The following artists will inspire you to broaden your horizons when it comes to your definition of art. Who knows, they might just inspire you to pick up your brush.

Stone Painting

First up is Japanese artist Akie Nakata. Using small stones and pebbles as her canvas, Nakata’s miniature paintings take after the natural world. Cats, owls, and frogs come to life as she paints them on stone. According to Nakata, she chooses stones that already resemble animals. She then paints straight onto them, using acrylic paint. The end result is quite remarkable.

Teabag Painting

Ruby Silvious uses a different material altogether as her canvas: used, dried-up teabags. Her miniature art includes recreations of classic paintings such as Gabriël Metsu’s painting, Woman: “I want viewers to keep an open mind and think beyond the boundaries of what they may consider traditional art,” Silvious remarked once.

“In today’s throw-away culture, where we have immediate access to an abundance of materials and numerous mediums to choose from, all things become possible.” Alongside used teabags, Silvious also paints on broken eggshells and wine corks.

Illustrating with Everyday Objects

Chances are, you’ve stumbled across Christoph Niemann’s illustrations at least once. Celebrated as the world’s best illustrator, his work appears regularly on the covers of  The New Yorker,  National Geographic, and The New York Times Magazine. Part of his charm and wit is his unique use of everyday objects, incorporating physical objects like matchsticks and socks, into his illustrations.

“More than a specific visual style, my trademark has always been to autonomously, swiftly, and conceivably map out and execute an idea,” Niemann once shared with The Creative Independent. “Nobody ever approached me asking for a drawing of, say, a dinosaur with a fridge as a head done ‘in my style.’”

The post These Artists Will Inspire You to Think Out of the Box appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Khoudia’s childhood wasn’t easy. Although her skin tone is quite common in Senegal, she was still teased for it. She was told that she was ugly, and could never be considered beautiful.

But she refused to listen. She fought to be accepted and loved and had the support and encouragement of her friends and family. Later she learned to see her skin for what it is – a unique feature that should be celebrated, not mocked.

Slowly, others around her started seeing what she saw. One day, when she was in high school in Paris, a photographer asked to snap her photo and offered her a path into the modeling world. At first, she declined the offer – she was still in high school, and her education was too important to her. She didn’t know anything about modeling and was afraid to fail. Luckily, her friends had convinced her to give it a shot – and she went for it.

It was soon clear that she was going to be huge in the fashion world. She had it took to be a model – self-discipline, willingness to learn and above all – astonishing beauty.

Today Khoudia is a veteran model no one teases anymore, but she hasn’t forgotten where she came from. She uses her new platform to inspire young girls to celebrate their beauty, no matter the skin tone.

The post This Girl Was Once Bullied for her “Ugliness”. Today She’s a Supermodel appeared first on PlayJunkie.

But not Lauren. She could have gotten sad, or mad, but instead – she decided to get even. And what better way to get even than living her best life as publicly as she could? So she took all that energy and poured it into her new IG account, aptly named Dumped Wife’s Revenge. 

Her goal was to turn that devastating turn of events, her divorce, into something positive – to control her own story and rewrite herself not as the abandoned wife but as a fierce, passionate, independent woman.

Unsurprisingly, many other women have found Dianne’s story inspiring, and her account exploded. She has 25k followers on Instagram who are there with her as she meets celebrities, tries on fabulous clothes and travels the world. 

Her account is no longer just about revenge. It’s about inspiring and empowering other women to become the independent, passionate and beautiful people they are, at any age.

The post Woman Uses Separation to Empower and Learn a Lesson of Self-Love appeared first on PlayJunkie.

While almost all dogs are good by nature and just want some love and attention, certain breeds carry a stigma and are often left abandoned and unwanted on the streets or in shelters. Pit bulls are wonderful companions but are seen as brutal, violent dogs. That’s probably why Brinks’ previous owner had abandoned him, though there’s no way to tell for sure.

Brinks was left alone outside a private school in New York. He hadn’t been abused or neglected, but he was alone, scared and confused. Luckily, one person saw him and couldn’t ignore him.

Jn Bozak was leaving his apartment with his dog Demo when the abandoned pit spotted them from across the street and trotted over to say hello. The first thing Jon noticed about this strange dog was his huge, welcoming smile. He had no intention of taking in another dog, but he couldn’t say no to that face. He put up flyers around the neighborhood in case Brinks was lost – but when no one called to claim him, Jon knew he was his new dad.

Brink hasn’t lost that grin ever since. In every photo and video, he seems like the happiest dog alive. He must know how lucky he is to have found his forever family.

The post This Rescued Pit Bull Can’t Stop Smiling appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Dancing is a physically demanding form of performance art, and for people with Scoliosis, it might even be impossible. Scoliosis is a disease that affects the spine, making it curve gradually and restrict movement. People with scoliosis suffer pain and discomfort, have to wear braces and sometimes even go under surgery to ease the symptoms.

Naturally, most patients with scoliosis don’t pick competitive sports as their first career choice. But Julia Carlile did. She’d been dancing all her life, even before she knew there was something wrong with her spine, and even though her Scoliosis is sever, all she wanted to do all her life is dance. Her condition has never stopped her from showcasing her natural talent, and she even competed in Britain’s Got Talent with her dance group, MerseyGirls, and won first place!

But here’s where it gets even more inspiring. On the show, Julia revealed that she would have to go to surgery, which would fix her spine, but would end her dancing career. A more advanced type of surgery that would allow her to keep dancing was available in the States, but she couldn’t afford it. When Simon Cowell, the leading judge of the show, heard her story, he decided to pay for her to go to the Stated and have the surgery there!

Thanks to Simon’s beautiful act of kindness, Julia can keep on dancing, and we hope she does do for many more years.  

The post This Girl Didn’t Let Anything Stop Her From Dancing – Not Even Her Spine appeared first on PlayJunkie.

His hard work and dedication paid off, and now with more than 1.7 million (!) followers on Instagram, he’s a force to be reckoned with. “I came into 2016 with 251,018 followers,” he told the Newyorker, talking about his rise to fame. “I entered 2017 with 515,164. I am a workhorse. I think a lot of people in my industry are content with the ‘struggling artist’ ideology. I’m not. On any given day, my account brings in 600,000 to one million ‘likes.’ The object is to be seen or heard, and I make a lot of noise.”

And when it comes to his online success, he’s very much committed. “Your account should be growing, you should also be growing. Evolving is the point,” he stressed. “People bulls**t in our niche, they say follower count doesn’t matter but how in the hell do you expect to reach this generation if they’re not following you in some form or capacity?”

Aside from making noise, his goal with his writing is a feminist one. “My words are what I would say to my sister, my mother, or the women I want to protect,” he added. “Even after being hurt by a woman in the past, I understood where it came from and why she was the way she was as soon as I met her father, the man who had broken her heart long before she’d even known me.” 

Follow his Instagram page for a dose of truth.

The post R.H. Sin Makes a Lot of Noise Through His Poetry appeared first on PlayJunkie.

“When I first started sharing my work online, I wasn’t very serious about it and I really just wanted an outlet for the things I was too afraid to say,” she admitted in an interview with Isaase. But soon enough, she learned that her words had an impact and turned her passion for poetry into a career.

Now, with more than 80k followers on Instagram, it’s clear that people are tuning in. “My poetry is very much a reflection of who I am,” says Reddy. “I started writing as a kid, simply as a way to verbalize feelings I didn’t know how to talk about – and while my writing has definitely improved since – I still write for the same reasons.”

“I think the biggest lesson educators or counselors need to learn is to listen, and to really understand,” she added. “The greatest creators in the world are still in high school – we should be learning from them. One of the most frustrating parts of school for me was believing there was something wrong with my feelings because the adults I spoke to couldn’t relate, and I believe that’s one of the main reasons why kids don’t feel comfortable speaking up for themselves. Listening is key.”

Follow her Instagram page for more sound advice on life and love.

The post Pavana Reddy’s Poetry Will Soothe Your Aching Heart appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Since the launch, her site has grown into a global phenomenon, which includes books, a YouTube channel, an Instagram page, and online courses. Her creations include uplifting memes, illustrations, and mantras – all aimed at personal development.

It also includes practical advice and personal insights about living positively in the present moment. The tone is not preachy but rather, friendly and forgiving. “Someone once said, ‘If you realize how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.’ Positively Present is that quote come to life online,” explains DiPirro’s website.

According to DiPirro, “living a ‘positively present” life means staying in the moment while focusing on the positive in every situation, which can often be difficult when facing the pressures and challenges of everyday life (not to mention the particularly tough times of loss, stress, or heartache!).”

Learn from the best of the best:

The post Dani DiPirro Will Teach You How to Stay Positively Present appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Recipes For Self-Love

Amsterdam-based illustrator, Alison Rachel, encourages people to be happy and hopeful. Her illustrations focus on women, colored in light pastel colors and they feature a quote or saying that aims to promote kindness and well-being. Here are some thoughtful reminders.

Female Collective

Candace Reel empowers other women through her Female Collective – a virtual community and philanthropic organization which has amassed over 430k followers on Instagram. Her page features a collection of feminist memes and mantras that will hopefully provide you with an online support system.

Alexandra Elle

Author and wellness consultant Alexandra Elle shares carefully written notes that aim at healing your mind and body. Based in Washington, DC, her inspiring messages have caught on with more than 580 thousand followers on Instagram. She’s also written several books on the subject of self-healing and teaches workshops and retreats centered around assisting others in finding their voices through storytelling, poetry, and narrative writing rooted in truth without shame.

The post 3 Inspiring Instagram Pages to Lift Up Your Spirits appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Although she’s created from a young age, her path to illustration isn’t traditional as she had a career in marketing before painting. “From a young age, I would sketch comic strips and draw people,” she shared with Freelance Wisdom.

“I never took it too seriously until after I finished college with a degree in marketing. I decided that I wasn’t really doing what I loved to do, and then after the birth of my first child, I got an insane passion to go for what I always dreamed of. Art started taking root again in my heart and I started sketching illustrations and sharing them online.”

After sharing her work, projects started coming in. “At a really wild time, I was pregnant with my second child, I decided to take the leap to freelance and it’s been a thrilling, fulfilling, and adventurous ride,” she says. “From there I’ve seen the need in the market for women, especially mothers, to be encouraged in being creative.”

Based in Minneapolis, in 2019 Holliday received the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant which was a great opportunity for her to showcase her work in the Minnesota community. Her online persona is also steadily growing, and with more than 11k fans on Instagram – people are clearly taking note.

Follow her inspiring journey.

The post Jena Holliday Encourages Women to Tap Into Their Gifts appeared first on PlayJunkie.

The following artists will inspire you to broaden your horizons when it comes to your definition of art. Who knows, they might just inspire you to pick up your brush.

Stone Painting

First up is Japanese artist Akie Nakata. Using small stones and pebbles as her canvas, Nakata’s miniature paintings take after the natural world. Cats, owls, and frogs come to life as she paints them on stone. According to Nakata, she chooses stones that already resemble animals. She then paints straight onto them, using acrylic paint. The end result is quite remarkable.

Teabag Painting

Ruby Silvious uses a different material altogether as her canvas: used, dried-up teabags. Her miniature art includes recreations of classic paintings such as Gabriël Metsu’s painting, Woman: “I want viewers to keep an open mind and think beyond the boundaries of what they may consider traditional art,” Silvious remarked once.

“In today’s throw-away culture, where we have immediate access to an abundance of materials and numerous mediums to choose from, all things become possible.” Alongside used teabags, Silvious also paints on broken eggshells and wine corks.

Illustrating with Everyday Objects

Chances are, you’ve stumbled across Christoph Niemann’s illustrations at least once. Celebrated as the world’s best illustrator, his work appears regularly on the covers of  The New Yorker,  National Geographic, and The New York Times Magazine. Part of his charm and wit is his unique use of everyday objects, incorporating physical objects like matchsticks and socks, into his illustrations.

“More than a specific visual style, my trademark has always been to autonomously, swiftly, and conceivably map out and execute an idea,” Niemann once shared with The Creative Independent. “Nobody ever approached me asking for a drawing of, say, a dinosaur with a fridge as a head done ‘in my style.’”

The post These Artists Will Inspire You to Think Out of the Box appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Khoudia’s childhood wasn’t easy. Although her skin tone is quite common in Senegal, she was still teased for it. She was told that she was ugly, and could never be considered beautiful.

But she refused to listen. She fought to be accepted and loved and had the support and encouragement of her friends and family. Later she learned to see her skin for what it is – a unique feature that should be celebrated, not mocked.

Slowly, others around her started seeing what she saw. One day, when she was in high school in Paris, a photographer asked to snap her photo and offered her a path into the modeling world. At first, she declined the offer – she was still in high school, and her education was too important to her. She didn’t know anything about modeling and was afraid to fail. Luckily, her friends had convinced her to give it a shot – and she went for it.

It was soon clear that she was going to be huge in the fashion world. She had it took to be a model – self-discipline, willingness to learn and above all – astonishing beauty.

Today Khoudia is a veteran model no one teases anymore, but she hasn’t forgotten where she came from. She uses her new platform to inspire young girls to celebrate their beauty, no matter the skin tone.

The post This Girl Was Once Bullied for her “Ugliness”. Today She’s a Supermodel appeared first on PlayJunkie.

But not Lauren. She could have gotten sad, or mad, but instead – she decided to get even. And what better way to get even than living her best life as publicly as she could? So she took all that energy and poured it into her new IG account, aptly named Dumped Wife’s Revenge. 

Her goal was to turn that devastating turn of events, her divorce, into something positive – to control her own story and rewrite herself not as the abandoned wife but as a fierce, passionate, independent woman.

Unsurprisingly, many other women have found Dianne’s story inspiring, and her account exploded. She has 25k followers on Instagram who are there with her as she meets celebrities, tries on fabulous clothes and travels the world. 

Her account is no longer just about revenge. It’s about inspiring and empowering other women to become the independent, passionate and beautiful people they are, at any age.

The post Woman Uses Separation to Empower and Learn a Lesson of Self-Love appeared first on PlayJunkie.

While almost all dogs are good by nature and just want some love and attention, certain breeds carry a stigma and are often left abandoned and unwanted on the streets or in shelters. Pit bulls are wonderful companions but are seen as brutal, violent dogs. That’s probably why Brinks’ previous owner had abandoned him, though there’s no way to tell for sure.

Brinks was left alone outside a private school in New York. He hadn’t been abused or neglected, but he was alone, scared and confused. Luckily, one person saw him and couldn’t ignore him.

Jn Bozak was leaving his apartment with his dog Demo when the abandoned pit spotted them from across the street and trotted over to say hello. The first thing Jon noticed about this strange dog was his huge, welcoming smile. He had no intention of taking in another dog, but he couldn’t say no to that face. He put up flyers around the neighborhood in case Brinks was lost – but when no one called to claim him, Jon knew he was his new dad.

Brink hasn’t lost that grin ever since. In every photo and video, he seems like the happiest dog alive. He must know how lucky he is to have found his forever family.

The post This Rescued Pit Bull Can’t Stop Smiling appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Dancing is a physically demanding form of performance art, and for people with Scoliosis, it might even be impossible. Scoliosis is a disease that affects the spine, making it curve gradually and restrict movement. People with scoliosis suffer pain and discomfort, have to wear braces and sometimes even go under surgery to ease the symptoms.

Naturally, most patients with scoliosis don’t pick competitive sports as their first career choice. But Julia Carlile did. She’d been dancing all her life, even before she knew there was something wrong with her spine, and even though her Scoliosis is sever, all she wanted to do all her life is dance. Her condition has never stopped her from showcasing her natural talent, and she even competed in Britain’s Got Talent with her dance group, MerseyGirls, and won first place!

But here’s where it gets even more inspiring. On the show, Julia revealed that she would have to go to surgery, which would fix her spine, but would end her dancing career. A more advanced type of surgery that would allow her to keep dancing was available in the States, but she couldn’t afford it. When Simon Cowell, the leading judge of the show, heard her story, he decided to pay for her to go to the Stated and have the surgery there!

Thanks to Simon’s beautiful act of kindness, Julia can keep on dancing, and we hope she does do for many more years.  

The post This Girl Didn’t Let Anything Stop Her From Dancing – Not Even Her Spine appeared first on PlayJunkie.

His hard work and dedication paid off, and now with more than 1.7 million (!) followers on Instagram, he’s a force to be reckoned with. “I came into 2016 with 251,018 followers,” he told the Newyorker, talking about his rise to fame. “I entered 2017 with 515,164. I am a workhorse. I think a lot of people in my industry are content with the ‘struggling artist’ ideology. I’m not. On any given day, my account brings in 600,000 to one million ‘likes.’ The object is to be seen or heard, and I make a lot of noise.”

And when it comes to his online success, he’s very much committed. “Your account should be growing, you should also be growing. Evolving is the point,” he stressed. “People bulls**t in our niche, they say follower count doesn’t matter but how in the hell do you expect to reach this generation if they’re not following you in some form or capacity?”

Aside from making noise, his goal with his writing is a feminist one. “My words are what I would say to my sister, my mother, or the women I want to protect,” he added. “Even after being hurt by a woman in the past, I understood where it came from and why she was the way she was as soon as I met her father, the man who had broken her heart long before she’d even known me.” 

Follow his Instagram page for a dose of truth.

The post R.H. Sin Makes a Lot of Noise Through His Poetry appeared first on PlayJunkie.

“When I first started sharing my work online, I wasn’t very serious about it and I really just wanted an outlet for the things I was too afraid to say,” she admitted in an interview with Isaase. But soon enough, she learned that her words had an impact and turned her passion for poetry into a career.

Now, with more than 80k followers on Instagram, it’s clear that people are tuning in. “My poetry is very much a reflection of who I am,” says Reddy. “I started writing as a kid, simply as a way to verbalize feelings I didn’t know how to talk about – and while my writing has definitely improved since – I still write for the same reasons.”

“I think the biggest lesson educators or counselors need to learn is to listen, and to really understand,” she added. “The greatest creators in the world are still in high school – we should be learning from them. One of the most frustrating parts of school for me was believing there was something wrong with my feelings because the adults I spoke to couldn’t relate, and I believe that’s one of the main reasons why kids don’t feel comfortable speaking up for themselves. Listening is key.”

Follow her Instagram page for more sound advice on life and love.

The post Pavana Reddy’s Poetry Will Soothe Your Aching Heart appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Since the launch, her site has grown into a global phenomenon, which includes books, a YouTube channel, an Instagram page, and online courses. Her creations include uplifting memes, illustrations, and mantras – all aimed at personal development.

It also includes practical advice and personal insights about living positively in the present moment. The tone is not preachy but rather, friendly and forgiving. “Someone once said, ‘If you realize how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.’ Positively Present is that quote come to life online,” explains DiPirro’s website.

According to DiPirro, “living a ‘positively present” life means staying in the moment while focusing on the positive in every situation, which can often be difficult when facing the pressures and challenges of everyday life (not to mention the particularly tough times of loss, stress, or heartache!).”

Learn from the best of the best:

The post Dani DiPirro Will Teach You How to Stay Positively Present appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Recipes For Self-Love

Amsterdam-based illustrator, Alison Rachel, encourages people to be happy and hopeful. Her illustrations focus on women, colored in light pastel colors and they feature a quote or saying that aims to promote kindness and well-being. Here are some thoughtful reminders.

Female Collective

Candace Reel empowers other women through her Female Collective – a virtual community and philanthropic organization which has amassed over 430k followers on Instagram. Her page features a collection of feminist memes and mantras that will hopefully provide you with an online support system.

Alexandra Elle

Author and wellness consultant Alexandra Elle shares carefully written notes that aim at healing your mind and body. Based in Washington, DC, her inspiring messages have caught on with more than 580 thousand followers on Instagram. She’s also written several books on the subject of self-healing and teaches workshops and retreats centered around assisting others in finding their voices through storytelling, poetry, and narrative writing rooted in truth without shame.

The post 3 Inspiring Instagram Pages to Lift Up Your Spirits appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Although she’s created from a young age, her path to illustration isn’t traditional as she had a career in marketing before painting. “From a young age, I would sketch comic strips and draw people,” she shared with Freelance Wisdom.

“I never took it too seriously until after I finished college with a degree in marketing. I decided that I wasn’t really doing what I loved to do, and then after the birth of my first child, I got an insane passion to go for what I always dreamed of. Art started taking root again in my heart and I started sketching illustrations and sharing them online.”

After sharing her work, projects started coming in. “At a really wild time, I was pregnant with my second child, I decided to take the leap to freelance and it’s been a thrilling, fulfilling, and adventurous ride,” she says. “From there I’ve seen the need in the market for women, especially mothers, to be encouraged in being creative.”

Based in Minneapolis, in 2019 Holliday received the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant which was a great opportunity for her to showcase her work in the Minnesota community. Her online persona is also steadily growing, and with more than 11k fans on Instagram – people are clearly taking note.

Follow her inspiring journey.

The post Jena Holliday Encourages Women to Tap Into Their Gifts appeared first on PlayJunkie.