Let There Be Light

Inspired by Lights

Let there be light…and light fixtures.  Club Creative Studio dedicated a few more intense glances towards beautiful light fixtures recently at The Union League in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Glowing and glamorous,  these fixtures showed traces of their utter radiance and historical pasts.  They are displayed with care with historical reference fitting the building’s  era.

Is there a wonder why I find these to be so interesting? No matter if it was a glowing glass globe, a candle stick style or a massive crystal chandelier, all are beautiful while they are lit as well as unlit.  I see more than a glow when I look upward to the ceilings, I notice form, shape and texture. The workmanship, and design elements make these creations hanging works of art. And when I stand directly under a light fixture, well the perspective is breathtaking as well.

The next time you flip a switch at home or in a more public place. Take time to look up.  What do you see? Let there be light, a light fixture that you can appreciate for its aesthetic or historical value. Let there be a light for you to appreciate and admire.

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Feature Friday-Inspired by Wood

Club Creative Studio’s Feature Friday blog post: Inspired by wood.

Welcome to Club Creative Studio’s Feature Friday post.  This week, I was inspired by wood. The Asbury Park, New Jersey Artist: Laura Petrovich-Cheney creates in mixed media and her work is part of a solo series at the Abington Art Center.

I can appreciate her love of texture and creations from found wood items. Gathering her art supplies from her daily walks and traveling adventures, Laura uses reclaimed wood pieces in a creative quilt-like way.  Making small alterations to the wood she adds depth.  You may find wood intentionally burned, impressed, sawed, pierced, or hacked not to mention processes such as casting or cleaving.

I immediately thought of the “crazy quilt” pattern when I first laid eyes on the irregular grid organized wood scraps.  Her raised surfaces put dimension to that same material quality of a hand-made quilt. The recent tragic weather activity on the east coast has washed up interesting wood scrap treasures for Laura to consider in her art creations.  So, if you are venturing out along the coastline for a walk, you may find this MFA holder in Studio Art, MS in Fashion Art, and BA in Fine Arts artist walking along side you.  She will be the one gathering interesting scraps of found wood.

It seems upon looking closely to her art, she combines wood pieces from random finds and original objects. I was inspired to create future beads with similar random patterns and color combinations. Do you see the square with brown, sky blue and pumpkin orange colors in the first photo for example?  I’d love to replicate that feeling in a few beads.  Stay tuned as I attempt to incorporate the pattern or color choice into hand-rolled clay beads soon. You know that I will post pictures of my finished project here on the blog and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/clubcreativestudio.  Thanks for stopping by and admiring this found art.  Your comments are always welcome, especially if this technique strikes interest.

Sharing Bead Soup

Portion of the Bead Soup I sent to my beading challenge partner Susan,

Club Creative Studio is taking part in the Bead Soup Challenge #7.  It will be fun sharing Bead Soup.

Please review past posts regarding the details of this wonderful sharing and creating challenge for those making hand-made beads and jewelry from them. Since the arrival of my beads from my bead exchange partner, Susan I have had time to simmer the ideas I have and will soon begin my creative thought process and my design using the beads she sent me last week.  I am looking forward to the creative growth.

I have not gotten official word that my box has indeed arrived to New Hampshire however, it has had adequate time. With that in mind, I would like to go ahead and share what I included in my package of fun. The idea of sharing is to highlight some of your own hand-made beads and pair them with interesting items that can be utilized in a creative challenge for the artist on the receiving end to express in their own style.  Lori Anderson is the host and brain-child behind the organization of this particular bead challenge.  It is perfect “soup” , warming my soul on a cold winter day for me living in Philadelphia.  I welcome the challenge.

I included a variety of supplies and I hope she is inspired to do something fun and add her own components if she desires as well. I included items of stone, Czech glass, hand-rolled clay beads, hand-twisted wire worked beads, seed beads, ceramic, rhinestone and metal charm elements just to name a few.

Perhaps she will blog about her experience. I plan to document my creative journey on the Club Creative Studio Facebook page with photos and within this blogging platform. I am happy to share the experience of the creative thought process and creative expression of this beading challenge by sharing my Bead Soup Challenges.

It is my hope that you find the steps that I take interesting and keep in touch as I share the trials and tribulations of this beading challenge. Please check back for future posts on this topic here and on the page: http://www.facebook.com/clubcreativestudio

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Special Arrival: Box of Beautiful Beads

 

Club Creative Studio’s post today highlights the special delivery from the mail this afternoon. My special arrival came today, it was a box of beautiful beads. The beads in my photograph were sent to me specifically for the Bead Challenge called:  Bead Soup Challenge & Blog Party, #7.

Susan Sheehan is my Bead Soup Bead Challenge Buddy.  We were paired from over 500 participants in Lori Anderson’s Bead Soup and Blog Party Challenge. She is from New Hampshire and works primarily in glass, creating wonderful beads, many with the floral motif theme (which is right up my alley). We exchanged boxes and I received mine today! She should get the box that I sent her by Monday.

The excitement starts to build the minute you are assigned your bead partner’s name and location. I had a chance to look on Susan’s website and read a few blogs once I knew she was assigned to me.  With exchanged contact information we are able to keep track and communicate along our creative journey.  It is wonderful that we have put together totally different packages to inspire each other.  She creates in her studio and can be found selling her art at: http://www.susansheehan.etsy.com  The challenge aspect comes next as we sit in front of the bead stash wondering what to create and how to use the elements in front of us.  I anticipate using a few of my own items as well, but, the majority of the supplies will come from the pile she has gifted me.

 What’s in her shared treasure box?

 

Admiring this selection, the first impression that I had was she has a great sense of color. The combinations are wonderful and I am inspired to create starting with a good color palate in front of me from the get-go. She included an array in styles of beads which will certainly make for an eclectic feel of whatever I end up creating from this collection of bead types. I am faced with working with a variety of shapes, sizes and weights of beads and that is a challenge unto itself.  I am not afraid of mixing metals so the copper-colored chain and the silver clasp and bead caps don’t frighten me.

Susan has challenged me to basically create using pink, turquoise, and brown. There are many larger beads all of which can combine to become focal beads or serve as a focal bead all alone. The obvious choice is using the large amber-colored glass round as the main focal bead.  It made me think immediately of using it as part of a center tassel, at first glance so I will see if that changes when I hit the design table or not.

The tube beads dotted with mini-seed beads and floral theme motif are about one inch long, there are four of those. Two brown rounds are not identical but have been made with the same feel. She included six interesting pink glass mosaic feel beads that shimmer in the light, those are cool as well.  With an interesting mixture of tiny crystals and Lucite, I can  imagine using them as little accents of color and dangle beads right now at first glance.

The highlight of her box are of course her hand-made glass floral beads. She has included ten for me to use in my creation.  They are dotted with spots of turquoise, pink, brown, orange and a little bit of purple. Wonderful!

After I let my  “soup” simmer overnight, I will think about what I want to create and then sit down and design, arrange and question.  I plan to document my creative thought process and share the development of my special arrival…my box of beautiful beads. Be sure to visit this blog again as well as the Club Creative Studio Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/clubcreativestudio for updates on my beading challenge process.

 

 

 

 

 

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Getting close to 555

I look forward to having you join the page  FANTASTIC FAN!

Welcome to the Club Creative Studio Blog. This space is a place where the focus is on creativity.

Several times a week, I share creative prompts, project ideas, inspiration, and featured art on this blog.

Daily, I share similar information on the Club Creative Studio Facebook page.

If you have not visited lately or you would love to follow the creative trail as a FANTASTIC FAN,

please click the “like” button you will find on the page:  http://www.facebook.com/clubcreativestudio

I have a FANTASTIC surprise for the 555th FANTASTIC FAN FOLLOWER on FACEBOOK!

Will it be someone you know or did you help them find this page?

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Creativity: Where Is It?

Thomas Merton quote.

Club Creative Studio has a few questions for you to ponder today.  Concerning CREATIVITY…do you know where it can take you?  Hopefully you do not have to look long or hard to find it. Creativity can be found within yourself or within others.  So knowing that; where is it? Do you know where to look or who to look at? Do you know what it can do for you? Where it will lead you?

Discovering creativity levels within yourself or others is a growing and learning process.  As the quote from Thomas Merton suggests, art  (or creativity in general) enables or allows us to find ourselves. We can discover what is deep within us or at the top of the surface.  Merton also goes on to say in the quote that we can also lose ourselves at the same time, meaning that we can set ourselves free and experience creativity at its fullest, not paying much mind of other things going on around us. Creativity never grows old or goes out of style. Creativity may grow stale but we can always revive it and relive it and improve.

One place to start looking is quite obvious. Merely look ALL AROUND! Yes! Creativity is all around us, I have always said this many times. Open your eyes to discover the unique qualities of life around you. How can you get lost in creativity and where will it lead you?

While I was a classroom art teacher, everyday I would strive to stress in my students the importance of seeing creativity around us. Expressing it and experiencing creative venues gave our students the chance to see where creativity could take them.  Maybe they were introduced to a new concept. Maybe they found a new talent or practiced a new skill. Perhaps during our lessons, they grew appreciative of other’s creative efforts or served as inspiration to another as they expressed their own creative thoughts.  Taking extra steps to recognize where creativity is affords us the opportunity to search it out when we need it.

Where will creativity take you? The creative journey can be as long and as exciting as you make it out to be. It can be shared and appreciated.  A creative journey does in fact allow you to find yourself, express yourself and understand yourself. Creativity also lends the opportunity to get lost in the process, lose track of time and lose our inhibitions and fears about art or any other creative thought process or expression. Dance, prose, visual arts, theatrical arts etc., they all are expressions of creativity that take us to places we have never seen before. Relish in the creative process. Look around to gain it and foster it to grow it.

The aspect I love the most about being an artist is the fact that what I create can be shared and appreciated. While creating, as I continuously find myself and lose myself in art, I also get the thrill of giving and sharing art.  To view results of  my creativity, please take time to view creations on the website. The inventory is updated and evolving often.  The creative spirit is there to inspire, appreciate and best of all, purchase! Enjoy! http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

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Inspired By Creative Quotes

Great reflection quote for the creative person.

Today, Club Creative Studio shares a quote that has inspired me and is proven to be correct for correlation in the world of the arts.  Creative quotes can be great reflective words and inspire on many different levels. The words of Vincent Van Gogh can transform your way of thought with a certain focus.  These three simple lines can become your everyday challenges for your creative spirit.  Are they words that you can relate to, or hope to incorporate into your creative world?

I Am Seeking

Are you a person who seeks out creativity or yearns to explore new adventures?

I feel that as a creative person I am always seeking. I seek to find the time to create, and stay motivated. I look to find the best materials, new materials. I seek knowledge and wisdom from others in the arts. I search for the best technique to incorporate in my creations. I seek to become a better artists on a daily basis. I am seeking answers to my many questions. Yes, I am a seeker, are you?

I Am Striving (And Thriving)

Are you a person who is striving to thrive in your environment?

Are you one who wonders how and if you are actually doing a good job in your creative life? Do you know what it takes to thrive in your own creative level or situation?  If you have creative goals and are striving to obtain them, it is more likely that you will have milestone successes and can relate to the reward of thriving in your field.  Does your current creative journey give you satisfaction and joy?  If it is not are you taking steps to get you to the point of thrill? I feel that I am striving everyday to perfect a technique, try something new, or maintain a productive status.  Thriving in both my art and business is among my most general and continual efforts.  Whenever I am given the chance to express and provide art and help another side step and overcome ordinary, I know I have just experienced a slice of “mission accomplish”.  I am doing what I have set out to do each and every time I create Art That Sets You Apart! Learn to evolve.

I Am In It With All My Heart

Are you dedicated to your creative tasks?

Being a creative person calls upon the inner strengths. Are you the type of person who can stay focused from start to finish of a project? Are you dedicated to the progression of your art or craft?  Your productivity depends upon your work ethic and dedication.  My personal mantra: Be Creative Everyday reminds me that I am “in it with all my heart”. I own the idea that I can express myself through art every day in some fashion or form. Past, present and future are all markers of time that has or will show me that I am indeed involved with creativity with all my heart.

This notion of knowing that I have my heart involved with my work helps me shape creative efforts in my workspace: Club Creative Studio.  On many levels, the past has been a part of this creative growth.  Love of art and hands-on creativity has proved to be a creative outlet for me. In experimentation and creative growth, the experiences of the past have taught me to use those events as background starting points of prior knowledge and skills. Your art may feel like a thing of the past but, it is what also helps propel you into your present art and your future creativity.

In present-time, knowing that I place my heart and soul into creating art gives others the opportunity to see what the creative spirit can offer and share.  In future-times, maintaining the drive and personal attachments of art created proves that an artist does put their personality and a bit of themselves in all creative tasks, resulting in expressive, personal and unique creative endeavors.

Caring And Sharing

I would love for you to visit the Club Creative Studio website to see for yourself how I am creative everyday. 

http://clubcreativestudio.com

I care about you and your creative processes.  I am also happily sharing art and information about Club Creative Studio on the Facebook page.

Please join us there and consider clicking the “like” to enjoy sneak peeks of hand-made art and gain inspiration, learning about creativity.

http://www.facebook.com/clubcreativestudio

 

 

 



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Creativity Takes Courage

Creativity Does Takes Courage.

Creativity does take courage.

The Club Creative Studio blog today has a focus on five of the top reasons why I believe this is true. Can you think of anything to add to the list?

1. Being creative demands that you “put yourself out there”.  It takes bravery to express yourself as an individual.
2. Being creative explores unknown results.  Courage is needed to chart unfamiliar territories and step outside the box.
3. Being creative requires a level of risk.  Creativity has a risk of failure and success.
4. Creativity is a give and take experience.  Creativity gives satisfaction to self and others. Creativity also includes a part of the creator’s soul.
5. Creativity has an element of investment.  Being creative uses invested supplies and a time commitment.

These are the very reasons among others, that I am dedicated to Being Creative Everyday!

It is not easy to be the one that always stands out in a crowd.  But, it is probably the most satisfying result of having courage to create.  Expressing uniqueness is something that anyone can learn to be comfortable with.  When a creative person sits down to focus on a task at hand, they do so with the thought that the results are going to be unpredictable.  I love knowing that my creative endeavors are all part of my wonderful journey.  The path can take on twists and turns as fast as the ideas spark.  The exciting part of creativity is that it can evolve and proceed in many new directions.

Being creative always as an element of risk involved.  I know that my success and failure rates are experienced in record amounts. Creativity is a learning process.  It is an expression as unique as the individual.  While any creative person dedicates a part of their soul to their art, creativity does not always take away from the creator. Creativity expressed and shared gives greatly to those willing to receive and reach out to connect with another’s creative ways. For me, Being Creative Everyday is not only my personal and business model canvas mantra, it is also a means to the end result of being the best I can be in creating art and sharing it with others.

My hope for you today is to find a way to be creative and thrive in your own level of creativity.  The spirit of creativity lives within you, find what it takes to spark it, and see what it can do for you!

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Creativity As Stress Buster

Believe it or not, being more creative can allow you to also be less stressed.

Having a creative outlet opens your mind and eyes to new and exciting ways to distress.

What’s your creative stress buster?

I use the opportunity to be creative with art on a daily basis. In this TNT (This-N-That) Club Creative Studio post I’d like share ideas why creativity can come to the rescue in times of stress. My personal and business mantra is Be Creative Everyday!  Having this frame of mind has allowed me to use the arts as a means to be expressive and less stressed in my day.

Focus your mind and hands creatively and you are in for an escape (of sorts) of reality. Being creative takes my thought process to a different out-of-the-box, critical thinking stage.   It helps me forget about the other things that are stressors in my life.  When I am creative, my focus changes to thinking in nonconventional means and I allow myself to grant freedoms of imagination and growth from routine.

Being creative sets my mind free from rules and places me in a state of experimentation.  Gifting the opportunity to ask and act upon questions like “what if”. Recently, I had the misfortune of having technical difficulties.  Within two days of each other , I discovered that I laundered my cell phone and the motherboard of my computer was fried. Talk about some bad luck. My technical difficulties were woes that I had to solved quickly so I could get back on track to where I needed to be personally and in my business. Those are stressful times, when you have to worry about a cost associated with a solution, as well as the time you are going to sacrifice to get back to your normal life when there is a challenge in your mist.

Creativity gave me comfort. Creativity was the sweet diversion from my problems.  Creativity gave me something else to concentrate on while I waited for the outsourced help. In this instance, I had gained time to be more creative because I was not directly involved with my main concerns. You can use creativity as a crutch to help you become stronger in critical thinking skills and thinking differently in general. I think that stress become less prominent if you inject some level of creativity into each situation. Creative thoughts sure take the routine out of the day,  allow your personality to shine, and gift others with alternative points of views. We were all meant to be indivuals and I can think of no better way to express uniqueness than to show your creative side. Give the gift of creativity to yourself or others today and find out if it will serve as a stress buster technique for you in the future.

What will you do to inc0rporate creativity into your life by thought and action? You may start by taking on a simple challenge as this: ask the question: “what if…”

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Beading Bracelets

Club Creative Studio hand-made wire bracelet.

Turquoise bracelet hand-twisted wire from Club Creative Studio.

Club Creative Studio speaks often about creativity. Here on the blog, you will find inspiration from art, project ideas, and other helpful information stemming from creativity. Today is no different in that I am sharing a short story from the spark of creativity that comes from the opportunity to collaborate and brain-storm.

I attended a networking event a few months ago and there, I met very interesting business people. Among all of them, I met a lady who had a common thread with me. We both shared the love and passion for beads. She was also designing jewelry so needless to say we had much to talk about. What began from a single common friendship fostered a bond through beading. As we connected via other social media methods, we learned more about each other. We planned an outing together to a local bead store that was going out of business. It was there that we spent several hours looking and speaking about beads as well as shopping for beads. It was really a fun time to spend time with someone with a shared enthusiasm for beads and supplies. We are now “beading buddies”.

My beading buddy bought a bracelet (say that three times fast). The wire bracelet was a store sample from one of their classes. When we looked at it we thought the same thing. We both had wondered how it was made, and if we could figure it out by closer examination, since there was not a way to get instruction from the store that was going out of business. We both had mentioned that we had wanted to try to create something similar but had not taken instruction on the technique. We thought that we could make them ourselves. We ended up splitting the cost of the bracelet and I took it home to dissect so we could recreate it later.

After meeting for a brain-storming session, we combined our creative time, and collaborated with our supplies to make our own versions of the same bracelet. Turns out the pattern was a good starting point for us to springboard into our own style and wire-wrapping techniques. Our skill levels were expanding together and we were inspiring to each other. That is what I am thankful for today, the opportunity to connect and support the creative drive of a fellow artist. Can you think of someone you have merged talents with or have benefitted from bouncing ideas off of? Do tell how it was a positive impact for you.

I am now getting comfortable with the technique and my materials. I will soon be able to offer these hand-made bracelets online for others to enjoy and purchase http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

Feel free to “like” Club Creative Studio on Facebook. You can see a “Sneak Peek” from time to time of a fresh design on the Club Creative Studio Facebook page at http://www/facebook.com/clubcreativestudio

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