For the Patterns challenge, I went back to photography and decided to photograph patterns in nature.

Were flowers an obvious choice? Whatever, I couldn’t help myself – it’s SPRING. I bought a bouquet at the grocery store and took closeups. Look at these beautiful patterns!!

And this one – it looks like a pattern of tiny yellow flowers within a flower!

Then I just started looking around for more patterns, and on what I call my “Happy Shelf” I saw a shell that I brought back from a Florida trip three years ago – a beautifully perfect spiral pattern.

As I’ve worked through these weekly challenges, I’m really starting to discover that while I do enjoy traditional art, photography really and truly is where my heart is. So…while I may continue to do other types of art on occasion (especially when Riley is with me!!) you will likely start to see more of them completed with photography. And maybe some more wire art because I really enjoyed that as well.

THIS WEEKS CHALLENGE IS ‘CANDID’

Yes I realize that sounds like it’s geared toward photography. No I didn’t choose it because I’m choosing to do more photos. I actually scheduled all of the weekly challenges on my calendar back in February. In any case, as always – you may interpret and execute the challenge any way and with any artistic medium you choose. Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create! Next week I will share a photo of what I created along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post On Davis Time – Creative Challenge Week of April 12 appeared first on On Davis Time.

Well I did it, I completed the ‘Hands’ challenge. I’ve been wanting to complete a challenge with Origami and I wasn’t sure if this was the right one or not, but I figured I can always try another one later. So….here is my paper hand saying “I love you” in ASL

I found the YouTube instructions HERE. My biggest struggle was that I used an origami square that was too small (6×6 inch) which made some of the folding difficult – but the instructions at that link were very good!

And once I got the “I love you” out of the way, I refolded the fingers for the people I don’t love LOL

Looks more like a cactus than a middle finger but….I know what it is haha.

THIS WEEKS CHALLENGE IS ‘PATTERNS’

As always use any creative medium you choose to complete the challenge. Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create! Next week I will share a photo of what I created along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post On Davis Time – Creative Challenge Week of April 5 appeared first on On Davis Time.

HOWEVER. I did make something that I want to share. Wire art!!

Over the years I have tried many different types of art and I love all of it, but sometimes I want to try something new that I have never done before.

Several weeks ago I was scouring the internet for ideas of new things to try, and stalking the blogs of other creatives when I ran across a post by A Crafty Mix called 7 Quick Tips for Making Your Own Wire Art.

I will not reiterate what she said in her post – she is awesome, if you like what I created you should really go check out the post and her blog!

Using her post and what she created as inspiration, this is what I created for my Riley.

The basketball player was created with 18 gauge wire, the hoop with 12 gauge wire, and the net with Activ-Wire Mesh all purchased from Amazon. The basketball is just printed on card stock, the same as the background (My Riley is a Warrior). The frame is just a standard wood frame – I removed the glass and back and drilled holes to insert and glue in the wire.

Here is a closer look.

If you like it, go show Michelle at A Crafty Mix some love

THIS WEEKS CHALLENGE IS (STILL) ‘HANDS’

As always, interpret the challenge as you see fit and create with whatever medium you choose – photography, paint, sculpture, dance, writing, cooking…explore something new! I’m trying to explore…can you tell?

Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create! Next week I will share a photo of what I created along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post Creative Challenge and Wire Art appeared first on On Davis Time.

I had fun with the ABSTRACT challenge – but I’m not gonna lie, every time I try to paint something it turns into a shit show.

I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I just started working. Then it didn’t look abstract, so I tried to make it abstract. Then it looked worse than when I started so I threw more paint on it. It’s starting to sound like my life HA!

I’m not mad at the end result, but I’m still not sure how “abstract” it is, and it’s a little weird how I got there. In any case, here is my butterfly.

Part of the reason it may not look very abstract is that I started with a stencil sticker that I got from Five Below. My original idea was that I could maybe use water paint markers to fill in the stencil and then drip water to blend the colors into an abstract shape that looked vaguely like a butterfly, but that ended up being a complete mess. So then I just started layering colors to see what would happen.

Here are the photos I took during the journey – it did go from looking like stained glass to what it is now, so there is that!

THIS WEEKS CHALLENGE IS ‘HANDS’

As always, interpret the challenge as you see fit and create with whatever medium you choose – photography, paint, sculpture, dance, writing, cooking…explore something new! I’m trying to explore…can you tell?

Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create! Next week I will share a photo of what I created along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post On Davis Time – Creative Challenge Week of March 22 appeared first on On Davis Time.

GREEN – how hard could a creative challenge of the color green be?? I googled the word ‘green’ and learned some interesting things about the history of the color green – how green pigments have been made over the years, how in the middle ages the color of a persons clothing indicated a person’s social rank and profession…yes, I intended to get a creative idea and ended up down an internet rabbit hole.

After all of that exhausting internet work, I decided to just do my green project with Maizie and a Saint Patrick Day theme. I mean, it’s a holiday week, and I love her and the weather was nice so we headed out for a walk with a headband and my iPhone.

She hates me to put things on her head, but loves me and tolerates it long enough for photos. Yes, I give her lots of treats!! Here is her “GREEN” headshot.

I have no idea what this is but I love her for it

And then…she heard something in the trees…

Riley and I weren’t able to get creative in person this week, but we still touched base virtually on the challenge. Riley completed hers with makeup – how gorgeous is this??

Here is her whole beautiful face <3

THIS WEEKS CHALLENGE IS ‘ABSTRACT’

The definition of ‘Abstract Art’ is art that does not attempt to represent external reality but seeks to achieve its effect using shapes, forms, colors, and textures. In photography, it may be creating an image that does not have an immediate association with the object world or conceptual photography. But…as always, interpret the prompt as you see fit, and use the medium of your choice to execute.

Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create! Next week I will share a photo of what I created along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post On Davis Time – Creative Challenge Week of March 15 appeared first on On Davis Time.

I must be going through a creative dry spell, because I struggled with last weeks challenge of ‘In the Middle’ even more than I did with the prior week challenge. I even resorted to googling the words which only resulted in information about Malcolm in the Middle haha.

Eventually, I decided to try to do a photo silhouette of a butterfly between two leaves. So I went outside and clipped part of a branch, and wired a dollar store butterfly to it. It’s not quite time for leaves on the trees yet, so I cut leaves out of paper and glued them to the branch for the silhouette. I went back outside and tried….and while I did not quite get the silhouette I was going for, I like how this turned out – especially for a dollar store butterfly and paper leaves!!

Even though I liked that image, it didn’t quite fit the challenge so I decided to regroup.

In Michigan we have what we call a “Fools Spring” or “Spring of Deception” and we are actually living that this week. It’s a glorious week of 50-degree weather that gets us all excited for spring, only to have snow and ice come crashing back down on us at least a few more times before we get our real spring.

Thinking of this “Fools Spring”, I placed the butterfly (my sign of spring, even though it’s fake LOL) on the remaining snow, and took a photo showing both the signs of winter and spring to show that we are ‘In the Middle’ of the two seasons.

I like my first butterfly photo better, but I’m glad I persevered and found a way to create something that better fits the challenge.

This Weeks Challenge is ‘Green’

Interpret as you see fit and as always, create with whatever medium you choose – photography, paint, sculpture, dance, writing, cooking…explore something new! I tend to fall back on photography a lot, but I’m making an effort to try new things too…

Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create! Next week I will share a photo of what I created along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post On Davis Time – Creative Challenge Week of March 8 appeared first on On Davis Time.

The “Once Upon a Time” Challenge turned out to be a tough one for me. I knew it was going to be – I didn’t have time for a major photo shoot or crazy extensive art project and there wasn’t anything literal I could easily turn to for a quick turnaround. I had zero ideas.

I googled a billion things but wasn’t feeling inspired. On Saturday I finally sat down and after looking at a book and some internet photos as inspiration drew a fairy on a piece of wood, and then wood burned and colored it with pencils.

The drawing was better before I did the wood-burning, but clearly I need to practice both skills. Still, it fits the challenge and I got in some time with something new. I really liked the wood-burning, I think I’m going to spend more time with that moving forward.

Riley came over for some art time on Sunday and sketched a Dragon for her challenge – she wins this round for sure, look!

Because I had already created my fairy by the time Riley arrived, I experimented with oil paint pens while she was sketching.

I will call this masterpiece “Once Upon a Time”, because Once Upon a Time I decided to learn how to use oil paint pens and couldn’t figure out how they work, spilled my coffee on my laptop while getting the cap off, got brownie crumbs mixed into my paint, then quickly scratched multiple colors onto a canvas because we were hungry and Riley told me to hurry because we needed to go into the house to make tacos. The end.

This week’s Challenge Prompt is ‘In the Middle’

Hmmmm….what does this one say to you? Stuck in the middle? A combination of colors? Between seasons? Middle child? Is it between left and right? Right and Wrong? Middle finger? Don’t put that one past me HA.

Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create! Next week I will share a photo of what I created along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post On Davis Time – Creative Challenge Week of Mar 1 appeared first on On Davis Time.

Last week turned out to be the perfect week for a “Frozen” challenge – with knee-deep snow in Michigan and freezing temperatures as far south as Texas, there was no lack of a literal interpretation. So literal is the route I went.

I have always wanted to try to do frozen bubbles, but because I’m not a fan of the cold I just never have. Everything I read indicated that the temperatures should be in the single digits or below 0 for the best results, and yeah…but in the interest of this challenge I persevered.

It was a bit windy so I struggled a bit. The bubbles would land on the snow, wiggle and pop before they would freeze. I had to try several times, but eventually when the wind calmed down a bit I FINALLY got some to stay and freeze. This is my favorite shot of the day – so worth my freezing hands

It’s so beautiful right? I’m definitely going to try this again.

Are you ready for the next challenge?

THIS WEEKS CHALLENGE PROMPT IS ‘ONCE UPON A TIME’

I can already tell you that I’m going to struggle with this one. But what is the point of a creativity challenge if it isn’t challenging? So here we go…is it a Fairy Tale? The beginning of your personal story? A clock? Some other interpretation? Can’t wait to see.

Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create! Next week I will share a photo of what I created along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post On Davis Time – Creative Challenge Week of Feb 22 appeared first on On Davis Time.

Last week I started the first of my weekly creative challenges, where I use a word or a phrase as a prompt for inspiration. I’m not going to lie, it was harder than I thought it was going to be.

Last week’s Challenge was LOVE. I had so many ideas, but they were all so cheesy, or I didn’t feel like I could execute them well. No worries, I will show you my failure too – you’re welcome!

While I didn’t end up with a masterpiece I did spend some thoughtful time taking pictures, and when my Riley came over for some creative time I went out of my comfort zone and used some paint markers on a canvas. So my “love” may have been in the process, not the end result.

Riley is the real MVP with her wood-burned masterpiece that she made for her love for Valentines day.

I kind of like my heart and crystals in front of the dollar store coaster photo that I took with my iPhone

I will chalk my “love” painting up to a learning experience LOL. (it was my first time with paint markers and apparently I need to break out the real paints and practice)

Are you ready to join us for the next challenge?

THIS WEEKS CHALLENGE PROMPT IS FROZEN

Create something this week that embodies the word FROZEN. Interpret and execute the challenge literally or figuratively – however the word frozen speaks to you. Work with any artistic medium you choose.

Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create! Next week I will share a photo of what I created along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post On Davis Time – Creative Challenge Week of Feb 15 appeared first on On Davis Time.

Beginning this week, I will be posting one creative challenge per week. The challenge will consist of a word or phrase to be used as a prompt.

Use the challenge prompts to inspire you each week. Photography is usually my medium of choice, but please interpret and execute these challenges in any creative way you choose – photography, paint, sculpture, dance, writing, cooking…explore something new!

This weeks Challenge prompt is LOVE.

What does LOVE mean to you? Hearts and flowers? Valentines day? Relationships? Your significant other? Your children? Your pets? Your hobbies? The color red? Something else?

Create something this week that expresses LOVE.

Please use #ODTCreativeChallenge when sharing your creations online – I would love to see what you create!

Next week I will share a photo of what I created, along with the next creative prompt. I hope you will join me!

The post On Davis Time – LOVE – Creative Challenge Week of Feb 8 appeared first on On Davis Time.