CED July Theme: Self
June 27th, 2009, 23 Comments
The *totally optional* theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge in July will be Self!
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:
- *Do a series of self-portraits.
- *Get creative with your rituals of self-care
- *Write an autobiographical essay or poem.
- *Explore what your space says about you.
- *Have fun with your personal style.
- *Express yourself in an art journal.
- *Play with your personal symbols.
- *Write a letter to yourself from your higher self.
- *Create a vision board about your deepest visions for yourself.
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!
"The most beautiful art comes from our deepest, rawest selves; it rises from within like the hoot of an owl or the song of a whale." ~Jan Phillips, Marry Your Muse
p.s. The art I used in at the top of the post is from my painting, Lantern, which I modified slightly for this theme post.
WTJ and Muse Cube Fun!
June 26th, 2009, 21 Comments
muse cubes
For the month of sound, I just had to mention Gretchen Wegner's fabulous Muse Cubes! Gretchen is currently working on a new set and has asked for our help.
The cubes are like two dice that you can roll any time during the day to shake things up and help move you through any stuckness you're feeling by using movment and sound. I just shook my set and got "stretch" and "sigh." Try it out. Don't you feel better?
Gretchen is looking for some feedback on the words she'll be using on the new set of cubes and has set up a short survey to get some feedback, so she can choose the best possible words. Please give your feedback on Muse Cubes here. It's quick, easy and anonymous! Thanks in advance!
I've also been playing with my copy of Wreck this Journal for Jamie Ridler's book group. I decided this was the week to take the journal in the shower and I did that yesterday with amusing results. After the shower, I decided my journal deserved it's own little towel.
Poor thing got washed well and I'm not sure how it's feeling about its first ever shower. I mean, it got really wet.
And it got scrubbed too. Even behind the ears, but especially on the "Scrub this page" page.
Only problem is, one day later and my journal is still all wet. I think it's the humidity we're having and all the rain. But wait, as I type this, the sun has poked out! I want to cry I've missed the sun so much!
O.k. Just put the journal out for a little sunbathing. Hope that helps things. I'd like to take the journal along with me on my trip to NYC this weekend, but if it's going to be a big wet mess, it may miss the party. I thought about taking a hair dryer or heat gun to it or popping it in the dryer...Hmm, what do you think will work best?
Random Assortment of Sound
June 26th, 2009, 6 Comments
A random assortment of sound goodies to inspire you! Enjoy!
-Peggy Fussell sent me a link to the fabulous artwork from the Zurich Orchestra campaign from Euro RSCG, an agency in Switzerland, which is on view at the website fubiz. What a fun interplay between sound and art! This one is called "Goosebumps."
-A month or two ago I linked to a video of artist, Jonas Gerard, but I thought it was worth sharing another one this month, just because of the way he reacts and interacts with music while he paints. So fun to watch!
-For more inspirational listening, check out Art of the Song, a one hour public radio program all about creative expression with a focus on music. Lots of great interviews!
-Explore the beginnings of "sound art" in Luigi Russolo's "The Art of Noises" and in this article from TATE ETC.
-I had to do a little searching to find this story again as I couldn't remember where I'd heard it first. But it was on NPR and you can read it, listen the story, and hear the music here. Very cool stuff. The story is about artist, Quinn Kiesow, who has constructed amazing music out of urban sounds. He has a songs for Los Angeles, New York, Madrid, and Barcelona all created from recordings of urban sounds in those cities. Listening to these songs may make you think differently about the sounds you hear in your own environment. There is music all around you!
Sounds to Soothe You
June 23rd, 2009, 29 Comments
Normally, I love the sound of rain. It's soothing, especially when I'm falling asleep. But lately, we've been getting so much rain in New England that the sound isn't as pleasing.
But it got me thinking about the sounds that soothe, the sounds that bring back pleasant memories or associations, the sounds that are like home: a fire crackling, the sound of my cat's purring, walking through dry leaves in the fall, the sound of water filling a bathtub, crickets chirping on summer nights, a distant train rumbling by, the zip-zap of corduroy pants, a spoon tinkling against the edge of a coffee mug, the beep of the hubster's car locking when he gets home, the rush of the river.
What sounds are soothing to you? Can you bring them to mind? Try taking some deep breaths, closing your eyes, and see if you can bring some of your favorite soothing sounds up in your imagination. See if it relaxes you to simply imagine them.
Perhaps even the memory of these sounds (your mother's voice, the padding of stockinged feet on the stairs, the school bus driving past) will stir something in you. How would you bring these sounds to life in words or in art?
I grew up in this town, my poetry was born between the hill and the river, it took its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests. -Pablo Neruda
CED Challenge Check-In: June 22 – June 28
June 22nd, 2009, 15 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 6/22/09 - 6/28/09.
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 June is sound. 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!
"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here." ~Dumbledore in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Wreck This Journal, Week 3
June 20th, 2009, 17 Comments
Oh, I'm feeling so sleepy this week! After a day of errands today, I felt the urge to take a nap, which I may still do. But first, I want to share what I've been up to in Wreck this Journal for Jamie Ridler's fabulous book group!
I crumpled one page and threw it across the room, where it landed next to Space Ghost (the well-loved toy of my cat, Sadie.) It almost looks like Space Ghost caught it! Hehe! Sadie must have brought him into my studio so that he could play fetch with me. Good kitty.
This next one is contributing to my journal smelling a bit funky. I think the "take your journal in the shower with you" exercise is gonna happen this week!
The instructions were to sample various substances in your home and document them. I sampled olive oil, glass plus, jerk sauce, green tea soap, lemon lotion, shaving cream, listerine, face scrub, and lemon hand lotion. I enjoyed it, but wished my substances were a bit more colorful!
This book has been a lot of fun for me. It's definitely an encourager of play, which I'm a big fan of. I hope you've been able to be playful in some way this weekend!
Singing in the Shower
June 16th, 2009, 24 Comments
Song
Do you remember singing as a kid? You know, that kind of singing kids do with pure abandon? Do you ever sing like that now?
As it's the month of sound here for the Creative Every Day Challenge, I've been thinking about where and when I sing. I'm not a fabulous singer, but I do love to sing. I sing with passionate abandon in the shower and in my car and sometimes to my cats. The hubster and I are constantly making up little songs about silly things we do, like the song we made up about bagel sandwiches and another we sing about tickling toes.
My dad used to sing (horribly) to 50's songs in the car and we'd all sing songs about farts (while laughing hysterically) on long car rides. My mom used to sing us a silly song about spinach on car rides to my grandmother's house (I still totally love that song) along with the more traditional "Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go..."
In elementary school, I got a solo in the school show, singing "Who Put the Bop," which I sang in a poodle skirt my mom made for me. And I sang a few lines as an orphan in the school's production of Annie. What a thrill that was! In high school, I sang along with my casette tape player, listening to musicals like Les Mis and Phantom over and over again. And I sang and danced in the production of A Chorus Line. In college, I learned to play enough guitar that I could strum along and belt out Ani Difranco's "Both Hands." I know when I have kids some day I'll sing to them.
Songs hold so many memories for people. Some remember being told they couldn't hold a tune, others remember their parents or grandparents singing them to sleep, others remember writing songs of love and angst in their teenage years, others remember singing their own babies to sleep. What are some of your favorite singing memories?
Whether or not you believe you're a "good" singer, singing is such a wonderful release, such a powerful expression. Perhaps, even if you are shy with your voice, you can find some time this month to play full out with song. (The shower or car a great place to give it a go!)
Some fun links to share:
- In case you're curious about some of the technical aspects of singing, here's a good article about basic singing techniques.
- Peggy sent me a link to this website which I'd twittered about before and then forgotten about. It's so worth sharing here though because it's such a fabulous combination of sound and interactive animation. Gorgeous! Just move your mouse around when the music starts.
- The next Art Picnic teleclass is happening tomorrow evening at 8pm EST and I'd love to "see" you there! Check out all the details and sign up here.
CED Challenge Check-In: June 15 – 21
June 15th, 2009, 12 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 6/15/09 - 6/21/09.
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 June is sound. 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!!
Music... can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable. ~Leonard Bernstein
Wrecking My Journal, The Catnip Version
June 13th, 2009, 20 Comments
Here's the next installment of me talking about Keri Smith's Wreck this Journal for Jamie Ridler's fabulous book group. I don't know that I'll do a video every week, but I felt like this idea, featuring my big orange boy kitty, Tabbers, definitely had to be captured in video. Hehe.
At the end of the journal, there's a place to list other ways you could wreck your journal. I'd written things like: throw your journal from a moving car and play fetch with a dog. And then I saw Jessie's super cute video of her playing fetch with her dogs with her journal! Since I don't have a dog at home to play fetch with, I decided to use another idea from the list: put catnip on the journal and let one of my cats attack it. The other kitties were sleeping elsewhere, but Tabbers is the cat who loves the nip the most, so I asked him if he'd be willing to help me out. He agreed. I only wish I'd caught the massive face push he gave me in thanks right after I stopped the video. Ah well. Enjoy!
Featured Creative Every Day Challenge Participants!
June 12th, 2009, 11 Comments
I love featuring fabulous Creative Every Day Challenge participants here to give you all a glimpse into some of the wonderful things happening in our large group. I hope you enjoy the wonderful creations below!
The fabulous photo above is from the incredibly sexy mama, artist, and blogger, Karen Mowrey. Karen was inspired to do her TGI Bench Monday self-portrait with her saxophone, in response to the sound theme this month. This image just kills me. So cool!
Heart Senses by Emily Long
Listen
Close the eyes
Still and listen
Open the senses of the heart
Listen
Smell the green
Washed clean by falling rain
Smell the soil
Warmed by beams of sun
Feel the air caress the skin
Cool shadows
Hot sun
Feel them play across the face
Hear the heartbeat within
Let it slow
Hear it match its rhythm
To the pulsing of the Earth
Taste the love that dwells within
Taste the joy so deep
Listen
Hear the footsteps of the ages
Steps that were, are, and will be yet
Listen
Hear the voice of all that is
The poem above was written by Emily Long of Healing Pages, a blog filled with heartfelt poetry. Emily also recently wrote a poem in response to my painting, Listening, called Listen Deep (which I loved!)
The beautiful mandala above is Fairyland Pentagram Mandala by Sue O'Kieffe of the blog, Sacred Circle Mandalas. The colors in this piece sing Spring to me!
This art journal spread above was created by Verna of the blog, Studio Vee, in response to a prompt from Ali Edwards. It's all about the things that make Verna happy. What a lovely thing to play with in your journal!
Kitty Duet! Last, but certainly not least, I want to point you in the direction of this post from Janice of the blog, Postcards from Wildwood. The post itself is hilarious, but the recording Janice put together in response to the sound theme...oh my, it may just be one of my favorite responses to a Creative Every Day Challenge theme ever!! It's flippin fantastic! So, please go over there straight away and check out Janice and her cat Oliver's earth-shattering duet based on Rossini’s famous Duetto buffo di due gatti (Comic duet for two cats). And then you can come back and thank me for making your day by sending you over there. 
Wishing you all a wonderfully creative weekend!
