Sketchbooks, Pencils, Inktale & Meetup!

Been a bit of a challenge trying to work out a routine so that I can accomplish all my duties for my freelance practice while also taking time to be in studio and find something worth writing about for my blog. 

My practice revolves around my meetup groups, London Art Museum Creatives, London Art & Culture Group and Art Peace Activists which are primarily weekend adventures as I need several days to manage the admin for these groups as well as the general admin of being an artist and this doesn't even touch on just being in studio and making art! But with my schedule up and running for February, I feel a bit more organised and ready to try to manage the artist side of my life and this blog! 

While all this admin stuff has been going on, I've kept myself creative and though I don't currently have any active commissions at the moment, I've given myself projects to accomplish and to keep my skills up to date. One such project is an accordion sketchbook in which I'm creating a narrative all about a tree because I love patterns and trees! I'm not sure yet what will happen on the other side of these pages but for now my tree is "unfolding" to reveal more and more secrets in its branches.

My studio is also my bedroom and on one side of the room is a line of suitcases and containers with my art supplies because this is a temporary living situation which I'm really struggling with at the moment as I'm not used to living in such disorder for so long. This frustration is having an impact on my creative process. Though it would make sense for anyone else to go to a coffee shop to draw, it doesn't work well for me as I have all my supplies here in this room and often what I want to work with, would be too messy or smelly for a coffee shop so I feel like I've had my wings clipped and only fantasise that hopefully one day, I'll have simple freedoms again and be able to paint or sculpt without being so restricted. 

Oh well.

I've got an idea for another miniature imaginative abode.......so I've been collecting oyster shells and unusual cardboard containers! More to follow on this idea later.....

Procrastinating doing admin earlier, found me sharpening and organising all of my pencils in my roll up which was rather satisfying! 

My favourite pencil to use is either a "B" or "4B" pencil! I don't seem to get away from those sizes! 

When my pencils get too small to sharpen, I save them in a little container as I'm convinced they'll be useful at some point even if gripping them is nearly impossible when they're so small! 

Utterly absurd! 

I'm trying to encourage my members to use the hashtag, #LondonArtMuseumCreatives for my events so I can find their drawings on Instagram and be their number one fan! I hope it catches on as I love seeing the enthusiasm from a member after attending one of my events. That thrill fuels my own creative drive and keeps me wanting to draw! 

Well, I've done all my admin for several days as well as this blog post, so I'm now going to repair some miniature dragon eggs which you can view later on my Instagram: @Mirmarnia & @Toothpickmuse 

Stay tuned for next months post and thank you for taking an interest in my studio practice! 

As always, if you simply love what I do and wish to support my practice then feel free to check out my shop on Inktale to purchase my artwork on products: inktale.com/franceska-mccullough