The Creative Process

  This is NOT my official block for the americanmadebrand.com Blog Tour that begins on May 19th.  If you don't know about the tour, be sure to click on the link and check it out!  It should be a fun way to see and hear more about this great nation of ours, and the creative people that occupy it:)
  This block is a part of my creative process for my Nebraska block, which will be a part of the blog tour and will be officially posted on June 12th.  Elements of this practice block will be included in my block, and other portions of the block will be changed.  Creativity is a wonderful thing...it allows ideas to change and evolve without the judgment of  "should" but with only the hope of "could"--how exciting!
  The creative process is such an amazing thing.  My son, of Billgrip Media, (look for his work on youtube) inspires me to push the limits of my creative abilities.  He is always coming up with new videos and crazy ideas that just end up working in his field of video production.  We have interesting conversations about how his mind works and what inspires him to create new ideas.  His work is always evolving and improving with each project that he makes.  He, like me, is constantly looking for ways to branch out and come up with something "different" in order to challenge and inspire himself and his viewers.
  My participation in the Blog Tour is just such an opportunity for me.  I am looking for opportunities to do things I have never done before in order to grow as an artist and as a person.  Last summer, I was published for the first time in a national magazine with a humorous little piece that I wrote for American Quilter magazine (July 2013 issue).  Being published was on my bucket list, and I was thrilled when it happened.  This summer, I will be one of the 50 bloggers chosen to make a block for the blog tour.  Each of us will design a block to represent our state.  Those blocks will be assembled into a quilt that will travel all over the country, I am sure, to market the new American grown and manufactured solid fabrics from AMB.  It is a great opportunity to stretch my creative thinking.  I have seen some of the ideas floating around, and have been a part of email conversations about the process as we all think about our designs. It has been so much fun, and I hope you join us for this creative tour beginning on May 19th.