What Inspires You?

So my dear Quirksters, I have recently acquired a little book called, "Show Your Work!" by Austin Kleon,  www.austinkleon.com. You can check out his other stuff on his site. But the basic idea behind this particular book is to share what inspires you.

Wonderful artwork inspires me to try my hand at different mediums or create a new character.





So here is a short list of some inspiring artists and how you can get your hands on their stuff, and maybe they'll spark something in  YOUR head too. You're welcome.

1. http://www.bkartonline.com
This guy can turn a phrase and draw the most outrageous steampunk illustrations. Yessssss. Very inspiring. 

Walking your Octopus: A guidebook to the Domesticated Cephalopod by Brian Kensinger



2. Gris Grimly. The most amazing creative genius.
Check out some of his characters.
Enter his website at your own risk;) https://www.madcreator.com/

3. Edward Gorey. Brilliant writer and lovely line drawings.
FYI: His writing and humor are very dark, but if you're up for it? Quite delightful:)

So these are a few of my favorite things...they get the old creative spices spicing, and juices juicing. There are so many more artists, writers, musicians, poets, entrepreneurs, that serve to inspire others, but I thought I'd whet your appetite and begin the sharing. Won't you share with the rest of us too?
What (who, where, when) inspires you?
Talk soon my quirky friends,
xoxo robyn

just try!

I would love to know how many of us struggle with not even trying or attempting something because we're afraid it won't be what we've imagined in our heads. Well, I'm here to share with you that no matter WHAT we do, we have room for tweaking, adjusting, changing and improving. If we don't give things a shot, how will we know if we're getting it right or not?

A couple of suggestions? Look back on something that you've done that inside of your head and heart you have a bit of a satisfied smile. This is not bragging or being full of yourself, it's just allowing you to move forward with a little bit of success and use that as a stepping stone to your next attempt at something that has been nudging at the corners of your creative little mind.  Now, think about that thing that you've been wanting to do, but you keep stopping yourself because you can't seem to motivate past the concept that you might fail. But who's going to know if you fail? Why not take a class, or ask someone that you respect their ability, and just be brave and go for it a little bit. It's actually kind of an adrenaline rush when we take a peek outside of our comfortable shell and look around a little to see our creative world with a fresh vision.

Okay, I'll share...recently I took a caricature class. The teacher was motivating and comforting in the fact that he mentioned that it would take, "practice, practice, practice." As an individual who has been doing some sort of drawing ever since I can remember, this was a new type of discipline for me...draw something, critique it, learn from it, then rip it up. You don't have to get it "right", you just have to get used to seeing with a new set of eyes. The first couple of days after class I attempted some caricature's and I promptly critiqued them and tore them up. But I don't think I want to give up yet. I've decided that the "trying" is just part of the process and that I want to "try",  as much as I want to be successful at this new discipline, it's the trying part that I want to emphasize.

Soooooo, maybe it's something new? that you're really not very good at right now? or maybe it's something you've done for close to forever, but you've never put it out there. Bottom line? just try.

s...t...r...e...t...c...h... yourself.

Percival Pencil (one of my softy creations)
He's for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/quirkified

To all of my dear quirkified friends I would like to share a bit more on our habit of creativity. We've talked about so many aspects, but what about stretching yourself?


Personally, my "thing" tends to be the artsy stuff. Time literally grows wings when I'm drawing, painting, claying little bits of cuteness, crocheting, or coming up with a visual for a word picture that is running through my brain. These are my go-to's, the things that come naturally and will continue to morph over time as I practice my creativity habit.


I would say my second love is to write silly
"dr seussy" stories and then doodle cartoons to accompany them in a variety of mediums. Yes, this has a tendency to be a companion to my artsy "go-tos" but the stories are a bit more of a stretch and time tends to grow wheels instead of wings.

Maybe you are like me in wanting to explore all sorts of areas of creativity but you head back to the familiar like a mosquito to stagnant water. Maybe we need to find what stretches us but does not frustrate us. Personally I find in order to not be frustrated I have to make sure that I'm not looking at a big picture, that it needs to be something small and doable. Something that gets me excited by the success of accomplishing it, finishing it, regardless of my need for improvement or tweakage of whatever it is I'm attempting.

Some examples;
1. Set a goal. Make it just outside of your comfort zone. Just enough so you know you'll learn something but not be overwhelmed by time or the amount of effort required. (side note, I'm working toward being in a Craft Fair the first week in December. Putting together items and thinking of how to best display and attract is a stretch for me.)

2. Do something that you might not consider to be in your creative repertoire, but you find yourself thinking about doing. For me, this is cooking! I've never been much of a food person, yet with the dawning of Pinterest and all the lovely enticements pictured on these boards I find myself wanting to attempt some of them. A small goal for someone like me would be to make a dessert or an appetizer to share with friends or family, someplace safe that will accept my meager offerings without too much teasing or critique. (a little bit of a soft landing during your stretch is more than an acceptable compromise, since you are stepping out)

I hope these stretching suggestions are something you can relate to and be encouraged to reach for, hey we're in this together..

UPDATE: When I originally wrote this entry I was busily preparing for the aforementioned craft fair that has now transpired as of this past weekend. I'm more than delighted to say that it was an exhausting blast and that I learned SO much from the experience. Displaying items that you have invested time and effort into creating can make you feel very vulnerable, but I found that it was more than worth it. Some minor successes occurred and lessons were learned so I would add this to the "plus" column in my endeavor toward the creativity habit.

Blessings on all of your heads, I will talk with y'all soon:)
xoxo
r