short stories, poetry and erotica. I do woodworking, usually just small holiday decorations. I paint, wet-on-wet oil technique. I'm an amateur photographer. I cross-stitch, sew and quilt. And I started making jewelry about a year ago. I have a few artistic hobbies, but nothing to really classify me as a serious artist. Just some things I really enjoy.

[Jet]

I'm a senior designer and art director with a forte in conceptual design. I also write copy; some things are posted here on BFP.

[Bit]

Originally Posted by dixielady

I have a few artistic hobbies, but nothing to really classify me as a serious artist. Just some things I really enjoy.

I think being an artist is about the way we look at the world as much as anything... and I dunno about you, but for years I could not do much of anything with my hands, especially my drawing and painting (carpal tunnel syndrome), but I didn't stop being an artist for all that.

I think that if you are like me, no matter WHAT happens you will always find a way to make something (in the years when I could do nothing else, I sponge-painted shoeboxes) because the urge to create, to bring beauty, to make something new, to transform--that urge never goes away.

For me personally, whether I make things other people value or not, that urge makes me, creates me, transforms me into a serious artist simply because it cannot be denied. If I cannot paint with brushes I will paint with words, if I cannot transform the landscape I will transform my soul, if I cannot create beauty physically I will find a way to create it in your heart.

No, I'm not famous, nor do I have a career in the fine arts, nor do I even make a living in the craft arts.... but surely that spirit, that drive, that need to transform and create that springs out eternally no matter which way my life turns... surely that must be the lifeblood of a serious artist...

[Mitmo01]

I would like to extend my admiration for all of the creative minds here, i love art, music, cinema, etc and without those expressions to brighten up my life, id rather be dead.

I have a writers soul but im a lazy mofo that does not do it and should, so to those of you that are creative i salute you. I however cannot draw a stick figure to save my life lol but i love to admire the work of others and the expressions behind the works.


I love nothing more than discovering something in art (and by that i mean all expressions of art) that thrills and rocks me to my core, whether that is a song, a painting, a movie etc.

[Random]

Originally Posted by Medusa

This probably wont be helpful or even interesting to anyone but I would like to tell a tiny tale about our recent cross-country move.

I had been trying to purge huge amounts of stuff because of the premium space on our 26-foot Penske. Cutting loose furniture, mementos, books, clothing, you name it.
When it came to my art supplies, I became frozen.
All of the little found objects that I had been saving for the "maybe one'days", the little pieces of nature, the stacks of journals with writing, sketches, and such.
Paper sack of bird feathers? CAN NOT THROW OUT!
Dozens of plastic doll faces? CAN NOT LET GO!
Sequins? String? Fabric? Those clearance jewelry molds?! NOPE! NOPE!

Jack was very understanding.

But imagine my giggly embarrassment as people showed up to help load the truck and toted 13 boxes of "art supplies" out of the house, multiple torsos, heads, and arms made of paper mache, 3 easels, and a gaggle of canvases in various stages of completion.


(and feel free to confess your sins too, Quockers.) :P

Feel not alone, sweet gorgon.... I had three 55 gallon trash bags full of fabric.. I couldn't toss a scrap.. I mean... what if that 1/5 scrap of blue was the PERFECT shape and color for something... no.. it all had to come..

I may be known for picking up stray beads and heart glitter when I sweep...

I learned my lesson... Years ago I tossed out all this beautiful thin tissue paper... Now.. I am jonesing to cover mirror frames in it... and *GASP* I'm going to have to buy new..... I HATE buying new... where is the challenge or the fun in that...

[Novelafemme]

Labels don't go on kids????

...but how on earth am I supposed to remember their names???

[Diva]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

Labels don't go on kids????

...but how on earth am I supposed to remember their names???

Do You need to borrow my label~maker, Novela?

[key]

This piece is one of my latest. This means that I started it several months ago and it has been sitting, incubating since then. I will probably put a little more detail into it....eventually, but it is mostly finished.

[Jet]

Originally Posted by key

This piece is one of my latest. This means that I started it several months ago and it has been sitting, incubating since then. I will probably put a little more detail into it....eventually, but it is mostly finished.

great color!

[Bit]

Dear Crap Hounds, Unapologetic or Otherwise,

I love you, I just love you.

One of my problems is lack of storage furniture. I solved it in Phoenix by living in apartment complexes where people moved in and out frequently and left their unwanted furniture by the trash... but that doesn't happen too much in a residential neighborhood.

(Stereo component cabinets are WONDERFUL for flat paper storage!)

In the process of being congenitally unable to discard free craft supplies, I have written a haiku.

Lil Bitty Nilla Box

Me, you, pot of glue
Four black and gold tea wrappers
Do we have a date?

I am happy to say that ripped up pieces of tea wrappers make a rather masculine-looking lil box, especially with a coat of glue on the outside to make it all shiny. This is good because most of what I make somehow manages to come out kinda girly--no matter how I start out!

Of course, what someone would DO with a miniscule black and gold box is beyond me... but then, the final use is Not My Problem. Mayhap I will use it as some sort of holiday gift wrapping.

Creator

[Tommi]

Originally Posted by Medusa

This probably wont be helpful or even interesting to anyone but I would like to tell a tiny tale about our recent cross-country move.

I had been trying to purge huge amounts of stuff because of the premium space on our 26-foot Penske. Cutting loose furniture, mementos, books, clothing, you name it.
When it came to my art supplies, I became frozen.
All of the little found objects that I had been saving for the "maybe one'days", the little pieces of nature, the stacks of journals with writing, sketches, and such.
Paper sack of bird feathers? CAN NOT THROW OUT!
Dozens of plastic doll faces? CAN NOT LET GO!
Sequins? String? Fabric? Those clearance jewelry molds?! NOPE! NOPE!

Jack was very understanding.

But imagine my giggly embarrassment as people showed up to help load the truck and toted 13 boxes of "art supplies" out of the house, multiple torsos, heads, and arms made of paper mache, 3 easels, and a gaggle of canvases in various stages of completion.


(and feel free to confess your sins too, Quockers.) :P

Signing up...and will be back..LOVE IT> thatnls Queenie of Queens.

I can relate so well..I have the same love for my stuffff. and when I moved from and "our 4 bedroom big house" , to a simple bachelor pad years back...I had some of the same trepidation about my pieces of broken glass, 50 lumps of sculpting clay that will be something someday, canvases and frames I had collected from garage sales I was going to repair and paint over, from 1" sg. to 10ft X10ft.

What made my friends and the movers have that pained look were the crates of rocks from all my travels.

I'll be back, The people that pay me expect me at work today..Pffft..later gator's

[Diva]

Ok.....I'm so excited!!

I have come up with a plan for The Girl Room!!!!!

Currently, I have a sweet, white bookcase in there, holding a few cloth bins. I'm going to take those out, move the bookcase to my kitchen, where the it will NOW house my cookbooks, which, in turn, will free up space on the shelves in my laundry room for other things, which will free up counter space in my kitchen.

THEN, I'm getting 2 new sets of stainless metal shelves: a 5' and a 3' for The Girl Room. I will put the cloth bins on that, as well as some metal ones (I believe Medusa suggested this) from The Ikea (which we love!) and move the desk to the wall where the white shelves USED to be, putting the new shelves on the desk wall.

Somehow, I know You have all followed me on this. That makes me happy.


~Diva

[violaine]

i drew a raven a while ago using pencil and ink. the bird was not outside sitting on a branch in a tree; he was looking inside at you, and came very close to your space. my passions have always been photography and writing, because image tells a story and story summons an image. i've not pushed charcoal around in a while, and i think i may need to pay attention to a need for that sensation, consciousness, and talent. i love to finally see the work emerge- when it was there just before- only the time wasn't right to see. organic forms: sometmes i see patterns and connections to the photography work, charcoal, and writing. math can be like poetry to me. i've also loved math, and used to tutor algebra and calc in college, which is using both sides of the brain for sure.

[WildOrchid]

I just pulled out my pencils after being in hybernation for the last year.In the process, I found some drawings that I didn't think much of at the time but now, they are very compelling. Food is my first love, making it beautiful no matter how simple the dish.

[BugsAndKisses]

I love photoshop, zoning out and letting my digital canvas take me over is the best form of relaxation

Fractals are one of my favorite things to make when I am starting from scratch

Dragon Tail



Phoenox Wings


Lost at Sea


everything in these three pictures are my renders except for th ship in the last one.