Entries from: January 2008

Spread the Love

January 15th, 2008, Comments (1)

I think what Bernie Berlin does for animals is amazing, outstanding, incredible, heart-warming, mind-blowing...I don't have enough good words to say about it! Bernie's animal shelter which you can learn more about here, is in the running to win $50,000 for her charity. She needs more donations to keep her charity up there in the ranking, so if you have an extra $10 to spare, please consider making a donation. You can use the badge below which will take you to a site where you can donate by paypal or credit card.

Bernwpups4web

Bernie takes in abused and abandoned animals and helps them find loving homes. I don't know where she gets all the energy she has, but I admire the hard work she puts in and I whole-heartedly believe in what she's doing. Bernie put out the call for help, so that she can bring this amazing prize to her shelter (imagine what she could do with all that money? all the animals she could save!) and the support she has already received has been amazing. So, if you can, help out this great cause.

Art is coming shortly! :-)

Creativity Galore

January 14th, 2008, Comments (12)

I'm having so much fun with the CED project this year. I get so excited to see what everyone is up to, the new and wonderful ways you're being creative, and sharing my own creativity. What a great energy to start of the new year with!

We got blasted with snow here in New England. The world is covered in thick, white, fluffy stuff. The power was out most of the day today where I'm staying (at my old job) and I couldn't get home anyways because there's a big tree in our driveway. I feel SO lucky that my car wasn't there last night. A big tree fell right in the spots where my neighbor and I park our cars, both of which happen to be brand new. That would have been devastating - to come out and see my shiny new car crushed! So anyways, the landlord couldn't get any help to remove the tree til tomorrow, so I'll go back to the house for a bit then and then back to my supervising role at the old job.

The power being out wasn't too bad, but it was out for over 5 hours and it was starting to get really cold and it would have been dark shortly, so I'm glad that it has returned. While the power was out, I spent a lot of time reading. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman was excellent by the way. I highly recommend it. In the afternoon, I worked on "Subway Stories" pieces, finishing up the two I've been showing you and prepping and starting new ones. It was nice to have a bit more room to spread out in and I could work on more pieces at once, sanding and gessoing and gluing and painting. The hubster and I are trying to get rid of the extra stuff (we're both kinda messy, but we do better in a cleaner space) in our apartment and I'm trying to do the same in my studio. I would love some more space to work in, but I need this to work for now. In the meantime, I just droooool over the studio spaces I see in blogland sometimes. Karin of "Karins Kreativa 2008" joined the CED 2008 challenge today. Her blog is in Swedish and I haven't been able to find a good translator for Swedish to English, but I really have enjoyed her pictures including her amazingly organized studio space. Check it out here.  I've started doing some of this kind of organizing in my own space, but the way she's put her creative supplies together gives me so many ideas. I've included a few of the photos from Karin's studio below, but do go see the rest! Thanks for the inspiration, Karin!

Tavellisterna101Armen101Fixadhylla101

I got an email from Becky of Quoth the Rav in which she shared a quote from her inspirational calendar:

"When looking for a new idea, thumb through a magazine on a subject of no interest to you."
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.-
from Life's Little Instruction calendar 2008

Becky took this inspiration and ran with it, using a medical supply catalog to get ideas  and material for collage. I love that!

Janet of The Lavendar Loft has shared a great list of creativity tips (the original list is here.) I love what Janet had to say about creativity when she shared the list. I totally agree with her when she says that people often shut themselves down thinking they can't be creative, when in fact we are all creative every day. And by bringing our focus to the many ways we are creative in our everyday lives we can only bring more inspiration and creative goodness flowing in.

O.k., I'm going to get back to working on some art. I'll get my camera back tomorrow, so you can expect some pics from me then!

Creative Every Day – January 14th – 20th

January 14th, 2008, Comments (22)

CED2008 participants! Feel free to leave a comment here with a link to post(s) about your creative activities during the week of 1/14/08 - 1/20/08.

Happy creating!

Tis the Season

January 13th, 2008, Comments (7)

I stopped home today to grab some art supplies and forgot my camera. Doh! So, I used one at my boss's house and the picture isn't fabulous, but I wanted to grab a shot of the next stage in the process.

Here I've written the subway rider's thoughts within their bodies. We're expecting a big snow storm here in New England, so I'm thinking tomorrow will be a cozy up and get creative kind of day. Fun!

In her book, Organizing for the Spirit, Sunny Schlenger talks about recognizing the seasons. She suggested making a list of the things we love about each season and then be sure to schedule in those things each year. I like this idea because I do think it's important to have some sort of rituals in your life and sometimes the seasons can pass us by so quick and we suddenly realize we didn't enjoy them at all!

I've made no secret of the fact that winter is not my favorite season. I don't like the cold, the icy roads, the dry air indoors, the short days. But there are things I love about winter! Many things in fact! I do try to incorporate the things I love into my love, but I like the idea of writing it out and making the intention to include those things each season.

Some of the things I love about winter:

  • big frothy mugs of hot chocolate
  • snuggling under layers of covers
  • cozy kitties curled up on my lap
  • fires in a fireplace
  • the feeling of being warmed to the bone by a good soup
  • looking out the window at fresh snowfall
  • putting up sparkly lights
  • the festive feeling people create in their homes this time of year
  • sledding
  • watching dogs play in snow
  • the smell of fires in fireplaces when I'm driving
  • wreaths
  • making cookies with family

Some of the things I love about spring:

  • Green, green, green!
  • Seeing the world come back to life. Amazes me every time.
  • The smell of growth
  • Days getting longer
  • Flowers poking up
  • The feeling in the air that makes people all nutty
  • Warmer weather
  • Fresh fruit
  • Gardens
  • Driving with the windows down
  • Peonies
  • Watching cute little birdies

Some of the things I love about summer:

  • My birthday!
  • Being outside in t-shirt and shorts
  • Going to the ocean at night to see stars
  • Refreshing drinks with ice and a slice of lemon
  • Swimming
  • Long days
  • Wearing flip-flops
  • Fireworks
  • Vacations
  • Ice cream
  • Thunder storms
  • Hydrangeas
  • Fireflies, Butterflies and Dragonflies

Some of the things I love about fall:

  • gorgeous fall colors in the trees
  • warm apple cider
  • apple picking
  • going for long walks in the woods
  • Halloween
  • my wedding anniversary! :-)
  • the smell in the air
  • wearing new fall clothes
  • the old school schedule desire to get new books :-)
  • cooking up warm food again
  • burning candles that smell like pumpkin spice
  • tea with honey

So, there you go, give it a try. It's fun to think about the things that make each season special!

Creative Every Day 2008 – January 1st – 13th

January 13th, 2008, Comments (8)

In order to make it simpler for you to stay connected to Creative Every Day 2008 participants, I'm going to make a weekly post where you can leave a comment with your links to posts about what you're doing in your quest to be creative every day. This is simply another option, you don't have to comment on these posts, but I think it will be a good way to stay in touch. I know for myself, my creativity doesn't always have a picture attached, so I don't always post to the flickr group (but I will continue to post the pictures there whenever I can take a picture of what I'm doing creatively.) The group has become very big, so hopefully this will help!

This post is a place to leave links to posts about creativity you've done in the last two weeks (don't feel you need to link to all your CED posts so far here) and tomorrow I'll have a new post (for January 14 - 21)where you can link to posts that you write in the next seven days. I'll have a new post each week dedicated to links to your posts in the comments. And we'll see how that goes!

Happy creating!

The Randomizer

January 12th, 2008, Comments (12)

Some of the Creative Every Day 2008 participants have been asking about a good way to share what they're doing for their everyday creativity. I want people to post about their creative activities in any way that feels good for them, but I understand the desire to find the posts that people are writing about it since there are so many participants. So, I'm thinking about making a weekly post where you can leave a comment with a link to your posts. That way, any time during the week you can have a place to leave a comment where people can go and find your links about what you're up to in your creative worlds. It won't be required, of course, but I can give it a try and see how it goes. What do you think?

For today's creative activity, I worked more on the subway pieces below. I wrote the thoughts within the figures and did some other work with ink. I don't have my camera tonight, so pics will have to wait. In the meantime, enjoy some randomness!

Gemma emailed me tonight about the 2nd annual Oneworld-Oneheart giveaway, which is set up to connect creative bloggers. It sounds like a really cool project! I won't be joining in this one because I recently gave away a bunch of items (which I haven't sent out yet! Sorry gals, they are coming soon!) But do check it out!

MakemydayawardI got a wonderful surprise today when I saw that Jaime had given me a "You Make My Day Award." Thanks so much, Jaime! You definitely made my day! Your blog is a constant source of inspiration and I admire your wonderful energy and zest for life.

The description of this award follows: Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times!

How in the world to choose 10 people? Well, all y'all make my day! Seriously! Here are ten people who made my day today: Bridgette, Tammy, Ellie, Jes, Jessie, Marilyn, Melba, Jenn, Kristen, and Tammi.

Did you say you wanted some more randomness? Well, o.k. then!

I've seen posts about Andrea Scher's Mondo Beyondo on a few blogs now. I love the name of it, Mondo Beyondo...it rolls off the tongue so nice. Anyways, it's sort of a new year challenge. It starts with part 1:

1. What do you want to acknowledge yourself for in regard to 2007?
(What did you create? What challenges did you face with courage and strength? What promises did you keep to yourself? What brave choices did you make? What are you proud of?) Last year was a year of big changes. I'm proud that I followed through with massage school and finished the two year program even though I decided I didn't want to do it as a career. I got married this year, as did one of my brothers and my husband's brother. It was a year of weddings. I decided to leave my nanny job after 6 years and start working for myself full-time, pursuing my dream to be an artist and now a writer. Interestingly enough, I purchased one of Andrea's Superhero necklaces to celebrate my leap into my artistic career!

2. What is there to grieve about 2007?
(What was disappointing? What was scary? What was hard? What can you forgive yourself for?) Transitions are hard. Even happy transitions. So, I found it to be a challenging year full of adjustments and re-finding myself and my sense of balance. I can forgive myself for not being perfect.

3. What else do you need to say about the year to declare it complete?

I'm ready to let go and move into 2008. I declare 2007 complete!

The final step is to consider your primary focus for the year to come. What is your primary intention or theme for 2008? Is it the year of joy? the year of self-care? the year of partnership?

Stand up and say it proud, "2008 is my year of...."

Well, I already decided this one. 2008 is my year of now!

The second part of Mondo Beyondo is to declare what you want to bring into your life, the big something that you desire in your heart of hearts, but may be scary to say out loud. Well, I kind did this already too, by announcing that I'm working on a book about creativity. And the results already have been wonderful. Saying it out loud has made it that much more real. It's one of those things where it feels like once I took that first step, doors began to open up. You gotta love that. So, I share this to encourage anyone else who hasn't thought about what they're intending for the year, to make a bold declaration of their big dream! Perhaps I'll write up a longer list another time, but I think that's good enough for now. This post is getting ridiculously random and long! :-) So, toodaloo for now. And if that wasn't enough linkage for you, check out the magnificent list of creative souls (to the right) who have made it their intention to be Creative Every Day in 2008!

Come on Ride the Train

January 12th, 2008, Comments (13)

These are the pieces I showed below after I drew in and painted the figures over the collage. I worked on them at different points during the day and finished up last night while the hubster played guitar on the couch. I love when he plays music while I paint. The creative energy in the room makes my heart feel so big.

They're not done yet. Next step will be writing inside their bodies what these figures are thinking as they ride the subway.  Funny sychronicity...as I was thinking about putting this post up, I was perusing the newspaper and saw that today is the day of the 7th annual No Pants Subway Ride. Yes, you heard me right (or read me right rather.) The event is organized by an Improv Everywhere, which is based in NYC, but the event happens in cities all over the world. So, if you're feeling brave or voyeuristic, go check it out in your city! Heh. After looking around IE's site a little more I came upon this story of a mass de-shirting in Abercrombie & Fitch, which totally cracked me up. I love a good sense of humor. :-)

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

January 11th, 2008, Comments (10)

I don't know. It rhymes. :-)

The power was out all day. I had to wait around for it to be fixed because the guys from the electric company needed to check in with someone, plus their trucks were blocking my driveway, so I stayed put. It worked out o.k. because I was up in the middle of the night feeling sick (more tummy trouble. I must have a bug) and so I slept late. But then all afternoon, it was dark and cold in the apartment. I bundled up and made the most of it though. I worked on some art. I brought it out to the front room to work in front of our sliding glass doors. Even though it was gray out, sitting there gave me enough light to work by. In some ways, it was nice to have some enforced non-computer time. I would have appreciated some light to work by, but, as Tim Gunn would say, I made it work. I tend to let the computer suck me in for far too long. The internet is a wonderful resource. I love the blogging world and all the inspiration there is to discover. But there's a point where I'm just distracting myself or procrastinating or mindlessly clicking. And I need to stop myself before that point.

Anyways, last night was creativity central in my house. There was art and cooking and writing, oh my! I made dinner for the hubster and I did something fairly unusual for me - I didn't follow a recipe. The hubster enjoys cooking far more than I do and he loves to experiment. No two meals are exactly the same. Ever. This can be good and bad. Sometimes the experiments go horribly wrong, but usually they're fun and interesting and delicious. I've always been a "follow directions" kind of girl, believe it or not. I like having a road-map for my food, so I know it will come out decently. And once I find a recipe I like, I'll repeat it over and over. I'm not comfortable enough with food to just make it up or so I thought. Well, last night, I was looking online for a recipe and I found one that sounded good except that I had none of the ingredients. Heh. So, I took the oven settings and idea behind it and made up the rest. And I have to tell you, it was delicious! I had already marinated two chicken breasts in a creole marinade. I then melted a few tablespoons of butter in a bowl and added about a teaspoon or two of chili powder. In another bowl I combined about a half cup of grated parmesan cheese with a cup of breadcrumbs. I dipped the chicken in the butter/chili powder mixture, rolled it in the breadcrumb/cheese mix and then put it in a buttered pan at 350 for about 35 minutes. I served it with brown rice and corn and it was so good! I was so pleased (and really relieved) that it came together. Phew!

Earlier in the night, I worked on these two panels. I had already gessoed them, so I simply tore and glued the paper in place. Today I worked on them more, drawing in the scene and then starting to paint in acrylics. I'll show pictures of them in progress and finished as I go along. After dinner, I sat in bed and did some writing for my book. Sometimes, I like to hand-write things out and then type them up later. There's something freeing about writing by hand in a journal. So, that's what I did. It was fun and productive.

This weekend, all the evenings this week, and next weekend, I'm helping out my old boss and working for them (by keeping an eye on their teenage daughter and their 2 dogs.) I'll still be posting though and creating though!

I hope your weekend is a wildly creative one!

On a Roll of Creative Goodness

January 9th, 2008, Comments (11)

Oo, I've got a tummy ache! So, why am I here? Well, call me obsessed, but I'm on a roll today, feeling good and want to share. And immediately after I write this post, I'll be getting into cozy pajamas and curling up with my journal and maybe going to bed early.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm working on a book about creativity and in the comments of that post, I got a generous offer of editing help from Sarah. It was scary to email the drafts of the introduction and first chapter off to Sarah, but I did (and I survived.) I got her comments back today and already her feedback has been so helpful.

Before I got her comments back, I was thinking about the intro and wondered how some of my favorite authors did it. I pulled out a few books from my bookshelf and flipped through the pages. One of the books was SARK's Succulent Wild Woman and the first page I opened to had one of SARK's drawings of a woman on a bicycle. Beneath the drawing was written, "We are all riding creative cycles." Immediately I was reminded of the art piece I did last week, "Memory Cycles" which focused on the cycles in our lives. I love little bits of synchronicity like that. (And I've found that when synchronicity is popping up everywhere, I'm on the right track. So, hoorah!)

I closed SARK's book and flipped open to a random page in Jan Phillips' Marry Your Muse and in the margins was this quote (which I had circled and underlined previously) by Corita Kent ,

Creativity belongs to the artist in each of us. To create means to relate. The root meaning of the word art is "to fit together" and we all do this every day. Not all of us are painters but we are all artists. Each time we fit things together we are creating - whether it is to make a loaf of bread, a child, a day.

How perfect is that? That seems to encapsulate the essence of what I want to encourage in others in the Creative Every Day 2008 project.

My creativity activities today ran the gamut of playing silly games with young children of my friends to writing and designing the monthly newsletter for my art website. By the way, subscribers to the newsletter are automatically entered into a monthly drawing for a free print! You can sign up in the lower left corner of the website.

How bout some more fun linkage? I can't help myself.

- This is a video by Creative Every Day 2008 participant, Kris Cahill. Kris makes these amazing paintings in reverse on vinyl. Go watch and be amazed!

- I love this challenge posted on JustBeConnected today. Hostess for the week, Patti has posted a fun (and creative!) way to beat those pesky winter blues. Her challenge is another example of how being creative every day often involves changing your perspective a bit.

- Karen posted this hilarious list (a kids say the darndest things kind of list) the other day and it totally cracked me up. Check it out if you need a giggle.

- Need more laughs? This blog is sure to crack you up. Go check out: Tiny Art Director

TTFN, Ta-ta-for-now

Creative Link-a-Roos From Me to You

January 9th, 2008, Comments (9)

Today's (Tuesday's) creativity was mainly found in trying to make thank you note writing an enjoyable experience. I'm down to the last of my wedding thank you notes and as I finished them up, I exclaimed to the hubster, "I'm never getting married again!" :-)

I made the cards fun by using sparkly pens and pretty stamps and writing addresses with silver metallic ink on pretty brown paper and using cool postage stamps. Sure, I probably could have finished them quicker with less embellishing, but what fun would that be? I'm too pooped to photograph the notes, but I'm sure there'll be a couple more to write along the way, so perhaps I'll snap a shot then...or not! The stamps and paper and pens were all picked up at Paper Source a good place to make card making of all kinds more enjoyable. Plus, I just love their motto: "Do Something Creative Every Day." I may have to get one of their mugs that say that on it!

Psmug

I've been seeing so many cool links recently, that I need to share some of them before my mind overflows and I forget to post them!

First, a super cool blog called Today's Creative Blog, from Kim of Scrap To My Lu which features loads of amazing creative blogs. Seriously, inspiration overload here.

Second, I got the latest astrology email from Rob Brezsny today and haven't even read it as I went off on a tangent from his link to Jonathan Zap. The site features a tool called the Zap Oracle which is something like a tarot reading, which you can try for free there. He has a lot of interesting writing, one article in particular got my attention. It was linked to one of the images in a reading on Zap's Oracle Page which was called "The Fire of Now." I felt a bit of synchronicity there since the word I chose for this year is "Now." The quote the accompanied the image was:

Yesterday is ashes, tomorrow wood, only today the fire burns brightly.
— Native American saying

Anyways, the article, which is called, "Kill the Time Grid and Fire Up Your Life," sounds quite odd I'll admit. But it's all about living in the now and I could relate to and appreciate much of what Zap has to say here about the suffering that is caused by living in some imagined future instead of being in the present. I get too easily hyped up and anxious and I've been getting the strong sense that in some areas of my life, I really need to slow down and be still. It feels like there's a sort of paradox between being more active and being more still, but I also feel like these things are connected. I'm not able to be articulate about this quite yet, which is one reason why I love making art! So much easier for me to express myself that way.

Well, other links will have to be shared later as it's suddenly very late. Hope you're all finding creativity in your everyday lives! It has been fun so far to think over all the ways I infuse creativity into my everyday life. I often share the visual art, but I notice the creativity in all sorts of things, from the thank you note writing I mentioned today, to the swirling of honey into a cup of tea this afternoon and the website work this morning. Have a wonderful Wednesday!