The CreativeLife Week 33 in review

Greetings from a chilly yet beautiful Sunday here in Pretoria! 🙋‍♀️

I recently discovered ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos on YouTube. I have known about the concept for a while, but some of the things people do in these videos creep me out, so I wasn't a fan. Until I discovered a few bookbinding channels. I have found them to be useful (not silent because I prefer some noise), but still helpful when I am working and need to focus. Concentrating is difficult when I have to write test reports.

Making mistakes will cause problems, and getting distracted by things happening in the background is not a good thing at all. The same applies when I have to do calculations for the report. I never make the calculations during the tests themselves, since I often have multiple tests running at the same time. Often the tests are not for the same client or the same type of product. During testing I focus on capturing the measurements and the condition of the test samples so that I have detailed records for when I write the reports later.

My inspiration this week comes from exactly such an ASMR video ⬅️

I happened to glance up at my second screen (while writing a report) when I noticed the woman use a template for making the holes in the paper which she was going to bind into a sketchbook. Using a template for the position of the holes is nothing new, we all do that, but I have to say I rather like the way she made her template. Might use a similar idea for my templates. I like learning new things, and if they are practical to make my life or a creative project easier, even better. 😍

In our creative group we have been making a Lifebook. It is a monthly art journal entry with a theme. Unlike most of the art journaling you see on YouTube, this project (now going for almost 3 years) is a personal entry for each of us, where sharing in the group is entirely optional. I pick the themes, and sometimes also the medium or colour scheme, and we use that as part creative inspiration, part record of our lives in that month based on the chosen theme.

For August this year, I picked "sketch journaling" as the theme. The challenge is to pick any 7 days in August and then draw items or events of that day as a record. I prefer using ink and another medium to add colour to the drawing. I love urban sketching, and the idea is basically the same with the caveat of making it personal to me.

So far I have drawn three days with the third done at the lab where I work. I sketched a test setup that we don't often have to do and it was rather fun to draw all the test equipment and few details of the test sample. Since this is a reflection of my engineering work, it makes sense as a record of my life.

I am thinking about sketching a day in my studio where I am busy working on three small acrylic paintings of a bird, a cat and a hare. They are cute and fun and I was in the mood for something more playful to paint during the week.

Graphite pencil practice

We had a drawing lesson on Thursday during our usual session since we twisted the arm of one of the members in the group to start drawing again. It has been years since her last drawing, so we decided to draw with her. Drawing practice is always a good thing to keep your pencil sharp, in a manner of speaking. I picked a photo of a daisy from Unsplash.com, made it black and white, and then sent it to everyone with instructions on tools and a bit of prep to be done beforehand.

While I draw for inktober52 ⬅️ every week, it's been a while since I had done a graphite pencil drawing. It was a fun project.

I have also been testing some new watercolour paper I recently bought. I will share my thoughts in a separate post. I still have two more papers to play with, and I am rather excited to see how they perform. I will share links to where you can purchase the papers, the paints and brushes I used - if I can find links for the paper I bought in a local store. This brand is not unknown to me, but I have not seen it in one of our local online art stores.

Living a creative life is really satisfying, but also frustrating at times. I have loads of ideas for multiple projects, but finding time to do all of them remains my biggest challenge. Maybe when I am retired, I will have time to catch up on that ever growing ideas list. 😜

Thank you for reading.

Until next time!

💜🇿🇦 Linzé

The CreativeLife Week 32 in review

 Getting back into the groove today of writing a newsletter of sorts 🙋‍♀️ Hello again! I stopped the "official" newsletter because it was frustrating me once I couldn't add links of channels or websites of other people that inspire me. So it's back to my blog and here I can basically do whatever I want. Yay!

  So to start off here is the YouTuber that has been my most recent inspiration. Taria is a South African urban sketcher and the reason she has been inspiring me is that she shares her process raw - there is no hiding the difficulties she has with sketching. Check out her YouTube channel to see how she deals with the realities of sketching with a limited timeframe.

  My goal of editing the 5th novel in my Nations of Peace series, is making some progress. Editing is not my favourite activity, so the progress so far is surprising even to me. My editor, Carmen, is liking the story so far too, and that is always a bit of positive energy to keep me going. Cover ideas are brewing at the back of my mind, especially after our last art class.

  I poured two panels and one of them is telling me that it should be on the cover of a book. One of the ladies in the group spotted that potential almost immediately, and my brain liked that idea a lot. The painting is dry, but it needs a tweak here and there which is par for the course for poured paintings. I will do that this week and then it is ready to be digitised. Interested to see how it will work for a cover.

One of the corners of the book press I
made. Sorry about the busy background,
I had to do it on a table with painting stuff around.

  On Saturday I went out in the morning by myself, Hubs had something else going on, and while I was eating breakfast at a local shopping centre, a lady approached and asked me about my journal. The design of it interested her and it was fun telling her that I made it myself. I also showed her the tiny sketchbook that I carry in my bag which I also made myself. Bookbinding has been an interest for a while, and I finally made a book press (Hubs helped with the wood work) as the last tool for my kit. Excited about making more sketchbooks and journals with all the right tools now readily available.

  Lots of creative ideas on my plate for the rest of the year, and happy to share those with you as they come to life. 😀

August is a really busy month with all kinds of life stuff that needs to be done, but I will be back soon with more of my CreativeLife.

Thank you for reading!

Until next time,

💜🇿🇦 Linzé

Book Feature: Once Upon a Scandal by Shilpa Suraj

 

A moment of passion, a devastating scandal and a marriage between sworn enemies...

Aakash Thakkar knows his path. Family, duty, responsibility, tradition. His path does not lead to madness, chaos, wild passionate steamy nights, and her. Or so he tells himself.

Kanak Shourie lives for the present. Friends, fun, work, life. Her present does not include the weight of other people's judgement, stuffy societal mores, discovering desire with uptight businessmen, and him. She refuses to believe otherwise.

What happens when the one you hate is the only one you want? What happens when you try to right a wrong but end up in something that feels more right than anything ever has?

Can Aakash and Kanak bury a lifetime of distrust and forge a life together? Or will the reasons that had them battling each other for years bury their tentative new beginning?

Book Links:

Goodreads * Amazon.in * Amazon.com

Read an Excerpt from Once Upon a Scandal

Kanak gasped as his lips trailed a slow, sensual line of kisses down her neck. Her eyes closed and her head fell back giving him better access. 

He growled in approval, the sound thrumming through her. She fumbled with the buttons of his white shirt, her hand slipping through the gap and finding hard, firm, muscled skin. Her fingernails did a slow circle around his flat nipple making him nip her on her shoulder.

Her dazed eyes met his stormy ones, disbelieving, intense and confused. He lowered his head and took her lips in a kiss that solved her confusion, once and for all. 

She wanted this man, more than she’d ever wanted another. And she couldn’t deny it anymore. She fisted her hands in the thick, rough silk of his hair and pulled him impossibly closer. 

Their tongues met, dueled, and stroked making her moan, the breath of sound disappearing between his lips. He ground his hips against her, the movement making her legs fall apart, the better to cradle him with. 

The rough concrete behind her back scraped her skin but she couldn’t have cared less. But his hands slipped between the wall and her and flipped her over so his back was against it. She landed against the hard length of him, her hips doing an unconscious roll that had his head falling back.

She unzipped his pants, her fingers slipping in, searching and finding the hot silken steel of him. He cursed brokenly, his hips arching into her touch. She smiled, the heady rush of power over such a powerful man spooling through her. 

Until his hands cupped her breasts and her eyes rolled back in her head, pleasure swamping her and making it hard to focus. He dipped his head and took her breast in his mouth, the material of her flimsy dress damp in seconds from his attentions. His other hand pinched, fondled and stroked the other breast until her legs quivered. 

Kanak stroked harder, desperate for him to not stop what he was doing. He didn’t seem to want to anyway. He pulled her dress up, above her hips, the cool night breeze caressing her thighs and making her shiver. 

Kanak shoved frantically at his pants, pushing until she got what she wanted. It sprang free and she wrapped her hands around it, fisting it. 

The flash when it came lit up the darkness around them. Their small corner suddenly blindingly bright. He reacted with startling swiftness, spinning her so she was covered by the bulk of his body, unseen by whoever was out there. 

“Get the fuck out of here,” he growled over his shoulder, his furious laser like gaze sending a shiver down Kanak’s spine even though it wasn’t directed at her. 

Nervous laughter was the only answer. And then, another bright flash. 

“I am going to kill you,” he said conversationally to the person behind him.

In a matter of seconds, he tucked himself back into his pants and straightened Kanak’s dress with a deceptive calm. When he turned, still keeping Kanak hidden behind him, she heard the photographer squeak. 

“Give me your camera.” The words were soft, calm and deadly. The tone usually what you heard before you died. 

“No.” The man with the death wish giggled and moved back, out of his reach. “This is going to make me rich. And not just the photographs man. I got video too and it’s not on this camera. It’s with my friend who is already gone. You can’t catch him.” Another giggle. 

And before either of them could react, he disappeared into the dark. 

Ice slid through Kanak’s veins. What had she done? What had she allowed to happen? A sex tape of her on the internet, splashed across the tabloids, a sex tape with him…

“I will fix this,” he said, the same ice in his voice except his was directed at the mystery photographer. “I promise you.” 

She wanted to believe him. She almost did but Kanak knew that some things were out of even his control. 

A sex tape. Her head spun at the enormity of this fiasco. A sex tape with Aakash Thakkar, big shot industrialist, rising political power, and her number one enemy. 

She was screwed and she knew it. 

About the Author:

Shilpa Suraj wears many hats - corporate drone, homemaker, mother to a fabulous toddler and author.

An avid reader with an overactive imagination, Shilpa has weaved stories in her head since she was a child. Her previous stints at Google, in an ad agency and as an entrepreneur provide colour to her present day stories, both fiction and non-fiction.

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