A Simple Way to Bring Creativity into Your Home

Image by Jennifer Scott-McLaughlin

A few months ago I opened a home design magazine and was delighted to see that the featured interior had kitchen cabinets that doubled as chalkboards! How fabulous! Grocery list? it's written right there on the cabinet door!

Now, for some people this may be too out there - too much like graffitti in the safety of your own house. I understand completely, but why not take a step back, and hang chalkboard as you would a piece of art, only instead of some famous artist making the work - YOU do it. Draw a masterpiece in chalk! Hey, if you don't like it, you can always erase it, right?

I truly believe that the most overlooked of the artistic media, is the simple chalk board. Here you have, literally, a blank slate on which to create. Who says it has to be used solely for academic purposes? What better way to introduce a little abstract art into your world, than hang a chalk board & doodle all over it?!?

If Dustin Hoffman can do it in I Heart Huckabees, why can't you?

Until we moved, we had, hanging in our dining room, a 4' x 6' black board - made by yours truly for less than $30 -(I'll tell you how in a minute). The idea was that each week (or month) I would either add to or erase and redraw the design to my fancy. It's an easy, inexpensive, & fun way to bring art into your world - especially if you can't afford the stuff hanging in the galleries. (oh, and by the way, there are actually some artists that now use this as their medium, see image above for case in point.)

Now for the How To's:

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN CHALK BOARD

MATERIALS

Luan or 1/4" smooth plywood cut to your desired size
Fine grit sand paper
chalkboard paint - this is usually found in the paint section of Lowe's, Home Depot, or even Wal-Mart. You'll find it in either a quart-sized or spray can, & it comes in black or green.
Paint roller and tray (if using the quart sized)
Chalk


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sand your wood until it is smooth. Wipe with a damp cloth to remove sawdust.
   
2. Follow the directions on the Chalkboard paint for application
   
3. once paint is dry, you'll need to condition the board by rubbing chalk all over it. This fills in all the little microscopic holes in the paint and makes an even smoother, accepting surface.
   
4. clean the board with a damp rag, and begin drawing.
   Try using colored chalk for a greater variety & if you want to get really fancy, try putting it in a frame (no glass, of course)

Alexander Calder

As I was trapped at home by the snow and ice, I spent most of my day trying to find fun Web sites for my students to visit.

The National Gallery of Art has a Virtual Tour of Alexander Calder's work. You can wander your way through the interactive galleries, listening to real audio exerpts as you do. Ain't technology Grand?

More Fun Sites...

• View Cirque du Calder
  
• Paint like Jackson Pollock
  
• Explore the Egyptian Pyramids
  
• Take a virtual tour of Hagia Sophia
  
• Explore the Mona Lisa
  
• Turn the pages of Leonardo da Vinci's sketchbook
  
• Making sense of Marcel Duchamp

Cat Logic

photo by Swedish Viper.

Today is one of those windy fall days that makes it seem much cooler outside than it really is. As I sit in my office (not really wanting to be in here), I find myself staring out the window - daydreaming. When I come to, I notice that one of my cats is also staring out the window - but he is poised for action. It seems the wind has whipped up a great many leaves and is blowing them across the yard. Oz, now glued to the window, his tail flicking from right to left, head darting one direction then another, is chasing the falling leaves.

Occasionally he lunges toward a particular leaf, stubbing his paw (& his nose) on the invisible barrier of glass. - Not to be deterred, however, he quickly regroups, setting his sites on a new leaf. A new focus, new excitement.

So, it is here that I take a lesson from my cat: whatever you do, do with fervor, simplicity, and Joy. If you're not enjoying it, refocus - & find the excitement... the joy.

It doesn't matter to him that he can't catch the leaves. He's just having fun trying.

Challenge: Find your Joy

Just like Oz, find joy in simple tasks, and if it's not working, refocus. Make a list of joyful things, not just objects but tasks that you can undertake to help you recharge when your joy reserves are getting a little low.

Activity: Take yourself out on an Artist's Date

Do something just for you. If you need ideas, check out Julia Cameron's The Artists Way, checkout the Online Workshop, or 101 Ideas.

Dream

Last night I dreamt that I lived just outside of Washington D.C. I was annoyed at having to email all of my friends to let them know I had, once again, moved, and that, once again, they would have to cross out my previous incarnation in their address books, and pencil in the current one.

Upon getting over my annoyance, I realized that I was only a short drive away from some of the nation's best Museums - and they were free! This meant I could go any time I pleased! My mood changed drastically, & as it happens in the dream world, I was magically transported to the National Gallery where I stood under Alexander Calder's immense mobile, and watched visitors as they sought instruction from the concierge at the information desk. She always pointed them in some magical direction, but never once did they look up. Not once were they graced with the surprise of Calder's playful mobile.

Challenge: Look Up!

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to look up, down, around... look in any direction that you don't usually, and see what you've been missing.

An extension of this is to take a different viewpoint|vantage point. Look at something you see everyday, but look at it from the underside, backside, up close, or standing on a chair... changing your perspective can add insight and understanding. Everytime we learn something new, or see something in a new way, we create new neural pathways in the brain (pretty cool). The more neural pathways, the better we are able to make connections between one object and another, and one action and another.

The more aware we are of our surroundings, the more fodder we have for our creative and conscious selves.

Thanks for visiting, check out these wonderful sites:

Gardening:


P. Allen Smith's Garden Home

Cultivating Life

The Kitchen Gardener


Simple Living:


Simple Living

Simple Living America


Cooking:


Everyday Food


A Daily does of Creativity:


Story People

Leonardo da Vinci

Today's Poem

Your Daily Art

Quote of the Day

Planet Sark