Deborah Velásquez: Who inspires me?

Last week Stephanie Ryan asked if I would join her for a blog hop. The blog hop was to write about people who inspire you. I am honored to say that she chose me as one of her people! You can read her lovely post here.
Thank you Stephanie, you inspire me as well.

Stephanie Ryan is an artist and designer with 20+ years of experience in the product development field. With her vivid watercolors, soul soothing garden scenes & prolific style, she’s routinely lent her talents to leading companies like Lenox, Waterford Wedgwood and HomeGoods. Stephanie’s art centers around heartfelt encouragement, with vivid, sweet colors, bold, blossoming flowers, and inspirational messaging woven throughout.

I met Stephanie almost three years ago, when she dared me to succeed!

On a dare from her I started to put myself and my work out into the licensing world.

Here is some of my licensed wall art. Pictured is one of my favorite pieces, which combines my Word Path art, block printing, collage and painting.

For the blog hop here are some questions that were provided so you could get to know me a bit better. The three people that inspire me follow the creative questions.

What are you working/writing on?

I just had Gallery opening for a Two woman show called Word and Birds, where

the works represent The ‘Word Path’ series from this blog. The series has been a weekly feature showcasing possibilities in written words, creative process and artistic word art pieces.

As I write this I am in the process of opening a storefront with minted.com ,

the opportunity came as a part of winning creative competitions within the company.

I am proud to say that I have won 11 awards total.

Currently I am creating work to sell as wall art.

I have recently seen close to final pieces from my CarpetVista rug competition win. Here is a peek:

I am just finishing up a block printed piece of art with a mid century

vibe that I cannot share at the moment but will soon I promise!

I continue to spend creative time in my new studio working on new collections for my licensing companies.

How does my work/ writing differ from others of its genre?

You can say there are a few of me! I have many avenues of work, word art and my painted work. In my painted work I combine many mediums in a piece but I do not consider my self a mixed media artist per se. I bring together my working styles into one piece, for example I paint, collage and overlay with a printmaking process, this is where my work differs. At times, I just keep the mediums separate, like when I paint my watercolor abstracts or florals. Printmaking is my first creative love for sure it continues to be a consistent theme in my work.

My Word Path paintings, block prints and calligraphy art pieces reflect on dialog and conversations with family and friends; developing singular words and segments of poetry from phrases within sentences and paragraphs of said conversations. Word paths for me are like a line of movement. One word leads another, linked by thought first then by pen and paint. The word paintings are straight forward type with an urban feel.

"Everyone has a word path, we all take different paths with our word expression
in emphasis, pause, cadence even language".

Why do you create/write what you do?

For me creating is like breathing, it is part of who I am. I have always said art for me is like a relationship. It is like being in love, it brings me to another level, to another place.
Nothing lights me up more than being creative, making something out of nothing.

“When I am making art, I know this is what I should be doing.
I want my work to be,”Where Art and Beauty Meet Lifestyle”©

How does your creative process work?

I want to share two past posts which show my creative process, one here and here.

I am more and more inspired by my supplies, the feel of the brush or cutting tool as it moves with ink on paper or drawing while cutting into linoleum or rubber of a printing block.

As I write this post I am waiting for a delivery of vintage brushes from the estate of a 101 year old woman who painted all her life. The stories those brushes could tell and continue to paint, so excited!

Here are my favorite supplies.

Follow me on Instagram where I post fun inspiring things and what I am working on.

Here are few places to find me and my work : Moyo Directory and Etsy

and

Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter

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Now onto the three people who inspire me!

I call these women my friends, my like-minded creative souls.

They all posses a determination that inspires me and I love how we connect, process, critique, and push each other to be better artists, stay on track, focus on what is important and share new ideas.

Julie Hamilton is a surface pattern designer artfully living in the mountains of Whistler, British Columbia.

“I am passionate about paint, paper, pen and pattern. I call it Artistically Afflicted ~ to be in a beautiful state of creative chaos due to an overactive imagination that is always questioning...what if?” I create daily and love to explore different mediums”

All of Julie's designs are handcrafted. Her favorite medium is a simple black pen and a piece of white paper. Her work is organic with a touch of whimsy. Inspired by nature and her surroundings, she loves to add a modern twist to her work either through line, color or texture. I love her Black and white work!

Julie can be found weekly, blogging on her site www.artisticallyafflicted.com writing about inspiration, imagination and the creative process.

It was such a treat to go into Barnes and Noble and see my friends feature in the Artful Blogging - 2014 spring/summer issue.

She is currently working on a new collection for Modern Yardage and her illustrated maps of British Columbia.

You can find more of Julie's work here:

Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter

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Mary Tanana is a designer who is inspired by many things; art, photography, gardening, landscapes and nature. She approaches her work with a boho, edgy flair.

She’s had a life-long love affair with anything patterned, and after a long and successful career as as award winning jewelry designer, she has once again embraced her first love of surface pattern design and I am so happy she did!
Her work is full of joy, happiness and color.

She is fascinated with henna designs from India, folk art from
the Ukraine, Russia and Poland, and loves Zentangle art.
Her mosaic style fascinates me the most.

See her beautiful fabric design at Modern Yardage

Here is where you can find Mary's work
http://groovitydesigns.com

Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter

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Kim Gann is a licensed artist and has been painting for over 25 years. Her art expands from drawing to digital but I know Kim's passion is painting. She dreams in vibrant and intense color and it translates on to her beautiful canvasses.
Her goal is to bring joy to the world through her art.