Unlock the inner artist: Creativity for a busy schedule

Have your creative passions faded into the background, in the daily hustle and grind of work and family responsibilities that demand constant attention? 

Does the spark that once ignited your artistic spirit seem like a distant memory, buried beneath the weight of endless to-do lists and urgent commitments?

Is your inner artist searching for an outlet for creative expression?

For those seeking to rekindle their creative spark, the world of hands-on, creative, digital courses offers a gateway to unlocking artistic potential, while fitting into a busy schedule. Courses that provide a supportive and nurturing environment, where new skills and art forms can be explored.

The beauty of these courses lies in their flexibility; whether you're a complete beginner venturing into the realm of art, or a seasoned artist seeking to refine your skills. There's a course tailored to your expertise and available free time. Online learning platforms offer a treasure trove of options, allowing you to access courses from the comfort of your own home during those precious moments of downtime.

With a vast array of creative disciplines to delve into, the possibilities are endless. From the intricate art of paper quilling, to the mesmerising world of digital animation. Embrace the tranquility of painting, the meditative rhythm of knitting, or the power of storytelling through photography or filmmaking.

Engaging in creative activities has been shown to enhance cognitive function, boost problem-solving abilities and reduce stress levels. A therapeutic outlet for emotional expression, allowing you to process and navigate the complexities of life through art.

Moreover, joining online creative courses provides an opportunity to connect with a community of like-minded individuals. This sense of belonging can be particularly enriching and offers a supportive network and space to express one’s authentic self.

As you embark on your journey, remember that creativity is not about achieving perfection or conforming to a specific standard. It's about embracing the process, the joy of exploration, and the freedom to express yourself without judgment. Embrace the imperfections, the unexpected twists and turns, and allow yourself to be guided by your creative spirit.

So, with this in mind, why not start by dedicating a few hours each week, for some me time? Explore a new art form, take an online course, or simply pick up a paintbrush and let your imagination run wild. You'll be amazed at the transformative power that this can bring into your life and remind you of the boundless potential that lies within.

Re-awaken your inner creative - grab my FREE download: The Ultimate Kickstart 🌸

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1920s Women

A few of the sketches made for: 1920s Hairstyles Mini Assignment Bootcamp via Make Art That Sells. Followed today by the main assignment...

by Alison Day

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Serpent Woman

Serpent Woman for #inktober by Alison Day

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9 Women Gallery

For those of you who didn't manage to see my 9 Women series this year in The Netherlands, here they are 9 Women 

P.S. Don't forget to let me know what you think.

© Alison Day 2011

Women of Clay - Hilda van Pop

Flying through the streets on my Vespa, destination Paddepoel, for my next artist interview in Northwest Groningen. I arrive outside an ex-office building from the 1970’s, which whilst waiting for new tenants and in the care of anti-squat company named AdHoc, it is filled with a number of small businesses. Number eight on the eighth floor are my directions, as I gingerly step into a rather antiquated and scary looking lift, which reluctantly shudders and shakes me up to the eighth floor.

Each level of the building is built around a central lift house, the rooms of which are large and spacious. Hilde van Popta, favourite colour pink, greets me; she loves bright colours, and has a smile to match. She shows me around the different rooms: one where she conducts regular workshops, (filled with partially finished female figures on tables and ledges), another that exhibits examples of her finished works, followed by a large room, which is the photographic studio of her sister, (a photographer and visagist). The rooms are filled with images and trinkets, masks, beads, clothes and scarves; a feast for the eyes, but what makes me smile is a bright pink, feather-covered Barbie-esque 1960’s telephone, pontifically placed on what must have been the reception desk in days gone by, and, it actually works!

Over a cup of coffee, I find out that Hilde is a trained nurse and presently still works in the health sector (in an administrative capacity). With no formal art training she dabbled in acrylic painting as a hobby, but it was a six month clay-modeling course that became the turning point, and her women in clay figures emerged. Her figures then developed further as although she found them interesting in shape they lacked something. Out came the acrylic paints, and she proceeded to paint them in bright colours to “pimp up the images” as well as decorating them with fabrics and other miscellaneous objects.

 

I ask her about her colour use, to which she says that she loves bright colours; the colours pink, red, black and white feature regularly in her work. Also, she uses acrylics because one knows what the outcome will be, unlike glazes, which are generally a surprise until they leave the kiln. However, she would be interested in experimenting with the latter in the future, as she believes that it is important to continue to develop oneself as an artist.

Subject-wise she chooses women, due to the fact that women in their diversity are a great source of inspiration, and also her clientele often recognize themselves in her work. There is no deep and meaningful message behind her figures, with a lot of them coming into existence quite intuitively, often making her laugh.

When asked if finance was no object, whether there is an artistic project she would like to realize in the future. Quick as a flash she tells me of an old empty factory she drives past every day, by the side of the motorway. She would like to buy something similar, do it up, and convert it into an enormous artists’ market. With her as the owner, it would be a hive of artistic creation: with artists at work, little individual shops, workshops and music would pervade the air. 

If you would like to become the proud owner of one of Hilde’s ‘Women of Clay,’ why not take this opportunity and use the 10% discount voucher on this page? The offer runs from 01 January 2011–30 June 2011.

Alternatively, if you would like to take part in one of Hilde’s workshops you can contact her via: hilde@vrouwenvanklei.nl / 06-21955117

To view her work: Vrouwen van Klei

First published in the Connections magazine #30 Winter 2011

Read & download issue here

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

Lulu

Lulu - 9-Women

Womankind are in themselves chameleons and this series touches on a few of the great variety of different qualities present in womankind:

Beautiful ~ Empathetic ~Adaptable ~ Versatile ~ Crazy ~ Loving ~Diverse ~ Multi-taskers ~ Nurturers ~ Supportive ~Adventurous ~ Funny ~ Creative ~ Role Models ~ Formidable ~ Wild ~ Colourful ~ Stylish, to name but a few qualities.

I refer my works  to as papiermaché-mosaics, made from, yes you guessed it, papiermaché and using re-cycled anything that seems appropriate to illustrate the picture. In the 9-Women series and (now that I think about it), in other works too, there are re-occurring objects used for decoration, for example the shells, flowers and mirror.

View all 9-women HERE

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Lola - Portrait

Lola by Alison Day

Meet Lola... my submission for the 2010 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2010 in London, England. 

Yes, I was actually mad enough to send her, packed in kilometres of bubble wrap and cardboard, from The Netherlands to my sister (Caroline) in London. Using UPS, which was a story in itself, as during tracking she got stuck in the depo for 24 hours, went round and round in circles on their carousel for no apparent reason, until they finally decided to send her on her way. Shortly after that I flew over end of March and together with my sister and niece, Carina, took her to the RA. The whole project was incredibly exciting from start to finish and even though this year my work wasn't chosen to take part in the exhibition, my interest has been awakened...and there's always next year!

On another visit to England in July, we of course had to make a trip to the RA to see what did finally get into the exhibition...we saw a lot of great work and some monumental crap too, from so-called 'eminent' artists. I won't mention names, as I don't want to give them extra publicity, but also don't want to be sued for slander! That said, I still think Lola would have fitted nicely into the exhibition, but of course I am biased and it probably was very difficult choosing 1267 pieces out of 10,000 submissions!

A word of criticism, however, directed @ the RA...I do think that prominent artists should be limited to a maximum of two pieces of artwork, seeing as space is at a premium. Also, to the misguided person who decided that it would be better to space out the artworks and not 'paper' the walls from floor to ceiling,  as has been tradition since 1769, resulting in less artists' work being exhibited...'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' I'd say!

Lola is one of my papiermaché-mosaics. So far, my subject matter has the re-occurring theme of portraits of women. In my eyes, I choose the fairer sex, because of their chameleon-like diversity as well as their unequaled adaptability and creativity. As a result womankind has provided me (and still continues to do so) with an endless supply of studies for completed as well as future projects.

© Alison Day
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What's Hot, What's Not! - CRAVE

Crave * v. 1 feel a powerful desire for. 

2 dated ask for: I must crave your indulgence

ORIGIN: bef. 1000; ME craven, 

OE crafian (‘demand, claim as a right’), 

of Gmc origin; akin to ON krefja to demand, lay claim to

Early February, when the mornings are still too dark to be enjoyed by any stretch of the imagination and feeling as though I have a starring role in the movie Ground Hog’s Day, I crawl behind my computer, backed up by a pot of tea, with the idea of finding something for the ‘What’s Hot, What’s Not’ spot in the Spring issue of the Connections magazine.

Yes, it would be easy to take the low road and continue on the traditional negative downward spiral of Monday morning that I so often suffer from, but I decide I should make a concerted effort to lift my spirits, after all I am writing for the spring issue of the Connections. This is a time of re-birth, when everything comes back to life again. The infernal snow and permanent living in ugly walking boots (party shoes in a bag) scenario, has come to an end and attractive footwear rules once more. Crocuses and snowdrops emerge, wagging tailed little lambs and fluffy chicks are born and yet, I crave something… My permanent bar of big chunk chocolate in the fridge is temporarily gone and I can’t lay the blame on anyone but myself, as my son is at school and I have yet to see a cat eat a piece of chocolate, let alone open a fridge door; although I must say I used to own a very clever large black tom cat who could open doors, but I digress.

So, I turn my attention to the Internet and tick in the word crave. The search offers up a variety of sites, which cover edibles, games, sexy videos, a perfume by Calvin Klein, as well as a hospitality public relations and marketing services firm. That’s all very well and good, but it doesn't hit the spot. How about Wikipedia? That presents, of course, a definition in much the same way as my trusty Oxford dictionary, some music, a band and a brand of cat food. With the party (Soul Train) from a previous weekend still playing clearly in my mind, I idly tick in crave and party, well nothing ventured as they say… and so I come across The Crave Company. I enter their website hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

 

First published in the Connections magazine #27 Spring 2009 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

Suzanne Postel – Murals, Frescos & Portraits - Artist interview

My meeting with Suzanne Postel came out of my curiosity to find out who the artist was of a rather imposing mural covering the entire side of a building contractor’s office, along the Korreweg in Groningen. Having cycled past many times in my daily travels, finally one day I jammed on the brakes and went inside to enquire.

I met Suzanne at her studio along the Eendrachtskade, which is spacious enough to serve as both work and exhibition space. The studio is filled with marvelous paintings at every turn and the area in the back, where we sat and drank coffee, has a wall that is a collage of small paintings, images, and photos of friends and family. I asked her how it came about that one of her murals was on the side of a building contractor’s office. She told me that living nearby meant that everyday she had looked out upon the building and a set of filled in windows that had been painted a rather unimaginative white. This made her fingers itch to do something about it, so much so that she approached them and offered to paint the offending building with a mural. The result is a set of very impressive classically robed women, each standing in a niche bearing a tool or implement relevant to the building trade.

Although always an artist at heart, after her student days and completion of her studies at the art school Minerva in Groningen, she decided to leave Holland for France. Here she lived for a period of ten years where she helped in setting up and running a naturist camping resort with her parents. France was an exciting and challenging period in her life, but she missed painting and the Dutch culture and returned to Groningen in 1999. In her own words: ‘I wanted to cycle across the market place with my children and buy sugar waffles’. Once back in Groningen she set up a studio and has established herself as a muralist and portraitist.

Before starting a piece of work, she does a lot of sketching, takes photographs (in the case of a commissioned portrait) and adds to a scrapbook. A book full of ideas this scrapbook is filled with images, material samples, and text, often poignant lines from poems. A particular favourite is the poet Jean Pierre Rawie. From this process arises a series of puzzle pieces that when put together become the basis design for a mural or portrait. Then turning to canvas or masomite (a specially treated art board) the initial idea is laid down very quickly as an acrylic base. After that she will work further on the idea in oils until its logical conclusion is reached and she is happy with it.

Other strong influences in her work can be seen to come from paintings from the Renaissance and Impressionist movements and from the world of dreams. According to the Chinese one should live out ones dreams in order to move on. One particular dream that she has turned into a painting is a self-portrait of herself, angry and with a dripping paintbrush in her mouth. What it means she is not sure, but it needed to be painted.

With regular commissions and exhibitions, as well as doing all her own public relations, and giving painting lessons to students with an age range of twenty to sixty. Suzanne is not only able to follow her passion but has been able to make it into a successful business.

The opening of her current exhibition entitled ‘De Hoge Lucht’ (The Light from Above), took place on 24 June 2007. The event was opened by Jacque D’Ancona (a renown Dutch journalist, amongst other things).

First published in the Connections magazine #16 Summer 2007 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs