Dock

ATC_Dock

The 6th stage, although the steps are not necessarily sequential, is Dock.

dock

¹   

noun1.a landing pier , some place to put our ideas, to give them structure, shape and form. Even the free-est for of art has a framework some kind of outline.

As artist we have ideas, inspiration, materials (both tangible and technical). How we we wrangle them how we harness them is by docking. 

My docking process take many forms. Sometimes simply flipping through my inspirational books, magazines, & art journals spark a form or structure. Sometimes it is through challenges. Oh, there are challenges and then there are CHALLENGES. The challenges I am referring to are the "rules" someone has set to follow. Many art journaling and scrapbooking sites have creative minds that make weekly challenges. These challenge give us form and structure. They set an outline or framework to work within. Some of my favorites are :

Jessica Sprague>forum>challenge  

scrapbookgraphics>forum>challenge
designerdigitals>community>weekly challenge

Once again my inspiration for the blog comes from the book Changing Patterns Discovering the Fabric of your Creativity written by  Daena Giardella and Wren Ross. Read older post for more stages and Collect your FREE ACT cards to keep and use as you choose.

Challenges give our creativity a place to DOCK. Go over to Jessicasprague.com click on forums>7 days in May. Everyday for 7 days a challenge will be described and a freebie to kick start, if you so choose. Unfortunately the freebie is only for the day, fortunately there is a new one everyday of the 7 Days in May.

Keeps Me on My Toes

Over at scrap book graphics Tangie Baxter 2012 Caravan the word for the wordology section was gallivant. The following page is from a 1980 board game that I scanned, with some game cards and flippery clown and hand. Sometime it just take a word to trigger the creative thought. Marination time on this was very short. I had a FLOOD of ideas having just scanned the game this week before reading Tangie's itinerary! Serpendipity? The layout it's self was not too difficult. Scan, resize, place. The title font is from dafont: Roady Roadrunner, A little warping and a paint bucket and voila. Signage is dafont, road sign and road warning signs.

I wondered what I would do with this board game that has been hanging around my stash. 

My Mother-In-Law

Don't Forget your FREE ATC

Free Artist Trading Card Collect the series from this site

Marinating

Suppose the lack of a blog can be an example of the creative stage of Marination. Letting things sit, soak in. For an Artist or creative person this can be viewed negatively. Seen often as a time of non-productiveness. My marination time was triggered by a trip to Marco Island. I had hoped to take at least 200 photos but actually took about 20. My quest was to add to my photo stash to alter in Photo Shop. But, instead I was uninspired and unmotivated finding the Island so commercial that the quest turned into Marination.
But I can not go to the beach without taking pictures of sand, shells, and sea. Here is a page from my art journal.

And my Self Portrait

Altered Shadow Photo of me at the beach! The shots of me in a bikini are long over!

So I have been Marinating, reading, oogling, and also purging, making room to breathe.

How do you marinate? What do you turn to when you need to sit and be? How long does this process take you? Hours, Days, weeks, may be just minutes. Me I was buried for weeks in my purging process, marinating while I rid my belongings to open space in my house, studio, heart and head.

 I won! How exciting. Check out my winning challenge page at http://www.jessicasprague.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4447:are-you-up-for-the-challenge&catid=69:jscom-articles&Itemid=147.
Participating in Jessica Sprague challenges is on outlet for me to use specific guidelines to form a creative piece. The challenge was to use words that were on inspirational bracelets, use handwriting font, and circles (since bracelets are circles) to showcase 6 inspirational words.

Jessica Sprague and her staff have been a major influence on my digital knowledge. Her classes have given me the tools to create. I highly recommend logging on to www.jessicasprague.com and start your digital journey.