Pinspiration: Floral Abstract

Daily Gratitude

I'm shining today because I'm grateful for:

• Waking to the sound of birds. This morning the birds were calling one another in the morning light. It made me smile knowing they are getting ready for the business that Spring brings.
• Mermaids of the Lake, the online magazine I co-publish with my best friend Debbie. Sometimes writing and editing, organizing layout and design, working with other writers, and such can be a load of work. Yet, it's so worth it when it's done. A finished issue feels wonderful.
• My coffee maker. Enough said. 

Pinspiration: Floral Abstract

Have you had a pinspiration? It's a term coined by Pinterest followers. Being an ardent pinner, I have pinspirations frequently. More than just loving all the beautiful, interesting, creative things on Pinterest, I'm actually having fun cooking a few recipes and doing some of the projects. And, I'm finding that sharing these experiments with another pinner doubles the fun! (See my Pinterest related terms below).

Last weekend I visited my daughter, Sarah. She's a university students attending school a few hours away. Sarah (also a pinner) and I planned to do a project together. You know, mother-daughter bonding. We cruised through both of our creative boards. There was so much to choose from! Many were complicated, requiring more time and money than we had. We narrowed things down to an art project I'd pinned a few weeks ago. How to Paint a Floral Abstract in Acrylics appealed to both of us.

Materials needed for the project

• Acrylic paints - Use a variety of colors 
• Paintbrushes - 1 flat paintbrush for painting the background squares, and 1 or 2 small round paintbrushes for painting in the details.
• Canvas - choose a square or rectangular canvas in any size you want. I used a 12"x 12" canvas.
• Ruler - for measuring the grid
• Pencil - for drawing the grid

The first step was to pencil in 12 3x3" boxes on the canvas. Then paint each square.

Once the squares dried, I painted a boarder and a circle in each. No need to be precise with this project. In fact, I thought going at it a bit free-style adds to the look. I used all sorts of colors, making the boarders and circles differing sizes.

Sarah took off on a completely different path. She drew precise angles resembling a quilt pattern. Her color scheme was five colors.

My circles soon turned into the center of flowers. I began adding petals and such to the centers. Again, being a bit loose, sometimes extending into the boarder. 

Sarah's boxes filed with angles and blocks. Pretty colors!

Reinforced with an excellent cup of coffee, I continued to apply layers upon layers of petals. They were then embellished with dots. This was really taking quite a bit of time! Not being an artist who uses acrylic paints, I didn't realize how much time it would take. I made a boo-boo or two, so painted over a few places. You can see that on the bottom right corner and on the top row. Oh well, still having fun!

At this point, it was time for me to head for home. Sarah and I compared our pieces. Wow, what a different approach to the same project! 

Finally, each of the boxes were filled with a crazy, dotted flower. Lastly, I painted the sides with black paint.

Seriously, this project turned out way more whimsical than how I usually express myself! Yet, I had a wonderful time. Working side-by-side with Sarah was fun. It was interesting seeing how we each approached the creative process. She is studying Architecture, so it makes sense that she comes at things with precision and takes care at every step. I, on the other hand, dove into the project with complete lack of restraint. Even our shared paint tray demonstrated that. Sarah's paint blobs were neatly placed in a row. Mine, smeared all over, took up two-thirds of the tray! 

Overall, the Pinterest project deserved medium-high scores 

Here's why: The link from Pinterest to the web page went directly to the featured project, the project was clearly stated on the web page, the steps were easy to follow, the project turned out somewhat similar to the tutorial, and we were able to modify it to our taste. The only lower mark being it isn't a beginner project and it should be stated that familiarity with acrylic paints and brushes is required. 

Another Pinterest project

Earl Grey Cupcakes is another Pinspiration project I did. The process is documented on Mermaids of the Lake.

Want to know more about Pinterest?

Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.
Pin is what you do when you find something on the webs that you like.
Pinner is someone who uses the tool a lot!
Pinspiration is an inspiration one gets from seeing something pinned by another.

I would love it if you followed my boards! I love pinning great quotes, inspirational ideas for decorating, recipes that are interesting and unusual, various art expressions, and images of the types of things I collect. Find me here: Pinterest.com/ShelleyHepler