Movin’ and Shakin’
August 5th, 2009, 15 Comments
tiptoe, mixed-media on watercolor paper
Yesterday, I made three phone calls that I was dreading. Actually, I dread making most phone calls. It's not my favorite means of communication. It feels awkward and uncomfortable to me and when you're calling places like your health insurance company, you tend to speak with people who are a little edgy (not that I can blame them!)
I thought I'd feel relieved once I'd made the calls, but I didn't. My shoulders were still up around my ears, my chest was still tight, my head hurt a little bit. I tried taking a deep breath and congratulating myself for making the calls, but still felt about the same. And then I realized what I needed to do. I needed to embrace the "move" theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge this month and shake!
Do you know that expression, "shake it off!"? Well, I think there's something to it. In a variety of classes, books, and products, I've been taught to shake my body to release tension. But it's also a great energy shifter. I'm imagining the tension in my body like this shell of meringue. It's light and airy, but slightly crusted over. And if I just shake, it will all dissolve into dust.
So I shook. I started with my hands and arms, then my legs, my torso and my head. I also used the tool I learned from Gretchen's MuseCubes and combined sound with my shaking. I chose a sound that was appealing to me and sighed deeply as I shook and danced around my studio for a few minutes. The movement certainly changed my energy, got my blood moving, shifted my perspective, and made me smile. My cats gave me funny looks, but that's fairly normal. Hehe.
Oh, that reminds me of a game and song I used to enjoy as a kid. You'd usually sing it with a group and silliness would ensue. You'd sing, "Father Abraham, seven sons, seven sons, seven sons had Father Abraham. And he couldn't dance. And he couldn't sing. All he did was go like this..." And then you'd stick your left arm in and out and sing the song again, this time adding your right arm. The song continues and with each verse you're adding one more move (each leg, a wiggle, and a turn) until you're all laughing and exhausted. Good stuff.
You could also try the shaking technique next time you're stuck with a piece of artwork. When you're feeling unsure of what to do next, try stepping back from your art and shaking your body for a few minutes. See if it helps shift things for you.
I think I'll be doing a lot of body-shaking this month as prepare to move. As you can see from the art above, I've got moving on the brain!
Have you tried shaking to shift your perspective before? How has it worked for you?
CED Challenge Check-In: August 3rd – 9th
August 3rd, 2009, 14 Comments
This weekly post is a place for CED 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 post (or posts) about your creative activities during the days of 8/3/09 - 8/9/09.
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 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: To find out more about the Creative Every Day Challenge check out the details here.
If you want to sign up to be a part of the challenge, leave a comment on this post or email me to let me know. When you contact me, please let me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants, which resides in the right sidebar (I can list you as your name or as a link to a blog if you have one. A blog is not required to participate!) Please email or comment to let me know you're participating before you start posting links in the comments or on the "Mr. Linky" widget.
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for August is move. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month. You can find out more about how you can use the theme here.
Happy Creating!
Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun. ~Mary Lou Cook
CED August Theme: Move
July 30th, 2009, 35 Comments
The *totally optional* theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge in August will be Move! I'm thinking of the word move in terms of physical movement (dancing, stretching, yoga, etc...) and in terms of taking action (taking risks, boldness, forward movement, baby steps and so on.)
Funny bit of synchronicity: I had no idea when I picked the themes back in 2008, that the theme I chose for August would be so meaningful for me! The hubster and I have just had our offer on our first home accepted and we'll be closing at the end of August. So, not only will I be working with the move theme with you, I will also be really moving!
I will be posting about the theme throughout the month with different ways to approach it. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:
- *Dance wildly by yourself, with loved ones, or in a group of strangers.
- *Incoporate movement into your artwork.
- *Get bold and take risks in your art and your life.
- *Take baby steps in a project you've been putting off.
- *Get inspired by movement in nature: how animals move, how trees sway in the wind, how water flows.
- *Experiment with moving things around in your creative space to see how it changes things for you.
- *Try using physical movement (shaking, stretching, dancing) to help get you unstuck.
- *Create kinetic art
- *Make art about the body in motion.
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.
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.
Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.
And have fun with it!
"Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather." ~Martha Graham
p.s. The art I used in in the left part of the banner is Leap.
Finding Flow in Your Self-Portrait
July 29th, 2009, 15 Comments
I couldn't let the month of "self" for the Creative Every Day Challenge go by without doing some self-portraits!! I did a couple quick ones today. The top one was originally done with some oil pastels which I took a picture of and then played with in photoshop with filters. It looks a bit like a mosaic to me and I like the colors, even if it doesn't look quite like me. Even if a self-portrait doesn't look quite like you, it can still be a great jumping off point for a piece of art.
I did this quick drawing using a Pitt pen and I think it captures me much better. When the hubster came home and saw it across the room, he said, "Oh, you drew yourself! It looks just like you!" I laughed and thought, yep, captured the essence of myself there.
Having taken many art classes and gone to art school, I've done a lot of self-portraits in loads of different mediums, some more successful than others. One thing I've learned is that when I get too tight and controlled with them, the portraits feel stiff and forced. But when I let go of the desire for perfection and focus on capturing the essence of what I see in myself, everything flows much more easily. I also feel more connected to what I'm creating and generally more satisfied with the process and the results. Seems like a good metaphor for most things doesn't it?
I've been a bit distracted in the last week by the heat and traveling and a bit of house hunting (eep!), so please excuse the delay in announcing the theme for August, which is right around the corner! I'll be announcing the new theme tomorrow and I hope it excites you as much as it excites me.
More fun things to check out:
- I got a little mention on the "Embracing Your Creative Self" segment from Katheryn Tidwell Bieber on Tiffany Windsor's wonderful Inspired at Home blogtalk radio show. I really enjoyed listening to the entire show that aired on Sunday, but you can also just listen to Katheryn's segment here.
- My dear friend Connie at Dirty Footprints Studio is celebrating her spiffy new space today. Take off your shoes and head on over!
- The incredibly cool lady, I affectionately call the "other Leah" has opened up her own business doing web & graphic design. Leah Creates is currently running a special on Express Wordpress installation through August 1st, so if you've been wanting to get set up on Wordpress, this would be a great opportunity to make the leap!
CED Challenge Check-In: July 27th – August 2nd
July 27th, 2009, 21 Comments
This weekly post is a place for CED 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 post (or posts) about your creative activities during the days of 7/27/09 - 8/2/09.
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 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: To find out more about the Creative Every Day Challenge check out the details here.
If you want to sign up to be a part of the challenge, leave a comment on this post or email me to let me know. When you contact me, please let me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants, which resides in the right sidebar (I can list you as your name or as a link to a blog if you have one. A blog is not required to participate!) Please email or comment to let me know you're participating before you start posting links in the comments or on the "Mr. Linky" widget.
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for July theme is self. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month. You can find out more about how you can use the self theme here.
Happy Creating!
When I am true to my inspiration, my brushstrokes sometimes surprise me by exposing something of my inner spirit I was not even aware of. - artist, Keiko Tanabe
Wreck This Journal with Fire!
July 24th, 2009, 20 Comments
We're nearly done wrecking Keri Smith's Wreck this Journal for Jamie Ridler's fabulous book group. It's been a total blast! I've had so much fun wrecking, meeting other wreckers, and making my first vlogs! How cool! I was saving this bit of wrecking for close to the end. I think I was both looking forward to burning a page and a little bit scared of it (I'm more of a water girl than a fire girl.)
I set up with my laptop on the porch (you get to see me in my post-workout glory...sorry, I didn't dress up for you guys. hehe) and set out to burn a page. And I had some problems. You can check out the video to see how hard it was for me to burn the darn page. But I made up for it by dancing and singing with my journal, talking to it, and wearing it in a special way at the end. 
Yeah, I'm just a teeny-tiny bit nutty.
I'm headed off for a brief trip to the Cape to visit with family this weekend. I hope your weekend is a wonderfully creative one!
Other good stuffs:
-If you know of anyone in the Boston area, be sure to tell them about the Creative Play workshop I'm teaching with the fabulous, Jennifer Lee on September 19th! There's going to be art-making, giggling, and loads of creative goodness! You can get all the details and sign up here.
-The super sweet, Jess Gonacha is looking for submissions for pecannoot. Go on over and share your art about abundance with the world!
-I love Andrea Scher's work (her jewelry, photography and writing) and she's just teamed up with Jen Lemen to create the Mondo Beyondo e-course. It sounds fabulous.
-On Monday (2 pm EST) Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio will be interviewing Chris Zydel of Creative Juices Arts on her blogtalk radio show. I adore both of these creative powerhouses! You can listen in to the interview over here on Monday or head on over now to check out Connie's past interviews (there's one with me from March in the archives!)
Creative Play Workshop: Creating Time for Yourself
July 22nd, 2009, 11 Comments
a timely message
I've been enjoying writing these posts on the theme of self for the Creative Every Day Challenge this month because they help to remind me about how to take good care of myself, how to celebrate, how to move past self-doubts, and how to meet myself where I'm at with my art. Taking excellent care of yourself isn't something that comes naturally to many of us, but it's a key part of living a creative life.
For many of us, things that we consider frivolous or unnecessary come last, so while we make time to do errands and clean and meet other obligations, we're less likely to schedule in time for pampering, art-making, rest, or play.
I believe that we are more present in our lives, more alive, and more available to those we love when we nurture ourselves and our creativity.
Sometimes that nurturing comes in the form of creating time just for you. If you find that despite your intention to make the time to play, you're just not getting to it, it might be time to make a creative date, the kind you schedule in on your calendar. You may need to ask a loved one or babysitter or pet sitter to help you out. Do that. It's ok to ask for some help making your creative date happen. I often use signing up for a class as a sure-fire way to show up for myself. (Something about paying for something guarantees that I'll show up!)
If you're in the Boston-area and looking to schedule in some creative time for yourself, then I'd like to invite you to join Jennifer Lee and I for a live workshop: Creative Play: An Afternoon of Intuitive Art and Creating from the Heart, happening Saturday, September 19th, from 1-3 pm. Get all the details and sign up here.
Jenn and I are so thrilled to be sharing this class with you! We'll be getting playful, creating collage art from our intuition, and learning tools to infuse our daily lives with creativity. And there will be giggling, lots of of it.
We've got an early bird price of just $40 through August 31st, but space is limited, so do grab your spot if this creative playdate calls to you!
Surviving Self-Doubt
July 21st, 2009, 40 Comments
Subway Stories: Orange Line
An artist is the one who can fail and fail and still go on. -Agnes Martin
Self-doubt is something that plagues most creative souls at one time or another. We may be going along, feeling great about our creations, and then something happens that shakes our confidence. Perhaps we get a rejection to a show or someone makes a nasty comment about our work. Perhaps we compare our work to someone else's or our inner critic gets really loud. Or perhaps self-doubt just sneaks up on you out of nowhere, whispers in your ear, and suddenly you'd rather do anything, but make art. Self-doubt feels awful, but it comes up, so how do we move through it and return to our creativity?
Be Gentle: Don't beat yourself up over your self-doubt. It's easy to go there, to think, "Ugh! Get over it already. Stop procrastinating and just do it. Sheesh!" Yelling at yourself may work in the short term, but it usually turns into a viscious cycle of beating yourself up, avoidance, more beating yourself up, followed by procrastination, some more beating yourself up, with a kicker of feeling like dirt. No fun. Instead of going to your drill sargeant voice, try going to your gentle mother voice. Try telling yourself something like, "Hey, it's o.k. that you're doubting yourself right now. It happens. I know you're wonderful. What small step could you take to feel a bit better?"
Keep a Kindness Folder: Sometimes we need to be reminded how fabulous we are. Try keeping an appreciation folder (I keep a folder in my email for just this purpose) where you can collect kind emails, letters, notes, tweets, etc. When you begin to doubt yourself, go to your folder, read a few of the notes you've saved, and soak up the love.
Write a letter to yourself: Feeling appreciation and love from others is wonderful, but we are also capable of giving ourselves love and appreciation. I've found it's helpful if you can write to yourself (maybe your artist self) from your wiser self. You'll find your kind, wise self will know just what to say to lift you up.
Begin with Baby Steps: I mentioned this briefly in the first step, but it's so important that I had to make it its own step. One of the best remedies for self-doubt is action. I prefer to begin with gentle action, action that is full of kindness and permission and playfulness. And the best way to move into action when you're in self-doubt mode is to start small. Start with a doodle on an piece of junk mail, write a silly haiku, dance around your living room, sing in the shower, or play with crayons. Let go of the need to make a masterpiece and for now, for this moment, start with something that brings you delight, one teeny tiny thing.
Remind yourself of your accomplishments: It's easy to forget all that we have already accomplished. Take some time to make a list of how much you're already achieved. Looking back over old diary entries can sometimes help remind me how far I've come. On a smaller scale, you can keep an "already done" list each day to keep track of all the things you've done instead of focusing on what you didn't do.
Keep taking risks: It's amazing to me how despite our self-doubts, we keep putting ourselves out there. And I want to simply encourage you to keep taking those risks, big and small, in your life and in your art. Taking risks helps squash those pesky self-doubts in a powerful way. Your risks may be trying out a new color, learning a new style, reaching out to a fellow artist, submitting your work to a show, posting your work online, or opening up a shop. Not all our risks will have the results we want, but every risk gives us the inner knowing that we are capable of more than we realize.
More help with self-doubt: Re-Thinking Rejection & Re-Thinking Success
CED Challenge Check-In: July 20 – 26
July 20th, 2009, 20 Comments
This weekly post is a place for CED 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 post (or posts) about your creative activities during the days of 7/20/09 - 7/26/09.
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 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: To find out more about the Creative Every Day Challenge check out the details here.
If you want to sign up to be a part of the challenge, leave a comment on this post or email me to let me know. When you contact me, please let me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants, which resides in the right sidebar (I can list you as your name or as a link to a blog if you have one. A blog is not required to participate!) Please email or comment to let me know you're participating before you start posting links in the comments or on the "Mr. Linky" widget.
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for July theme is self. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month. You can find out more about how you can use the self theme here.
Happy Creating!
Update: The Mr. Linky widget disappeared for a bit (new server switch), but it should be all set now!
That art is amorphous and infinitely variable is one of the properties that defines it and gives it value; here is one area of life where dreams and passions can work out their meanings. That which we feel is worth devoting one's life to and whose value cannot be proven, that is art. Artist's create spirit traps, forms to catch our minds and spirits in. ~May Stevens in Voicing Our Visions
Wreck This Journal with Sticks!
July 18th, 2009, 22 Comments
I'm still having fun with Keri Smith's Wreck this Journal for Jamie Ridler's fabulous book group! I missed posting about it last week because of a crazy-busy weekend, but I've continued to wreck and play within the pages. I did this little video this week of me painting with unusual utensils. It got messy.
Here's a little collage of some of the other wrecking I did, including a scratched mermaid, circles on a half-damp page, the word "home" written over and over, an ugly drawing (of a frog barfing up fly bits), cutting through several layers, and I drew in a big of the birds I saw in the dripped ink pages. I think the orange shapes look like fish, but I haven't drawn them in yet.
And below, the envelope page. This one was fun cause I doodle on evelopes all the time. It's hard to find paper that I won't doodle on if it holds still long enough.
And that's all for now, happy wrecking everyone!!
