2013 year of the Mermizzle

I find it interesting how inspiration discovers me. My friend, Cory, and his wife are expecting a little girl soon.  While I was taking care of their dog, they had asked if I could paint a few things for them in the nursery.  They wanted a sea themed room, but realized everything they purchased was blue and they wanted to "girl it up."  They gave me an image of a mermaid they liked, but told me what they didn't like about her.  So, I went at it and within 5 hours finished a cute little mermaid with a few friends.  At the time, I hadn't made their baby a Mizzle doll.  I had waited because I wanted to know if there were specific colors or themes they were using in the room.  Once I knew about the sea theme, I went on a search for cute socks.  I found nothing that screamed "make me a Mizzle!"  I just gave up looking.  I think the idea should have been obvious from the beginning, but it didn't.  Perhaps I wasn't listening carefully enough to hear the idea scream.  But since I couldn't find cute socks with cute sea creatures or mermaids (and I wanted to stay away from the Disney mermaid socks) I would make the Mizzle with a mermaid tail.  She would be a Mermizzle.  A Mermizzle!  Genius! 

There is something about this idea, perhaps a new creative fire lit, but I have decided to make it a series.  For the year of 2013, I will be making mostly, if not only, Mermizzles!

Meet Elsie Mermizzle!  She is the very first Mermizzle.  She is adventurous and spunky.  Her loves to gently touch the surface of sea urchins to watch them close, then slowly reopen.  During the day, she blows bubbles  to tickle fish and swimmers above her.  Her best friend is Mr. Octopus, who helps keep her out of danger.  Her favorite color is brown and she loves to eat veggie burgers.

Inspirational Quotes

I love reading inspirational quotes, especially if they are from artists or about creativity.  A few years ago, I began writing them down on post-it notes and stuck them all around my computer monitor or on the wall near my desk.  Mostly, they are little affirmations for my own personal creative process, or I find them amusing.  But, sometimes I find my students reading them.  Since I've changed rooms, my collection of quotes has been sitting aside waiting to be displayed in their new home. 

I thought I'd share what I've collected.

Live out of your imagination, not your history.
-Stephen Corey

As children, we all live in a world of imagination, of fantasy, and for some of us that world of make-believe continues into adulthood.
-Jim Henson

We wish to bring joy to your heart that the reality of who you are is far greater than anything you have imagined.
-Unknown

Have no fear of perfection, you'll never reach it.
-Salvador Dali

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep.
-Scott Adams

Nothing changes until something moves.
-Albert Einstein

If you don't jump, the wings will never come.
-Bruce Coville, at SCBWI summer conference 2011

Creativity is not rearranging; it is transformation.
-Viola Spolin

I believe that we form our own lives, that we create our own reality, and that everything works out for the best.
-Jim Henson

I'm creative --you can't expect me to be neat, too.
-Unknown

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.
-Edgar Degas

Perhaps imagination is only intelligence having fun.
-George Scialabba

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.
-Pablo Picasso

I'm enough of an artist to draw freely on my imagination.  Imagination is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world.
-Albert Einstein

Life is not measured by the number of breaths, but by the moments that take our breath away.
-Maya Angelou

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
-Thomas Merton

Art is not a thing; it is a way.
-Elbert Hubbard

And, the quote that makes me smile every time I read it is from my former student, Ayana Pepaj.

"I'm not judging. I'm just saying it's disgusting." 

I have no idea what the topic of conversation was, but I remember working on the murals and garden with my art club students and hearing her end the conversation with that statement.  It made me laugh then and it still does.

What are your favorite inspirational quotes?

Family Dinner

My family always has a lot of fun when we are together.  You can always find us laughing.  I love watching TV or movies with my family because we always add sarcastic commentary. But, I love it when my family decides to go out dinner.  It is filled with so much laughter.  We used to only go to Olive Garden as a family.  Over the past few years, we've explored other places, but they were always restaurants where we each order our own separate meal.  Then we discovered Korean BBQ.  I, especially, love it when go have Korean BBQ. We eat in harmony.  It is almost like dancing, the way we pass the food around.  We have been there enough times as a family that we no longer need to ask for someone to pass us a particular food item. No one fights over any part of the meal.  We eat and we laugh.  

  

Art Adventures

Today was a fun day of various art adventures with my good friend, Heather.  She introduced me to a few places in Long Beach that I wasn't aware of.  We began at Art Exchange, a community arts center, where we make snowflakes for the surviving students of Sandy Hook.  It was amazing to see people walk in off the street and begin making art together.  There was definitely a feeling of a community in that room.

Inspired by our first activity, here are Dune (on the right) and Sparks (on the left) making paper snowflakes.

We made our way to a cool music store, Fingerprints, and had brunch and browsed the shop.  Then, she introduced me to The Long Beach Depot for Creative Re-Use.  This is a store with odds and ends that normally people would throw out, but artists may want to use in recycled art work.  It was a bit overwhelming to walk through.

We ended our Art Adventure with a trip to the Museum of Latin American Art.  I love this museum.  It is small, but it definitely puts on a big show.  If you haven't been to there, you should check out their current exhibits.  I love their permanent collection exhibit.  It always changes.  They find fun and innovative ways to display work in the permanent collection.  Last time I was there, they told a tall tale with the paintings and sculptures.  This time, they have connected work to cards in the game of the lotteria.

It was a fun and exhausting day!  I can't wait for our next Art Adventure.

Just a drawing

Just to warn you, this post has no purpose other than to share my drawing for the day.

I'm not sure what is going on in this drawing, but it makes me laugh.  This is Jalen.  I introduced her a while back.  She heals hearts through hugs.  I wasn't really trying to draw anything in particular.  I was just drawing and noticed she had this look on her face that said she just got caught doing something.  Part of it is her awkward pose.  It is almost like she was dancing and singing her heart out and then realized people were watching.

Daily Drawings

Creating a drawing daily isn't as easy as one would think.  I feel like it was a lot easier to achieve last year. I seem to find myself wanting to fall back on drawing the same things.  I might have to create a list of themes or things Mizzles might do.  Last year, most of my drawings were inspired by current life events.  But, I'm not feeling inspired by my own life at the moment.

This drawing was inspired by a photo I saw on the National Geographic Photography Facebook page.

This next drawing wasn't really inspired.  It is a drawing similar to one I've done before.  It is just a slightly different take on it.  I'm trying to spend more time including my newer Mizzles in my drawings.  I tend to fall back on the Mizzles I've gotten to know and am comfortable drawing.  It's time to give attention to the other Mizzles.

What activities, events, or themes would you like to see the Mizzles in?

My Happy Place

Happy Place: a location, real or fictional, where worries, problems, and anxiety melts away and alms you...makes you happy.  I like creating "happy places" in various locations.  At work, I have a real tree standing behind my desk, along with reproductions of Claude Monet's waterlilies, and a poster of Fraggle Rock. At home, I have photos, drawings, or paintings of trees and my Mizzles. I think for many people Facebook has become their happy place. Facebook has become a bit boring to me.  People post the same stuff and most of the time it isn't very interesting.  I keep going back to the website because every once in a while an illustrator or writer friend will post something FANTASTIC!  It was last month artist, George Littlechild posted this photo:

The vibrance of the magenta is so amazing!  I just cannot stop staring at this photo and find myself smiling or daydreaming. Now if I can only recreate this in my livingroom!  Wouldn't that be awesome? This photo was so magical that it sent me on a wild Google search for magenta cherry blossom trees... And I found these beauties!

I might have to create some drawings or paintings of the Mizzles exploring these trees!  I'm definitely going to be adding some of these photos to my current "happy places." Here is my daily drawing of Fawn enjoying the cherry blossoms.

Where is your happy place?