The Creative Beast

Workshop with Orly - More Writings Revealed...

2012-01-26T12:05:00.001-08:00

In my last post I shared a peek at the second journal spread I completed in Orly's workshop during the past weekend but I had not photographed how the spread actually turned out by the end of class so I will share some images with you today...

Here is the last picture I shot of my second journal spread:

And this is how it looked by the end of the workshop:

My second journal spread from Orly's workshop...

One of the exercises Orly lead us through was using the patterns in our own hands to create an "alphabet", by finding symbols in the swirls from our hand and fingerprints...

Charting a new alphabet of meaning for myself...

For some time now I've had an idea to create an alphabet of my own and I was lucky to begin exploring ways I can do it in Orly's workshop. Creating an original alphabet and using it to 'communicate' can be a unique but challenging project that I will continue to ponder in the future...

What could these symbols ('letters') mean if YOU could translate them??

I plan on adding more symbols to this page and I will be sure to share them here with you, so stay tuned!

Workshop with Orly - Writings on the Wall...

2012-01-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to participate in Orly's first workshop for the new year and it was another great experience. This workshop was titled "The Writings on the Wall" but it was not like graffiti as we did last year in June...

This workshop explored words and language and the roles they play in our lives. Sometimes the words are pictographs, such as those from the ancient Mayan culture and sometimes the language may be a foreign one that we do not know, which poses the question "How do we communicate if we do not understand the language?" Since many of us in Orly's workshops are artists, we know we can communicate through the language of ART and so we did.

Here are images from my first journal spread for you to decipher the way I speak ART...

From blank page to background in 15 minutes!

Another layer is added...

At this point in the workshop Orly read to us in Hebrew as we followed the text with our eyes. Some of us had heard this language before, some of us had not, some of us could understand her reading, some of us could not. Orly asked us to share what we thought we heard from her reading and some students had 'translated' whole paragraphs. I chose to write my impressions of what she was conveying to us...

Heartfelt * Meaningful * Thoughtful * Connection * Love

Ancient Wisdom * Lessons * Blessings * Caring * Poetry

We each found a way to "understand" what Orly was conveying to us through a different language, though it may not have been a language we were familiar with. Orly then had us choose three words that she read to us and we worked with those words in our journal spread...

We also worked with Mayan pictographs in this journal spread to add a meaningful phrase important to us all who participate in art journaling...though the face I created is my own, not one made by Mayan scribes.

I will be adding more pictograph images to this page and share the meaning soon...

Before too long it was time for lunch which included one of my favorite foods of all time: TAMALES!! I think it's fair to say we all understand the language of FOOD ;)

The tamales were as big as a burrito and packed with tasty goodness =-)

And before too long, we worked through a second journal spread and it was time to go home...

My second journal spread photographed mid-stream - I will share pictures of this spread later in the week...

This workshop was eye-opening and intriguing as we delved into the intricacies of languages - what we say and how we say it can convey more meaning than knowing the words that are spoken. It was also a great confirmation of how important it can be to have an amazing community of like minded people to work with as we work toward greater understanding of the Human Experience by sharing stories and food, laughter and wisdom...and favorite art suppliers! ;)

On a related note, I spent some time last week working in my art journal to fill in some of the 'gifts' given to me by my fellow classmates and journalers in the last workshop in December. I'll share some of the work I've added, but here is the journal spread from December, as we last saw it...

Stay tuned to see what I've added to this spread as well as seeing the second spread in Orly's workshop!

Blackout Today...

2012-01-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

If I could figure out how to black out my blog in solidarity with Google and Wikipedia today I would do so, but I'll share some links on what is happening:

Google Take Action Page

Information On Wikipedia

SOPA explained at CNN Money

I signed the petitions at Google and through a Typepad blog that was blacked out today*

On a somewhat related note, I missed World Fair Use Day last week but it will be back in May - read more about Fair Use at the website HERE. We can celebrate it together when it returns on May 4th!

* - Thanks Brian for generating awareness on your blog!

Keeping Focused...

2012-01-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hello dear blog readers! I'm here to report on how my first week of working toward completing old projects and defining work and play has gone...

In my last post I made the decision to blog once a week instead of making frequent drives to my dear boyfriends place to check emails, Etsy orders and blog. Now that I have stopped the frequent driving, I've been able to utilize my time a bit more efficiently.

One thing I knew I would need was a regular weekly schedule and my general outline was to keep certain tasks to certain days. So far, Thursday was one of the most productive sewing days I've had in quite awhile...

All the alterations and repairs I've been needing to do lined up and ready to be worked on...

I also had a productive day of photographing items to be listed in my Etsy shops...though, not all the photographs were going to be usable! Here is the ONE shot of some velvet ribbons I plan on selling, if I can just get a few more pictures to capture the color accurately...

These purple/lavender colors are not so easy to photograph - the blue undertones show more in certain light, instead of the red tones they really have

It felt great to have and keep to a schedule since it kept me on track to accomplish different tasks, whether for myself personally or for tasks that move me toward self-sustaining self-employment. As I was working on my new schedule it also helped me to think about the division of work and play.

I've been thinking that everything I do can be attributed to work or play depending upon how I choose to look at it. I had been dividing my projects into what could be considered "work" which was anything that would forward my goals as an artist, and projects that were considered "fun" because they were things I was doing for my own enjoyment or amusement, but CREATING is always fun for me and I like to share those things here on my blog, such as this revised t-shirt...

I began this revised t-shirt at the end of 2011 and posted a picture in this blog post. On my scheduled sewing day I added a ruffled edge along the hem, which you can see better in the detail shot below...

I still think something needs to be added to the neckline, so I'll be pondering what to add in the days to come...

As I watched the Golden Globe Awards the other evening and listened to Morgan Freeman's acceptance speech upon receiving the Cecil B. De Mille award I was struck by one of the things he said...

"It's been said that if you do what you love, you'll never have to work a day in your life"

And he is right about that. It was similar to something a dance teacher had said to me many years ago, that we have to find the fun in things or we'll always be wondering when we're going to have any fun! So I am focusing not only on getting projects accomplished, but on seeing the fun in everything I do and then I'll never have to 'work' another day in my life ;)

In the meantime, I'll be attending Orly's upcoming workshop and I'm finally returning to a project I'd been teasing you all with in these two posts and you'll see what the project is shaping up to become, so stay tuned!

Easing into 2012...

2012-01-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

I've had a lovely week of easing into this new year by taking two whole days to complete the worksheets by Susannah Conway and finishing it up with a completion ritual sent my way from Louise Gale in one of her newsletters. I have to say it felt SO GOOD to burn up slips of paper containing all the things I was ready to let go of and say goodbye to - very FINAL and very cleansing!

Burning out the old unnecessary people, places, things and feelings of 2011 on my stovetop

I also spent a few minutes during the past weekend creating a weekly schedule that I hope will keep me on track moving forward in 2012. Looking back on 2011, I realized that I spent a lot of time recuperating from the horrible workplace that I was laid off from, but I also realized that I needed that recuperation time very much...

I have always been a hard worker, but sometimes it leads to too much work as it did in my previous job, which inevitably lead to my burn-out. I've been doing a lot of thinking of what is work and what is play and realizing that I need to redefine both. My current mind-set of separating the two may not serve me in the new year, just as thinking that I need to have a fully stocked Etsy shop did not serve me and changing that mind-set has been freeing to say the least. I'm hoping that redefining work and play will help me to move forward in the future and keep me from resisting anything that feels like "work", which is something I've found myself doing in the past few months, so much so that it took me some time to actually do the worksheets to close out 2011 and hone my word for 2012!

And yet, for some reason, I've been feeling an urgency to get these tasks of closing out the old year and defining the new one, but I don't know why I felt that urgency. After I completed the worksheets and did the completion ritual I now see why I felt that urgency - 2011 was a hard year and I needed to really close it out so I can move into 2012 with a clear mind and a free heart. I may still need a little more recuperation time as I define work and play, but I do feel that the old year is VERY MUCH behind me.

I've also decided that make things in my life a little easier, I will be blogging once a week. Since I still do not have internet at home, I've decided to focus on completing projects I've started, and continuing the cleaning and clearing in my home and NOT make frequent drives to my dear boyfriends home to check emails - all that driving takes time away from completing the projects! It's time to employ my creative resources to make my life a little simpler, more art-full and to make room for Abundant Support to come into my life in any form it takes. It's long overdue! I hope you'll stay tuned as I check in weekly with my progress and my challenges...

How are YOU easing into 2012? What are you doing to ease yourself into 2012?

A Different Review for 2012 - How my Life Looks Today

2012-01-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

Since I've been reviewing my Kwanzaa posts of last year, it's got me thinking of other things in my life and how things look now, compared to a year ago or even 6 months ago...

My last day of working in an office was on June 30 2011, and my life looked very different while in that job than it does today. Here are some changes in my life that have been very much for the better since leaving the office workplace:

I no longer work in an isolating environment!

Though I am alone much of the day, as I was in the office, I'm in a far more inviting environment at home and I have lots to keep me busy. I can have favorite movies playing in the background or listen to music I really enjoy instead of settling on music everyone can 'tolerate'. I also eat my lunch in cozier surroundings...

Though this love seat may not be in my home much longer, it is a cozy spot for nibbling, knitting, dreaming of the future and the occasional nap ;)

I can socialize with my friends!

When I was working in the office, I kept my cell phone off during work hours. I'm a bit old fashioned that way - I thought I should be focusing on the work I'm being 'paid' to do, not personal business. But now that my time is my own, I have my cell phone on all day in case friends call while I'm at home or while running errands. It allows me time for 'catch up chats' or planning get-togethers, both of which happen more often now that my time is my own =-)

I eat better!

I used to bring frozen lunches to the office since it was easier to cart a frozen meal for my one hour drive to work than to keep fresh food cool enough in a lunch pack. I would bring packets of oatmeal and trail mix in the winter for breakfast and hard boiled eggs in the summer since they were easy to transport without spoiling. Today, I can make my favorite breakfast of eggs however I want to eat them: scrambled, omlette, or over-easy. I can make Cream of Wheat, which is a favorite breakfast in cold weather, but I couldn't make it at the office and the instant kind is not very tasty. I would also indulge in a daily bag of chips and a soda during my work day, which is not a healthy snack...

A recent breakfast of scrambled eggs with sprinkling of dill and a slice of whole grain toast - YUM!

I love a fresh home-made sandwich, but the time it took make one made it a problem for my morning routine before the morning drive. Now that I no longer have to drive to work, I can make a nice fresh sandwich at home for my lunch and I love it! And I've cut the daily soda and chips to an occasional indulgence and make iced tea to drink instead. OH! I really love preparing my meals at home these days!

I am in better health!

Before the office moved to the remote location, I would take walks in the mornings before getting ready for work. That stopped when my daily commute became an hour long and that was just one way! I would occasionally make some time for a stroll at the office and I would always walk to the local post office to ship my Grandma Betty orders, but I really prefer to start my day with a long walk and now I do. I also walk to my local post office near my home so I often have two walks in my day! It feels great to return to this favorite routine and I have even lost a few pounds from all my walking and eating healthier foods, instead of highly processed ones...

I read more!

Since I am trying to keep from bringing more things into my home, this also goes for books (despite my love for them!), so I've gotten back into the habit of using my local library to read many of the books I've had on my reading list for a few years now. Luckily, my local library is on the same block as my post office so my walks to the post office extend to the library where I also borrow videos and watch movies my dear boyfriend might not be interested in watching with me, like "chick flicks" ;)

I'm free to create whatever I want, whenever I want!

When I was working in an office, I was limited to what I could create - I would sometimes do some collage work, there was my Office Art Book to work in, and of course I could blog, but I couldn't do my sewing at the office. These days I can play with my watercolor paints, sew on new projects or work on garments that need repair, as well as work on the cleaning and organization of my creative play-space. Here is a sewing project I began in the last days of 2011...

There are still some small details to be added to this top, but it's been great fun to create so far!

I really love having the freedom to create when and where I want in my life and I love how my life looks today compared to year ago.

*** *** ***

I also look forward to doing more creating in the design of how I want my life to look in 2012 and beyond. I plan on using the worksheets provided by Susannah Conway on her blog. My blog buddy Tinniegirl linked to these worksheets and I like the questions and prompts that are provided. Thanks to Tinniegirl for pointing the way to some thoughtful reflection and planning!

I've also got some books from my local library to help me create a great new creative life: Art and Fear (thanks to Gwynnie for pointing out this book!), Creating a Life Worth Living, Fitting In Is Over-rated (many thanks to my Wise Woman for this recommendation!) and one I found at the Montrose Farmer's Market, The Accidental Masterpiece. I'll be sure to share what I've gleaned from these books in future posts...I suspect these books might have to become part of my personal library!

Today was the day of the Pasadena Rose Parade which I ALWAYS watch, each and every year. This year's theme was "Just Imagine" and I think it's a great sign of things to come for 2012.

I'm going to take a few days to imagine how my life will unfold in 2012, but I'll be back soon with updates on my cleaning/clearing at home, sewing projects and other creative endeavors so stay tuned!

What do you IMAGINE for yourself in 2012? I'd love to hear about it!

Faith - A Review

2012-01-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the last night of Kwanzaa and I've been reviewing the hopes and plans I had made to incorporate the 7 principles of Kwanzaa in my life in 2011. I've been pretty successful with many of the principles, but I can see that there is room for improvement as I begin the new year of 2012. Let's see how I did in the last principle, Faith...

Seventh night of Kwanzaa - Faith

Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Seven candles for seven nights...Kwanzaa may be over but the principles will be incorporated as 2012 marches forward!

Then and Now:

I think that what I wrote about this principle still stands today so I'm reposting it here...

"I know the wording of this principle is aimed toward the African American community, but it often feels to me that Artists are under-appreciated in society and it often feels like a struggle to be taken seriously as an Artist...and it takes a great deal of Faith to BE an Artist in the face of that.

My favorite quote about Faith comes from Dr. Martin Luther King, which I think may resonate for many of you:

FAITH is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase

It takes Faith to begin a new work of art - we often have an idea in our heads but our materials don't always cooperate with our vision!

It takes Faith to put ourselves and our work out into the world because we don't always know how it will be received and we need to have Faith that it will be well received by those who are open to it...

It takes Faith to live as an Artist and not worry about where our next meal will come from...

It takes Faith to trust that the Universe will provide what we need when we need it, but it always does if we ask for what we need...

It's not always easy to have that Faith when we can't see the outcomes of our efforts right away but I Believe with all my heart in Art and the power of creating with our hands and I Believe with all my heart that Creating is Healing...and I Believe the knowledge of all that can help me to "Keep the Faith*" in the face of the unknown..."

Here is how I think I did with this principle:

I can tell you that it's been quite a challenging year for me this year and some days my Faith was flagging in the face of those challenges. Knowing I would be laid off by June brought joy at my impending freedom from a horrible workplace, but it also brought challenges like my lack of internet at home. I'm very thankful to have a wonderful boyfriend who gives me access to his computer for blogging and for listing goods to sell on Etsy!

Every day I have doubts and fears about how my life will take shape, but I always keep my focus on the fact that everything I need is provided for in one way or another and this helps me to "Keep the Faith" that there is abundance in the world and I deserve to have that abundance in my life.

I think if I can keep the idea of "Abundant Support" firmly in mind, some of my fears can be alleviated as I move forward in 2012. And I also remember that having doubts and fears is a natural reaction to the Unknown! The trick is to be sure those doubts and fears DO NOT take over and I think that is where FAITH comes in ;)

How do you "Keep the Faith" to take steps when you can't see the whole staircase? What or Who do you Believe in with all your HeArt?

* - Once again, many thanks to Tavis Smiley for this wonderful phrase! I may need to start watching his show again to hear this important reminder =-)

Creativity...and a New Year!

2011-12-31T12:05:00.000-08:00

WOO HOO!

Not only is this night six of Kwanzaa where I get to celebrate my favorite principle of CREATIVITY, but it's also the last night of 2011 AND I've got my Word of the Year to guide me as I move forward in the new year. It's a TRIPLE WHAMMY of goodness I get to celebrate today!

Now, first things first - my review of the principle of Creativity from last year...

Sixth night of Kwanzaa - Creativity

Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

One candle left to light and then Kwanzaa is at an end...until next year!

Then and Now:

Here are my hopes from last year -

One way I'd like to leave my Planet Earth more beautiful and beneficial is by using creativity in recycling old goods and giving them a new life in a new form. I do this when I make my t-shirt scarves and t-shirt skirts, not to mention the tote bag with the recycled t-shirt flower. I also recycle when I use old book pages for my collage work which keeps purchasing new craft paper to a minimum.
I do hope to make some of the projects from the book "re-bound", which my dear boyfriend gave me as a Christmas gift this year! This book has great ideas for recycling all sorts of things and I was very excited to see a project on using old (empty) gift cards for small books since there were some gift cards I had been holding onto for their graphic art and I nearly threw them away last week! WHEW! I'm SO glad I can re-purpose them now and I'll be sure to share that project when I begin to work on it...

Here is how I did in my projected goals:

I'm always using old book pages when making my collage art and I had a fabulous t-shirt dress made for me by a recycled garment artist. I was so inspired by this artist that I made a recycled t-shirt dress of my own*! (And I might make a few more before 2012 is over!)

My own recycled t-shirt dress in teal, brown and chartreuse green - I like to think of it as my "Wood Fairy" dress ;)

I did not make the recycled gift card books this year but I have been making some little pocket-sized notebooks using outdated promotional postcards which I plan to list in my shop soon...

An example of one of my little notebooks made from a promotional postcard

Moving forward in 2012:

I plan on attempting one or two more recycled t-shirt dresses in 2012. Though it took me a few days to create my own dress (compared to the one day it took to have my dress made for me!) it was a wonderful challenge to create a dress of my own, adding some design elements that were a bit more advanced than the original, not to mention the challenge of figuring out the 'puzzle pieces' to create a fit and flare shape and a 'ruffle' hem...

A detail shot of the back of my dress with a hand sewn and embroidered twill tag at the hem

I do plan to create some hand bound books in the new year using some old books I've been collecting for the purpose, and use pages from other books to make new signatures for the hand-bound ones I've got ideas for. I'll be recycling books in one way or another with this project! I think it's fair to say I've got enough ideas for recycling projects to keep me busy well into 2012...

My Word Of The Year

As I began this Kwanzaa review and read of my hopes for making more money in 2011 I began to think that my word for 2012 should be "money", since I was not very successful with this goal, though being laid off from a job that had already cut my pay is hardly something I had any control over! I like to have a 'qualifier' for my words, so I thought "abundant money" could be my words to guide me in 2012, since this is a way to get specific with the Universe about what I need in my life.

Then, I began to see a pattern emerging of my desire for a circle of like-minded artists. I began to rethink the idea of "abundant money" and to think instead about "support" - I can give support, which I enjoy doing, and I can receive support in return which I sometimes need to work on! I then began to think that "mutual support" might be a guiding force for me in 2012.

After a session with my wonderful Life Coach Pete, we came upon the concept of "abundant support" as a guiding phrase to use in the new year. Pete then guided me through a lovely meditation and a word came to me out of this meditation: "plentitude"...I really liked the sound of this word as it felt like having plenty, as in "just the right amount" and not one bit more than is needed or necessary. After the many months of all the cleaning and clearing I've been doing in my humble home, I have come to respect the idea of "plentitude", of having just enough and not any more than is necessary to bring joy into my life!

However, after much thought and discussion, I've decided to go with this phrase moving forward in 2012:

Abundant Support

To me, this phrase means that support can come in ANY form - gifts of cooked meals, gifts of art supplies, gifts of tools needed to move forward in my artistic career, gifts of travel, gifts of friendship and companionship, gifts of interesting and unique experiences. Gifts of Support can come in many ways, large and small, that can be helpful to myself or someone else that I can lend support to, such as offering encouragement in creativity or sharing art supplies with others.

Support can certainly include money when it's needed, but I like removing the focus from money since it does not always cure everything. After all, money can't buy true friends or true love. Also, it's time for me to exercise RECEIVING SUPPORT which can be hard for me to do sometimes...and I have a feeling that I'm not the only one who has trouble receiving support when it's needed!

I'm looking forward to seeing how "Abundant Support" will play out in the new year to come, as well as seeing how I accomplish some of the principles of Kwanzaa in 2012. I still have one more principle to review tomorrow and it's one that can be challenging - 'Faith'. I hope you'll check back tomorrow as I complete my Kwanzaa review, if you haven't been up too late celebrating the New Year! ;)

May we all have "Abundant Support" and a Prosperous New Year in 2012!

* - I planned on having my dress made for me to support the recycled garment artist, since I still had some hours toward another dress, but the artist and his wife have been busy settling into a new gallery space. I might ask him to create a special sweater coat though, if I have enough hours toward one =-)

Purpose - A Review

2011-12-30T12:05:00.000-08:00

I've been celebrating the principles of Kwanzaa which is an African American holiday celebrating important principles that strengthen community. I celebrated these principles last year and this year I've been reviewing my hopes for how I hoped to incorporate those principles throughout 2011 so I can find ways to move forward in 2012...

Fifth night of Kwanzaa - Purpose

Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness

Candles are lit for each night of Kwanzaa in a 'kinara' - this is my version of a kinara =-)

Then and Now:

This is how I hoped to approach the principle of "Purpose" in 2011:

One way I hope to contribute to building and developing our community is by finding ways to work with children and youth and to inspire a love of the arts, visual and performance. I hope to find a way to volunteer my skills to this end, which I think will help to build a strong community of more artists and I hope it will pave the way for the Arts to take their place of greatness in our culture once again...

I was not able to find a way to do work with children and youth in the arts, though I was able to donate some of my artwork to City Hearts, an organization that does the kind of work I thought of doing. I have been approached by one of the ladies of City Hearts to consider working with children and upon much reflection, I'm not sure I'm qualified to work with children; after my recent job with the non-profit after-school program, I've come to learn that many children need professionally trained and skilled teachers to work with them. However, I won't rule out working with children in the future. I just need to rethink the best approach that will be best for all involved =-)

What is your Purpose looking forward in 2011? What are some ways you can help to build and develop your community in your Life?

Cooperative Economics - A Review

2011-12-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the fourth night of Kwanzaa and the principle to be celebrated is Cooperative Economics. I'm reviewing how I hoped to approach the principles of Kwanzaa in 2011 to see how I can move forward in 2012.

Fourth night of Kwanzaa - Cooperative Economics

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Then and Now:

Here is my list of how I hoped to incorporate Ujamaa in 2011 -

One way I hope to incorporate this principle is by supporting my fellow artists, through sharing about their amazing work, participating in e-courses or by purchasing their artwork.
There are also people I know that are self-employed in different trades, such as my Tax Man and I am happy to support his business! Maybe you know someone who has chosen to be self-employed that you can support?
Another way I hope to incorporate this principle is by creating some wonderful items to sell in my own Etsy shop. I've got so many ideas of wonderful things to make, I just don't know how I'll have enough Time to make them!

Here is what happened in 2011:
I can say that I managed to support small businesses on Etsy though they may not always have been art shops. I can also say that I did support artists through the interviews I created about them - it was a great way to showcase the work they do!

I'm still supporting my tax man and I like to think that I'm supporting small business by patronizing farmers markets for my produce...

While I did finally re-open my Etsy shop this year, I still have some improvement to make in creating more goods to sell, but selling supplies in my shop is one way to inspire creativity in others which goes back to my hopes from Self Determination =-)

What are some ways you can incorporate the principle of Cooperative Economics in your life for 2011??

Collective Work and Responsibility - A Review

2011-12-28T12:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the third night of Kwanzaa, the African American holiday that celebrates meaningful principles, with a new principle for each night. Tonight is the night we celebrate Collective Work and Responsibility and I'm reviewing what I accomplished in 2011 as I wrote about these principles last year, with the intent of finding ways to move forward with them in 2012.

Third night of Kwanzaa - Collective Work and Responsibility

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems, and to solve them together.

Then and Now...

Here is what I wrote about these principles last year:

I have worked with many people in the past year to help solve problems or to help them figure out a way to move forward or to help them take some first steps into their creative future by using my experience and my skills I've acquired in Life. I do expect to continue doing this type of work in the name of "solving each others problems" and I'm hoping that I can acquire a scholarship to learn how to facilitate Soul Collage workshops in order to continue helping others
I also hope to do some collaborative work with other artists - I'm not sure how this will manifest, but I know it is something that I am hoping for in 2011...

Sadly, I was unable to begin training in Soul Collage but I can say that I did help out a few people this year in terms of their creative work. I do hope to continue with helping out others and encouraging others in finding and doing their creative skills.

I'm also sorry to report that collaborative work did not take place this year as I'd hoped for, but since I didn't have a definite plan, that could have been a factor. Maybe if I am able to create the circle of like minded artists, there will be opportunities for collaboration? Then true 'Ujima' can be accomplished =-)

What are some ways you can incorporate Collective Work and Responsibility in your life for 2011??

Self Determination - A Review

2011-12-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am celebrating the African American holiday of Kwanzaa which lasts for 7 nights beginning on the night after Christmas and focuses on 7 principles. Tonight is the principle of Self Determination or Kujichagulia, and I'll be reviewing what I hoped to accomplish in 2011 when I wrote about this last year so I can make a plan moving forward in 2012.

Second night of Kwanzaa - Self-Determination

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.

Then and Now...

Here is my list for what I hoped to accomplish in terms of self determination from last year:

I want to push my financial limits to their utmost in 2011 by earning more money than I could dare to dream of - apparently I have not been dreaming of very great financial success in the past few years!! ;)
I want to help others find their creative voice and give support where it is needed...
I want to create a home of comfort and welcome for the loved ones in my life...
I want to surround myself with like-minded artists, who are enthusiastic about the work they create...

Here is my review:
In regard to pushing my financial limits I guess I needed to be a bit more specific about earning more money since I was laid off from my already low paying job and money is tighter than ever at the end of 2011. I'm not sure what needs to change to bring more money into my life - mind set, skill set, emotional patterns??? I think my Word of the Year can be used to help with this aspect...

I'm not sure if I've been very effective in helping people find their creative voice in 2011, but I do think I have been able to give support to many friends and a few blog buddies when I could. I'll have to ponder this aspect of self determination to see where and how I can improve in 2012

It seems that this was another aspect that went backward rather than forward but I've certainly been working on creating a home of comfort and welcome in the past few months! If I can get there the goal will be to maintain some tidy comfort that will welcome all who pass through my door =-)

I want to work harder on creating a circle of like-minded artists, who are enthusiastic about the work they create and I'd have to add that they should be able to face their fears and still be able to do the work they love. I'm definitely feeling a need for some sort of circle of 'colleagues' to visit with on a more regular basis...

What are some ways you could incorporate the value of Self-Determination in your life for 2011?

Kwanzaa for 2012

2011-12-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

Last year, I created a series of posts explaining the African American holiday celebrated at this time, Kwanzaa, and I want to do it again this year by doing a review of how I was or wasn't able to incorporate the principles of Kwanzaa throughout the year so I can plan how to make amendments moving forward into 2012. If you'd like to read the posts from last year, you can find them all HERE and if you'd like to learn about the holiday itself, you can read this Wikipedia page and check out more details at this website...

I also work on finding my Word of the Year at this time and I believe I have found my guiding words for 2012 that will be revealed by New Years Eve. I may even do a review of how my 'Word of the Year' played out in 2011...in the meantime, let the review begin!

First night of Kwanzaa - Unity (Umoja)

Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race

A "kinara" is used when lighting the candles for each night of Kwanzaa - this is my 'makeshift' kinara =-)

Then and Now...

This is the list I created for incorporating the principle of Unity in my life as I moved forward in 2011:

make time/space in my life for visiting friends more often
making time to send messages or gifts through the mail
contribute my skills, time or money toward a worthwhile cause

Here is what took place:

I did make time to visit friends by making a commitment to attend the weekly knitting night at my favorite knitting shop and I can tell you that it was long overdue! I realized how much I had missed the company of my fellow knitters and I now manage to go almost every week. I also got back in touch with an old friend who sells vintage goods and we made a few shopping excursions to help her find goods for her shop!

I did make time to send mail or small gifts to a few friends, such as one friend who moved to Canada in the fall, as well as sending goodies to other wonderful blog buddies. I do feel that I can improve in this area by sending mail (and Mail Art!) more often and I will continue to work on this aspect.

I did help out a young couple who owned an art gallery, by volunteering my administrative skills. And I also donated some of my artwork to my favorite non-profit that is dedicated to helping children through art, City Hearts. However, I'd like to find ways to expand my volunteerism and this is something I will work on in 2012.

What are some ways you can incorporate more Unity in your life with your community?

A Little Bit of Spirit...

2011-12-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

I've written here before about feeling "Scrooge-y" in the midst of "the most wonderful time of the year" and sadly, this year is no exception. In fact, I've felt less spirit than I ever have in the past...

I usually manage to muster up a little bit of spirit before the big day arrives, but I think I've been doing so much cleaning and clearing that I've run out of energy for the holiday! I can usually get a bit of spirit going if I decorate, but the thought of bringing out the holiday decorations in the midst of so much cleaning just didn't sound appetizing, but I did find a way to do a little bit of decorating this year...

This picture illustrates how I'm feeling this holiday season - hazy with shadows of spirit coming through...

One thing I do look forward to each year is my annual visit with my wonderful Wise Woman, Janet. We have our very own tradition we created at this time of year though she is Jewish and I am...non-denominational! Our annual tradition is called:

"Monica's Movie Matinee!"

Janet does not own a tv and she doesn't always get to see popular movies since her husband is more a fan of foreign films. I began to show her snippets of popular films that I owned and it all began by showing her bits of different versions of The Nutcraker ballet, since it's my favorite ballet and I own several versions of it.

We pool our resources to have a gathering of foods that we can each enjoy and it usually includes goat cheese since we both enjoy eating goat cheese and our respective partners are not fans of it. We often have our movie matinee in the afternoon but this year we celebrated in the morning since Janet had to pick up her husband at the airport in the afternoon, so we celebrated with a brunch for a nice change.

I am glad to report that my annual event with my wonderful Wise Woman went very well, even though I was not able to clear my dining table to set out our food as we have done in the past...

My dining table, currently my art table, since it's close to the kitchen sink for water when I'm painting

I was able to clear off much of the clutter on my little sofa so Janet could sit in comfort while we dined and watched bits of movies. This year the bits were titled "The singing sensations of Ewan McGregor"*!

My little love seat with much of the clutter that is usually piled on the arms of the sofa - a small tray provided a place for Janet to rest her plate

It was a lovely morning of tasty food, thoughtful conversation and watching movies of singing and dancing! It is my favorite tradition of the holiday season...

Another tradition I've grown to love is celebrating the African American holiday of Kwanzaa. I've been working on a series of posts that will begin the day after Christmas, which is when Kwanzaa begins. I've been reviewing my posts from last year to see how I managed to incorporate the principles of Kwanzaa in my life and I will be thinking of how to move forward in the new year.

I've also been giving some thought to what my Word of the Year will be in 2012 and I'll certainly reveal that on the last day of 2011. I hope you'll check in after Christmas to read the series!

I hope that you are enjoying holiday traditions of your own with the people you love most, whatever those traditions may be...

A Happy Holiday Weekend to you all!

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* - Ewan McGregor has sung in the films "Emma", "Miss Potter" and of course, "Moulin Rouge", all of which I own on dvd =-)

Cleaning and Clearing, Bit by Bit

2011-12-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

I've been pegging away at the cleaning and clearing project of my home, but it's been a bit up and down, backward and forward...Here are some shots of one area in my little home:

This area is the space between the "dining" area and the "living room" which, as you can see is taken up by my clothing rack that I use to dry most of clothes and my bicycle that, sadly, has not been used for some time...and you can also see my dining room table that is used for collage and painting since the kitchen sink is just a few steps away. I'll share some pictures of the dining room table soon, if you can stand the horror! ;)

The stacks and piles were actually bigger before I took these shots, so this is not a proper "before" shot, but it's still quite a mess with piles of boxes, bins and books which are sitting under my collapsible clothing rack for drying my clothes. (As someone who works with fabrics a lot, I can tell you that nothing will fade the color of your garments more than heat from the dryer...or BLEACH!)

I usually collapse it down between washings but it's been left up for awhile now as I seem to continually be washing clothing or fabrics. The batch of t-shirts you see facing forward are going to be used for another t-shirt dress, eventually...

You can see that the pile did get smaller in the shot above but that did not last for very long as I managed to arrange a meeting with a nice lady who owns this wonderfully fabulous vintage shop, Hide and Seek LA. It is a charming store that sells lots of lovely vintage and I hoped to sell off as many of my grandmother's things as possible. I didn't sell as much as I'd hoped, but I did make a few helpful dollars to use for a gift for my dear boyfriend for the holidays =-)

And I did clear out a box or two, so now the area now looks like this:

As I continue to clean and clear all the accumulated stuff from my home, I get ideas of how I want to move things around and the big idea swimming in my head lately is to get rid of the tired old love seat I've had for several years. I don't have a picture of it just now, but I'll be sure to take one soon to share with you all.

You might be asking what would replace the love seat. Nothing! I really like the idea of having cozy comfy chairs in the living area, such as my comfy chair that I sit in while having sessions with my wonderful Life Coach, Pete...

This was a thrift shop find - I made the burgundy slip cover to hide the boring upholstery it was covered in!

I'm not sure how I'll acquire a few more cozy comfy chairs for my humble abode, but I'm hoping that all the cleaning and clearing will pave the way to make room for better things in my life...like greater financial abundance! I'll be sure to keep you posted as I continue my cleaning and clearing project, so stay tuned!

Creative Beast Interview - Faery Mysterium

2011-12-16T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hello dear blog readers! I've been busy with quite a lot in the past week such as working on a wonderful interview to share with you today with a truly magical artist. It's been on my back burner simmering for awhile now and I am happy to say it's ready to be savored. I'm so excited to share this interview with you all!

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Interview with Michelle Van Fleet of Faery Mysterium

I first met Michelle at the Scottish Highland Games back in October when someone mentioned a vendor selling beautiful, magical faery chairs made of crystals and semi-precious stones. My dear boyfriend and I made our way to find this vendor and we were not disappointed!

Michelle had a unique tent and set up that felt as though we were entering a magical world and indeed we were. Several tiny and dainty faery chairs were laid out before us, each one more magical than the last! My dear boyfriend chose a chair to take home for a faery figurine he had brought back from a trip to Ireland and his tiny faery was soon ensconced in her new throne...

The faery usually sits inside his home but I shot the faery and her chair outside among my dear boyfriends many potted plants -

Photo enhanced by Michelle Van Fleet

We had an enjoyable conversation with Michelle who spoke with us about her chairs and how they are each made for a particular spirit. As she spoke about her creative work, I realized that she would be a great subject for an interview - an amazing artist full of creativity. I asked if I could interview her and I was so happy when she agreed! Thank you and welcome Michelle!

Michelle, Artist and Creator of Faery Mysterium

Who first introduced you to creating? Was it a family member - a teacher? How did that person influence you?

My grandfather, Fred Sersen, was head of the special effects art department at 20th Century Fox for decades. He was brilliant, won 2 Oscars for his work, along with a dozen nominations. Both of my parents were very supportive of my artist efforts. My grandfathers' paintings were hung throughout our home, so I grew up surrounded by beautiful art created by a professional, successful artist. That informed my notion of what was possible early on.

Your grandfather certainly had an illustrious career that can be found at IMDB, not to mention a Wikipedia page! It's wonderful that you had such a family legacy of creativity and support throughout your childhood.

What were your first creative actions that you remember? (Sewing, Dancing, Painting, etc?)

I loved to paint, to do collage and mosaic (assemblage at an early age!), draw with charcoal, create jewelry with beads. I had a little door-to-door business selling my necklaces when I was about 8. I loved to dance to the Nutcracker Suite (who didn't??) and I was very fond of trying to create Haiku poems. And oh yes, mustn't forget to mention I was creating (and selling to my schoolmates) woodland outfits for those neon hair troll dolls. Clearly, I took after my grandfather in a big way, but I was coloring 'outside the lines' even then.

I love that you were an entrepreneur at such a young age Michelle! It reminds me that I made little things that I sold to some of my friends in school: embroidered key chain charms and book markers!

Do you have a favorite medium to create in? If so, what is it?

My favorite medium is always whatever is current for me. But I must say, this current assemblage work is really knocking my socks off. Each work is a whole new puzzle, with many layers and levels to experience within the process.

How do you feel when you are creating in your chosen medium?

Whatever I am attuned to, I am creating there because I am in harmony with that process and mode of artistic expression. That said, what this then offers is the opportunity to get into 'the zone', where one is existing outside of time and the inspiration is pouring through. Truly, the works that emerge from that space can feel as though they are beyond me, in a sense. There is no direct forethought, the piece literally morphs and emerges as it will, while I look to "feel" the placement, the stones, the colors, the curves. It is all about feeling your way through, not thinking what something should or shouldn't be. Very organic and intuitive. This is what I love. So in a way, it is my process of refining my being, my consciousness.

A scene from Michelle's workshop - a faery chair in process...

What is the greatest joy you derive from creating? Accomplishment? The process? Sharing it with others? Please explain…

First and foremost for me is the process . As I mentioned before, my artistic process is also a method of personal refinement. When I cannot 'see' what is coming into form, and yet trusting my process and going with the proverbial 'flow', this creates self-trust as an artist. The surprise and delight I experience with the finished piece further strengthens the concept of self-trust, which is applicable in all aspects of life.

This is also a collaborative effort. There really is a distinct being that is connected to each of these pieces; that is what makes them portals. The energetic tone that is created is what they respond to, and assists them to come through into this world we inhabit. I have had to learn to "listen" to their input. This I put in quotes, as it is a different sort of listening than we are use to. It comes through the mind of the heart. This sort of refinement is ongoing, and I thoroughly enjoy focusing there.

I do love to connect with those who enjoy my works, it often opens many doors and many wonderful conversations ensue. But more often than not, my pieces move along to their intended caretakers on their own and I never meet who receives them. So it really is the process and collaboration with the fae that spurs me on.

Accomplishment? I do love these whimsical little wonders, and have created quite a body of work to date (over 450, give or take a few...). But once they are ready to move along, it is on to the next. The greater sense of achievement comes through my own growth I addressed above, as well as sticking with this; keeping to my decision to have this really be the thing for me.

I have to agree with you on all the points you've made. I've learned that sometimes the materials know better than I do how to get to the end result of whatever I'm creating and though I may have a firm idea or plan in mind, my materials will do what they will and the end result will usually look MUCH better than I'd imagined. I also admire that you are able to let go of each chair as they are made - it's not always easy for artists to let their work go out into the world, especially such beautiful chairs as the ones you make! In regard to letting go of work created, I think this quote from a Pixar character says it best for me: "I never look back darling, it distracts from the NOW" ;)

Do you think a creative life comes from ideas, doing or being?

Yes, yes and yes. Creativity, in order to be fully realized, asks to be brought forward into 'being-ness'. We are all creative, we are all weaving stories in our heads every moment of every day! For me, it is to have a specific concept, with a desired result that the creator/artist has decided upon, and to then hold to that vision as it takes form. This is not to say the vision must remain static, not at all. My vision of where I am going with this body of work is changing all the time. And yet, there is a consistent thread carrying through in each and every piece. The actual 'doing' of the piece, the creation process, is what moves me along, and also develops these works. If all I was doing was thinking about and visualizing them with no 3rd dimensional creation, no growth would unfold.

A creative life, in my experience, asks one to be able to turn on a dime and head off into uncharted territory, all the while certain that this too shall bear fruit. Or faery chair treasure, as the case may be.

How do you express your creative life? Is it integrated in your daily life or is it a separate part of your life?

Creativity is integral to my experience of myself. If I am not in one process, I am in another, of asking/pondering questions and looking for those unexpected possibilities. As a spiritual being, I am certainly what is called a 'contemplative', and this is also my creative method. I let my mind wander and open my self to the moment, the alchemy of what is before me.

These works I am involved in, they are a collaborative effort. It is all happening between myself and the faery that will presence through it, as well as the person it is going to. Those connections are coming through all the time, with the nexus occurring at the time the piece is created. I am always swimming around in many levels of expression. In fact, I have to work every day at getting grounded.

Can you think of a time when someone else’s creativity fed you? What was that like?

Other's creativity feeds me all the time. I am always taking in all forms of art, as often as possible. I am a big fan of "DeviantART.com". My own postings there are flux and flow, as my greatest enjoyment is the ability to tap into and share in the creations of others worldwide. I love your blog Monica for the same reason. It is just delightful to share in another's process, their take on things, and what emerges from that for them. I love that we are all so unique.

Thank you for your kind words Michelle! I do love your website - it's chock full of beautiful imagery that is inspiring for me as well =-)

What is the most significant creative event in your life to date? Was it a defining moment? Was it a milestone or a lifetime goal?

My most significant personal creative moment was giving birth to my amazingly wonderful son, and all of the moments with him that have followed since. To share so deeply in the the life of another, right from the beginning! This is an amazing gift and honor. Having a child changed me forever, opening my heart and my mind like nothing else. Again, this is a major creative process, ongoing and constantly shifting. He is not 'mine', just as the art works I create are not 'mine', but I do get to go along for the ride and it's fascinating and challenging and wonderful. Letting go while remaining present is an art form unto itself...

I often hear many mothers speak of their children as their greatest works of art and their biggest contributions to the world. It's great to hear you speak of how you 'let go' while remaining in the present - it is quite an art form to have that ability! There are a few mothers who have difficulty in that area...luckily, mine was not one of them ;)

How do you feel about working a ‘day job’? Do you feel your day job is in alignment with your life and your values? If not, does that matter to you?

I do work a 'day job', lol. I design and sell sofas and chairs for humans! How funny is that. I have been in retail for quite awhile, and learned how to design custom furnishings many years ago. I really enjoy that process as well. It is a collaboration with the home owners, to help them to reach their vision for their interior environment. So many people do not have the visualization ability that I am blessed with, so it is satisfying to be able to know the right questions to ask to help them express themselves effectively.

When I began this most recent journey, with Faery Mysterium, I gave everything a lot of thought. I have tried, with varying degrees of success, to express myself artistically over the years. How do I define success, you ask? I have always wanted to reach a level of actualization in my work where I am really, deeply pleased with it's ongoing progress and development. I have also always wanted to strike a chord in those who experience it, to effect them internally. I find I have created just that with this current effort, and it is just so funny to me. We often read how other's reached their greatest level of personal success by doing that which they love the most. Well, I can tell you that certainly holds true here. I certainly did not foresee the depth and breadth of response that has come forth from these works. Who know the world was waiting for little crystal faery chairs? It is really great to experience!

Back to what I was saying. I looked very hard within, to target those beliefs and self made "rules" that had me bogged down from really flying. I wanted to avoid my own pitfalls this time. Having a 'day job' is one of my answers. I found that I did not do well with the stress that came with depending upon my art for all of my needs. So I decided I would work a few days, enough to pay the rent and buy the food, that sort of thing. The other days I work for myself, creating faery artworks! This balance has been great for me, and allowed me the platform to progress upon towards my eventual goal of working exclusively as a full time artist again.

What is most important to me at this time is balance, and a flow of success. I don't want to suffer for my art, I just want to keep it all moving along together as best I can and enjoy the ride. The journey is the whole thing, and being at peace with your choices is the ticket to having fun.

I love your metaphor of the "ticket to ride" as you continue on your journey as an Artist! It's great that you were able to pinpoint what would and wouldn't work for you to be fulfilled as an artist and I love that you are able to have a day job that is in alignment with your creativity, not to mention a funny coincidence that you design furniture/chairs for humans as well as for faeries!

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Thank you, Michelle, for taking time to be interviewed! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it! If you'd like to see and purchase a faery chair for yourself, or if you'd like to be inspired and see what inspires Michelle, you can find her at these sites on the internet:

Faery Mysterium Website

Faery Mysterium at Etsy

Michelle's Inspirations on her Website

Great press at FaeNation

The Gift of Orly's Workshops

2011-12-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hello dear blog readers! I'm still soaking up the energy from participating in Orly Avineri's last workshop for 2011, "The Gift Swap" - it was a wonderful afternoon of great art, great company and great food!

It was a small group for this workshop so we were able to move at a leisurely pace. We were instructed to "doodle" in each others art journals to give one another our gift of artwork. Here are the BEAUTIFUL gifts I received from my fellow art journalers:

This one was made by Orly herself - I love the woman peeking out amidst the swirls and shapes!

Do you see how we were influenced by each others starting points?

Do you also see the pattern of CIRCLES we began with??

Just look at all the detail of each piece - aren't they amazing?!!?! They are beautiful gifts, indeed =-)

Orly then had us choose some lovely bits of paper to work with and draw any shape we saw in them. We also had to find a way to incorporate the drawing with the existing work or make it a focal point. Here is how my journal spread began to evolve...

First evolution with inspirational papers

Second evolution - more detail is added

Of course we took a break for lunch with delicious foods set out in a most appetizing way...

More circle shapes....I think there was a theme for this day!! ;)

Before the workshop took place, we had been instructed by Orly to bring at least one journal to share with the others - sharing our "gifts" of art journaling. We ooohed and aaahed over each others art journals and got inspired by each other - what a gift!

We fell back to work to color in our journal pages however we wished - we could cover the 'gifts' or leave them as they were. I loved the 'gifts' my fellow art journalers gave me and I didn't want to cover over them, so I began to color them individually and fill in the background...

My journal spread by the end of workshop - I've added to it since then and I'll share that soon...

I got to learn how to use Caran D'Ache water soluable pencils brought by a workshop participant, which was another great gift - I'm hoping to get a set to use in future workshops, as well as at home. They are really fun to work with and produce lovely effects.

I've been adding color to my journal spread since I wanted to keep the gifts I received as they were and add color to them as though they were "coloring pages". It's been a long time since I did detail coloring work and this gift is a wonderful way to get back into that! I'll be using my fine point markers and a different set of color pencils that I own - Koh-I-Noor Woodless Color Pencils.

The wood-less pencils look great but they break easily without the wood covering to protect the leads. This workshop is the first time I actually began to work with my Koh-I-Noor wood-less pencils and I like the feel of them and the color they produce - I'll be sure to get some pictures of this set of color pencils to show you. In fact, I may just post about all the color pencil sets I own - I own a few sets!

This workshop was a wonderful gift for me in so many ways - it got me to use a set of color pencils that had been sitting around for a few years since I bought them! I got to see some art journaling friends before the end of 2011, as well as seeing and visiting with Orly in her lovely home, which inspires me as I continue my cleaning and clearing project. I got to look into other art journals that have inspired me to add to my own journals or they inspired some ideas for different projects altogether! It was also a gift to myself to honor my art, as a friend pointed out when I spoke to her about this workshop. It was a wonderful afternoon that I'll look back on as this year fades into a new year. Many thanks to Orly for her fabulous workshops! I'm looking forward to the new ones in 2012!

I'm off to do some more cleaning in my home as well as adding color to my journal spread. I'll be back to share pictures of both soon, so stay tuned!

The Creative Beast Interview - Gwynnie B Designs

2011-12-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hello dear blog readers! It's been awhile since I've posted any interviews, though I've had a few simmering on my creative back burners! So you can imagine how excited I am to share today's interview with Gwynnie of Gwynnie B Designs...

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Interview with Gwynnie of Gwynnie B Designs

I met Gwynnie at my very first Artful Journey Retreat during one of the meals on the first day of classes. I spoke to her about my project that I had submitted to a gallery for exhibit, "Currency of Strength" and she wanted to see it. She was so enthusiastic about the concept that I knew I had met a fellow feminist and artist, not to mention an awesome Scorpio Soul Sistah! I consider myself lucky to be able to say I know this awesome chick!

She creates wonderful and whimsical jewelry and gifts that you can find on her website and she is currently beginning to explore a new passion for painting. Gwynnie is one creative beast and I'm so glad she agreed to be interviewed. Thank you for being here today Gwynnie - let's begin!

Gwynnie with her fabulous purple-streaked hair!

Who first introduced you to creating? Was it a family member - a teacher? How did that person influence you?

My great grandmas and my paternal grandma were seamstresses and my mom was pretty handy with a sewing machine and a glue gun, and my maternal grandpa was a musician, so I'm sure watching them as a kid encouraged me to be creative. There were always outfits being made for my Barbies, Halloween costumes for my sister and I and music filling the house, so without knowing it at the time, these creative moments were influencing my creative talent.

Even though "art" wasn't encouraged in my home, the women in my life were hard workers, so I learned early on that if you want to get something done, or something sewed, have a talented woman do it! This in itself was a huge influence on me and a starting point for my own creative endeavors.

LOL! I hear you on having a talented woman get things done Gwynnie! Huzzah to that! ;)

What were your first creative actions that you remember?

I remember lying on the living room floor at about 5 years old, with pigtails tangling, drawing horses and cats on scrap paper. I was in a trance and very happy! I also did some finger painting about this age, and of course, some sewing. I think I made an outfit by the time I was in junior high. I don't think it held up very well but I made it!

One of Gwynnie's mixed media treasure boxes available at her website...

Do you have a favorite medium to create in? If so, what is it?

Right now it's acrylic paint. I can't have enough paint and watercolor paper! Prior to this new obsession it was fine silver metal clay (precious metal clay or PMC) and designing and creating a line of jewelry. And I love glue, glitter, rhinestones, paper, vintage findings, and did I mention glitter and rhinestones?

How do you feel when you are creating in your chosen medium?

Like the luckiest chick on the planet! I go into this zone and don't want to come out of it. Sometimes I forget to eat and my husband has to remind me to stop and get some nourishment. Creating truly is magic for me.

Gosh! I thought I was the only artsy gal who forgets to eat when being creative!! Creating sure does make time fly and in the nicest way...

What is the greatest joy you derive from creating? Accomplishment? The process? Sharing it with others? Please explain…

The greatest joy for me is that I have the choice to create. My grandmas and my mom never had the opportunities I have, or the choices, so for me to be able to do what I love is the greatest feeling ever. I'm grateful every single day that I get to do what I've always dreamed of doing!

I feel the same way Gwynnie, especially when I see so many others make a choice to NOT use their creativity and it really IS a CHOICE we can all make in every moment. I think "To choose" is perhaps the biggest creative action we take every day...

Lovely little bowls from Gwynnie's website...

Do you think a creative life comes from ideas, doing or being?

All of the above! We're all creative beings, and I truly believe we are all artists in some way. Whether it's making traditional art or putting together a menu to feed your family, it's the doing and the being and the ideas that spark the creative process. I don't think you can have one without the other when living a creative life. And life is about creating!

How do you express your creative life? Is it integrated in your daily life or is it a separate part of your life?

I am a woman who makes art and an artist who happens to be a woman. There is no separation in my life. All aspects of my life, from clothing to decorating, is a reflection of my artful self with no line of demarcation.

Can you think of a time when someone else’s creativity fed you? What was that like?

Oh, this happens everyday! I'm fed very well with all of the inspiration around me, from fellow artists, nature, the Internet, and just plain ol' life.

What is the most significant creative event in your life to date? Was it a defining moment? Was it a milestone or a lifetime goal?

The most significant creative event in my life was the decision to pursue my art. I'll never forget the day I was completely honest with myself and decided I needed a huge change. I was commuting to grad school and was very unhappy with the direction my life was going. I pulled over on the highway, called my husband to tell him I was quitting grad school, and then turned the car around to face an uncertain future as an unemployed artist! This decision, to finally listen to my heart, was the most creative and defining moment in my life as an artist, and as a free woman.

I sure am glad you made that choice Gwynnie - otherwise I would be interviewing someone else today!! ;) Seriously, it can be hard to make the decision to become a full time artist so I heartily applaud you!

Create your own Fairy Tale and honor your Story with this charming book!

What is it like to be a self-sustaining artist?

Wonderful, hard, challenging, fabulous! Wouldn't have it any other way.

Is your life different from the time when you worked for others?

Very different! There's a different code, a different way of doing things because you're answering to others and following other people's ideas. I loved working for other people but I always felt that something was missing. Now I follow my ideas, my code and my way of doing things. Plus, my dogs and cats get to go to work with me! And I don't have to wear a bra if I don't want to.

HEE HEE!

LOL!! yes, pets and no bra are some great perks to working for yourself, even if it is a challenge! Working for oneself might be hard but you get to honor yourself in a way that many employers don't and you know that honoring yourself is important!!

*** *** ***

Many thanks to Gwynnie B for taking the time to be interviewed! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it! Be sure to check out Gwynnie's beautiful jewelry and her new passion for painting as her journey continues to unfold:

Gwynnie B Designs Website

Gwynnie's "HeArt-full" Blog

Gwynnie's Etsy Shop

To Sell or Not to Sell...

2011-11-30T12:05:00.000-08:00

I often read at the blog of Rachelle Mee-Chapman, aka Magpie Girl and I had read her post addressing the "Rush" we often feel during the Christmas season. I left a comment at that post, but I also sent a private message expressing a few other concerns about gift giving and gift receiving during the holiday season. She was kind enough to let me know that she would be addressing some of them in a blog post and she did so in this blog post titled "Exchange"*.

I asked about what to do when one feels conflicted about "cashing in" on the holidays. These were my exact words:

"One of my big concerns about this time of year is about being an artist/crafter that sells through Etsy, but I’m just not comfortable with the concept of “cashing in on the holidays” and my Etsy shop is closed at this time because of those concerns. How can an artist that creates lovely and meaningful gifts find a way to sell that doesn’t feel like it’s “cashing in” on what is, for many, a sacred time of year???"

My Etsy shop has in fact been closed since February when I left for the Artful Journey Retreat and I didn't re-open my shop after I returned. I thought that it seemed silly to have a shop with barely a dozen items to sell. I hear often of the concept that a well stocked shop does better than a shop with only a few items to sell, but I've been reconsidering that idea because it's been holding me back...

However, as the holiday season drew nearer, I was still reluctant to open my shop and have it look as though I were "cashing in" on holiday sales. After a few conversations with my Life Coach Pete, I realized that both ideas were not working for me! We made a plan and I made a commitment that I would reopen my shop on a certain date, one that was an auspicious date according to Feng Shui principles, which I often follow whenever possible.

One of the things that Pete and I discussed was the idea that I can follow my values and principles**, not those of society at large. I can dictate when and how my Etsy shop will work in alignment with my personal vision and values. Sometimes, I forget that I am in charge! It's hard to remember to follow your own North Star when the winds and tides of larger forces are pulling you off course...

Another thing we discussed was the idea that I really do have something to offer to the world at large, something different, unique and special. I think this quote from a favorite dancer, Martha Graham, puts it best:

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."

- Martha Graham

I put my plan into action before I saw the response from Magpie Girl regarding my concerns about selling during the holidays, but when I read what she had to say, I am really glad that I put my concerns out there and with someone I knew that would give my concerns some thoughtful consideration.

I am not an overly religious person and choose to celebrate the Winter Solstice instead of Christmas. However, I was raised (somewhat!) as a Catholic and I understand that this time of year has a significant sacred meaning. Because of this knowledge/understanding, it's hard to watch what should be a sacred season and see it turn into nothing more than one big commercial for "gift giving" as though this is the ONLY time of year one can give gifts.

Magpie Girl's statement:

"You don’t have to be held hostage by the commercialism of our age"

is one that really sang to me. Her statement that it's okay to 'close shop during the holiday season if that is what feels right to you' is something I really appreciated as well.

And this statement:

"Whether you are the buyer or the seller, be mindful of the narrative you are telling yourself about these exchanges."

...reminds me (again!) that I am in charge and I can follow my own North Star. I can create a better 'story' about selling during the holiday season...

Small bags I've recently made to hold a new version of cards for reflection - I may have to make more with the "North Star" stamped upon it!

I'm beginning to craft a better story of how I can contribute to a more meaningful season by selling the goods I create that are in fact made with a great deal of care and thought to the small details. Many of the things I've created for friends are meaningful and meant to lift the spirits. And I like to think that I make toys for grown up children!

Mail art envelopes in process - the paper is designed by a dear friend. I'm hoping she will sell some of her designs for craft and scrapbook paper - they really are fantastic!

I am also interested in connection which is part of my love for Mail Art and giving gifts is also a way to connect with friends and loved ones, though I would like to see more people giving gifts of all kinds every day of the year...

Some pendants and altered buttons waiting to be used as embellishments in mixed media artwork

I feel strongly about encouraging creativity in others because I believe that everyone can be creative, though it may not always be linked to Art. One can be a creative problem solver, a creative cook, a creative organizer of the home or of special events. I want to contribute to people accessing their creativity by offering "creative supplies" to make mixed media or collage art with.

With these ideas firmly in mind I feel much better about re-opening my Creative Beast Etsy shop. It has been re-opened for a few days now and I added a few items for the holidays, such as some Christmas stockings that I had made a few years ago to sell at a craft show, which didn't happen (this was before Etsy!). I made quite a few stockings that were eventually given to friends but I still had a few left that I thought someone might like to buy to hang in their home. They are unique in the textiles and colors I used, having been inspired by my favorite ballet at this time of year "The Nutcracker" - I like to think of them as my "Nutcracker Suite Stockings"...

Pale gold, dark green and pink colors fit for a Sugar Plum Fairy ;)

I am not planning on doing any "marketing" for my shop at this time. I'm having Faith that the right people will find what they need from my shop and if they happen to find it in these next few weeks, that will be great. If I don't make a lot of sales during this "holiday shopping season", I'm okay with that. For me the important thing was to re-open my shop so I can be free to create special goods that will be listed as they are made...

A new card series meant for reflection are very nearly ready for selling to the public...

I keep this idea, told to me by my Wise Woman and dear friend Janet, firmly in mind:

"You may not have many followers*** or customers but they will be the RIGHT followers and customers for YOU"

As with so many other things, I know she is right about this and this idea makes me happy about offering my goods to sell =-)

* - Thanks to my blog buddy Kat of I Saw You Dancing who gave me a heads up on the post! And MANY thanks to Magpie Girl for addressing my concerns - I hope it helps others who might be feeling a similar conflict...
** - These posts made at the start of the 2011 cover just a few of my values and principles...
*** - she was speaking about my blog at the time, but this concept could be applied to Etsy shop customers too!

Last Days of Art Every Day Month

2011-11-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

I had hoped to do more art in the past week, but I didn't get to work on any pet projects, as I'd hoped to. I did manage to make a few little bits of art, in the form of more bottle cap embellishments...

Two of these had been started a few weeks ago which you can see in this post. These are the completed versions...

Image is from my vintage photo collection - I color copied the original and cut this little face with a circle punch

Pink button heart, polka dots, pink beads and a pearl accent with a sprinkle of fine glitter make up this embellishment

And I made one more, the woman with the bobbed hair cut...

This lovely lady is also from my vintage photo collection. She looks both sweet and sassy and she reminds me of a Flapper!

You might think I'd be tired of making these little works of art but they really are quite fun and sometimes a challenge considering I'm working with a very small 'canvas' of barely one inch in diameter. I'm not sure I'll ever tire of making these little works of art!

It's been a nice long Thanksgiving holiday weekend but I'm ready to get back to cleaning and clearing my humble home. I'll be posting my progress in the days and weeks to come, so be sure to stay tuned!

Grateful for...

2011-11-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

...the many lessons being presented to me at this time in my life...

so many wonderful friends - blog buddies definitely included!

a funny, kind and supportive boyfriend...

a roof over my head...

food to eat every day...

the taste of delicious foods...

the smell of beautiful flowers...

a brain to think with...

a body to move with...

a heart to love with...

eyes to see...

ears to listen...

Yeah, when I think of gratitude, I just want to dance to this song!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We Learn as We Go - Part II

2011-11-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

In the same week I was preparing for the boutique event, I received news that the gallery I had been volunteering to help out with* closed their doors and I learned this from the friend who introduced me to the managing couple. I did not learn it directly from the couple until I emailed them about other matters.

When I first began to meet with the creative couple to discuss the possibility of teaching at their gallery a few months ago, I learned a few things that made me wary of getting too financially involved since I expected to be paid for my time in teaching. However, I could see the possibilities of the space and wanted to help out. I offered to lend my administrative skills in exchange for some recycled garments made by the husband which are pretty cool garments for an artist to wear and luckily, I received my one-of-a-kind dress in time for my birthday!

Me in my fabulous dress photographed by my dear boyfriend - I chose the t-shirts and thread used, which could be considered making art for Art Every Day Month! ;)

Volunteering my time was beneficial for me and not just with a new dress. I got the opportunity to learn how to work with Microsoft 2007 programs and this was a big plus for me in terms of my administrative skills. In the course of working with this creative couple, I learned other lessons that I'll keep in mind as I continue on my path as an Artist. Here is what I learned:

Opening a Space With No Money, No Funding, No Business Plan

I learned early on that this couple had opened the gallery space with no money, funding or business plan in place. They did have someone work with them on creating a business plan, but they were scrambling so much to keep day-to-day operations going that they didn't have time to put the plan into action. Watching this process in action was eye-opening for me.

Lack of Vision or Focus

When the wife talked about conducting an online fundraiser to keep the space open, I worked with her to find out what they hoped the space would be and what the vision was. It was hard for her to focus on that vision when she was constantly looking for the next thing to bring in much needed money.

Because of my recent background with non-profit work, I was able to inform her that she needed a vision because her passion would inspire others to help them with their vision. I began a write-up for their campaign, but when they finalized it, the vision of what they wanted for their space got lost in rhetoric, along with my clear concise writing!

Technology is the Future

Though my previous day job was horrible, I've mentioned that there are some things I'm grateful for and one of them was having the opportunity to learn more on handling a computer and computer programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel. I also had the opportunity to check out blogs and I caught on very quickly that blogs and internet technology is the FUTURE and an amazing tool for artists, if wielded properly. It's a mistake to think otherwise and not take advantage of what can be done to reach so many people through the internet. As an example:

One day I asked the husband, who is the designer/creator of this duo, why he wasn't selling on Etsy. He designs great garments using old t-shirts and his designs are fabulous with a use of color that I admire. I think his designs would sell pretty quickly since recycled/up-cycled garments are pretty hot right now. His response to my question was that "It's too time-consuming". He said the same thing about a blog he has that he never uses.

This mind-set was baffling to me! I could only attribute it to the idea that perhaps a better handle on technology might be needed. I'm sure I don't have to tell many of you how a blog can be a great tool to let people (future customers!) take a look at your process and become interested in what you have to offer and the same goes for online listings whether you use Etsy, Big Cartel or any other online selling venue. And you don't have to leave the comfort of your home!!

You Can Lead a Horse to Water...

I helped by creating an Excel spreadsheet for them to work with to help them figure out their finances. I helped the wife to find out what the vision of the gallery was. I helped by starting the write-up for their fund-raising pitch when money was running low...

I wanted to help because I saw the potential for the space, but you can only do so much. If people are not ready to be successful, there is not much help for that and a few friends I've spoken to about this situation have the view that this couple may not be ready for success.

The couple were grateful for my help and I'm sorry that the space had to close. However, I can say as of this writing that they have found another space nearby. Since I only volunteered few hours one day a week, I might continue to help them out with my administrative skills - getting some fabulous clothes in exchange for my skills is great, but if they chose not to continue with my services that will be fine too as it gives me more time for me to FOCUS on my plans for my future!

I have to say though, that an interesting thing did come up in the course of working with them:

One day while working, the wife asked if I'd ever considered being an "Artist's Manager" - she thought I'd be great at it! When I mentioned this idea to some friends they agreed enthusiastically and one of them also thought I'd be a great gallery owner/curator! After that, I started to look at the space and think about what I could do if I owned it and the ideas that began to come into my head were exciting!

I've thought of working in a gallery but hadn't thought of owning and curating one of my own, but why not?!? If an amazing opportunity presented itself, I wouldn't say no...

It's time for a future as bright as the blue sky! Photo by yours truly =-)

At least I can say that I wouldn't make the same mistakes and I'd certainly learn from my mistakes as I go - but don't we all learn as we go!

* - See #8, 9, 10 on my list

Updates on Art and Cleaning...

2011-11-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

I'd like to start my updates by sending out some belated thanks to the many blog buddies and friends who sent wonderful wishes to me for my birthday! It was a great day with a fabulous dress that I'll share with you in tomorrow's post - it is a pretty cool dress!

I haven't really had a chance to make much art since the holiday boutique. It's been a hectic week since I started focusing on doing some more cleaning/clearing in my home. I had hoped to make some sales at the boutique not just to make money, but to clear out the many goods belonging to my grandmother that takes up space in my home:

My living room as I prepared boxes of goods to sell at the boutique - sadly, it looks like this a LOT!

As I packed the goods into my car for selling, I saw more space open up and I got excited thinking that I might be making some serious headway on the cleaning front!

The living room area after the goods were packed into my car for selling - look at the open space!

I'm sure you can imagine my disappointment when I returned with nearly as many boxes I had left with:

Boxes of goods and display items that were brought back...sigh!

I sorted through some of the goods and donated a few items that I didn't want to sell due to the weight and costs of shipping they would entail. That helped to make some room in my home and I remembered that I still had some goodies to pack for the giveaway winners. It was mostly paper goods since many of the winners were into mail art, but it helped to move out some extra supplies I wasn't using anymore and it gave me a chance for the one time I made some "art" in the week...Mail Art that is!

I still have one more packet of goods to mail off that I'll be working on this week and I'm determined to make time for making Art. I know it will be a great break to all the cleaning I've still got to do.

In the meantime I hope you check back in tomorrow and not just to see me in my fabulous birthday dress! I've got another post on lessons I'm learning as I continue on my path of becoming a self-sustaining self-employed Artist, so stay tuned!

We Learn as We Go...

2011-11-18T12:05:00.000-08:00

Sunday was the day of the holiday boutique where I went to try my hand at selling in a public venue and it was quite an experience...

My table of vintage goods...and a few handmade ones too!

I had some hopes that I might make some money at this event. Sadly, I did not make as much as I'd hoped for...

My grandmother's coat and her hats...now I know where my hat-wearing gene comes from!

I can say that I learned a few things at this event and here is what I learned:

Know Your Target Audience:

I began to see pretty early on that selling vintage goods was not the best idea for this particular crowd. It was mostly older women looking for gifts for their grandchildren. If I had worked on making some dolls or soft toys, I have no doubt they would have sold immediately since there was a vendor selling soft toys, though they were factory made...

Grandma Betty's tea cups, red glass, carving set and cook books...

I also began to see that many of my handmade goods, such as my hand-bound art books and affirmation cards, was not something this crowd was really interested in and believe me, I made an attempt to sell my affirmation cards which was met with "I'm looking for a gift nicer than that". I'd had an email list prepared for sign-ups, but I could see that it might not be necessary, but at least I was prepared with a sign-up list!

The Entrance Fee Theory:

There is a theory that the amount you pay for your table at a craft fair/event will dictate what you make at the end of the day. I think they might be right on this one, but it's still early to tell. I got a table for $25 and I will make just over $80 after the organization takes their commission of 20% for their fundraiser. I'm not sure if that is a good ratio or not, but I'm happy to have made SOME pocket change!

On Doing it Alone:

I went to this event by myself and loaded everything into my car myself. I called my dear boyfriend during the day to check in and see if I might need his help to reload at the end of the day, especially since we had to be out in exactly one hour! A friend who participated in this event offered to help me but I only asked her to help me with one of the boxes to get a start on the reloading since I had to figure out how to configure it all back into my car and really, I was the only person who could do that knowing my car and its dimensions...I thought of taking a picture of my crammed little car but I was too tired!

Fragile yet heavy glass that had to be re-packed to head home...

If I was selling only handmade goods, which are pretty small and lightweight, this would not be a big deal, but selling the vintage items, which were mostly fragile and had to be repacked to avoid damage, was tiring and time-consuming and eventually made my lower back ache for the rest of the evening! Though I did have my dear boyfriend to help me unload it all when I got home, I'll definitely think twice before selling vintage goods again!

*** *** ***

In the end, I can say that it was a fun day since my friend had a table next to mine and we were at an event that was helping out our other friends, what with the event being a fundraiser for their charity organization. It gave me a chance to brush up on some rusty retail skills and I got to engage with lots of people, something I enjoy doing. I had a story about my grandmother's things and the crafty skills she bestowed on me and many people enjoyed that.

Knowing what I know, I just might do this event again, but I'll be sure to have lots of soft toys with me! ;)

Who could resist a soft bunny like this?!?

46 Things...

2011-11-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

In celebration of my birthday today, I'd thought I'd share a list of 46 things about me you may or may not know...

1 - I was born at 5:35am - I think this is why I'm a morning person

2 - I was born in the year of the Snake in Chinese Astrology, specifically a "wood" snake for the year I was born in
3 - I don't have a middle name

4 - I love that I share a birthday with Martin Scorsese!

5 - I love dahlias, peonies and blush pink roses, though other colors of rose are always welcome...

6 - I loved Pink accented with Red as a child

7 - I loved Rose Pink as a teenager

8 - I loved Royal Blue in my twenties

9 - I began to love the colors of Burgundy and Wine in my thirties

10 - I found myself attracted to deep shades of Crimson Red in my forties, which is somewhat related to Burgundy and a very Scorpio color

11 - I love looking at color spectrum's and tend to arrange my clothes that way

12 - I love Pink and Orange together

13 - My favorite fast food place is Mc Donalds, hands down! It's all about the fries...

14 - I like Jack in the Box for the breakfast croissant sandwich

15 - I like Taco Bell for the seasonings they use in the beef tacos and nachos but I wouldn't say it's representative of real Mexican food! ;)

16 - I can't have a hamburger without french fries

17 - I can't have pizza without a soda...that applies to hamburgers too!

18 - I can't watch a movie without popcorn

19 - I can't have popcorn without butter (but I go without when at the movies with my dear boyfriend who doesn't like movie butter)

20 - My favorite letter of the alphabet is "A"

21 - My favorite number is 18

22 - I like using pages from math, physics and chemistry books because the symbols fascinate me

23 - I like symbols in general

24 - I loved Greek mythology as a girl

25 - My favorite book series as a girl was "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

26 - My favorite stage play for the language and thinking is "Inherit the Wind"

27 - I love cashmere sweaters

28 - I prefer skirts to pants

29 - There was a period of time I didn't own a pair of jeans, nearly two years while studying Fashion Design actually

30 - I secretly studied Pattern Drafting to learn to make better costumes for myself, not for Fashion Design! I think it paid off...

31 - I like being corseted for the Renaissance Faire and would love trying out a Victorian corset one day

32 - My favorite period in Fashion History is the 1920's for men and women

33 - I've suffered from Depression in my life

34 - I've taken medication for my depression and I've seen a therapist - doing both works wonders!

35 - I think medication is often needed for severe depression, but it should be supervised with therapy

36 - I think Depression is a normal part of Life, just like Anger and I think both need more public acknowledgment, instead of being hidden away

37 - I champion Anger as a motivating force for change when properly applied

38 - I have inherited many artistic talents from my family: sewing and knitting from my grandmother, photography from my mother, musicality from my father and storytelling from my grandfather

39 - I can not imagine a life without these skills

40 - I'm glad to have the friends that I do - they are all wildly creative in one way or another!

41 - I'm lucky to have my Dear Boyfriend - he is funny, sweet and supportive

42 - My Wise Woman has been one of my biggest supporters, as well as my Life Coach Pete - I'm SO grateful they are in my life

43 - I look forward to turning 50, though I still have four more years to go for that!

44 - I am SO GRATEFUL to know how to read - it means I will always be learning

45 - I love books even if I do sometimes gut them for their paper to make artwork!

46 - I believe that Creativity is EVERYWHERE, not just in Art and more people need to see that so they can tap into their own Creativity =-)

Thanks for stopping by my blog to read here - I hope you enjoyed my list! Now I'm off to celebrate this day with my Dear Boyfriend - WOO HOO!

A Quick Post of Quick Updates

2011-11-14T12:05:00.000-08:00

It's been one crazy week preparing for the holiday boutique but I did it and it was quite an experience! I'll share more about it soon...

My table for the holiday boutique focused on selling vintage goods - more about this to come!

In the hustle and bustle of preparing for the boutique, I actually managed to do some 'art' during the week as I attempt to participate in Art Every Day Month. Here are the highlights:

Stitching signatures for some handmade books

Playing with inks and vintage jewelry findings

Making more bottle cap embellishments

And a tiny bit of cleaning was accomplished while preparing for the holiday boutique! For quite some time now, I've had bags of paper scraps lying near my dining table waiting to be tossed into the recycle bin...

Well, I finally cleaned out those bags! I also have a plan to keep the recycling scrap bags smaller so it doesn't get out of hand...

And I'll be cleaning out quite a lot more this week and in the weeks to come. In fact I'm off to donate some goods to a local charity now, after being inspired by this fabulous gal! I love that her encouragement for giving comes before the Thanksgiving holiday that is on the horizon.

Giving away goods is a great way to realize the abundance that is already in your life and that is always a good feeling =-)

Workshop with Orly Avineri - "Make Do"

2011-11-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

After many months, I attended a great workshop lead by the fabulous Orly Avineri and it was called "Make Do"...

The basis of this workshop was the concept that we often have TOO MUCH to work with and choose from, which can actually hamper the creative process. I totally get this concept as I've been cleaning and clearing the abundance of materials and supplies I've been accumulating for the many, many years I've been a Creative Beast. I was ready to go minimal with my art journal!

My art journal, small set of color pencils, set of watercolors and my fine point marker pens

Orly asked us to bring only three colorants and one had to be wet, like acrylics or watercolors. I realized when I looked at this request that I do have quite a lot of colorants and some of them I really don't use often, like sets of chalk pencils and oil pastels...

Maybe I should learn how to use these colorants so I can use them more often..??

As I thought about the three colorants I wanted to bring, I realized which ones I really love to work with the most: my color pencils, my markers and my watercolors...

What a layout! Are you feelin' the LOVE I have for these colorants?!!

I was so happy to be able to pack all I needed into one bag! Though I must confess that I left my VERY FAVORITE color pencils (see above!) in the car and elected to use my smaller set of pencils for these reasons: my regular pencils have been getting a lot of play in the past few weeks with this project, and it saved me room in my bag!

In the workshop, Orly spoke about how having so much can often block the creative process and I agree. I think that learning RESOURCEFULNESS can be key in learning creativity and resourcefulness can be used anywhere at anytime...like Creativity!

Orly had prepped a few bags of goods for us to pick from, without looking! Then we discussed the items we had and figured out how we would work with the items. We did each get a postal stamp and a bit of paper that we could use or not in our journal spread. Orly was also kind enough to loan us the use of her Hebrew lettering stencil and I was thrilled to be able to incorporate it into my first journal spread

Some of the letters in the stencil formed the word in the lower right corner page - I'm sure that's not an actual Hebrew word, though...

One of my classmates informed me that the fabric backing on the colorful paper could be removed - I was really excited about that and proceeded to be resourceful with the materials I had at hand! The fabric is at the left...

A closer look at the papers in the upper right corner - one is folded for a reveal...

It was a page from a book on learning Hebrew! I love that I picked it without looking...

As always, there was a tasty lunch made for us by Orly - she is really quite the hostess!

Then we commenced to making our second journal spread using items that were picked for us by our class mates. This was the object I chose to work with...

A bit of wood from a carved fan - this object launched my second journal spread...

Orly asked us where these objects took us and what kind of story we could create from that one object. My object, a piece from a fan, made me think about the South, before the Civil War, and the ladies who used such fans. I thought of one kind of story to create, but my knowledge of that period in American History made my story go in a different direction. Here is the story I created...

Second journal spread in process...

You can learn about "Juneteenth" here or here...

Detail shot of the right-hand page - it took quite awhile to write those two words over and over and over...

Detail shot of left-hand page

I love being in Orly's workshops - each one is unique and there is always something new that I learn or come away with. I'm also often surprised by what I create in her workshops. The second spread began with one idea in mind but it went in a different direction. Despite the lightness of colors I used, the content is actually a bit dark.

Being limited to using what I brought with me was a slight challenge, but a great learning experience. It also gave me the opportunity to learn just what my favorite supplies are, which will help me as I continue with cleaning and clearing my space...And the supplies I won't be keeping might end up in a giveaway!

If you're in the Los Angeles or San Diego areas, I highly recommend taking one of Orly Avineri's workshops. She is a great instructor and wonderful hostess and her classes are always filled with great folks at all levels of learning. Check out her offerings HERE - she teaches at other venues too!

Giveaway Winner and Some Updates...

2011-11-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

Today is the day I announce the winner of the Spooky Giveaway!

As you all know, I get out the special bowl to draw a name:

Then I put the names into the bowl:

And I draw a name...

However, today I've decided that everyone who left a comment wins the Spooky Giveaway! Each commenter was interested in a different craft and since the list was small, I'm going to put together goodies for each commenter for this giveaway - congratulations everyone!

Please be sure to send me an e-mail with your mailing address so I know where to send your goodies. I'll be working on putting together goods for each of you this week and sending off packages by next week. WOO HOO! Thank you all for entering!

*** *** ***

I've been busy this past week as I prepare for the holiday boutique taking place on Sunday, as well as squeezing in a bit of cleaning and clearing. On the cleaning front, I've been condensing some of my grandmother's things into fewer boxes where possible...

Two of those large boxes have been housing my shipping supplies for Grandma Betty's Legacy, but I've managed to organize ALL my shipping supplies into one box for easy access. YAY for easy access which makes shipping flow much faster now!

All shipping labels, thank you cards, business cards, tape, bubble wrap and filler paper in ONE box - YAY!

I've been trying to find a way to participate in Art Every Day Month, which I've actually managed to do. Here is the round-up of what I've done since last week:

My Weekly Round-up of Art Projects!

Monday - Coloring Faces Swap Project

More faces I've colored for the project; I was finished with them by Tuesday...

Tuesday - Coloring Faces Swap Project

Wednesday - Cutting up T-shirts for scarves

I may not have a lot of recycled t-shirt scarves for the boutique, but I'm working through my collection of t-shirts I've bought for this use, which will make room for other projects in the future =-)

Thursday - Rubber stamping fabric to make small bags

I've had a project on the sidelines for a few months now and I'm starting to work on it for the boutique. A new set of small cards made from scans of pages from my small art journal. I rubber stamped onto muslin scraps that came from my grandmother's sewing room, which also uses up materials to make room for future projects. Here is a shot of the small cards after cutting them from the print-outs I made a few months ago (while still at the office!)...

Friday and Saturday - Art journaling with and for Orly Avineri

I attended Orly's workshop on Saturday "Make Do" and it was great fun as always! I'll share more pictures of what I created later this week.

I had asked to be part of a round robin journal Orly started and I had not worked on my spread all summer though I knew the theme of it. I finally worked on it Friday but forgot to take a picture of it!! DOH!

Sunday - working on "The Basics" Affirmation Cards

A completed set of cards as first seen here on my blog...

I've mentioned the first set of affirmation cards I've created in this blog post and I'm working on making a few of these for the boutique as well as the new cards. Sometime last year, I did organize this process into one storage bin to keep everything I use to make these cards in one place that could be easily transported, if necessary. This is what it looks like:

I love having a space for blank cards, made cards and the markers used to make them - so handy and helpful!

It feels great to get organized, even if it is slow going, but each little step inspires me to do more. Maybe I'll get my humble home tidy enough for a small holiday party this year! After all, anything is POSSIBLE! =-)

The Creative Beast Interview - Amelia Critchlow

2011-11-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hello dear blog readers! I'm very happy to share a new interview with you all today. It's taken me awhile to prepare this interview for publication due to the recent Blogtoberfest, but I can tell you that this interview is well worth the wait! It's an interview with the creator of two wonderful e-courses and a really lovely blog...

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Interview with Amelia Critchlow of the blog 101 Bird Tales

I wish I could remember exactly when I discovered Amelia, but I can say that it was through a link at a blog post and I was fascinated by her blog. I love that she is helping people with her art, as I hope to do...

When she began her "Journal Your Dreams" ecourse, I was inspired to join but concerned about the cost. You can imagine my delight when she announced it was "pay what you can"! What I was unable to pay in cash, I made up in sending some special handmade goods to her...

A hand-made book marker sent to Amelia in gratitude...

I learned some great new techniques in that ecourse that I now incorporate in my collage artwork and vision boards. I love visiting her blog to catch up on her projects and find new ideas to get my creativity juices flowing. I realized that Amelia would be an excellent interview subject for my series and she is just as passionate about Creativity as I am. I was so thrilled when she agreed to be interviewed! Thank you Amelia for being here - let's begin!

The lovely and talented Amelia Critchlow

Who first introduced you to creating? Was it a family member - a teacher? How did that person influence you?

I was fortunate enough to be brought up in a family of makers and artists . . . My father is an artist who has gone to write books in his specialised field and my mother was a dressmaker by trade and always made clothes and is now a patchwork artist and quilter. I was surrounded by books, artists, conversations and inspiration from an early age and often taken to art galleries and museums - which funnily enough I hated as a child! Now I love visiting them of course!

LOL! It's been my experience that children are not often keen on going to museums, but it's clear those trips have been an influence in your life path, Amelia.

What were your first creative actions that you remember? (Sewing, Dancing, Painting, etc?)

As a child I remember wanting to create little houses (that I could walk in to) and stages and treehouses, clothes outfits, as well as making little shops out of wood and all the things that go in it out of coloured fimo clay. I also used to copy illustrations in books that I loved Tin Tin being one of my favourite set of books. I once copied a cover exactly and people asked me to do some for them too!

One of Amelia's mixed collage art works

Do you have a favorite medium to create in? If so, what is it?

One challenge I have ALWAYS had is that I love doing absolutely ALL of it. Even listing out the above makes me realise I had that inclination from childhood. I would probably build my own 'world' if I could. Hence the fact I can see my own work going in to installation art with as many things in it made by me. I love painting, collage, textiles and stitching as well as ink and pen etc etc and the list goes on. That was one of the most delightful things about creating the experimental art e-course: I took everything I loved and would like to have done on a course and wrote my own course. It's full of all the wonderful, inspiring, unusual mediums I've ever used with experimental ways of applying and trying them out.

"Morning Bird" by Amelia Critchlow

How do you feel when you are creating in your chosen medium?

I feel happiest when I'm creating ANYTHING, but I also feel really happy when I challenge myself and what I've been shown how to do. I always think "Right - there's got to be another way of using that or doing that" and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE coming up with unusual ideas. So sharing with others is key and probably explains why I did a teaching qualification when I was doing my Art BA and why I taught and continue to teach . . . or maybe 'share' what I know and have discovered, is a good way of putting it! It's so exciting when people can see their own potential and share in the excitement of art's possibilities . . it spills over in to life I think: ie, if you can create and experiment like that in art, then you/we could try the same in life. This is when creating gets most exciting!

I absolutely agree with you on that Amelia! It's my firm belief that creativity is not just for Art, it can be applied in virtually ALL facets of Life!

*Mixed media collage artwork by Rachel Nixon, a student from one of Amelia's classes

What is the greatest joy you derive from creating? Accomplishment? The process? Sharing it with others? Please explain…

Oooooh, I think I may have just gone off on a tangent and answered that in the question above. Process is key for sure. Life is one whole process so I'm always thinking of ways to deal with and come up with ideas for a fulfilling, exciting, creative process . . . .

Do you think a creative life comes from ideas, doing or being?

I think a creative life comes from all of those things. Ideas come from exercising our 'imagination' muscle in my view. I totally avoid TV because it thinks for me and I prefer to think for myself. On that front I feel that TV can stultify imagination and creativity, not to mention put people off as it always shows a polished 'end product'. But life and art are ongoing creative processes ebbing and flowing and so it's about having your own idea/s in my view and trying it out and if it doesn't work, it's not failure, it's an experiment that you would inevitably have learned something from.

You can find more details about this ecourse at Amelia's blog, 101 Bird Tales

Something I emphasize in my e-course - its NOT about the final image/object/product it's about all the feelings and discoveries you made along the way too. Ideas though may not come to much without the action of doing and this is the exciting part. We all know that an idea in one's mind, frequently doesn't look the same once it's 'out' but that's okay because maybe something different emerged and who knows maybe something more magical too, but you have to 'do' to find out. Oh and being . . .well that's an art in itself. I often long to just 'be', but that seems to be one of the hardest things to do as we often have stories going on in our heads about what we should be doing or keeping up with societal obligations such as work. I long to empty my mind and just do whilst just 'being' if that makes sense. ie. lose the inner critic and just 'play'; another thing I advocate on the course and in life! Go PLAY today! I try to practice this too (am running off to play now! :)

Another beautiful collage created by Amelia...

I think I will have to join you in running off to play Amelia...at the end of this interview, that is!

How do you express your creative life? Is it integrated in your daily life or is it a separate part of your life?

I made a decision last year to fully integrate my working life with my art. ie I make art, I sell art, I teach art (online art course) and I still teach and run art workshops and courses face to face too. I don't regret this decision for one minute, although a precarious up and down income can bring it's own stresses but that's a choice I made.

I really admire your choices Amelia and I love how you have truly crafted a life doing things that make you happy: art, helping people and sharing great ideas. I am working toward the same goals and you have been a great role model to watch =-)

Can you think of a time when someone else’s creativity fed you? What was that like?

Some-one else's creativity feeds me every time I walk in to a great art exhibition. I love art exhibitions and am lucky enough to live in London and have some great shows to visit. I just found out the Gerhardt Richter is on at Tate Modern here in London so I will be going to that soon. I also have a thing about art books. They feed me in a big way and that feels great as I get inspiration for my own art practice.

An early work-in-progress created by Amelia

What is the most significant creative event in your life to date? Was it a defining moment? Was it a milestone or a lifetime goal?

I don't know if it was the most significant creative event in my life to date, but teaching art and other activities to elderly people at the end of their lives brought home to me how fragile and short life is and therefore too short not to do what one loves doing. It was during, and because of that time, that I made the momentous decision I had to live the creative life fully and become a full time artist and art tutor and here I am today :)

I have to agree with you Amelia - Life can be FAR too short not to do what one loves doing, not to mention wasteful of one's talents and skills to not share them with the world at large. I'm sure many would agree when I say "Thank you for being an Artist and for sharing it with us all Amelia!"

Mixed media collage by Amelia Critchlow

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And one more thank you to Amelia for allowing me to pick and choose images from her blog to add to her interview. Her blog is just bursting with beautiful images and artwork - it was hard to keep from adding them all!

Her blog is also bursting with wonderful and inspiring ideas for creativity - here are a few that I'd recommend reading:

How to Create Your Own Portable Art Gallery

Playing the Part of an Artist

Artistic Manifestation

How to Create Your Very Own Dream Map

And of course there are the ecourses:

Experimental Art

Journal Your Dreams

And I highly recommend getting on her mail list to receive a copy of her e-book, How to Fill Your Sketchbook - I got my copy and I love it!

UPDATE: Amelia has sent a link to her new e-book, "How To Make Money To Do What You Love", which is now available for sale - I'm sure it's just as great as everything else she has created!

I hope you enjoyed reading this interview as much as I enjoyed creating it!

PS: my giveaway ends today - leave a comment at this post for your chance to win!

* - Correction to this image per Amelia - it was made by one of the students of Amelia's e-course, Rachel Nixon. My apologies for the mix-up!

Giveaway Reminder!

2011-11-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

The Spooky Mystery Giveaway might include a copy of this mail art postcard =-)

Just a quick reminder that I'm having a giveaway - you can check out this post to leave a comment!

I'll be back soon to share some of the "art everyday" I've been working on so stay tuned =-)

The Spooky Mystery Giveaway!

2011-10-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

I said I'd have one more giveaway before Blogtoberfest ended and here it is: "The Spooky Mystery Giveaway"!

"Dia de los Muertos" - An early collage art postcard I made back in the 1990's while in art school...

Today is Halloween so I'm calling my giveaway "spooky", but I assure you the giveaway goodies will not be spooky in the least!

However, I haven't had time to pull anything together for a photo so that you'd know what you're getting which is why this giveaway is a MYSTERY, even to ME! ;)

But you may rest assured that you'll be thrilled with whatever you get and if you doubt it, just run over to this blog buddy who received one of my first "mystery" giveaways to tell you if the mystery was worth it!

What I can tell you is that you might get a copy of some of my early mail art postcards, made way back in the 1990's when I was taking art classes and learning about Collage Art, now one of my favorite mediums...

"Mail Art" postcard made in the 1990's; the exercise was "synergy" - putting two or more random images together to make a whole...

I can also tell you that you'll likely get one or two mail art envelopes made from photocopied images of my photos or artwork...

These envelopes are made from images from one of my art books, but you might get some made from my photos!

And I can say that if you knit, crochet, sew, collage, scrapbook, draw, rubber stamp or paint, I'm bound to have something among my many, MANY supplies to send along in your giveaway goodie bag. Just be sure to add your favorite craft when commenting so I can tailor the bag to YOU!

Now for the details for entering the giveaway:

This giveaway is open to ALL, near or far!
Leave a comment AT THIS BLOG POST
You must comment by 5pm Pacific Standard Time on FRIDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2011 to enter the giveaway
Let me know if you'd like some supplies that relate to your favorite type of craft in your comment
The winner will be announced on Monday November 7

Good luck to you all, dear blog readers!

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It's been quite a Blogtoberfest this year and I'll be taking just a bit of time off from blogging as I work on my two big tasks of cleaning my creative space and making goods to sell at an upcoming holiday boutique on November 13. I'd love to join in Art Every Day Month this year, but I won't be able to post about it daily. However, I might post about what I'm working on in a weekly wrap-up...

I've mentioned working on some new interviews to share with you all and that will be coming up in the next few weeks. I'm very excited about the interviewees and I think you will be too!

I also have a birthday coming up and to celebrate, I'll be posting a fun list of 46 random things, so be sure to stay tuned for all the goodness!

Congratulations to all the participants of Blogtoberfest! We've all managed to blog every day and made some new blog buddies along the way. And of course, many thanks and a big HOORAY to Tinniegirl for another fabulous year of Blogtoberfest! She is truly "the hostess with the mostest"!!

Have a Happy Halloween!

Just One Day Left....

2011-10-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

...and Blogtoberfest comes to an end!

I can't believe I managed to participate despite the lack of internet at home, but I did, though it was bit of a challenge...

Now, I have another, bigger challenge ahead of me - cleaning my creative space!

A view of my creative space from the door of the room - the door is set in the corner instead of a full wall

I was reading at the blog of my creative idol Nina Bagley the other day and I was really inspired by her post about her own need to clear and clean her studio space of old supplies and materials she has not used in many a year...

The closet is storing my old computer which is usually used to watch movies when I sew in this room...

I can't say that I don't use the materials I bring home, but I do think I have quite an abundance of them that I could share and I will do so in the giveaway I'm hosting, starting tomorrow...

I've been thinking about sharing the ugly truth about the state of my creative space for the past few weeks, but I've held back because it really is quite a mess. However, I'm hoping that if I'm honest here, "warts and all" as we say, it will keep me accountable as I begin to really tackle the task of cleaning it all up.

Once upon a time my sewing table actually looked like this:

and these days it looks like this:

Once upon a time, I had the entire wall cleared away so I could photograph garments on the dress form my grandmother bought me to match the one she had in her sewing room:

This apron is a reproduction from one belonging to my grandmother - I thought it would make a great pattern and it does!

Now the wall looks like this:

The antique lace dress was one of two wedding dresses belonging to my GREAT Grandmother...

I know much of the problem stems from having so many of my grandmother's things stored in my home as I sell them at my other Etsy shop. I thought that it wouldn't take up quite so much space being mostly sewing supplies, but the fragile figurines and fabrics has added up to more space than I expected...

Hiding under the boxes is a bin full of beautiful vintage fabrics that need to be photographed for listings

I do remind myself that selling these beautiful items really does bring in funds that I use for buying supplies, participating in art projects such as The Sketchbook Project and for making small purchases from other Etsy vendors - my way of supporting "Cooperative Economics"*, one of the values of Kwaanza that I wrote about on the eve of the New Year.

If you'd like to help me clear out my grandmothers goods from my creative space, I've got a special coupon code going on in the shop until December 5, that I posted HERE, but I'll post it again:

THANKSBETTY

The coupon is good for a 20% discount for blog readers only and I'm slowly adding more goods in the weeks to come, so check out the shop to see what's new...and help me clean out my creative space! ;)

I will share the other parts of my home that need cleaning, clearing and tender loving care, but I think starting with the reality of my creative space will do for the time being!

Cleaning and clearing will be one of two big tasks in the next two weeks - the other big task is to make goodies to sell at my first holiday boutique on November 13th! There are other projects and tasks on my list, but the boutique and the cleaning are the main priorities and I'll be sure to keep you posted about it all...

In the meantime, I hope you stop by my blog tomorrow to check out my "Spooky Mystery Giveaway"!

* - I'm really happy to say that I have managed to fulfill that practice throughout the year despite being laid off!

Meeting Mel...

2011-10-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Since my blog buddy Mel shared a picture of me she took during her trip to Los Angeles, I thought I'd share some pictures I took of her and her children during our visits and field trips. We had 3 visits in all: meeting each other at The Huntington Library, a field trip to Santa Monica and a field trip to Ventura.

Meeting Mel at The Huntington Library

I took this photo of me with Mel using my little camera - Mel's daughter was taking silly pictures we thought unfit for public use! ;)

I was so excited to learn of Mel's trip to Los Angeles! We were in communication beforehand and I sent along a list of some places for her to visit. Since she was close to The Huntington Library, we agreed to meet there for our first meeting and I'm so glad we did...it's a beautiful place to see.

"Two Scamps" on a bridge...

I also got to meet her husband and children, "The Doctor", "The Boy" and "The Girl", as Mel calls them on her blog. "The Doctor" was working at the Huntington so I spent most of my time with Mel and her children, who I referred to as the "Two Scamps" ;)

I know it wasn't always fun for the Two Scamps to follow behind two women running around art galleries and gardens but they managed to take it in stride and Mel is a very gentle and understanding "mummy"...

Photographed in the main art gallery at The Huntington Library

We made sure there was something more interesting and fun for the "Two Scamps" in our next field trip to Santa Monica...

Seeing Santa Monica

We began our trip to Santa Monica by stopping by a fantastic art spot known as Bergamot Station. It's full of art galleries, but the main reason I wanted to bring Mel to Bergamot Station was to stop by Hiromi Papers - knowing that Mel is a scrapbook artist, I knew she would love Hiromi Papers! Luckily, it proved to be interesting to The Girl as well...

One of the shop girls brings her little dog, called "Tofu", to the shop and The Girl loves dogs, as do I. The Girl enjoyed herself to no end petting "Tofu"!

After a lunch break, we made our way to the Santa Monica Pier where the Two Scamps took a ride on the carousel and spent time in the local aquarium touching various types of sea life in the tanks...

They really enjoyed the aquarium so I made sure there would be some fun entertainment for our next field trip to Ventura...

Visiting Ventura County

I knew we would have a long drive to see the city of Ventura so I brought many of my children's books from my collection of children's literature for the Two Scamps to read on the road, and a special book for all of them to enjoy while in Ventura.

I wanted to show Mel some of my favorite spots in the city of Ventura and she was excited to see The Fig Tree of Ventura with her own eyes...

Mel the Tree Hugger! It's a wonderful tree - I can't blame her for wanting to hug it!

Mel and I got shots of the children on the roots of this enormous tree before we headed to the pier. I brought a book for Mel and the children to read through as it involves things they each love: the seashore and cameras. The book is called "Flotsam" and it's written by David Wiesner.

Mel reading to The Boy and The Girl at Ventura Pier for lunch

While at the pier, we were surprised by a seagull having his lunch nearby. Mel grabbed her camera to catch the action and I photographed Mel doing what she does best: capturing the moment!

Mel photographing the seagull eating his lunch with me photographing Mel in action...

Watching Mel in action, as a photographer and a mother, was really great. She is understanding, patient and gentle - she really is a lovely "mummy" AND photographer.

Enjoying a book and scenery at Ventura Pier for lunch...

I'm so glad I got to meet Mel in person! Just think: if it weren't for Tinniegirl hosting Blogtoberfest, Mel and I may never have met...

Many thanks to Tinniegirl for hosting such a wonderful community-oriented event!! And many thanks to Mel for creating these wonderful memories =-)

Maybe one day I'll get to meet YOU, Dear Blog Reader!

Coloring Swap with Mel!

2011-10-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

I found out about a really fun project being hosted by my blog buddy Mel of I Speak Melsh and I got lucky enough to be one of the participants!!

My stamped faces arrived at the end of last week and I could barely contain myself from coloring them in over the weekend, but weekends are usually spent with my dear boyfriend so I had to wait...but not for long!

Mel even decorated the envelope with the image I'd be working with. I knew I wanted to work with my color pencils, but I thought I'd begin with a small set of pencils that are meant for traveling with...

The first three faces were made using this set of color pencils, which are uncovered "leads". However the colors did seem a bit lighter than what I wanted, so I moved on to my set of Prismacolor pencils...

My collection is fairly large, which is not surprising since I've been collecting them for over 20 years with one Orange pencil I've had since I first bought it! There are still colors that I do not have, mainly because they are colors I don't work with very often. I love my Prismacolor pencils! I particularly like how intense the color can be when applied with pressure and that was what I wanted for the remaining faces on the first card...

I've got blondes, redheads and brunettes colored in this batch and there is a whole other page of blanks to work on!

Here is an example of how bright the colors can be:

The eyes need a bit of color but I think the tones in the hair turned out nicely!

I didn't do anything fanciful in this first batch, but I knew I'd incorporate some fanciful ideas in the next batch...

I'm adding some diversity in skin tones and some "elemental" figures, like Water and Earth...

These are the Sun and Moon - I'll be adding skin tones to them eventually to heighten the surrounding colors. There are still blank faces to be filled so I haven't given away all my 'tricks'! I thought I'd share all the work I've done so far to give Mel a smile since I didn't share the notebook I've been working on for her giveaway prize ;)

Mel makes great scrapbook layouts and has a wonderful sense of color. I met her in the first Blogtoberfest I participated in and I got to meet her in person this summer when she came to Los Angeles with her husband, known as "The Doctor", and her children, known as "The Boy" and "The Girl". They are a lovely family =-)

Mel has informed me that she is sharing a layout on her blog for today that incorporates a picture taken of me with her children, which I want to say was entirely my idea! I love that she used that picture in her layout!!

I'll be sharing some of the photos I shot of our trip to Ventura tomorrow as a "companion piece" to her blog post of today, so stay tuned!

My Studio Journal

2011-10-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

I've shared many pages from my art journals and my current sketchbook for The Big Draw, but I thought I'd share some pages from my studio journal today...

I first heard about studio journals from the blog of Karen Wallace, an amazing art therapist I discovered. She has a great blog post about having a studio journal, not to mention great posts about the use of art in therapy. Be sure to check out her wonderful blog!

After reading about using a studio journal for keeping track of creative ideas, I began to use the journal above for keeping my ideas for projects or for keeping notes on interesting techniques I've seen...

This entry was made after seeing an appliqued flower on a t-shirt and making notes about how it was done. Later, the technique was utilized on this tote-bag project, though I did it with hand stitching instead of machine as the original version was made - I like the effect of hand stitching better!

I had already been using this journal for notes on things I was thinking of making or already making, such as this apron for the swap at my first Artful Journey Retreat; I began work on the apron a bit late if you notice the date in the upper right hand corner! I also had an idea to add an embroidered phrase, but I ran out of time to do that. But it's a fun idea to work out on another apron in the future...

I cut little scraps of the fabric I used to make the apron and put them in the journal as a memento of what I created since I never took a picture of the finished apron.

I've sketched ideas for garments I want to make and occasionally sketch costume ideas. This costume was based on a movement exercise created in a workshop for words and movement. I thought of a costume if I decided to use the exercise for performance and I sketched it out with notes...it hasn't been made, but that doesn't mean it won't be!

I really like keeping my studio journal because it's a place where I can go to for ideas if I don't know what to work on next...not that don't have enough projects to keep me busy right now! ;)

Do you keep a studio journal of ideas or projects in process?

Covering Notebooks...

2011-10-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a super quick peek at something I'm working on, besides the bottle cap embellishments from yesterday's post...

Of course, I'm working on a note book for the winner of my giveaway, but I can't show that one here! At least, not until she gets it in her mailbox ;)

Bottle Cap Embellishments...

2011-10-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned making some bottle cap embellishments here before and being inspired by this post* from my blog buddy Mel. They really are fun to work on and I've slowly been putting some more bottle cap embellishments together...

The one on the left uses some paper from on old French novel, covered with a layer of clear glue and some vintage glitter I found in my grandmother's sewing room. The small heart was also found among my grandmother's bags of rhinestone bits to be used for her craft projects. I added dashes of red nail polish around the inner edge...

The other bottle cap uses new scrapbook paper for the center and more vintage glitter from my grandmother's craft supplies...

I glued two small buttons and added a dash of the red nail polish for a flourish! The small pink heart will be incorporated into another bottle cap.

Working with such small supplies is one reason for the time it takes to make these embellishments. I also like to layer glue on the bottom to smooth out the ridge that is often found inside the bottle caps. Here are two more caps in the starting phases...

If you look carefully, you'll just make out the inner ridge in the bottle cap on the right. They are laid out on my stove, on the center griddle since the pilot light for the griddle is lit underneath and gives just enough warmth to speed up the drying process without warping the surface of the glue, but it does take time to dry completely. I leave all my bottle caps in process there and here are two more that are nearly complete...

The one on the left uses some vintage gift wrap paper and tiny rhinestone trim from my grandmother's craft supplies. The button is from my collection. I think that it is fine as it is, but the one on the right still has something to be added...

For the small pink heart, I glued a small pearl bead from my grandmother's craft supplies with a scrap of organza underneath. The bottle cap used a bit of new scrapbook paper and tiny seed beads around the inner edge. The seed beads were part of a necklace I had made so it was easy to line up the beads while still on the bead wire. I can see that using bead wire to set seed beads as a border will be the best way to glue them down! The little lump of glue is to raise the heart from the surface and give a 3-dimensional effect...

I know many folks have been using bottle caps for sometime now and they usually use resin to cover the entire surface, but I like using regular glue so you can see the 3-dimensional quality of my bottle caps. It's like creating a small world!

Bottle cap embellishment made for the art book I donated for the City Hearts fundraiser - you can see the whole book in detail HERE and HERE

Of course, I plan to use these embellishments on some more hand bound books so stay tuned to see those come together in the next few weeks!

* - I always have to laugh at the title of that post - who knew something so great could come out of a blog post titled "Aaaargh!!!" It just shows how Mel can always find something positive to say =-)

Tools of my Trade - Scissors and Shears

2011-10-24T12:05:00.001-07:00

I've shared images of the many tools I work with, but I realized that I have not shared one of THE MOST important tools in my arsenal: Scissors and Shears...

Would you believe this picture does not include EVERYTHING I own?!? The mind reels!!

What is the difference you might ask?

If you've peeked at the Wikipedia link I added above, you'll see that the difference is in the size of the blade - the longer the blade, the more it resembles shears. I have at least two pair of shears in my set of cutting implements - my dressmakers shears, which are the largest in this image...

The blades are nearly 8 inches, not including the handles, on the largest pair here and they can be heavy

And my large paper cutters, used for cutting through layers of manila paper to create the patterns I made at school studying Fashion Design and Pattern Drafting...

These look pretty lethal, don't they...These are the heaviest cutting tools I own

Then I have so many other cutting implements: snips

These are used to cut stray threads while at the sewing machine - the spring design makes it hard for anything more precise...

...pinking shears, both pointed edge and scallop.

There are special small cutters that I use for cutting small shapes from paper, such as these...

I bought this pair from a vendor at the Renaissance Faire many years ago - I love the look and feel of them!

...or these funny shaped scissors - maybe they are actually for cutting hair?!

These were a flea market find many years ago, but I've just started using them in my collage work...

And there is my little collection of decorative vintage sewing snips...

More flea market finds with the exception of the open snips - they belonged to my GREAT-Grandmother =-)

And of course there are some cutting tools that have rarely been used...

I bought these for the Artful Journey Retreat earlier this year and hardly used them! But I like the look of them...

My scissors and shears are some of the most important tools I own, next to my sewing machines. I try to care for them as best I can by keeping them sharpened regularly and using each style for it's intended use. When you use such a tool regularly, you can forget that they are also dangerous, so it's good to have a few small scissors meant for little hands...

These were found among my grandmothers things - I probably used them doing crafts as child!

Though these small scissors are old with a bit of rust, I think they'll do well with some sharpening.

What are some of the tools of your trade? I'd love to hear about them!

23 Things*...

2011-10-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

For the 23rd day of October, in no particular order...

It has been GREAT not working in an office!
I've had a fantastic fun-filled summer: I met my blog buddy Mel, visited Ventura three times and saw the Tim Burton exhibit TWICE!
It's been good to visit with my friends this summer
It's been slow going cleaning and clearing my little home, but I'm making progress...I think!
It's time consuming to photograph my grandmother's things to sell them at Etsy...
The time it takes to photograph my grandmother's things takes time away from making creative goodies to sell...
However, selling my grandmother's things has brought in much needed funds to use toward art supplies! It all balances out in the end I guess =-)
I've spent time volunteering my writing and administrative skills to help out a small local gallery
I'm not sure the gallery will last to the end of the year...
I'm witnessing first-hand what happens when you begin an art business with no money, no focus and no plan =-(
I've had some wonderful adventures with my dear boyfriend this summer!
I'm sorry to see the days get shorter...
But I'm glad that my birthday is coming next month
I really need internet service at home but I don't know how I'll be able to pay for it...
I've met the challenge of blogging every day for Blogtoberfest without having internet at home!
If I can meet a challenge like that, what else can I accomplish?!?!
I've accumulated more books this summer than I expected but they are ALL full of creative inspiration
I'm glad to see that my "soap box drawing kit" was so inspiring!
I'm in the process of knitting some mitts of my own design and I can't wait to see how they turn out...
I really do want to knit a full size sweater one day, or maybe a skirt...
I'm in process of putting together some new interviews to share and the artists are quite amazing!
I really look forward to returning to workshops with Orly Avineri next month
One week from tomorrow will be the last day of Blogtoberfest...

* - many thanks to Nina Bagley for inspiring today's post; I'll do this again on a special day in November and the list will be doubled... =-)

Mystery Project Sneak Peek...Again

2011-10-22T12:05:00.001-07:00

I've left some sneak peeks for a new project in process and it's been slow going. I left you with this image recently:

I love the fabric in this top, not to mention the beads, some of which were missing when I found this top on a trip to the Melrose Trading Post flea market, earlier this summer...

Before I can use the fabric, I wanted to remove the beads and I've been working on that a little bit:

I may incorporate the beads into the mystery project or I may not, I haven't decided just yet. But I'm definitely looking forward to using the fabric...

Stay tuned - there are more images to come as I make progress on this project!

Tools of My Trade - Drawing-On-The-Go!

2011-10-21T12:05:00.002-07:00

I've shared my sketch made while in Ventura, as well as my sketch made at The Huntington Library, not to mention my small retractable pencils that are easy to tuck into a pocket, but I don't necessarily keep that pencil in my pocket while I'm out and about and keeping my eyes open for something to draw...

Here is what my Drawing-On-The-Go Kit looks like:

This kit includes my retractable pencil and a bit of rubber eraser, as well as a small ink pad and a rubber stamp for dating my sketches...

It all fits in a travel soap container which easily fits in my purse, wherever I go!

And since my Big Draw LA sketch book is not very big, it all makes sketching easy to do, wherever I am ...

My sketchbook and drawing tools before the Ventura Pier sketch commenced...

If only all my crafts could be this portable!!

Drawing in the Park for The Big Draw...

2011-10-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

I had a GREAT time drawing at a recent event for The Big Draw LA. It took place close to my home and it was for artists of all ages. I met up with my friend Silvia who was joining me to participate in the drawing fun. We arrived just before the event began as they were setting up...

All participants received a backpack to draw on and there were markers that were shared by everyone working at the same table...

My friend Silvia had brought a few of her own markers to use so I began with some of them and started with drawing a vine of flowers on one side of my bag...

Silvia and I were having a great time with our drawings, as were many of the participants in this event. I had a darling four-year old girl sitting next to me who was drawing with wild abandon!

An artist in the making!

Look at all that bright color and the happy smiling faces!

There was quite a turn out...methinks that people are in need of more creativity in their lives!

Drawing in the park with bright happy colors on a lovely fall day

Here is how my backpack turned out by the end of the event...

I even began a drawing on the back which will be completed and filled in later...

In keeping with the theme of butterflies* I've had this summer, I added this one to my backpack and it will be colored with bright and brilliant colors...

*** *** ***

This event was hosted by one of the Los Angeles Libraries and I had not visited this branch before so I thought I'd take a look around and I'm glad I did. The children's section had some great mixed media art!

All the art used paper with buttons for embellishment - so cool!

As if all this wonderful art wasn't enough, one whole side of the library is ALL GLASS, looking out into the park beyond with green grass and trees...

Now THAT is what is what I call a "room with a view"!

All in all, it was a great day =-)

* - my dear boyfriend thinks I need to work on my "butterfly anatomy" - I say this is a whimsical butterfly ;)

A Big Day...

2011-10-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited!

There are some changes taking place at Etsy and one of them has been very important: the ability to change your shop name!

When I first created my Etsy account I did not realize that your "username" would become your shop name and as a result, I had a shop with the name "lunagirl65"...

This was not helpful for The Creative Beast! Of course, I created a new account using the proper name but now I had an account that I couldn't really use and Etsy was not exactly obliging about closing out accounts. I thought I might use it just for buying goods from Etsy sellers...until I decided to sell my grandmother's belongings and craft tools...

A vignette of my grandmother's tools and supplies used as my Etsy profile picture

My grandmother Beatrice, known to all as "Betty", was the person who taught me to sew and to knit, just to name a few of my many craft skills! By the time of her passing I had already acquired many of my own tools to work with so having two sets seemed a bit too much. Knowing how many folks on Etsy truly appreciate vintage goods, I decided to sell the many, MANY craft supplies, tools and other items that have been found in the home that was shared by my grandparents...

This charming porcelain basket was one of many basket figurines my grandmother collected

I thought I'd call the shop "Grandma Betty's Legacy" and asked a friend to create a simple banner that captured the spirit of my grandmother. I think my friend did a great job!

My shop banner - Grandma Betty was quite a seamstress and quilter, hence the sewing machine!

I've managed to make quite a few sales since I began selling but it's not easy to find my shop since the name is under my "username" and not the actual shop name. So you can imagine my delight when Etsy finally decided to do away with the policy of "no name changing"...

Aqua and gold tone buttons found among Grandma Betty's sewing supplies

Though you can only change it once, this is very helpful and I hope it will become easier to find my vintage Etsy shop for shoppers.

There are still quite a lot of items that I have yet to photograph and list, but I'm getting it done bit by bit. Sadly, I had to make a decision this summer to discontinue international shipping as it's become VERY costly. However, if any of my blog readers are interested in any items, please convo me - I'm happy to work something out for one of my blog readers!

My grandmother was a big fan of all things tea and this mini sugar and creamer was part of her collection

In the meantime, to celebrate this name-change to the actual shop name of "Grandma Betty's Legacy", I'm offering a special coupon code for my blog readers:

THANKSBETTY

...in gratitude* to my grandmother for passing her legacy of skills to me so I can share them with so many of you =-)

The coupon will give you a 20% discount on all items listed in the shop. The coupon code starts today and will end by December 5. Please note: this coupon code is NOT being advertised in the shop - it is strictly for blog readers!

One of many craft books used by my grandmother - she also did embroidery and needlepoint

I hope this name change will bring some more shoppers to my vintage Etsy shop - I've got quite a few boxes of goods that are taking up quite a bit of space in my workroom and I'd like to clear them out - with some sales! ;)

* - and many thanks to Etsy for making this helpful change possible!

A Recent Sketch for The Big Draw LA...

2011-10-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share my recent sketch for my participation in The Big Draw LA. It was done while in Ventura for the Scottish Highland Games and it stemmed from the view out of the hotel window. Here is the window view I worked from:

And here is the sketch made from that view:

I guess I need a little more work with my sense of perspective, but I'm sure with more practice I'll get there!

I'm hoping to attend this Big Draw event later today - I'll be sure to share any sketches made if I make it to the event, so stay tuned!

A Room With A View...

2011-10-17T12:05:00.001-07:00

While in Ventura for the Scottish Highland Games, my dear boyfriend and I stayed at the same hotel we've been staying in the past few years but we've never had a room with a view before. This year we did:

Before you get too excited, we also had this view from our window:

See those train tracks? They were right outside our window, mere yards away...

Yes, we could hear the trains as they came by, but luckily, the windows were double paned glass and the trains were not frequent nor did they run often. Sadly, my dear boyfriend is a light sleeper so he did hear the late night train go by, but he managed to fall back to sleep quickly.

We could also see the pier from our window and I thought I'd make a sketch of it for my participation in The Big Draw LA. I'll share the sketch I made tomorrow, but here is Ventura Pier from our window. If you look closely, you can even see Catalina Island in the distance:

I'm not sure we'll ask for a "room with a view" when we return next year! ;)

Sunday Shorts - "Music Soothes the Savage Beast*"

2011-10-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

I love music...

I love piano...

This particular piece of music for the piano has been in my head lately and I found a lovely rendition of it that I want to share here:

This piece of music is from the soundtrack to the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice. I thought it might have been composed by Chopin**, but I learned it's actually an original composition by contemporary Italian composer Dario Marianelli. There is a version on YouTube that is directly from the soundtrack, but I love listening to a real pianist playing and this pianist plays this piece beautifully...

Enjoy =-)

* - I wondered where this quote this came from and found this in my search

** - I listen to classical music often and you begin to learn the styles of certain composers when you hear enough of it =-)

As Time Goes By...

2011-10-15T12:05:00.002-07:00

One week ago today, I was attending The Scottish Highland Games in Ventura and this year was quite unlike any other...

It's always interesting to see how people grow and change as each year passes. The same folks seem to always be at this event but I never imagined that there would be a loss...

A very favorite vendor known to all as "The Sweater Lady" was not in attendance this year, but her daughter was. As we each came to visit or buy from our "Sweater Lady", we learned that our dear "Sweater Lady" had passed away on September 5th.

I was devastated.

I have seen "The Sweater Lady" for many years at both Scottish Highland Games and at the Pomona Irish Fair and it was in the past two or three years that I had finally introduced myself with my given name and asked The Sweater Lady for her's - it seemed so silly to call her The Sweater Lady!

Her name was Nydia (like Lydia but with an "N") and she had sold sweaters at the fairs for over 12 years and I remember buying many favorite sweaters from her, not to mention having conversations with this lovely lady. I would share things happening in my life and places I had gone to. She told me of places she had traveled to and where she was traveling between selling at the fairs. She was excited to learn that I'd had artwork published and wrote down the names of the books to look them up.

She was warm and kind and always smiling in her very busy booth. She had many customers who looked forward to seeing her and buying sweaters from her, or kilts or plaid jackets. Nydia loved selling to us all and never forgot a face. She remembered me though we only saw each other once or twice a year! I always looked forward to seeing her at the games in Ventura and at the Irish Fair if she was selling.

When I saw her last year, she was not planning on selling at the Irish Fair, so I said I'd see her next year at the games, but it was not to be...

Everyone who heard the news of Nydia's passing was saddened by it and spoke to her daughter about how much Nydia would be missed by us all. I think it was good for Nydia's daughter to hear how much we appreciated Nydia and how much she will be missed. Nydia left a legacy of generosity and kindness that many of us will always remember.

*** *** ***

Lately, I've been observing that we really don't know what an effect we have on others. We might be speaking and say something of little consequence to us, but it can make a huge impact on the person hearing it. You might smile at a stranger and it will make their day though you may never know it*. There might be people in your daily life that walk in and out, like your postal carrier, the FedEx person or the person at the check-out at the grocer's but you see them on a regular basis and they do see you. They become a part of the pattern of your Life. Believe it or not, they may very well notice your absence if you stop going to the same post office or grocer's.

We may have small, short interactions with strangers but you just never know when it might have more meaning for the other person on the receiving end.

In our own ways, we each have a chance to leave a legacy of humanity with every encounter we have with each other, no matter how small that encounter is...

Though I saw Nydia only once or twice a year, she was a part of the pattern of my life.

For me, her legacy is one of warmth with her smiles and her sweaters.

For me, the Scottish Highland Games will not be the same without her.

* - My blog buddy Kat at I Saw You Dancing wrote this week along similar lines, about missed connections, that really resonated with me. Please take a moment to stop by her blog and read her post and maybe take a little time to think about the people that pass through your days. They really are part of the pattern of your life.

And The Winner Is...

2011-10-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

Today is the big day...

...the day I announce the giveaway winner of my 300 blog post giveaway!

There were quite a few names this time around, but I thought I'd draw the name of the winner by hand as I've done in the past. First, I get out the special glass bowl used for giveaway drawings...

Then I make a list of all the names of the folks who entered the giveaway...this was NOT done by hand, as I usually do!

Then the names are cut into individual strips...

Then each strip is folded in the same exact way for each name...

...and placed in the special glass bowl for drawing names...

I mix the papers around...

I draw a name...

...and the name is...

Oh my goodness! The suspense is killing me!!

;)

The winner of the collage notebook is...

Here is what you've won:

This notebook will be collaged by yours truly in your favorite colors. Here is what the notebook looks like on the inside, in case you were wondering:

Lined paper and graph paper for note-taking or room planning or whatever strikes your fancy!

Congratulations to Mel! Please be sure to contact me and send your mailing address* so I can mail out your notebook, after I've collaged it in your favorite colors, that is...

Thank you all for entering the giveaway! If you didn't win this round, stay tuned because there may be one more giveaway before Blogtoberfest is over =-)

* - Mel, I know I just sent you a postcard, but it took me quite a while to find your address among ALL my paperwork! Please humor me and send it anyway ;)