Dressed for the Studio...Begin again.

Finally getting my studio to a place where I can work in it...a bit.  Still have my torch table to finish, gas and oxygen hook-ups to be completed as well as my venting system to build... and a few things that still need to find a home too.  But, I have managed to uncover a couple of surfaces to begin work on. 

I have been working on illustrations for a children's book and a couple of art journal projects.  Here's a peek at one page I'm working on for the Airdrie 7 Art Journal Exchange project:

The image is my interpretation of the Stained Glass Rose Window at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.  I visited there a few years ago when my sister, Julie and I were there for Nike Women's Half Marathon.  Walking the Labyrinth there and touring inside the cathedral was a spectacular experience.

Words in Art

I'm curious....am I the only one who is captivated by words in art? Not just Words AS art, but also IN art. And, do you need to be able to read them if they are there or can they be there just obviously enough to see that they are words, but not decipherable? I met Lisa Tornack, a great Calgary artist, this past weekend at a show we did together, and I was instantly fascinated by the work she is currently doing.

In fact I am now the proud owner of this piece of hers. While obviously a landscape, what I was enamored with the most was the tangle of words that run throughout the horizon. Thankful that she was there to ask, I inquired about what was there and a bit about the process. As I understand it, this series grew out of an artist's residency she did in Spain last year and particularly from the prolific journal writing she did while over seas. What I learned about myself was that while I didn't necessarily need to know what was exactly being said in these words, I did want to understand where she was at, perhaps what she was thinking when creating this. And, of most importance was the energy behind the words. In this case she told me the word "friends" was there as well as another phrase which I can't remember now, but the gist of it was positive.....I interpreted it as "words with a good vibe". And, maybe the place she was at wasn't particularly "good"...I don't know that, but I felt the intent was "good or positive"...or maybe just genuine, heartfelt and honest. Perhaps she was just simply in the midst of her own journey exploring her own soul while in a strange land. It was odd in a way to observe my own reaction and to see what was important and not important to me in a piece of work. Had I not had this experience, I would have guessed that it was absolutely necessary for me to read the exact words - I'm just that darned curious....I want to KNOW everything. But, in this case, I surprised myself - I didn't need to know everything - each word. I am just content and feel blessed to now be sharing a glimpse into another artist's life - a small piece out of her journey through this earthly experience. A piece of her story is in there...somewhere. And that's really cool.
How do you feel about words in art?

WIP - and Baby Steps

I receive regular emails from TUT - Notes from the Universe. I just LOVE them because they are so supportive and inspirational, and cheeky and sometimes just silly...but always positive and uplifting. Here's todays which, of course, is timely and relates to my post yesterday:

Brilliant, civilization-changing ideas are a dime a dozen, Cheryl. Physically taking action to implement them, however, beginning with baby steps that seem to accomplish very little, is what gets the crowds here screaming like raving lunatics.
In the good way... that lunatics scream... you know?

Peanuts! Popcorn! Cotton candy! It's the show of a lifetime!
The Universe

And, upon reflection, it is baby steps that gets this journal cover closer to completion, and baby steps that finds a painting complete, and baby steps that gets a studio organized, and baby steps that.....well, you get the idea.

WIP...and thoughts on imperfection.

I shared a note from Christine Kane with my friends recently on "Glorious Imperfection", a message I need to be reminded of as I often get stuck in not doing things because I either don't feel I can do them well enough, or "properly", or in the case of blogging, "profoundly inspiring"...or some such nonsense. One way or another I have , in my mind, made the task overwhelming. It's a pattern I've recognized before - putting things off for painfully long periods, only to find the job not nearly as long or difficult or complex as I had imagined it to be. Silly really.
The same could be said for this little gem I'm working on I guess.

I've heard comments from people who have watched me work on this leather journal cover as I drag it around with me like, "You did ALL that??!!" or "I could NEVER do that - it looks so complicated!" I chuckle and tell them, "No, really, you COULD do this! I'm just letting it go where it wants. I only started with a simple squiggly line and then I doodle for a few minutes at a time as I go and just let the drawing do its own thing." I'm not sure I've convinced anyone of the simplicity of the process as I travel with it. It's not until I can get someone to sit down and try it that they come to realize themselves, just how simply it comes together when we just remove the end target and any judgment about perfection along the way. It applies to everything in life I think.

Sharing from Christine's article:

"Anything worth doing is worth doing badly."

- Julia Cameron

How many activities do you sit and think about doing? How many things would you love to try but stop yourself because you don't know how to begin? Do you avoid adventures because of the pressure to do them well?

Yea?

Well, then, it might be time to explore one of my favorite success principles:

Glorious Imperfection!

Glorious Imperfection means that doing it badly is better than not doing it at all. As my friend and mentor Lisa Sasevich says, "Build the plane as you're flying it!"

And further......

Why Does it Work?

Because Glorious Imperfection is a way of setting intention. It lets your ego know that you would rather do the activity than wait until you can do it flawlessly.

When you begin a project and you lower the bar - or better yet, remove it altogether - then you're free to create without any grade. Ironically, this allows for such freedom and joy that you often end up doing a great job. (Or at least having a great time.)

When you demand perfection from the start, then your attention isn't on the activity itself. Your attention is drained in the perpetual "how'm I doing?" analysis.

And so with that, I think I'll try to just blog imperfectly.....and organize my studio space, imperfectly...and exercise imperfectly, and....well, off on my bike (instead of the car) to do some errands now.

Being Grateful For Me - A Mixed Media Self-Portrait

My Naturopath gave me an assignment - to keep a gratitude journal about myself.  Not what I'm grateful for that is outside of me (other people, places, things, etc.), but what I am grateful for each day about myself.  Wow, that's an entirely different thing...and infinitely more challenging.  But, I set out to give it a whirl and from this initial little gratitude note I wrote grew a self-portrait, and with it I observed again some initial resistance.
A self-portrait seems like the most daunting of creative endeavors. Why is that? Do we feel we can only attempt a portrait if we have the skills to get the likeness just right? Or is it because we really have to look closely at ourselves; if not at our actual features, then at ourselves, our lives, our values, etc. Sometimes this navel gazing seems like a huge task that we don't have the time to do "properly" - with genuine reflection and effort. Does "properly" mean that we need to get it RIGHT? Goodness, there seems to be so many things that can stop us dead in our tracks because we have this perception that we must get it right.
I think of that quote...."boldness has genius in it...", you know it:

Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” - Goethe



So with that abandon to action, I attempted a self portrait that became a wonderful exercise in letting go and surrendering to the process. Surrounded in a variety of papers I found appealing, magazines I love reading, pages from old journals, and a current writing on Gratitude, pictures of family and a selection of my own artwork that had some meaning for me, I let loose with scissors and gel medium. The process of collage was completely absorbing and enlightening as I watched myself be moved and inspired by certain images, colors, and words.
The whole process was inspired by the book Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts, so I can't take credit for the idea. I can however own the courage it took to jump in and allow myself the gift of engaging in the process. It's hard to give ourselves permission to take the time for these things most of the time....so for this I am grateful - to myself.
In the end, it was very moving, enlightening, and fascinating as the painting spoke to me on it's own as I worked. Only one brief moment felt frustrating...when my critical brain (left brain) piped up to observe that my facial features were out of proportion. I was both amused and grateful that my Wise Woman (right brain) very quickly quipped back..."that's OK, it's SUPPOSED to be like that!"