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Portland Art Party: Design a Portland Food Truck
For my new Wanderlust Portland – A Creative Guide to the City book launch I had the best time getting together online with many of you for an art lesson/art party and coming up with an imaginative food cart celebrating Portland’s food truck scene! My favorite part was working together to brainstorm a food truck theme, and then designing it as we went along! For those who could not make it, we decided to go with a Japanese/French themed food truck that specialized in Japanese teas and French patisseries! We named it Pa-TEA-sserie, and decorated it with sakura flowers, fleur de lis, tea cups and of course treats. I just…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Summer Kick Off!
I’m here to say that it is officially the unofficial start of summer! Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always considered early June to be summer, as it is typically when school ends and summer break begins. Those first few days of summer break are always the best- no need for an alarm, no structure to the day and no care in the world. To celebrate season, here are some fun creative prompts to get you ready for those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer ahead! Join me over at @creativewanderlustcommunity to follow along this summer with these prompts and more to learn how to add art and creativity to…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Mexico
I am lucky to live in California where I have the advantage of my state bordering the beautiful country of Mexico providing me the ability to explore it relatively easily. I say relatively, because as most know, California is a big state where driving the length of it, from the California/Oregon border to the Mexico border can take almost 17 hours. This hasn’t deterred me from some pretty extravagant Mexico adventures, especially when I was younger – like driving to Mexico for a margarita! (Yes, that was 16 hours driving time round trip from San Francisco.) Crazy road trips aside, I have had the opportunity to visit some incredible locations…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Doodle
The Art of Doodling I’m sure you’ve done it many times before. Scribbling in the margins of your paper in a boring meeting, or while listening to a long lecture. Many times are doodling is just simple mark making, some squiggly lines or a few shapes. Sometimes we doodle more representational items, a heart, a house, a tree, a rainbow. In general, when we doodle we don’t give much thought to the final outcome, let alone what we are actually drawing. Doodling is a passive creative act, a way for us to “space out,” yet did you know if has many benefits to our health and creativity? Studies have shown…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Amusement Park
With Spring Break in full force around the US and many folks hitting up amusement parks, I thought it would be fun to come up with some creative ways to explore an Amusement Park! In my Wanderlust Los Angeles book, I actually have a chapter on Amusement Parks, as they make up a big tourist aspect of LA as well as have a really interesting history. I’ll share more about that in future posts, but in the mean time, let’s get creative at an Amusement Park! Daily Creative Wanderlust Prompts: Amusement Park Monday – Draw a map of your dream amusement park. Tuesday – Use wild filters on photos from a trip to…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Spring
For many, especially those in colder and darker climates in the Northern Hemisphere, the arrival of spring is literally a breathe of fresh air! More light in the sky, birds chirping, blossoms blooming, and new life everywhere. For others, though, the passing of a new season may just seem like another week. This can sometimes be the case for me, as I live in a temperate climate, where the change of the season is not nearly as noticeable. Instead of letting the change of season pass me by, I’m going to celebrate spring time with a week of creative prompts. My goal is to be more mindful of the change…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Inspired by Maui, Hawaii
Maui, the second largest island in the Hawaiian island chain behind the Big Island of Hawaii, is nicknamed the Valley Isle. This name derives from the fact that the island is made up of two volcanoes (a volcanic doublet), where the lava flowed between the two to create an isthmus or valley connecting them. The older volcano to the west rises 5,777 feet above sea level and the younger volcano, Haleakala is more than 10,000 feet above sea level! Like most islands, Maui is filled with microclimates, from extremely wet areas to drier regions; warm regions to surprisingly cold ones (10,000’ elevation on Haleakala will do that, even if on…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Mardi Gras
I can only imagine the buzz that is happening in Rio de Janiero, Brazil;, New Orleans, Louisiana; and Venice, Italy right now! It is Mardi Gras time (otherwise known as Carnevale in Venice and Carnaval do Brasil in Rio.) These cities are living it up before the religious season of Lent begins. Lent is a 40 day period that comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. It begins on Ash Wednesday, and ends with the Easter celebration. It is a season to reflect on the passion and sacrifices made by Jesus with fasting and penitence. Thus, the week before Lent begins cities around the world celebrate with one long party!! The…
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15 Minute Art Lesson: Learn How to Draw a Historic New Orleans Home
Follow along with this ~15 minute lesson and learn how to draw a New Orleans Garden District house, the Morris-Israel Home. We will virtually travel to NOLA where I will tell you a little about the house. Then, I will teach you a doodle approach to drawing the iron work sometimes called “iron lace” to give the impression of intricacy yet with a loose impressionistic approach. Following this lesson will not only show you how to draw this specific New Orleans home, but also teach your techniques to be able to draw houses and building around the world with similar ornate ironwork detailing. Be sure to share this video and…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Ski Week
The long days of winter can be exhausting for many in cold climates. I wonder if that is why schools across America embraced the notion of “Ski Week.” It’s not officially called this, it’s usually referred to as winter break, but out here in California, many call it ski week as people love to adventure to Lake Tahoe or other ski areas and celebrate the snow. I was fortunate to grow up going to Lake Tahoe often as a child. My grandparents had a condo at Lake Tahoe and this is where we spent many, many winter weekends and vacations. My dad loved to ski – even his dad was…