Creative Playing on the Beach for Grown-ups

Creative Playing on the Beach for Grown-ups

Isn’t it a pity that we tend to forget how to play? What do you think about playing on the beach for grown-ups? I can assure you that it is fun! 

Years ago my former colleagues and I went to a beach house once a year to get creative inspiration. 

We were all creative souls and we gave ourselves assignments to develop our creative skills even further. There I discovered again what fun it is to play on the beach.

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30 Tips to Spend Free Time Finding Inspiration for Creative Projects

30 Tips to Spend Free Time Finding Inspiration for Creative Projects

At most of the exhibitions where I showed my work, I tried to be present to talk to the visitors. The most frequently asked question was: where do you find the inspiration for your subjects? To which my answer was that I had some tricks for that.

Developing inspiration is a conscious process. Or at least it could be. It also depends on our character what our favourite method is.

In this article, I give you 30 tips to spend your free time finding inspiration and spark your creativity. It is a random list of all kinds of things I occasionally do. Get inspired.

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Making a Creative Travel Journal while Travelling Doubles the Fun

Making a Creative Travel Journal while Travelling Doubles the Fun

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.

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What is Gelli Printing and What Makes it so Amazingly Easy?

What is Gelli Printing and What Makes it so Amazingly Easy?

Gelli printing is a form of monoprinting. Each piece of work is unique and usually depends largely on chance.

A Gelli print can be created in different ways. In this article, I describe a number of pure Gelli printing methods and combinations with other techniques.

It is great fun to experiment with this technique. For me, that is the biggest charm of Gelli printing. For starting hobbyists, the advantage is that the learning curve is really low.

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It’s Great to Combine Collage with Drawing or Painting

It's Great to Combine Collage with Drawing or Painting

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.

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Using a Theme when Expressing Yourself is Truly Inspiring

Using a Theme when Expressing Yourself is Truly Inspiring

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.

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Gelli Plate and Stencils Make Interesting Combinations

Gelli Plate and Stencils Make Interesting Combinations

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.

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

How to Transfer Photos and Texts to a Gelli Print?

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.

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A Creative Approach to Add Text to an Art Journal, 7 Tips

A Creative Approach to Add Text to an Art Journal, 7 Tips

An art journal can be created in 2 ways. The focus can be on images with added text. Or the focus can be on texts to which images are added.

That depends on your own preferences. Are you primarily visual or are you mostly text-oriented?

If you’re going to add text to an art journal, it’s a good idea to try both methods. As an artist, we sometimes have to step out of our comfort zone and challenge our personal preferences to take leaps forward.

In this article, I describe a number of ways to display text, but also to create text.

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