Entries Tagged as: linkage
Colorful Poems
April 3rd, 2009, Comments (17)
Our way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
~Rumi
April is National Poetry month. I love the idea of playing with the Creative Every Day Challenge's theme of color and poetry. How could you mesh the two?
You could:
*Write about yourself as a color, as in "I am blue. I am soft, ethereal, just-woken."
*Write about how a color feels, how it smells, and tastes.
*Paint a wash of your favorite color in a journal and write the lines of your favorite poems over it.
*Play with writing a poem in color, mixing the words with what colors you imagine them to be.
*Turn your head to the right, what's the first color you see? Right a poem about it.
*Use a colorful photograph as the jumping off point for a piece of poetry.
*What is your least favorite color? What is it about that color that you dislike? Write free-form style about it.
*Read a favorite poem. Does it seem to reflect a certain color for you?
*What childhood memories does the color red bring up for you? Let that be a starting point. Red makes me think of my sister's stained t-shirts, popsicles in summer that turned our tongues red, the choke berries in the woods that made me wonder if they really did make a person choke, the red jumpsuit I was wearing the day I got my first period.
Color can hold so many associations, so many memories. Where do those color memories take you?
For more poetry goodness, check out:
*Resources for writing poetry with kids
Red bird came all winter
firing up the landscape
as nothing else could.
~Mary Oliver
And I couldn't resist sharing...more Mary Oliver below...
(more...)Featured Creative Every Day Challenge Participants!
March 31st, 2009, Comments (14)
I'm super excited to share with you some of the amazing things that Creative Every Day Challenge participants are up to! I'm not sure how often I'll be doing these posts yet, but they will be a regular thing. I plan to email some participants to get permission to share an image or piece of writing from their blog. And in the case of Flickr, I will use the images from flickr that automatically link back to the account of the owner. I hope this will introduce you to some new Creative Every Day people and provide you with inspiration as well! So let's start (click on the images to make them bigger):
Kathryn of Collage Diva has a beautiful blog and magical, inspiring posts. I loved her recent piece below, a character map.
Kathryn, Collage Diva
Terri of Tinker Art is someone I've known a long time through blogging and I adore her art and her sense of humor (go see her blog and you'll see what I mean!) This piece was based on a dream she had. One of those dreams where you're in your pajamas in school and forgot to do your homework. Eep!
Terri, Tinker Art
The piece below, from Creative Kismet, I spotted on the Creative Every Day Challenge Flickr group. So sweet, love it!
This fabulous piece below is from Marie Patterson and I spotted it in the Flickr group too (so much inspiration there!)
Beautiful, beautiful work! I'm endlessly inspired by all the wonderful things that Creative Every Day Challenge participants are creating. Keep on creating, sharing and connecting!
Building Your Blog
March 31st, 2009, Comments (4)
I recently did a call with a group of coaches (including the lovely Jennifer Lee, Jamie Ridler and Cynthia Morris) about blogging. I've been blogging for nearly 8 years now and I loved talking about the process and inspiration I've found through having a blog as well as the way blogging has helped support my business.
Even though I have some scattered technological knowledge, it is not my specialty. Fortunately, there are people like Mynde and Wendy who are offering great services like their 6 Week class on Creating Your Own Web Presence (and the business behind it.) The class includes 6 hours of lecture and q&a (in audio and video formats, so you can participate live or listen later), handouts, and unlimited email support. Check out all the details and sign up here. The class starts on the 1st!
If you already have an art blog up and running, but it's in desperate need of medical attention, check out Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris's Blog Triage class here. (I love the name of this class!) I've taken an online workshop with Alyson before and found it helpful.
There a number of Creative Every Day Challenge participants who do not have a blog, which is totally fine! Blogging is not for everyone. However, if you're hesitating out of fear, starting a blog is fairly easy if you're just wanting to dip your toes in and try it out. Buidling my own blog has been such a slow and organic process and it continues to grow and shift as I do. Remember it doesn't have to be perfect right off the bat.
And be sure to ask for help where you need it. Ask a friend who blogs for advice, take a class like the ones above, or hire something to help you get started. There's no need to tear your hair out in the process.
Is there anything you're itching to know about blogging? Anything that you find hard or something that holds you back? Let me know in the comments or email and I may write about it in a future post.
Moon Collector
March 24th, 2009, Comments (12)
Moon Collector, 9"x12", acrylic on paper
More moon art and more blue. Two of my favorite things at the moment. This piece, Moon Collector, came together intuitively. I was about to add the red strings attaching the moons to the bucket, but found myself hesitating. After stepping back from it a bit, I got the sense that it was about something rather personal and I wasn't sure I wanted to reveal it in the paint, but I went ahead and put them in there.
So what's up with the moons here? Can you guess? Perhaps you could make up your own story about what they mean.
I think my internal dialogue about becoming a mother sometime in the near future is coming out here. The moons with their red strings make me think of ovaries. Not all my art is so deeply personal, but letting your intuition guide you, often leads to artwork that expresses what's going on underneath all the layers. It can be scary sometimes, but it's always fascinating when approached with a bit of curiosity.
One of the places I first learned to play with my intuition is through Art Picnics. Feel free to join me on my first Virtual Art Picnic this Thursday from 1 - 3 p.m. Eastern time for $25! We'll be talking about how to get playful in your art, how this playful attitude can help connect you to your intuition, and we'll be spending a whole hour creating joyfully! You can sign up for the class or get on the Virtual Art Picnic mailing list here. I plan on doing a Saturday workshop next month for those who can't make it on a weekday. And I'm planning to offer an Art-Picnic-To-Go kit in the near future!
Tomorrow, I'll be sharing what the totally optional monthly theme will be for the Creative Every Day Challenge in April! Wee! I love sharing these themes with you and I think you'll love this one!
De-Cluttering to Find Your Flow
March 20th, 2009, Comments (19)
Today is the first day of Spring. Aaaaaah! (That was me singing angelically.) Just writing that puts in a little skip in my step. Longer days, warmer weather, and soon things will start sprouting green everywhere. Hooray! One thing I can say about winter in New England, it makes you really, really appreciate when Spring comes around. Granted, it is New England, so we could get whopped with a snow storm tomorrow, but still, Spring is here.
Spring and cleaning seem to go together. It's a time to shed the winter skin, the many layers, and all the accumulated dust and clutter that built up over the colder months.
I have to admit that I'm not a fan of cleaning. Neither is the hubster. We're both messy. Years ago, instead of continuing to argue about how he never took his turn cleaning the bathroom, we decided to hire someone to come twice a month to do the hardcore cleaning for us. Best decision we ever made. O.k., that may be exaggerating a tad, but seriously, it was a great decision. I knew the woman who does the cleaning for us already because she cleaned the house of the family I used to nanny for. I knew she was trustworthy, kind, and did a great job. I also knew that she sent most of her money to her mom in Columbia. So, it works out great for all parties.
Sometimes, even though you CAN do something (of course, I'm fully capable of cleaning), that doesn't mean you shouldn't hire someone to do it for you. It's all about setting priorities and knowing how you want to spend your time and money.
So, while I'm not about cleaning right now, I am all about de-cluttering...a different sort of cleaning that may seem like a boring task, but is actually all about creating space for the things you want in your life: your business, your projects, your art, your creativity, etc...
It's perfect timing (again) that this week's chapter in The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, which I'm reading with Jamie Ridler's fabulous book group, is all about the Power of Subtraction. I loved this quote at the beginning of the chapter:
The first step in starting an enterprise is to clear the space for it, or till the ground. This clearing process is a must....We like to think just forging ahead is going to be enough to start, but when you run into gnarled old roots where your new plants need to grow, you've got problems. - Barrie Dolnick, Simple Spells for Success
Author Gail McMeekin talks about the Power of Subtraction in this way:
Here I encourage you to get rid of everything you neither need nor want in your life. This includes anything from old sneakers to outmoded dreams. To create a life of positive choices, you must let go of whatever blocks your creative zest.
This is a great continuation of the idea of positive priorities that I wrote about last week. And I think it also relates to allowing a sense of flow in your life. What blocks your creative flow? How can you remove those blocks in a way that is managable for you?
If clutter is a block for you, what one small step can you take? What teeny tiny step will give you a increased sense of ease in your life?
I like to imagine my clutter clearing is like this fence and I'm slowly opening more and more bars to uncover the river underneath.
I seem to be all about water lately. Wednesday I took a long walk and did some journaling by a river. Water seems to be such a great source of calm and inspiration for me. And today, my piece Lady of the Lake (below) is up at artist, Cathy Nichol's blog for her Found Art Friday project! I just added prints of this piece to my shop, which you can read more about and purchase here.
p.s.
- Be sure to check out Jamie's latest interview with professional organizer, author, and mentor, Sunny Schlenger.
- You can also sign up for the free book group celebration call that's happening, Friday, April 3rd, here.
Upcoming Virtual Art Picnics
March 19th, 2009, Comments (4)
The Virtual Art Picnic Intro call went great today! I hope that if you were listening in or if you got the recording that you enjoyed it. I loved talking about the process, although, I definitely need to watch ums. Um, oy! Lesson learned.
The first actual Virtual Art Picnic will take place next Thursday, March 26th from 1 - 3 p.m. EST. And you can sign up for that here.
I think I'll do another intro call next month before the Saturday, April 25th Virtual Art Picnic teleclass. If you'd like to be on the mailing list for that, go on over to the Virtual At Picnic info page and fill out the form at the bottom. I know weekdays don't work for everyone, so do let me know (in the comments or by email) what days and times work best for you. Next month's call is on a Saturday and I plan on doing an evening class in the future as well.
Chatting about it with the hubster last night, I realized I'd really like to put together some kind of Art Picnic to-go package that you could buy and download from the site. Something with an audio component (mp3 recording) and a pdf ebook. And possibly also an Art Picnic basket that you could buy and hold in your hands that would include a cd and mini book.
I love it when ideas are flowing. I hope your creativity is flowing wherever you are. I'll be checking in again tomorrow. Until then, sweet dreams!
Virtual Art Picnic Update!
March 17th, 2009, Comments (0)
With the help of a Tweet from Jamie, I noticed that I'd written the wrong date for the free Intro to Virtual Art Picnic call. Doh! Just in case you were wondering whether I was human or robot, now you know I'm definitely human.
I'd written that the call was Thursday, March 18th, when it is actually, Thursday, March 19th at 1 p.m. EST (I put the right day of the week, wrong date.) I hope this isn't an inconvenience for anyone signed up for the call! Fortunately, I will be recording it, so you can always listen to it later. There is still time to sign up for the free call here.
I've just finished the Virtual Art Picnic info page, where you can sign up for the first Virtual Art Picnic teleclass! The first class will be held on Thursday, March 26th from 1-3 p.m. EST.
I'm planning a Saturday call next month. Is there a time or day of the week that works better for you? Feel free to let me know and I'll see if I can work in those times in the future.
Dreaming of Bears
March 11th, 2009, Comments (7)
The retreat was great. A wonderful combination of relaxing and inspiring. I got there the day before the retreat began to do a little unwinding and getting centered. I'm glad I did because all the travel exhausted me. I stayed the cutest little loft room (that I had to climb a sort of ladder to get into.) Fortunately I'm super short, so I could just stand up in it. It felt like I was tucked in a treehouse and I loved that.
I spotted Animal Speak on a bookshelf in the hall and took it up to the loft with me to look at. I'd just been talking about the book with my coach, so it was funny to see it there. And I'd been wanting to read over the part about spiders after I had that spider dream recently. I rested in bed, reading and journaling, and drifted off into a lovely nap.
I dreamed that the hubster showed up at the retreat and I had to tell him that it was an all-women retreat, so he couldn't go inside. We pitched a tent together outside the house and we were sitting in it, when I looked down the road and saw a huge bear coming down the road towards us. There was an old man under a tree near us. I turned to him and asked if we should be running into the house. But he said not to worry, that we didn't have any food, so the bear wouldn't bother us. Then a drunk man came out of the woods and started harrassing the bear. The bear was pushing him away, trying to ignore him, but the man kept coming after the bear and eventually punched the bear in the face. The bear then lost its temper and bit the man. It was a very vivid dream and I woke up remembering it fully.
Later that night, I turned to Animal Speak to read about what bears symbolize. I learned that the bear has ties to the subconscious and unconscious mind. It is associated with Diana, goddess of the moon. It teaches you to use your inner resources to find your answers within. It teaches you to make choices from a position of power. Bears are often associated with trees, an ancient symbol that is like an antenna connecting heaven and earth. Trees remind us bring what we awaken into the world and to make our marks with it.
The things I read about the bear, it's connection with trees and the moon, and the bits about what it has to teach, were so relevant to me. I did some writing about the dream, which I think I'll share later on. It's interesting how focusing on dreams this month for the Creative Every Day Challenge, has brought such powerful dreams! It just goes to show you that what you focus on expands.
The next day, I had an amazing massage in a cute little boathouse (above) with an incredibly talented, nurturing therapist. While my face was down and looking through the head-rest, I opened my eyes and laughed to myself because within the rug pattern below, the shapes looked like a bear standing in a river with a crescent moon and birds flying by. That's where the image I painted above came from. After the massage, I drew a little sketch of what I saw and knew that I wanted to paint the bear in this way. I painted it today in acrylic and ink on watercolor paper.
I have more to share on the weekend later, but in the meantime, some fun links to check out:
- Spark, art from writing: writing from art is now online sharing the paired up artists and writers and what they created in response to eachother's work. Mine is here!
- Rainn Wilson (Dwight on The Office) has a new website called SoulPancake that is all about creativity and spirituality. Very cool!
- Need a pat on the back? A boost? A job well done? Check out my pal Jim Doran's new website, Hey Good Job. Love it.
A Month of Living Curiously
March 1st, 2009, Comments (1)
Heidi Fishbach has created a wonderful guide to living a curious life that she calls A Month of Living Curiously (AMOLC). Through almost-daily emails she offers tips and inspiration for increasing your awareness, looking at your underlying beliefs, and getting curious about them in a gentle way that encourages change. And the fabulous thing is that, this month there will be a theme of "dreams" running through it which fits so perfectly with the Creative Every Day Challenge theme of dreams this month! If this sounds interesting to you, go here to learn more about the project and sign up.
AMOLC starts today, but you can join in up until March 5th. (I'm not getting any kick-back for this, I'm recommending it to you because it's something I've enjoyed!) This post is an example of the missives you would receive from Heidi. It was sent towards the end of the month in February and I just loved the GPS analogy!
Weekend Update and Some Final Word Links
February 28th, 2009, Comments (2)
I've had such a fun weekend! The hubster and I went to the MGM Casino, where we had a complementary room. The hubster played in a poker tournament while I went to their fancy, shmancy gym to do a workout. They asked for my shoe size in the locker room and gave me a locker with a spa sandals in my size and a soft bathrobe (the gym is connected to a spa) and the shower had a heated towel rack. I had the hot tub entirely to myself (and I was totally giggling in there because it all felt so luxurious.) After the gym, I headed back to our room where I ordered room service and watched a movie (Vicky Christina Barcelona.) I felt totally pampered and exhausted by the end of the night. The hubster won big that night too (I'm not a gambler, but he enjoys poker and blackjack.) In the morning we got breakfast, took a long walk, played a little roulette, and did some window shopping before having a lovely drive home.
Today is the last day of February. I know it's only a couple days shorter, but this month is has just flown by. Swoosh!
Theme Transition:
I enjoyed the words theme and I know a lot of CED participants had fun with it as well. As we move into the Creative Every Day Challenge's (totally optional) dreams theme for March, you certainly don't need to abandon the themes of the previous months. Play can be incoporated into everything (in my humble opinion.) And there are endless ways to play with words.
Here are some more ways to have fun with and get inspired by words:
* Write for your life: Productivity tips for writers.
* Amano Books: Bridgette Guerzon Mills makes gorgeous journals and she now has a blog focusing on art journaling tips too.
* Beautiful book sculptures from artist, Georgia Russell.
* Awesome typographical assemblage from Lou Dorfsman.
* Listen to classic poetry out loud.
* Journal writing prompts.
* Read Write Poem: for those who love poetry
* Tomorrow, Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio Blogtalk Radio program will be interviewing Elena Rego at 12 pm EST. Elena creates absolutely stunning journey manuscripts.
Thank you for playing along with me this month, I look forward to all the wonderful creativity we'll share in March!
