Artistic Synergy 1

In less than a year of blogging I've gotten quite addicted to reading a whole collection of artblogs. I depend upon then for inspiration, for staying up to date on what's happening in various worlds, and mostly for creative energy. Somehow when I see that another artist has had a brilliant idea or produced a work that particularly resonates with me, it's motivating! I want to have my own brilliant ideas, and to have something clever and exciting to show. My head starts churning and my fingers get itchy. It's the synergy that comes from a group of artists. I used to belong to a group that met weekly, and this online connection has that same feel, only daily at the press of my Bloglines button!

This week, I'd say I'm working on it, but not there yet -- on the something to show part. I've got lots of ideas and the process is proceeding, but technical difficulties are delaying the product (not to mention the distractions of the first week of back to homeschooling an almost high school student). So, instead, let me connect you with an artist with whom I've connected recently. This new year I'll be adding these Artistic Synergy links periodically. Find them listed in the sidebar.

Before the holidays, I particularly enjoyed a couple of articles in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine by fiber artist Kelli Perkins (Ephemeral Alchemy). The first was about stitched paintings, and it led me to paint a couple of watercolors of my own, which you can see here. Should I admit that I have yet to stitch them? Guess I need to revisit that! The second was about stuffed fiber crows, which have been a particular attraction to me (notice one of the paintings included a crow!). Imagine my thrill this week to read Kelli's blog where she had listed the crows for sale on e-bay! So off I flew to get my own little crow winging home to me. Yesterday it came, wrapped in tissue, tied with yarn and a button and tagged with an ATC. This one was not in the magazine that I could find, but it's the one that called to me.


Funny, only after having it sitting here next to my computer screen did I see the connection to a stuffed fiber and polymer clay bird that I made years ago in that weekly group. I've always meant to make more. Hmmmm...