Ancient fish carving and wallowing in the mire

i have been working lately, but things are moving slowly. i don't know what's wrong with my creativity, but it's as if i can't count on my muses, as if i've lost some of my mojo. Artistically, 2010 was a full year for me, laden with discovery about myself as an artist, my style and my process. There was a distinct point in the spring where the ideas were pouring out of me, and i remember thinking, This is it! This is my voice! i may never be without an idea again! And really, right now, it's not a lack of ideas that's the problem, it's the implementation of said ideas. i sit down to work and everything feels wrong. i struggle with things that should be easy. i find myself stepping away from my studio after only a few minutes, and finding some other outlet, but this is eating up precious time i could be creating!

i am frustrated because i can't find the source of my frustration. i am struggling and i don't know why...

But, like i said, i am working. Every few days or maybe once a week i manage to create something i feel good or even great about, something i'm proud of, but this is not the norm unfortunately.

i know this is a phase. i know this too shall pass, but right now that doesn't make me feel much better.

These images show one of the few projects that wasn't a struggle recently. i carved the fish image (a depiction of ancient Mexican art) for an ATC swap with the theme of "ancient". This stamp is one of my favorite carvings that i've done to date. i have ideas for a series of carvings with a similar theme.

Included in each partners' swap (there were 2 partners total) was the ATC featured in the first two photos, the bookmark you see in photo one (i love how that turned out - has a batik feel to it) and the card shown above. For the card, i used my Liquitex inks and they did the job quite nicely.

So, for now, i'm going to keep plowing through. i've been here before, in the artistic muck, and i'll be here again. i will break out of this, i just hope it happens soon.

New mediums + creative block = frustration!

Hi all! i don't know how many readers i have left since the long hiatus... i'm trying to rectify the situation, though. 

i never did post my "12 Tags of Christmas", will have to get to that, hopefully before next x-mas. 

Since my last posts, a lot's changed for me artistically.  For quite a few years, i made mostly cards, and while i'm sure i always will  - i love it as a small format to try ideas and for instant (almost) gratification - lately i've been playing mostly in my journal and working on mixed media collage pieces. Also, after years of tossing ideas around, i'm finally starting work on some shadowboxes/assemblages.

i've also found some new mediums in the past several months, one being stamp carving. i was always intimidated by it, but once i got started i saw how easy it was to get good results and i was hooked! i carved almost 50 stamps - some big, most small - in a month or so.

Another new medium was one i was curious about for awhile, but only now have delved into - beeswax for collage/mixed media work! So far i've only played with it a little, but i'm already excited about the possibilities. 

And yet, even with all these new outlets, i am smack in the throes of a creative block. The funny thing is, i usually have tons of ideas, too many ideas and not enough time. Ofcourse, many artists say the best thing for a block is to just work! Just start playing with materials and let things happen. i might also mine my idea notebook for old ideas that i never started. 

So, today i have a tag to show. It's not anything fantastic; it was my first experiment with beeswax. i knew i wanted to seal some dried leaves or flowers in the wax so that's what i went with. i added color (red) by melting a Crayola crayon into the mix.

Ingredients: Manila tag - Office max; stamps - Writing Set by Clearly Impressed (Stampington & Co.), alphabet by Studio G, Swirls, V.1 by Autumn Leaves; ink - Versafine; red Crayola crayon; pressed flower petals; beeswax; walnut ink.

Well, thanks for looking! i hope to be posting more regularly - it helps to motivate me past my block, and i miss sharing with other artists. 

Hope you all have an awesome day!