It's that time...

...of the year when all the trees, shrubs, grasses and leaves call to me.  Try as I might, I just cannot seem to resist their colour and texture.

This past week I picked elderberries from a tree heavy with them; it beckons every time we pass it on our walks. A large bag of stems looked as though they were ripe with promise of jelly, but that's not what I was after this year.

As much as I enjoy making and eating  that delicious tart jelly, I was truly after these gorgeous stems.

Ranging in colour from green through red to dark purple, they make elegant filigree additions to mixed media paintings.

This mandala, created with painted papers and dried, pressed stems, is a favourite of mine. The delicate etching of them is reminiscent of fine lace.

'Elderberry Mandala'  Mixed Media on hand-painted paper-covered canvas  © Win Dinn

The elderberry stems used in this painting were instrumental in bringing about its sale in Puffin Design recently.  The Alberta purchaser apparently has a particular affinity for them.

'Changing Landscape' Mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

And of course, there is always the possibility of jelly in the offing!

Are there gifts from Mother Nature you enjoy using in your work?  Or perhaps you use her design principles instead?  I'd love to see your comments below.

I am wondering...

why it is that we are sometimes addicted to creativity, and at others wrestle with the muse.

A student of mine came for a studio play date this week, and she confessed that she was stuck. Her forays into mixed media got her enthusiastic about creating (although in another medium entirely), but she found after Christmas that she could not talk herself into her studio.

This got me wondering.  What it is that keeps artists and creative types doing the play (or work, if you prefer that term) day after day?

I go into the studio for colour,

'The Eye of Ra' mixed media on canvas, © Win Dinn

for experimentation,

'Cattitude'' mixed media mat board, © Win Dinn

for meditation,

'Elderberry Mandala' mixed media on canvas, © Win Dinn

for texture,

'Alien Portal' mixed media on mat board, © Win Dinn

for pattern,

'Z' from Gratitude altered book © Win Dinn

for silliness,

'Fish Fancy' mixed media on board, © Win Dinn

and for play.

'Roadside Crosses:  She Inhaled it Much Too Quickly' altered book © Win Dinn

The more I go in there, the more time there I crave, (and as a side benefit, the better my creative play becomes).  

What is it, though, that makes me avoid the studio?  Is it fear (high expectations of myself), boredom with the current line of creative experimentation, the inner critic that says I don't deserve to play, the lack of stimulation?  I've had periods where these all apply, and one way for me to combat them is to trick myself into the studio 'just for a moment', coming out hours later refreshed and renewed. Another way for me to get unstuck is to watch some creative videos on YouTube, or switch mediums entirely (e.g. moving from mixed media to drawing or paper play).

Tell me, what sends you into the doldrums of creative lack?  What do you do to get 'out of the pit'? Let's start a 'Kick the Creative Blues' list in the comment section!