Wednesday 16 January 2008

Inspiration

Funny thing. Inspiration. I had a rotten day yesterday in regards to work. I couldn't concentrate. I felt completely uninspired. Nothing was working. I struggled all day. Nothing. Ugh! I even went for a walk in the bitter cold, gale force winds and horizontal rain. Still nothing. That usually works for me. Remove myself from the computer and office and do something unrelated. But not yesterday.

By the time Steve and I switched off our computers, I felt thoroughly depressed. I want to be a successful graphic designer and digital artist and it's important to keep inspired and motivated. Steve was wonderful as ever and pointed out some home truths about the work that we do. That there are days when nothing works and nothing flows. And that's ok.

So then this morning I wake up and can't wait to start the day. One of the first things I do is check my email, blogs and forums. And of course HS|MS. Prompt word being "indulge". How cool. Steve indulged me a couple of days ago with some beautiful fresh cut flowers - white lilys. I love them so much. I often indulge myself this way. I really love having fresh flowers here in my office.

I decided to indulge myself more by spending some time doing a bit of art with the photos I took. A digi layout of sorts. It was quite indulgent considering I have a couple of work deadlines I need to be working on. It was good as I was feeling inspired to be creative and that fuelled my motivation for work. Oh and I wasn't that pleased with the photos I took. Out of focus. Bad composition. etc.. And so here's my digi layout:


I created the background by starting off with a beautiful blended art digi paper created by my dear friend, Denise. She no longer creates digi products as she's concentrating on her beautiful family after recently emigrating to the USA. Her work is just fab and so inspiring. She still does lots of photography though which you can see on her personal blog.

Anyway, yeah, I started out with a paper Denise created and then used various brushes to add further dimension and texture. I then added a couple of the photos I took of my lilys this morning and blended them into the background using masks, brushes and layer blend modes. The cardboard background for the photo is by Scrapadelic - I love Ronna's work. The swirls are various brushes that I've got and created in Photoshop. The journal strip is also by Denise. I think that's it. Took me just over an hour and a half to create.

On with work while I'm feeling up and inspired! x

19 comments:

Jen said...

i just love fresh flowers!
love how you indulged and created a LO :)

All of my Todays said...

That layout is beautiful that is what I would love to be able to create! The only flowers I will allow in my house are white lilies, my absolute favourites and they smell so good too. x

Louise Galt said...

What a fab digi layout very nice
xx

Bobs said...

I adore lilies - especially stargazer lilies. The perfume is simply divine!

Gorgeous shot.

anita said...

how wonderful to make a layout of your HSMS prompt!!!
love it :)
anita
x

maz said...

Di, loved your post today. We've all been there with the lack of inspiration! One of my favourite quotes is 'let yourself be silently drawn by the pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray'. That usually gets me back on track again!
PS I did flowers too!

Bambi said...

oh i hear ya, i used to design digikits for a digiscrapping site and there are definitely times when your mind just switches off.

those lilies make the bg paper look even more beautiful (^_^)

Linda said...

That is a beutiful LO - I love it! I love flowers for indulgence too.

Kerry said...

I'm not surprised those flowers inspired you .... they're gorgeous!

KerryW

Sue said...

FABULOUS

You know how much I love your "work" and this layout is simply stunning. A fabulous take on the prompt.

I am all over the place inspiration wise . . . not sure what I want to do any more, so just feel as if I am leeting time slip through my fingers :-(

So glad you are feeling inspired today!

Sue

Anonymous said...

oooh What a fabulous layout Di...so glad you got your mojo back and how!! I love lillies too and that's a fab photo no wonder it inspired you :D

Aubrey Harns said...

What a great way to indulge yourself - time for you! Great digi-LO BTW!
Aubrey

Niecey said...

Beautiful flowers, beautiful layout. And you're such a beautiful person. love ya.
~N

Rose said...

Beautiful! Just beautiful!! Thanks for all you've written today!

Lynn Grieveson said...

Beautiful page (and flowers). I love Denise's stuff too :-)

Anonymous said...

So beautiful!

etteY said...

Gorgeous flowers Di, beautiful layout too! :)

Heather said...

Your flowers and your LO are beautiful!

Unknown said...

Such a calm soothing indulgent photo...fab :o)