3 inspirations this week

                    1. Finding the above note in a box I keep about the creative process.
                    Seems simple. It can be simple. But then sometimes the mind tries to confuse it.
                    Make art, make moments,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;delight.

                    2. Stefan Sagmesiter is brilliant, its a must watch.   http://www.thehappyfilm.org/

        
                   3. This 1 minute crayon rubbing reminded me playing with materials
                       often gives me new ideas.

It takes COURAGE to...

Looking though illustration files today and found this I did a few months ago for Lilla Rogers Bootcamp class. It is a Courage Map. I really enjoyed this assignment as it pushed me to use writing, collage, and illustration in a new way. It was also personal and encouraged reflection on where I have been courageous both small and big in my life. I think continuing on the creative path, walking embracing dancing asking question with the unknown is a continual courageous act.
One step at a time....Trust the way!

Blocks

Confused? Blocked? Not sure what in the world you are actually doing? Uh yeah yeah and yeah.
Lately, I've been feeling ultra confused as to my creative path. I think there is an attempt to pretend I know what I'm doing mostly to convince myself. For when I let that "What the heck am I doing?" mind surface my making mind catches on and STOPS.... yes haults in it's glorious I'm not thinking but continuing in my intuitive let's see where this goes unattached way. I think this practical mind, wanting to pin my path down has actually hurt my flow. I have been pulled lately in wanting to decide where I want to focus my creative energy. I don't have one medium, one creative form that I can say this is what I make. Rather I love  bouncing between mediums, exploring forms. So what is the pull between? For a long long time I've wanted to write and illustrate picture books. I've spent many hours making mock ups, attending conferences, writing drawing sending out manuscripts, It has been an ongoing side dream. Recently I've thought about giving up this side dream to focus on other side dreams of my creative practice such as 3d paper sculptures and collages. I've asked myself what would it be like to put all those boxes of possible books away and say goodbye to that dream ( atleast for now). I suppose it is a giving up, but maybe it would also be a giving in. Going where there seems to be an opening in my life as opposed to banging on blocks. Certain doors aren't opening right now but others are. Doors that I couldn't have imagined.  I'm still not sure where this creative path is going but that's the point. To discover as I go. And if that means letting something go for awhile then I will. The most important thing for me is to continue, this, creating in some way and putting it out into the world. Sometimes a STOP is really a PAUSE, now its time to press PLAY again.

It's a constant remembering

 

I suppose it really would be helpful to have some clever tattoo as a reminder on my palm so when I pick up some brush, paint, or pen, I know. For me its about the process leading the way. 

And when I try to 

MAKE SOMETHING, or

MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN,

there is some kind of wall. I sense it as a feeling, it feels a bit like dread, like a chore, like walking into strong winds, or lifting heavy loads up a ridiculously steep mountain. I'm not saying that everything needs to be easy but I also don't think I need to experience struggling in my art making.

I prefer to experience the wonder, the mystery of NOT KNOWING where i'm going and discover what I'm making as I go. I prefer to trust that the process will unfold to tell me WHAT this SOMETHING wants to be.

Today in my studio, I banged against that feeling wall over and over again. Insisting my time be spent making a PICTURE BOOK. I've been working for years exploring this format, and truly enjoy it. 

But as I worked today a bit stubbornly I felt this idea of WHAT i want to make slip away.

It wasn't going to happen, not today, not this way I was approaching it.

With 10 minutes left in my studio, i gave into the urge I had been feeling from the morning,

the need to play with materials FIRST. For the collage, drawing, color texture adding 

reveal a story, image to me. 

I know I'm on my heart track when I don't want it to end.

I know I will forget this again. But I also know tattoo or not, I will remember my way.

Yeah- what the pencil said.

Featured in UPPERCASE magazine

To start off the year I was very excited to have my collage on the cover of UPPERCASE magazine as well as have a feature interview. It was so much fun to answer questions about my creative process and share with my friends, families, and uppercase readers (who are awesome!) If you are not familiar with this magazine I highly recommend it for an inspiration boost. It is filled with artists and their creative delights on every page.
http://uppercasemagazine.com/

3 things, people, books, moments, or art that inspire me

1. Amy Krouse Rosenthal- ALL her books and magic making moments. She is an artist I wish I had known personally. Her work will continue to inspire me. She is a BEACON BECKONING LIGHT always. Thank you AMY.
If you have not listened to her TED talks, be lifted and delighted by her enormous creative spirit and ability to PLAY with words and wonder. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxWgIccldh4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6aXBbI7k5Q
and of course her library of books
http://www.whoisamy.com/
 http://thispicturebooklife.com/amy-krouse-rosenthals-picture-book-life-giveaway/ 

2. Feeling. Dancing and singing to Do Re Me at the dinner table.
3. Moment. Witnessing my 13 year old boy play in the snow through my bedroom window.

ideas and images

 

I really receive a burst, a thrill, some awakening when I have an idea or when I find myself discovering an image as I feel I am making it. Where DO these images/ideas live before they are brought to form? ANd why do I receive some and another person receives a different kind? 

These kind of ponderings juice my day. 

(image from a sketchbook being born on kitchen table this morning)

Do-able

Some days I hop out of bed ignited for all the creative awesome projects I am going to continue working on. I have a mental list. Going to walk dog, get kids off to school, have breakfast and then GO. There is a skip in my step and then...well then those big grand ideas of what I was going to DO,   hit this imaginary yet very real wall. I can't seem to move forward with what I wanted to do. This is frustrating and causes me to question and doubt,,,, perhaps I'm really not suppose to be doing THIS., instead maybe I need to be working on THAT. So I move from THIS project to THAT one. This pattern repeats and repeats and----uh hum I'm talking about today.  The morning has swirled away in my contemplating what I shall focus my energy on. It's a great problem to have, too many ideas. But HOW do I climb out of it and make best use of the rest of the day. How do I find some sense of flow and move in the direction I want to be in which is making, sharing the best art I can. First, I let go yet again of the mental list for the day. It was too grand, too high expectations. I give myself what I call a DO-able. A Do-able is something that can be done in one sitting, from idea- to manifestion. It is a quick way to feel a sense of success. It shifts the "I CAN"T do this voice" into " I AM doing this Voice."
My Do-ables range from draw for an hour in sketchbook, to paint circles on two pages, make an 18 minute collage, write a paragraph...... To write a blog post about what you creatively are experiencing right now- voila!

Here's my Do-able for the day. Now, I already feel in better in FLOW!

Try it, give your day a DO-able and feel the shift.

collage

                 
               Flower that is never bored, oh how I love you. And if I am ever bored then sit with me and
               remind me to play, smell, grow, dance, breathe, feel the air, BE in this very moment as I am!

 

Pondering what I want to Grow this Year!

I think for most of my life I've been a seed sprinkler. I happily toss creative seeds as I go unsure what will take root.  This year, I am wondering if it may be useful to intentionally choose what I want to grow.  Not sure if I will actually do that- am in the pondering stage. All I know at the moment is that I am growing my trust to focus on what feels aligned with my truest delight.

3 weekly inspirations

1. Colorful space suits made by kids battling cancer. This is a BEAUTIFUL project. Check it out.

https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/conquest/Summer-2016/space-suit-art-project.html

2. Reading this book.

 

http://www.freeplay.com/Writings/2-fpbook.php

 

 

3.Feeling flow while skiing in the snow. Loved having a conversation on the lift with my boys about skiing and how it is creative to move your body through space with your own style.

Circle

I made this many many many years ago. I think it was the first time I placed words next to drawings. Every once in awhile I take it out of a box and look at it. Part of me wants to redo it and transform it into something shinier more evolved, better. But it never happens, i look at it, smile, and then place it back in the box. Of course it is different then what I may make or write today but there is one thing that remains consistent. The message, note, reference to PLAY continues to be an essential ingredient in anything I do. Instead of keeping it in a box I decided to share it here as is. This year, may you invite PLAY into your day even for a little moment.

playing around with something new

I have been wanting to explore animation for a long time. This past week I finally spent a few days watching some how to videos. This one video helped some Phlearn.https://phlearn.com/how-to-create-a-gif-and-upload-it-to-instagram .

I guess I sometimes feel like this Flower Power Head Pose, constantly spinning. ENJOY!

Carry On

                  This is how I felt this morning after receiving news that I didn't get a book project
I really really really wanted and had worked hard on for the last few months. I flipped open my

                  gratitude notebook and read this. Instead of writing I drew and somehow that little page   helped me move into what I know I need to do...continue. 

and then I read this-
http://www.jonathanfields.com/the-tyranny-of-always/
which reminds me AGAIN to carry on doing what I love.

Inky Ink

One of my favorite drawing tools is this ink pen. Have them in every bag. I love to squish them and watch the ink bubble at the top and flow out. The only problem is that they run too quick.

3 inspirations

it's been awhile, too long since I've posted anything here. Especially inspirations. I wish I could say that I'm going to do this every week, once a week, for months and months and months. But I know that is not true. It happens when it happens.

1. Love Love Loved this book. Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King. I think she may be my new favorite YA writer. Besides the cover grabbing me, the voice of the main character pulled me in with her honest, funny, truly unique perspective. There are so many great lines and passages that flow like awesome beat poetry. check this book and writer out. http://www.as-king.com/

2. For years I have admired and been inspired by the artist Isidro Ferrer. He uses many materials working as artist, illustrator, designer, whatever you want to call it, he knows the way.
www.isidroferrer.com
here is a video of him talking a little about his philosphy
https://vimeo.com/33728475

3.Leonard Cohen's quote.  "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."

Enjoy the weekend!
K

Gaining new momentum

     Sometimes it is challenging to get myself to where I want to be. I am learning that my WHERE is more an internal place, WHERE involves me being deeply focused and engaged in some form of making/discovering creating process.  After a few lazy August weeks, September so far has been about me claiming my WHERE again which involves me planting my heart and ass to sit with the tine it takes to discover the scribble inky path to my WHAT.


  

Make Art That Sells Manifesto

cool, I totally forgot that I submitted this image. Turns out I was a runner up. 

http://makeartthatsells.com/2016/04/04/mats-manifesto-competition-2016-winners-announced/

Color fuels me!

 

Color is all around and I am in continual search and delight to witness it's glory.

If I had to name one thing I receive greatest pleasure from (art making creatively speaking here)

I would name Color as number one.