Everyday Creativity

http://mypanera.panerabread.com

I recently read this article from Panera Bread about creativity and I thought it was worth sharing:
http://mypanera.panerabread.com/storiestips-view.php?id=100

Sometimes we feel stuck and that we can't create anything because our muse is gone.  But the author here shares five easy ways to spark your imagination instead of wasting time waiting around for an idea to develop.  Worth a read  =)

The Singles Conference

This weekend, I attended a church-sponsored Singles Conference up in the Denver area. When I first heard about the event, I wrote out a check for my pre-registration and mailed it in before I could talk myself out of going. I rarely attend the singles activities here because, well, I never meet anyone that I connect with... I'm not just talking about men, but women too. I feel so disconnected from the others - there aren't many people close to me in age and no one that I have found anything in common with (besides being single, of course). The really ironic thing about all this is that, in San Diego, I was the Stake Single Adult Representative for five years and was responsible for organizing the entire program, meetings, activities, newsletter, etc. As such, I understand the challenges with getting the support and attendance necessary to make everything a success.

So, anyway, I drove the hour-long trip up on Friday night to attend the temple with some other singles. Then, afterward, we met up with some other singles for board games and refreshments. On Saturday morning, I had to get up extra early to get ready in time to drive back up to Denver for the day. We had a short opening meeting (for which I was asked to give the invocation - opening prayer - on the spur of the moment), followed by several really good workshops, lunch, and then off to the temple again - this time to do service work on the grounds. Some of us did mulching, weeding, and planting; others, myself included, repainted some of the iron fencing around the perimeter of the grounds. I wasn't dressed for painting and, despite all cautions, managed to get it on both of my blouses AND the only pair of jeans I own that still fit decently. So, if anyone has a good idea for getting paint out of clothing, please let me know! After working at the temple, we were supposed to play lawn games but the rain had other ideas so we moved everything inside for more board games, followed by dinner, and a dance.

All in all, it was a fun yet busy weekend. I had an enjoyable time and met some nice people (but not my eternal companion). Apparently, I didn't drink enough water during the day and, especially after working outdoors, found myself quite tired and dehydrated this morning. I'm feeling better this evening but am not thrilled that the weekend is almost over and I have to go back to work in the morning. There's just never enough time, is there?

Soul Journaling Under Wraps

Today's exercise was to follow the prompt "I forgot to tell you..." and then continue the thought process from there. As you can tell from my first picture here, I had a lot to say! This photo is small and a little blurry to protect the privacy of my personal thoughts (not that there's anything here that I wouldn't tell to a friend one-on-one).
Next, I covered it all up with different kinds of tape. This was a challenge for me because I didn't have much variety in the house.
Lastly, I used acrylic paint (denim blue and then burnt umber) over the tape to give it an aged and distressed look. The red/blue striped tape was a shiny cellophane so it resisted the paint... I kind of like it though.
I'm not sure if this is finished or not. I think it makes a better background than a complete piece of art. Maybe we'll be adding more over it later... or, if not, I can always do my own thing!

Soul Journal Inchies

Continuing on with Sarah Whitmire's Soul Journaling prompts... Going back to yesterday's page, I trimmed out my soul armor with a gold foiling pen - it's a lot of bling, but I'm worth it =)

The next exercise was to search magazines for specific images... some were generic items, like "a bird" or "a flower" whereas others were more personal, such as "eyes the same color as yours" or "something you want (which is NOT the picture of money - LOL)"
Actually, one of the prompts was "something comfortable" which I couldn't really find any picture for... so I picked the money as "something I need to be comfortable" because, well, don't we all?

First, I made a wash of some dark purple acrylic paint (which turned out pretty light once I watered it down), then I spread it around and blotted with paper towels. When that was dry, I pasted on the inchies and applied another wash of a lighter colored paint (ochre). Lastly, Sarah had us add some words and draw around some of the inchies.

A few personal things here? Well, the "40 September" was my last birthday, the beautiful mountain scene is from right here in Colorado where I live now, the snowy branches are my "something you have" since I really appreciate having winter seasons again after living in California for twenty years. The banana bread is one of my favorites and reminds me of my grandmother; the hand represents my current round robin journal which is still winging it's way around the world; the aspen leaves are another Colorado specialty; and the purple swirl represents my favorite color (hence the purple background, too!)

Soul Journaling

One of my new year resolutions was to start a personal art journal this year. The problem was that I didn't have any idea where to start. One of my dear art friends told me about Sarah Whitmire's Soul Journaling prompts and so I have decided to jump right in! I know I won't be able to follow along daily but will try to work on this project as regularly as I can.

The first two spread are my take on Sarah's first prompt - to cover my pages with text, then pick out words that describe how I am feeling, circle them, and write down some of my thoughts:

The next step was to get out the gesso and cover up all of my words, taking time to contemplate on them as I painted them out. Secondly, I needed to "claim" my book by putting my name all over the first page...
Finally, I needed to create my "soul armor" and decorate it using words that describe how I can protect my creative spirit. Those of you who know me know I love asian things so I just had to use this samurai on my page... I decorated the background with a piece of gold-printed joss paper and some kanji rub-ons. I will probably go back and add more detail to my armor but this is what I've gotten done so far.

Taylor Swift's newest fan

Today I had to get some groceries and stuff at Wally World and decided to spend the gift card my brother gave to me for Christmas on a new CD. I've been in love with that "White Horse" song by Taylor Swift that I recently heard on the radio so I decided to buy her new album, "Fearless"... and now I think I am her biggest fan! Did you know this young, feisty gal wrote or co-wrote every song on both of her albums - amazing! Even though I'm about twice her age, I can still relate to the message of her music and I love her strong, independent attitude. Take my advice and buy this album if you don't have it already...

P.S. One cute thing she does in her liner notes is capitalize random letters that spell out a secret message for each song =)

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by my sister, Letha, in Wyoming. She is a quick blooming artist who is bravely trying new things... check out her blog - it's lovely!

Here are the rules...
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
4. Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
5. Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

So, here are my "six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details":

1. Like my sister, I too am a night owl - I can easily stay up to the wee hours every night but it is a huge challenge to get up each morning, regardless of how early I force myself to lie down each night. I compensate by sleeping in on the weekends =) I have been known to sleep past noon on a Saturday!
2. Unlike my sister, I really LOVE chocolate. I recently joined Weight Watchers and cannot eat it much anymore so I treat myself to Tootsie Rolls instead... or Fiber One breakfast tarts (they have one that's chocolate fudge).
3. Since I'm on a roll with this sister-comparison, I'll continue it by saying that I have a love/hate relationship with cooking. I know how and can follow any recipe with good results.... but it seems like such a wasted effort as a single person. The WW plan works much better with home-cooking so I have started making a large casserole or crockpot meal once a week and then freezing it in individual portions to eat later or take for lunch at the office. Maybe someday I'll have a family to cook for and then it will be something that I enjoy doing because another thing about me is that I love to do things for people I care about =)
4. I have a dual personality. At the office, I am uber-organized, work quickly and precisely, and am always dependable and responsible. At home, I am very nearly the opposite... to an extent - I let things pile up and I can be quite lazy for a time and then I will get to a point where I look around and realize that I can't function unless everything is in order and I will go on a cleaning binge!
5. I've never been outside the U.S. And I lived only 15 miles from the Mexican border for over 7 years but never crossed over. I've also been close enough to see Canada but never made it there (yet) either.
6. Maybe this is a manifestation of number 4 above, but I struggle with my art - sometimes feeling led by my muse and other times wracking my brain to come up with something creative. I think my work reflects this - it alternates between being much too neat and orderly and other times bordering on quite good (if I do say so myself =)

Ok- here are my six friends:

Veronica - a new friend in the art world who has a lovely blog and a great appreciation for life's blessings
Steph - who is always terrific about leaving positive feedback on my blog. She does some fun art and dollmaking
Outi - a Flickr friend who makes fabulous jewelry and clever ATC's
Lucy - an Aussie who has is very creative and has a special way with texture
Kim - I love her spirit and humor and she's such a brave artist with amazing results
Hermine - from the Netherlands - prolific and talented, she's quite an inspiration

Check them out - they're all fabulous in their own way!

Neat Freak

Awhile back, we were discussing our working spaces on Paper Traders and this is the photo I posted showing my craft room in the neatest state it has ever been in... I cleaned and organized for hours before bringing out the camera:


Several people wanted to see what my room looks like in the midst of a creative effort, so I took this picture tonight... if you look closely, you'll see a sneak peak of my Birdie Birdie chipboards:

(This is what my room looks like more often than not! That's why I have the fold-away screen tucked in the corner - so I can hide the mess if someone comes by =)

Making a Mess

I am really working on being more messy with my art. Almost everything I do is too neat and orderly, which is a reflection of my natural personality. Still, I can visually appreciate messy art - I just can't seem to CREATE it! This weekend, I tried creating some messy backgrounds... and then very neatly worked over the top of them - LOL!