Creative Every Day

Entries Tagged as: creative every day 08

Lollipop Trees

November 19th, 2008, Comments (18)

Oh weird, the new typepad upgrade (not visible on my site, the upgrade is an update to the post editor) finally made it to my blog. It'll take a little getting used to I suspect, but so far I'm liking it! 

Above is a quick playful piece with ink and acrylic on 9"x12" watercolor paper that I'm calling, "Lollipop Trees."  It was inspired in part by receiving a book of The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss in the mail today. His private paintings are so amazing!

I'm posting late again today. I spent the afternoon doing some babysitting for my bff's little girl, who calls me Lala (ack, the cuteness!) I totally admire all you moms (and dads!) who can take care of your little ones and do creative things for yourself too!

For Soul Coaching today, I really loved the focus on saying yes to everything in your life...the traffic, the sniffles, the chilly weather...a big, holy yes! I don't know what it was exactly, but it totally gave me an extra boost today to say an enthusiastic yes to everything. There was also an exercise that encouraged returning and re-returning to the present moment throughout the day. I'm loving listening to author Denise Linn's recordings that go along with each day's exercises, especially the meditation that she includes at the start of each day's entry. 

The hubster just returned from a business event, so I'm off to relax with him. Happy creating everyone!

Mandalas and Shadows

November 18th, 2008, Comments (15)

Posting a little late tonight. I went to take pictures of my art of the day, only to realize that my camera's battery was out of juice. It worked out well though, because while it was charging, I got motivated to bring to life a second piece of artwork that had been in my head all day.

The first piece I created is above. Last night I had gessoed over an old record, so I knew that I wanted to paint on it today. I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to paint, but I thought maybe I'd do a mandala. I ended up squirting red paint directly onto the record and then going from there. Around the edges, I put little blue elephants that I think are pretty darn cute. I put it up on the wall with a clear pushpin and I'm loving how bright it is.

So even though I'd done my art for the day when I finished the mandala, I had a strong urge to follow through on an idea I'd had in the morning when I read the entry in Soul Coaching. There were some intense exercises in the book today and yet it really resonated with me. I even had a feeling as I read, that the art I'd submitted to Jamie for the group blog would be up there today (and it was). Also, today was day 17 in the book, and 17 is my lucky number (I say lucky, but I really mean it's the number that I see everywhere and consider to be a wink from the universe.) So with all these little synchronicities, I felt like I had to honor my idea-spark from this morning and bring it to life. And I'm so glad I did!

The idea came as I was reading Denise Linn's discussion of the shadow, the darker side to our psyche. She asks the reader to look out for places where we might be projecting our shadows onto others. I don't know where I read about this originally, but it's a great practice. Basically, the idea is to notice when you're annoyed with or judging someone or something. And when you notice, you stop to think about whether this someone or something is reflecting a part of you that you are annoyed with or judgmental of (whether that part of you is part of your past, present, or perhaps your future.)

I'm calling this piece "Shadow Self" and it's done with acrylic on 12"x16" watercolor paper. I was imagining this sort of vivid and active shadow self down below, while the real self is somewhat subdued because it is trying so hard to ignore the shadow. (I'm really liking this size right now!)

Other bits of today's exercises from the book included turning your "shoulds" into "coulds" (something I like to do and was glad to be reminded of), looking at our sexual history, getting our skeletons out of the closet, and then dancing out our dark and light aspects. It was all a cathartic experience, especially the dancing piece which I surprised myself by really digging into. So, all in all, today was a super expressive day, one of those days it was just pouring out of me. And with that, I'm off so that I can get this posted!

p.s. Thanks for the interest in the calendar I'm creating! I'm waiting for a sample copy to arrive, so I know that the quality is excellent before I start to sell them. As soon as they're ready to go, I'll let you know!

Red Balloon

November 17th, 2008, Comments (23)

I've been busy, busy all day, putting together a 2009 calendar of my artwork (I'll let you know as soon as it's ready!) In the process, I've also prepped some more artwork for prints which I hope to have up on my art website soon. These things always take longer than I expect them to, but I feel good about the progress I've made nonetheless.

Taking a break from the computer this afternoon, I set to painting in a completely intuitive fashion, upon a 12"x16" piece of watercolor paper. I wet the paper, letting some paint flow into the water, creating shapes and lines in a fluid way. Things were flowing again, unlike yesterday, which was a relief. When I stepped back, I saw what was the woman's hair and started bringing that out, eventually seeing that she was wearing a grand red dress and holding a red balloon which is why I'm calling "Red Balloon." I used some ink in the end to draw in her face and give some highlights to the dress and the feather headpiece in her hair. It was fun to play with paint, with no particular end in mind.

This playful method fit right in with one of the focuses of Soul Coaching today, which was to find ways to experience more fun and joy. I plan on having a lovely, fun night to myself this evening while the hubster is out. Heck, it's fun just thinking about the variety of things I can do to make it a fun evening!

In need of a laugh? It's perhaps my love of all things cat, but I find this incredibly funny. It makes me laugh out loud every time. So, if you need a giggle, be sure to check out Guster's a cappella "Carol of the Meows."

Thanks to Wendy for pointing out that AEDM got mentioned on the Liz Massey's blog, Creative Liberty. Liz also mentioned the amazingly talented, Tammy Vitale in the same post. And I have to mention that Tammy created a drawing named after me, called Leah Dancing as part of AEDM, that I just totally love. I've never had a piece of art named for me before. What an honor! It made me all giddy.

Creative Every Day: November 17th – November 23rd, 2008

November 17th, 2008, Comments (7)

Assorted Business

November 16th, 2008, Comments (20)

Well, today's art-making was a frustrating experiencing. I was trying out a new material and it was going well until it suddenly went very wrong and the whole thing turned into a big gray mud puddle. Doh! I scraped it all down and started over, trying to just play at this point. And it was just one of those days where nothing was flowing. Somewhere along the way, I decided to let it go and ended up with this little elephant. He's cute, but the whole experience had me feeling a little cranky. Gotta let go. Experimenting is good, failure is even good and I did learn some things in the process. Here's my little elephant, which is acrylic on 6"x6" panel.

Ah well.

This week in Soul Coaching the theme is "Fire." And today's exercises have to do with facing your fears, listing them out and then imagining how you would survive the worst case scenarios. Some of my fears have to do with rejection, although these particular fears have lessened over time as I'm taking rejection less personally. It still bothers me, but not nearly as much. I hope to tackle some of my lingering rejection fears this week.

A big, huge thank you to Jamie for the Kreativ Blogger award!! Here are the rules:

-Link to the person or persons who tagged you.

-Post the rules on your blog.

-Write six random things about yourself.

-Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.

-Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

-Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

6 Random Things About Me:

1. I'm the shortest person in my family.
2. I've dreamed about the sex of the baby (and been right) for all my siblings and a couple friends.
3. I find slapstick humor (especially people falling down) incredibly (and stupidly) funny.
4. I have a series of freckles on my face that if connected would make the shape of a lawn chair.
5. I get all twitchy if someone repeats the same word over and over again.

O.k., so I'm supposed to tag some people. I've resisted doing it all together lately as I don't want anyone to feel left out. But I also know it's nice to receive an award now and again, so I'll pass this one on with the note that I'm overwhelmed by the multitudes of creative bloggers I've met through doing AEDM and CED. Seriously. You all deserve awards. For today, I'd like to nominate:

• Andrea of A Cat of Impossible Color, whose awesomely thrifted outfits make me wish she could manage my wardrobe.
• Jennifer of Life Unfolds for her incredible sweetness and boundless creative energy.
• Julia of Red Otter for her beautiful arrangements of inspiration.
• Shelley of Oiseaux for her stunning creations.
• Tammy of Women, Art, Life: Weaving it All Together for inspiring me with her gorgeous artwork and incredible energy.
• Judean (aka luf) of Sukeydookiedoo for being my bff and an endless source of support and creative inspiration.

Wendy

November 15th, 2008, Comments (20)

I started playing with ink on wet watercolor paper, let it dry and then looked to see what I saw in the patterns. I saw a flying girl. When I began to draw her, she made me think of the story of Peter Pan when the children fly out the window. So, I'm calling her, "Wendy."

I spent the day with my dad and step-mom, having a delicious lunch and great conversation and now I'm rather zonked, so I'm going to leave it at that for tonight. More tomorrow!

Elsewhere

November 14th, 2008, Comments (24)

I came up for the general idea for this last night. I was moving between rooms and saw the remnants of a cut-out silhouette on my work table. I randomly picked it up and put it against a gessoed panel that I had out and liked the way it looked. I fiddled with it occasionally whenever I happened back in the room. And then before bed, I grabbed my sketchbook and was drawing and began to play with sketches that looked somewhat like this one. I was imagining a woman's thoughts being elsewhere, so I'm calling it "Elsewhere." It's about 6"x6" with acrylic, collage, and ink on a cradled wood panel.

Today in Soul Coaching was all about gratitude and I really enjoyed this focus. In the morning I woke up with a migraine. Denise Linn suggests turning around the things you don't feel grateful for and finding the parts that you are grateful for. So, I took my feeling of annoyance at my migraine and turned it around to feeling grateful that my migraine had woken me up early enough to get up and then come back to bed where I enjoyed an especially sweet snuggle with the hubster and my cat, Sadie. Then I turned around my feelings about the gloomy weather into a feeling of gratitude that I was inside, warm, cozy and dry. It's so good to remember the things we're grateful for and I am incredibly grateful for my life. I'm one blessed girl, I'll tell ya.

Well, the hubster is home from work, so I'm off for now. Hope you all have an amazingly creative weekend!

At Sea

November 13th, 2008, Comments (26)

Ack! It's dark so early!! I was painting today and totally lost track of time. Isn't that a nice feeling? I believe I've finished up "At Sea" which is about 9"x12" on cradled wood panel with acrylic and ink and now I'm feeling a bit foggy. Time for a break.

For those of you curious about the Soul Coaching book I'm working through with a group, be sure to check out these great audio recordings from the author, Denise Linn. She reads a great meditation at the start of each one and then goes on to do a quick over view of the day's tasks. There was a bit of synchronicity in the meditation for today (day 12) which instructed the listener to imagine looking out over a stormy sea, which is just what I was working on in the painting above. And then outside the sky has been stormy all day. Is there a message in that? I tend to see synchronicities as a sort of wink from the Universe and a gentle affirmation that I'm headed in the right direction.

Hmm, I know there were other things I wanted to share with you today, but I'm at a total loss as to what they were! lol! I've been off in art-land a little too long and my brain has gotten as foggy as my painting. I'm off to have some tea and honey and hopefully wake up.

A Work In Progress – At Sea

November 12th, 2008, Comments (15)

Started this piece today, based on a drawing from my sketchbook. I rather like the way the sky is coming out so far. Right now, I'm letting it dry before I carry on with it. I'll do some more work on it tomorrow I suspect. There tend to be certain symbols that pop up in my work regularly. Right now, it seems that birds, water, ships, and women are coming up a lot. Trees and houses are also common, as are lanterns and the moon. I think of them as personal yet, universal symbols relating to my sense of spirituality. I try and explain a bit where my imagery comes from, but I love it when people are able to find their own story in the images.

Today in Soul Coaching we're looking at our relationships with others. I don't usually interact with many people during the day, but today I happened to be doing some errands and had an odd experience at the post office. When I walked in, the door you'd normally enter through was locked, but a woman was on her way out and opened it for me while saying she didn't know why it was locked. Once inside, I heard the postal worker behind the counter get annoyed with a man who asked politely for a zip code. The customer made a smart comment back and then softened it afterward. It was a little tense. I was next in line with a couple people behind me, but I could see a man with a pile of boxes in his arms trying to get in through the locked door. I left my place in line to open the door for him. The woman behind me decided I'd lost my place in line and moved ahead and started getting helped when the postal worker suddenly got steaming mad, shouting that the door was locked for a reason and then he rolled his eyes as he stormed out to put a box in front of the locked door.

I was a little taken aback by his reaction and at first I wanted to react defensively, apologizing for opening the door while explaining that the man's hands were full and he needed assistance. I also thought about suggesting that he might want to put a sign on the door saying "please use the other door," so that people would understand the regular entrance door was out of order. Having it locked with no further instruction was confusing. But when I got up to the front of the line, I didn't say anything. I acted polite and was conscious of trying to be kind to a man who looked very flustered and unhappy. I can't know what's going on in this man's life, but he always seems unhappy whenever I visit this particular post office branch. I decided being kind to him was the way I was going to react.

After the fact, I wondered if I had just wussed out of a confrontation, if it would have in fact been helpful to me and him if I'd made the suggestion about putting a note on the door. I wondered if I would have been able to say it without getting defensive (probably not without a few minutes to breathe and prepare) and I wondered whether or not it would have been welcomed advice when the man behind the counter seemed very perturbed. It felt o.k. to let it go and treat him with kindness, but I wonder if it would have been better to say something. What do you think?

This is such a small event, nothing major. But it is telling about my relationships with people. Denise Linn, the author of Soul Coaching suggests noticing how your interactions with others might reflect the way you were treated growing up, how it might mirror qualities you suppress, or how it might reflect your core values. Growing up, anger was not a welcome emotion. It's also in my nature to be a bit of a peace-keeper and considering the mood of the postal worker, it didn't seem like it was a good time to make a suggestion, even one that was practical. Interestingly, I also had a dream this week where I was so mad that I was yelling (something I rarely if ever do.) In this case, I think it was appropriate to let it go and move on, but I think it was also symbolic of pattern in which I say nothing under the guise of choosing my battles, not making waves, and being polite. It made me think about how in the future I might want to say, in a non-defensive way, what's on my mind.

I did pat myself on the back though for not taking it personally. The post office worker did yell at me and roll his eyes in my general direction. He didn't yell in my face, but to the room in general, but since I was the offending person opening the door, I knew that it was at least somewhat directed at me. In the past, I might have felt awful about that. I've always been sensitive to yelling, it just seems to set me off (usually into tears.) But today, I felt a little surprised, but calm and curious too. And I knew it wasn't about me, so it didn't feel like a personal attack.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting that this happened today with the focus being on relationships. I had a long chat with the hubster about it when he got home and I'm a bit talked out, so I'll end this here. See y'all tomorrow!

Traveling Muses

November 11th, 2008, Comments (22)

I drew an image like this one in my process journal for Soul Coaching and decided to paint it on watercolor paper with acrylic paint and ink today. I'm not sure what the image is about exactly, but when I drew it I felt like the women were muses and they were also the birds circling the tree. I'm calling it, "Traveling Muses" and it's about 11"x9".

Today in Soul Coaching we're asked to look at what zaps our energy and what juices it. It's about tuning into your body and recognizing the feeling you have when you do or think about these things and whether you get, as Martha Beck calls it, "a shackles on or shackles off" sort of feeling. For me, aimless and excessive computer time is an energy zapper. Sometimes my aimless wandering is full of great inspiration and I wouldn't want to completely take that away. However, there is a line and when I cross it into too much clicking and reading and staring at the endless internet, I get totally drained. So, I'm aware that I need to limit this wandering, give myself space for it, but put a time constraint on it, so that it remains inspiring and not deadening.

I'm also finding that looking at my to-do list is an energy zapper. I haven't quite figured out how to parcel up bits of things to do each day and so I look at the list of things to do, get totally overwhelmed, and do nothing (or a lot of things that aren't on the to-do list, but suddenly seem very important.) On the other hand, when I'm able to break tasks down into doable chunks and accomplish something, I feel fantastic. Nothing like a bit of accomplishment to brighten my mood.

Other energy zappers for me include, trying too hard to please everyone and staying in bed too long. Other energy juicers include a shower with good smelling shampoo and soap, yoga, art-making, laughing with the hubster, playing with my cats, and dancing too good music. This morning, having read the day's entry beforehand, I consciously got up a little earlier in order to avoid the energy zap of staying in bed too long. And I also got to work on my art earlier in order to boost my energy. Right now though, I'm feeling a bit drained. Might have something to do with that hovering to-do list. I think I'll pick one small thing to work on and go from there. Wish me luck!

 

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