Acknowledge & Celebrate Your Accomplishments

Happy New Year 2012! Did you meet your artistic goals for 2011? Every year I like to go through this exercise from Alyson Stanfield's blog:

Acknowledge & Celebrate Your Accomplishments

The end of the year is often accompanied by a tinge of regret. Maybe you didn’t stick to your New Year’s Resolution or accomplish all of your goals.

I’ll bet you did more than you think.

Take time to write down all you accomplished.

This is a ritual I’ve implemented for a number of years and shared it with newsletter subscribers each December. People who do this exercise are happy they took the time. Most are amazed by all they got done.

Get a pen and paper or open up a document on your computer and start counting your feats. I’ll be working on mine during the afternoon of December 22 if you care to join me at that time.

Here are some prompts to get you started on your business accomplishments, but customize it to make it your list. Add you personal accomplishments as well.

In 2011 . . .

Connections
How many people did you add to your mailing list?
How many Twitter followers or Facebook fans did you gain?
Whom did you mentor or help out?
What organizations were you involved with?
Who were the top ten cool or influential people you met?

Marketing & Business
Where did you exhibit or sell your art?
How did you promote your art?
What did you do to enhance your online presence?
How many blog posts or articles did you write? How many did you write for other blogs or publications?
When did you ask for help or hire someone?
What new marketing material did you develop and use?
What did you try that was completely new?
How did you increase your income?

Education & Exploration
What new art events, galleries, cities, and museums did you visit?
What resources did you discover?
What medium or skill did you attempt or master?
How did you improve your studio habits?
What books did you read to help your career? What videos or films were useful?
What seminars/workshops/lectures did you attend or teach?
What technological skills did you learn or improve?
What did you try that was uncomfortable but helped you grow?

Recognition
What grants did you apply for?
What grants/honors/awards did you receive?
What articles were written about your work?
Who shared or featured your art?
Where did you exhibit or retail your art?
Where did you save a wad of money?
What was the single best thing that happened to your art career in 2011?

Miscellaneous
What worthy cause did you support?
How did you enhance your office or studio environment?

It’s easy to feel down about what didn’t get done. Instead of falling into that abyss, celebrate your accomplishments. You deserve the praise.

What 2011 accomplishment are you most proud of? Brag! Tell us about it and how you’re celebrating on the Art Biz Blog.

http://artbizblog.com/accomplishments2011

As for me: Goals that I met this year were adding more teaching jobs to my calendar. I set a range of income I'd like to make from doing so. Happy to say, I hit the top of the range! I woefully missed my goal on sales of jewelry, but only did 2 shows this year. I entered a local art show on my goal list and won first prize for one of my precious metal jewelry (PMC) pendants. I also showed that piece in an art gallery show I had not been in before. I never seem to have a problem finding training opportiunities. This year I attended a class with Cynthia Eid at Metalwerx in Boston, learning corrugating & forming of copper and Argentium sterling silver. I took Level 3 PMC certification with popular jewelry making author Irina Meich.

Let us know what goals you accomplished in 2011!

Great New Free e-book Available!

It has been a while since I last posted. I haven't forgotten about you all. Today I got a free e-book from Mark McGuiness, whose blog "Lateral Action" I subscribe to, as well as co-author Marelisa Fábrega. He has lots of great advice on motivation and creativity. This book is entitled "20 Creative Blocks and How to Get Through Them". Perusing the Table of Contents I see chapters about some of my own personal blocks: Chapter 2: "Fear of Getting It Wrong", Chapter 4 "Creativity vs. Cash", Chapter 6 "The Inner Critic", Chapter 13 "Information Overload" and several more! The link for this free e-book is http://media.lateralaction.com/creativeblocks.pdf

I also encourage you to sign up for his free 26 week course "Creative Pathfinders". It contains lots of free invaluable information to guide you to success as a creative individual: http://lateralaction.com/pathfinder/

I don't make any money recommending this - just a satisfied blog reader wanting to share this valuable resource with the rest of you. Let us know if it helps you!

ESPERANZA

On the first day of my Spanish class in junior high school the teacher asked us to pick Spanish names to be used in class instead of our regular names. Our text book contained a list of Spanish names and their interpretations in English. I skimmed over the list and saw nothing that inspired me – until I got to Esperanza – which meant HOPE. That was going to be MY name, because at that point in my life, hope for the future was all I had. For, you see I was a victim of bullying during my school years. I still to this day don’t know why, but I accept the fact that it happened and that it will always be a part of the history of my life. There comes a time, however, when you need to stop being the victim and take back control of your life.

One of the exercises in Week Four of The Artist’s Way is to write a letter to yourself at eight years of age, giving yourself advice. This is what I wrote,

“Lynn, you are going to go through some very tough times while you are growing up. It may seem like years and years before you break free from this emotional abuse. But it WILL happen after you graduate from high school. Persevere and have hope for a better future. Dream big dreams. Don’t lose your confidence and self-esteem, though this may seem inevitable. You are a VERY SPECIAL PERSON and no one can take that away from you. Don’t lose the spirit, imagination, and spontaneity that you now have.”

If someone – anyone - had said this to me during those years, it may have made them easier to bear, but all I had was hope.

The second part of the exercise asks you to write a letter to yourself at eighty. What would you tell yourself? What interests would you pursue? What dreams would you encourage? To me, this seemed to be a very hopeful exercise, because we were talking about my future. And I had control over that. If I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to do during this time period, all I could blame is myself. Here is what I wrote,

“Keep creating your jewelry, your watercolors, and playing the piano you so longed to have when you were a child. Don’t let distractions or anxieties prevent you from pursuing these things. This will be your legacy. Don’t say “shoulda woulda coulda” when you get to be eighty. Just do it! Keep learning new things. Make friends that will be there to support you in your declining days. Travel the world. Capture it in art. Share this with others. Love each person you meet, no matter what. Live life fully one day at a time. Take nothing for granted."

What letters would YOU write to yourself at eight and eighty?

SYNCHRONICITY – Desire, ask, believe, receive!

“A connecting principle

Linked to the invisible

Almost imperceptible

Something inexpressible

Science insusceptible

Logic so inflexible

Causally connectible

Yet nothing is invincible

If you act, as you think

The missing link

Synchronicity”

(The Police, Sting 1983)

Synchronicity is officially defined as: A coincidence of events that seem related. But is it coincidence or answered prayer? It depends on your opinion of things spiritual. I truly believe that there is something or someone out there that brings these things to pass. It happens to me quite frequently nowadays.

Here’s my simple definition: Everything works together.

Some other quotes mentioned by Julia Cameron in chapter three of “The Artists’ Way”:

“A thousand unseen helping hands.” - Joseph Campbell

“A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man would have believed come his way.” - W.H. Murray , explorer

“Whatever you think you can do, or believe you can do, Begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.” – Goethe

The last quote has a special meaning to me. My husband bought a pendant to inspire me that had a tree pierced out of a small square of metal layered over another piece of metal that had Goethe’s quote inscribed in teeny tiny little letters on it.

Some of The Artists Way workbook exercises involve recording synchronistic events in your life. It’s amazing once you begin writing them down, how you see they all start to fit together to help make your dream or goals come to pass.

Here is a great example for me: A few years ago, I attended an “Art & Community” meeting at a local art gallery. My special interest was art for senior citizens. My mom, who will be 89 in couple of weeks, used to take classes all the time through the senior center. When my Dad became ill and had to be taken care of at home for 10 years, she could no longer take them. After he passed away, she did not resume taking classes. When I asked why, she noted that the classes often got cancelled due to lack of enrollment. Before going into this meeting I had determined that I wanted to teach jewelry making to senior citizens. I wanted to get a discussion going on having more art classes for seniors in our city.

Now here’s the interesting part. There were 2 ladies sitting next to me. I thought one looked VERY familiar. Part way into the meeting, this lady brought up the topic of art for seniors. My ears perked up! After the meeting, I approached these ladies and struck up a conversation about how I, too, shared their interests. I also mentioned that I thought I might know one of them. I asked her name. She told me who she was. Turned out she was my department manager from the early 1980’s when I was working my way through college (the first time) at Kohl’s Department Store! In our discussion, I remember telling her that she told me something that I will never forget. She said I was a hard worker. She was now the Dean of Business & Industry at the technical college I had just received my jewelry repair and fabrication degree from! ( I wish I could say I had done so well over the last 25-30 years, but that’s what happens when you change careers 3 times…) Now get this! The lady she was with was the person who coordinates the classes for seniors through the tech school! Well, you can better believe I then took the opportunity to put a pitch in for teaching a jewelry making class, which they had never offered before. So anyway… a few months later I ended up getting a teaching job and a very important source of income from this synchronous meeting. I love when things happen like this.

I used to say stuff like this never happened to me. I guess that’s because I never expected it to. You have to believe that these little “miracles” will happen and be ready and waiting for them when they show up. And for goodness’ sake, TAKE the gifts and be thankful for them. Do NOT give them back.

What about you? Do you have any interesting stories about synchronicity to share?

Source: More lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/sting+police/#share

Enjoy the Process

In a perfect example of synchronicity, I recently had the privilege of watching Tibetan Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in India conduct the opening ceremonies and initial chalk drawing of a sand mandala. I didn't really know that much about mandalas before that, other than that they were works of art with some spiritual meaning behind them. I was aware you could take classes to learn how to make your own, but I never really investigated it. Intrigued as I am by new things, different cultures, and various interpretations of personal spirituality, I was drawn to this event hosted a few weeks ago by one of our local technical colleges.

For those of you who are not familiar with sand mandalas, they are intricate colored sand "paintings" that take hours or even days to create. After they are finished, the sands are swept up by the Buddhist monks and placed in an urn. Some of that sand is given to those watching the closing ceremony and the rest is released into a nearby water body. The waters then carry the healing blessing to the ocean, and from there it spreads throughout the world for planetary healing. There are a number of videos on You Tube showing this process, including this one of the same Tibetan monks that I saw at Fox Valley Technical College. (photos courtesy of FVTC)

Going back to Chapter 2 of The Artist Way, I pondered what I would write my blog entry about. This chapter didn't speak to me as much as many of the others (I've read ahead!) and I struggled to find a good theme. However, after re-browsing the chapter I noticed that I had made a mark next to one paragraph, "You will learn to enjoy the process of being a creative channel and to surrender your need to control the result. You will discover the joy of practicing your creativity. The process, not the product, will become the final result." The Tibetan monk sand mandala immediately popped into my mind. Mandalas are a PERFECT example of this principle. The Tibetan monks have had to train their minds to concentrate on and to enjoy the process of making their artistic masterpieces, because as soon as they are completed, they are destroyed. This is meant to symbolically represent the impermanence of life.

How many of us are so goal-oriented that we fail to enjoy the process of learning and creating?We want to be perfect artists immediately. We expect our first attempts to be masterpieces. Maybe we shouldn't place unrealistic expectations on our finished products. Goodness knows many of us are so paralyzed by the prospect of the finished product and what is going to become of it that we never even start it in the first place. We need to learn to play, to experiment, to practice and to appreciate the moment, and not focus on the goal line. Do you think these Tibetan monks will look back and say their life was wasted because all they did was make art with no permanence? I think not. We can learn a lot from them.

More about synchronicity in a future post...

****For those of you who make jewelry, here's a really cool demonstration by Camille Sharon on how to make a wire mandala that can be manipulated into different forms.*****

Are you an "Artist?"

"One of our chief needs as creative beings is support", writes Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist's Way. Are you an artist that never got the encouragement necessary to pursue your dream? That's what happened to me. I didn't realize that I had the makings of an artist until I got into graphic design and marketing in high school. I won numerous awards for my advertising layout and design, winning 1st place in the state DECA competition, and was the first student in my high school to earn a trip to Nationals in Miami. I thought my future was made, so I enrolled in college to earn a B.A. in Marketing & Management with a Minor in Graphic Communication (art). When I graduated, I was going to get a job as an Account Executive in an advertising agency.

Or so I thought. The perfect storm of negative people/situations smacked me right in the face (or should I say, infiltrated my mind). In the Artist's Way, Julia encourages people to write about these negative influences, or "Monsters" and turn the negatives into positives.

In my case, it was my college graphics art teacher. She said to me at one critique, "Your drawings have a child-like quality " (meaning they looked like they were drawn by a 6 year old). Gee, thanks. Add to that we had a very talented artist in that class that did make my work look like it was done by a child. No matter what grades I got in my other art classes (mostly A's to my surprise, since I really still didn't think I was an artist), that negative comment really stuck with me, as did my personal comparison against "Joe" the REAL artist.

Graduating in the midst of the recession of the mid-1980's was another negative blow to my art career. Every job outlook I looked at for Advertising Execs stated how highly competitive the hiring situation was. I would be competing for jobs against REAL artists. I didn't have a chance. Due to the bad economy, I couldn't even get a graphics job in the local copy shop without any work experience. Eventually I ended up in retail management and other career pursuits and gave up completely on creating art.

It was 20 long years before I considered being an artist again. But in the meantime, I was a shadow artist. I would watch TV commercials or look at art in galleries and say, "I could do better than that!" "How did they get a job in some prestigious ad agency, only to turn out those boring, non-creative commercials?" Even worse, some company was paying that ad agency for those crappy commercials and passing the costs on to me, the consumer! It was a double insult.

Eventually, the anger turned into action. I went back to art. I started taking lessons and workshops to build up my skills. I recently ran into several positive and supportive people, who encourage my painting and jewelry making endeavors. I no longer want to be an ad exec, just an artist who makes attractive art that other people can enjoy and possibly purchase.

Who were some of the people who discouraged your growth as an artist? Write about it and mentally rid yourself of those "monsters" so you can focus on creating art NOW. Sharing your stories with other artists can help others in the same boat, so please leave a comment and become a part of this support network.

"The Artist's Way" - Come Journey Along With Me

A good friend of mine, who is also a wonderful watercolorist, recently recommended this book by Julia Cameron. I had asked her if she could mentor me in my budding watercolor career and this book was her first suggestion. WOW. This book has immensely helped me already and I've only had it a week. It is a twelve week program designed to jump start or restart your creativity. You can learn more about it at The Artist's Way website. Someone on their forum suggested blogging about your journey, and I thought, what a perfect fit for my Artist Motivation Blog! I hope you will join with me in going through this process and let me and others know how your creativity has benefitted from this experience.

The Artist's Way is not new, it was first published in 1992, but at the time I was a newlywed and had strayed away from any artistic pursuits. It was not until 2003 that I began to feel the creative urge to paint again (and in 2006 to start making jewelry). So to those that have been artists a long time this may be nothing new. But a lot of people like me are just discovering this treasure now.

She suggests 2 main ways to get your creative juices flowing: morning pages and artist's dates. Since she is a writer, her focus is on writing or journaling every day. I easily did my morning pages last Monday and said to myself, "writing is NOT my problem", gaining skills in drawing and painting is my roadblock. So instead of morning pages, I will be doodling and drawing whatever comes to mind. The creative ideas I come up with will then be present on paper for later reference instead of filed away in my brain never to be retrieved again. Anyone who is an artist knows it takes PRACTICE to be really good at something (see my post titled Practice, Practice, Practice from July 7, 2009). The artist dates will be no problem for me, as I do them already. I love to go to museums and view artwork, I like experiencing new things and trying out new skills. But maybe these "dates" will be something new for you, and I want to be the first one to encourage you to start "dating" again.

I will begin posting weekly blogs in conjunction with the chapters of the book starting in early November. I know this is a busy time of year, but I encourage you to pick up the book and join me on the journey. It would be great to have some artist friends to compare notes with. The paperback book can be purchased on Amazon.com for less than $12. I bought the workbook to go with it, so I'd have some place to record my activities and experiments, and to get my free shipping from Amazon. I actually bought the Complete Artist's Way which is a very nice hardcover book that also includes two of her other books, Walking in this World, and Finding Water, and it costs less than $20, and is printed in the USA!

FYI: I do not receive any compensation for mentioning these books or for providing links to Amazon. This is purely for my creative benefit and yours.

So get your books and I'll see you in November!

FINISHED DRAGONFLY PENDANT

As promised, here is the finished pendant. The photo does not do it justice. The irridescent patina on the fine silver is so colorful- pinks and golds and blues. One of the eyes changed color from orange to gold when I fired it in the kiln. What are you gonna do? :^) Sometimes things are out of your control despite your best efforts.

Dragonfly Pendant Deadline

Top: Fired & Polished PMC pendant. Middle: Fired PMC pendant. Bottom: Unfired PMC pendant

Sometimes it just takes a deadline to put a fire under your butt and get something finished. Such was the case with this Precious Metal Clay (PMC) Fine Silver dragonfly pin, still in progress, that I promised as a silent auction item to our local Alzheimer's Association fundraiser. Because the PMC is so fragile before it is fired, I accidentally broke off one or more wings and finally succeeded on the FOURTH version. Version one, in the middle with the blue eyes, also turned out all right, but I thought it was too big. Little did I know the smaller wings would cause me so much trouble.

Well, what did I learn through this? For one thing, perseverance, since I had promised this to a fundraiser, I had to finish it. I couldn't just get frustrated and quit. I just had to keep on keeping on. What else? Well, I took all the broken off wings, "glued" them together with syringe clay, and I'm going to fire them first THEN attach them to the bodies. If this works, I'm much more likely to make more of these in the future.

As long as you learn something from your mistakes, nothing is lost but a little time.

I'll post a photo of the finished dragonfly pendant in my next blog. This project taken from Irina Miech's book, "Inventive Metal Clay for Beaders".

Stop and then get to work!

(Another great post from Alyson Stanfield's blog)

►Do you ever find yourself looking for more information than you need?



►Do you catch yourself reading and reading (and clicking and clicking) and never taking action?



►Are you looking for the magic bullet--that one thing (as if there were one thing) that will propel your art career forward faster than you could have imagined?

Stop!

Stop gathering information, stop looking for something that doesn't exist, and start doing. 

There is no single thing you can do to "make it" in the art world. A successful career is the result of years of labor--both in and out of the studio. It is the sum of hundreds and thousands of actions, regardless of how small the actions seem at the moment. 

It's easy to get lost in the quest for knowledge. You search on the Internet, and one link leads to another. Before you know it, you can't remember what you were looking for. This is a sign that you're either procrastinating on taking action, or you aren't focused on your goal. It's also an indication that it's time to stop gathering information and start taking action.

There are two other signs that you have the know-how you need.

1) Messages start repeating themselves. It never hurts to hear something multiple times in order to learn it, but it does hurt to hear something multiple times and not act on or benefit from the knowledge.

2) You have consumed multiple viewpoints and maybe even conflicting advice. It's useful to have more than one opinion about how to do something. Sure, this might create confusion, but it will also force you to make a decision about what's best for you.

Don't stop gathering knowledge forever, but catch yourself. If you find yourself getting lost in a sea of information and advice, it's time to call forth your wise inner self and give it a voice: "I have the knowledge I need. I can get to work now."


Know This . . . You have the knowledge you need to accomplish a great deal. Think About This . . . Have the messages been repeating themselves? Are you hearing the same thing over and over again? Do This . . . Stop looking for knowledge that you already have and then get to work. Listen to your wise inner self. If you get stuck, you can return to your information bank and review what you know. © 2009 Alyson B. Stanfield. Alyson takes the mystery out of marketing your art and making more money as an artist. Visit http://www.ArtBizCoach.com to get articles just like this one delivered to your inbox.

You've got to read this blog link!

Sometimes you run across someone else's blog post which smacks you alongside the head and snaps you out of your comfort zone. Patti Digh's post from March 11th is one of them. Here are a few of my favorite snippets:

(substitute "make art" for writing or whatever it is that you want to do)

"sit back down and stay in the room. SURE, I know the laundry just got fascinating, but sit the hell down and write (make art)."

“I haven’t been able to write,” people say to me all the time. “No, actually,” I respond, “You have been able to write, but you have chosen not to.”

"sit the hell down and write. Sit alone with yourself and a piece of paper without thinking about an audience, your database, the best way to market using social media."

"Sit with yourself and your unique place in the world and write it all down. Write it all down. Speak your voice. So many people say they need to find their voice. You have a voice, now use it, damn it."

"Can’t say what you want because people won’t understand or like it? Who are you living for? Yourself or people with wallets? Yourself or applause? Yourself or validation?"

“People won’t like what I’ve written. They won’t buy it. It’ll never get published.” WHO CARES? Who cares."

For the full impact of the blog, please read the entire blog post at this link:

http://www.37days.com/2010/03/how-to-write-a-book-a-wee-rant.html

GET THE ENERGY!

There is nothing I find more energizing than taking a workshop with an artist whose style I absolutely love. I decided last fall I wanted to pursue the art of precious metal clay (PMC). I went through all the articles, recommendations for tools and materials, made an Excel sheet of what the vendors carried and their prices, and chose the kiln and tools that I would order. I bought a book or two on PMC jewelry and read tutorials and watched videos.

I even tried making a few pieces. One I am very proud of, as it was not a beginner project, is my 5 peas in a pod. Yet I still had doubts about my ability to remember everything I’d learned and put it into practice. And I certainly didn’t want to waste PMC on practices or failures, given its not inexpensive price.

So, after being in the energetic doldrums for what seemed like forever (I think they call it “winter”), I went to a PMC Certification class in mid-March, conveniently located in my home state of Wisconsin. But not just any class, though. This one was being taught by my very favorite PMC artist, Irina Miech.

We made earrings out of sheet clay using scrapbooking stamp cutters. Other projects included a leaf-shaped pendant with a dichroic glass bead, a filigree style leaf made out of syringe clay, a pendant with a prong-set faceted stone, a band style ring, a hollow metal bead, and a pod bead made from a dried flower pod.

I left this class so energized, I immediately registered for the PMC Level 2 class next weekend. What did I learn from this experience? Find an artist whose work you love and take a workshop from them. Having someone there to demonstrate the techniques in person and to answer questions is invaluable! The encouragement from the instructor is uplifting and energizing. Interacting with other artists is stimulating.

I have found that this is what works best for me.

What works best for you in inspiring your creative energy? Comments?

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010. It’s hard to believe we’ve lived through a whole decade in the 2000’s already. Time sure does fly. Its that time of year when everyone thinks about what they did or didn’t accomplish in the past year. How did you do on your home business goals? I found a very helpful post on Alyson Stanfield’s website, ArtBizBlog. She suggests focusing on your ACCOMPLISHMENTS and gives you several good questions to think about. I went through, listed my accomplishments, and read them over. It made me feel really good. Good progress was made in many areas in 2009, including trying new sales venues, like an outdoor show and placing my jewelry in businesses, such as a salon, an art gallery, and a winery. I even took my own advice and got a job teaching jewelry making at our local technical college. I got interested in Precious Metal Clay and threw myself wholeheartedly into learning this fairly new metal media, buying all the tools and equipment required to create fine silver jewelry. I even cleaned a space on the counter in my laundry room so I could work on it there without having to go down into the dark and cold basement. In March I plan to take the Level 1 PMC certification class. Now there is some positive motivation!

What was the most glaring thing I didn’t do in 2009? Enter my art work in shows and competitions. I really would have liked to have increased my body of work more. That is my goal for 2010: create and make more jewelry and get it out there and noticed. Isn’t that supposed to be the fun part, anyway?

What major goal did YOU accomplish in 2009? What’s YOUR big goal for 2010? Let us know!

Hello Everyone,

It's been awhile since I've had time to blog. So much to do... so little time!

I recently received this article from Alyson Stanfield at http://www.artbizcoach.com.

It has a slight Halloween theme, but hey, I'm only a few days late! Since Thanksgiving is coming soon, now would be a great time to write thank you notes!

Trick and Treat Yourself

Chrysti Hydeck, The Stirring of Birds. Photograph and mixed-media painting. ©The Artist http://chrysti.wordpress.com/

What chores, tasks, or jobs do you find yourself delaying or ignoring altogether? What do you dread so much that you neglect? Sadly, it’s often the stuff you really need to do--the things you can’t afford to ignore. See if you’re overlooking any of these.

• Making follow-up calls

• Writing thank-you notes

• Updating your mailing list

• Overhauling your inventory

• Cleaning your studio or office

• Balancing your books

• Researching your next series

• Making art (It happens!)

If you’ve been procrastinating something, identify it. Don’t be afraid! Just name it. After you’ve confessed, you can trick yourself into completing it and getting it off your mind. Of course, your tricks can be followed by treats. Here are some tricks that have worked for me.

TRICK - - - > Adjust your perspective.
Starting a task you don’t enjoy with a bad attitude won’t help anything. Instead, look at it differently. If you don’t like packing artwork to ship to new owners, don’t think about it as packing artwork. Think of it with a $ in front of it. “Yea! I’m shipping out a $500 sale!” is a better approach than “I really don’t want to go to the store to get more bubble wrap.”

►Treat: Download some happy tunes to match your new ‘tude.

TRICK - - - > Take baby steps.
“Clean out my office by Thanksgiving” sounds overwhelming. Instead, focus on the smallest action. Recycle or throw away 5 things each day, organize a single drawer, or buy new files.

►Treat: Pick up a new organizing component at the thrift store--maybe a filing cabinet or shelf.

TRICK - - - > Block out time on your calendar.
Having a vague idea that you need to get something done is one thing. Creating time and space for it is quite different. When you see the time scheduled on your calendar, remember that it’s a commitment you made to yourself. Don’t change it just because you’d rather be doing something else.

►Treat: “Me Time.” Your gift for honoring the commitment you made to your professional life is time for your personal well-being. Block out more time on your calendar for a hike, a manicure, or a long hot bath.

TRICK - - - > Set your timer.
If you promise to do something for 15 or 30 minutes, you can make a game of it. It’s amazing how hard you will work to beat the clock before time runs out. It also creates a certain amount of momentum, so allow yourself the flexibility to keep going after the timer buzzes.

►Treat: Chocolate, of course. Or maybe a small new art supply.

TRICK - - - > Get out.
Sometimes it just takes fresh scenery to be inspired. Plop down at a coffee shop to write your thank-you notes. Visit the library to research your next series instead of staying at your computer. Go to any other room in the house to journal in preparation for your artist statement.

►Treat: None. Getting out is a treat in itself!

FINAL WORD: Remember that for every trick you use to complete a project, a treat is waiting for you.

© 2009 Alyson B. Stanfield

Teach A Class!

It's getting to be late summer and everyone has been very busy, including me! As we know there are only so many hours in a day, and oh so many things to do. Sometimes we need a little extra incentive to work on our art projects. So... why not sign up to TEACH a class? One of my top career goals is to teach classes and workshops, besides growing as an artist in jewelry making and watercolor. What better way to make sure things get done than having to be prepared to teach someone else?

Teaching others a new art skill can be a very rewarding experience. Seeing someone learn something new to enrich their quality of life is a reward in itself. It's a good way to get into contact with people, which can be difficult when you are an artist working at home.

Are you skilled enough to teach a class? Start with beginners, who don't know anything about the art skill. You are already a step ahead of them. Teach senior citizens. They would love to learn something different and to get out and socialize with other people. Like self-employed artists, seniors can often be isolated, as well.

So I encourage you this fall to get involved in your community and teach an art class!

Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over the old, and you may become a teacher of others. - Confucius

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

It seems I see these words EVERYWHERE these days. From art blogs, to art books, to motivational articles and beyond. It seems I am finally getting the message. Even “naturals” had to practice to learn their craft. Sadly, the most recent example of this was Michael Jackson. No one disputes how gifted and talented a musician and dancer he was. But one of the things I kept hearing over and over again is how much he practiced and rehearsed, first as part of the Jackson 5 and then as a solo artist. They say he could spend an entire day practicing and perfecting one dance move. That is dedication and that is discipline. He WORKED to make his dreams reality. He didn’t get on stage, sing and then go sit on his couch until the next show. Why should we be any different?

For me, fear of doing a mediocre or bad piece stops me from getting around to doing a good piece. That’s ridiculous. Every famous artist has done some not so great pieces in his career. We just don’t see them. You have to create some so-so ones to get the gems in between. In beaded jewelry, it’s easy enough to pull something apart if you don’t like it, but in painting, its on a piece of paper. Either you wash it off or throw it out if you fail. That’s a scary thought. No one wants to take a piece of their art that they have invested their time and heart into and toss it into the trash can. Just because we have physical evidence of our failures during practice, whereas a singer or dancer does not, this should not stop us from creating. Your thoughts???

"I found that the men and women who 
got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they 
had of energy and enthusiasm and hard work." -Harry S. Truman

Do a little more each day than you think you can. -Lowell Thomas

Caribbean Blues & Floral Magentas

Mimi Frawley of A Thousand Dreams Designs, recently emailed me 2 of her beautiful Nature inspired jewelry projects.

The top picture is her summer free-form peyote bracelet in progress, one of a limited edition of four pieces. She was inspired by this beautiful photo of Dianthus flowers.

Mimi said the Caribbean Bay Blues Charm Bracelet was inspired by the gorgeous blues of a Carribean Bay in the US Virgin Island of St. John. The bracelet is all hand done, including the shell and starfish charms of precious metal clay fired to fine silver (.999 silver) and also includes charms of freshwater coin pearls, Amazonite gem stones, and 6mm swarovski crystals in the color Caribbean Blue Opal.

Notice in the photo of the water, that there is color palette across the top. This is the Color Schemer tool Mimi mentioned in her informative two part blog on color on the ETSY Wisconsin Street "Moo Crew" blog. If you have a MAC you can download this tool for a free 15 day trial, but after that it costs $49.99. You can insert your picture and the program automatically creates a palette from the colors in the picture. The circles (see photo) can be moved around, so you can adjust the palette until you're happy with it. I absolutely LOVE this tool, as I can use it for both my jewelry making and my watercolor painting. So far, I have only spent about 1 hour trying it out, and I am looking forward to seeing what else it can do.

For Windows users, they have a free Color Schemer Color Pix download, but that only picks colors one at a time.

Thanks Mimi, for sharing your stunning Nature-inspired jewelry pieces with us!

(I apologize for the goofy layout of this entry. These Blogspot pre-made templates apparently have a mind of their own.)

www - wonderful watercolor workshop!

Wonderful!  That’s the best word to describe my experience last week as I attended a 5 day watercolor painting workshop taught by Judy Morris.  She is a master of using textures and other design methods such as stenciling, lettering, and stamping in her watercolor painting.  (See her Tratorria painting on her home page for an example. Since my husband and I are wine fanatics and love to go out to eat when we can afford it, I just HAD to buy a giclee reproduction of this painting.)  The event was held in conjunction with the annual juried show of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America.

I had a fantastic time!  The camaraderie with other artists was great, the teaching was superb, and the organization of the workshop itself outstanding.   If you have a chance in whatever media you work in, to get away for a workshop, DO IT! 

There’s nothing better to inspire your creativity and give you new energy than getting away from real life and relaxing for a while.  It’s also inspiring hanging around in the company of other artists.  I was having dinner with 2 of the ladies in a quaint little coffeeshop/restaurant and they stood up and started taking pictures of all the stuff hanging on the walls.  A majority of people wouldn’t even notice these items, but they were seeing all of its art and design and getting inspiration to paint from it! 

If you can’t get away to a workshop, think about joining your local arts organization. You get the benefit of the camaraderie with other artists without the expense of travel and lodging. It can also open you up to other types of art, networking, and show opportunities. And quite frankly, with the current tough economic times, these organizations could really use your help.

Now I must come back down to earth and get busy on a commissioned jewelry piece, which will transform an heirloom wedding ring into a pendant to honor the ring owner’s grandparents.  I’m really getting to like doing these heirloom pieces.

Don’t forget, if you have any recent nature inspired art to email to me for use on my blog, here’s your chance to get some free publicity! (lwjlynn@frontiernet.net)

Creativity

Yesterday the temperatures were in the 80's and the leaves are almost fully out on the trees.  Now is the time to get out there and get inspired to create art! No matter what art media you are involved in (I suspect most of you are jewelry makers), inspiration can be found anywhere. Nature is probably THE best inspiration for art.  Look for the following:  colors and color harmonies; textures and patterns, especially in foliage; repetition of color & texture in a scene.  Take a trip to a botanical garden and take pictures of pleasing color combinations amongst the flowers.  Reading books on landscape design are very helpful in learning these principles of art and design.

Email me (lwjlynn@frontiernet.net) a digital .jpg photo of a Nature inspired art piece you have recently created  and I will try to post them throughout the summer on my blog. Please tell a short story of what in Nature inspired you to create your art.

ANOTHER GOOD PROCRASTINATION QUOTE:

Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today, because if you enjoy it today, you can do it again tomorrow." James Michener

This is SOOOO true and fits in well with the comments below. I think I'm going to make a little sign of this one to hang on my computer.

Anybody else want to pick a quote from the post below and tell us how you can use it to increase your productivity?