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Inspirational Circle #10 – Family

Remember being given a word, an idea or a theme and using that as inspiration? Remember the excitement that ran through your mind and traveled to your fingertips as your idea came to life?

The Inspirational Circle is back! In honor of Thanksgiving, this month’s theme is “Family.” It’s time to capture your family, whether it’s happy, sad, weird, annoying, or just plain funny.  Make it unique and tell us what your family is like on our Facebook Event!

All creative work will be considered – drawing, painting, photography, poetry, prose, mixed media, sculpture, etc. If you post the work of others  as inspiration, please cite the original source to give the artist credit. Please spread the word and invite others to join in.

Here’s a perfect Thanksgiving poem to get you started:

Riches

© Jeanne D. Rhein
They say that times were tough then
That money was very tight
But I remember my childhood
And I know that can’t be rightMom would cook our dinner
Dad came home at five
We were all sitting at the table
Waiting for him to arriveWe wouldn’t eat from a microwave
Or a restaurant down the street
We all ate Mom’s home cooking
And boy that can’t be beatWe didn’t eat in front of the TV
Or with a phone in our hand
We weren’t plugged into a stereo
bopping to the latest bandWe would all sit at the table
Everyone in their place
There were never any surprises
We recognized every face

Brothers to the left of me
Sisters to the right
That’s the way we ate dinner
Every single night

We laughed we joked we talked we ate
We were a family don’t you see
Though some may have been raised poor
You can see it wasn’t me

We ate collards we ate biscuits
We ate fatback and blackeyed peas
We said yes sir we said no sir
We said thank you ma’am and please

So when you talk of family life
Or how it used to be
Though many had more money
None were as rich as me

Source: Riches, Poem about Family http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/riches#ixzz2BIIqiXK7
http://www.FamilyFriendPoems.com

Some other interesting poems:

A poem about generation gap

A poem about culture 

A sweet poem full of similes

Here’s a silly photo of my family:

My Family

My Family

And the beloved dysfunctional Family Guy

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Inspirational Circle #9 – Found Art

Remember being given a word, an idea or a theme and using that as inspiration? Remember the excitement that ran through your mind and traveled to your fingertips as your idea came to life?

The Inspirational Circle is back! This month’s theme is “Found Art!” Go find some cool stuff and make a collage or a sculpture. Go walk around the streets and take photos of street art and graffiti, or make a photogram. Go find newspaper scraps and magazines and create a poem from it. Let go of your creative block, and let the Inspirational Circle inspire you. So go ahead and brainstorm brilliant ideas and share them here with your fellow peers on our Facebook Event!

All creative work will be considered – drawing, painting, photography, poetry, prose, mixed media, sculpture, etc. If you post the work of others as inspiration, please cite the original source to give the artist credit. Please spread the word and invite others to join in.

To get you started, here are some links that you can visit:

Street Art Utopia on Facebook has a lot of inspiring art done on the streets all over the world, utilizing the landscape to the fullest aesthetic beauty: http://www.facebook.com/streetartutopia?fref=ts

Etté Studios has beautiful butterfly sculptures composed of found art: http://www.ettestudios.com/2010/02/found-object-art-michele-stitzleins.html

The Broken Doll series has some interesting pieces
http://karenswhimsy.com/found-object-art.htm

And for the writers, here are some ideas on how to write Found Poetry: http://www.creative-writing-now.com/found-poetry.html

Collage work that I previously made in college:

collage

collage

collage box

collage box

Photos taken at the NY MOMA

coke bottle sculpture

Blanket Collage

Chair on the Wall

 

 

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Inspirational Circle #7: Texture

Remember being given a word, an idea or a theme and using that as inspiration?  Remember the excitement that ran through your mind and traveled to your fingertips as your idea came to life?

The Inspirational Circle is back!  This month’s theme is “texture.”  Let go of your creative block, and let the Inspirational Circle inspire you.  So go ahead and brainstorm brilliant ideas and share them here with your fellow peers on our Facebook Event!

All creative work will be considered – drawing, painting, photography, poetry, prose, mixed media, sculpture, etc.  If you post the work of others as inspiration, please cite the original source to give the artist credit.  Please spread the word and invite others to join in.

Alright, to get started, here are definitions of texture.  This is a fun theme to experiment with, whether you choose to focus on something two-dimensional or three-dimensional (slabs of paint on canvas, some mixed media work of random material, a sculpture, a descriptive poem, a photograph, a photogram, whatever you choose).  Don’t be afraid to do something out of the ordinary 🙂

Here are some images that I found online that will inspire you.  The first four photos are mine. :)

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Inspirational Circle #4: Flora and Fauna

Remember being given a word, an idea or a theme and using that as inspiration?  Remember the excitement that ran through your mind and traveled to your fingertips as your idea came to life?

The Inspirational Circle is back!  In honor of spring and all things blossoming, this month’s theme is “flora and fauna”.  Let go of your creative block, and let the Inspirational Circle inspire you.  So go ahead and brainstorm brilliant ideas and share them here with your fellow peers on our Facebook Event!

All creative work will be considered – drawing, painting, photography, poetry, prose, mixed media, sculpture, etc.  If you post the work of others as inspiration, please cite the original source to give the artist credit.  Please spread the word and invite others to join in.

Alright, to get started, here are definitions of flora and fauna.  With long hours of sunlight and nice, warm weather, you should definitely use this as an excuse to go out there and get some exercise.  Don’t forget to take your pen, your sketchpad, your notebook, your camera, or whatever you need to create magic 🙂

Here are some images that I took in New York to inspire you.  All flora photographed at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx.  The orchid show there was amazing.  The vibrant colors took my breath away.  All fauna photographed at Prospect Zoo in Brooklyn.  I hope you enjoy these fun shots!

And now are two cute poems I found on readinglady.com

My Garden
This is my garden, I’ll plant it with care,
Here are the seeds I’ll plant in there,
The sun will shine,
The rain will fall,
The seeds will sprout and grow up tall.

—————————————–

The Little Plant
In the heart of a seed,
Buried deep so deep,
A tiny plant
Lay fast asleep.
“Wake,” said the sunshine,
“And creep to the light.”
“Wake,” said the voice
Of the raindrops bright.
The little plant heard
And it rose to see,
What the wonderful,
Outside world might be.

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A New Year, A New Calendar

What better way to start an exciting new year than an inspirational new calendar?  There are lots of places where you can shop for a new calendar, whether you are hoping for some cute animals, scenic views or lovely flowers.  However, why not make this year more special and get a personalized calendar?

I made 2 wall calendars this year using Shutterfly, which I really enjoyed because I was able to combine my photography with inspiring phrases.  They have a variety of themes to choose from.  Since I wanted my photography to stand out, I chose a very subdued background of classic textures.  The first calendar focused on “Simple Moments of Beauty” showcasing photos of everyday objects captured in enticing lighting.  The second calendar was called “Coastal Memories” capturing gorgeous photos of Big Sur along with inspirational phrases for each month.

Here are some of my favorite phrases:

  1. Caress each curve on Mother Earth’s body and watch it glisten in the sun
  2. Love may be covered in fog, but take a moment to witness this mystic beauty
  3. Don’t be afraid to change, as there’s so much beauty and color in transition
  4. Take a step back and watch how life sparkles and shines, full of energy and magic
  5. Ever changing, forever flowing, always living, the essence of life
  6. There is beauty in your own reflection

Another fun thing about making calendars on Shutterfly is that you can insert your personal dates and images onto the calendar to mark the birthday of friends, anniversaries or any other special event.  It’ll make a perfect gift.

Here are some images from my calendar that I just hung on my wall as of today (since I was away from home yesterday) 🙂  I hope you enjoy my work and that it inspires you.  Since I’m really interested in inspirational photography and poetry, my calendars are more scenic.  However, you can also choose to showcase personal photos of family and friends.  There are plenty of options if you decide to create a calendar on Shutterfly.  I invite you to browse around.

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If you are a professional photographer or designer and would like to attempt to sell your work for a small royalty.  You can consider Zazzle.  You design the calendar with your own images (photographs, artwork, design-work), choose the default style and set your price (anything above the base production cost goes into your pocket).  Anyone purchasing the product will then get to customize the product further by changing the size or calendar style and inputting their own images and text on top of your design.  Zazzle is a growing community for product creators.  It does not have all the background options provided by Shutterfly or the inserted calendar dates, but is still a fun and possibly profitable way to create and/or showcase your work.

Don’t feel inspired yet?  Well, you can browse Zazzle and see if there’s something you like, or browse some local stores for cool designs – Target, Walgreens, Safeway, Walmart, Barnes and Nobles, Michael’s, or wherever your heart and feet take you. 🙂