10 Ways to Become Inspired

Creative blocks can occur at any point in the process. Whether you are writing a thesis, painting, or have to perform, you may suffer from the ability to become inspired.

Inspiration is one of those elusive things- we know that inspiration leads to creativity; but what are things that spark that fresh and new idea?

Here are my ideas for:

10 Ways to Become Inspired

Go for a walk in the great outdoors. It doesn’t have to be a perfectly orchestrated event. If you live in a safe neighborhood, grab your keys and take a stroll outside.
Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com
Visit a friend. Go and check in on your friend who lives up the road. If you haven’t seen them in a while, bring a small token to renew the friendship.
Drive or ride your bicycle to a body of water nearby. If you are lucky enough to live near a lake or an ocean, take advantage of how fortunate you are! Go and see it!
Purchase a small item from an independent retailer. “Mom and Pop shops” and other small businesses need your support. Without them, the world would be full of stores like Target and Walmart. We need to support the originality of the dreamers who dare to do something different. Kind of like you, right?
Photo by Jopwell on Pexels.com
Make conversation with the cashier or salesperson the next time you buy something. Be friendly. You never know what you might learn from someone else!
Clean every reflective surface in your home. It sounds weird, but follow me on this one. Reflective surfaces will usually allow you to see yourself when you polish them. If you focus on cleaning and polishing all of the reflective surfaces in your home, what you are also doing is spending time looking at your own reflection. What better way to become inspired, than by practicing positive self-talk in a mirror? You go and you get it!
Empty the junk drawer in your house. You know the one I am talking about. Take the contents out to sort and organize. Something could pop out at you that is unexpectedly inspirational.
Review calendars from previous months. Highlight your accomplishments. Own those moments of achievement.
Clean out your Gmail inbox. Delete those email offers from Hello Fresh. Enough is enough already!
Read an article about an upcoming holiday or event. The more obscure the celebration, the better. Learning about the customs of other people will spark creative questions and make you want to understand more. The more you understand, the more inspired you will feel to try other new things.

Finding that spark isn’t easy, but once you have tried these 10 Ways to Become Inspired, you will have a fresh set of eyes and a rested mind feel your inspiration come through.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Stephanie

July 9, 2020July 9, 2020 by @Lillybochic

How to say hello during a pandemic.

Canadian Artist Stephanie Konu acts silly for the camera

Recorded April 2020 during the Covid Pandemic.

Thanks for stopping by,

May 1, 2020 by @Lillybochic

Ontario Arts Council Award

I am so happy to announce that I have been awarded an Ontario Arts Council Grant for my work at a recent exhibition!

ART GRANT Photo Report1

Albion Branch- Toronto Public Library System

I achieved a one month exhibition in a high traffic area of the Albion Public Library in Toronto. After liaising with the branch manager via telephone to confirm details of the exhibition, I attended and installed select pieces of artwork in a glass enclosure near the technology and meeting rooms of the library.

I set up signage within the display including my contact details which resulted in one member of the community reaching out to me on Instagram. This community member expressed their enjoyment of my artwork in the library and a desire to see similar things in the future. I was able to impact at least one community member with my colourful and inspirational artwork, which I am really proud of.

At the end of the exhibition I gifted a few pieces of my artwork to the library in gratitude for the experience. Furthermore, I formed relationships with community stakeholders who can further the promotion of the arts in the Rexdale community.

All of this has become possible with the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council. Their support has helped to create opportunities for artists to exhibit their work for the world to enjoy. I am so thankful for this award, and for the experience.

April 1, 2020March 28, 2020 by @Lillybochic

Blue and Gold Abstract Acrylic

Happy Black History month!

My latest acrylic on canvas abstract work has two parts. I used the same palate for both pieces: blues of varying shades, gold, and green lurking in the background.

I have been dedicating myself to larger sizes of canvas of late. I still prefer square dimensions, but I have realized that the size of my work translates better on large settings. Large sizes also allow for more experimentation.

I named these pieces “Summer’s Day” and “Summer’s Night” to further signify their companion status to each other. Each piece is 23 x 23 inches in size.

I think that on their own, each looks quite striking; metallic gold fields are eye catching when executed in this way. The above piece (Summer’s Night) features translucent fields that pop out of the turbulent background like ghosts. I paint fastidiously to create layers of colour over my canvas, and in my mind this creates a depth of experience. There are times that an entire scene is covered up, revealing only a fragment of what once showed prominently. Because I created what existed before and chose to cover it, I get to be the only person who knows what lies beneath. Another deep inner thought about the creative process, I suppose.

The above piece (Summer’s Day) was created earlier than Summer’s Night. My inspiration for this piece was the work of Joan Miro. I love how lighter fields dance over darker backgrounds that form part of earlier layers. Again, here I am able to hold the secret of what existed before and I love it. My weirdness is ever evolving when it comes to my artistic practice.

If I could paint all day…

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my corner of the world. Check back soon to visit my blog archives, and to see what I’ve been up to.

-S

February 20, 2020February 18, 2020 by @Lillybochic

Creating a portrait from a digital illustration

My latest painting is a portrait of my brother, sister in law, and their pet cat. I used an old photo of the lovely couple from New Years Eve a few years ago. The original photo shows my sister in law wearing a cardboard NYE hat, but I omitted this from the sketch so that the final result would appear more formal.

The first stage of my process…

The foundation of every good portrait begins with line work. I always sketch my work digitally, then transfer the basic outline to my canvas. Details that are important to defining traits of the subject (i.e. the small patch of white hair on Armani the cat’s chest) must be captured. With line work, it is important to remember that the essence of the form should be captured first, followed by finer details. The profile of the subject (the head shape, neck, and body) is important to be captured accurately. When doing line work, I always endeavour to avoid getting too caught up with facial details (dimples, beauty marks, and aging lines).

With line work, it is important to remember that the essence of the form should be captured first, followed by finer details. The profile of the subject (the head shape, neck, and body) is important to be captured accurately. When doing line work, I always endeavour to avoid getting too caught up with facial details (dimples, beauty marks, and aging lines).

The second stage of my process…

Once the outline is captured, colours are layered on the canvas. I always use a watered-down paint mixture to “wash” the early layers of each colour in. By using a wash technique, the colours are able to be “built” upon. “Building up” layers of colour allows for a much smoother end result. Notice the magenta colour of my sister-in-law’s shirt: I made a mistake here and did not water down the first few layers of the magenta colour. Because of this error, one can quite visibly see that there are uneven applications of colour. You can also see very distracting brush strokes…(I am so disappointed by that!).

I think that having brush strokes visible makes the piece look amateur-like. As I improve my technique, I really want to work on this. I think that I get overly excited when starting and finishing a piece; and I skip important steps. I seem to mainly have this problem with my portrait work though.

The third stage of my process…

This stage is where final details are completed. My heart and mind race during this stage. It is the part of the process where everything comes together, and if it fails to execute, the long hours of work put in may have been wasted.

My artistic style includes basic shading and highlights as my skill improves. I am working on making faces appear more life-like. The final painting is shown below in detail. My brother was impressed by the work, and I presented it to him for Christmas.

2019 has been a year filled with surprises. For the past several months I have consistently posted new blog entries on a weekly basis. My desire was to see where I could take my blog with consistent and measured attention. As I have grown as an entrepreneur, so have my goals. I am beginning to become involved in more diverse projects that require time and dedication- some of which I will need to borrow from the anieksteph blog. As a result, instead of weekly posts the anieksteph blog will become a monthly blog, and will focus on rewriting and curating existing content.

Our landing page will likely change to a static front page with information on how to contact me, and links to the current areas of the site. The blog posts will still remain- so do not worry about where to find your favourite posts.

Thank you for stopping by. If you are interested in reading more about my upcoming projects visit my Instagram page, or my new Facebook page at Art by Konu.

Happy New Year!

-S

December 30, 2019January 5, 2020 by @Lillybochic

Textured acrylic in abstract portrait style

Title: Rock Slide, 2019. Stephanie Konu

My latest work is so difficult to describe.

To me: it is an abstract scene of a green field sloping upward against a backdrop of a glacier. Sunrays are shining against the hilltop which is pictured in the heart of the piece.

There are raised areas that create texture where multiple colours intersect. This intersection is pictured above. I love how the yellow field has these “legs” that creep into other colours without merging and losing vibrancy.

I like seeing that in my work! It makes me feel confident that I can repeat my style of painting across various conditions. I imagine being invited to Portugal for a month to paint large works for a private collection. I would paint 7 hours a day and do 50 pieces. The client would hang my artwork in a castle near the Mediterranean Sea…

Ah dreams take us away, don’t they?

For the time being, I will share my artwork with you.

Rock slide abstract painting by Stephanie Konu blue, violet, grey, silver — Rock slide abstract painting by Stephanie Konu

It is an interesting piece. There are reflective fields where I used metallic paint, as well as iridescent violet embossing powder. I will take further photos of it as time goes by, (if it stays in my posession).

Thank you for stopping by to check out my work.

-S

November 25, 2019May 21, 2020 by @Lillybochic

Vaughn Ontario Culture days

Greetings!

I love autumn. It is my favorite season. Warm afternoons, cool mornings, and the perfect nights that require blankets with an open window are plentiful during this time of year.

Autumn is also a fairly busy time of year. Many of us are returning from summer vacations are are back to the daily grind. There are many art shows as well that pop up as the year comes to an end.

I had the pleasant opportunity to participate in an art exhibition early in September of 2019. The show took place at an historic estate that once belonged to JEH Macdonald of the Group of Seven. The event was in Thornhill, but was sponsored of The City of Vaughn.

Myself and 20 other artists exhibited our artwork during the weekend.

The show brought in approximately 100 people, and there were a few sales.

The highlight of the event was the opening reception. I was able to meet fellow artists who shared similar passions.

I’m very happy to have been invited to the show, and look forward to more autumn exhibitions like this one.

Thanks for stopping by,

September 30, 2019March 13, 2020 by @Lillybochic

Gold textured mask with a black background

A human face painted in gold with textured and raised sculpture relief on the canvas with a black painted background. — A relief mask with texture and gold acrylic paint

My latest work is a mask inspired by my ancestral Yoruba tribe from West Africa. I wanted to represent the model of an elongated and oval shaped face, as this is commonly seen on traditional masks from the region.

Here you can see an up close and angled perspective of the nose bridge of the mask. The area is raised slightly to show a break in the surface of the face.

The method of this painting further explores my current practice of singular images against a black negative space. For this blog post, I felt that it was beneficial to take photos of the side angles and above/below vantage points to fully emphasize the immense texture in this piece.

A side view reveals a crevice of texture that was created when I applied some very grainy pieces to the face surface. I did this to add drama to the piece, and to represent the tribal scars of warfare that this mask would traditionally represent.

The eyes are a deep vacant black with glowing gold specks that are raised and have texture. My initial response was that seemed “spooky” but I think it was necessary to have gold floating over top of a black area for the eyes; as it allows the eyes to have their own space and stand out.

If looking closely, you can see a faint outline of lips protruding from the surface. I tried my best but I often get impatient when I have a good idea that I am excited about. Adding lips to emphasize the African features was one of these ideas. The next time I attempt to make a mask like this, I would like to spend more time on smoother corners and more pronounced features.

Thank you for stopping by, and as always I enjoy reading your comments

-S

May 27, 2019 by @Lillybochic

Gold Trident with Black Background

My latest work is a gold trident with a textured surface. The piece is 11 x 14 inches and is entitled: Neptune’s Trident.

Gold trident shape symbol with black background — Neptune’s Trident by Stephanie Konu

I started off with a free hand sketch of a 3 pronged shape. Using a ruler to outline the sections, my aim was to ensure a shape that was as “un-lopsided” as possible. Without a symbol to trace, or a rough draft on graph paper it was tricky to conceptualize this shape.

Once the shape was sketched on the canvas, I furthered my experimentation with texture by shaping a thin outline along the edges of the trident. I used a technique similar to the one used for decorating cookies with royal icing. Stiff and dry texturizing compound along the border wall, to contain a more watery texturized mix that was flooded into the body of the shape. You can see that this approach has its drawbacks since the relief of the borders seems to be much higher than the inner body. The higher relief along the border contributes to an unevenness generally.

One of the the things I learned from creating this piece was the need for neatness and order! As you can see, each tip of the trident should be much more “pointed”, yet they are uniquely different. This is because of my sketch that was lacking a cleanly drawn plan for where to apply texture on the canvas.

The result leans farther towards the abstract than I would have hoped for. This current study of work is based on dream-like apparitions of images, and symbols coming out of the darkness like an echo. I think that “Neptune’s Trident” is a perfect example of what I am trying to achieve. I am excited to begin working on my next project in this series.

Thank you (as always) for stopping by.

-S

April 25, 2019May 21, 2020 by @Lillybochic

Blue and Silver Acrylic on Black

My latest 10 x 10 inch // 25 cm x 25 cm piece is an acrylic on canvas, with blue and silver blended over a black negative space. I have been having strong desires to paint with black negative space, (or white), and focusing on depicting experiences that float over darkness like an echo.

Deep stuff. What makes the concept special to me, is that I have been able to capture a sweet spot in my backyard garden that with the correct sunlight, my work dazzles!

blue and silver acrylic painting with deep black background — Stephanie Konu 2019

My latest piece depicts a somber breath. There is loneliness in the encroaching darkness, and so the heart of the blue ethereal field burns in a white silver light.

The silver heart center does, interestingly enough, seem to emerge as a lopsided heart. Or Maybe at least a lung.

This piece has an ultra calming vibe to it. I feel so relaxed when I lay my eyes on it. I am really happy with the deep black background, as I think it brings more focus to the heart of the painting.

Thanks for stopping by,

April 9, 2019May 21, 2020 by @Lillybochic