Something for Myself

Recently my family went on a road trip to visit my husband's parents. According to my kids, they have a very pretty house because they have artwork on their walls. It's amazing how even young children can appreciate a decorated room. And it's equally amazing how a decorated room makes the most modest of houses look "pretty".


Since my house has quite a few blank walls, I decided to work on a painting that I would like to hang on my own walls. This is what I came up with. Now I need to figure out which wall to hang it on.

Leaves
30 X 40

Cloud Animals

This week I had the privilege of painting a mural for the new Ronald McDonald House opening in a few weeks. Two of the kid's spaces, a playroom and a game room, were sponsored by Southwest Airlines and are painted their trademark shade of blue. I was asked to paint clouds in the shape of animals. Here's a few pictures of what I came up with. This was a really fun and rewarding project.

Cinderella's Shoe

Little girls love to dress up! Some of us never outgrow it.

Cinderella's Shoe
Acrylic Painting
10" X 10" X 1 1/4"
$35 + shipping

Acorn Soup Art and Design's latest addition to the Etsy store. Visit http://www.dannaflemons.etsy.com/ to purchase and/or view a complete listing of Acorn Soup paintings for sale.

Where There's a Will, There's a Way!

It's been 3 months since my last post. Since that time I have started a new job, been serving on the board of my kid's school PTA, been getting my house repaired after water damage from a leaky roof, volunteering in my kid's classrooms, attending practices and sporting events . . . the list could go on. So there has been very little time left over for Acorn Soup. But in the midst of the craziness of the past few months, I still found a way to paint. Here are a couple of the projects I've been working on.

I painted 10 fingerprint flowerpots for a school fundraiser. Each class in Kindergarten and First Grade put fingerprints on a flowerpot. I painted a background of flowers and leaves and turned the fingerprints into bugs, butterflies, spiders, and worms. This project was a bit of a challenge because each class did their fingerprints differently and didn't follow any sort of criteria. But they turned out cute and helped raise a little money for the school.

My next project was making a flag for both of my kid's classes. The flags are used to represent each class at the spirit assembly held on Monday mornings. So this is what I came up with for my first grader - complete with a real ruler, marker, scissors, etc. It was fun.

My Inspiration and Thought Processes

Coming up with a single painting is a really long process for me. I wish I could just whip up one or two each week. I am constantly thinking of ideas and I can't work them into a finished painting fast enough. I'm often inspired by my kid's artwork. My 6 year old daughter did the artwork above and I really find it quite amazing. Not only do I like her sense of color and design, she also knows what kids her age like visually. I pay alot of attention to things like that.

I have also been learning a little bit about mind mapping. I first learned of it from a marketing book I read recently. The process can be applied to any type of project and there are mind mapping software programs out there you can use on your computer. I just took the concept and started trying to make one in my sketchbook by hand. Before I started mind mapping my thoughts were written randomly all over the paper and they didn't make much sense when I come back to it later. With mind mapping, things are a little more organized on the page and I can come back to it time and again for more ideas -- or to add to it. The book I read about this puts it this way -- it helps you literally see what you're thinking. And you can see the big picture and the small details at the same time. I think that's really important.

In my before mentioned sketchbook is where my thoughts become drawings. This is usually where I either get really excited about a design or where I will decide to scrap it. Most of the time I will work on something for a while and let it sit a few weeks. Then I can come back to it with fresh eyes. Right now I probably have 5 to 8 drawings in the works. The next step is the computer drawing.

Once I start drawing the design in the computer I have decided it's one I really want to finish. That is where the details are refined and the design takes it's final shape. And it's probably the most time consuming part, even more time consuming than the actual painting. I like to do my final drawings in the computer for a couple of reasons. First because my painting style was born from my graphic design background. I like sharp, clean lines, intricate yet subtle details, and I like to work through alot of different scenarios before settling on the final one. The computer helps that process go faster and it saves hundreds of sheets of paper that I would go through otherwise. Another reason is that I'd like to offer my paintings in different sizes and so I can just print out the drawing in the size and proportion I need it without having to redraw everything.

So now you know what it is I'm doing between unveiling each new painting. I hope to experiment with new processes as time goes on. And I'm hoping I even to get brave enough one day to just start painting on canvas without much forethought -- kind of like a stream of consciousness painting. Now that's a pretty good idea!

Fruit of the Spirit Tree

Fruit of the Spirit Tree
18" X 24"
Original Acrylic Painting
$80 + shipping


Acorn Soup Art and Design's latest addition to the Etsy store. Follow www.dannaflemons.etsy.com to purchase this painting.

Oh Muse, Send Forth Ideas Suitable for Framing

Today I took my kids to the library. They played on the computers and I went looking for something useful to read. I love to browse the library. But with 2 young children in tow I needed to just get something quick and head down to the kids area. Luckily, the book I chose had some really great advice on fostering creativity. During this time when I've challenged myself to come up with 10 new designs by the end of the summer, my creativity needs to be fostered in large amounts.

Here are some of the tips I plan on using in the coming weeks. I hope you find them useful as well.

1. Read several very different books and articles at the same time. By doing this, you'll make connections that never would have occured to you otherwise. Combine a bunch of concepts into one effective idea.

2. Boil your ideas down to their essence. Make them stunningly simple.

3. Work on projects in stages and give yourself time to "incubate" in between stages.

4. Collect quotes and metaphors that inspire you.

5. Pay attention to the pop culture trends. And not just the ones directly related to your area of expertise. You never know where inspiration will spark. Remember point #1.

6. Declutter your mind. New ideas don't have a chance to enter your brain if the space is already full.

I also learned a little bit about a technique called "mind mapping" that I'm using right now and will share with you next time.

If you have any tips for fostering creativity, feel free to share them here.

By the way, this set of tips I got from the book titled "Web Marketing for Small Businesses" by Stephanie Diamond. I've just started the book but it seems to have a lot of really useful information in it if you're trying to get a small business started.