Tag Archives: #pen

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.

You will want to have a seat to view the video.
It is over six minutes long! Enjoy!

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.

Congratulations, everyone!
And thank you again,
for sharing your exceptional work with us all.

Art On 45 & Catching Up

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Art on 45, Desert Stargazers, 7 x 7 in., Acrylic, pen. © 2024 Sheila Delgado.

It’s time once again for the Art on 45 Auction and exhibition. Hosted and organized by Christiane Drieling. I am thrilled to say, my piece was accepted. This will be the final Art on 45 event.

I was thinking of my Dad, when I came up with the idea for this. I remembered all the road trips we would take. Late nights driving through the desert. How brilliant the sky seemed, and how open the landscape was. The 45 is debossed, and I did not want to cover that up. If you zoom in, you can see the Chrysalis butterfly logo, Leo Sayer, and more. It is completely legible in person.

I have had so much fun, as a contributing artist for the last several years. Congratulations to Christiane, Markus, and everyone who has made this event possible!

Catching Up

I don’t need to tell you, I was silent here, on the blog. For 4 months. Yikes! I was busy painting. I just wasn’t busy blogging. Below is a brief recap.

Naomi's Chicken, acrylics, pen. 12 x 12 in. © 2023 Sheila Delgado. — Naomi’s Chicken, acrylics, pen. 12 x 12 in. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

In October was busy painting Christmas gifts, and this chicken. A birthday gift for a friend. She had found a picture that she liked, and asked me to paint one like it. I changed a few things. Made the weathered wood grey toned, to work with her interior. This is on a deep edged canvas, and the details continue around the edges.

I continued by finishing up some gifts I had started in 2021. These were for a friend’s grandbabies. I had started the bear, and completed the three florals (below), prior to having Covid.

I had to paint Coco melon ( the boy), and the lavender flowers. These are all on deep canvas.

Coco & the bear are 4 x 4, the florals are 6 x 6. The group of chickens is 6 x 6, watercolor. (A second birthday gift.)

The floral wreath is 4 x 4. A gift for my doctor’s new baby girl. For the wreath, I covered an ugly dollar store frame with plaster. I sanded it for a rustic look, sealed it, & it really turned out nice.

Textured paintings, 2021. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

The Cactus you have seen. That was December’s project.

I designed a logo for a tech friend. IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment.

Building A Desert

I built a simple model train layout. A desert scene, of course. I intended to keep it fairly flat, so it could be stored away easily when needed. The tracks are not attached, merely resting on top.

I found a scenery sand, textured paint. But it was much too dark. Dark brown. I painted it, 8 or 9 times before I got the look I wanted. I added pebbles, rocks and boulders that had to be painted as well. The tiny pebbles along the outer edge forced me to use my magnifying glasses. But the task was surprisingly fast. I also found some miniature bushes. They are meant for an arctic scene, but they look just like sage brush to me.

Bachman N scale Thunder Valley electric freight train.

This has been an ongoing project. A late birthday gift to myself (last year). I had fun working on it. Part of the reason for my studio make over (June 24, 2023). It is an N scale. Below you can see just how tiny that is. There are actually 4 sizes smaller than N. Only one is shown here. The most popular for models is O scale. The larger ones, G, you see in parks or zoos. Outdoor displays.

The engine lights up, and it is fun to run at night. Meditative. You might remember, I’ve had a slight fascination with trains for a while now.

If you are curious, this shows how they are made, (5 minutes). This is more in depth a factory tour, (16 minutes, more explanation). And this is a look at the real trains, and how they clear the snow off of Donner pass. You can skip forward to the 19:30 mark, and view to 23:00. The trees are so pretty.

I know, I’m a geek. (This is one of my tiny things, Dotty.)

That is the end. Whew! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have an awesome weekend!

Wishing you JOY!

30-Day Creative Gathering Collage, September 2023

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My path this month was a winding one. I started loose and organic. Sketchy. Day four found me heavy into digital patterns and textures. That one was a lot of work. I managed to regain a looser feel at times. But often I was much more stylized than I had planned to be.

I struggled with abstracts. I refused to give up though. I did ten. Triple that if I count all the failures. Of those, there are only two I consider very good. Days 9 & 22. Even though it is slightly goofy, I also like day 17, the Kachina. I didn’t know what I was gonna do with that mess of a blob. 😆

Having considered my favorites for the month, I am having a hard time selecting two for the group board. Many of my favorites were chosen as much for what I learned, as for how they look. And I have to laugh, that my go to yellow was only prominent in 6 paintings. I know Val is thrilled. 😆 Shades of pink and warm white ruled this month.

30-Day Creative Gathering Favorites Collage, September 2023. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

September was a challenging month. Sometimes frustrating. I learned something new each day, with each piece. Learning is always awesome, in my book. Score! 😆

If you would like to see them in full detail, visit my Instagram profile.

As always, the connections, and conversations with friends made the month JOYFUL! Seeing their work each day is so inspiring! Stay tuned! The group gallery will be ready soon!