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...feed your soul with art & creativity!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Sensible Ways to Inspiration

One of the fastest ways to get reconnected with your inspiration is through the use of the five senses—see, hear, touch, taste, smell.  If you are stuck in your creative flow and cannot seem to move forward to start or complete a project, take 10 or 20 minutes out to really pay attention in an eyes-open moving meditation.
 5-senses
Look around you.  What do you see.  Allow your eyes to focus on an object.  Probably, if your eyes stopped there, it arrested your attention.  So really look at the object.  Look at the outline of its shape.  Look at the colors of it.  See if you can discern the variety of shapes that makes up a single object.  Really examine it.  Close your eyes and see if you can describe it in detail.  Then open your eyes and try to really see another object.

Now close your eyes and listen.  What do you hear?  Perhaps you hear the sounds of nature—wind in the trees, birds singing, or cats meowing.  Maybe you hear the sounds of mankind—an air conditioner or heater, the hum of lights, the motors of cars as they pass by your location.  Pay attention to the quality, quantity and levels of the sounds you hear.

Take a deep breath.  Smell the air around you.  Are you aware of any scents where you are?  Maybe you smell your own soap, lotion or perfume.  Maybe you smell the aromas from a previously cooked meal?  Maybe there are smells that are less pleasant. Whatever they are, consider allowing yourself to continue to smell the nuances of the scent.  Really pay attention to how you would describe it—whether visually or with language.  What language descriptors would help you describe what you experience?

Take your hand and allow it to touch your other arm.  Feel the temperature of your body, feel what the skin and hair of your arm feel like.  Pay attention to the pressure you feel on your fingertips.  How would you describe it?  Can you paint that feeling?

Eat or drink something.  Allow it to sit on your tongue.  If it is liquid, swich it around your mouth.  What temperature is it?  Is it sweet, sour, bitter?  If you had to ascribe a color to the taste, what color would you give it?  Can you visually describe the taste?
ObservedSensesImage
Our senses are powerful.  When we pay attention to each or all of the senses, it can expand our creative thinking.  If we attempt to use what we experience in a creative way, to describe it or expand upon it, we have a never ending source of creative inspiration.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Creative TV...Online

Having watched all the reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation that my mind could tolerate, and not being in the mood for the documentary of Queen Elizabeth available on Netflix, I decided that tonight I would explore some of the "TV" shows on My Craft Channel.

(c) Holly Charlesworth, My Sister's Suitcase and My Craft Studio


I watched Episode 10 with Holly Charlesworth on My Craft Studio hosted by Christina McKay as Holly transforms trays into chalk boards and upcycled a lamp into a cool retro vase.  It might be my computer but the sound and video did not sync so that part was a little distracting.  As far as crafts go, I could definitely see making different chalkboard colors for different applications and how that could brighten up a space or even serve for a shop display or for craft shows.

I considered watching the Mancrafters, but none of the available four episodes really was something I have an interest in (vinyl primarily), but the idea of men crafting was appealing so I had to take a peek to preview.

"Road Kill Rescues," episode 11 of Get a Little Creative caught my eye since I have a penchant for upcycling furniture and finding new ways to make old stuff useful, beautiful or interesting and keep items out of the landfill.  Becky Farrant shows how to take a simple drawer and make a shelving unit that can hold "vignettes"--she chose to put craft supplies in the display.  This was such a simple project that truly, anyone who can hold a spray paint can would be able to do it.  I thought the drawer was almost "too" simple with such a tiny amount of decoration but that probably has more to do with my own personal style of lavish embellishments.  It was cute and now I wish I had not gotten rid of several drawers I used to have just sitting around in the studio. Of course, I have so much of my own artwork already, it would be difficult to find a location for something like this...but I do have my father's rock collection which is currently boxed and on a closet shelf for lack of a sturdy display home...so perhaps, this would be an answer to that display.  Now to find a suitable drawer....

(c) Beckie Farrant and infarrantlycreative.net


Finally tonight I watched Spot On Design with Nicki Larson, on "Mark Your Territory."  Although Nicki Larson is a good speaker, she is not nearly as animated as Beckie Farrant and I have to admit, a tiny bit boring to listen to as she talked about her items.  Still, just in those five minutes I did pick up a good tool (Easy Tack spray from Krylon) and a couple of good tips for stenciling on fabric.



uccessful pre-bedtime creative TV time.  I'll randomly check out other episodes and shows.  Would love to hear what episodes you like.


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Creativity from Antiquity

I love to go to flea markets, thrift stores, auctions and antique shops.  Sometimes when I am in a "down" time from my creative flow, I make a trip to one or more of these types of shops to add a bit of a boost to my creative energy.  When I am in an antique shop, there are many times when I find myself completely mystified by the objects in front of me.  Their usefulness has either gone out of vogue or more often than not, completely become obsolete.  Who actually needs a shoe button hole hook after all in this day of laces and Velcro stays?  There are tools and farm implements, kitchen utensils and home improvement tools that once were considered the very best in new technology.  Now, they adorn walls of restaurants and people's homes as country style decor.  I sometimes wonder if these ancient tools led to the invention of newer tools....

Antique shoe hook (looks a little like a modern latch hook for
making latch hook rugs)


I like to imagine what life was like both before and after the implements were invented.  How exactly did people close the buttons on shoes before the button hook came around?  and what sort of method was used long before the food processor or food choppers or even blenders were around for making melanges of fruits or vegetables, much less a smoothie?  did they have any concept of the smoothie or would that have been one of those anachronistic items?

Kitchen utensils.  Being myself almost an antique,
 I recognize most of these tools.
Do you?

It seems like in the art world, the tools and implements really have not continued to evolve--though perhaps the advent of acrylic/synthetic brushes shows that they do continue to move forward.  The painter still uses canvas or paper (albeit, many buy them pre-stretched and ready to go instead of creating the frames and stretching the canvas themselves) and paints with pigment and brushes with water or linseed oil and rags. The stained glass artist's tools have evolved to the point of electric soldering irons and sticky back copper foil, fluxes that are far more clean and efficient and solders that are cleaner and more pure than ever before.


Farm tools. Huh?


For all of our advancements, we are still attracted to the antiquities and for myself, a part of my admiration of a true Lewis Comfort Tiffany stained glass panel is exactly a result of the challenges that had to be faced to create such astonishingly beautiful pieces.  From the masterwork paintings, I admire not only the painting itself and the techniques used to create the art, but the  lost or dying skills of not just mixing pigments but identifying and crushing them correctly for paints, among other difficulties in obtaining the tools of the art.

I actually own a Kerosene torch like this (two in fact), that I got at an auction
...but not with the soldering iron attachment.
That part I will have to invest in next time I see one. I imagine
stained glass would take a very different look from this.


I'm not sure why, I'm not sure how exactly but I do know that for me, a visit to an antique shop rejuvenates me for getting back to my creative work. Perhaps there is an alchemy that occurs in accessing the curious objects of the past and activating the curiosity of the mind in thinking about how things were made and created.  Perhaps there is a bit of magical allure and some of the creative genius that rubs off when one handles antique objects so that that magnificent creative force can be harnessed to the new-fangled methods, techniques and tools of the modern artists' studio.

So here is the challenge of this day:  visit an antique shop.  Question what things are, what they were used to do, how they were manufactured and be in awe and fascination with the creativity of our forebears.  For the day, let go of the modern and the new.  Let your mind play with ideas and ponder the uses of unknown tools.


Thursday, November 29, 2012

Don't Just Fly...Get A Hit of Culture

In almost every area of the country, you don't have to go far (a couple of hours drive at most) to find hidden gems of artwork for the public to view.  In my case, there are many areas and I don't have go to New York City to get high quality art experiences.







In fact, I only have to drive to the Tampa International Airport, a drive of about an hour and a half.  No, I don't have an immediate plans to take a flight anywhere.  There are a surprising number of artworks on display at this airport--enough to fill a small gallery.  Today's challenge, find a hidden cache of artwork on display in a town where you never expected to see it.  And then...go see it.  You might not even have to fly to get your hit of culture.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Prosperity Flows from Giving


A few weeks ago, I was pondering the Flow of Prosperity.  I have a belief that there is more than enough of everything for everyone exactly when they need it.  I also have a belief that competition and envy are unnecessary as there are enough customers and clients for everyone. So the question is, why doesn't every one have what they need?  Why do some people suffer from lack of food, money, housing, clothing, et cetera?  There are some specific sets of Laws that are set in motion for the creation of prosperity.  Prosperity does not only mean financial income or abundance.  Prosperity is the flow of life--energy, joy, beauty, all things material, health, wisdom, peace and personal power.



I was preparing for a show and I was considering how I could best increase my increase.  I remembered that Prosperity Flows more abundantly from Giving.  I took some of my inventory to a class I'm taking and let all my classmates choose several pieces for themselves.  I received a large influx of income at the show.  Then I held my Winter Trunk show.  I gave away some of my items to the owner of the store.  In return, I ended up being able to keep all the money I earned and she did not charge me the % we had agreed upon.  I did not give her the items with this intention, but it was the gift she chose to give me.



This week I've been culling items from my home that we no longer use or that no longer serve us and am giving them to a non profit organization for a rummage sale they are having.  I have a show this weekend and I know that because I have activated the flow of prosperity, this weekend I will receive in kind--abundantly, delightfully and I will receive it joyously.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

A Natural Flow and Progression

All of  life has a natural flow and progression.  The tides of our ocean ebb and flow.  Our bodies have a natural flow of energy from day to day and a natural progression over time.

I don't know if other artists and writers have a continual sense of urgency that plagues them...but I do and have for as long as I can remember...a restlessness that I needed to "get to work" on whatever it was I needed to work on.  When I was a child, I couldn't really figure out what it was that I was supposed to be working on.  I have tried many things and moved to many locations, often driven by this urgent sense that there was a thing or things that were mine to do.

Glass suncatcher...even glass has a natural flow and progression when heated. Available at www.bohemianartcafe.com or etsy.bohemianartcafe.com.
(C) 2012 SZing

I had a vague sense that what I was to do had something to do with writing.  And though I didn't realize it at the time, creative endeavors were constantly tugging at me.  I didn't do any sort of artwork other than hand crafts but I played music and I feel my early poetry and musical practices were the start of my natural progression of creativity.  I liked music, but I didn't love it and couldn't get lost in it like I could with writing or like I can now with artwork.

Flow domino available at www.bohemianartcafe.com and etsy.bohemianartcafe.com
(c) 2012 SZing


Some people make progress as if their artwork and career is an avalanche.  They move forward so swiftly it is difficult to keep up with them.  Others start out slowly and inch forward day by day and week by week.  Others, like me, have a flow and progression that comes in starts and stops.  My progression is marked by specific goal events around which I tend to organize my time and talents.  In between the preparatory spurts of energy flow, I take steps toward future events.

Find your own flow and pattern.


Here is an example of the past few weeks:  Preparation for art fair.  Flurry of activity to get all inventory prepared and organized the display materials.  Show.  Unpack.  Downtime.  Preparation for trunk show.   BIG flurry of activity to get all inventory prepared. Show. Unpack.  Now I am in preparation for a show this weekend.  But my inventory is fairly large right now so I only need to organize what I'll be taking for display.  I have a little extra energy so I've been working on locating two venues for art shows in 2013 and connecting with several magazines for articles.  I've been slowly updating my database.  I've been updating my website.  I;ve been teaching art classes and a Writing Frenzy (tm) group.  There is always something that can be done even if the steps are baby steps.  They are all a part of the flow and progression of my creative journey.  As an artist, it is important to understand your own ebb and flow and to understand how you work so that when you're "on", you're on.  Trust the natural flow and progression.



Friday, November 16, 2012

The Art of Building Community

We live in a time when virtual communities have widened our immediate community.  Some of the people in our virtual lives we have never actually met, though we often know intimate details of their lives and work.  The age of the Internet has apparently freed us to unburden ourselves of our deepest secrets, our most mundane thoughts and the trivia and minutiae of our lives which used to be reserved for those lucky few who comprised our "family" or friends.  Perhaps this is a good situation.  Perhaps it would be better for us all if we did not have this world-wide access to Every Man's Inner Thoughts.

Regardless of the debate of the good or evil of the Internet and Electronic Air Wave Community, the fact is that no matter how often we are online, in our chat rooms or boards, how many emails we send or receive, text messages that fly across the airwaves or posts of which we partake, we still need real, live contact with our fellow human beings.


Some people have chosen a life where they are born, live and die in the same location.  They have what I term "built in" community.  The stability of their community connections are deep and follow their own cycle of change, addition and natural attrition as they grow, their interests alter or they express or explore different avenues of work and play.  Most people in this group have at least a core of intimate connections and their community is solidly built.

Then there is the second group.  I call these the adventurers, the explorers and sometimes, the dissatisfieds.  I am of this group where I seem to have an inner drive to see new places, have new experiences and meet new people.  More than once, though I have deeply loved my initial core community, I have chosen to leave them.  Many of them have fallen away from my life.  It is very difficult, despite the Internet and virtual community access, to truly maintain closeness and intimacy from a distance.  The virtual world lacks the human touch component.

Since I was 18, I have traversed across the country several times and have actually lost count of how many times I have moved. Once I moved over 2500 miles from my home to a location with a population of over 5 Million people.  I knew exactly one person there when I arrived. It was a very different environment than the one I had left and the shock of the differences made it extremely difficult and slow for me to build community.   It's always been my choice to move.  Each time I have had to develop new community.  Over the past 28 years, I have refined the fine art of developing community.  Here is what I know:

1.  Start immediately.  Waiting "to meet" people spontaneously will happen, but it can be a slow road and very lonely in the meantime.

2.  Start by "joining"--find groups that share your interests--or interests you'd like to develop:  libraries and bookstores usually know of book clubs, churches and spiritual groups are usually quite welcoming to new members, take classes.  These are the three fastest ways I know of to begin to rebuild or develop community.  If you're one of those who have stayed in one place for a long time, this is still a great way to expand your community.

3.  If #2 is not yielding friends quickly enough (it does take time for people to open up and embrace us into their lives--the shortest period can be weeks or months but it can take some people longer), there are always support groups with which to start.  Find one that suits your needs--most people have something with which they could use some additional support.

4.  If you have a job, find co-workers with whom to have lunch.  It may take some time.  In one location I lived, the people at the large corporation were not used to a) taking lunch or b)having someone invite them to lunch.  In fact, when I would invite them, more than one person said "No thanks."  Eventually someone said, "No thanks. I'm not interested in Amway."  I said, "What?"  It turns out someone in the past had done lunch with people and then tried to sell them Amway.  Once I discovered this I prefaced everything with "No, I don't sell Amway.  It's just lunch to eat lunch and have some human companionship."  I began making friends.

5.  Maybe you are one of the lucky ones who don't have to work or have retired?  Volunteer.  There are thousands of organizations from which to choose.  Whether you are into life saving and crisis aversion, nature, literacy, helping save people from starving, art work, education, animals...no matter what your interests, there is bound to be an organization that could use your help and has other similarly motivated people helping them.  Plus it feels good to volunteer and help out.

We all need people.  We need family--whether it is our blood relations or those we love and care about most, friends and like minded connections with others.  While there may be some creative output that can result from the angst of loneliness, the output often is dark, depressing and sad.  There is a place for alone time and exploring those dark nights of the soul creatively, but I believe that it is true that "no man is an island."  We may feel lost for a while, but we must be able to connect with others.  We make art not just for ourselves and because we have that undeniable creative urge, but because we also have the need to share our creations, to help our community to understand life more, to give beauty and darkness, to document our humanity and our striving to be something more than these meat suits we wear.  Art and creativity are ingredients we humans need to keep our communities thriving and expanding.  We need art.  We need community.  We can never have too many true friends or too much art.  I challenge you this weekend to meet someone new and start developing a new friendship.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Ode to Pamela Howard, Weaver Extraordinaire

Today is my dear friend Pamela Howard's birthday.  Happy birthday Pam!  I've not seen her for a month and have no idea when I will see her again since I moved from Ohio.  I will miss her quirky sense of humor and stories and our camaraderie.

Spindle whorl spinning
Wallet by Pamela Howard

I also will miss her astonishing commitment to her craft.  She is an enormous inspiration to me.  Pam is a weaver and textile artist.  She cards the wool, she hand spins the wool, she dyes the wool, and then she creates elaborate works of beauty  out of the textiles--scarves, shawls, textile and paper dolls, unique hand crafted wallets and books.  She also is a paper crafter--making hand made papers and then binding them together into astounding books/journals covered with her gorgeous textile coverings.

Hand crank wool carder
Hand crafted book and box by Pamela Howard


I can attest to the quality of her work.  I've been using a wallet she made for more than three years and other than the string closure finally coming off, it has held up as well as any leather wallet I've ever had and is far more pretty.  Not to mention that I love the tactile feel of it every time I get it out of my purse and the simple reminder of friendship.


Hand crafted paper and textile woven book and binding by Pamela Howard


Before I moved from Ohio, I was fortunate to be able to purchase a black and white textile journal book which I absolutely love. I have not had the heart to sully it's gorgeously hand crafted and pristine pages with writing.  I'd originally planned to use it to write my poetry in, but I have not been able to bring myself to do it.  I wonder if there might be some other, better subject matter to put into the book.
Hand dyeing wool


Pamela's work can be seen at the Oxford Community Art Center Art Shop Co-op, a juried co-op, where she has been a member for over three years.  She also has a delightful studio (#311) on the third floor of the Center and almost always has her studio open to visitors on the Second Friday Art Nights.  She has been honored with several prestigious awards and "Best of Show" awards over the years.
Hand crafted (from start to finish!) wallet by Pamela Howard

To own a piece of her artwork is to have access to a master textile artist.  Happy birthday Pam!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Jump Into the Zero Degree Water

Jump into cold water

The problem with taking a vacation is that it automatically sets into motion Newton’s First Law of Motion—you know the one…a body at rest stays at rest.  It seems that most of October flew by in the blink of an eye.  And while I was on a roll before the vacation, I’ve struggled to get back into the swing of things and get the blog written.  Of course, I haven’t just been sitting around eating bon-bons (what IS a real bon bon anyway?)  I prepared for and participated in a large craft show.  I worked on a large supply of inventory for the trunk show this past weekend which was a good success. And I’ve unpacked the last of the items from our household move.
newton2
Sir Issac Newton

Still, I’ve really missed the discipline and habit I’d been developing to get the blog written.  So, today I decided to build up my courage and jump into the zero degree water.  That’s what it reminds me of…having to psych myself back up to push my body out of rest and back to blogging.  I had originally set a goal of 3 times a week.  I was doing pretty well with this schedule but once I set a goal of 5 times a week, it suddenly became much more difficult.  So, I’m going back to 3 times a week.  It’s a goal and a habit that I can achieve and do well in that process. 

Perhaps the fact that five became a challenge means that my brain needs a day or two to ‘stew’ in order to stir up the ideas for the next blog and get my creativity flowing.  Or maybe its just that I have many activities and obligations that all require attention.
Balancing balls Newton's cradle
My main point today is that with our creative endeavors and artworks, sometimes we have to screw up our courage and take the plunge.  Creativity and doing art does take a certain amount of courage.  I watched the movie "We Bought a Zoo" this weekend and love the idea that we only need 20 seconds of courage or bravery to do something.  Once the scary something is begun, it's so very much easier to continue the activity and this is true with art and writing.  Also housework. Even if the artwork is only for yourself, your friends or your family and never is seen in a public forum, the courage that is required is to allow whatever creative urge you have to get into the artwork (painting, glass, assemblage, poem,…whatever medium you use).  To take a page from Nike, to just do it.  The other point where courage comes into play is to show up every day.  Or at least, every other day…

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

More Ways than One

We’ve probably all heard the term “more ways than one to skin a cat.”  Now, as a cat lover, I’m not too thrilled with the entomology of this phrase (or the visual this evokes), but from a practical, efficient project management standpoint, I whole-heartedly embrace this concept.



I’m not sure when or where the disabling idea occurred and was embraced that says there is only one right answer.  Okay, perhaps there are disciplines where there actually is only one right answer.  But even in math, for example, I am sure that the further into it you explore, the more creative the answers can get—just look at the wildly creative signs and symbols used to express higher mathematical concepts. 



And even if there is only one right answer, there are multitudes of paths to get to the right answer. 



As an artist/writer and creative person, I have to seek many creative solutions and choose the one that feels best for the circumstance and project.  If one solution doesn’t work out, then it is time for me to try out the second right answer.  And if that still doesn’t lead to the result I want (and it may very well lead to an entirely different expression than I ever expected—one that may provide an entirely new creation or art form)…then I have to explore the third right answer.



With creativity, it is not always the right answer that is the important aspect.  Sometimes, it is the creative process and how the end result is achieved that is far more important.  When I’m doing brain storming for a project or working with a class on brain storming, I constantly ask, “what else would work?”  and “what else could I try?”  These open ended questions can open up the proverbial can of worms.  Some of the ideas might seem crazy.  Some of them might not work at all.  A tangent may not be the answer, but it can lead to a new path that leads to the answer. 



Freeing up creativity requires a willingness to explore. The first answer isn’t always the best answer.  Sometimes it may seem to be the easiest answer, but the easiest answer doesn’t always provide the richness of a satisfying end result.



Surprise yourself.  Try the second or third answer or the thousandth.  If Thomas Edison had accepted the first answer he got for electricity—“it doesn’t work” we’d all still be in the dark. 

Rules? What Rules?

There are rules for cooking and rules for dating.  There are rules that govern our behaviors in society and rules in most households.  They all have their place.  But I just want to go on record and say that in all my not inconsiderable life experience I have yet to see a Rule Book for writing or artwork.  Yes, I am well aware that there are “schools of thought” and “best practices.”  I am also aware that there is, through numerous peoples’ prior expertise and experience, a significant body of knowledge about what seems to work well, effectively and provide “success” in both writing and the art world. 




I also think it is a good idea for an artist to learn at least the basics of their craft.  I believe it is a good practice to hone one’s craft. 




Having, at times in my life, been a rule breaker and sometimes rebel, I find it equally important to break those non-existent rules--oh, the irony!   Perhaps Pirates of the Caribbean had it right when they said that rules are more of a guideline.  To be constrained by rules in art and writing is a double edged sword. 




There is the value of creating something in the normal and expected manner.  But for the sake of creativity and the sake of an artist’s (I use the term inclusively, as writers are also artists) sanity, constraint by rules can be a death knoll to genuine expression and creative intent.  Rules can stymie the flow of ideas.  And when the flow of ideas stops, the art stops.



Not only does the art stop, but the exploration of the use of mediums vanishes.  What would have happened if the Van Eyck’s had not experimented with pigments and oils?  We would have no oil paintings.  What would have happened if the studio art movement did not play with the production and manipulation of glass?  So many unique expressions in glass would not exist. 



What would happen if artists had not broken the rules?  Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol, among many others, immediately come to mind.  Now I realize that there are certain sets of critics and artists who “don’t like” or at least are not fans of these type of artists' work, but it is my belief that our artistic vision, our artistic evolution and the culture of art would be stagnant if not for the rule breakers. 

Sometimes you just have to allow something new to be born that has never been seen before.  This can’t happen within the confines of a fenced in belief system.  Even if there WERE a book of official rules for which an artist should follow…I still would say…rules?  what rules? 


Monday, October 8, 2012

It’s so obvious…

Writer’s block. Brain freeze.  Creative vacuum.  Mental fart. It happens to the best artist, writer or creative thinker. 
brainfreeze
Once in a while, the ability to bridge the gap between the brain fart and functional artistic progress can be a quick jump start.  When I walk into my studio and I have the (false) idea that I don’t know where to begin, or worse, how to begin, once in a while it hits me and I’m almost immediately able to move on and proceed. 

When I look at the project in front of me, it almost always automatically shows the way to what needs to be done next.  If I’m working on fused glass, it depends on what I did last—if I ground glass and shaped it, its time to clean the glass and set it in the kiln.  If I’m working on jewelry, the obvious next step is clear…either I need to add a jump ring, finish soldering, file, seal, string, design….  If I’m working on a painting, there is usually a clearly defined starting point.  A color I need to add, details that need to be painted in, something to add to the background.  It’s always obviously missing.  It just takes a moment to see the obvious next step.

If you think youQuestion Theme can’t see the obvious, try these steps:
1.  Squint.  Really.  Look at the picture or piece and squint. Out of focus viewing can help to resolve the areas that need to be completed.
2.  Ask the question, “What do you want me to add now?”
3.  Ask the question, “What is missing on this piece?”
4.  Ask the question, “Is there a color (detail, item) I need to add?”
5.  Write out the steps for making the piece in order from start to completion.  Check off what you’ve done and the next step is clear.
300px-Colouring_pencils
No matter how stuck you might feel or “be,” the answer is always available.  It just might take a moment or two to discover the path to your next step.