Have you ever wanted your very own robot? With a few recycled objects, you can create a whole group of new robot friends. Not only are they really cute, but their facial features are magnetized and can be rearranged, just like a Mr. Potato Head! These mix-n-match machines are just as fun to create as they are to play with. Take a look at how it’s done.

 

Image via Spoonful (originally in FamilyFun Magazine)

 

 

You’ll need tin cans (pop-off lids tend to have safer edges, you but you can also cover sharp edges in electrical tape), strong disk magnets, and hot glue. As for the decorating, you can use colorful cardstock, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, buttons, and extra hardware and metal bits—brackets, bolts, hinges, washers, knobs, old keys, bottle caps, etc. A note about these: avoid anything sharp, such as nails, and be aware that this craft involves small parts, so it requires supervision and may not be suited for young children.

 

Once you have everything gathered, start creating facial features by gluing your collected items to the magnets. Make eyes, mouths, arms, and don’t forget special robot parts like antennae, wires, propulsion devices, and microcontrollers (make some up!).

 

Now you can start mixing and matching parts to create fun robot characters! Move them around, swap features… take your robots on an adventure! And guess what. When you’re done playing, you can store all the loose parts inside the tin can (or robot’s belly).

 

 

Image via Real Purdy

 

If you could create a fully functioning robot, what kind would you create? What skill would you give it or tasks would you program it to complete?

Colored pencils aren’t just for drawing anymore! In fact, they make some pretty adorable jewelry. Showcase your love of art and color with these fun colored pencil pieces. Usually, colored pencils are used to create something pretty, but here the pencils get to take center stage. By cutting them into beads, you can make bright and unique necklaces, bracelets, brooches, and earrings.

 

To make the beads, you will need some basic tools: a junior hacksaw, fine sandpaper, a drill and small drill bit. Then of course you’ll need colored pencils and thread. For specific directions and necessary materials, check out Kate’s fabulous tutorial on Design Mom.

 

Grown-ups will definitely need to help prepare the beads (there’s a bit of sawing, sanding, and drilling involved), but kids will love stringing the beads and creating their own jewelry. It’s also a great way to play with color; pick a specific scheme, build a pattern, or make a rainbow!

 

Image (and tutorial) via Design Mom

 

Images via Etsy  one and two

 

This would make a great activity for a birthday party, class project, or just a rainy day.  It would also be a perfect homemade gift (the holidays are right around the corner… hint, hint). Artists, art enthusiasts, crafters, teachers, and kids would all appreciate this simple, yet impressive jewelry!

 

What other art inspired jewelry would you create?

 

One of my favorite snack foods has got to be the pretzel. It’s crunchy and salty, it’s tasty on its own, and it pairs well with both sweet and savory ingredients. You can dip it in chocolate or cheese and both will be delicious (just not at the same time… unless you’re really adventurous).

 

Sometimes it’s fun to pick a favorite snack and then create variations on a theme with it. Here are a few different ideas for bringing Halloween flair to some yummy pretzel treats.

 

These pumpkin pretzels from Make Bake Celebrate are too cute for words! Chocolate-covered and dipped in sprinkles, they’re the perfect salty-sweet combination. Add leaves and stems with some piped chocolate for added detail.

 

Photo via Make Bake Celebrate

 

 

You can never have enough chocolate covered pretzels! For a fun variation on the same flavors, you must try these Frankenstein pretzels! Grab pretzel rods, green melting chocolate, black gel icing, chocolate kisses, and shredded coconut. With some simple assembly, you can make the perfect creepy cuties to compliment your bright pumpkin pretzels.

 

Photo via Simply Designing with Ashley

 

Finally, let’s finish up with a savory pretzel dish. With some pretzel sticks, string cheese, and chives for garnish, you can create the most adorable witches’ brooms. Cut up the string cheese to act as bristles, stick in a pretzel to be the handle, and tie on a chive if you like (you can skip this last part if you’re not a chive fan).

 

Photo via

 

Yum! These make perfect Halloween treats, but are also great festive snacks for any time—be it in the classroom, after school, or for a sleepover.

 

Which of these variations is your favorite? Do you have any other spooky snack ideas?

The painting titled Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh is at the top of many artistic achievements! Even though Van Gogh sold only one painting in his life, the mark he has made on this world is priceless.  Starry Night is one of the most well known images in modern culture.  How does it speak to you?

Abstract from Vincent van Gogh museum:

Energy and inspiration
From early on Vincent van Gogh was fascinated by the mood conjured up by the evening and the night. Van Gogh regarded the evening and night as a time for self-reflection and creativity, particularly for looking back over the day’s events. As such he loved to work during this hours of twilight and darkness, drawing from them energy and inspiration. When he decided in 1880 to become an artist, twilight and the night gained a fixed place in his oeuvre.

Arranged around the themes Landscapes at twilight, Peasant life at evening – ‘Les Paysans chez eux’, The voice of the wheat and Poetry of the night, the exhibition shows how Van Gogh immortalized the twilight and the night on paper and on canvas.

From painterly tradition to modern art
Van Gogh particularly associated the nighttime hours with a feeling of security, solace and the poetic. At the same time he was not immune to night’s darker side, when one can be overwhelmed by feelings of loneliness and despair. But Van Gogh was above all attracted by the landscape at twilight, thereby linking up with a longstanding painterly tradition. Evening and nighttime landscapes have for centuries been a well-loved theme, and were also strongly represented within the Barbizon School that Van Gogh so admired and initially imitated. After a number of years, however, Van Gogh began updating the genre through his striking use of colour and rhythmic brushstrokes. With his distinctive style he blazed the trail for modern art.

Read the rest of the article about Vincent van Gogh here: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?page=150362&lang=en#.  If you can go to Amsterdam to visit it in real life then this is your next best chance.

Now go ahead and scribble your own Starry Night! Print out the image below and color in how you see the night to be with it’s stars shining so brightly.  Send in your drawing and we’ll post it for everybody to see.  Email it to .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scribble Town (ST): Here with us on the Scribble Blog is ShaoLan Hseuh! ShaoLan’s creativity and energy to build Chineasy is extraordinary.  Let’s hear her story!

ShaoLan Hseuh (SH): Hi, my name is ShaoLan Hseuh and I am an entrepreneur, investor, writer, traveler and dreamer! I am also the creator and founder of Chineasy, a Chinese language methodology that will help you learn to read what many consider to be one of the hardest languages in the world to learn! Chinese!

ST: Where are you and what are you up to these days?  What does a day with ShaoLan look like?

SH: At the moment every living breathing moment is spent either working on Chineasy or with my family. With Chineasy’s Kickstarter campaign now over (having successfully raised nearly £200,000) I am now working on the hard part – fulfilling the delivery of all of the gifts I promised!

A day with me: I am a very early riser (you have to be or there just isn’t enough time in the day!), I am very into exercise and eating well and if I am not weight lifting or drinking chilled green tea then I am either with the members of my Chineasy team of my children – when they aren’t at school of course!

ST: What is Chineasy?  How did the idea for this new endeavor begin, which is so different from your past experiences?

SH: The Chinese language has long been considered the most difficult major language to learn, largely on account of the vast number and complexity of its characters. Being a Taiwanese native now living in London, this is a fact I am acutely aware of. When I began to teach my British born children Chinese, I realized just how difficult Chinese characters are for a native English speaker to learn. It was like torture for my kids! So I spent many years looking for a fun and easy way to teach them how to read Chinese. After years of searching, I realized that none of the methods out there were engaging or efficient enough. So I created my own!

Chineasy’s goal is to allow people to learn to read Chinese easily by recognizing characters through simple illustrations, but also to bridge the gap between East and West. As the best way to understand a culture is to start with its language.

Chineasy works on a simple building block principal. When you know a few key base characters (or building blocks) you can start combining them to create more complex words (compounds) which, when combined, allow you to create simple phrases and stories. It’s that easy!

ST: From what I have read online, you wear many hats and have accomplished so much across many fields.  Please let us know about this adventure you are on. How did you go from Taiwan to London?

SH: It was a very long adventure and it is one I still haven’t finished! As I child I was raised by two very artistic parents and, like most children, chose to study something as far removed from my parent’s interests as possible! As an MBA student in Taiwan I published a series of best selling software books, which were awarded ‘book of the year’. Using the royalties earned from their sale I founded my first software venture pAsia in 1995, which I grew from a team of 2 to a team of 250 by 2001. After moving to London in 2002, I began investing in and advising young technology companies through Caravel Capital, which I founded whilst studying at the University of Cambridge. Following a sabbatical in which I traveled the world I came back to London and decided to try my hand at something new. Today, I am still highly active in assisting young businesses, but I have also expanded to the mentoring and support of education, arts and culture (I am on the Business Advisory Council of Business School in Oxford University and Development Advisory Board of Victoria and Albert Museum). As a social venture, Chineasy is the culmination of both my entrepreneurial experience and my artistic childhood.

ST: Was there somebody that encouraged you to be creative and business savvy?  Also, how do you collaborate with the designers of Chineasy?

SH: Although everyone could be creative, having right environment is crucial. Everyone could be ‘trained’ being a savvy business person, but having good intuitive and constructive environment certainly helps. I happened to grow up in an artist family and loving arts throughout my life. I was also lucky enough to work with world class business leaders and global thought leaders. I am inspired by many people through out my journey. Many of them became my life long friends and consistently encouraged me to be ‘myself’. Being yourself and knowing what your ‘calling’ is helps you to have the vision beyond what people normally see in their ‘career’.

Originally I planed for Chineasy to be a purely personal project for my children and friends, but when I was invited to talk at TED, I started asking several illustrators to implement my creation. One day I chatted my friend Crispin Jameson, who is the director of an agency in London called Brave New World [BNW] and he recommended Noma Bar. This was how I started working with various parties in addition to Chineasy team.

ST: When you develop an illustration what is your creative process like?  What is your process for getting work out of your head and what are some favorite tools you like to use to create?  I especially love your color choices and the relationship between the image and character is so clear!  I wish I had these when I was learning Mandarin!

SH: The truth is it is a long and thought out process, these illustrations are much more than pretty pictures – as our three designers will tell you! Each character we create has to follow the same three guidelines: 
they have to look stunning, be stylistically consistent with what we 
have produced before and, most importantly, they have to be 
educationally effective.

Traditionally ancient Chinese was mainly Pictographic (the symbols were drawings of what they represented) yet over the past thousands of years, many of those pictographs have morphed into very different shapes from their original forms. Instead of trying to reproduce all of the historical links I use a totally refreshing approach to interoperate pictographs, as our illustrations have to be something westerners can associate therefore easier for them to remember.

Before we even start designing our team (which is made up primarily of myself, my two in-house designers, my project manager & research assistant) researches the definition, 
origin and history of the character. We then move on to the applications (for example, how to build more characters and phrases) and finally 
we consider how to make stories out of them. After this research our designers create their different interpretations 
of the character. We always have several versions and numerous drawings for each. Between us we then discuss, debate and bounce 
ideas back and forth. When we come across a challenge (which happens with nearly all of them), we discuss, sleep on it and play around with different combinations of colours, or designs.

Finally, whenever a new illustration is created, I show them to my children. If they can guess the answer immediately, I know we’ve got it right. If they struggle, we go back to the studio and do it all over again

ST: When you create a new Chineasy illustration do you take into consideration not only symbolic representations in Chinese characters, but also tonal sounds?

SH: Chineasy was started as a tool to teach my children how to read Chinese, not to speak, and so the illustrations are meant to act as a memory tool in literature not for sound. I am plotting a new method to teach people how to speak, which will be my primary project next Watch this space, soon I will be able to teach you to speak as well as write.

ST: What are some other hobbies or interests you like?

SH: Unsurprisingly, for someone who has done so many different things, I have a lot of hobbies! I like to keep busy and I believe that health is incredibly important! I spend a lot of time doing sports: skiing, swimming, weights, rock climbing. I love music and performing arts. This summer I did some painting class with my children. I would also love to teach them how to do calligraphy one day, just like the way my mother taught me. Everything. I am also very interested in Eastern medicine and spent some times studying acupuncture (that’s when you use needles to cure ailments, you can end up looking like a pin cushion). I am also a very big traveller and believe that you should experience the world through your own eyes if you can – not through foreign press

ST: How can we start using Chineasy?

SH: Its easy to become a Chineasy user. At the moment I update a Chineasy facebook page daily and already have a thriving community who seem to pick up every character I teach – it is very heartening!  I also have a website (chineasy.org) which anyone can access free of charge, as well as my newsletter which goes out to the community once a week! Now that our Kickstarter campaign has been successful I am also happy to announce that I will be having a beautiful, and educational, book published in Janurary 2014. This book will be available in both e and print formats. We are also going to produce loads of learning tools, such as flashcards and computer screensavers!

Chineasy is a gateway into the language, it is meant to help people who wish to learn, but who have always been thrown by the languages complexity. My children have learned at least 300 characters using this method and that is without vigorous lessons.

ST: I’m ready to start learning Chinese with Chineasy! Thanks ShaoLan! http://www.chineasy.org

 

Scribble Town (ST): Watch the above video and you’ll see why with an introduction like that we all think that Jerry Belich is a talented artist with a great sense of humor! Jerry, where are you and what are you up to these days?

Jerry Belich (JB): Spatially, I live and work in Northeast Minneapolis. I’m native to MN, but have been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit, including five weeks in London this past winter where the Choosatron was a big hit. I’m the senior mobile developer at Clockwork Active Media, I’m finishing up a movie swede of David Lynch’s Dune, and have been doing a few improv shows in the theatre community! I keep myself busy.

ST: Wow! On top of it all, I’m sure very busy trying to raise funds for Choosatron: Interactive Fiction Arcade Machine.  I first stumbled upon

Choosatron on Kickstarter and your idea sounds great.  Please let us know what the Choosatron is and what you are raising funds for.  We’d like to help you!

JB: Put simply, the Choosatron is small device that prints and plays Choose Your Own Adventure inspired stories. I was trying to think of something I wanted to build, and I thought back to the interactive books I read as a child, along with trips to the arcade. Since I built the first Choosatron, the excitement from both adults and kids has been incredibly motivating. I realized how fun it would be to use, not just as a toy, but a creative platform. It’s a lot of fun to play, but I’m excited to raise the funding for building the writing platform to go along with the device itself. In the broadest sense, I want to raise funding to build a bridge between the technological and creative, with storytelling at the center.

ST: When did you start creating interactive toys/games/play/amazing machines?!  The thing is that you do so much! You are playful renaissance man. Was there somebody that encouraged you?

JB: I started creating my own interactive stories as a kid. I’d gather friends around, make up a beginning to a story, and give them each a turn to describe what they wanted their character to do in the world. It was my earliest form of roleplaying, though I never participated as a player, only as the game master. From there, making interactive stories and adventures on grid paper, to writing games in basic on an ancient computer. Game design and storytelling have always been lingering in my mind. More recently, it was a client working on the creative for a big installation project in Las Vegas that mailed me an Arduino after I mentioned my interest on a call. I’ve developed software for over a decade, but hadn’t done much tinkering with electronics. I’ve always worked to create more than I’ve been willing to advertise it, so many of my projects get completed, and then a spot on the shelf. It’s due to the encouragement of others that I’ve been more forthcoming. Not out of shyness, but honestly not expecting anyone to find any of it interesting.

ST: What inspired you to make Choosatron? How did the idea develop- conceptually and design wise?  What made you choose text as the source of communication rather than images?

JB: Arcade machine and interactive stories. Specifically choice based, where narrative still has a stronghold over each step in the story. Sandbox games are endless fun, but for very different reasons, and I prefer to get lost in the story. Text is what I’m used to working with. I can’t draw to save my life, so there wasn’t much of a choice. That being the case, I did work on an interactive story using only pictures for the Little Printer by BERG at their second hack day in London. It was called “Ways to Die”. Once a day you’d get an image, starting with you washing up on the shore of an island. It would print a few QR codes, and the one to scanned first would determine the path for the next day. It might take a week, or even two, but one way or another you’d meet a terrible end on the island. I thought it was hilarious.

ST: When you develop software what is your creative process like?  Would you call yourself a software developer?  Your talents run all over the place!  What are some other hobbies or interests you like?

JB: I tend to design as much in my head as possible, and then create the skeleton for the software I’m going to write. It’s all generally quite practical in that sense. What language, what platform, what are the constraints…you have to be pretty organized and have a process in order to work on a lot of projects at once. I’m already scatterbrained enough as it is. Software, and now hardware, is my career. I spend the rest of my time writing stories, putting together or taking part in improv shows, playing the theremin, and making videos or animation. I love hobbies and variety, so will just pick something up for a while and see if it comes in handy, like knitting or building puppets.

ST: Where do you find yourself feeling really inspired to create?  In other words, is there a time of day that better suits these bubbles of creativity?

JB: I’m an extrovert, so being around people gives me energy. I also find the white noise of public places soothing, and have an easier time getting tasks done. I’ve carefully crafted my spaces at home to reduce how easy it is to get distract or too ‘comfortable’, but ultimately I can only get so much done at home. It used to be late at night was my most productive time, but I discovered that it was just being uninterrupted that helped. Actually, even just KNOWING I won’t get disturbed gets me into the right frame of mind quickly. The other element that helps is having access to the minds of whoever I know can help me with a creative problem since I work things out best by trying to explain them to someone. I really have these terribly opposed needs to get through my creative cycle which gets maddening sometimes.

ST: What is your process for getting your work out of your head? Do you sketch with pencil, paint, computer graphics, talk with certain friends for some good dialogue etc. ?

JB: Ah, well just was I was saying above! It’s talking and dialogue. I feel a strange disconnect between what I see in my head and what I’m able to jot down. I hate it because it makes capturing certain ideas much more difficult. I use a combination of a notepad that is always in my back pocket, a small pressurized pen in my front (I hate pens that stop working the moment you need them), and talking everything out with friends and professionals.

ST: What is your studio environment like? This is where the magic happens!

JB: Organized, at least usually. I get very anxious when I’m in big time crunches that don’t allow me to keep my work (and sometimes not work) spaces clear. I like large tables where I can spread out, and see everything at once, which is helpful for my absent mindedness. There are usually post-it notes with various types of todo lists, and a specific balance of comfort and utility. I want to want to be in my work space, but not want to take a nap.

ST: Since I haven’t yet played with the Choosatron, the idea led me to Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies game.  Your game brings the player to the next level of the story all and Oblique Strategies helps the player break creative blocks by moving progressively forward, like a story does.  What games do you like to play?  Also, any game theorists you often looks towards for inspiration?

JB: Oblique Strategies is an interesting example. They created something for themselves in order to inspire themselves. In that fashion, the Choosatron is similar. I’ve created a tool that gives me a framework to write and design in a completely fresh way. The content of the cards themselves don’t do much for me though. I’m particularly fond of cooperative games, especially when players are not forced to cooperate with each other, or when one of you isn’t who they seem. I’m fascinated by the influences that cause people to band together and turn on each other. I love Betrayal at the House on the Hill and Red November quite a bit. Munchkin is a fantastic game. My new favorite is Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards. I don’t know that I have specific game theorists that I look to, but I love exploring well known theories such as the Prisoner’s Dilemma within different mediums, and seeing how storytelling can affect the perception of the players. I’ll stop there as I could probably go on endlessly if you let me!

ST: Yes! You’ve given us, Scribblers, all whole lot to think about and plenty of inspiration to get started on making our own inventions, stories, and games.

JB: I think the scariest moments in life, especially creatively, are taking the first step to starting something new. You don’t know if you’re doing it right, or well (and in fact probably aren’t), but you have to push through that in order to find the really great work you are capable of. You need to make the mistakes, gain the confidence, and practice. Trust yourself, and you’ll be rewarded for it!

ST: Thanks Jerry! That’s perfect advice! Just make your idea come true and let’s see where that shall take us. For more information on Jerry Belich and his artwork, please visit his Choosatron website and Monkey with a Mustache Entertainment.

Scribble Town (ST): The perfect combination of image and words made by Susa Talan brings the meaning of the highlighted quotes to new visions. Susa’s artwork speak to me. The voice of the author from the quote she bases her artwork on is heard. And I think I’m not the only one! She is often on the move so I wonder, where are you, Susa, and what are you up to these days?

Susa Talan (Susa): At the moment, I’m spending time on a beautiful lake in Southern Maine. My partner and I moved out of our tiny home in rural Massachusetts in May and have spent the spring and summer traveling and visiting with friends and family before deciding where to make our next home. We have lived and traveled in many places over the last 6 years–both in the US and abroad (England, China, Burma, New Zealand, Australia). We like to travel. I actually find it inspiring to draw when we are on the move. That said, I am in the middle of a 365 day illustration project, so I am drawing every day and also starting a small stationery line. It’s definitely more challenging to do all this on the move! So as September looms, we’re both feeling ready to make a home again.

ST: The movement of travel and seeing everything new and unexpectedly is very exciting! Drawing on the road is a great way to capture it all. When did you start illustrating? Was there somebody that encouraged you? If there is a story of your path to finding this medium that fits you so well, please share.

Susa: One of my strongest early memories of illustration is from middle school. I did a project on Walt Disney, the artist, and I made a poster full of Disney characters that I hand-drew myself. I really appreciated how precise and detailed those drawings were and I learned from his example. I loved that poster and kept it on the wall of my bedroom. I still have a vivid memory of what it looked like!

My earliest experiences with art, however, come from my time in elementary school. I attended The Common School, in Amherst, Massachusetts which is deeply rooted in creative learning through art, theatre, music, the outdoors. For nine years I was given the choice to draw as a morning activity, surrounded by art materials and free time to explore them. Because of this, my relationship to learning and to making things–anything, really–is naturally integrated with my impulse to make art. I also have a creative older sister who is a musician and an artist. So both at school and at home there were really immediate artistic influences.

For many reasons I moved away from art and poetry in high school and it wasn’t until my senior year in college, that I ended up in a poetry class, by some small miracle, and it really changed the course of my life. I dropped my senior thesis in psychology and I started writing poems again. It wasn’t long before I was painting and immersing myself in art. Over the next 7 years, I went to museums and galleries and poetry readings. I read artist biographies and explored painting. I reconnected with my love of both writing and art–and even began, for the first time, to combine them by putting text and language into my paintings. This has always been a very deep wish. To bring text and words into my art. Among many, one person who influenced me during this time is Janeen Koconis, the artist behind the very successful cards, KOCONY. I loved her work. I still love her work. I never met her, but I bought her cards over and over again. She was the first person who I saw putting text together with art in such a way that really moved and inspired me.

Though I desperately wanted to go to art school, I was afraid that I couldn’t make a career of art. I was convinced that it was impractical and so I made a very practical decision to become a teacher and go to graduate school in education. I loved children and teaching came naturally to me, so there were many good reasons to have made this choice. And this became my focus for many years—nearly 15 in all. I worked in schools as a teacher and then a tutor and later I consulted with teachers and parents. I still care deeply about the development of children and their experience of learning.  And even today, I run occasional parenting workshops for parents.

Over all these years, my deep love of art and poetry stayed alive in lots of ways. I made cards for friends. I made small paintings. I wrote in a journal and I wrote poems. I eventually even went to art school for one year, in my early thirties. Unfortunately, it was a year of artistic struggle that felt a lot like artistic failure. I didn’t know how to make the kind of art I truly wanted to make. I didn’t know how to trust my artistic voice. At the end of the year, I left feeling very discouraged. I abandoned art-making altogether.

In 2006, a family crisis put everything in perspective and I left my home and life in Boston to join a Buddhist meditation center. For the next 3 years, I didn’t make any art and immersed myself in meditation and contemplative practice. Eventually, I left the center and life took me back to teaching and education and travel.

One day, without plan or preamble, I picked up a single micron pen and an old sketchbook. I started drawing. I drew and drew and drew. So many wonderful things began to happen! I drew butterflies and trees. I drew people and buildings and birds and dogs and patterns. This went on for a year and then another year. Eventually, words starting coming, too. Words of my own and quotes from people I admired and read. Poets, writers, scientists, biologists, artists. Anyone who had inspired me. Eventually, one thing led to another. Two different singer-songwriter friends asked me to illustrate their album covers. I bought the Adobe Creative Suite and learned Photoshop and Illustrator. In December, 2012, on my 39th birthday, I committed to giving myself a year of daily gratitude, a year of making illustrations every day, a year of creative discipline.

And the rest, as they say, is history. I am finally living the dream of making art full-time. I’m selling my cards in stores around the US, as well as working on a 2014 calendar and a 365 Days of Gratitude book.

ST: I love the way you told your story! Your earnestness for art making is very much felt in the vibrant way you use words. And now we have a calendar full of your artwork to look forward to!

When you illustrate what is your creative process like? Does your image come after your quote or vice versa? How do you come across these amazing and meaningful quotes?

Susa: My creative process is pretty much the same each time I work, with some variation depending on the project. Most often, I start with a quote or words. Choosing them, selecting them, is it’s own process. There are so many writers whose words have kept me company over the years that finding authors is not the challenge. The hard part is finding quotes that pass something like a sparkle test. Which basically means it moves me, pretty instantly, in some deep way. Like a little whir or spark. A hit of recognition. Because there are a million wonderful quotes out there, but not all of them produce that sparkle in me—something that feels universally meaningful. It’s hard to explain. But I know right away when I come across a quote if it will work.

Once I have some quotes, I look for one that produces a similarly quick visual idea. Since I’m working with a daily deadline for the gratitude project, I don’t have much time to re-work an idea. If a quote with sparkle gives me an image, I run with it and start drawing. If it doesn’t produce an image right away, I put it on hold and keep looking.

ST: Time and silence are sometimes the best way for ideas to rise to the top. Please tell us a bit about your 365 Days of Gratitude project. What day are you on?

Susa: The 365 Days of Gratitude project was conceived as both an exercise and a gift. On the creative side, I was looking for a long-term project that would get me working everyday under a deadline. Last fall, I discovered the work of artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon who was only a few months away from finishing a 365 Days of Hand-Lettering project. I was so inspired by her work and her commitment to this year-long project. I knew I wanted to do something similar. On a personal level, I wanted to offer myself a year of gratitude for my 40th birthday year. That seemed like a meaningful way to enter my fourth decade of life. So I started the project the day after my 39th birthday. It will finish at the end of December 2013.

Some days I have to remind myself of what I’m grateful for. That sounds kind of funny given that I’m engaged in a daily gratitude project. But it really feels like part of the path of being human. Don’t we all need reminders to be kind, to feel something directly and not just think about it? So that’s a big part of this project for me, personally. I try and remind myself throughout each day what I’m grateful for. And then creatively, it’s just been amazing to evolve artistically this year and be working so much each day. Today is Day 218!

ST: It must be nice to wake up and be totally aware of which day it is and how it places in context to the yearly calendar. Sometimes I don’t even know what day it is!

What is your process for getting your work out of your head–do you sketch with pencil, paint, computer graphics, etc?

Susa: I don’t sketch or plan out my drawings much beforehand. Once an initial idea comes into my mind, I run with it and the drawing evolves while I work. Most of my drawings come out in one take. I don’t tend to re-work or redo a drawing.

Once the image is done, I’ll scan it into the computer. If any minor edits are needed, that happens in Photoshop. Once the lines of the image are set, I’ll bring it into Illustrator and colorize. In terms of my tools, I work with about 5 different sizes of black micron pens.

ST: When you are creating these days what kind of music are you listening to? What is your studio environment like?

Susa: I don’t tend to listen to music when I draw. I enjoy silence and find it pretty necessary for the kind of concentration I use during the drawing phase. It doesn’t need to be pin-drop silent. I just like a quiet space, and the natural sounds of life happening around me. Once I enter the computer phase, I do listen to music and often to podcasts. My current favorite is “On Being” with Krista Tippett. Even though I don’t often listen to music while I’m working, music is a big part of my creative life. I play guitar and it provides a really different, but complimentary, creative outlet. So lots of inspiration there. Recently, I’ve been going back to Paul Simon. I came across his album “Graceland” and forgot how much I love it. He’s such an innovator.

ST: Many childhood family road trips were spent belting out Paul Simon. I should bring him out again too! Out of all of the quotes and sayings you have depicted, which one holds a very close spot to heart at the moment? For me, Thich Nhat Hanh’s quote for Day 199 really spoke to me and your picture made it all the more clear, tangible and understandable.

Susa: Each gratitude page holds a different connection and relationship for me. And yet, over the year, different pages do, inevitably, feel more or less impactful. Right now, Day 207, the Ernest Hemingway quote, “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them” has been a strong one for me. I was really pleased with how the illustration came out and felt it embodied what I had hoped to with the quote—which is so potent, so true, in my experience. The practice that the quote implies, moving towards trust when you feel untrusting, is a deep one.

ST: Susa, you have touched us and opened our eyes to many great people who value life and being. Thank you for that! To see more great artwork by Susa, please visit her website, http://susatalan.com/.

Special treat today is ‘Drawing with Susa Talan’ on the Scribble Shop! To do the art activity with Susa, you can click here. Let’s enjoy the moment, but I have to say that I’m getting giddy for the Susa’s 2014 calendar and 365 Days of Gratitude book. Check back for more details!

Scribble Town (ST): Just like this picture of an alien astronomer, Marianne Murphy is an artist who is a seeker of all sorts and finds a way to communicate with you…even with creatures from outer space.  Creative to the bone, Marianne let’s us know what she’s done and where she wants to go.  3 2 1 blast off!

Marianne Murphy (MM): My name is Marianne Murphy, I’m 21 years old, I was born in Maryland and attend the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where I’m studying animation. I also have a lot of experience with filmmaking, puppetry, and graphic design. I hope to work in children’s media when I graduate and to someday design and write children’s books, television shows, and games to promote education, literacy, creativity, and self esteem.

ST: You are off to an amazing start!  Your goals and your vision are so clear.  I’m excited to see what paths will unfold before you, but for now where are you and what are you up to these days?  That is, besides you making these great folded paper animations such as your “Penguin Journey” 2013.

MM: I’m currently in Philadelphia, sequestering myself in my apartment to finish a film I’m working on for a puppetry festival in my hometown, Bethesda MD (Puppets Take Strathmore). It’s about the ideas of nostalgia and memory, and it combines a lot of cool puppetry and digital animation techniques. I’m also working on putting together some curriculums for Creative Writing and Cartooning camps for children ages 8-12, and will be leading them as a counselor in early August, which should be really fun. I love inspiring children to be creative and I can’t wait to see what they come up with during those weeks!

ST: Puppets Take Strathmore looks like such a fun event!  I can’t wait to see your film.  When did this creative bug start buzzing around in your body?

MM: I’ve been drawing for my entire life and my parents and teachers have always encouraged me. I started making films when I was in elementary school with my mom’s video camera, and I taught myself how to use editing software. At that point I was just making short videos with my friends, but in middle school I started making puppet films and having my puppets lip sync to popular songs. This interest in puppetry went on all the way up to high school, and I briefly attended the University of Connecticut to study puppetry. I realized there, however, that my interests had expanded to include illustration, writing, drawing and graphic design and I transferred to my current school to combine all of these interests into a new major: animation!

ST: New interests always come about in interested people and I think you definitely fit the bill .  I wonder, where do you find yourself feeling inspired to create?

MM: I’m very inspired to create by children’s books and television. I love seeing how shows and books are creatively using new technologies and art forms to inspire children. I also notice a lot of shows these days are focusing less on education/creativity and more on marketing products, and these kinds of shows inspire me to create art that can help children learn real, important lessons about life. Artists who believe in teaching children these lessons, such as Jim Henson, Fred Rogers, Judy Blume, and Lemony Snicket, are very inspiring for me.

ST: You mention artists from a range of mediums and genres.  I take it that you are a fan of everything art.  What other forms of art do you practice and what are your favorite tools you use to create?

MM: I practice a lot of filmmaking, editing, puppetry, and figure drawing. I also play piano and drums and love to create soundtracks for film projects. I love working digitally with a Wacom tablet and pen, and I love working in my sketchbook with mechanical pencils.

ST: Get ready for a hard question- who is your favorite artist?  Sometimes this gravitation towards a piece of art comes out of nowhere, but why do you think you connect with their artwork?

MM: My favorite artist is children’s book illustrator Lane Smith. He worked on books such as “The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales” and “Math Curse” with Jon Scieszka, which were my favorites growing up, and he most recently wrote and illustrated “Abe Lincoln’s Dream”. I love his drawing style and his use of collage and different mediums to create wonderful, haunting works of art. Each of his books feel like an awesome, magical world to me. I also love the work of children’s book illustrator Jon Klassen (This Is Not My Hat) and children’s book writers Mac Barnett (Chloe and the Lion) and Joanna Cole (Magic School Bus) for their extremely innovative designs and ideas.

ST: From an artist who has already explored and created so much and is on a mission to encourage young artists, do you have any tips, advice, or ways of encouraging our scribblers?

MM: In my experience, all children are creative, and drawing is an amazing activity. I recently taught a camp with 6-8 year olds, and whenever a child had a problem or a troubling anxiety, I asked them to draw their feelings or what they wish would happen. The creativity helped them express themselves and deal with their emotions! Also, I’ve noticed that children are really interested in a lot of popular television shows and characters and love to talk about them. The excitement for these shows can easily be transferred into creativity. Inviting children to create their own stories, comics, drawings, props, costumes, or games about their interests is always a good idea!

ST: Marianne has shared a great Quick Scribble Activity with us on the Scribble Shop.  Try it out for yourself! http://www.scribbleshop.com/content/quick-scribbling-marianne-murphy  Thanks Marianne for sharing so much with us!

We will say, “see you later!” with Marianne’s winning Best Sophomore Object Animation at UARTS 2013 titled “Numbers”.

Scribble Town (ST): Stories come alive in your imagination when you look at the paintings of Xavi Carbonell, an artist from Spain.  Let’s meet Xavi and learn how he creates these beautiful story builders!

Xavi Carbonell (XC): Hi my name is Xavi Carbonell, I am 42 years old, live in Alcoi, Spain with my wife and two daughters.  I am a full time artist. have exhibited in various countries in Europe, Africa and the United States and my work is in many international collections.   I am often described as an Abstract Expressionist, and infantile painter.  Infantile is a genre not well known in the US, but it means my work reminds the viewer of a child’s work, but remember making something look simple is usually the most complicated task!

ST: Where are you and what are you up to these days?

XC: I am currently in New York City, painting and preparing for an art fair with my gallerist later this summer.

ST: That’s exciting!  Your days are spent with filling canvases with color.  Sounds like a wonderful summer, but I’m sure it’s quite a lot of work too.  When did you start painting?

XC: I started painting when I was 20 and was inspired after seeing works by the Spanish Artist, Antonio Saura in a museum exhibition.  At that moment I realized I wanted to paint and create my own path.

ST: It’s pretty remarkable how those unforeseen moments in life realize the paths we take.  Similar to you stumbling upon Antonio Saura, is there a way that you run into inspiration?  Where do you find your spirit to create?

XC: I am most inspired to create in NYC, the city has such a powerful energy.  The process of creativity is difficult to describe, but I find it’s often a result of new experiences, travel, meeting new people, but at the same time when I am in front of a blank canvas it just guides me.

ST: Since your paintings are so narrative for me- I start to hear a soundtrack that goes along with the picture.  Do you ever listen to music when you paint?

XC: There was a period when I exclusively listened to classical music, then it was Jazz, and lately I don’t listen to much music while painting.

ST: Your paintings are so vibrant and strong from your choice of shapes and colors that I make up my own story when I see them.  My imagination just takes off!  Is there a story you are building in your head as you paint?  Is that why you title your pieces Untitled- as to keep the mystery and openness available for all viewers?

XC: Yes, there’s a story in my head and that’s exactly why all my pieces are untitled.  If I use a title, the viewer is pre-conditioned to see something.  I prefer the viewer to create their own story, as I think that’s more fun and I want each person to see what they want to see in my work.

ST: It’d be interesting if you had a book next to your paintings and you could have the viewer write down the story that comes to mind when they see your paintings.  You’ll get loads of different responses!  That leads me to other mediums- what are some other forms of art you practice? Do you ever mix other mediums with your oil pastels?

XC: I have worked in the performance genre, and I love to cook which is a creative outlet.  My concept of mixed media is based on oils but I also include, magic markers, chalk, colored pencils, oil sticks and charcoal.

ST: Painter Joel Garten mentioned to me that you had once said your work is influenced by childrens art.  I am interested to know more about his comment.

XC: I am very inspired by the imagination of children and how they execute the concept on paper.  I am always fascinated by how you can have a conversation with a child on paper with out actually using words.  The innocence of children is the most exciting as adults unfortunately rarely preserve that quality.  It’s something most of us sadly just lose along the way.

Kids, never lose your innocence.  Adults, if you feel like you have lost it, try hard to find it in yourself as it’s the best part of each of us.

ST: With that said let’s try Xavi’s drawing exercise.

XC: One exercise is to draw with your eyes closed.  For instance draw a landscape from memory, but remember to keep your eyes closed!  You’ll be amazed with what you can create.

ST: Scribblers, send in your drawings to and we can post them on the Scribble Blog.  Thanks Xavi for sharing so much with us!  To see more of Xavi’s work you can go to http://www.artangler.com/Carbonell.html.