Color and Texture: Abandoned Amusement Parks Around the World

There is no shortage of abandoned places in the world, from ancient landmarks and religious symbols to gaudy and festive amusement parks left to the weather and the vines. As people shift across the landscape, an imprint is left behind-- farms gone to forests, houses and barns left to the weather, and amusement parks with forever empty rides.

At left is a ride from New Orleans Six Flags, abandoned for years. Photographers and amateur explorers love to take photos there, or tag the structures with creative graffiti. "Six Flags 2012: Coming Soon," says one ironic message. The bathroom has spray-painted arrows pointing to the rooms for male and female roaches.

Across the world in Germany is another abandoned park that has been extensively photographed. Spreepark appeals for another reason: It has giant dinosaurs. Some fallen, some still standing, the massive statues are increasingly surrounded by wild nature, making them seem all the more like real prehistoric creatures frozen in a particular moment of time.

Though a little bit creepy, abandoned parks are fascinating tours of bygone days, full of intermingling color and texture from old painted attractions, spray paint, wild-growing plants and that particular kind of light that falls on abandoned places. It's not surprising that they are a favorite for photographers all over the world.

Spreepark, Berlin

There are parks such as these worldwide. Jon Dunbar photographed this beautiful abandoned park in South Korea. Below is a "haunted house," which was once haunted only by paid staff; perhaps now it is for real.

More:

 Spreepark, Berlin (See more photos here.)

Jazzland/Six Flags, New Orleans (See more!)

"Takakanonuma Greenland" Park near Tokyo. Photo by Spiral.

Torch Fired Enamel Beads

I know that some people coming to this blog are interested in torch-fired enamels, which is a process I use in my studio to create beautiful enameled beads and other jewelry components.

This video is a nice introduction to the process of torch-firing enamels on metal. The video features instructor Barbara Lewis of Painting with Fire Studio. As you can see, the setup is relatively simple. The trick is being able to handle all of the parts of the process and get a feel for it.

You can see more torch-fired pieces and read about my explorations with my enameling set-up here.

Here are a few of my torch-fired pieces:

This necklace incorporates enamel on copper pieces. I love the whimsical look of these!

The first pieces I made-- still learning! Head pins, domes and a filigree bead. I love the colors you can get with enameling.

"Love: gears and chains" polymer set into fine silver,
enameled copper, recycled sari silks

Make Time to Play

Lately, I've been thinking about how important it is for everyone to make time to play. Artists have this sneaky way of finding ways to play for their whole lives. We have a channel for play in our artwork or craft.

At YIKES! Studio, art is also play. I play with color, shapes, and forms every day. Being in the studio and working with clay, silver, enameling, and metals allows me to give shape to my thoughts as they arise, and the work I do in the studio influences my thoughts and musings again, creating a creative cycle.

Play is a central focus of YIKES! (The name itself is pretty playful.) For many artisans, there's a relationship between play and craftsmanship. Playful jewelry must be created with care and skill so that its joyful presence can endure for years. And craftsmanship without a sense of play can seem too utilitarian, lacking in imagination. In the studio, it's possible to see how play and craftsmanship support each other and really make the other possible!

Although play is usually associated with kids, it's really just something that surfaces in different forms throughout our lives. One of those ways is through art. Research in art therapy has shown that adults who are artists remain more intellectually and creatively vibrant through their elder years, continuing to develop artistically and emotionally.

Everyone can make time to play. Play doesn't have to be linked to a slick finished product, or any finished product at all. Make some time to play with color. Use clay or paint or whatever strikes your fancy. Make something and forget to judge it. Just experience it!

Play could also be thought of as a gateway to deeper experiences. The creative spontaneity of playing-- whether it's with art materials or not-- opens us up intellectually and emotionally. Staying playful throughout life allows us to keep engaging with the world-- just getting out and loving the big sky, the water, the colors and forms and surprises. ❉


Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

Nuturing Your Creative Life

Creativity has been spoken of as a muse, which seems to imply a magical being, something outside of everyday life. Creativity, we imagine, is one of those things that you can't predict or force: it simply happens. Or, sometimes, doesn't. Looking at it that way, there doesn't seem to be much that we can do to actively encourage creativity.

And how wrong that would be. In fact, living creatively is a part of living in a fully human way, and just like every other facet of living, it can be encouraged and nurtured. Creativity is just as much about what we do (create art, write, or cook) as it is about how we see. Creativity, therefore, is not just for artists-- it's for everyone. It's the ability to be present and see the possibilities. And that is something we can all nurture.

Yet there's so much that can get in the way of nurturing your creative life. Perhaps the number one thing that blinds us to our creative selves is distraction. Distraction has a way of filling up the spaces in our lives so that we don't turn ideas over fully to find all of their creative potential. There's a reason why both corporations and artists turn to "retreats" to come up with new ideas or new work.

We must remove ourselves periodically from our distractions in order to really be creative. If you feel stuck, ask yourself: Have I been distracting myself lately? Have I been allowing time to turn ideas over (maybe even get a little bored)? Boredom can be a great friend to creativity, as any kid trapped inside on a rainy day could tell you. Without time to ponder and reach for new ideas, we end up treading the same paths over and over again.

What else can help to nurture creativity? Clearing clutter--mental and environmental-- can help us to get in touch with the wellspring of awareness and creative potential within us. A cleaning spree, a re-arranging of our studios or living spaces-- these can help to clear the mind as well.

Meditation, exercise, and simplifying our lives can also bring that clarity that allows new ideas to blossom in the mind. Simplifying our lives cuts down on the excess energy we are spending on maintaining too many projects, ideas, goals, and "what-ifs". That extra energy can then return to us and re-invigorate our awareness-- and creativity.

If distraction and clutter disrupt creativity, what encourages it? Creativity, like any creature, thrives in the right environment. Creativity withers under criticism, and it survives badly when other concerns crowd it out. To allow creativity to come forward means silencing the critical and worried voices in your head-- even if just for a while. Practice making a space for creative exploration where no critical thoughts are allowed. Practice shutting out your internal "editor" for most of the time. There is a time to evaluate ideas critically-- but allow that to come later.

And whatever you do, however you do it, love what you do. Praise yourself -- both to yourself and to others (I know it's hard sometimes!) When your endeavors meet with success-- as measured by others or yourself, honor the awareness and creativity that brought you to where you are. ❉

Why Done is Better than Perfect: How to Get Started Selling on Etsy

This article by Alexandra Ferguson comes from The Etsy Blog. Alexandra presents Etsy as a try-it-and-see marketplace for sellers: a way to test products, experiment with presentation, and perfect your selling game.  

And she should know: she built her tiny Etsy store (started with $1.60 in capital) into a business projected to bring in $1 million in revenue in the next year!

Why Done is Better than Perfect

Do any of these internal monologues resonate with you?

• “What if no one buys anything? I will feel so rejected.”
  
• “What if someone wants to buy 400 of one of my items? I can’t launch my shop until I’m ready to take on volume. There’s still so much to figure out.”
• “I’ve been working on a business plan for several months now. When everything is perfect, then I’ll launch my shop.”

Whatever the reason may be, do you feel stuck in the thinking and planning stage?

It’s okay. It’s really normal. I like to call this feeling “paralysis by analysis” and, fortunately, you’re in the friendliest place on the web to work through it and start selling.

I launched my shop on January 16, 2009, during my then-day-job lunch break. Over the holidays, I’d made dozens of felt appliqué pillows as gifts and had a few left over when someone suggested I sell them on Etsy. I photographed what remained with my point-and-shoot camera in my living room. In 30 minutes, while I ate my sandwich at my desk, I spent $1.60 in startup capital (eight product listings at 20 cents each), and my shop was live.

Read more at The Etsy Blog >>

Can Narrowing Your Choices Make You More Creative?

Today's guest post on Yikes!Studio is by Tonya Davidson, artist, businesswoman and founder of the Artful Success™ Program. She explores whether focusing our attention and narrowing the focus of our work, as artists, can actually help to make us more creative. Thanks for being with us, Tonya! 

Image by flaivoloka/stock.xchng

Do you ever get overwhelmed because you have too many options?

Let that sink in for a minute.

For 10 years I owned two paint your own pottery studios. Our market were children, families, and women. We offered 110 colors of paint and over 300 different pieces of pottery to choose from. It was fun and there were a lot of choices.

Children, and especially adults, had the hardest time choosing the piece they wanted to start with. Then it was almost painful for them to pick the five colors they wanted to start with, the stencils, brushes, stamps, and design tools. So instead of being focused on the fun of the creativity it became about the process and not the experience.

When we would do field trips we would bring five colors and the same piece for each kid, usually a tile, which was a blank canvas. Those kids never had a problem being creative. They spent less time trying to figure out what to do. They weren't focused on the process and they were often far more creative with their designs.

Too many choices + too many options = too many distractions from the experience of creating.

Could it be that when we invite more into our lives and into our studios, we are actually doing ourselves a disservice? By buying more supplies, and trying more techniques we actually dilute our voice and our work. Editing, after all, is the hardest and most valued tool an artist has in their arsenal.

So for me, this rings the bell loudly in my own life. It's time to banish drains, eliminate the excess and narrow the focus of my work. That means putting less things on my to-do list. It's got to be a "heck yes!" in order for it to be something I add to my life, to my work, and to my projects.

Did this ring a bell for you? I'd love to hear from you! ❉

Creative Blessings,
Tonya Davidson


Business thought leader, teacher, mentor, artist and founder of the Artful Success™ Program, Tonya Davidson helps artists take their techniques and business skills to the next level. She has passionately empowered artists to live creatively from the inside out. Create the life you love by subscribing to her ezine, reading her blog, engaging with her on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest! www.tonyadavidson.com