A sneak preview…Start your Art – Lyric Kinard
Thursday, November 1st, 2018Art and quilt teacher and friend Lyric Kinard (website and Facebook and Instagram) delighted me recently when she asked if I’d like to be part of a bloghop to launch her new prompts deck of cards “Start Your Art”…of course! The official bloghop is in about two weeks after International Quilt Festival, but I’ve had a chance to download the pdf and play a bit.
![](https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/600px_Start_your_art_deck_plus_cards_kinard-600x600.jpg)
Hot off the press, Lyric Kinard’s Start Your Art deck of cards / prompts is available as an actual deck or a digital download. You can get the deck here at Lyric’s shop.
Then, not long ago, Laurie Russman, of neonkittyquilts on instagram and website, told me about the MegaPhoto app she uses to make “tweaked” photos.
Sitting waiting for my annual physical check-up, I decided to play–a prompt from Lyric’s deck plus MegaPhoto! Lyric has some suggestions–like set a timer and keep it short–to get you started along with 48 exercises. I hopped around the set randomly and selected one (and of course I forgot to write which prompt) that I could do on my phone while waiting.
![](https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_5737-600x600.jpg)
I began with a frequently photographed location on my afternoon dog walks and used one of the MegaPhoto filters to get this image…all sorts of new ideas for quilts are funning (what a hoot, that was meant to be running, but I like the typo!) through my head.
To those of us who have been teaching ourselves art for a while, some of the prompts may be familiar, some are new, but I have to say I totally love having these on my phone where I can take advantage of those moments where you are somewhere without a book–a productive alternative to Facebook! Even familiar prompts become new and are worth doing again. Then I tried another filter on the same photo–what a difference in mood!
![](https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_5738-600x600.jpg)
Another filter in MegaPhoto –just look it up in your App Store. I believe there is a free version, but you can get rid of the ads and add a few extras for about $2.99.
I tend to be pretty literal in my artwork, so many of Lyric’s prompts that require one to work in abstracts will be a good push for me. This may be my favorite of my Mega Photo filters I used on this photo:
![](https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_5739-600x600.jpg)
Love the prismatic, fish-eye look to this photo. I can see playing around with this type of composition and fracturing in an art quilt….maybe over winter? Or even…hmmm…printed onto cloth, then paint on the cloth, then quilt….hmmm….
See, that’s what happens with prompts: they get the creative juices going. They let you get out of your own way and try something that isn’t in your “usual wheel-house aka creative safe spot.” I’ll do a proper review of the deck in mid-November when it’s my turn, but just wanted to let you know what I’m doing now that the boxes of stuff are shipped to Houston, it’s not yet time to pack clothes, and I’m noodling around with play time!
So I can heartily recommend Lyric’s Start Your Art. I’ll play around with it more and check back with another review for the bloghop in mid-November. Here’s the link again to this deck of cards: