challenge Archives - CLEVERcreating

The Art of Being Creative Sparked by Mutual Inspiration, 7 Tips

January 11, 2024 by Hannie Mommers

There is a beautiful story about sharing food or ideas: if I have 2 potatoes and share them with a friend, we both have 1 potato. If I share 2 ideas with a friend, we both have 2 ideas.

Mutual inspiration is extremely nourishing and satisfying. An activity together with someone else, whether it is walking, doing crafts or talking, gives such a good feeling. After all, a human being is a social being and we better exploit that.

It doesn’t just happen out of the blue. If we want to do something together with someone, we have to take action. In this article, I explain how I do that.

Making a Creative Travel Journal while Travelling Doubles the Fun

October 9, 2023October 9, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

My personal challenge of 2022/23 to make a collage (almost) daily sparks a lot of creativity and inspiration. The easiest way to work on a collage is at home where I have all my materials and tools, making it extra challenging when we go on a trip. How do I make a collage then?

Last year I solved that ‘problem’ by taking lots of pictures and either making a Canva collage or collecting small items and putting those together in an assemblage. The end result was a photo.

This time I planned to make collages in a creative travel journal, where I wanted to include more elements of a day.

12 Tips to Find Inspiration to Make Art when We Are Stuck

September 29, 2023September 29, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

Usually, we find inspiration to make art when we are not looking for it. We are in the shower or preparing dinner and ideas pop into our heads. We walk through nature or in a city and are inspired by what we see or experience.

Then we are so in the flow that we do not need extra inspiration. At other times we have to consciously search for it because we want to create but just don’t know how and what. We’re stuck.

To get the inspiration process going, I’ll give you 12 tips in this article.

It’s Great to Combine Collage with Drawing or Painting

August 4, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

Collages can be created in many ways.

Sometimes, I fill the entire surface with magazine pieces that are put together to create an interesting composition.

In other cases, however, I prefer to leave the collage open and simple, so that I can paint or draw more freely on the background.

To combine collage with drawing or painting is a great way of making mixed media images.

Using a Theme when Expressing Yourself is Truly Inspiring

June 9, 2023June 9, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

My inspiration often comes from working on a theme. In photography, drawing, painting, and making collages it’s a great way to keep getting ideas and expressing yourself.

You might know that my personal challenge at this moment is making a daily collage for a year. I didn’t start on January 1 but at a moment when the idea came to me. And I am not too rigid that it really has to be each day because, as we all know, life sometimes comes in between.

At the start, I just made collages. Yet, to make 365 collages without any underlying thought doesn’t keep being interesting. After a couple of months, I developed a subtheme dedicated to one month. Like art journaling, printing pictures, or making stencils.

Gelli Plate and Stencils Make Interesting Combinations

June 7, 2023April 7, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

Stencils are a marvellous addition to your Gelli printing. The possibilities are endless. You can use them as a background or repeat shapes such as silhouettes or letters.

Of course, you can combine a Gelli plate and stencils, yet stencils can also be used on paper, walls or textiles.

Especially if you have several stencils, you can use them repeatedly and still have a different result every time. So stencils are a great addition to your creativity toolbox.

How to Transfer Photos and Texts to a Gelli Print? 2 Methods

March 2, 2023March 2, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

In my personal challenge, an assignment to make a collage daily for 365 days, I am focusing on one aspect a month. More or less. It’s not written in stone, of course.

The month before, I primarily worked on art journaling, using illustrations and text. February 2023 was dedicated to transferring pictures to the Gelli prints.

I used several methods. The main difference was either Gelli printing or using the copy machine on tissue paper.

Are Inspiration and Creativity Important for an Interesting Life?

February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

Although many people don’t consider themselves creative (which I don’t understand and even disagree with), inspiration and creativity are important to us.

Both the word inspiration and the word creativity are used in 2 ways. Physical versus mental.

Inspiration literally means inhalation on the one hand, expressiveness or divine force on the other. The latter is attributed by some to a higher power and by others called the flow or being in the zone.

Creating Unique Text in an Art Journal and my Pages of January 2023

March 1, 2023February 2, 2023 by Hannie Mommers

My personal challenge, an assignment to make a collage daily for 365 days, is almost halfway.

This month I focused on the combination of text and image. As I describe in another article, you can make text in many ways.

In some cases, very few tools are needed, whereas, in others, a bit more effort is required.

Either way, just as making images unleashes a lot of creativity, so does making texts. 🙂