One of a Kind
June 5th, 2008, 10 Comments
This afternoon, I dropped off a whole bunch of art at Oak, a new store in Boston. It's in such a great location, on Gloucester Street right off Newbury Street (prime time shopping area.) I got to meet Keara, the owner, at the shop and she was super sweet. I love the way she had her shop set up, it had a very cool vibe to it, lots of great stuff with out being stuffy, if you know what I mean. I knew the store was all about handmade crafts, but I didn't realize the name, Oak, came from their theme of "one of a kind" items. Too cool! At any rate, if you're in the area, I'd definitely recommend checking it out. It was a gloomy day today in Boston, but the weekend is supposed to be beautiful. I bet it'd be great for doing some shopping and people watching in the Back Bay neighborhood. If you can't get to the shop, Keara has some of the store's items for sale online too. Check it out here.
After the trip into town and watching my brother overnight last night, I'm zonked and have a headache. Business has been great this week and I'm thrilled about that. I'll be able to relax and have some extra spending cash for thrifting this weekend!
Lots of links to share, where to begin?
- My friend, Jennifer, has put together an e-book all about creating a right-brained business plan. This sounds incredibly appealing to me and I think it would synthesize well with I'd Rather Be in the Studio and The Boss of You, a book that I'm reading. Great work, Jen. It looks awesome!
- Another friend, Melba has been working away on her own self-published book, Creating in the Midst which you can pick up here. Melba is planning to lead a group through the 12 week process this summer. Congrats, Melba on all your hard work coming to fruition!
- And even more congrats are due! The sweet and talented, Jes has her beautiful jewelry and writing in a magazine and two books this year. I'm so excited for her! Yay, Jes!
- With all this business talk, it feels relevant to mention the slow economy and its effect on artists and craftspeople. I've felt some effect, but I'm not really a big enough business at this point to be taking a major hit. It doesn't have to be all negative though. A downturn in the economy can mean a time to explore other avenues or beef up your business in other ways. I enjoyed reading this article from craft:boom (cool site, by the way!) about running your craft business when times are lean. I think it applies to any small business. And after you read that, check out the rest of the site for interviews with inspiring business women like Amy Butler.
- Speaking of Amy Butler, Holly at Decor8 is hosting a mood board contest with the opportunity to win great Amy Butler related prizes. Check out all the details here. Even if you don't participate, check in after the due date to see all the amazing creations people put together!
- Check out this interview with the ever inspiring Christine Mason Miller at art and letter webzine. And if you need some more inspiration after that, go visit Christine's other site, Sparkletopia.
Holy guacamole! I didn't realize I had built up so many links to share. I could keep going, but my big orange cat is telling me to stop typing by laying across my arms. Hehe.
Memories and Other Business
June 4th, 2008, 7 Comments
Tonight I'm staying at my mom's and watching my youngest brother. It was weird driving back through the town I grew up in (my parents live in different, but close by towns now.) It sent me through a fast wave of memories: playing in that playground, first dates, the bar in next town, the woods that I trekked through so many times that I knew them like a second language. It was a weird sense of nostalgia along with a feeling of having moved on. Back at the house, little brother showed off his drumming skills, which I could hear quite well from the basement, where he played, to the kitchen where I cooked up some dinner.
Last night I had a friend over for dinner and wine and we sat out on the porch with the hubster and chatted about weddings (mine, eight months ago now and I'm just getting around to picking the pictures for our album) and hers coming up in two months, old roommates, family, and life in general. It was lovely, but by the end of the night I was completely spent. This week is turning out to be fairly busy, one thing after another, and an exciting getaway weekend to visit a couple gal pals coming up. Life is good.
I forgot to bring my camera out here with me, so for now I've shared a picture of "Memory Cycles", which is on sale for the month of June. You can buy the original or prints right here. And while you're there, sign up for the newsletter and you'll be eligible to win a free print every month!
While I'm on the subject of business, I've started to delve into The Boss of You (great so far) and it has me thinking a lot about the direction of my art which is feeling a bit all over the place and unfocused at the moment. Or rather, it's not my art that is this way, but me. Doing the exercises in the book, and writing out my vision has been helpful, but I'm a bit unsure about where to direct my energies. So the book has me thinking and lots of questions are bubbling up: Should I focus my energy on one area? Do I need a niche? What would it be? Along with all this, I'm still working on the book on creativity that I began during the winter. It's been changing form slightly which has me writing a lot and re-thinking, but I've not yet developed how I want it to come together. It's progressing though.
Tomorrow I drop off some work at Oak in Boston and I'm very excited to see this new space. I've felt oddly nervous about dropping off my artwork there. Actually, whenever I drop off my work somewhere, I have this feeling of wanting to drop it and run for the hills. Need to take a breath and get past my introverted ways for things like this. Goodness, this is part of the reason I love blogging. Such a great thing for all the introverts of the world. But I really do need to find some way of networking/socializing with other creative types that feels good for me. Some kind of small support group for other women business owners would be fabulous. That might be a fabulous way to get some focus. I'll put the intention to find this group out there and see what comes.
Update: Forgot to mention, the authors of The Boss of You have a blog. And today they provided a link to the Trans-Canadian Etsy Team blog where they're hosting a giveaway of the book (for residents of Canada and the U.S. only.) Sweet deal!
Busy, Busy Weekend
June 2nd, 2008, 11 Comments
It was a busy, full, fun weekend and I found myself quite energy-less this morning. The energy is returning thanks to a gorgeous day. So, what was I up to this weekend? I should have brought my camera. Friday afternoon, the hubster and I hit the road and drove down to the new MGM hotel/casino at Foxwoods. It was the hubster's brother's b-day, so we met him and his wife there and treated them to tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld stand-up. Seinfeld was fabulous, so funny and amazingly energetic. We had great seats and was definitely the best comedy stand-up I've ever seen.
Afterwards we had dinner and then spent the night at the new hotel, very shmancy with a phenomenal view from the 16th floor. I didn't gamble any because that's not really my thing, but I did get a great pair of new shoes. 
My dad will be out of town on father's day weekend (his second trip out of the country, this time to see Italy and Spain!), so my brother and his wife came up from NYC, my sister came down from New Hampshire, and the hubster and I drove up to celebrate an early Dad's Day with my dad and step-mom. It was super hot out and eating out on the porch, I got a bit of a burn on my super white shoulders. Ouch. My dad requested we go to the driving range where my dad showed off his skills and the rest of us showed our lack of. Then were overfed by my step-mom (homemade mac& cheese, lamb, spinach salad, and brownie sundaes!) before driving my brother and his sister back to the train. I'm not sure if it was the sun, all the driving, all the eating, all the socializing, or some combo, but I was totally zonked last night and today.
Friday afternoon, I brought my sketchbook to the hotel and drew this image. I like the idea of a cloud of intuitive thoughts. I was also thinking about the way we pick out shapes in the clouds sometimes. In this case, there's a Red Riding Hood theme going on.
Just found out that I'll have three images in the Calyx journal this summer! The journal is all about the fiction, essays, poetry, and artwork of women and I'm thrilled to have my art in it. This will be my second journal appearance this year and it's so satisfying to check that goal off my list. I'd like to apply to some magazines like Cloth, Paper Scissors next.
Creative Every Day: June 2nd – June 8th, 2008
June 2nd, 2008, 14 Comments
CED2008 participants! Feel free to leave a comment here with a link to post(s) about your creative activities during the week of 6/2/08 -6/8/08.
Happy creating!
Re-Thinking Success
May 30th, 2008, 17 Comments
It's all too easy to focus on the rejections in life and forget the successes. Why is that? Are we afraid of being considered a show off, too big for our britches, self-absorbed, annoyingly happy? It's funny the ways our egos will bring us down by saying things like: the higher you go the harder you'll fall, who do you think you are? It Reminds me of this wonderful quote:
Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within
us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.
And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
-Marianne Williamson
I do think it's important to share when we're struggling sometimes, if only to release it and move on, I think it's equally important to share when we're soaring. In the past, I might have felt jealous when I read about the success of others, but I've learned along the way, that there truly is enough success out there for everyone. So here are my thoughts about re-thinking success. I'd love to hear yours!
How to Re-Think Success:
Define it: What does success mean? It's different for everyone and so it's important to define it for yourself. Keep a list of successes small and large that you want to attain in your life and check back on them periodically to see where you're at. Most importantly, when you do check something off that list, celebrate it! I know that I forget to do this quite often. I'll brush one success off as no big thing, automatically thinking on the next thing I haven't accomplished yet. But it's important to revel in your successes, no matter how small.
Re-Focus: At the end of the day, instead of focusing on what you didn't do, focus on what you did accomplish. Write it down! There's something oddly satisfying about writing your "already done" list. Instead of knocking yourself down for the things you didn't check off your to-do list and feeling crappy about it (and yourself), you can instead feel great about what you did do. It's so much easier to continue forward when you're focusing on your accomplishments. Beating yourself up, tends to lead to a vicious cycle of feeling bad, procrastinating, and then feeling worse. Don't go there. Feel great about what you do and keep growing!
Live it: You know that expression, "Fake it til you make it"? There is something to it. Acting as if you've already attained your goals is a powerful way to move into them. This falls into the "Law of Attraction" category I suppose. I haven't read "The Secret", but I've read about the topic of attraction in other places, like Martha Beck's Steering by Starlight and I've had my own experiences of it along the way. My feelings about it are a little hard to put words to, but what I have grasped is that when you can imagine that feeling you'd have if whatever goal or success you want has come true and then live in that frame of mind, wonderful things can happen. When you act from a place of love and success, success comes to you. When you act from a place of lack and desperation, that's what comes.
Celebrate it: It's wonderful to not only celebrate your own success, but also the success of others. When your friends have success, join them in celebrating. The good mojo and inspiration will soak into your skin and light you up. My friend Jessie is rocking and rolling with her new business and I'm so thrilled for her. And as a side benefit, her success gets me so excited about my own work!
Do it: There's something quite powerful about doing what you love. It shows. It inspires other people. Just by doing it, whatever it is, you are a success. There's a wonderful sense of accomplishment and self-respect that comes from working on those projects big and small that make you glow with joy. Celebrate that joy. Celebrate the success that you are. Let your own light shine.
In the interest of sharing success, one of my greatest joys is hearing from someone who has felt some sort of connection to my art. That happened yesterday when I sold a print of Betwixt and Between (above) from my etsy store and I got a super sweet message from the buyer about how she'd found my art and what it meant to her. What a wonderful treat that is. (And a good reminder to let sellers of art or other goods know why you purchased their products. It means a lot!)
Re-Thinking Rejection
May 28th, 2008, 15 Comments
I haven't done a "Wellness Wednesday" post for awhile. Today I was thinking about how as part of wellness you need to learn how to embrace rejection. Well, maybe not embrace it, but at least re-think it.
There are all sorts of heavy feelings tied up with the word rejection, such as hurt, shame, and embarrassment. We all deal with it, whether in the form of relationships, our work, or simple exchanges with other people in the world. As a creative person putting their art into the world, hearing the word "no" is to be expected.
In the past, I've avoided putting myself out there because of the fear of rejection. Somewhere down deep, I was saying, "Aha, rejection, I've got you now! If I don't apply (show up, try it, etc), I won't have to experience you at all!" Well, this is wrong on many counts and the sad part is that it only ends up hurting me more.
Patti twittered the this quote the other day:
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.- Joseph Chilton Pierce
I've definitely been scared of being wrong. It's a fear that follows me around and shows up in my work, in my relationships, in my conversations. In a group, I might not speak up because I don't want conflict. Or I may get into a heated discussion with someone I care about because I want to be right. Some of this wanting to be right is all tied up with rejection and I'm slowly, but surely learning to let it go. I don't need nor do I want to always be right. I'm letting those stressful attempts at perfection (fruitless and never-ending attempts) go. I'm learning to lose. And through losing, I win.
I remember sometime last year when the hubster told me, "there's no such thing as failure." There is trying and there's not trying and every "try" is an experience through which you learn and grow. I think we can all look back on relationships, jobs, moments where we felt rejected in that moment, but now we realize it was for the best and simply part of our path.
So, why embrace rejection? Well, if you're putting your work out into the world, more rejections may mean that you are stretching, that you are going for it. You may get more "no" responses than you normally would, but you also open yourself up for the "yeses!"
It's also important to remember that rejections usually aren't personal. That gallery, job, person, experience may not be what they're looking for at that time (or the right thing for you either), but it doesn't necessarily mean they don't like your work. So, when rejection comes my way, I think to myself, "O.k., that isn't the right place for my work right now. Good to know. Moving on."
Speaking of moving on, as Julia Cameron says, the only cure for criticism is creativity (I'm paraphrasing here.) And while rejection isn't exactly criticism, it can sting just the same. Unfortunately, it's all to easy to let a "no" stop us dead in our tracks. I can tell you from experience, the best antidote is to get back to work in whatever way you can. As soon as you start to create again, the fog of doubts will lift and you'll get connected with what you love.
I've been putting my work out there more (and need to do much more of it.) Today I received two rejections (one very nice, one brief and form-like) and one acceptance. And that's one yes I would not have had, if I hadn't put myself out there. There's no doubt that some rejections are more painful than others. You may need to grieve a bit, but then pull yourself up and get back to it. As for me, I got back into it and had some fun with acrylic and ink on paper and made the painting at the top of this post! ("Birdhouse", 8"x10", acrylic, ink, pencil on watercolor paper.)
Oh Bee-have!
May 27th, 2008, 10 Comments
Yikes. The older I get, the more I can't contain the puns.
I was feeling a bit stressed earlier, worked myself into a veritable tornado of anxiety. As I apply to various things (shows, galleries, agents, etc...) this sometimes happens. Is it fear of rejection? I'm sure it is in part, but the truth is that rejection isn't all that bad. I can handle it. So what is it that's causing my heart to race? Some underlying fear of being judged or being not good enough seems to be part of it. What an unpleasant feeling. In order to calm myself down, I needed to go sit outside and read for awhile. The cool post-storm air and a grounding book along with some cat snuggles helped bring me back down to earth.
Tonight, I feel calm again and I decided to do some fun art. This week's Inspire Me Thursday theme was "whimsy." Earlier in the day, an image of houses carried by balloons popped into my head, so I scribbled it down quick in my sketchbook and carried on. Later in the day, I was thinking on the combo of aqua and red and decided that I could do that quite nicely with the idea I'd sketched out. The idea of it is whimsical I think.
How did it get so late? Oh, I'm sleepy...But before I go, some links!
-Erin of Design for Mankind has created another gorgeous zine, which you can read here. This issue is all about inspiration in nature.
-Looking for some places to submit your artwork? The Art Deadlines list runs a blog with a wide range of opportunities.
-Want to learn how to draw a face? So much of it is in the proportions. This video is a great place to start!
And that's all she wrote, for tonight.
Creative Gifting
May 26th, 2008, 6 Comments
Oh, it's so lovely out. I'm out on my porch right now enjoying the warm breeze. It's definitely shorts weather, but I totally need to shave my legs if I'm going to go anywhere besides my porch. Hehe.
Creativity galore! I love infusing a bit of creativity into little things like prepping a gift. I had a bridal shower to attend this weekend and the large pile of towels I got as a gift wasn't going to fit into a regular sized gift bag, so I bought an inexpensive large white bag and decorated it. I used a stamp of leaves down the side in brown ink and then used blue markers to draw in circle flowers. I used a blue piece of card stock to make a matching card and some ribbon I had stashed away to attach the card and pretty-up the top of the bag. We were asked to bring a recipe to the shower, so I used another piece of blue cardstock (leftover from my own wedding stuff) to write the recipe out on with a purty matching flower. Presto-change-o, a personalized gift.
Fun linkage share of the day: Connie at Dirty Footprint Studios shared a link to an art talk radio interview with Suzi Blu that I enjoyed listening to. I'm going to be doing a blog talk radio interview with Lia of Art Junk Girl in the next couple weeks!
Creative Every Day: May 26th – June 1st, 2008
May 26th, 2008, 13 Comments
CED2008 participants! Feel free to leave a comment here with a link to post(s) about your creative activities during the week of 5/26/08 -6/1/08.
Happy creating!
Weekend Shares
May 25th, 2008, 5 Comments
I've got some new art in my shop. You can check out the "New Art" page where I put new pieces on occasion. One of the new pieces up for sale is Leap, which I'm offering as a print. I love the whimsy behind this piece and it also seems t o fit in nicely with my Risk theme thanks to my dream lynx.
In the morning I was up at the crack o' dawn for a furntiture delivery. I was talking to the hubster about the new furnishings on the phone (he's celebrating a friend's b-day out of town), I told him how our cat, Sadie, was flipping out about the new furniture. I told him I couldn't figure out why she hid under the new chairs, rolled around on the trunk/coffee table and posed herself in all sorts of ridiculous positions on the rug. The hubster told me he was going back to bed and suggested I do the same, but I was too hyped up. That's when the hubster pointed out that Sadie was probably hyped up the same way I was about the new furniture. Hehe. I suppose, I'm not much different than my crazy cat some days. I'll take some pics when everything is set up. We're still trying to unload our dining room table and the lead I had fell through. Once the table moves out, we'll be able to arrange the new furniture as we like it.
In the afternoon, I took a trip to the mall to pick up a bridal shower gift. The mall was nutty. After I found the gift, I was perusing the shoes at Macy's when this little girl crouched down by one of the shoe mirrors and started screaming at the top of her lungs over and over again. No idea where her parents were or what she was screaming about, but wow, that kid had some lungs! I was happy to scoot out of there and enjoy a lovely ride home with the windows open. Mmm.
Now for some inspiration:
- A man who took a polaroid every day for 18 years of his life, til the day he died. The story was written about on mental_floss. The man behind the pictures was James Livingston. You can read more about him here. Found via Design for Mankind. I love how these polaroids are such simple moments in time, pieces of the every day. It's a very touching collection.
- The super talented and sweet, Jessie has opened up a new etsy shop for her blooming animal art business, Stray Dog Arts. Her paintings are incredible and truly capture the personalities of the dogs she paints. On the etsy shop she's offering, gift certificates for commissioned pieces, originals, prints, and cards.
- I went back to the Container Store today to pick up another storage bin made of newspaper. I have one at home already and they're super cool looking, fit perfectly on my bookshelf, and they're eco-friendly!
