Hi and welcome back to another week on the Chrissie Murphy Designs Blog. Well, this week’s post is a little different to what I normally do. Have you ever had one of those days where you wake up and your creative appetite is off the charts? You want to talk art, you want to watch others create, you want to learn, you want to surround yourself with creativity big time. Well, I’ve just had one of those days, so I thought I’d do a bit of a travel blog and fill you in on My Most Excellent Arty Adventure.
It began with a podcast… it always does…
I have a confession to make. I am addicted to podcasts. When I’m drawing or driving, I’m listening to them. Today, My Most Excellent Arty Adventure began in Tully, and I headed to Cairns, (about 2 hours north) with plenty of time to chew through some podcasts.
I thought I’d listen to Tanglepod. Tanglepod features Kellie and Juliette, two Certified Zentangle Teachers who love to share about zentangling and creativity. Today’s episode was really interesting as they talked about experiencing what they call, a “burden” of creativity – when there are too many directions to go, or too many ideas and you just don’t have time to explore all of them. I can relate!! They worked through ways to handle this, and I really loved some of their thoughts for managing an overload of creative ideas. By the time I got to Cairns, I was pumped and ready to absorb!
Next I met with Yvonne Rein, CZT,
First up on My Most Excellent Arty Adventure was visiting Yvonne Rein, a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) based in Cairns (pictured above). This was my first time meeting Yvonne, but thanks to our common love for zentangling, it felt like I’d known her for years.
Yvonne has a studio at her home where she holds classes, and two of her friends, Jennifer and Margaret (pictured above), were joining us today to do some tangling. Yvonne shared so much with me about her journey as an artist, and how she become certified as a Zentangle teacher. She showed me some of her work and below is a video flip through of some of it.
Yvonne also tangles on boxes and has made coasters from some of her work. There is such a fine and precise, yet beautiful flow to her work that speaks to me of such care and attention to detail. Precision, control and beauty flows through her work and it was such a joy to be immersed in her world for a while.
Yvonne also sells Zentangle supplies
Yes!!! Hallelujah!!! Her little shop (pictured below) just oozed ambience! Part of how I came to know Yvonne was through wanting to purchase official Zentangle gear. I wanted to buy the Zentangle Reticula and Fragments book, but the shipping to buy it direct from the US was astronomical!
Zentangle recommended I search for a CZT near me as some of the CZT’s sell Zentangle products… I did, and I found Yvonne… the rest, as they say, is history! I picked up my my book fromYvonne today, as well as some other supplies I’m excited to get using. So if you’re after Zentangle supplies and you’re in Australia, get in touch with Yvonne through her Facebook page, Yintangles.
Rick and Maria, you amaze me!
The other blessing of today was seeing some incredible work by Rick and Maria, the founders of Zentangle. Yvonne shared some of the pieces she has collected over the years (pictured above and below). Their work is outstanding and it encouraged me so much. I came away feeling such a strong conviction to keep going, to keep exploring and to never stop creating or reaching out with my craft.
My time at Yvonne’s was fantastic. I feel so blessed to have a CZT so near, and to have found a friend who truly understands the joy of zentangling like I do! Thank you Yvonne for your time today xx
Next stop was Oxslades
Oh Oxslades…. I love Oxslades! I was on a mission today to find some new pens I’d heard about. Derwent have released a range of pens that react with water. There’s a limited range and I really wanted to see if I could pick up a couple. Oxslades didn’t have any in stock this time round, so I spent my time there drooling my way around the store! (pictured below)
Next up, Scraptherapy!
I finished up in Cairns, plugged in the phone and listened my way through another podcast as I made my way south, to Babinda. I have a bit of a crush on Babinda at the moment. There’s this really organic move of art and craft happening in the town and it’s such a nice vibe to be amongst.
I first shared about Scraptherapy (picturedabove) a couple of months ago. It’s a craft shop that sells lots of papercrafting supplies, and they’re in the midst of changing. Just like a few months ago, they’ve got a huge range of stock that’s discounted, so today I swung by to pick up some ink sprays and a few journal cards.
Leanne is one of the friendliest crafters I’ve ever come across and she takes the time to run through what’s on sale with you. Scraptherapy is a big store, big for a little town anyway, and every time I visit, I’m filled with new ideas or things I’d like to try. Today was no different, so stay tuned for some colour work with ink sprays!
Last stop in My Most Excellent Arty Adventure was The Makery
The last stop in My Most Excellent Arty Adventure was The Makery. I’d visited The Makery a couple of months ago and fell in love with the vibrancy of Melanie’s work (pictured below). I never had the opportunity to meet her then, but today I did.
I spent some time talking with Melanie about her work, about art and craft in Babinda and just meandering through her gallery. There’s a video below that shows some of her work and I’ve tried (as best as my camera allowed) to capture the some of the brilliance and vibrancy in her work. Melanie’s colour palette is so similar to my own, so I felt like I’d met my sister from another mister!
But all good things must come to an end…
Yep, all good things must come to an end, for now…. but never forever. I finished up with Melanie and headed back to Tully full of inspiration. I’m so grateful to the Lord for the infilling He provided today through others. Early in the Bible, in Genesis, the Lord tells Adam that it’s not good for man to be alone. So He provides Adam with Eve.
As creatives, it’s not good for us to be alone either. We are made for community. When you find “your people”, you know it. You feel like you’re with family. You’re with people who see the world like you do, who are motivated like you are, and who understand you. It’s such a special thing to be in community with “your people” and I’m so thankful to God for today, for His provision and many blessings. He really does take care of my every need.
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Until next time, listen to your heart and sharpen your coloured pencils. A masterpiece awaits!
Bless you my friend
Chrissie x
