Archive for Hot Off The Press
What Knocks Your Socks Off?
Posted by: | CommentsThink about the artwork that really knocks you out.
Work you love so much that you’re almost mad the other person made it and not you.
It might be work by a great master or it might be something by your next door neighbor.
Now ask yourself, “Why does it knock my socks off?” What do I love about it so much?
After you’re done saying it’s beautiful or gorgeous, things get a little harder, but really, you’re just getting started.
That, and it can be challenging to find words to express our response to visual art, design, or crafts because really, they’re wordless.
Keep going anyway. Describe the work to yourself. What is it “doing?’ How is it “being?’ What resonates for you? Why do you like this piece so much more than something else?
Ach! It’s not easy is it? It’s tempting to say, “I just like it and that’s enough.”
Sure, but before you quit, consider digging a little deeper for your answers.
Why bother, you ask? Well, because there’s gold in them thar hills, that’s why!
Why it’s Worth It
Neill House with Chimney from the American Folk Art Museum
For instance, I’m partial to a lot of folk art, outsider art and medieval art. One of the things all this work has in common is the flat picture plane–where the artist is unconcerned with creating the illusion of perspective.
My friend doesn’t like that kind of thing at all. And as we were discussing our different tastes, I thought, “Well, why exactly do I love the flat picture plane?”
At first, it felt hard to articulate because, as I mentioned above, the visual, aesthetic response is more like a felt emotion rather than a thought, and words can almost seem inappropriate.
But you can glean a lot of useful information for yourself as an artist/designer/crafter by trying anyway. It helps you understand your own taste and creative priorities more fully.
Sooooo, I continued–why do I like the flat picture plane? Well, I like it because:
- It feels emotional–raw, direct, fragile, genuine, honest.
- I like the constant back and forth that often happens in flat work where the artist straddles offering a narrative and expressing a flat, decorative feeling.
- I like the “thingness” that a flat picture plan brings to a piece–the surface is what it is. Perhaps this is why I like a lot of decorative arts and traditional crafts in general–they are themselves, not a depiction of something else.
Now I’m not saying these proclivities are better or worse than someone else’s–they’re just mine.
But they’re helpful to consciously know–as a creator. It helps you define more clearly in your mind who you are as an artist and what your aesthetic goals are.
Everyone is drawn to particular artists, designers or crafters more than others, and you can experience the inspiration you feel from your favorites much more fully by exploring your responses to them more deeply.
This, in turn, helps on your own creative path enormously.
You start to notice your own patterns and artistic proclivities more overtly and begin to respect them as your voice, style, and artistic vision. You begin to embrace your own symbolism and artistic values with more intention.
By considering these ideas and consciously delving into your own particular aesthetic experience, you’re engaging in fuller, more serious way with other artists–living or dead–as well as connecting yourself more directly to the larger cultural continuum, and that’s important to do as an artist/designer/crafter.
Including yourself in the larger cultural conversation in this way enriches your aesthetic experience in general and changes how you approach and perceive your own creative endeavors.
It’s another step toward taking charge of your creativity and treating it respectfully. I think it’s powerful.
What do you think? Please leave a comment, I’d love to hear.
Join Me for (Virtual) Coffee?
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In the past few months, I’ve been doing a lot of networking. Meeting lots of people about my artwork and my workshops, and I’ve been amazed at the results.
I’ve made the most surprising connections and learned so much about such a variety of interesting, passionate people.
(I’ve also learned a lot about the city of New York that I didn’t know–so many buildings I’d never been in before, so many subway stops I’ve never realized could be so beautiful. Okay, maybe not “so many beautiful subway stops,” but one down near Wall Street really stopped me in my tracks!)
It made me realize that I want to get to know my Make Great Stuff readers better too. Most of you live far from New York and it would be hard to get together for coffee in person….but why not have a cup of coffee and get to know each other over the phone?
I still have to work out the details–like setting up a calendar and inviting anyone who wants to join me for a 30 minute phone call and chat to sign up for times that I’ve got available–but I wanted to put it out there for you to think about.
What do you think? Would you be game for a virtual cup of coffee?
Please share your thoughts, I’d love to hear from you!
What You REALLY Want
Posted by: | CommentsYou want to make artwork you feel proud of and love to look at. Work you think is really good.
You may also want other people to buy your work–your paintings, your beaded jewelry, your silk scarves, your stories, your songs–whatever art or craft work you’re passionate about creating.
You want to sell your work because it feels like a great way to do what you love doing all the time.
However, the other reason you might want to sell your work is that if your creative endeavor makes money, it will be considered legitimate in the larger culture.
Because in our culture, making money equals being successful. If you make money at it, then you’re a “real” whatever it is you are–artist/crafter/singer/writer.
And because the favorite introductory question in our society is “What do you do (for a living)?”, naturally you want to give the answer that reflects your true calling: “I’m an artist.”
Now, whether or not you can make money making your art (whatever that may be) is actually not the point.
The point is that the goal of making a living making your art often creates a serious confusion that muddies your creative goals and ruins the pleasure of the creative process.
It’s the cart that’s sitting in front of your horse.
Your horse is your artwork. It’s the doing, the creativity itself, it’s even the quest to make something great.
But instead of concentrating on creating great work, you’re concentrating instead on how to make a living being creative–and all your work gets tainted by this other, (very difficult, btw) making-a-living goal.
And ironically, this goal is secondary.
What you really want is to make things that are deeply satisfying, work you love to look at–work that you’re proud of.
You want to make your best stuff.
Concentrate on that, and address the money/making a living aspect later.
Don’t ask your art to solve the problem of hating your job or fixing your financial woes. Your art doesn’t deserve that pressure and it spoils your relationship with it.
Solve that problem a different way (at least for now).
Instead, focus on making work you love.
Making a Date with Your Creativity
In order to make work you love, you must make a lot of work. You’ll like some of it, hate some of it, and love some of it. But you have to make a lot.
And that has its own challenges–finding the time, facing your inner critic, honing your skills, etc.
So you need a structure in place to help you make a lot of work.
And one simple, structured way to do that is to make a regular date with your creativity. Which is why I created the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class.
I created this class to provide a structure for you to lean on. To make it easier to show up every week for your art because
- It can be hard to muster that energy on your own–even when you want it.
- Because showing up every week is how you eventually start showing up several times a week.
- And showing up several times a week is how you create a lot of work.
- And creating a lot of work is the path to creating work you love.
It’s not easy, but it’s simple.
Making collages with me every week will help all your creative endeavors–regardless of your preferred medium. And making a weekly date with your creativity will genuinely help you build a creative momentum which, in turn, will enable you to make work you love.
And even though I talk about the Creative Breakthroughs Technique, it’s not something to learn and master, it’s more of an avenue in to your own aesthetic journey–a way to explore and consider both the formal aspects of creating–like light, color, balance, and scale–as well as the more expressive considerations–like mood, emotion, memory, and intuition.
So it’s a technique in the way that meditation is a technique: it’s simple enough to learn how and understand the point of it, but the reward is all in the regular practice. It’s a lifetime’s work play.
So create work you love by creating a lot of work. Create a lot of work by connecting it to your life. Connect it to your life by regularly making time to create.
Make time to create by signing up for the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class. I teach it every Wednesday at two different times–1:30 EST and 7:30 EST. Sign up for the one that’s best for you.
And jeepers, the first one is free so what are you waiting for?
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When Your Work Doesn’t Match Your Vision
Posted by: | CommentsI love the radio show “This American Life” and its host Ira Glass. (If you don’t listen to that show, you’re really missing out.)
So when I found out that Ira Glass has made 4 videos on the creative process, I had to watch them.
(Well, ostensibly, he’s talking about story-telling and the art of making stories for the radio because that’s what he does, but really, he’s talking about the creative process. So if you don’t make stories, every time he says the word “stories” just replace it with the word “visual art” in your mind and it all still works.)
I loved all four, but I’m thinking that you probably won’t watch all four. But you should watch at least one.
So I’ve picked #3 and I’m sticking it here because he talks about something that no one really mentions when they discuss the creative process–what to do when what you make doesn’t measure up to your own taste level–what you personally consider really good.
He talks about why that’s completely normal, and the simple thing you must do to get beyond it. I love that he’s done this.
(And I’m not going to tell you what that simple thing is, because I want you to watch it. 
)
So even though he’s talking about stories and story-telling, it’s relevant for ALL creators of anything.
Here it is, I hope you watch it:
Your thoughts?
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Is Inspiration Like a Butterfly?
What Do You GIVE Yourself?
Posted by: | CommentsLast week, I mentioned that I was teaching The Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class as part of the delightful Jennifer Hoffman’s January-A Call to Nourish program at Inspired Home Office.
Well, class was yesterday and we had a great time. And as I was talking to the class participants about the benefits of carving out a creative time for yourself on a regular basis, I realized how much I was needing this class myself.
Because lately, I’ve been stretching myself tthhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnn-thin-thin. I’ve been doing the juggling act of a lifetime, and some days, I think my head’s going to fall off.
And yesterday afternoon, teaching the class, I could feel the benefits of being creative–it genuinely lifted me out and up from my stress. And the relief I experienced–both physical and mental–felt like a nothing short of a godsend.
I love teaching this class, and I love living the benefits of the class. In the past several weeks, this has been the only art-making I’ve been squeezing in amid my myriad obligations and challenges–and frankly, I was grateful to have it.
There was a time when my creativity would have simply gone out the window with the kind of schedule I’m trying to maintain right now.
And yet, ironically, it’s exactly what I need in order to be able to continue to keep all my balls in the air.
I talk so often about how much this class helps you get unstuck, lets you explore and experiment, helps you build a creative momentum so that you can live your life as the true artist you are–so you can regularly enjoy that feeling of being immersed in aesthetic decisions and artistic expression.
And as artistic people wanting to create artwork, that’s huge.
But in the context of Jennifer’s program, I fully appreciated, maybe even for the first time, the fundamental role in self-care that making a date with your creativity can have. It does nothing less than maintain your sanity and renew your energy.
Creativity feeds our human spirits. We need it. Tapping into your non-verbal mind, moving away from logic and planning, allowing yourself to feel your way along–all these things are essential to your well-being.
Like meditation and exercise, taking the time to be creative regularly will:
- help you perform better at work,
- improve your relationships,
- return you to your child’s mind,
- insert more FUN in your life and
- connect you to your spirit and your wordless understanding of the world.
So please think of the Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class as part of your self-care regimen.
What? You mean you don’t have a self-care regimen? No time like the New Year to get started! Making a weekly date with your creativity can be the first step in creating one.
And while I believe carving out time to be creative is truly beneficial for everyone, it’s absolutely critical for creative people like us. Your very soul requires it.
So. It’s a new year. 2011! What’s your commitment to your creativity and self-care going to be?
And when I ask that, what I ‘m really saying is:
What are you going to give yourself this year?
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Truth & Beauty
Posted by: | CommentsMaking it Real
Happy New Year!
Last week, I talked about choosing a theme for your creativity in 2011 and I LOVED-LOVED-LOVED all the theme ideas that everyone shared in the comments. So smart, thoughtful, and inspiring.
If you haven’t seen them and are still looking for the perfect theme for yourself, I invite you to please take a look. You might find the perfect idea from someone else’s comment.
My theme for this year is Persistence and I think my tagline is going to be Collaborate (I’m still “honing”).
Now I want to help make it real by creating a vision board or a mind map based on my theme. Will you join me?
This can involve cutting out lots of different images from magazines that relate to your theme, but if that feels too complicated or you can’t find the right images, feel free to just get yourself lots of magic markers and let yourself doodle your way to a fun and inspiring vision board.
Here’s a mind-mapp-y visiony thing I made last year when I my theme was Break Through and my tagline was Have Faith.
I used a giant piece of paper and it took up a huge chunk of wall which I totally recommend if you have the space because it really helps make your theme a priority in your life.
The process of creating a visual expression of your theme helps you develop your ideas about what it means for you and transforms an abstraction into something more concrete. Simple imagery and symbols are a POWERFUL way to help your subconscious really internalize your theme’s message.
For instance, persistence could be expressed by an image of a river.
If I use that as my hook, I could keep exploring that angle by using blue and green markers to doodle up some rushing water swirls and shapes while also expanding on the river idea with more water images that feel persistent–maybe a gorgeous and powerful waterfall, or a picture of a mossy rock softened by a slow imperceptible drip. My tagline, Collaborate, could be expressed by images of symbiotic relationships in nature or even straightforward photos of hands or people working together.
I know all this might sound corny, but it works because our brains respond strongly to symbolism–and the more personal, the better. Remember, it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone except you!
Another Cool Way to Start Your Year Right
The lovely and smart Jennifer Hofmann from Inspired Home Office, (a very cool organizing business for us right-brain-y types) has a super cool program for starting your January off in a very supportive, un-January type way, and I wanted to tell you all about it because I’m thrilled to be involved.
She’s created a month long series of classes and programs called “A Call to Nourish“. And as part of that awesome call for sanity and self-care, I’ll be teaching a Creative Breakthroughs Collage Tele-class, and I’m so excited.
It’s truly an inspiring month of great programs run by very cool roster of powerful and creative women.
This program also includes the chance to participate in 4 of Jennifer’s Office Spa Days which are a fantastic way to get your studio or craft room organized in a sustainable fashion that makes sense to you…I’m planning on attending at least one myself–and as I look around at the chaos I call my studio, maybe make that two…
She’s offering it all at an insanely good price, so please check it out here, and if it feels right, sign yourself up for some sanity and self-care.
Your Turn
How’s your new year starting off?
Do you think you might create a vision board using your theme as your guide? Are you still trying to catch your breath from the holidays? Are you ready to organize your studio or make a date with your creativity by taking a Creative Breakthroughs Collage Class?
Please leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
