Art Every Day - Day 1

When we visited the American Visionary Art Museum about a month ago, I was truly inspired by the art.

I had this feeling that people can can make any sort of art, in any sort of circumstance.  People do it all the time.  People can be inspired in prison.  People make amazing things out of matchsticks.  People use whatever than can to make beautiful inspired work.

I decided that I wanted to make something out of a material that I love - just for the sake of the art itself.  It's not to sell and not for anyone else.  Well, it's not for anyone else except for the fact that I hope you might also be inspired to make your own art.

I have just recently started to consider myself an actual "artist."  I don't think of myself as an artist in the traditional sense, though.  I have no formal training.  I hated art classes in high school.  (Although I don't think they were "art" classes so much.)  I just do what feels right to me and is close to the inspiration I originally had.  

And, something that has nothing at all to do with jewelry.  (At least for the time-being.  You can make artistic jewelry, for sure!)

This idea I had started out as an idea for an installation in my booth at Building Character.  I had this vision of buttons - thousands of buttons - hanging from the rafters to create a sky of blue.  Then more buttons hanging to form clouds.  And I kept dreaming from there . . .

Now that I am writing it, it is sounding like a wonderful idea again, of course!!  But when it came time to actually figure out the logistics of how to accomplish it, in my actual (not dream) life, with my time constrictions, it just didn't seem plausible for me at this time.

But I came up with another idea that stemmed from the original idea.

I will be working on this art project each day for Art Every Day Month.  I hope that I can complete it in a month, but I  don't know how long it will take since I have never done what I am doing, nor have I ever seen anyone else do what I am planning.

I'll take it day - by - day.

Follow my progress here on my blog - I'll be posting photos every day!  Participate yourself as well!  Let me know in the comments and I'll come see your progress, too!

This is day one, step one.  My blank "canvas"

Note:  I need a lot more blue and green buttons (particularly blue!)  If you have to have any blue or green buttons laying around that you can't or won't use - they don't have to be anything special or any special size or shad - let me know.  If you're in the Lancaster area and have ideas where to get buttons on the cheap, please let me know!

American Visionary Art Museum

Over the weekend my family visited Baltimore, Maryland.  The highlight of the day was our visit to the American Visionary Art Museum.

From the mirror art tree outside to the fart post to the toothpick ship to....it's inspiring and amazing.

I even saw a form of art that I had no idea existed, but it's brilliant:  Screen art.  Painting the screens on your windows, doors, etc.

This tree is made of mirrors.

Here's a closeup:

The gift shop is worth the trip itself with reasonably-priced jewelry, books, art, and all sorts of stuff reminiscent of the five and dimes of my childhood.  (I'm not actually as old as that sounds, but I'm from a small town that kept it's five and dime going for quite a while in my childhood.)  I bought a bunch of supplies that will soon become a charm bracelet!

I highly recommend a trip to the American Visionary Art Museum for anyone!

{By the way, the digital scrapbook pages up top are from my memories.  Stay tuned here this week for a sweet giveaway of the software!}