Entries from: September 2011
Dear Photograph
September 29th, 2011, Comments (4)
A friend (thanks, Kim!) clued me in to this beautiful site, Dear Photograph. It seemed to fit so nicely with the history theme this month, that I had to share it!
The people who submit an image, hold an old photograph up in the same place, take a picture (I included an example above) and then include a message, which begins, "Dear Photograph..."
Check it out. The images and words are sure to touch your heart.
Creative Every Day theme for October: Autumn
September 27th, 2011, Comments (13)
At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. For the month of October 2011, the theme will be Autumn.
As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it inspires you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between. You can sign up for the 2011 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime. More info can be found here and the sign-up page is here.
I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:
- *Take a walk and collect items that say fall to you.
- *Use the items you've collected to make an "ode to autumn" arrangement in your space.
- *Photograph a place in nature each day to capture the changes that happen during the season.
- *Use fallen leaves to make prints or rubbings.
- *Paint in autumn colors.
- *Concoct warm drinks or foods that make you think of fall (think nutmeg, apples, and cinnamon!)
- *Think back to your favorite fall moments and capture them in a poem.
- *Press the last flowers of fall between the pages of book to savor or create with later.
How to use the CED themes:
If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.
Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.
And have fun with it!
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus
p.s. The art above is adapted from my piece, Dark Tree, available here.
p.p.s.Get ready for next month, when we take a break from the themes and celebrate Art Every Day Month!
Creative Every Day Check-In: September 26 – October 2
September 26th, 2011, Comments (18)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: Read all the details and sign up for the 2011 Creative Every Day Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 9/26/11 - 10/2/11.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2011 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for September is History, which you can read more about and get ideas for here.
Happy Creating!
Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the surface of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what's going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise. - Annie Dillard
World’s Biggest Summit!
September 22nd, 2011, Comments (12)
I'm so thrilled to be a speaker at Goddess Leonie's World's Biggest Summit!
Did you know that the Summit is totally and completely free? With amazing speakers like Julia Cameron, Jennifer Lee, Jennifer Louden, and SARK? Yeah! Have you signed up yet? Go do it and then come back...
In case you don't know her, Goddess Leonie of GoddessGuidebook.com is a true gem in the world. She is an artist, momma, and creator of the Goddess Circle along with so many amazing e-courses and meditations. She rocks my socks.
I created a video for the summit talking about how to be creative every day, even when you don't feel particularly creative, even when you don't feel like you have the time, and even when you're not feeling good enough. And I even throw in a fun art demo!
I also talk about Art Every Day Month, which is right around the corner. This will be the ninth year (wow!) and even though I know it's going to be extra challenging for me this year, I'm really looking forward to it.
I've set up the sign-up page for AEDM, so if you already know you're going to commit to the challenge, you can feel free to sign up now. I'll be talking more about Art Every Day Month in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, you can read all about the challenge here. And if you're interested, but feel like you could use a little extra help through the process of creating for 30 days, check out the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide here.
20 weeks
September 19th, 2011, Comments (18)
Along the lines of personal history, I've been thinking back over the last year in the history of myself and my little girl. She is twenty weeks old today! Amazing! She's got such a personality already, so happy and sweet (and also firey, strong and silly!) At this milestone, I couldn't help but think back to when I was twenty weeks pregnant with her (and looking oh, so serious! haha!), half-baked, as I called it then (although she came a little early, so she was a bit more than halfway there already.)
I was just starting to show and just starting to breathe easier about the pregnancy, with a successful anatomy scan behind us (where we found out that my intuition about having a girl was correct) and feeling her move (amazing!) It was an exciting time and the hubster and I spent a lot of time speculating about what she'd be like, what she would look like, what things she would enjoy doing. And now she's been in our life for twenty weeks!
I can't say that time has exactly flown by, like everyone says it does. It has in some ways, but in others, with a baby who does not like to sleep, time moves quite slowly. But today, I'm feeling a bit sentimental about her reaching this milestone. Twenty weeks sounds like a big number! And today, I moved the shoulder straps in her car seat up a notch. She's getting so long!
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Here's to my sparkling little girl and the weeks, months, and years ahead. I love you, Mush!
Creative Every Day Check-In: September 19 – 25
September 19th, 2011, Comments (13)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: Read all the details and sign up for the 2011 Creative Every Day Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 9/19/11 - 9/25/11.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2011 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for September is History, which you can read more about and get ideas for here.
Happy Creating!
I go to a museum and see a painting someone living in the past has made and I'm completely blown away. The nature of human beings has not changed. Everyone wants to avoid suffering and look for love. ~Dana Levin
Using Items with History in Your Work
September 18th, 2011, Comments (7)
There's something really fabulous about using items that have a history to them in your work. I feel like it gives a certain depth to a piece of art, a layering of stories. Sometimes the stories are so juicy that I have trouble covering them up! In Roots (above), I made use of a fun "Today's Woman" magazine from the 50's. The ads from that magazine were pretty interesting!
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I've found collage items at flea markets, bought them from people online, and found them amongst my own stash of papers. They may be blueprints, dress patterns, handwritten recipes, maps, or old photos. Collaged together, their stories combine to tell a new tale, one which I might not expect when I start putting them together. In What's Behind (above), it felt like the story created was one the woman in the painting is trying to leave behind her.
Creative Every Day Check-In: September 12 – 18
September 12th, 2011, Comments (18)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: Read all the details and sign up for the 2011 Creative Every Day Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 9/12/11 - 9/18/11.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2011 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for September is History, which you can read more about and get ideas for here.
Happy Creating!
Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart and his friends can only read the title. ~Virginia Woolf
Family History in Your Art
September 8th, 2011, Comments (7)
This month's theme called to mind some of the pieces I've done relating to my own family history. While working intuitively and learning about encaustic art, I created a piece called "Memory Tree." It related to my family tree and my grandmother who at the time was suffering from Alzheimer's. She has since passed away.
I later created other memory trees in encaustic. I loved the medium, but didn't love the fumes (they gave me a headache), so I had to stop.
Family history, stories, memories, loss, and joys can be such a powerful place to draw from in your creations. What sort of family history could you pull from for your own creations?
p.s. My mother and sister are walking to raise funds for Alzheimer's research this fall in memory of my grandmother. If you feel called to, you can help support the cause here. Thank you!
Creative Every Day Check-In: September 5 – 11
September 5th, 2011, Comments (15)
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: Read all the details and sign up for the 2011 Creative Every Day Challenge here!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 9/5/11 - 9/11/11.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #CED2011 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for September is History, which you can read more about and get ideas for here.
Happy Creating!
History doesn't repeat itself - at best it sometimes rhymes. ~Mark Twain
