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Celebrating Creativity: The 8th Year of The Creative Gathering

A global community of artists exploring new mediums while starting the year with
creativity, curiosity, and connection.

As we begin the 8th year of The Creative Gathering, we’re celebrating another inspiring season of creativity, dedication, and community. This month, our artists collectively created and shared 588 pieces of art. This is a wonderful reflection of the passion and commitment within our global creative family.

Throughout the gathering, artists worked in a wide range of mediums. These include pencil, pen, watercolor, gouache, inks, and oils. They also used photography, mixed media, nature art, colored pencil, assemblage, and journaling. Each piece reflects a unique voice and perspective, with artists of all experience levels sharing their creativity and vision.

What makes The Creative Gathering so special is that it’s truly international. Artists from around the world come together to share not only their work, but also encouragement, ideas, and support. Beyond the art itself, the gathering fosters camaraderie and connection, reminding us that creativity thrives in a supportive community.

Artists often spend long hours working alone, which makes these moments of connection especially meaningful. We share our work and cheer one another on. We witness each other’s creative journeys. By doing so, we build relationships that enrich and reward the creative process.

Each year, participants challenge themselves to try new mediums, experiment with unfamiliar tools, explore new techniques, and learn new approaches. The Creative Gathering isn’t just about making art—it’s about growing as artists and embracing curiosity and exploration.

The gathering is also a wonderful way to start the year on a positive note. By committing to create daily for one month and sharing that work publicly, artists celebrate both discipline and courage. While some complete the full month, we believe that even showing up for part of the month is worth celebrating. Every sketch, photo, journal page, or painting represents a moment of creativity and intention.




To everyone who participated this year—whether you created every day or joined in when you could—congratulations. Your creativity, dedication, and willingness to share help make The Creative Gathering such a special community.

We look ahead to gathering again in September to continue our shared creative journey. Together we’ll support one another, explore new ideas, and celebrate the joy of making art. Let’s see where our creativity takes us next.

Week One Of The 30-Day Creative Gathering

Day 5, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Day 5, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Day 4, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Day 4, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Day 4 texture close up.
Day 4 texture close up.

I had so much fun with this texture. I scribbled with an Inktense pencil. I love how it turned out.

Day 3, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Day 3, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Day 2, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Day 2, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Day 1, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.
Day 1, CG FEB 23. 6 x 6 inch. Watercolor, acrylics, ink & digital. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

I am having so much fun. As you know, I have not been posting art the last few months. Only one or two pieces since the September Gathering. I’ve missed painting!

Even so, I was really stressed about starting again. Not sure of what to paint. Afraid I might flub it. You can see in day 1, how tight and linear I was. I still like it. The others are much more loose.

I am noticing that the parchment (creamy white) looks somewhat dingy here. It is the low resolution of the image. The color is clean, soft and bright in the paintings.

Well, back to work for me. I have to work on my Spoonflower design, due Tuesday at noon. I have some admin. tasks before I can hit the sack. I better get to it!

It would be possible to describe everything scientifically,
but it would make no sense;
it would be without meaning,
as if you described a Beethoven symphony as
a variation of wave pressure.
Albert Einstein

September 30-Day Creative Gathering

Ranunculus. Day 1, 8 x 8 on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
Ranunculus. Day 1, 8 x 8 on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

A load of laundry.
A load of pillows.
Dusted.
Vacuumed.
Did dishes.
Finished organizing art supplies.
Sampled paint colors. Eliminated some choices and grouped by value.
Painted a palette grouping the values.
Did a mani/pedi.

You know what this was. Procrastination. Haha.
Late last night I finally started painting. DUH. If I had done the first part in the afternoon, I might have finished in time.

The first layer is a napkin from Ikea. I thought I had separated the layers, but after I Placed it, I noticed there was one more layer. So instead of dark outlines, I had soft ones. I used matte medium top and bottom, so that took a long time to dry.

This morning, I cut the vase out of scrapbook paper, glued that on, and sat staring with no clue what to do next. Haha.

I didn’t have a vision or a plan. I was inspired by some playful florals I found on Pinterest, and Instagram. And I feel like I missed the mark. That is exactly what this needs. A few bold marks. So. A work in progress.

I think I need to add some bright marks, and I need to brighten the leaves. I used stamps, ink, acrylics, posco pen and watercolor.

The background was originally a pale turquoise. It seemed too light, the vase was not standing out. So I laid a wash of Inktense over it, and dabbed it off. I left it slightly darker around the edge of the vase. The splatters turned out much large than I wanted. The blooms are so dark, adding the light might not be such a bad thing.

Early evening. Time to start number two.