Thursday, July 8, 2010

Sensational Artists Invite You to Swim Through a Gorgeous Sea of Imagination

This week, the colors, the imagination, the beauty of both the creations and stories inspired me. As I look at these works, I feel a sense of connection with all around me and my hope is that through creation of art and love we can change the world around us - those things that don't work to benefit human and animal kind - for the better. All we need is belief and action - we need to do the work no matter how small or grand and we can make this world heal and shine.

Come, let's celebrate the sea of imagination....





Kelsey, creator of Caffeinated Frenzy and the amazing Love Bug project, created these gorgeous wake, merino wool fingerless mitts (pictured with slouchy beret hat).

"I went kayaking last weekend as a belated birthday celebration," said Kelsey. "The most fun part was finding big boats to make waves for our little kayak. Everything affects everything else when you're in the water!"

http://www.caffeinatedfrenzy.com/







Maureen, an incredible talented artist, created this sparkling work.

"As much as I love the sea, I didn't end up loving the piece I did this week . . . instead of my typical aquamaureen colors, I was trying to get the green and sunshine that I saw a few weeks ago when I was in the Pacific ocean . . . didn't come out quite as I'd envisioned it . . . and the glitter--well, all I can say is that the only glitter I had in the house was some 15-year-old fabric glitter glue, left over from Girl Scout days!!!" said Maureen.

http://aquamaureens.blogspot.com/












Trina, creator of Woven Chains Jewelry, created these sensational pieces.

"I love this theme, once again!" said Trina. "I have three pieces, a bracelet and two pendants. The pendant has pearls and lapis, representing the earth and the sea and their interplay. One of the pendants is a small snippet of mermaids tail that has washed ashore. Hopefully we will take note and listen to the story it tells each of us."

"Finally I have a starfish pendant, which I included because as soon as I saw this theme I thought of one of my favorite stories, "The legend of the starfish". The story goes that a young man was walking along a beach at low tide, throwing the exposed starfish back into the ocean. An old man comes by and asks what he is doing. When the young man explains, the old man replies "Don't you realize that there are miles of beaches and millions of starfish? You can't possibly make a difference," and then walks off. The young man bends down, grabs another starfish and throws it back, saying "I made a difference to that one".

Here's to all of us making a difference.

http://wovenchains.etsy.com/












Amanda, creator of Persistent Green, created this truly stunning untitled mixed media in progress.

"Sorry I didn't have any glitter to work with on this one, but I loved imagining the way sunlight glitters on the water," said Amanda. "My seagull soars over an ocean of color, scented by sea breezes and salt and sun."

http://persistentgreen.com/










Natasha, creator of DoodleStar, created this piece.

I have been spending a ton of time thinking about Intention and "living" art or making our entire lives a work of art recently. I've been wondering how powerful we can be when we make intentions and how we ourselves are works of art. So, I decided to intentially turn my hand into art with a wish for the end to all the blaming, etc. with the oil spill and a call for hope that we can come together heal the devastating damage done to the ocean and all its creatures. We ran out of glitter the other day so I imagine the yellow bits in this piece as glittery bits of sunshine on water. (By the way my little Doodle helped with this which makes it extra special :)

http://doodestar.etsy.com/






Are you feeling inspired? Me too!! The next theme is...."Through the Prism I Found..." In this theme, I invite you to imagine yourself as the prism and explore the way you see color. How does the color in the world around you come through you? Paint it, draw it, capture it in nature....whatever you do, explore color in your world and how you apply it to your creations.

6 comments:

SalvagedExpression said...

Computer is still broken but I'm here in spirit!
Kelsey: love the pattern you chose, it reminds me of rippling water.

Maureen: Ok, I have to ask, how long were you a Girl Scout? The colors are still very intense and beautiful maybe you can cut and collage it?

Trina: Rather than go on for paragraphs I'll just stick to BEAUTIFUL!

Amanda: Your piece makes me want to take a dip in the ocean...but then it's 90 degrees here so it wasn't much of a challenge.

Tash: I love it! I've seen a lot of things written on the hands (LiLo's jail nails come to mind) but this might be the first that made me smile.

aquamaureen said...

Salvaged---the GS days I'm referring to were my most recent as a leader,which I did for maybe a dozen years . .

Loved everyone's submissions this week . . . but Tasha, yours got me most of all, because what you said was just what I've been hugging to myself these past few months: I want my whole life to be a work of art, with some piece of art I create, but also the way I dress myself, make food, reach out my hand to help someone. . I want it all to drip beauty and loveliness and honesty and purity . . so yay to painting our hands, and our hearts . . and whatever else!!!

Unknown said...

After seeing all of these wonderful enteries, I totally love this theme even more!!!

Kelsey: I really like your arm-warmers. I like botht eh color and the pattern you choose. Both are very "oceany".

Maureen, I really like the colors you chose this week. I can see so much of the see in what you chose! The glitter is fantastic, too.

Amanda, I so love what you are doing with your marbelized pieces and mixed media work. I want so badly to see one in person.

Natasha, you have beautiful hands that do such beautiful work that touches so many people. I know that you have helped me to both heal and hope here through TST. My wish is that your thoughts are heard and that we can all find a way to work towards healing.

Natasha said...

Sal!!! We missed you but you were SOOO here in spirit!! Big hugs!! You are a ROCK STAR...in general but also for being here cheering with a broken computer and all. Go YOU! Thank you for the kudos on my piece...I LOVE that it made you smile. WOOOOOHOOOOO!!

Maureen - first, you ARE living your life as a work of art, YOU are that work of art. I have watched your incredible transformation and it has been utterly inspiring to me. You ooze honesty, purity, beauty and loveliness....I love that!!Thank you for your words on my piece...they meant the world!! And I know that you felt this piece wasn't what you wanted but I have to tell you I LOVED the deep rich color and the glittery section ...it truly struck me. To me, this was beautiful!

Trina - thank you from the bottom of my heart for your words! You have touched my life so deeply...thank you for all your words. YOU fill me with hope! And your pieces = I LOVED each one. I was admiring them as I was laying them in and then the words you wrote...the snippet of mermaids tale, the story of the starfish...each piece, each story will stay with me for a LONG time to come. I love the idea of making a difference represented on a small scale...in the little daily things we do because it is in those micro-moments that life is lives and transformed. It is rarely in sweeping gestures...it's little moments we celebrate. I second your call - here's to us making a difference.

Kelsey - Happy Belated Birthday!!!! Kayaking is amazing and I love the way you related it to everything affecting everything else...so true! The colors in this piece are simply captivating as is the texture...i want to wear these mitts! Gorgeous work!!

Amanda - I can SEE the sunlight glittering on the water which I think is even more striking than if you had put glitter in there. The colors in this work are just breath-taking. I LOVE these pieces you are doing - they are filled with a vibrant, imaginative celebration that makes me want to do two things - sit and marvel at your work for hours and celebrate life!

Unknown said...

Ok - tried leaving a comment with the baby pic and it seemed to being having a problem - we'll see if this one works!
Kelsey - love love love the color and the way the beret and fingerless gloves look! That's so funny looking for larger boats to make waves for your little kayak!
Maureen - it is the ocean from above flying in a helicopter as it's stirring up the water, and oh my 15 yr old glitter glue that hasn't dried up - you must be one lucky lady!
Trina - Yes we can make a difference! I really like the weave with the pearl, and the little dangly starfish one is so cool!
Amanda - many years ago I had the opportunity to view the moon rising along the Florida coast, it was amazing how yellowish the water turned for just a few moments and then it was almost gone - it was a huge orange moon, your bright seagull and brillian water reminds me of this moment in time.
Natasha - YES! what more can I say!

I didn't create anything specifically for this wonderful theme, but did manage to make a little dress for my granddaughter if anyone wants to come check it out! http://www.lisianblue.com/

Natasha said...

Lisian! It's SOOO great to see you here. How are you?? I can't wait to check out the dress ..YAY I'm off to see it :)