Entries Tagged as: play
What the Full Flower Moon Can Teach You About Creativity
May 8th, 2009, Comments (11)
Today or tomorrow (depending on where you are in the world) marks the start of the Full Flower Moon (also known as the Full Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.) When I thought of the Creative Every Day Challenge's theme of Nature this month, one of the first things that sprang to mind was the moon.
moon under water
I'm a big fan of the moon. My astrological sign is cancer, but beyond that I'm just drawn to it. I love its rhythms and its beauty. The painting above is called "Moon Under Water" and can be purchased here. I dreamed of the moon under water one night, and when I first sketched the image of this painting, it inspired the following poem:
I dreamt last night
that the moon was under water,
not the whole of it,
just half,
as if she was too hot for this summer night
and decided to take a dip.
Finding it bracingly cold
and frighteningly vast in its darkness,
she kept her face dry and safe
above the water line.
But just the legs of the moon
were enough to give the ocean
an ethereal glow
that startled the fish from their slumber
which caused the waves to ripple and dance.
And when the stars moved in
for a better view
the surface lit up like a discoteque
and the air hummed
like a refridgerator late at night.
On a distant shore the waves lapped, lapped
on the rocks
marking the thumping heartbeat
of the skinny dipping moon,
shivering and alive.
Perhaps the glorious full moon will inspire some art in you this weekend, perhaps a poem will spring forth. The moon is also a constant reminder of the cycles of life which are much like the cycles of creativity. I spoke about these cycles with Jamie for the Your Creative Spark interview and I also wrote about them a bit here and here. It's important to remember that our creativity ebbs and flows and it's perfectly o.k. to experience downtimes. If we ride them like the waves, the whole experience is so much more smooth than if we fight them.
You could also play with the full moon by creating a Full Moon Dreamboard, which Jamie Ridler leads us through every month. These are similar to vision boards, but the idea is to create the vision of what you hope to bring into your life with each full moon. I painted a dreamboard for myself for the Full Pink Moon last month and it was a lovely experience.
Try this: When you reflect on the Full Flower Moon, what does it inspire in you? Perhaps some blossoming or blooming that is wanting to take place? Write, doodle, sketch, or paint whatever comes up.
I hope your weekend is full of inspiration and creativity and fun! In the meantime, go howl at the moon!
Nature as a Stencil
May 5th, 2009, Comments (22)
Last week in my Intuitive Painting class, I was given two random colors on cards to work with. I mixed the colors and then used them to play with. I also had a few elements from nature to bounce off of. Truth is, I wasn't too excited about anything I created in class, but I knew that I could keep playing with the images and they were only beginnings. Back at home, I took one of the larger pieces and cropped it down to what I saw as the most interesting part of the painting (below). I'd done some work with texture and some hand-cut stencils to make the shapes there. I still want to play with it more.
The two colors I randomly selected were orange and green. The green you can see above. In the piece below, I started with light layers of orange and green using the natural forms I'd chosen. Again, I wasn't loving it. But sometimes not liking something you're working on frees you up to do something drastic that you might not have tried. Sometimes making something you consider "ugly", gives you permission to let go and experiment and stretch yourself in new ways.
Back at home, I took a eucalyptus branch and put it down on the orange/green painting. Then, using a spray bottle filled with some water and a bit of payne's gray acrylic paint, I sprayed over the painting using the eucalyptus plant as a kind of 3D stencil. I loved the way that looked. I then played with layering thin layers of the payne's gray over the painting, emphasizing parts of the shape I created, and continuing to play until I came to what you see below:
This can be great fun to try with any natural element. Try starting with a base of color, then lay down your natural element (try branches, flowers, leaves, grass, sea shells, etc..). Use a spray bottle (an old cleaning bottle could work or you can purchase a little spray bottle from an art supply store) and spray liberally over the surface, maybe spray more in some areas and less in others for variety. Lift up your natural elements and see what kind of shapes they left behind. You can use paint to emphasize or soften the shapes.
After, you could try putting the same items or different ones down in a new arrangement and spray again with the same or a different color. So many ways to play with this. See where it takes you!
Last night, I tried doing this on a white sheet of paper to start, spraying with the payne's gray again and then painting with a mix green-gold, white, and ultramarine blue. It feels very ethereal to me.
This another piece that could be cropped or maybe played with more or maybe is fine just as it is. I need to let it sit for awhile. Here's a detail:
I'm sure I'll be playing with natural elements as stencils again this month, perhaps in a new way. I'd love to see where it leads you, if you give it a try!
Dialoguing with Your Inner Critic
April 30th, 2009, Comments (20)
A few weeks ago, I had a Couching session (sort of like coaching) with Sark (completely awesome by the way.) One of the things we discussed was talking with your inner critic. She recommended the book, Embracing Your Inner Critic by Hal and Sidra Stone, which I've just started reading. The idea of dialoguing with a part of yourself reminds me of the work that Havi talks about on her blog quite a bit. It's new to me and I admit, it feels a bit strange to try, but it can be incredibly effective.
It's amazing how much wisdom we hold, if we just give ourselves the chance to answer.
Within the same week, I took an art journal class with the lovely, Lisa Sonora Beam, and dialoguing with your inner critic came up again. I told Lisa about the discussion I'd had and she gave me a few questions to start with.
Later on, I drew my inner critic in my art journal, which intuitively came to me as a bird/human with winged/clawed hands, I wrote the questions next to my inner critic creature, and then drew speech bubbles to allow it to answer. This is the page:
What kind of surprised me about the process was the realization that my inner critic is not out to get me. Yes, it causes a lot damage. Yes, it can create a lot of self-inflicted pain. But I felt some tenderness for my inner critic when I saw some of the reasons behind its behavior.
I asked my inner critic, "What are you here to teach me?" and it answered, "I am here to teach you how to dig deep and let go. If you persevere past the initial fear, you'll get there."
Hmm, apparently my inner critic likes to rhyme! Ha!
I then asked, "What are the next steps?" and the answer came, "Be still. Listen to your intuition. Write."
Next, I asked, "What would support me?" and my inner critic responded, "Less clutter. Walks. Journaling. joy - laughter - silliness - light-heartedness - play."
Lastly I asked, "What do you need me to know?" And it replied, "I am your inner critic, yes, but I love you and want you to succeed."
Wow. O.k. Good to know.
Give this a try: Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and imagine what your inner critic looks like. Without thinking too much about it, draw your inner critic on a piece of paper or in your art journal (you don't need to be an artist to do this. Stick figures can do the job. Or you could pull magazine images that represent what your inner critic looks like and glue them to the page.)
Write the questions you want to ask your inner critic and then draw speech bubbles. Let your pen move across the page and answer in the voice of your inner critic. Don't worry too much about whether this is silly or not what your inner critic would say. Just write down the first thing that comes to mind. What comes up for you? What does your inner critic need you to know?
Fashion and Color (or Colour): Interview with Andrea
April 28th, 2009, Comments (10)
For the month of color, I really wanted to interview my blogging pal, Andrea, of a cat of impossible colour. Andrea is a fabulous writer, but much of her blog is dedicated to her gorgeous outfits, combining beautiful colors, patterns, and vintage fun.
I hope this interview inspires you to play with color in a new way!
L: First, please tell us a bit about yourself:
A: My name is Andrea, and I’m a Zimbabwean writer now living in New Zealand with my husband and cat. I have a blog where I indulge my hobby of collecting vintage clothing, post daily outfits and record the progress of my books!
L: What do you enjoy most about putting together your outfits?
A: Well, I see getting dressed in the morning as a creative exercise, just as much as painting a picture or writing a poem, and putting together an outfit I’m happy with gets me in a great mood for creation of other kinds! If I’m wearing something I really love, I feel like my writing goes better that day as well.
L: How does color inspire you creatively?
A: To me, colour represents emotional energy. That sounds a bit pretentious, doesn’t it, but all I mean is that each colour comes with its own set of emotional associations. Colour is food for your eyes, and it can transform or dictate your mood. I have always felt a connection to this passage from George Eliot’s Middlemarch, where Dorothea Brooke is entranced by colour:
‘She was opening some ring-boxes, which disclosed a fine emerald with diamonds, and just then the sun passing beyond a cloud sent a bright gleam over the table. “How very beautiful these gems are!” said Dorothea, under a new current of feeling, as sudden as the gleam. “It is strange how deeply colours seem to penetrate one, like scent. I suppose that is the reason why gems are used as spiritual emblems in the Revelation of St John. They look like fragments of heaven.” … She thought of often having them by her, to feed her eye at these little fountains of pure colour.’
L: Do you have a favorite color combination at the moment?
A: I tend to favour colours that are complementary – that is, hues that are opposite each other on the colour wheel. Purple with yellow and green with red (in moderation, because it can be a bit Christmassy) are favourite combinations. I also love red and blue together. In fact, red with almost everything looks great, so long as you choose the right shade – I wear red shoes and belts with everything from yellow to purple.
L: Where do you get your inspiration?
A: I get a lot of inspiration from other bloggers, and from the wardrobe_remix group on Flickr. I don’t read a lot of fashion magazines – I’d rather see what real people are wearing in real daily situations.
L: Do the colors in nature inspire your outfits at all?
A: They do, but not in the way you would expect! I grew up in Zimbabwe, which was a very colourful place – blue sky, golden bush, bright birds and flowers, the gorgeous multi-coloured clothes of the Shona people and the city markets full of fruit and fabrics. When I first came to New Zealand, the landscape seemed pale and colourless in comparison. Now I can appreciate the subtler beauties of a grey sky and autumn leaves, but I still crave the bright, jewel-like colours of Africa. So I compensate with my outfits! People here tend to wear a lot of denim, grey and black, and they blend into the landscape. I would rather add a bright splash of colour.
L: What would you say to someone who is wanting to start playing more with their own ensembles?
A: I would say to be brave and experiment. If you’re not a big colour-wearer, start with accessories – I wear my red heels to death, and they go with nearly everything. I’ve also recently become a big fan of coloured tights – they’re a wonderful way to inject colour into an outfit, although the lighter shades can make your legs look bigger (if you’re like me and don’t have long, skinny legs!). If you’re not sure about colour combinations, the girls at Academichic have done a wonderful series of posts on colour theory and how it applies to dressing.
Scarves are the perfect way to add colour to outfits, as well, and there are so many ways to wear them: over your hair, around the handle of your handbag, as a belt, or, of course, around your neck. They always make an outfit look chic. My favourite way to wear scarves is to tie them in a pussy bow around my neck. Lately I have started wearing big square scarves tied over my hair and under my chin when I go for walks – it’s a great alternative to wearing a hat.
I think it’s important to have fun with your clothes. When I’m having a blah day and feel like hiding away in something grey or black, I resist the urge and throw on something brightly-coloured instead. It always makes me feel better.
L: Do you have a favorite color? Is it the same color as when you were a kid?
A: When I was a kid I always said my favourite colour was blue when asked, because that was the only ‘cool’ colour in my class and we all pretended to love it! In reality, though, it has always been red. I find red strong, energising and optimistic, and I always feel good when I’m wearing it. Purple, green and yellow are also favourites. I think the only colour I don’t wear is orange, but that may all change if I find some wonderful orange item next time I go thrift-shopping.
L: Did you have a favorite outfit as a child?
A: I was a huge tomboy when I was a child, and didn’t bother much with clothes. Looking back at old photos, though, I can see I was a big fan of dungarees, colourful T-shirts and socks with cartoon animals on them. I’m still hoping to find a wonderful grown-up-sized pair of dungarees one day! (And I still wear cartoon animal socks).
L: What are some of your favorite books, blogs, shops, websites?
A: I find old children’s books very inspirational when it comes to outfits; Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Milly Molly Mandy, the Enid Blyton books and Madeleine have all inspired outfits of mine. There’s a charm to the way children used to dress, I think. I find old films very inspirational, too. As far as websites go, I love Orla Kiely’s clothes! The mixture of colours and prints is just gorgeous. I also love browsing through Andrea Moore’s website – she’s a New Zealand designer, and I’ll probably never be able to afford anything she makes, but her garments are just lovely.
I only shop second-hand, which makes for a good deal of experimenting! If I find an amazing dress in a colour I would not normally seek out, I buy and wear it anyway. It’s a great way to be more adventurous with your clothing and colour choices – after all, if it doesn’t suit you and you don’t want to keep it, you have only wasted a few dollars.
I have many, many favourite fashion blogs, as evidenced by my bulging blogroll. I’m drawn to people who have colourful, optimistic styles. Some that I think have a particularly inspirational use of colour are:
- Keiko Lynn
- Casey’s Musings
- Dotti’s Dots
- Strawberry Kitten
Thank you so much, Andrea!! I'm feeling inspired!
Spring Sale and Lovely Linkage
April 23rd, 2009, Comments (10)
Special Discount! On May 1st I will be raising prices on my framed prints and original artwork in my online shop, Blue Tree Art Gallery. I let my newsletter subscribers know a few weeks ago and gave them a coupon for 20% off any purchase through May 1st. (You can sign up for my art newsletter here and be entered into a monthly drawing for a free print! Sign up form is in the lower left corner.)
Well, I really wanted to extend a special thank you to my readers here, so I'm going to share the coupon code here too. Feel free to use it for 20% off anything in my art store from now until May 1st. If you've been thinking about grabbing something, now's the time to do it before I bump the prices up!
Here's the code! springsale09
Feel free to share the coupon or pass on a link to this post!!
Framed prints (in a 16"x20" wooden frame) are currently $100 and with the coupon code they're only $80! Total steal. Above, you can check out a couple examples of what a couple freshly framed prints look like. (Prints pictured above: Bring Love and Lighthouse.) And below, here's one of my newer prints, Key to Winter, framed and hanging on my studio wall.
Lovely Linkage
O.k., I've also got this build up of fabulous stuff to share, so let's just get to it, shall we?
*Rebecca at Difference a Year Makes posted a video of artist, Jonas Gerard that is so fabulous I just had to share it with you. I've seen his videos before and loved the joy with which he works, but I think his style also is a fabulous illustration of the kind of intuitive painting I'm doing in the class I'm taking and it also reminds me of the methods I use in the Art Picnic class. It's all about permission, freedom, and connecting with your intuition. And I also loves how it ties in with the color theme this month, both in how rich and gorgeous his use of color is and also in how he talks about how he chooses his colors and how colors each have their own "vibe." So true! So, do check it out and enjoy the music that goes along with it. And if you're interested in seeing more of Gerard's videos head over here.
* Sometime around the New Year, I stumbled upon the blog of Havi Brooks and quickly became a huge fan of her work. Her writing is honest, deep, and yet accessible. I love how she teaches about both the hard (business biggifying) and the soft (working on your patterns.) She combines this kind of work in a way that really resonates for me. Check out her blog and then check out all the fabulous resouces she offers on her site.
In a couple weeks Havi is teaching a class on how to get fantabulous testimonials without feeling icky about it. I'm going to be taking it! Check out all the details and sign up here.
* This Rounded Corner tool is super handy for making your images all rounded and purty!
* I'm so loving Brene Brown's read through of her book I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn't). She's been doing a weekly podcast around the topic of shame with loads of great links and projects. Very powerful stuff.
* Celebrating crafting failures, the blog CraftFail cracked me up and made me feel a whole lot better about my many crafting blunders.
* The super sweet, Kathryn Antyr (Collage Diva) has a fabulous new blog called True North, which explores finding your direction through art-making. Love it! She's created a really cool Personal Map Making contest with loads of cool prizes. Check out all the details here.
* Janice at Postcards from Wildwood has posted a fantastic Photoshop tutorial that fits so well with the color theme.
Oh, there are so many treasures to explore, but that's probably more than enough for one day! So, enjoy and have a beautifully creative day.
Be a Color Detective
April 22nd, 2009, Comments (14)
Late last week, I was taking a walk and started to notice bits of color on the ground. Scraps of plastic, a tag, a bit of paper, a ribbon, a child's barrette, and the yellow balloon pictured above. Suddenly, my walk transformed from something ordinary into a magical color detective adventure!
I was listening to an audio book on my iPhone which also has a camera, which I used to snap pictures of color for the rest of my walk. The colorful arrows spray painted on the sidewalk were giving me clues about which way to go next.
Texture and color began to pop for me. The bright yellow stripe against the the colors and textures of street and brick were so juicy! How often do you stop and notice the texture and color combos on your street? Just having a camera will open your eyes to all sorts of everyday beauty.
Ooo, rust, how gorgeous are you? Especially against that dusty blue paint. Yum. Little snapshots like this could inspire a color palette for a future piece of art or they could be transformed into a painting, piece of jewelry, or color scheme for an outfit.
Shadows are fantastic too. Now that Spring has arrived (this works in all seasons, but is more fun for me when the weather is warmer), get outside with your camera and focus on capturing shadows on colorful backgrounds. Plants make great shapes, but you can also get great shadows from your own body against a background of grass, reflected in water, or against a colorful building.
Taking a color detective walk was so much fun and I found that by the time I got home I was in a fabulous mood. Give it at try and let me know how it goes for you!
Is the Creative Every Day Challenge theme of color making you notice color more than usual? I know it is for me!
Art Picnic Class is this Saturday!
April 21st, 2009, Comments (0)
Are you looking to experience a gremlin-quieting, art-making, creative-block-busting good time?
Yes, you say? Well, then I'd like to invite you to join me on an Art Picnic adventure, this Saturday, April 25th from 1 - 3 pm E.S.T. for only $25! (Find out what time that is in your area here.)
On an Art Picnic you will:
* Get grounded and connect with your intuition.
* Let go and get playful with your art.
* Get creative support from me to help you unblock and create freely.
* Have a blast creating your own, unique Art Picnic experience!
* Leave with all the tools you need to continue creating your own Art Picnics.
* Take excellent care of yourself by scheduling in some all-important creativity time.
I started Art Picnics out of a need to get unstuck creatively in a fun, no-pressure way. I was frozen in the fear of not being good enough and all the inner critic voices were keeping me from enjoying my creativity.
With a few simple tools, which I'll share with you in this class, I learned how to move beyond my fears and create from a place of joy, freedom, and authenticity.
The class takes place on the phone, so you can attend from wherever you are! During the first half hour, we will meet, discuss the tools you need to get started, and do a grounding exercise. We will then get off the phone and have our individual art picnic experiences. I will be playing and creating too, but I will also stay on the bridge line, so if you get stuck, you can call in and I will help you through it. In the final half hour, we will meet to discuss what we created, share what came up for us, and learn some tools to keep our creative energy flowing.
You do not need to consider yourself an artist to join in, everyone is welcome. You don't need loads of art supplies either. I enjoyed my first art picnic with just a blanket to sit on, some paper, magazines, and a glue stick. Simply bring whatever art, craft, or journaling supplies you have available and be prepared to have fun!
*As a special bonus, if you sign up for your Saturday's Art Picnic, I will send you a free mp3 recording of a grounding exercise I use that will help you get connected with your intuition before you start creating!
I am so excited to share this process with you, so sign up here and join me on Saturday for some Art Picnic fun!! Sign up by clicking the Add to cart button below:
Color Inspired by Poetry
April 14th, 2009, Comments (19)
intuitive art detail
Last night I attended the second in a series of Intuitive Painting classes I'm taking (taught by the super sweet, Adria Arch.) We first focused on a series of small (5"x7") collages we'd made of color torn from magazines. Last week, one of the assignments was to paint in colors I normally avoid (for me those were pinks, yellows, oranges) and I used that painting for my Full Pink Moon dreamboard. Well, oddly enough, the color collage I liked best was full of rich pinks and oranges! Go figure. Try it out for yourself. Paint with colors you normally dislike or avoid and see what happens. It might just change your mind about them!
In last night's class we focused on working a few smaller pieces at the same time, using a poem we'd selected as our inspiration. We were asked not to get too literal with the poem (in other words we weren't going to illustrate it), but to let our general feeling about the poem guide us in our color choices and paint strokes.
I, along with a few other students in class chose a piece from Mary Oliver. I picked her poem Wild Geese and although I wasn't thinking about it at the time, I have a feeling my choice was guided by the mother goose I saw on a walk on Friday afternoon. I happened to peek over a bridge to look at the waterfall there and spotted her there on a cement barrier. At first I thought she was just sleeping, but then when I saw the sticks and fuzz surrounding her, I suspeced it must be a nest. I watched her for awhile and she noticed me watching. At one point she stood up and revealed 5 or 6 eggs. I snapped a picture of her with my iphone. Not the best picture in the world as I couldn't zoom in on her, but I love the tree and sky reflections it captured.
I thought it was so sweet, but then I started to worry about the baby geese (goslings). They're so close to this waterfall. Do you think they'll be able to swim away from it when they're old enough to swim? I was up last night worrying about the goslings and couldn't sleep, so eventually I just imagined them easily swimming into the river and that seemed to help. I'm going to have to trust that the Momma goose knew what she was doing nesting there.
Anyways, the Mary Oliver poem is lovely and I thought I'd share it with you in case it inspires some artwork for you! Poetry is so evocative. Try using a favorite piece of literature and imagine what colors it brings to mind for you. Use that as the start for your next piece of art.
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
I ended up using different parts of the poem to inspire the three different pieces I was working on. Each piece below was inspired by the lines above it:
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes
They're all quite different! None of them feel complete really, but it was fun to play with color and layering and different ways of approaching a painting inspired by poetry.
I've got much to do and much more to share with you, but for now, do check out my interview at Pecannoot!! And a huge thank you to Jess for inviting me to be the first ever interviewee on Pecannoot! What a treat!
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...)What Do Your Color Choices Say?
April 2nd, 2009, Comments (7)
Spring is such a fantastic time to focus on delicious color! I hope you'll have fun playing with the Creative Every Day Challenge's totally optional theme of color this month!
mermaids
I took the first bit of playful color I painted for the theme's announcement and created this piece out of it. I was just playing with color when I started it, but as I do with so much of my art, I started to see things in it, in this case, a pair of mermaids. And I see something else in it, something maybe I'll play with in another piece. Do you see the bird? Here's it's face:
mermaids detail
What colors are you drawn to right now? Let your self play with them. If you're playing with paint, squirt the colors right on the canvas, move them around, let your intuition guide you in the strokes you use, the colors you choose, the places you stop and start.
Let the paint dry and then step back and see if you're seeing anything there. Are you seeing a figure? A face? An animal? A tree? Start to emphasize the image you see. Bring some areas forward and let others fade into the background. Is there a story developing?
What's the feeling your color choices are evoking? Does it express something that you are feeling in your everyday life? What are your color choices trying to tell you?
I'd love to hear about what colors you're feeling especially drawn to right now!
p.s. The free Dream Call with Lianne Raymond is happening tonight! Sign up here if you'd like to join in!
