Soul Artist, Laura Hollick
January 13th, 2010, 5 Comments
Laura Hollick working in her studio
Last night I had the pleasure of speaking with the lovely Laura Hollick, an artist, workshop leader, and creative dynamo. Do check out her site and her blog, she's up to so many amazing things!! Laura interviewed me about my creative process and artwork, and you can listen to our chat here.
"Unicorn and Pink Dragon"
Soul Artist Laura Hollick enters the magical world of Heartland where she is transformed into a unicorn and frolicks through the meadow with pink dragon.
vision, sculpture, costume, model Laura Hollick
photo by Kevin Thom
Fitting in beautifully with the body theme this month, Laura has some absolutely stunning pieces that utilize her body as part of the creation. Some of the work is photographs of her, such as the image above. Last night, while perusing her work, I also noticed a series of images she calls Body Mapping. These mixed-media pieces began as tracings of her body and were transformed into these stunning images. I absolutely love them! And I love how she uses them as a tool to dive into the language of her inner world.
It reminded me a bit of what I've been doing with my body shadows painting (which I shared here and here.) As I've continued working on that piece, it has been a similar process to what Laura has done with her body mapping work. It has felt like some body wisdom has been coming through the piece which has been very interesting. I'll share where that piece has been going tomorrow.
In the meantime, I wanted to point out that Laura is teaching a free teleclass tonight called Shift the sh*t so you can launch: 3 keys to total transformation. Love the name! 
You can get all the details and sign up for that here.
Body talk with Goddess Leonie
January 12th, 2010, 12 Comments
Late last week, I had the opportunity to chat with the beautiful Goddess Leonie about the body and some of the fabulous things she's up to in the world. I love how we're able to chat like this from opposite ends of the world (I'm on the east coast of the U.S. and Leonie is in Australia.) And I loved seeing our opposites in the seasons (summer for her, winter for me) and our dark and light hair. Why I get such a kick out of these things, I'm not sure, but I do! It was like a little video yin-yang!
The sound is a little wonky (not matching our lips) in the first part of our chat, but it gets better. And it's worth listening to to hear Leonie's great tips about connecting with the body. Plus, you'll get to see two cat cameos (aka video bombers.)
To drink in more of Leonie's awesomeness, I highly recommend checking out her Creating Your Goddess Year Planner and Workbook. It's 40 beautifully illustrated pages that you can download and print at home and use to bring closure to your 2009 and plan your amazing 2010.
Leonie's also got some courses starting up soon, including the Radiant Goddess e-course (which you can purchase with the Goddess Planner for a discount) and the Creative Goddess e-course (both of which start up on January 17th.) And you can always find Leonie on her beautiful blog, Goddess Guidebook.
Creative Every Day Check-In: January 11 – 17
January 11th, 2010, 44 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign up for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime! Find out more and fill out the sign-up form here to join in!
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 1/11/10 - 1/17/10.
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.)
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, there's a growing Twitter list of CED participants and you can use the hashtag #CED2010 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for January is Body. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month and you can feel free to use it to inspire your creations, follow your own muse, or do some combination. You can find out more about this month's theme and some prompts to get you started with it here.
Happy Creating!
It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now... with its aches and it pleasures... is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive. ~Pema Chodron
Creativity & the Body with Jamie Ridler
January 8th, 2010, 25 Comments
I'm so grateful that i was able to have this conversation with Jamie Ridler about creativity and the body! When I first asked Jamie to chat with me about this theme, I wasn't sure exactly why. I knew she taught Nia and loved to dance, but Jamie's work doesn't center around the body. I just had a feeling that she'd have some particularly juicy things to share on the topic and boy, was I right! I hope you enjoy our chat below, which you can listen to here or right-click (ctrl-click on a Mac) to download and listen to later.
Some juicy things to think about: What's one thing about your body that you're feeling grateful for today? What's one, tiny thing you do every day that you can do today with awareness and pleasure?
You can find out more about Jamie on her website where she blogs, leads groups (like the Full Moon Dreamboard groups Wishcasting Wednesdays, and super fun Next Chapter book groups), has a great podcast, and offers beautiful products (like Your Creative Spark and the brand new Soul Reflections course.) She's on Twitter too as @starshyne. Thank you, Jamie!!
Update: Sorry about the recording snafu! It's all fixed now!
Body Shadows In Progress
January 7th, 2010, 12 Comments
So, yesterday I shared a video of me using body shadows to trace shapes on a piece of paper and today I began playing with paint and gel medium in those shapes. I had to stop at one point when I managed to splatter purple paint all over myself. Doh! I've been letting it sit like this and noticing what I see in it now. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a whale shape at one point. But when I turned it around, that same shape looked just like a bird's head.
Where's this going? I don't know! It might go nowhere at all. But I enjoy playing in this way, letting things happen, and then looking to see what comes up as I work. It's a fun, intuitive process that leads to interesting things that I wouldn't necessarily come up with if I planned it all out. I'll keep you updated as it progresses.
And be sure to check in tomorrow for an interview with the fantabulous Jamie Ridler about creativity and the body!
Body Shadows
January 5th, 2010, 16 Comments
Yesterday, Daniel (@Highmoon on the Twitter) posted a pic of his shadow while he rode his bike into the sunset (and he managed to do it without falling down. Bonus!) It got me thinking about using body shadows as the beginnings for a piece of art. Fun! So, I made this little video (with a cat cameo by Sadie) of my shadow tracing. I plan to paint and play with the shapes I created and I'll post those soon.
Most of my creative energy lately has been spent on a private commission, entertaining guests, and learning a new skill (vector art, fun!) And a lot of my free time has been spent adding all the fabulous new participants to the Creative Every Day Challenge list. I'm blown away by how many have joined in this year, over 600 of us so far. I have a feeling that by the end of the year, we'll be over a thousand. And I love it because I feel like the energy of us all focusing on creativity together is a beautiful thing.
I wish I could get around to see what each one of you is up to every day, but I will do my best to visit when I can and I hope you'll continue to visit and support each other. A little bit of support goes a long way for each and every one of us!
I've also got some interviews to share with you this month with some amazing creative women. Among other things, we'll be talking about the ways in which the body and creativity intertwine. So very exciting. In the meantime, happy creating everyone!
Creative Every Day Check-In: January 4 – 10
January 4th, 2010, 56 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Ways to share: 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 1/4/10 - 1/10/10.
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) 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.)
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign up for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime! Find out more and fill out the sign-up form here to join in!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for January is Body. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month. You can find out more about this month's theme and some prompts to get you started with it here.
Happy Creating!
“If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred” -Walt Whitman
Written on the Body
January 2nd, 2010, 22 Comments
Having a little fun with the Body theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge today, I wrote on my hand in red lipstick and took this self-portrait. That was fun. I love the idea of writing inspirational words on the body. Years ago I created a mixed-media painting that featured a poem I'd written, tattooed on a woman's back. If you could write a word or words on your skin, what would they be?
I've got my in-laws visiting to celebrate the holidays this weekend, so I may be a little quiet, but I'm already loving all the beautiful creations everyone is sharing. I'm adding sign-ups to the list of participants (nearly over 500 600 now!) as quick as I can, so if you've signed up in the last day and don't see yourself up there yet, hang in there, you will be soon!
Remember that this is a low-pressure challenge and to celebrate whatever you do instead of beating yourself up over what you don't do. It makes it so much easier to maintain a creative lifestyle when we are able to let go of the self-judgment. (I know that one from experience!)
Happy New Year and Happy Creating everyone!
Happy New Year, Creatives!
January 1st, 2010, 13 Comments
We've made the leap into 2010! What an amazing year we have ahead of us. I'm so thrilled to be sharing this creative journey with you. I just wanted to give you all a few quick reminders to help you out along the way.
You can find all the details about how to participate in the Creative Every Day Challenge on the info page, here. If you find this Challenge after the 1st, don't worry, you can join in anytime. Just go to the info page and fill out the sign-up form.
Every Monday, I leave a check-in post where you can comment and/or leave a link to a blog post(s) or flickr image. For this week, 2009 and 2010 overlap, so the check-in post for today and this weekend is already up here. On Monday there will be a new one.
You can also join the Creative Every Day Flickr group and post images of what you're up to there.
The (totally optional) monthly theme for January is "Body." Use the theme if it speaks to you, do your own thing, or mix and match. It's entirely up to you. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month, but you can read more about the it and some suggested prompts for it here.
If you don't see your name on the list, check out the FAQ post I did this week to see if that helps. I still have names to add from people who joined in last night and today. If you have any questions, you can always email me (contact link is at the top of the blog.)
Happy creating!!
Flowing out of 2009 and into 2010
December 31st, 2009, 26 Comments
What a magical day. It's a Full Blue Moon, it's New Year's Eve, we're on the cusp of another beautiful year of being Creative Every Day, and I feel like I'm inside a snow globe with these teeny, tiny flakes falling outside. I'm especially loving that it's a Blue Moon, since I'm such a moon girl and as you might imagine, my favorite color is blue (plus, I say that "once in a blue moon" expression quite a bit.)
I've just finished my full moon dreamboard for Jamie Ridler's dreamboard group and I'm using it to reflect what I want for myself in 2010: mainly more ease and flow. I have this image of a river in my mind. There's an ease to the movement of a river, but there is also motion, action, and continuous, steady flow. Perhaps the river is also in my mind because I find sitting near moving water incredibly soothing. I think I sometimes associate stillness with stagnation, but ease and movement are not so separate. I see that in the way that getting regular exercise helps me feel more calm, and how de-cluttering helps me feel more spacious and open. It's a funny little paradox that I'd like to have in my life in 2010: ease, flow, and movement. While I've been thinking I'd use the words "ease and flow" as my theme for 2010, I think I may use the image of a river as it captures more of what I'm going for. Why not?
The dreamboard above was based on a sketch from my sketchbook that I drew onto a larger sheet of watercolor paper. I created the river with gesso and bits of snowflake tissue paper to create texture. Once that dried, I painted over it with ink and acrylics. (By the way, this is a great way to recycle holiday tissue paper and make cool textures in your art!) I then drew in the figure and wrote in some words, such as: ease, flow, resonance, calm, and movement. When I mentioned wanting more ease and flow in my life earlier this month, Terri (@TerriFisher on Twitter) let me know that Rhea is the goddess of Ease and Flow. How cool! I'm sure I'll paint her at some point this year too.
The last few years, I've loved choosing a theme word for the year. I think I may have read about it first on Christine Kane's blog (by the way she's offering a free download about choosing a theme word for the year.) Last year, I chose the word "Leap" and it served me well. I made some huge leaps in my career and my life in general. I'm especially proud of having art on the cover and an article in Artful Blogging Magazine, being on the radio, creating my first online teleclass, in-person workshop with the fabulous Jennifer Lee, first e-course, growing my online challenges, buying our first home, and selling more art than ever before. I'm so very grateful for my wonderful family, friends, loving hubster, and our four fuzzy cats. I'm also thrilled with the amazing connections I've made with fabulous creative people this year, many I met through this blog. I feel so incredibly lucky to be part of such an amazingly supportive community.
It's been a challenging year in other ways. I lost my Grandma after a battle with Alzheimer's just before Thanksgiving, I had some behind-the-scenes technical issues and problems with boundaries, I had a health scare with my beloved cat, Sadie, and I found the whole process of moving to be exhausting. I also made the decision to come off anti-depressants after being on them for ten years (I did this over a long period of time with the help of a doctor.) It was one of the most challenging things I've ever done. It still feels like a bit of a journey for me, but I'm doing really well and I'm thrilled about that. Overall, life is good. So very good. And I'm so grateful for it all.
To help me close out 2009 and grow my vision of what 2010 will be, I've printed out Goddess Leonie's stunning Creating My Goddess Year Workbook & Planner. There are some pages in the workbook that go along so beautifully with next month's (totally optional) theme of Body for the Creative Every Day Challenge, so I'll share those here. And I'm going to be interviewing the lovely Leonie next month about loving up your body, so stay tuned for that too!
Actually, I've got so much goodness planned for next month, that I can hardly stand it! It's going to be an amazing year. I love the energy that's building already. I wish each and every one of you a beautiful close to your 2009. May 2010 be filled with wild creativity, uncontrollable laughter, quiet moments of delight, and loads of love. See you in 2010!
