Archive for Collage
Making Meaning
Posted by: | CommentsEvery Friday I write the 20 Minute Club Minutes–because using a timer for what I call the 20 Minute Technique can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life–20 minutes at a pop.
Please join in and share your 20 Minute Experiences in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair game, because sharing your experiences about the process is a great way to increase your creativity.
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The Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class was once again my savior this week–the only way I managed to get a bit of creating done in my hectic schedule.
Which enabled me to set aside another 20 minutes to continue working on my new collages this morning as well.
Fresh design problems will do that because creativity begets more creativity.
It’s really as simple as that.
It’s also one of my favorite reasons for teaching this workshop every week because structured support really really helps make the creating happen.
I mean, why struggle to do it all on your own?
But you know, even bigger things are at stake.
Universal Truths
This week, I asked class participants to have copies of a few photos ready so we could play with having more overt “subject matter” in our collages.
Laura, one of the tele-class participants, sent me a note before class started that she was feeling unsure about using the photos she had on hand because she didn’t feel ready and they weren’t very good. Was it okay if she didn’t use photos this time?
Of course!
But I also suggested that bad or uninteresting photos might be good to use because they would allow her to “make a mess”. (Which is pretty much what I did this week with mine. 
)
Afterward, she wrote me another note about her response to incorporating photos into one of her collages:
“…making that collage felt very therapeutic for me. There was something about creating images that related to myself and my parents and our connections to the house I grew up in that made all our recent struggles feel more universal – in spite of the fact that the collage centered on pictures of me and other individual references...”
YES!
What an eloquent way to describe how creativity and making art can help you remember or realize the connections between your own life and the universal themes of the human condition.
That’s art at its best–truly impacting our every day lives–helping us make meaning and understand our place in the world.
And all this richness and possibility is sitting inside of you right now as well–willing to come out if you let it.
Thanks Laura, for letting me share that.
Get ‘Em While They’re Hot
The summer intro rate for the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class will only be available for a couple more weeks, so if you’ve been thinking about joining us and want to save some money, click on the link above to sign up for a class or three.
If you’re wondering what supplies you’ll need, check out the suggested supplies list.
There’s a 100% money back guarantee, but f you’re still a bit nervous about it, or wondering if you’re a good fit, click here:
http://makegreatstuff.com/creative-breakthroughs-teleclass-faqs/ to read my answers to all the questions you might have.
And you can always call me or email me directly (all that info can be found on FAQ page above).
I hope you join us.
Appreciation
Appreciating yourself is an important part of the 20 Minute Club because it helps you keep your creative momentum going.
Carving out the time to create is important of course, but it’s not enough. Getting (and eventually staying) on your own side is a critical factor for helping you take bigger risks with your work, get yourself out of a creative rut, or just enjoy the process more.
Taking the time to remember to appreciate yourself and all your efforts (big or small, creative or not) is a powerful way to make this happen.
Here are my five self-appreciations for this week:
1. I appreciate how I hung in there with my Paypal button struggles this week and finally reached detente emerged victorious.
2. I appreciate how much better I’m getting at honoring the work involved in the projects and kit ideas I conjure up which helps me be on my own side.
3. I appreciate how this honoring process is truly helping me do more accurate business planning. I find it so interesting how much the spiritual work helps the practical work.
4. I appreciate how much richness I receive from the often uncomfortable experience of always wanting to grow and stretch.
5. I appreciate every time I feel the fear and do it anyway–whatever “it” happens to be at the moment.
Your Turn
How was your creative week this week? Are you busy gearing up for September? Still vacationing? Immersed in your creativity and feeling fabulous? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
My Knight in Shining Armor
Posted by: | CommentsEvery Friday I write the 20 Minute Club Minutes–because using a timer for what I call the 20 Minute Technique can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life–20 minutes at a pop.
Please join in and share your 20 Minute Experiences in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair game, because sharing your experiences about the process is a great way to increase your creativity.
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Tele-class Saves Woman from Head Exploding..Details at 11…
Seriously, that was me this week.
Wrapping my head around various technological system challenges filled my week.
Confusion. Dismay. Anxiety.
Did I mention confusion? And pretty much all week.
Giving all my creative attention to my business felt…necessary, but I barely had time to create any art this week.
No arty creativity =grumpy and out of sorts.
But then the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class rode in on its white horse and shining armor and saved the day.
And I realized all over again why structured support is so crucial to keeping any artist’s creative momentum going.
This was basically the scenario:
Wednesday 7:29pm: Tele-class starts in one minute.
Mental State: Frazzled, Distracted, Worn Out. Just…want…to…lie…down.
Wednesday 8:50pm: Tele-class is wrapping up and we’re discussing our collages.
Mental State: Relaxed, Happy, Rejuvenated.
I felt like myself again.
I would never have made any art that night without the structured support of the Collage Tele-class.
When you’re ridiculously busy and worn out by your other obligations, having a structured support mechanism outside of yourself to lean on is not only a big relief, but makes sustaining a creative momentum possible.
This tele-class is designed not only to help blocked artists get un-stuck, but to help all art-makers keep their creative momentum going and guarantee a time to play, experiment, and refill the well.
It helps me each week when I teach it–during the class, sure–but more importantly, for the rest of the week as well.
Because not only do I have a few new pieces to ponder for the 20 Minute Club, but participating in the class also maintains and rejuvenates my creative spirit, so I don’t have to dig it out from under 6 feet of task-and-obligation dirt in order to find it again when I’m ready to work on other pieces.
So even if you’re not a collage artist, it doesn’t matter. This class still benefits all your other creative pursuits because basically….
It’s yoga for your creativity.
I’m so convinced of this, I hope you join me so we can sustain our creative momentum together.
Appreciation
Appreciating yourself is an important part of the 20 Minute Club because it helps you keep your creative momentum going.
Carving out the time to create is important of course, but it’s not enough. Getting (and eventually staying) on your own side is a critical factor for helping you take bigger risks with your work, get yourself out of a creative rut, or just enjoy the process more.
Taking the time to remember to appreciate yourself and all your efforts (big or small, creative or not) is a powerful way to make this happen.
Here are my five self-appreciations for this week:
1. I appreciate that I’m staying open to other solutions to meet my business goals when technological challenges make it hard to do things the way I imagined.
2. I appreciate how much I learn by teaching my class every week and that I’m helping myself honor the process more and more all the time.
3. I appreciate that I took time out to look at art this week even though, once again, I felt too busy to do so. And boy, it was so rejuvenating.
4. I appreciate that I allow myself to stop looking at art when I’ve had enough–this keeps it fun and fulfilling and prevents it from turning into a “should” type experience.
5. I appreciate that I followed up on some leads for showing my artwork, even though I was nervous and it felt hard to do it.
Your Turn
How was your creative week this week? Were you bogged down in obligations? Still vacationing? Immersed in your creativity and feeling fabulous? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
The Mother of Invention
Posted by: | CommentsEvery Friday I write the 20 Minute Club Minutes–because using a timer for what I call the 20 Minute Technique can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life–20 minutes at a pop.
Please join in and share your 20 Minute Experiences in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair game, because sharing your experiences about the process is a great way to increase your creativity.
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My Glitter Thang
This week my creative bursts were tangled up with lots of business-y type decisions.
I had to figure out a budget, order supplies and work out pricing for a new holiday ornament kit I’m creating, which really meant that I had to make lots of final design decisions before I could do anything else.
Which meant that I was basically covered in glitter all week.
I think I made every possible holiday color combination of paint and glitter in order to figure out how to keep things affordable but doable and more importantly, still pretty–so there was lots of running back and forth between my design table and my calculator.
This designing on a shoestring is basically like every design job I’ve ever had so I was in familiar territory–and I like it actually.
I must also admit though, that when I work for myself, I am much more disciplined about sticking to my budget.
Which forces me to find solutions to seemingly impossible design conundrums so that I can actually lay the monies down for those bulk quantities without having a heart attack and still offer something special.
A tight budget creates a design discipline that almost always teaches great art lessons as well as provides deep satisfaction because fewer resources demand way more creativity than if I could just recklessly buy everything I thought I absolutely needed at the beginning of a project.
Necessity really is the mother of invention. And it makes you a better designer to boot.
Wheels within Wheels My Friend
I also had a blast this week with the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class.
I’m starting to use some unfinished pieces from the past as fodder for my new work–so I’m collaging collages on top of collages and really enjoying the “instant depth” I get from doing that.
I got drawn into working on them again this morning and spent 20 minutes an hour I didn’t have continuing where I left off last night. It was naughty and fun.
My favorite piece this week was my simplest, so I thought I’d share it here. That’s it up there on the left.
This class is so much fun, I hope you join us.
It’s a wonderfully simple way to carve out time for your creativity (lots of 20 minutes‘ to be had) and it’s almost dangerously easy to keep working on them for days afterwards, even when you “shouldn’t”–and isn’t that what it’s all about?
Getting back to your creative self? Digging deeper and letting yourself experiment?
Feeling seduced by your projects and consumed by your creative energy?
Just sayin’.
Appreciation
Appreciating yourself is an important part of the 20 Minute Club because it helps you keep your creative momentum going.
Carving out the time to create is important of course, but it’s not enough. Getting (and eventually staying) on your own side is a critical factor for helping you take bigger risks with your work, get yourself out of a creative rut, or just enjoy the process more.
Taking the time to remember to appreciate yourself and all your efforts (big or small, creative or not) is a powerful way to make this happen.
Here’s my five self-appreciations for this week:
1. I appreciate how much I got done for my kit(s), and I also appreciate how much I underestimated how much there was to get done.
2.I appreciate that I’m tracking my time on my worky-work (versus my art-making work) which makes me feel very grown up about my itty-biz and it’s helping me plan. Who knew!
3. I appreciate how much I’m learning about creating great systems for myself (thanks mostly to Cairene at Third Hand Works) and that I’m getting better at actually putting them into place. It feels really good every time I do it!
4. I appreciate how I am getting better at catching that hurrying-hurrying “thing” I do when I get overwhelmed which helps me to not (completely) succumb to its seductive franticness!
5. I appreciate that I went to the gym last night even though it felt like an impossible thing to add to my day because I’ve learned the value that just “showing up” can have for long term goals.
Your Turn
How about you? How did your creative week go? Are you thinking about signing up for the tele-class? Are you busy creating or are you just too damn hot to do anything but nap in the shade? Leave a comment–I’d love to hear from you!
Thank You Bad Drawings!
Posted by: | CommentsEvery Friday I write the 20 Minute Club Minutes–because using a timer for what I call the 20 Minute Technique can keep your creative momentum going in your busy, time-crunched life–20 minutes at a pop.
Please join in and share your 20 Minute Experiences in the Comments–good/bad, it’s all fair game, because sharing your experiences about the process is a great way to increase your creativity.
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From Bad to Good
In my first 20 minute action of the week, I tackled one of my very bad drawings from last week.
It’s now no longer “bad”–I think I’ve inched it up to hmmm…..adequate/ordinary.
Ah well. Now it’s off the wall and I started something new–and I’m a lot happier with this one.
My latest piece is about 3′ x 6′ and I’m calling it Cave Painting 1–even though it’s really a collage/drawing and not a painting at all.
What makes me happy about this big piece is that it’s about the same theme that my terrible drawings from last week were trying to be about–but weren’t.
It’s like my bad drawings cleared the way for this new drawing/collage to come into existence. So I’d like to thank those bad drawings for taking one for the team like that!
My new piece feels cleaner, right-er, easier. And much closer to expressing what is in my heart right now.
I feel relaxed and happy about what I have done so far–even while having no idea what I need to do next.
And so it goes.
And LOTSA Collages
One of my favorite things about my Creative Breakthroughs Tele-class, is that it gives you lots of things to work on the rest of the week–20 minutes here and 20 minutes there.
So much better than starting from scratch!
And that’s what happened with this week’s class. Since I create my own collages as I teach the class, I’ve now got 3 new “almost done” pieces to think about and respond to now myself.
It’s great to wander by one of my pieces and immediately start thinking arty thoughts. Laying a piece of torn paper down here, an old button there…listening to each piece–asking them what they need.
If you take the class, you should consider keeping your pieces out in different places–in your foyer to look at right before you leave the house, by the kitchen sink, against the window in the bathroom, or next to the bed to ponder for a minute or two before you go to sleep–and then first thing when you wake up.
This thinking and looking is a big part of weaving your creative endeavors into the fabric of your daily routine–it gives you the artistic life you’re wanting. Makes you feel like yourself.
It feels good.
Appreciation
Appreciating yourself is an important part of the 20 Minute Club because it helps you keep your creative momentum going.
Carving out the time to create is important of course, but it’s not enough. Getting (and eventually staying) on your own side is a critical factor for helping you take bigger risks with your work, get yourself out of a creative rut, or just enjoy the process more.
Taking the time to remember to appreciate yourself and all your efforts (big or small, creative or not) is a powerful way to make this happen.
Here’s my five self-appreciations for this week:
I appreciate that I changed my plans to let myself have big fun this week–yay!
I appreciate that I cleaned my studio and gave myself room to work on my latest piece.
I appreciate that I juggled several big projects in one day with more success than I thought I would-which gave me some added confidence for the next time.
I appreciate that I came up with a system to organize my different creative projects that might actually work!
I appreciate that I made a vision board for my digital collages–and one of the things I wrote on it was to have a “simple solution (that I liked) for making my pieces bigger”–and the simple solution arrived shortly thereafter. (As soon as I made room in myself for the possibility that the solution could be simple–almost immediately after writing that word in fact–I could feel a shift. Very cool.)
Your Turn
How did your creative week go? Are you affected by the weather? Was it hard to create in the heat or do you like that? Have you gotten a timer yet? Still thinking about it? Please share, I’d love to hear from you.
The Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-Classes Are Here!
Posted by: | CommentsFinally!
And they’re so affordable. I’m really excited. Read all about it and then sign up!
If you have any questions write me….or call me if you’d rather. I just want you to feel comfortable enough to give it a try.
Why?
Because Because Because Because Becaaaauuuuusssseeee
of all the wonderful things it does! (Imagine Judy Garland singing and not me.)
But really, here’s why you should consider signing up:
- Because it’s a great way to get back to your creative self.
- Because it’ll give you great fodder to respond to during the week–maybe as you use the 20 Minute Technique here and there.
- Because having works-in-progress to respond to is a way of removing obstacles that stand between you and your creativity. This builds your creative momentum which means you make things more often and more easily.
- Because, if you feel stuck or have heavy feelings about your creativity, no one can see you in a tele-class, so you get lots of privacy.
- Because your self-confidence builds as you start making things again or trying something new.
- Or, if you ARE a busy artist, the class gives you a concrete time to play and experiment without worrying if your customers will like what you’re making or want to buy it. This in turn, helps you create freshness in the “main” artwork.
- Because you can’t compare yourself to others while you work (we’re on the phone) which gives you a chance to listen to your own artistic heart rather than just berating yourself for not measuring up to some outside standard.
- Because you don’t have to leave the house to do it!
- Because you can take one class and be done or you can take one every week–no pressure, it’s up to you.
- Because it can be a fabulous weekly ritual (with bargains for buying more than one class) that supports and feeds your creativity–and as you do it repeatedly, you’ll see how you can create your own variations to support your particular interests.
- Because the introductory summer rate is only 12.00 per class!
- Because because because because because…….of all the wonderful things it does!
The first one is on Wednesday July 14th at 7:30 EST.
I’d love to “see” you there.! Mwah!
Does Your Art Need a Little Support?
Posted by: | CommentsMy goal is to help you give your creative soul what it needs to flourish.
One of the best ways I can think of to do that is to provide structured support.
Structured support is more than just cheering you on–which is great mind you, it’s just not enough in our busy, over-extended lives.
Structured support helps you to create and maintain your creative momentum because it’s a “built” something–a concrete structure–that you can rely on and lean into when you don’t have that extra energy to build something from scratch yourself.
That’s my logic around the 20 Minute Club. To help you have a way to check in and feel connected to other artistic, creative people hunting and pecking for some time here and there to do what they love best–creating.
But the 20 Minute Club is just one piece of a structured support system that I plan to provide for you. I’m creating lots more.
This summer, I’m introducing another crucial piece of my structured support system that I think you’re going to love. And I’m getting excited.
Creative Breakthroughs Tele-class
Once a week this summer, (starting in July) I’m going to offer my Creative Breakthroughs Tele-class at a special reduced introductory rate. With even better deals for buying a few classes at a time.
It’s a very simple collage process, but it really allows you to let go, stop the self-censorship, and just start making.
We’ll make 2-3 collages on each call and even if they don’t get quite finished, they’ll become excellent fodder for the 20 Minute Club because they give you something to respond to during your busy week–something to work on, think about, and experiment with–structured support that allows you to be the artist you are.
These tele-classes will help your creativity, build your self-confidence, and improve all your art making skills even if collage isn’t your “main thing.” Even if you’ve never made a collage in your life.
A Fabulous Example
Anne Huskey-Lockard took my collage tele-class because she thought it would be fun to make art using a method completely different from her usual approach.
She shares her collage and talks about her experience of my tele-class on her blog here.
Since then, she’s continued to use the technique to make more work (see how it works?) and now she’s doing a fabulous give-away of two pieces that she’s created using the Creative Breakthroughs Tele-class approach.
You can enter to win or just visit and see how she’s used the technique to expand her own creative process and provide herself with more options for her creativity.
(Here’s what I made during the same tele-class that Anne took–isn’t it interesting how the same technique can produce such different results? I LOOOVVVVEEE that. It’s all about developing/nurturing your own voice, not copying someone else. Yes!)
Who? What? When?
Okay, still working out the details of the when and the how much, but it’s definitely going to be ridiculously affordable and available almost every week this summer starting in July.
Oh, and no worries, it’s all very flexible. You’ll be able to take it once, once in a while, or every week, depending on what works for you.
I’m thinking the class is going to be Monday evenings because most people don’t do things on Monday evenings. I also might try to offer it at couple of different times to accommodate different time zones.
It’ll probably run a little over an hour–maybe an hour and a half with intros and checking in afterward. (I want to make it all feel do-able and not take over your entire evening.)
Thoughts? Questions? Leave a comment or shoot me an email.
In the meantime, watch this space!
