The first few days in Paris were walk abouts and getting lost. It took a few days to get the hang of the Metro, and even more days to learn how Parisians label their streets. What was learned quickly was to fill pages with sketches and to like watercolor paints.
What did I expect from the Curious Excursion lead by Cynthia Morris?
Cynthia describes her excursion too well on her website for me to reiterate her tour here. You can expect her to deliver all and with bonus experiences. Some of those places had revisits!
If you did jump over to
Cynthia's pages, you will notice that the tour is geared for creatives - not just writers. Perhaps you wonder why a visual artist took the excursion?
I craved a good swift kick in the pants into creative stratosphere. The kick was guided by Cynthia, but the experiences were oh so very different for Tonya, Susan, Sabine and I. Here I can only tell you about mine.
1. Cynthia gives a welcome package to each of us. My favorite item is a set of key, or ideas, on how to begin a creative spark. She leaves a few blank cards to add your own, and I may have to add a few self made cards.
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Notre Dame from Bridge where we Curious Excursioners
enjoyed a sunset picnic. ©2011 Angeline Marie, 3x5 inches
mixed media, not for sale |
2. Haiku poems are one of Cynthia's favorite ways of jotting an idea or experience. I am already thinking of how to combine my haikus (which after the tour Janis, Elcira and I wrote while giggling) with painting.
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An apartment patio view. ©2011 Angeline Marie, 3x5 inches
mixed media, not for sale
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3. Creative sparks. Always disliked the word muse because it sounds so ugly. Cynthia gave us ideas on how to keep sparking long after adieu to Paris and our group.
4. 60 pages of a sketchbook journal filled with ideas, sketches, color, and play.
5. Open studio visit with Marcus McAllister truly was a highlight of the excursion for me. Marcus' art and philosophy marks a huge shift in my sketchbook style.
6. La Vert Fee. I dislike licorice, but discovered I like absinthe. Alas, the green fairy did not visit me since we wisely enjoyed dinner with our drinks. Did have a few red, white, and rose fairies vist me (wine)!
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La Fee Verte experience. ©2011 Angeline Marie, 3x5 inches
mixed media, not for sale
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7. Water pen, black and brown Pilot pens. Amazing results with just three tools. Ok, ok, I will have to add a 4B pencil and a set of watercolor paint and some glue dots to the list.
8. Permissions. Included are taking sketchbook and watercolor out any where and stopping in the middle of a walk if must to capture a sketch.
9. Making boxes in which to dump simple supplies but especially art prompts that inspire me. This may not be a direct idea from Cynthia, but it is in my journal as a flash of inspiration and spark list.
I fell in LOVE with Paris. Every where you turn there is an eye treat, and it is not just the people watching! The designs, art, architecture...ooo la la! Sensory overload was so high sometimes that I could not sleep for whole nights!
Where and how do you creatively recharge? What do you do when you feel stuck creatively?
Smiles!!!!
Angeline Marie of
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