I have so many creative friends. More of my friends than not are working in creative fields. Back in the day, we would get together and bounce ideas around, talk about art and design, look at art books together, hit art shows and spend hours drawing and designing. I've written before about how surrounding yourself with like-minded people is a great way to keep your own creative juices flowing. What happens, though, when the group disbands and moves to different parts of this gigantic country? What happens when you stop creating because life gets in the way? How do you get back to being the lean, mean drawing machine you used to be, when much of your inspiration and motivation is now over a thousand miles away?
The first thing that I've done is to make an effort to follow my friend's blogs. It's cool to see how they all keep the flame burning, and how they're growing and changing as time goes by. Two friends are more into photography these days. One friend is getting into interior design and vintage furniture restoration. Following their blogs and talking to them about their projects every now and then helps me get motivated to start some projects to talk about as well. That way I'll have something to say aside from how the baby is, and what new skill she's developing this week (it's commando style crawling, if you must know).
The second thing that I'm planning on doing is frivilous, but inspires me just the same. I'm really into fashion, but with the cold weather and time restraints, I'm unable to pursue that interest at the moment. To compensate for my constant attire of jogging pants and drool covered hoodies, I'm starting a fashion look book. I have a huge stack of fashion magazines, and I'm gonna cut out all my favorite pieces and glue them in an empty sketch book. Fashiony stuff doesn't only inspire me when i'm sewing, but it also inspires my illustration work. I loves a drop of interdisciplinary inspiration b'y..
The third thing that I'm hoping to accomplish this week or next is to rethink my studio concept. Right now, there is a computer and a buttload of music gear in the big studio, and all my other art stuff is in the little blue room (images in this post). We're planning on making the little blue room a music/computer room for Sebas, and then the large space will be ALL studio, with all my gear, tables, sewing machine, paper, etc. stored in one place. I'm looking forward to it, because now I do all my non-printing work at the kitchen table, and it is FAR too easy to get distracted here! The phone, the baby, my computer, delicious foods, it's all within my reach at the moment. Part of being creative is having the time to work through an idea without having to constantly stop every 2 minutes for some reason. It's actually taken me all day to write this post. I can't imagine if I was trying to draw something, or draft a pattern. It'd be in the garbage by now!
Anywhoot, those are my starting points for pulling myself back into the "art world", so to speak. I'll let everyone know if they work. What does everyone else to do stay motivated and inspired?
