Inspiration Collage: Inktober, Art on the Go, and a Book Recommendation

Dear Reader,

As I type these words, Nashville has finally eased into my favorite weather: low 60’s and sunny. It’s not too hot, it’s not too cold…it’s just right! Knowing Nashville, this temperature may be around for only a day but I’m here for it.

In mid-October I tried to bring on the cool fall weather by pulling the seasonal decorations out while it was still in the 80’s. Despite the effort I couldn’t convince myself it felt like autumn any more than sitting by the pool in Florida in December feels like Christmas.1

This week I was once again a convenient subject for my daughter’s photography project, so she took the photo below (and I took one of her when she wasn’t looking). There’s a hint of fall vibes in these photos but in reality it was warm enough for me to be worried about what type of bugs might be crawling up my ankles while I stood in this field.

October means it’s also Inktober, an annual sketching challenge that started back in 2009. Inktober began as a daily list of prompts, encouraging artists and not-yet-artists to build a daily habit of drawing. I don’t know how many variations of the original idea have shown up since but it didn’t take long for the medium to widen far beyond ink.

Last year I embraced Birdtober and this year I’ve taken it up again, though I confess I’ve been less consistent with the practice. Both years I’ve chosen collage to be the main medium, mixed with some ink, as well as the occasional Posca Marker.

Here are a few favorites from last year:

And a few from this year:

You might notice that some of the birds from this year are made from a receipt or the logo from a shopping bag. That’s because I kept up with my birds while we went on a trip to Chicago with our oldest daughter.

My husband and daughter helped collect bits of paper for me and now our memories are collaged into the birds as well. There’s the receipt from the deep dish pizza restaurant and another one from our new favorite dessert place, Mango Mango, located in Chinatown. Also the receipt from the Parnassus bookstore at the Nashville airport, where it’s now becoming a habit of mine to pick up a book on the way out of town.

I used to always debate whether to bring art supplies on a trip but I’ve finally realized any time I leave them at home, I inevitably wish I had them with me. Now I bring supplies on every trip, even if it’s just a hodgepodge of markers and pens that I can fit in a zipper pouch along with a small sketchbook.

Here’s a great post I came across on art journaling AFTER your trip instead of during it. I usually end with a combination of filling some pages while I’m away and working on some more when I get back home.

Here’s a post showing the supplies I brought to Albania last summer:

I picked up a book called Cut Paper Pictures: Turn Your Art and Photos into Personalized Collages by Clover Robin. It’s filled with inspiring collages of houses, landscapes, animals and more. The author includes a lot of “snip tips” throughout the book along with step by step demonstrations. Many of the illustrations make me want to hop in the book and walk around.

One of the other great features of the book is a collection of collage papers that match the textures in the illustrations, available for your own collage work, located in the back of the book.

Whether you’re like me and you just want to take inspiration and create your own art or you want to try some of the step by step instructions, I can’t recommend this book enough.

This month we lost the iconic actress, Diane Keaton. Did you know that she also made collage art?

I hope this month finds you making something with your hands and I hope you get at least one day of your perfect weather.

Blessings from the Guest Nest,

Aimee

What about you? Are you doing Inktober or a version of it? Are you a fan of collage? Why or Why not?

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Here’s a photo of our heavenly mango themed treats from Mango Mango. Confession: We were supposed to share the mango/strawberry smoothie but I downed the whole thing and we had to go back for another one.