What are you feeling? {vol.4}

Yes! It's time for our new Emotional Challenge!
Let us just say that we are really really happy that so many of you feel inspired by our ideas.
But more about it later...
As right now we'd like you to share you art and your feelings about....

Have you heard the saying: "Curiosity killed the cat"?
How unfair, don't you think? ;)
It's Curiosity that makes the world go round. Where would we be without it? Certainly not in our art rooms finding joy playing with sprays, pens and crayons. :)
What are your thoughts? We are so curious to see your interpretations of this feeling...
And if your mind is still blank, take a look at what our amazing Design Team created for this month's challenge...

Curiosity is an important part of my life. I guess there are only a few people in the world who know what happens when I have some small problem with computer programs for example... I may not go to sleep but I will be looking for the solution. ;) I just feel the need to KNOW HOW something works.
And on other hand, for me curiosity is an important element of creativity. It's all about experimenting, not being afraid, finding out what will happend when...

This time I made a page in my art journal filled with experiments. Modeling paste mixed with Primary Elements pigment and... baby powder? Different kinds of mists overlapping each other? Adding Twinkling H2O's to wet gesso and covering it with crackle paint? Waiting for the results with curiosity and enjoyment? Yes, please! :)

Materials from Mixed Media Place:

When thinking about curiosity for this challenge, I got stuck between 2 quotes.

The first one is ‘Curiosity leads to trouble’ (Alice in Wonderland) - I remember being 12 years old and opening an envelope addressed to my dad. Though it didn’t contain any secrets, his reaction to my misplaced curiosity left a mark. It was a good lesson!

The second one is ‘The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.’ (Dorothy Parker). So many art pieces were born out of curiosity how one product would react with another!

So I started with an envelope saying ‘Do not open’ and left my creative curiosity run from there.

Materials from Mixed Media Place:

People become brilliant because they always ask "Y"

When I think about being curious, I think of all the great minds through history that have wondered "how, where, when, why and set about trying to answer these questions. Leonardo Di Vinci... what an inspiring human he was.

I spent a long time on the background of this page, layering lots of different papers, stamping, masking and painting and kept the surface elements pretty simple, in a more traditional style.

Materials from Mixed Media Place:

As a mum of three kids I’m permanently fascinated by children’s curiosity and how huge is their thirst for knowledge about life and world.
They never stop asking “why” and have very strong need to hear the answer and understand how the world works.
As soon as I saw this month's challenge theme, I immediately knew that my interpretation would be exactly about children’s curiosity.

My idea was to create this fun atmosphere in my art journal and show some children’s emotions. Using Gelatos I made my own background paper drawing doodles, then I cut it and combined with different kinds of fabric.

It was the first time that I experimented and used gel medium and stencil to create some texture. I’m really pleasantly surprised with the effect. It’s much less visible than modeling paste or gesso but gives your work a more dimensional and interesting look.

Materials from Mixed Media Place:

This time I made three ATCs where the background is made with a mono printing plate.
After making the background I cut 3 suitable pieces from each background and glued them to some cardboard, when dry I stitched around the edges.
To create some extra texture I added various tapes and bandaids. Finally, I added the text.

And if you're curious how Linda created her backgrounds, here's a special treat - here's a video from her:



Materials from Mixed Media Place:

To illustrate curiosity, I chose a quote from Albert Einstein:
"Curiosity is a delicate little plant which, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom".
And what was more appropriate than this beautiful orchid...

I printed the quote several times on a laser printer. Then I used the classic transfer method with matte gel medium to add randomly the quote on my background as if it was a stamp. When the gel medium was dried, I removed all trace of paper and I was able to work on.
 
Having glued the papers under the photo, I added some gesso with a stencil. When dry, I colored the background with my Twinklings. These little jars of color are just so addictive... And I finished with some stamping.

Unusually I didn’t add any flowers on my layout. I tried to add some embellishments but I like my layout this way. What do you think ?

Materials from Mixed Media Place:

When I started to think about this theme, the first phrase that popped into my mind was: "Curiosity killed the cat". I honestly thought about making a cat sculpture first, but then came to my senses. :)

But the idea about being curious, examining the world around stayed in my mind.

Jumping off that point I started to ponder about looking glasses and magnifying classes. That idea I translated onto my journal cover - there's a hole carved in the cover and a glass bead set into the opening as if it was a little window to another world. 

Materials from Mixed Media Place:

I love to draw. :) So I began with covering one of the pages in my big art-journal (A4 size) with clear gesso and then started to play with colors.
I used Gelatos and Distress Markers to add colors and Black Artist Pitt Pen to write all the letters. At the end, I used white Sharpie - you can see all supplies listed below.

Materials from Mixed Media Place




As for our previous challenge... First of all, thank you for your amazing response!
We highly recommend everyone to go back to the links in this post - please, visit all the amazing Artists and see their interpretations of sadness - it's truly worthwhile!
Not only will you see some beautiful creations but also it's interesting to read about the inspirations.

Like on Ana's blog we found this great quote:
"Life's like a piano. The white keys representing happinness, and the black keys representing the sadness in between. But as life goes on, you'll realize that the black keys make music, too".

Or Sarah with her thought-provoking writing:
"Lots of people say that they feel just happy when they are creating and I wondered if I was the strange one who feels (not only) happy, but oftentimes other, darker emotions...anger, solitude and yes sadness.  Creating art is a form of therapy for me, and I feel better after a session with ink and paint."

Secondly, choosing the winner was next to impossible...
We thought long and we thought hard, our Design Team admitted that it was the most difficult vote of all. And even when we tried to narrow down the choice, it turned out that we have no other option but to choose 2 winners! :)

Both of these works are brilliant when it comes to the technical side but they also evoke very strong emotions and we were not able to choose one over the other.
So here we are - an unprecedented decision. :)
Please send your congratulations and visit the amazing blogs of

Dorota  &  Janka

Ladies, please contact us to claim your prizes: store(at)mixedmediaplace.com

So now, we warmly invite you to share your Curiosity inspirations adding a link below - we'll be waiting until April 18th and one work chosen by our DT will be awarded a prize (a coupon to be used in Mixed Media Place store).