Creative Every Day

Art Every Day Month, November 13th

November 13th, 2008, 18 Comments

Today is the 13th day of Art Every Day Month! Do not worry about doing this perfectly! I wanted to say this to you today and so it was great timing when I saw in today's Soul Coaching entry, Denise Linn had written, "Once again, I would like to remind you to do what works for you. Enjoy the process, and celebrate what you have done." So, at this point in the month, celebrate what you have done! Throw perfection out the window and have fun with it.

The box below is a widget that I provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) about that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other participants are creating! Check out the links from today's post, the previous day's posts and the links in the sidebar for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!

If you use the widget, please link to a specific blog post (or specific image if you're linking to a flickr page or other website) instead of your main blog page or website. If you want to share, but don't have a specific page to link to, feel free to use the comments section of this post to share what you're working on. If you're posting less than once a day, no problem! Simply use the latest one of these posts to share a link to your creation! For some, it's too much to keep up with posting every day, but don't let that get you down. Do it if you can and if you can't, just keep on creating, that's the most important part. If you get off track and miss a few days of creating, don't let that freeze you up either. Just pick up where you left off and keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. You are making your life a more creative one with each step.

If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the before you use the link widget to share your creations.

In order to have a real relationship with our creativity, we must take the time and care to cultivate it.
- Julia Cameron

p.s. If the link widget isn't showing up for some reason, just leave your link in the comments please! Thanks!

Continue to read Art Every Day Month, November 13th

A Work In Progress – At Sea

November 12th, 2008, 15 Comments

Started this piece today, based on a drawing from my sketchbook. I rather like the way the sky is coming out so far. Right now, I'm letting it dry before I carry on with it. I'll do some more work on it tomorrow I suspect. There tend to be certain symbols that pop up in my work regularly. Right now, it seems that birds, water, ships, and women are coming up a lot. Trees and houses are also common, as are lanterns and the moon. I think of them as personal yet, universal symbols relating to my sense of spirituality. I try and explain a bit where my imagery comes from, but I love it when people are able to find their own story in the images.

Today in Soul Coaching we're looking at our relationships with others. I don't usually interact with many people during the day, but today I happened to be doing some errands and had an odd experience at the post office. When I walked in, the door you'd normally enter through was locked, but a woman was on her way out and opened it for me while saying she didn't know why it was locked. Once inside, I heard the postal worker behind the counter get annoyed with a man who asked politely for a zip code. The customer made a smart comment back and then softened it afterward. It was a little tense. I was next in line with a couple people behind me, but I could see a man with a pile of boxes in his arms trying to get in through the locked door. I left my place in line to open the door for him. The woman behind me decided I'd lost my place in line and moved ahead and started getting helped when the postal worker suddenly got steaming mad, shouting that the door was locked for a reason and then he rolled his eyes as he stormed out to put a box in front of the locked door.

I was a little taken aback by his reaction and at first I wanted to react defensively, apologizing for opening the door while explaining that the man's hands were full and he needed assistance. I also thought about suggesting that he might want to put a sign on the door saying "please use the other door," so that people would understand the regular entrance door was out of order. Having it locked with no further instruction was confusing. But when I got up to the front of the line, I didn't say anything. I acted polite and was conscious of trying to be kind to a man who looked very flustered and unhappy. I can't know what's going on in this man's life, but he always seems unhappy whenever I visit this particular post office branch. I decided being kind to him was the way I was going to react.

After the fact, I wondered if I had just wussed out of a confrontation, if it would have in fact been helpful to me and him if I'd made the suggestion about putting a note on the door. I wondered if I would have been able to say it without getting defensive (probably not without a few minutes to breathe and prepare) and I wondered whether or not it would have been welcomed advice when the man behind the counter seemed very perturbed. It felt o.k. to let it go and treat him with kindness, but I wonder if it would have been better to say something. What do you think?

This is such a small event, nothing major. But it is telling about my relationships with people. Denise Linn, the author of Soul Coaching suggests noticing how your interactions with others might reflect the way you were treated growing up, how it might mirror qualities you suppress, or how it might reflect your core values. Growing up, anger was not a welcome emotion. It's also in my nature to be a bit of a peace-keeper and considering the mood of the postal worker, it didn't seem like it was a good time to make a suggestion, even one that was practical. Interestingly, I also had a dream this week where I was so mad that I was yelling (something I rarely if ever do.) In this case, I think it was appropriate to let it go and move on, but I think it was also symbolic of pattern in which I say nothing under the guise of choosing my battles, not making waves, and being polite. It made me think about how in the future I might want to say, in a non-defensive way, what's on my mind.

I did pat myself on the back though for not taking it personally. The post office worker did yell at me and roll his eyes in my general direction. He didn't yell in my face, but to the room in general, but since I was the offending person opening the door, I knew that it was at least somewhat directed at me. In the past, I might have felt awful about that. I've always been sensitive to yelling, it just seems to set me off (usually into tears.) But today, I felt a little surprised, but calm and curious too. And I knew it wasn't about me, so it didn't feel like a personal attack.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting that this happened today with the focus being on relationships. I had a long chat with the hubster about it when he got home and I'm a bit talked out, so I'll end this here. See y'all tomorrow!

Continue to read A Work In Progress – At Sea

Art Every Day Month, November 12th

November 12th, 2008, 14 Comments

Today is the 12th day of Art Every Day Month! We're nearly half-way through the month. Can you believe it?

The box below is a widget that I provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) about that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other folks whipping up! Check out the links from today's post, the previous week's posts and the links in the sidebar for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!

If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the before you use the link widget to share your creations.

Knowing the elements and principles of design is important, but if we don't put our heart and our passion in our work, we cannot expect to stir anyone else's heart or passion.
-Carole D. Barnes, quoted in Celebrate Your Creative Self by Mary Todd Beam

Continue to read Art Every Day Month, November 12th

Sneaking in Some Links

November 11th, 2008, 5 Comments

I find I don't have as much time to share links (one of my favorite things to do) when I'm trying to keep up with this busy month of arting and Soul Coaching and trying to visit all you wonderfully creative people! I managed to tackle one of my major to-do's today which felt sort of good (crossing it off was fabulous!) and sort of icky (I probably should have taken a stretching break as my back hurts from sitting still too long!) But in general, sweet relief. I really want to tick off all my to-do's this week, but I'm not going to drive myself batty. I'm going to pick a couple things each day to work on and if I have extra time, fabulous, if not, oh well. O.k., since I got my to-do's done, I can share some links!

I'm having a special holiday promotion on my art website. You can get free shipping through the 15th of December by entering holiday08 as the coupon code at checkout. I've just added two new pieces to the new art section (created during AEDM) and I'll be adding more over the next few weeks. If there's something you're interested in, but don't see there, do let me know!
Have you heard of Spoonflower? It's a cool new business where you can order fabric with your own designs on them! I've held back from buying any as I need to learn how to sew properly first. Ahem. But how fabulous would it be to have pillows or skirts or curtains with your artwork on them? Either way, be sure to check out the site just to see the fabulous design that my friend Shelly has on the front page (her design is the one with the fish and insects)!
jennlui has a two part tutorial on making collaged postcards along with a super cute elephant stamp. I told Jenn that I've been seeing elephants everywhere lately and this stamp of hers is totally adorable example of that.
I love listening to podcasts while I work. Craft Sanity is especially fantastic because they're always wonderfully long and personal conversations with crafty people about their lives. It's a bit like listening in on someone's phone conversation and I dig that. Today I listened to the interview with Kayte Terry who has held all sorts of cool jobs, including one as a stylist for Anthropologie. It's always fun to hear about the organic ways in which people's lives flow. Kayte also has a cool blog, This Love Forever.

Well, that's it for now. See you tomorrow!

Continue to read Sneaking in Some Links

Traveling Muses

November 11th, 2008, 22 Comments

I drew an image like this one in my process journal for Soul Coaching and decided to paint it on watercolor paper with acrylic paint and ink today. I'm not sure what the image is about exactly, but when I drew it I felt like the women were muses and they were also the birds circling the tree. I'm calling it, "Traveling Muses" and it's about 11"x9".

Today in Soul Coaching we're asked to look at what zaps our energy and what juices it. It's about tuning into your body and recognizing the feeling you have when you do or think about these things and whether you get, as Martha Beck calls it, "a shackles on or shackles off" sort of feeling. For me, aimless and excessive computer time is an energy zapper. Sometimes my aimless wandering is full of great inspiration and I wouldn't want to completely take that away. However, there is a line and when I cross it into too much clicking and reading and staring at the endless internet, I get totally drained. So, I'm aware that I need to limit this wandering, give myself space for it, but put a time constraint on it, so that it remains inspiring and not deadening.

I'm also finding that looking at my to-do list is an energy zapper. I haven't quite figured out how to parcel up bits of things to do each day and so I look at the list of things to do, get totally overwhelmed, and do nothing (or a lot of things that aren't on the to-do list, but suddenly seem very important.) On the other hand, when I'm able to break tasks down into doable chunks and accomplish something, I feel fantastic. Nothing like a bit of accomplishment to brighten my mood.

Other energy zappers for me include, trying too hard to please everyone and staying in bed too long. Other energy juicers include a shower with good smelling shampoo and soap, yoga, art-making, laughing with the hubster, playing with my cats, and dancing too good music. This morning, having read the day's entry beforehand, I consciously got up a little earlier in order to avoid the energy zap of staying in bed too long. And I also got to work on my art earlier in order to boost my energy. Right now though, I'm feeling a bit drained. Might have something to do with that hovering to-do list. I think I'll pick one small thing to work on and go from there. Wish me luck!

Continue to read Traveling Muses

Art Every Day Month, November 11th

November 11th, 2008, 11 Comments

Today is the 11th day of Art Every Day Month!

The box below is a widget that I provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) about that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other folks whipping up! Check out the links from today's post, the previous week's posts and the links in the sidebar for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!

If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the before you use the link widget to share your creations.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
-Rumi

Continue to read Art Every Day Month, November 11th

Transform

November 10th, 2008, 17 Comments

Today, I decided to play on a piece of watercolor paper. I had cut out a few silhouettes of people from magazines that I thought I might use as stencils, but then the back of one figure had these neat green swirls (I think part of a landscape) on it, so I decided to glue it to the paper, back-side up. I put down some texture with gel medium, let it dry and then came back into it with some fluid acrylic paint and an image started to suggest itself. A bird-like shape was over the woman. The silhouette I had cut out was only a torso and head, so I added black and some gold-green to it to make a dress. I ended up trimming away part of the paper to make this long shape, which I'm liking. The image seemed to be a sort of transformation, as if the woman was becoming a bird. I also saw butterflies in some of the brush strokes, so I'm calling it, "Transform." It's about 6"x11.5" on watercolor paper.

For Soul Coaching today, the exercises involved some cleansing, so I cleaned some areas of my apartment. I especially loved the effect of wiping down our coffee table with some wood cleaner and a rag. Oddly satisfying. And then I took a shower, concentrating on washing away the negative and making room for the positive in my life. The next exercise was about choosing the meaning you give to difficult moments in your life. I feel like I've done a lot of that over the last 10 years, it's what's helped me most when it comes to living a happier life. Not that I don't ever complain or wish certain things hadn't happened in my life. But I understand now, that those difficulties, such as the experience of being molested or the trauma I experienced receiving medical testing for a disease I had as a child or the tendency towards depression, all these things made me who I am today. They brought me to where I am. They made me a stronger and better person. They've made me a kinder, gentler person with more compassion and understanding towards the difficulties others face. They've given me a certain depth of character and perhaps a certain depth to my artwork that other people can relate to. I used to think, "why me?" a lot. But now, not so much. I'm grateful for all the experiences which led me to where I am today and that includes the difficult ones.

Sometimes it seems easier to do this with the most difficult experiences and it's certainly easier with things that have long since passed. For me, it can be harder to do with the smaller things, like not taking someone's actions or words personally or in dealing with a rejection. I might obsess for a day over a harsh word or cool glance before I can let it go. But I do try and see all those little things as part of my path, and not turn them negative. And I try to remember that it's not about me all the time.

And now, I'm off to relax a bit. Hope you're all having a wonderful start to the week!

Continue to read Transform

Art Every Day Month, November 10th

November 10th, 2008, 12 Comments

Today is the 10th day of Art Every Day Month! Keep up the great work!

The box below is a widget that I will provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) about that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other folks whipping up! Check out the links from today's post, the previous week's posts and the links in the sidebar for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!

If you're new to Art Every Day Month, check out the before you use the link widget to share your creations.

To create is to make something whole from the pieces of our lives and, in the process, to become more whole ourselves, seeing with more clarity each of those pieces, understanding where they fit, how they matter.
-Jan Phillips in Marry Your Muse (a fabulous book!)

Continue to read Art Every Day Month, November 10th

Creative Every Day: November 10th – November 16th, 2008

November 10th, 2008, 9 Comments

CED2008 participants! Feel free to leave a comment here with a link to post(s) about your creative activities during the week of 11/10/08 - 11/16/08.

Happy creating!

Continue to read Creative Every Day: November 10th – November 16th, 2008

A Golden Thought

November 9th, 2008, 27 Comments

I drew an image like this one in my sketchbook and someone suggested I make it into a painting, so I saved it for AEDM. And today, using a 6"x6" wood panel that I'd prepped with gesso last week, I painted the image in acrylic and used ink for the gold accents. When I drew the image it was spontaneous. It made me think of a person having an idea that formed the shape of a bird. I'd forgotten about that interpretation until I finished the painting today and the title popped into my head "A Golden Thought." I love how the most random things can pop into your mind at any moment. Well, sometimes it's annoying and distracting.

In Soul Coaching, Denise Linn talks about how the mental clutter can weigh us down. There's something different though, it's not quite mental clutter when ideas pop in. Perhaps it's the clutter that keeps the ideas from appearing. When I'm able to clear my mind and let it wander freely, that is when ideas come. And it seems that art is my way in. When I doodle in sketchbooks or play with paint, the part of my mind that is cluttered gets distracted. It seems I can only do so many things at once, no matter how good I am at multi-tasking. So, when I'm creating, the volume turns down on the unimportant buzzing which gives room for the little golden thought birds to fly into my line of sight.

Yesterday in Soul Coaching, we were asked to begin defining our life's mission statement. Well, that's no easy task, is it? How do you know? She suggested we just start writing and see what comes up. I started writing about how my mission in life is to inspire, to infuse my life and the lives of others with creativity, love, and light. And then I just started writing words: be creative, be, create, inspire. Then on the following page I drew a woman with a big speaking bubble, like in a cartoon, and in the bubble I wrote, "My purpose in life is to create, inspire, support, love, and encourage. My purpose is to grow, to be gentle, to be joyous, to wonder at all the beauty around me and express it in my own voice, to follow my intuition and dreams, to live and just be." Another task involved creating a life statement collage, but since I've recently created a vision board, I just took it out and put it in a prominent place. It already contains images of many of the values I pin-pointed in one of the exercises from last week.

This week's theme is water, so my mostly blue painting seems very fitting. There is also a focus on emotion and we were asked to think about the turning points in my life. My turning points are fairly clear to me. Many times they were brought about by something tragic or difficult and other times they were brought about by something exciting and wonderful. But in every case, I learned a lot about myself in the process, in each case I found that I was capable of more than I realized, and stronger too.

A few random notes to share:

A few people have asked where I'm getting the quotes that I'm sharing at the bottom of each day's AEDM post. I make those posts the night before and I find my quotes in a variety of places. In some cases I've just typed "creativity quotes" into google and looked around until I found one that I liked, in other cases I used quotes that I have tucked away (I love inspiring quotes!), and other times I've pulled down a random book from my bookshelf and found a quote there. Today's quote was found in "The Nine Modern Day Muses" by Jill Badonsky.
Julia at Red Otter, had the great idea of sharing self-portraits created by taking photos of 5-10 of your most treasured possessions. How cool! Julia is going to share hers this week and has invited others to share there's by contacting her through her blog.
Journals with kitty faces on the cover are irresistible.

Continue to read A Golden Thought

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