An Arts and Crafts Paradise??

-
I have been watching videos on the internet from Creativation 2019, which for those of you not in the "know" about crafting, is a annual trade expo for retailers and wholesalers put on by manufacturers of craft products from all over. They also feature their top designers like Dina Wakley, Tim Holtz, Gina K, Dyan Reaveley, Jane Davenport, etc.
I should never watch these videos. I get all excited about the things that interest me the most and get a bad case of the "wants." This morning while watching one of the above mentioned designers, I thought to myself, "gee Jim, this is just more of the same stuff you already own." Yeah, it's a different design, a new color, another process, but it's still the same stuff you have stashed in the closet and on the shelves. Do I need another stencil? Do I need more acrylic paints or watercolors? Do I need more clear stamps or stamping inks? The answer to all of those questions is a resounding "no." Would having new make me a better artist? NO! Only practicing with what I already have will make me a better artist. Yes, it would be fun to have the new colors of Distress Oxide stamp pads, but do I think I would use them any more than the ones I already have. NO!
So, I need to just quit watching the videos. Except for Dina's. She is such a neat person, and truly a person I admire not only for her artistic abilities, but for her seemingly down-to-earthness and encouragement to all of to just create. Yes, she is selling her product line, but while she is doing that she is encouraging all of us artists watching to just let go and create. We all know that we don't have to have her products (which are divine by the way) and can use what we have. We just need the encouragement to go ahead and DO IT.
Well, back to YouTube and see what is going on at Creativation 2019.

Until next time,
Go, create something,
JF

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Church and State

-
Just this week I read a post on the infamous Facebook that, to sum it up, blamed all the crisis going on in our country, namely the racial uprising, on taking God out of the schools. The ol’ separation of church and state issue that’s been going on for decades.   This whole posting did nothing but make me angry!   It certainly displayed ignorance on the part of the writer! Any educator in a public school, or most of them anyhow, will attest that God is alive and well in our school systems. As an educator I saw Him every day, and even though I’ve been retired for a decade, I know He still is there. He is there in the classroom every minute of every day holding that teacher together as he or she faces a room of children of any age. Some days that classroom feels like a battlefield, but God is there. He is there in the hallways in the smiling faces of students and staff. He is there in the lunchroom as the lunch personnel serve nourishing meals to students that might not get ...
Read more

The Paths not Taken

-
 I often wonder how my life would be if I had not taken the paths that I did. There was a time when I thought about majoring in art in college. One or two classes with the art prof convinced me that that was not going to be a great career choice. I don't know whether it was lack of talent, or just that the professor and I didn't have the same meeting of the minds. I loved making art then as much as I do now, but my kind of art didn't fit into the "frame" that the prof set forward. Now days, I am sure that artists in the making are given much more freedom than we were in the early 1960s. Then there was the girl that I dated forever. All the way through HS and my first year of college. She was a real sweet gal and we enjoyed each other's sense of humor and had a great time together. I wonder how life would have gone if she and I had continued life together. Probably not too well. I think she advanced beyond me after she finished college and moved on to work for ...
Read more

Sensory Overload and Anxiety

-
For years, I have "suffered" from anxiety. Some times it's mild, and some times it's serious enough to develop into a panic attack. I always question what causes this as I am usually a very calm, somewhat assuming person. I don't get upset at most things, though admittedly, as I've gotten older,  things do upset me more than they used to. I have been studying the causes of anxiety and panic attacks for a long time. There are many causes, but I don't seem to fit into any of those "boxes." I don't suffer PTSD that I know of, nor do I fit into the Autism spectrum. Recently I came upon something that might just fit what might be a cause. I feel like I need more information, but this could be it! Sensory Overload.   Let me explain. For years I have worn hearing aids of different kinds. Anyone who has worn one in one ear or both ears knows, or should have had explained to them, that no hearing device can cancel or filter ambient noise. I have now, ...
Read more