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A Place of Story |
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Why do you create? Why do you make the art you make? What fuels your art? What's the purpose in all of it? Do you ever ask yourself these questions? Finding Your Creative Purpose: Nurturing the Artistic Spark WithinThese are things I ponder often. Sometimes I lose my focus, and I have to revisit my 'Why.' Maybe you're still in search of your creative purpose, and that's ok. Your 'why' often resides within the things that light up your soul. So what is it that brings you joy? I've tried making every kind of art and craft under the sun. Everybody's making repeat patterns...hurry learn how. Floral is always a seller...draw flowers. Flat is in...heavy texture is out...change your style. Any of these sound familiar? At times, I've chased the trends hoping to be discovered or make sales, but those ventures are short-lived. Nothing wrong with it--it's just not my why. Sales may be the reason you create, and that's completely valid! Maybe, instead, yours is outlet to get away from the world for a little while--equally legitimate. No one else needs to dictate why you create. Take it as a gift from God and enjoy it! Embrace the Artistic JourneyIt's a journey, so you might as well enjoy it. Boy, do I need that reminder! The adventure is in the trip--not in the final destination. Create art for the sake of creating. When you take your eyes off the outcome, you'll likely find yourself moving to that lofty artistic goal faster than if you'd tried to make it happen! Remember, your 'why' isn't set in stone, either. It's a part of you that grows and changes as you do. Don't be afraid to refine or redefine your 'why' as you make the journey. What Drives My WhyMine is simple--to create art with such joy that it's infectious, to warm hearts and lift spirits, and most of all to share Jesus...and to paint chickens in stylish glasses. Now, I'd love to hear from you. What fuels your artistic fire? What compels you to create? Join the conversation and share your unique artistic purpose, and let's get moving on this creative journey! 
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It's that time of year—time for spring cleaning. You know that I am by no means a minimalist. I like my vintage finds (aka someone else's junk), and I like my spaces cozy. BUT, there's something amazing about clearing out and turning loose of the things that are cluttering your life. You know how to clean closets and cabinets, but do you do the same for your creative space? Do you take the time to make it a place you want to be? Spring Cleaning Tips for your Create Space:
 Now that we've got that cleaned up, what about your spiritual life? Could you use some spring cleaning there?
Sun and Ned are out on another adventure to send some special Valentine hugs to you!  Sunflowers have always been my favorite flower. I can't help but smile when I look at one. I'm not even a big fan of the color yellow, unless it's on a sunflower! I’ve been working digitally on my art for quite a while trying to hone my skills for picture book illustration. Besides that, my iPad and Apple Pencil are portable! But here in the last few weeks, digital art and paint brushes just haven't excited me. It was time to break out the wet media! Sometimes you just have to get messy. Do you ever get ideas stuck in your head? Well, I had a sunflower stuck in mine. I decided to watch some great painting tutorials on Skillshare to get my mind wrapped around this idea floating around in my skull. Bonnie Lecat had a great quick acrylic painting class, so I pulled out some old canvases from the cabinet and went to work.  Not only do I love sunflowers, I love quirky animals! Animals with attitudes… animals in glasses… there was this Polish chicken with crazy hair just screaming to get out of my brain… I'm not the only one with crazy ideas rolling around in her head, right? Anyway, as I was painting, I lost all concern and focus on the outside world. I enjoyed painting the sunflower so much I decided I needed more of them. In fact, I set a little 100 Sunflower Challenge for myself and the fun continued. We will see where this takes me!  Oh, how I love how God connects the dots! I do a kids message at church each Sunday, and my mind kept coming back to the sunflowers as I was talking to God about what my next message should be. I found a great article by name here on sunflowers. Each morning sunflowers face the east awaiting the sunrise. Throughout the day they will turn and follow the sun; however, they never fully turn and face the west. Instead, they turn themselves back to the east to position themselves for the rising of the sun the next morning. In Matthew there is a scripture that talks about the return of Jesus and how like the lightning He will come from the east. Wouldn't it be great if we were more like sunflowers...if we would position ourselves each morning to follow the sun that is, the S-O-N? Follow Him throughout the day, and position ourselves again each night two await Him and follow Him? I don't know about you, but of all the flowers in the world, I want to be a sunflower!
There's so much going on in our world right now with COVID-19, that my focus hasn't been on making art. In fact, drawing seems almost trivial when I think about the gravity of the coronavirus. God and I were talking this morning, and I asked about being creative. My total desire is to glorify Him in everything I create, and in who I am. I think it's not so much whether I create art or not. I believe the important thing is in being a child of God. He's made me who I am, and that happens to be a creative who can't get enough paints, pencils, papers...you get the idea. So I decided to go back to work on my 2020 goal today. I had set a goal to practice illustrating children's illustrations by taking the same characters and drawing them in different scenes, turning them in different directions, and such. I started the year off with a MiniMe and her mule Ned. They've been on several adventures. Today's illustration - Teatime at Granny's  Would you like to brighten your décor with a Sue and Ned adventure of your own? Click below to purchase prints!
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AuthorIt's never a dull moment around Sherry's Cabin! Grab a glass of tea, pull up a chair, and let's share a story. Archives
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