All Three of My Artisan Entries- Revealed!

I just finished entering my work into the Artisan contest. Wow! It's such an amazing feeling. Each artist was asked to submit three pieces of art and then two additional detail shots of each entry. I tried to enter three very different pieces to show as wide a variety of techniques, materials, and skills as possible. There is a connection between the three, which I talk about a bit at the end of this post (besides that they all contain wire and fabric in some way). You were also allowed a little description area to tell of your process, your inspiration, your materials and techniques. It's fairly daunting but also very very fun. I showed you the completed angel last post and I did show you close ups of the first two but not the completed pieces. SO today I thought I'd do a big reveal of all three images (drum roll please....) :)

Entry #1: My Life Story is Unfolding- Stitched Wire Sculpture

The idea behind this piece was to take my journal entries from 2d to 3d. I also love the idea of a person's life unfolding as a flower does. Bits and pieces are revealed as if petal by petal. I realized not long ago, while journaling that my life has been unfolding and has now reached the point where most of the major questions I had as a child have been answered. There's more to the story behind this piece so if you'd like to read more go here.

Entry #2: Creative Bloom Mixed Media Quilt

This is the quilt I showed you a sneak peak of over a week ago in this post. It was a work in progress photo so I thought I'd show you how it came out. Again, there's a story behind this piece that I'd love to have you read about here.

Entry #3: My Angel of Inspiration- Stitched Sculpture

I really do love how this one came together. A total gift from God. I've never done arms on any of my angels before, I'd never added clothes, and I'd never added the little elements like the flowers, needles, or polymer clay bird before. The fact that her coat actually fit her is a miracle unto itself- seriously. I really do love how she turned out though. She feels like such an expression of who I am as an artist.

The connection between all three of these pieces is that they were all inspired by inspiration. It's an idea I love thinking about. Where does inspiration come from? How does it work? Why do you get ideas out of the blue? Can you cultivate it? How do you get more? I explored all of these questions when I wrote my upcoming book, Creative Bloom. I'm really excited to be able to share more about the book and as we near the two months to publication date next week I expect to be able to give you a couple of glimpses. But, in the meantime I'd love to know what inspires YOU most? and how is this reflected in your art? Is it? Please leave a comment and share with us!!