Join Us for an August Creative Challenge!

Morag Thomson Merriman and Andrea Butler, two artists who met through AccessArt and subsequently collaborated on AccessArt’s Visual Diary resource are planning to keep their creativity flowing through the August holidays with a new creative challenge!

If you’d like to keep connected to your creativity during the holiday break then why not join them and create something new each day throughout August…or even just for a few days – spend as much or as little time as you like, it doesn’t have to be a huge commitment – it is the holidays after all!

August Creative Challenge: Mixed media: collage and eraser prints. From Morag Thomson Merriman’s daily visual diary 2016
Mixed media: collage and eraser prints. From Morag’s daily visual diary 2016

 

This could be a great opportunity to explore ideas for your own practice, or teaching, or to take time out and just relax with your sketchbook or favourite materials. Why not dip into some of AccessArt’s inspirational resources and try them for yourself – you might even collaborate with a friend, colleague or family member and create together.

Experiment with new directions in drawing, painting, printing, sculpture, sewing, making, papercutting, collage…. or play with media/materials, following your creative instincts with no plan in mind except to see where it leads!

A selection of Morag and Andrea’s current explorations are shown below and we hope that you will join them and share your work to inspire others!

Uploading and sharing your work is simple:

Take photos of your work, as well lit as possible, save to your computer and upload images via the “Leave a Reply” box on the Gallery page (see links below). If you are using a digital camera, resize images using Picasa, Photoshop or other editing software to a width of approx 600 px. Larger images may not upload. If you take photos with a smart phone, you will not need to resize your images.

Please feel able to comment on other people’s images, and to share your own experience.

You can also Like the idea on our Group Facebook page, or follow the AccessArt Visual Diary board on Pinterest.

#dailycreativechallenge #inspiremeAugust

Gallery for Week One of the August Creative Challenge

Gallery for Week Two of the August Creative Challenge

Gallery for Week Three of the August Creative Challenge

Gallery for Week Four of the Creative Challenge

 

August Creative Challenge: Conveying emotions through colour and distortion: use of appropriately coloured collaged pieces and oversized head to convey weight of feelings. From Morag’s daily visual diary 2016
Conveying emotions through colour and distortion: use of appropriately coloured collaged pieces and oversized head to convey weight of feelings. From Morag Thomson Merriman’s daily visual diary 2016

 

August Creative Challenge: Andrea Butler's elastic band sketchbook showing small drawings of the landscape in biro, made on a train journey
Andrea’s elastic band sketchbook showing small drawings of the landscape in biro, made on a train journey

 

August creative Challenge: "On busy days when time is short, I draw from the TV in the evening, for the pleasure of holding a sketchbook and drawing". Drawings from the Tour de France from Andrea's 'TV Sketchbook'.
“On busy days when time is short, I draw from the TV in the evening, for the pleasure of holding a sketchbook and drawing”. Drawings from the Tour de France from Andrea Butler’s ‘TV Sketchbook’.

 

August Creative Challenge: "The red stains are from the drawing on the previous page – I was trying out pro-markers with the intention of letting them stain through the paper to create interesting and random marks for the next day's drawing". From Morag Thomson Merriman’s daily visual diary 2016
“The red stains are from the drawing on the previous page – I was trying out pro-markers with the intention of letting them stain through the paper to create interesting and random marks for the next day’s drawing”. From Morag’s daily visual diary 2016

 

August Creative Challenge: "Randomly torn piece of paper stuck down in a random place in my sketchbook, then started drawing randomly to see where it would take me!" From Morag Thomson Merriman’s daily visual diary 2016
“Randomly torn piece of paper stuck down in a random place in my sketchbook, then started drawing randomly to see where it would take me!” From Morag’s daily visual diary 2016

 

August Creative Challenge: Exploring mark making by stitching into card. Collograph print and ghost print by Andrea Butler
Exploring mark making by stitching into card. Collograph print and ghost print by Andrea

 

August Creative Challenge: Sketchbook page by Andrea Butler (collage, drawing and stitch)
Sketchbook page by Andrea (collage, drawing and stitch)

 

August Creative Challenge: "Pushing the physical boundaries of my sketchbook". From Morag Thomson Merriman’s daily visual diary 2016
“Pushing the physical boundaries of my sketchbook”. From Morag’s daily visual diary 2016

 

August Creative Challenge; "Random mark-making prior to making a drawing kills the fear of the blank white page, and adds drama and movement to your drawing." From Morag’s daily visual diary 2016
“Random mark-making prior to making a drawing kills the fear of the blank white page, and adds drama and movement to your drawing.” From Morag Thomson Merriman’s daily visual diary 2016

 

August Creative Challenge: Andrea Butler's sketchbook page
Andrea Butler’s sketchbook page constructed over a few days: found book pages stitched to brown paper and painted, original museum drawing redrawn and stitched onto page, small lino block flower printed in white ink and overlaid with a carbon paper drawing to create a repeating pattern.

 

August Creative Challenge: Folded paper and stitch experiments by Andrea Butler
Small folded paper and stitch experiments by Andrea