Monday 1 September 2014

Creative Blog Hop

I've been nominated by the wonderful Shoshi to take part in the Creative Bloggers blog hop this week.  I have been following Shoshi's creative journey for a long time now and she has to be one of the most enthusiastic and diverse artists I know - her work is always inspiring and she generously shares her techniques and discoveries.  The Creative Blog hop happens every Monday and we all answer the same 4 questions, then nominate 3 more people to hop on to.

1.  What am I working on?
I have several projects on the go at the moment - the main one is about decay and repair, which is incorporating my love of moths with my love of antique and vintage textiles.  My background reading to this project is The Subversive Stitch by Rozsika Parker - it's about the social history and relationship between women and embroidery/sewing.  

2.  How does my work differ from others in my genre?
I don't think my work fits into a particular genre, I work in many different styles and mediums, but I do usually have a strong textile theme running through.  I like to have a meaning and concept behind my art work, and often spend quite a long time researching ideas before doing any actual work!

3.  Why do I write/create what I do?
I LOVE doing what I do - I create because I feel the need to and because if fulfills me.   

4.  How does my writing/creative process work?
I am usually inspired by an image or object.  I take the image and start collecting information and researching ideas around it.  For example, one of my current projects is inspired by a large beautiful piece of coral.  I started collecting coral images and looking at the fragility of our coral reefs - this led me to explore how we as humans live and balance life on our planet - I started to think of coral as a delicate base underpinning our lives, representing the fragile planet and how we live on it. By mixing it with architecture I wanted to question how man lives in harmony with nature - this is leading me to explore other ideas, different textures, using other mediums and collecting anything I find that might be remotely relevant to this work! 

Now for the tricky bit - I am supposed to nominate three people. I thought very hard about who I would choose and I tried to find three people who are all very different in their chosen genre, and who I find very inspiring and uplifting whenever I visit their blogs - in fact it was an incredibly difficult thing to do!  However, each person for different reasons was unable to take part and at this point I decided that I wasn't going to start looking for anyone else. I felt uncomfortable at the thought of working my way down a list.
However, although I am not nominating three people I would highly recommend visiting some of the blogs on my 'People I Like to Visit' list - here you will find some fantastic artists and some very happy, inspiring and visually delightful places to visit.  All these people and many others put a smile on my face, lift my spirits when I'm down and inspire me when I have lost my artistic motivation.   A huge THANK YOU from the heart!

6 comments:

  1. Such an inspiring post,as I new it would be,Diana. A fascinating insight to the thought process behind your beautiful creations.

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  2. There are many reasons why I enjoy visiting your blog, but the main one is that I neve know what you're going to post next! You always have interesting, beautiful and thought provoking creations on show.....I adore looking at the detail in them because I know that I could NEVER achieve what you do.
    Your photography is wonderful with clever use of colour, layout and textures...I love a good photo.
    So, the upshot is that I really hope you continue blogging because its one of the highlights on a Wednesday for me :-)
    Xxxx

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  3. I love all your work, Diana, especially since I love fiber and textiles. Your photographs are so beautiful and I love reading about your motivation for what you've created. I love coming to your blog and being inspired by what you create and I appreciate your visits and comments on mine.

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  4. Thank you so much for agreeing to be one of my nominees for the Creative Blog Hop, Diana - I knew that your post would be as inspirational as ever, and I am not disappointed! Thank you also, very much, for your kind words about me and my work - very much appreciated.

    I'm sure it doesn't matter that you didn't manage to nominate anybody - this thing is spreading far and wide, and one person I asked had already been asked, and after agreeing to take part, I myself was then asked by someone else!! It has to hit saturation point sometime. A very good idea to direct people to your list of favourite blogs as a good substitute. I need to follow some of these up myself!

    Thanks again, and it was great reading more about how your own creative process works.
    Shoshi

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  5. Great glimpse into your work and your creative process! Thanks for sharing :) I love seeing your art, just catching up on the blogs so it's nice to see your art again.

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  6. This is very late as I am only just getting back into reading blogs, but I have to tell you Diana that yours is my favourite. To me it is like opening my all time favourite book, one that I love to read and look at again and again.
    You are a constant source of influence and inspiration.
    No pressure there then Diana !!
    It's all true.
    Lynn xx

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