Every Day

A friend asked me, "So tell me the truth, do you just make seven squares at a time and then post them later one each day?" I was a little shocked. I do make the squares every day and then post them on Instagram. Yes, there have been times when I've been in the car all day and unable to machine sew or even hand sew. On those occasions, I do pre-make the daily squares and then post on the day but I could count on my two hands how many times I've done that in two years. But that's not really the point. The point is I create and post every day for selfish reasons. I am glad my Instagram followers enjoy a burst of color on their screen every day. But I truly do this for myself because the daily creative habit is like a steady current running through my life, like a flowing river. 

I used to think that it would be much easier to create on the days where I have less going on.  I do enjoy the days in the studio where I have time to daydream and play around. But I found the days that are stressful or full of activities can be just as rewarding, if not more. It allows me to do a "reset" no matter how busy or stressed I am. When I walk into that studio, I leave all that behind. Turn on my iron, get out my fabric and start thinking about possibilities. Everything else stays outside the studio.

You can create when you're angry or sad or mad or frustrated. But in my experience, these strong emotions fall away as you start creating. There's no room for drama in my studio or at least not in my world.

So... full disclosure, last weekend we took our son to college. We had 3 busy days so I pre-made three days worth of squares and posted them on each day in order. But instead of thinking... "What a relief, I do not have to create a daily square!" I missed that time in the studio where I step out of daily concerns and worries and enter the world of color, fabric and thread. 

So if you are resisting a daily creative habit because you think it'll be hard to fit in your schedule because things are a little too busy right now or a little too stressful, I encourage you to rethink that and consider adding creative time in your day as the time to put those feelings aside and focus on making your art of choice. 

The key is making it just part of your daily routine and to make it doable. 

Need help starting a creative habit? Creative challenges can help kick start your creative habit. Creative challenges are not complicated.  You decide what you want to do and for how long. Then just do it.  The hardest part is just starting.

Serena from @sirensfinds and I are hosting a Q&A session to help others start their own unique daily creative challenge to see the benefits for yourself of adding creativity into your life. We will be chatting together on both of our Instagram accounts answering your questions. So ask us anything.  
Our Q&A session will be held on Instagram the week of September 5-9, 2016. 
We have a question theme for each day:
Monday, September 5: How to get started
Tuesday, September 6: How to make it doable
Wednesday, September 7: How to make time
Thursday, September 8: How to stay motivated
Friday, September 9: How to use what you learned


You can ask us questions through Instagram comments, email or comments on our blogs. Our contact information is below. 
Go ahead and send the questions anytime before that week if you want. We will be answering the questions relating to the daily topics in the afternoon on this days. 
Not on Instagram? That is ok. We will answer the question on Instagram and then email the written responses back to you. 

Start thinking about any questions you may have about designing your own creative challenge.
You have one and a half weeks til the Q&A starts on September 5, so start thinking about your questions! 
Find Serena @sirensfinds on Instagram and hello@sirensfinds.com for email. Her website and blog are at sirensfinds.com.
Find Kathleen @blueskyquilter on Instagram and kathlenwarrenstudio@gmail.com for email. My website and blog are at kathleenwarrenstudio.com.
 

Tale of Two Creatives Part 2 and Announcing a Q&A September 5-9

Serena and I found each other on Instagram and connected with each other over our shared view of the importance of a creative outlet in our lives. Our first interview is in the weekly article Tales of Two Creatives Part 1. We had more to say so we decided to interview each other a second time, specifically about our respective daily creative challenges where we create every day and document it. 

Our next adventure together is a Q&A session to help others start their own unique daily creative challenge to see the benefits for yourself of adding creativity into your life. We will be chatting together on both of our Instagram accounts answering your questions. So ask us anything.

Our Q&A session will be held on Instagram the week of September 5-9, 2016. 

Monday, September 5: How to get started
Tuesday, September 6: How to make it doable
Wednesday, September 7: How to make time
Thursday, September 8: How to stay motivated
Friday, September 9: How to use what you learned

We will be answering the questions relating to the daily topics in the afternoon on those days.

You can ask us questions through Instagram comments, email or comments on our blogs. Our contact information is below. 
Go ahead and send the questions anytime before that week if you want.

 Not on Instagram? That is ok. We will answer the question on Instagram and then email the written responses back to you. 

Serena

Now, the interview...

How did you find your particular creative challenge?
Serena: In February the author of the Steal Like an Artist Journal challenged readers to do and post a page a day on social media throughout the month of February. I started then and continued working on pages on my own afterwards.
Kathleen: In April 2015, I found out about the 100 Day Project organized by Elle Luna from the Creative Morning website which had a list of good newsletters that they recommended to read.  I read about this creative challenge project in one of those newsletters. I had never heard about it but liked the idea.  It started in just a few days. I just decided I would do it and jumped in. I had no time to over think it. 

Describe your creative challenge.
Serena: The journal is filled with creative prompts that help you put in to practice some of the notes from Steal Like an Artist in different ways such as sketching, writing, brainstorming, scribbling, or playing with your tea. I do or redo a page every day then take time to brainstorm on or fine-tune a project I have based on the idea presented in the journal.
Kathleen: You pick a creative activity to do for 100 days and post a photo or video of it every day on Instagram to the hashtag #The100Dayproject. I selected a doable size of art at 6 inches for improv fabric art. I sewed fabric pieces together to make a daily square. I select a color and design theme for each 25 day series. I sew 25 daily squares into a large 30 inch square piece which is backed with fabric and batting and quilted together.

Kathleen

How do you keep yourself motivated to do it every day?
Serena: I try to treat time in the journal as a treat rather than a chore. It gives me an excuse to play with ideas and actually have something to show for what I come up with. I credit the fact that in the past few months I’ve managed to make a lot more progress on things because I’ve been taking time to create or write every single day, which definitely motivates me to keep going.
Kathleen: At this point it has just become a routine. But initially I set a timer on my phone to create fabric art at the same time every day. I also keep my studio very organized and have the supplies I need all ready to go from when I walk in the studio. The 25 day themes keep it fresh and interesting so I feel like I'm always trying new things and never get bored.

What benefits have you seen from doing this long-term challenge?
Serena: Now I work a little faster (and harder!) on bringing my ideas into actuality. At the beginning of the challenge I’d struggle to come up with answers or on figuring out what I’m really trying to accomplish on a piece, but now things become clearer a little more easily.
Kathleen: My art practice has become a regular habit. I have been so much more prolific. The best part is I enjoy the process. I no longer feel overwhelmed with all my design ideas because I can use it in my daily square that day. I make decisions quicker and take more risks in my art. 

Why do you choose to share progress throughout the challenge rather than only results?
Serena: For me sharing is great for figuring out how to progress, what’s working and what’s not, and whether I should continue. I’ve connected with other makers through sharing and hearing their feedback as well as seeing their journeys inspires me to keep going. Sharing your work throughout its stages is one of the most raw and real ways to show what you’re really about.
Kathleen: I have become happy with daily progress. It takes many little steps to make fabric art. By sharing each day's progress I get to feel a sense of accomplishment each day. If I waited to finish a larger piece I would only post once a month which is not enough for me. I like being a part of the community of artists on Instagram. 

How long do you plan to continue and what are your next steps?
Serena: I’ll continue the journal until I’ve absolutely exhausted the pages, and I’ll definitely keep creating something every day long after that. I’m currently working on physical versions of ideas I came up with when I first started the challenge. This next part is trying to keep up with myself as I both create new ideas and finish the ones I started in February.
Kathleen: I don't know why I would stop when this daily square system is really working for me. It is easier for me to just continue than to stop and have to start again. I plan to just keep going. I made 250 daily squares in 2015. As of today, I am over 225 in 2016. I see it as I get to do this, not I have to do this.

After reading about our daily creative challenges, what resonates with you? Are you interested in developing your creative side? You have two and a half weeks til the Q&A starts on September 5, so start thinking about your questions. 

Find Serena @sirensfinds on Instagram and hello@sirensfinds.com for email. Her website and blog are at sirensfinds.com.
Find Kathleen @blueskyquilter on Instagram and kathlenwarrenstudio@gmail.com for email. My website and blog are at kathleenwarrenstudio.com.
 

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone and Selling my Art

Sometimes you just need to change things up to make things more interesting again. I was on vacation last week in the Northwoods. This means that I take my daily square on the road and do some hand sewing. I had to go out of my comfort zone in photographing the daily squares. When I normally post a photo of my daily square, I iron it super smooth.  I use special color-correct Ott lighting. I crop the photo to fill the full photo frame. Well, I could not do that on vacation. So I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to utilize the beautiful birch tree right in front of our cabin. I pinned the daily fabric art square on the birch tree. Then I took a photo of the square in the natural light including the surrounding woods in all their splendid greenness. 

It was a different approach for me. I like the natural light. I like the contrast of the green and the purple against the bark of the birch tree. It makes me open to the idea of changing things up when I photograph my daily squares in the future. 

Good things can come from going outside of your comfort zone. As I was thinking about this birch tree, I came up with a new series idea. I could use white, tan, gray, and black fabric with hints of green for lichen and blue for the sky. The design would be horizontal trending imitating the horizontal lines of the birchbark. I don't know when I will make the series, but I will add it to my Evernote book of design and color ideas. 

What are some ways that you could get out of your comfort zone? I am not talking about changing to a different media like all of a sudden starting to take up oil painting. But secretly, I do kind of want to try oil painting. I am talking about things like, if you always knit scarves maybe push yourself to try to knit a sweater. If you were a scrapbooker and you have only been scrapbooking family vacations, push yourself to try a new thing like all black and white photos from your family's past or something like a scrapbook of all your favorite doors. Maybe that last one sounds a little weird, but I have a lot of photos from our trip to Europe of really cool doors.  Let's say you are a big reader but you always read detective mystery books. Maybe try a book from the New York Times bestseller list. Or ask a friend what was their favorite book last year. These "outside your comfort zone" things may be a big flop. But they may lead you to another idea that leads you to another idea that you love. 

Curiosity makes life interesting. 

Upper left: Zipper  Upper right: Blue Skies  Lower left:  Chaos  Lower right:  Horizons

Speaking of getting way out of my comfort zone, I have decided to start selling my art. I create so much art with my daily square and 25 day series that I have no more wall space or room in my studio. So I am testing the waters of the best way to start selling. 

I am currently posting one fabric art piece for sale every Saturday this summer on my Instagram account. These pieces are from my “10 Blues” series and are wrapped around a 10 inch square stretched canvas. For you special people who read Studio Notes, I'm opening up the whole lot. Here's a photo of the 4 remaining pieces. Each one is $75 with free shipping to the USA. If you're interested just email me. 

Like what you see but interested in something a little bit different, email me and let's talk. I'm available for commission work.

Find my Green and Purple series playlist on Spotify HERE.  

Why I Keep Creating and Vindication

I participated in the 100 Day Project again this year. This is my second 100 Day Project and it ends this Wednesday on July 27. It almost seems like a non-issue for me. I have continued creating fabric art every day since the first 100 Day Project I participated in last year in 2015. And I plan to continue creating fabric art every day.  I decided I don't feel the need to do the 100 Day Project next year.  Between 2015 and 2016 so far, I've made a daily square for 455 days. I just keep doing it. Do I feel I have something to prove? I don’t think so. I enjoy creating my daily square. For two weeks at the end of 2015, I took a break from making my daily square and it made me feel empty, like I was forgetting something all day long. You know that feeling when you just subconsciously feel you are forgetting to do something important but just not sure what it is. It felt like that. The act of creating provides an anchor for my day. This daily practice gives me a place to create using my mindful daydreams about color and design (See last week's article about Mindful Daydreaming). I could not imagine not creating every day. Maybe the form of the daily creation will change in the future. But I know this consistency is something to keep close. I understand the benefits of keeping that connection to my creativity and keeping the door open. It's almost like water continues to flow through my days. My concern is if I stop creating it will back up and create a deluge of too many ideas when I restart. 
So next steps... I keep going. 

I got my Juki 2010 sewing machine back from the repair shop. Vindication!!  Vindication feels awesome. It was the #@*^ walking foot the whole time. I thought it was the walking foot all along. For those of you who are not quilters, the walking foot is the attachment on the sewing machine which keeps the three layers you are sewing together smooth as you quilt. When you add such thick layers with the backing fabric, cotton batting and sewed quilt top, you need to have a foot that runs loosely on top of the fabric. This is the walking foot. So ever since I bought this machine in November 2015, I kept thinking I was doing something wrong because the sewn fabric was not smooth, like at all. I added more pins to the quilt sandwich of three layers. I sewed slower.  I tried all sorts of different things. Justin the repair man said there is nothing that I could've done to cause this. It was always the faulty walking foot.  It caused problems for two different reasons.  We thought he had fixed one of the problems in January 2016. But the second problem with the inflexibility of the foot still made the fabric look bumpy and terrible. I procrastinated out of frustration and used my old sewing machine for awhile.  Then one day I realized it was ridiculous to use my old inferior machine and I had to tackle this issue head on. I dropped off my Juki 2010 at the repair shop.  He had my machine for a whole week trying to figure out the real issue. I can't tell you what a relief it was to hear that there was nothing I could have done because I really was doubting myself as a quilter. I learned that procrastinating is never a good solution to a problem. Next time I will address any technical difficulties as they arise to minimize just stewing about it.  Lesson learned. For the second 100 Day Project, I made a large series of four pieces called the Four Elements. I am including a photo of the Fire Series daily squares all sewn together using my new walking foot.

Day 100-126, Fire series, 2016. 30 inches by 30 inches. Kona cotton fabric. 

So my machine is back and I am going to be happily catching up with all of my 25 day quilts. 
But not until after vacation.
There will be no Studio Notes article next week since I will be up in the Northwoods on vacation. So when you check your email for my article next week, you know it did not go to your spam filter or your updates folder. I am just on vacation. So look for my next weekly article the second week of August.
For those of you not an email subscriber yet, why not? Never miss a week and sign up at the end of this article on my website. 
 

Mindful Daydreaming

I have started to become more mindful. I have mentioned the meditation app Headspace in previous articles. The founder of Headspace, Andy Puddicombe writes in his book, Mindful Eating,

“Mindfulness is usually defined as being present, undistracted by thoughts and emotions, and with an attitude of mind which is neither critical or judgmental. A bit of a mouthful, but all it really means is to live with a sense of happy contentment."

Day 194 of 2016, Earth series. Six inches square daily square.

This all sounds good to me. Being more mindful makes you notice your thought patterns. I started worrying that I would not be able to daydream. I was concerned I would be so focused in the moment on what I was actually doing that I couldn't spend time noodling around jumping from idea to idea. As an artist, many of my ideas come from daydreaming and observation. I often start with an observation first. For example, I made a daily square last week that really struck me. The deep purple and the light bright green looks so good together.

Now comes the daydreaming part. I have been looking for a new series idea. The Four Elements series has been 100 days long and ends on July 20. So I am inspiration hunting for an idea for a new series. A few weeks ago, I thought of doing a 2 color series. I don't really remember the context for this idea but perhaps it was a reaction to all the multicolored series I've been doing lately. The ease of just having two colors might make for a good change of pace. So I'm daydreaming about how I might pursue this 2 color idea for my next series. Greens and purples. OK. So now I have an idea. I get to continue daydreaming about the possibilities. Should I use one color purple and one color green or any purple and any green? I am leaning towards the latter idea to have a little more variety. As for the design parameters, I am thinking I will not have any design parameters. The freedom of coming up with a new design every day might be a fun challenge.  For one week of this upcoming series, I will be on vacation in Minnesota. This means I need a design that will lend itself to hand sewing. So I can make it up as I go. The 2 color scheme will bring the whole piece together just by limiting the color choices. So while the color palette of the piece is unified, I think I can take my chances and go totally wild with the designs.

This is mindful daydreaming. If anything, the idea of paying attention to exactly what I'm doing is going to make my daydreaming more effective. It sounds weird to put it this way. But distractions like, "I need to make an appointment for this" or "We need more bread from the store” or  "I need to do laundry", all those kinds of ideas interrupt my daydreaming. I hope to have much more prolific and productive daydreams in the future.

To learn more about this technique, I recommend headspace.com. They make the seemingly simple process but difficult-to-do thing called mindfulness so much easier. I am not associated with them in any way except as a subscriber and big fan.

The Earth series is ending this week and I have included a link to the Earth playlist.  You can find it HERE along with all the other series playlists in my Spotify. 
 

Authenticity vs. Influences

The phrase, Be Authentic. What does it really mean? In my mind, it just means being who you really are. It means you aren't trying to emulate other people or forcing yourself to act a certain way. You do what feels natural to you.

Sometimes this is easier said than done. Why? I do not know. Because being yourself seems like it should be the easiest thing in the world. Authenticity applies to all aspects of our lives. How you live your life, your career, hobbies, food you eat, etc. In the creative world, many artists go through phases where they're a little "too attached" to their influences. I know I have. My son pointed out to me that on one of the band Cream's songs, Eric Clapton mimicked an Albert King guitar riff note-for-note. This does not mean he was plagiarizing him. But Albert King is one of his influences. Clapton listened to all the early blues and rock musicians. Even as accomplished as Eric Clapton was and is, his influences came through. Eric Clapton's guitar playing has such an authentic sound, I can tell it is him playing with just a few notes into a song.

Using your Influences as a stepping stone to authenticity seems like a natural progression. You have to start somewhere. You gravitate to things that you naturally align with. Take it for a spin. See how it feels. And then evolve from that. This all makes sense. I do not think I could've gone directly in to my current abstract designs without evolving into them. 

For a while, I would not look at other people's quilts or art online because I was concerned about unconsciously adopting other people’s style. Now I know that if being authentic is your goal, you are not going to mimic other people's art. You will emulate lots of influences in your own unique blend and take it from there.

In the book I'm currently reading, What Are You Looking At?: The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art, the author, Will Gompertz, says

 
If 10 people were to stand on a hill and take a photograph of the same view, using the same camera, the results would be near identical. If the same 10 people sat down for a few days and painted that view, the result would be markedly different. Not because one individual might be a more accomplished artist then another. But owing to the nature of humans: we can all look at the same view, but we don't see quite the same thing. We bring our own unique mix of prejudices, experiences, tastes and knowledge to any given situation, informing how we interpret what is before us. We'll see the things we find interesting and ignore those we don't.  Page 80.

Everyone will come up with different things because of the way they see the world. 

Earth series. Day 186 of 2016. 6 inches square. Green horizontal lines with multiple green rectangles included for the land. Orange, yellow and green vertical lines for flowers with blue sky peaking in.

When I approach my current series, the Four Elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth, I see landscapes broken down into their elemental geometric forms. I can look out at the prairie in our backyard and see geometric shapes such as green horizontal rectangles for the land with orange and yellow vertical rectangles for flowers and vertical blue rectangles for glimpses of the blue sky. I use these design ideas in my current Earth series.

The section in What are You Looking at? on the artist Paul Cézanne was particularly fascinating to me.  Gompertz states that Pablo Picasso called Paul Cézanne  “the father of us all.” Paul Cézanne opened the door to modernism. He apparently also thought you could break landscapes into basic shapes like spheres, cones and cylinders. Not to compare myself with Paul Cézanne, but to make my point, we both looked at landscapes and saw geometric shapes with obviously very different outcomes in our art. He saw 3D shapes of cylinders and cones and spheres. I see a very flat 2D version with squares, rectangles and lines. The idea may be similar, but again another outcome. 

Paul Cézanne's Bibemus Quarry, 1895 Oil on canvas, 65.1 x 81 cm Folkwang Museum, Essen This painting is a good example of geometric shapes in his art. Source: HERE

So now I no longer concern myself with worry over mimicking other's art. My daughter and I went to the Madison art show this past weekend.  I enjoyed seeing all the different creative expressions in all the different mediums. I was inspired by some of the bright colors and abstract oil paintings and woven hand blown glass pieces.

I can see all these as influences in my art. But at the same time I can realize my art is an authentic expression of how I see the world.

If you are interested in art history from Impressionism to Modern Art, I highly recommend this book What are You Looking at? by Will Gompertz for its conversational style full of good stories about the artists and how one style of art leads to the next.


 

 

Tale of Two Creatives Part 1


Serena and I found each other on Instagram and instantly connected with each other.  We are both all about supporting creatives through their journey.  Serena is a former jewelry maker who discovered other forms of art- drawing, sculpting, painting, etc- as a result.  She started Sirensfinds as a way of encouraging other creatives through rough patches in their journeys.  I am a self-taught fabric artist who starting creating in 1998 but has been making art every day since April 2015.  No matter what you are creating, we all share some of the same moments of self-doubt and lack of motivation. By sharing our stories we can help each other.

We decided to interview each other.

Serena of sirensfinds.com


What are you currently working on?
Serena:  Mainly, I’m working on expanding Sirensfinds so I cover more subjects and topics regarding life and creativity as a whole. 
My “side project” is turning some of my smaller sketch ideas into patterns and prints…we’ll see how that goes. 
Kathleen:  I have two main focuses. My daily art and my weekly writing. Every day I make a 6" fabric art square and then sew every 25 days of that series together into a larger square art quilt. My current fabric art series is called Earth. This series is part of my Four Elements series. I continue to write a weekly article on creativity about finding inspiration and creative habits. 

Why have you selected this medium?
Serena:  For the site, I noticed a lot of people throw the terms creative and creativity around, but there’s not as much encouragement for those in creative fields to keep going. Rather than feeding the idea that creativity is some elusive magic and when it’s gone it’s gone, I wanted to offer help & tips to maintain and further skills and motivation.
Kathleen:  I started making fabric art in 1998. I was drawn to the tactile nature of fabric and all the colors! I taught myself how to sew and quilt.  It was just one of those things that kept coming to me like you should try this. I'm glad I followed that instinct because I absolutely love working in this medium. As for writing, I started teaching fabric art and creativity classes a few years ago and had built up a lot of material from my lesson plans and people's questions. It seems like a natural next step to just start writing and share my thoughts in hopes of helping other people.

  Me, Kathleen of kathleenwarrenstudio.com

Do you have a routine? How did your creative routine develop?
Serena:  Kind of. My creative routine is jumping into a project with everything I have—even if I haven’t got much to start on. If I plan I’ll fuss over details and discourage myself entirely. Rather than that, I choose a project at the start of the day and see what I can get done. I'll track my progress throughout so I can see how far I’ve come, where I made mistakes (or good choices!) and how I can fix or prevent them in the future.
Kathleen:  I find I work best with a schedule. I generally make my fabric art square around the same time. I generally draft and finalize my weekly article on certain days of the week. By following this no-nonsense schedule it takes some of the drama out of the creative pressure for me. It's what I do...like doing the dishes, making coffee. I always had aspired to have a routine but I wasn't forced to do it until I committed to the 100 Day Project back in 2015. As part of this project, I had to create and post something on Instagram every day. It makes you think seriously about a routine so you can maintain this pace. 

What sort of things do you sift through when you get stuck?
Serena:  Books are my go-to when I’m stuck. Reading someone else's ideas, worlds, or characters, helps me to think differently and use different eyes when looking at my own projects. Otherwise I scour Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram for visual inspiration. 
Kathleen:  Creating every day forces you to be on the lookout for inspiration. I call it inspiration hunting. Being a visual person, I look to other visual media like Instagram, art books and Museum websites. Right now, I am in a huge abstract expressionist phase. I often look to the landscape around me and break it into elemental geometric shapes like my Four Elements series. I keep a notebook in my digital Evernote account full of design and color ideas. That's where I go when I'm stuck.

Why do you share your work through social media?
Serena:  Being a part of a community is very important in staying inspired and motivated. Social media lets me widen my sources of inspiration as well as troubleshoot and network with people who are out of my physical reach. Different minds and experiences are fantastic sources for criticism and encouragement which are key factors in me fine tuning projects.
Kathleen:  I feel inspiration is a two-way street. I look to the other Instagram artists to fuel me up and get me to think differently about color and composition. It feels like the right thing to post my work and give back in hopes of inspiring other people with my writing and my art to develop creative habits that bring them joy.

We are going to post another interview In August with more details about our respective daily creative challenges.

Find Serena @sirensfinds on Instagram and hello@sirensfinds.com for email.
Find Kathleen @blueskyquilter on Instagram and kathlenwarrenstudio@gmail.com for email.
 

Is Doing Nothing Really Relaxing? Creative Flow Part 2

I used to think in order to relax I had to just sit there and do nothing. If you do that, you realize very quickly that it is not always relaxing. You find yourself stewing about how tired you are, and what you just did that made you so tired, and how you don't want to do anything. I have found a much better way to relax.

Do something you like to do. Make something. Use your hands. Get out of your head. That place of making, doing, is what can be really refreshing.

It has a lot to do with getting into the creative flow.  I wrote about that a few months ago, What is Creative Flow and How Do We Get There?  The article can be found here. I focus on finding a regular creative practice as part of your daily life.  Sometimes you can’t get up and paint, or cook or photograph or play music. Then what?

Sometimes sitting and thinking can be relaxing if done a certain way.  You can think your way into creative flow even if you can’t physically make something. This can have a restorative effect just like the actual creating.

The beauty of creative flow by doing or thinking is that it can take you out of time. So even with a short period of time, you can feel refreshed because time has become a bit irrelevant.  A short time can feel like it has been a long time.  And the opposite can happen, just sitting for a short time doing nothing but forcing yourself to relax can feel like an awful long time, like watching the clock move.

 I love to ponder and think about new designs in my art or new activities I may want to try.  This is very different from sitting there forcing yourself to do nothing.  I guess it comes down to the attitude. To ponder and let your thoughts wander needs to have an open mind willing to explore different ideas.  This openness is what allows those appearingly random connections to happen.

The definition of creativity from dictionary.com... the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns,relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms,methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination. 

 It is all about the connections.

For example, I watched a video mentioned in Austin Kleon’s weekly newsletter. I talk about Kleon in this article HERE. The video is called "Legendary Filmmaker John Waters On the Audacity of Cy Twombly."  There are a few swear words.  But the important thing is the mental connections I made by watching this video.  John Waters, the filmmaker,  admires the modern artist Cy Twombly and talks about Twombly’s attitude of questioning the idea of rules and society’s ideas of perfection, and how that is supposed to look. Twombly did not feel the need to adhere to those rules. My curiosity caused me to watch this video and I instantly connected it to my feelings about my own art.  I make art my way. No rules except the ones I create. I can relate. John Waters is a fantastic story teller and if you are interested, the link is HERE. This connection strengthened my idea of my art and felt just like the "doing" part of creative flow even if it appeared passive as I watched the video.  I admit I watched it 3 times because it is just that good.

Phish LED screen light show from Wrigley Field June 2016. Source: Jambase.com article 

Another creative idea was inspired by a Phish concert held at Wrigley Field in Chicago over the weekend.  I saw a video of the last show. Wow. The colors and abstract designs on the LED screens on the stage were beyond interesting. I added the idea to my Designs and Color Ideas in Evernote.  I wrote an article about Evernote HERE.

By keeping up a stream of interesting input in my digital notebook, I provide fodder for this kind of creative flow thinking. My point is that thinking about these creative connections and what that could mean for a new art work is way more interesting than sitting there trying to do nothing so I can relax.  Thinking about my creative practice is enough to enter into that creative flow even while I am sitting eating breakfast, or waiting at a stoplight, or at the grocery store.

I want to be clear that I am not criticizing meditation. When you meditate you are not "doing nothing."  You are focusing on your breath, your visualization, etc. This is not doing nothing but an active process of being present.  I find meditation one of the best forms of relaxation. I regularly use the Headspace app for guided meditation.  You can sign up for a free 10 days 10 minutes preview of the app.  Well worth it.

So ponder or meditate or start creating something, but think again if you find yourself just sitting, forcing yourself to relax.

Start doing something or thinking about something that puts you into that creative flow state of mind and you may find it easier to relax. 

You get to choose how you spend your time. Choose wisely and make it meaningful.

 Tyranny of the To-Do List and the Burden of the Undone

I am sure you've seen recent articles on the Internet titled something like How to Get More Done! and Top 5 Productivity Tips!, etc. I must admit I used to read a lot of those kind of articles. I thought there was a magic bullet out there about getting things done. I have learned different strategies from many of the productivity gurus and cobbled together a productive organizational system that, for the most part, works for me. Currently my work life is run by a massive to-do list. I try to capture every idea however fleeting just in case I forget it. This makes for a long to-do list. I may be in need of a new approach.
 

I'm always philosophically drawn to people like Paul Jarvis and Leo Babauta of Zen Habits who write about having a workflow that is more free-form. No surprise that I find these approaches appealing because even in my art, I walk away from strict rules and move towards free-form expression.

Paul Jarvis is my go-to guy for a reality check. I have subscribed to his newsletters for a long time and purchased all his books. I admire his no-nonsense approach and independent thinking. His writing and podcasts always make me think about why I am doing something and does it make sense for me regardless of what other “experts” may say. His latest newsletter had a link to an interview with him by Cameron McCool of the Bench company blog.  He talked about not having a set daily routine but approaching each day deciding what needs to be done, what is reasonable to get done that day and just doing it. Pure simplicity.  The full interview can be read  HERE.  

Peony in our front yard. # 1 To-Do Item- See the beauty all around you.  Photo credit:  Ian Warren (my son!)

I am also intrigued by people like the Zen Habits blog author Leo Babauta. His idea is to let go of goals and to work on what is most exciting to you at the moment because, realistically, you will be the most productive on things that matter the most to you in this moment. This does seem very wise to me. And I've tested this theory several times. I am still working on it, but it feels good even just thinking this way. His article on this is called, The Best Goal is No Goal and can be read HERE. It will make you think.

This is a level of trusting yourself to know what needs to be done, and do what needs to be done but with a spirit of self-respect and a sense of adventure being in the right place, at the right time, doing the things you care about most. I am all-in for this approach. This summer of 2016, I am going to loosen the grip on the Tyranny of the To-Do List.
 
A deeper issue of the Tyranny of the To-Do List is this feeling of the Burden of the Undone. Many people, me included, put way too many things on this to-do list. Then when the inevitable happens and we get to the end of the day and have barely scratched the surface of the to-do list, the sadness and the self-judgment comes rushing in. I've tried to put less things on my to-do list. Some people say include no more than three things a day that must get done. Frankly, sometimes I think maybe it should just be one thing. I've played with this idea of saying I just have to get this one thing done. I have found sometimes those days are my most productive because I feel like the rest of the to-do's are just gravy and I want to get it done because it feels good to get it done. Not because I told myself I have to get it done. I guess that means I'm rebelling against myself.

The Tyranny of the To-Do List is a brutal dictatorship. I do not think it is wise of our culture to define our success as a person of value or of no-value based on all the sh** you got done today. What if all the stuff on your-do list really had zero meaning?

What if everything on your to-do list actually made you feel good? What if you trusted yourself to do the important but fun things first because that is what you want to do?

I don't have a lot of answers here in this article. I do know this summer I will try to let go of goals in the traditional sense. I'm learning that the less I tell myself I have to do, the more I actually end up doing.

This understanding has made me come up with my own three phrase mantra. 

Be kind.
Make it fun.
Be grateful. 

In a way, I think these are the only things I really have to be doing every day.

Yes, I do have this mantra as a reoccurring daily to-do item in my productivity app, Things. I use this mantra just as a reminder to keep things in their proper perspective.

I am a free agent who lives in a free state where I can let go of unnecessary burdens and focus on what brings me meaning every day. 

My Water series playlist on Spotify can be found HERE.
 

Lessons from a Kitten

Koa at 11 weeks old

We got a new Siberian kitten last Saturday. He is 11 weeks old and, of course, absolutely adorable. His name is Koa. We named him after the native Hawaiian wood Koa because he's an orange tabby and looks like the Koa wood's grain pattern. Needless to say, I have been spending a lot of time with him because he pretty much needs constant attention and supervision unless he is sleeping. Every time I try to get my laptop out and go through my to-do list or check Instagram, he's right there looking at me like “Hey! This is a new toy to play with. I'm gonna walk on it. I like your shiny phone because it's interesting and I am going to bite it." At first it made me feel bad that I was so frustrated trying to work in front of him. But then I realized he is so in the moment. That is the first lesson I learned. Kittens are so absolutely right here, right now. "Let's play. Hey! I want to be with you. I want to cuddle. I'm kind of hungry. I am not sleepy and I'm going to run around like a crazy kitty." It did make me realize it's more important right now to enjoy this time to bond with him and let him know how much we appreciate him being part of our family. As for my creative practice, the few breaks I have from my little needy one, I am totally in the moment when I walk into my studio relishing every seam I sew and every creative decision I make.  Sometimes mixing up your routine can be the best thing you do because you realize what is really important to you and relish those moments. 

Lesson 1. Be in the moment.

We took Koa to the vet on Monday and I mentioned how every night he has a spaz attack, running all over crazy fast so that we can hardly see his feet moving. I'm not even exaggerating. She said the best thing is to get him on a play schedule of 5 to 7 times a day 10 minutes to 20 minutes each session. Wow. It seems like a lot of time. However this idea made a lot of sense to me. We need to play with him and provide opportunities for him to move about and then we will see the calmer side, at least some of the time. So far it has worked. But it is more like an hour of play each time!

It made me think about all-or-nothing art. When I used to create in a project-to-project mode based on when I had the time, I felt all this pressure would build up and it would be like a crazy frenzy in the studio. I'd want to work for hours and for days on something. But it never really was very satisfying because it felt like it was part of the crazed frenzy and a feeling of never enough. Once I started a regular creative practice, I felt myself calm down and be in the moment of creating while planning ahead, working in a series with a sense of direction. As for Koa, we have started to customize his play schedule throughout the day when he's active and we play with him using different toys and figure out what kind of toys he likes. Again, I found a parallel with my creative practice. I spend time throughout the day doing things I like so it doesn't build up into a crazy frenzy of art. I spend time figuring out what kind of things I like and it just makes things a little more even keeled.

Lesson 2. Play every day and throughout the day. Find ways to keep it fun and interesting.

Jasper and Koa interacting. Notice the size difference.

So wish us luck in our next adventure as we continue to introduce our kitten Koa to our existing Siberian cat Jasper. He is nine-year-old sweet boy. So far, the interactions have been positive for the most part. Perhaps I will learn lessons about relationships watching them continue to get to know each other.

My article from last week is still stuck in the limbo land of my website. When I get it out, I will post it.