My family and I drove out of Florida in the early morning a few weeks ago. When I looked out the car window over the swampy area, there was a thick blanket of fog. The palm tree tops were still visible. Most of the surrounding scenery was clear except this small pocket of fog. It made me think about what foggy mindsets do I have in my life. What is blocking my vision? What can interfere with clarity of thought? Things like overwhelm or procrastination come to my mind.
Read moreLooking for Inspiration and Creative Calendars
For the past two weeks, I have not made a daily square. In a way, it was a nice break from the routine. But honestly, I just missed it. Even though it felt awkward to not be creating every day, I plan to take a break over the holidays every year though for two reasons. First, it helps to have a focused time to not only look for inspiration for the next year but develop themes I want to pursue. Second, taking a break from making daily squares helps me appreciate the practice of daily creating. I will admit sometimes I don't want to make a square if life is just busy that day. This happens very rarely. Mostly because I have realized that usually walking into my studio is the perfect way of pushing that mental reset button. But when I may feel some resistance to the work, now I can remember that feeling of absence. Like something was missing from my day. Absence can make the heart grow fonder, I guess...
When you look at your creative life through the lens of a year, it can make you more productive and more consistent. Consider a Creative Calendar...
Read moreRevisiting Is Doing Nothing Really Relaxing? Creative Flow Part 2
For the last two weeks of 2016, I am reposting some of my favorite weekly Studio Notes from throughout the past year. Sometimes reading a weekly article from earlier in the year can seem like reading someone’s writings because it was written so long ago. I found myself agreeing with the article and then I thought, well, of course I agree because I wrote it. Weirdly, sometimes I can take my own advice. In this case, creative flow can come from even just thinking about what I might want to create for next years series. So access to creative flow can be as easy as looking for inspiration for what to create next. If you are spending time traveling over the holidays and can’t bring any art materials along, never fear. You can just daydream about it. Click this link to an article about that.
Enjoy this repost of Is Doing Nothing Really Relaxing? Creative Flow Part 2
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Revisiting Authenticity vs. Influences
For the last two weeks of 2016, I am reposting some of my favorite weekly Studio Notes from throughout the past year. I reread some of my articles today and found the one entitled Authenticity vs. Influences. I thought this particular article was helpful as I enter these few weeks of looking for inspiration. I wrote in the article that I used to be concerned about being influenced too much by others art. Now I feel I have the confidence in my creative output to honor my influences but through the lens of my art worldview. The more you create, the easier it is to find your authentic voice.
Enjoy this repost of Studio Notes.
Read moreDay by Day Adds Up
Last week I wrote about Why Do An Annual Review? As part of my review, I wrote a list of some things in the past year that I have actually completed. Now bear with me. This is not to be full of myself. That's not the kind of person I am. This is to show what can be built off of 15 minutes creating a day. Once the daily creating becomes a creative practice, you start looking around for "What is next?” Then after the next creative habit is an established habit, again you ask yourself, “What is next?" I started creating art every day and people were surprised I kept it up. So I decided to write about how I did keep going creating every day. Then I started making so much art I filled up the walls in our house. Hence, my online original art shop addition on my website.
Who knows "What is next?" Everyone has their own path.Read more
Why Do an Annual Review?
This year, I wanted to take some time to reflect about last year and think about what my focusses should be for next year. I had saved a blog post from Chris Guillebeau from a few years ago just in case I decided to do this. Here is the link How to Conduct Your Own Annual Review.
This is what he recommends to do…
"To begin the process, I ask myself two questions and try to come up with at least 6-8 answers to each:
What went well this year?
What did not go well this year?
For these answers, I’m mostly interested in events I have control over. If something did not go well that I couldn’t prevent or control, it doesn’t need to go on the list."Read more
Rereading Two Austin Kleon's Books
This weekend I decided to reread two books by Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work. I absolutely love these books. I have reread them several times and amazingly I always get something new from them. Sometimes you are not ready to absorb information but you read it again and understand when you are ready. Both of these books are like that for me.
I reread these books this past week because they will help with my December thinking about next steps for 2017. I just got his Steal Like an Artist Journal to start doing the exercises and now I have a place to keep my answers all together. Oftentimes, I read a book but don’t write down the answers to the questions asked in the book or my takeaways of how this idea might apply to my life. This time I am going to write stuff down in this journal. Some of you may remember that my collaborator Serena from our Creative Challenge Q&A did the 30 day challenge with the Steal Like an Artist Journal last year. She inspired me to try it.
Read moreThe Every Day Project on Every Day Things
The Every Day Project is available on Every Day Things. Buy original gifts and support artists at the same time.
Last week I opened a shop at redbubble.com. This is a website used by many artists where you can upload images of your artwork and then the redbubble.com company prints the images on all different sorts of every day things. Redbubble.com does the printing and shipping for me. Hurray!! I decided to offer 35 different items. Wow, that is a lot. To decide which products to sell from the many more options available, I picked out every day items that I would like to purchase myself. The items range from men's and women's t-shirts, pullovers, pillows, tote bags, phone cases, laptop cases, canvases, art prints, framed art, spiral journals and greeting cards, etc.
I went through each of my 13 series in 2016 for the Every Day Project and picked my favorite daily square from each series. These 13 images are each available on all 35 items.
Read moreTime to Re-evaluate Your Current Habits
This time of year gets me thinking, What is next? I feel the seasonal pull of the cold weather to start reflecting on what was good this past year and what to focus on for the next year. Maybe this is the calm before the busy holiday season. Thanksgiving in the US is one week away. Honestly, I used to feel all the chatter on the internet about slowing down and doing a mental retreat to refocus at the end of the year was not necessary or just not for me. I have learned these past several years that focus and attention are my greatest tools to accomplish what I want to in my life.
Focus and attention demands you to figure out what few things are important for you to do. Otherwise, you can get lost in the weeds trying to accomplish too much and then you actually accomplish very little.Read more
Stepping Over the Line
Last week I wrote about my current Surround series. This series has a unifying theme involving color using all different shades of purple to be the "surrounding" fabric. For the focal point on the inside shape or "what is surrounded by the purple fabric," I have no rules. The inside shape can be any color, square or rectangle, and anywhere within the square. This is a perfect blend for me of constraints and freedom. It makes me excited to get into the studio every day.
In the past, when I've mentioned how I like to push up against the self-imposed constraints I have set for myself in each series, I often get blank stares from people. I thought I would try to explain this creative habit of Stepping Over the Line because it is one of my favorite things to do. It makes me daydream about design and is the main thing I do to help me look forward to getting into the studio every day. In a way, I do more than push up against my own self-imposed rules. I actually like to break them. Usually, when I first start the series for the first week I abide by the rules. Then I slowly break the rules apart bit by bit. I can’t deviate too far because then the individual square would stand out from the other 24 squares in the final piece a bit too much. As in most things, it is a balancing act. I have found it is always these squares where I allow myself the freedom to Step Over the Line of the design or color rules of each series, which resonate with me the most.
Day 302 of 2016. Surround series.
For the Surround series inside shape I started out with three strips of fabric making three horizontal lines in the center of the square surrounded by a medium color purple. The next day the fabric strips I sewed together were not quite squared off but had a slight angle. I decided to break my rule of a square or rectangle shapes on Day 2 in the series. I included a photo of Day 302 of 2016 to show you. I was off to a good start. Things really got crazy when I ran out of one of the purple colors so instead of the same color purple for the Surround fabric I threw in different purple fabric on Day 306 of 2016. I included a photo so you can see for yourself.
Day 306 of 2016. Surround series.
I did set the rule of “No Rules” for the inside shape, so technically I can’t Step Over the Line because there really was no line. So then I turn to my next tool which is Variation with in my self-imposed constraints. First, I started using fabric scraps from last month series for the inside shape. But then I branched out into my basket of scraps and picked out some chartreuse green and some Kaffe Fassett shot cottons. I even thought about using a hot pink fabric strip but thought that was maybe too bold of a choice. Not one of my favorite colors either. I have also been playing about where the inside shape is in the overall square, the center or off to one side. I don’t measure but rather just eyeball it.
Days 76-100 of 2015. Gulf Waters series.
One of my favorite examples of Stepping Over the Line is in the series Gulf Waters. I used mostly green and blue fabric with accents of tomato red. At one point, I decided to add one little square of white. I must say this white square is my favorite part of the whole piece. My eye always goes to that one white square. You can see it in the 4th row down and the 3rd square over in the middle. It reminds me of one of my favorite paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago called a Rainy Day in Paris by Gustave Caillebotte. My eye always goes to the woman’s diamond earring. It's that little speck of white.
Rainy Day in Paris, 1877 by Gustave Caillebotte at the Art Institute of Chicago