Sunday, October 6, 2013

Sunday Swoon

Greetings and salutations from Arizona, USA,

Unfortunately, there was an unexpected death in my family that has prohibited me from doing any drawing, writing, or painting in the last 2 weeks.

The problem was - How do I create during a time when I have very little extra time and when I am feeling very sad? The outcome I was looking for were outlets at my fingertips for which I could use sporadic spurts of creativity at will.

I discovered a Smartphone App that made me SWOON during this time. I have a plethora of saved photos of my artwork and miscellaneous other photos on my iPhone and I heard about the Blender photo app. It was $1.99. I downloaded it and it took about 3 minutes to figure out how to use it. It really made me SWOON and it allowed me to use spurts of creative energy during a very tough family time.

The second strategy I used to get through the sorrowful time was to look at my vintage art book collection. I viewed a lot of paintings by Monet because the colors he used make me happy. I cannot resist the endorphin it generates in me. Pretty much, without fail, perusing my art books makes me SWOON.

The final strategy I used to utilize my creative writing juices was to make a daily list of things for which I was grateful. I picked one of the items on the list and wrote a paragraph about the item and how it made me feel. Then whenever I was feeling blue, I went back and re-read them. It proved quite useful as a coping mechanism. Being grateful leads to overall happiness, which is the ultimate SWOON.

Here are 3 favorite results of my 2-week experiment with the Blender Photo app.





Go forth and create. 

Peace!

4 comments :

Effy said...

Wow!!! What a great way to express yourself during a time when dragging out the paints and glitter might not feel right! I need to get my hands on that app! And here's a hug: ((((((Susan)))))))

Susan English Mason said...

Hug gratefully received, Effy. Thank you!

Karen Stewart Elliott said...

Susan, I love how you tell about working through your sadness. Your ideas will help me in sad times too. Love the blended art work. Scrumptious!! Blessings, Karen

Susan English Mason said...

Karen, You have only been painting since 2010? Unbelievable!