there is a war - creative bandits

I am notorious for being optimistic and seeing the good in people. My high school class voted me "Most Gullible" -really? I was in the running for best legs, but it seems people saw me as deeper than that....thank God. My legs may have changed since high school, but my ability to believe people as they present themselves has not. There are events in my creative journey that have made me a little jaded. There are "traumas" that go along with pursuing a creative life. Today I am challenging myself to write about those who may (without knowing it) try to sabotage. People are going to try to steal your thunder...your creative velocity. They may not always be recognizable, they may come in sheep's clothing, they may be in your house. They may be at the grocery store, or worse, in your art class. The bandit may come as a teacher, a friend, a spouse. Staying true to your creative path may resemble war at times because it's a LOVE for what you want, the LOVE for a creative life, and the LOVE for yourself that may threaten these bandits. The thing to remember about the bandits is they are full of FEAR. Their fear is driving their comments. The comments are not grounded in LOVE for your creative path, but the FEAR of losing theirs. Th ey are not always intending the robbery, but nevertheless, the crimes are committed.

What do these crimes look like? What do they steal? These bandits try to steal that part of you who believes you can DO IT! They are not stealing your ideas or your work. These bandits are much more covert,. They may or may not know they are even stealing. When you leave the bandit's presence you feel a little naked. You feel like you had the gold, and now just straw. These bandits try to steal the pure part of your creative self. These bandits try to steal your enthusiasm, your velocity, your innocence, and your instinct for your next creative move.

"Wow...I am so excited to have finally finished that painting"
"That must feel good...but I think it's hard to tell if a painting is ever really finished, you may or may not know when it's done...when the time is right I listen and then I know.....blah blah blah...."

There are also the know it alls....those who throw facts about things that might be wrong, go wrong, or any terrible trivia that might try to scare you.

There are covert words that might injure your artist....take care of her. She needs to be protected from those words just as you would a child. Appropriate material and words for the appropriate time. If it feels like you are in the presence of yucky, zapping energy....you probably are. PLEASE trust your instinct and politely excuse yourself. Your artist has better things to do. Remember - everything in the world is either FEAR or LOVE, decide today what you are going to bring inside. Get rid of the rest.

slip and slide

The first sign of summer to me came in the form of a slip and slide. I felt the carefree freedom of letting kids be kids, the extra need for a cool drink of water, the throwing out of the clock. I felt free. The school year is full of demands on parents and kids, the summer is our playtime. The summer allows it all to slip away and get rid of the "shoulds", the "coulds", and "if you woulds." I look forward to the summers camps we are having at Art Life. I am finding new projects that will take the ordinary object to a new level of art. I want the kids to take their time on things, I will encourage the use of all their patience. Children are natural artists but they are also natural competitors. I often find myself telling them (especially my boys) that it's not a race...it's about what might happen if you experiment just a little more. When I look around at my paintings, i always find something that I see I could add or take away. I have even been known to work on a painting that has been hanging on the wall finished- for years. Sometimes I believe my paintings are never done...they are just at a really good resting spots.
So, the summer begins, i need to remember to slow down. I need to remember it's not a race, and that it's all a work in progress. If I just experiment a little more, i might just get some different results. It's a busy time for the studio, but then again, the studio is a place to slow down - i am really excited to get started this summer...oops...i mean, to take it easy this summer.

Look around today, you might just see your first sign of summer. What will it be?

Trust the Paint to Dry Without You

I have heard before to "trust the process" when making art. Art making is 98% process, and the remaining 2% lies in results and opinions. Some of those opinions are ours, some are from others. But we all know that opinions are the opposite of being in creative process...because opinions are left brain "thinking" processes. The creative process dies when we think. When you think about it....if we had the future opinions in our ears of others while we were in the middle of the creative process, it might not ever be. It might not make it off the drawing table. We are so quick to say...."well, it's not done...don't look" "I have so much more I'd like to do to it." "I was thinking about adding this or taking away that." You know....that IS the art, right there. Making it, thinking about it, and frankly sharing it. But art is best when it's shared. What can we do with something that is stuffed under the bed? We can't enjoy the things that have never been painted.
Talking about art was one of the most difficult learning processes for my freshman design college students to grasp- they went kicking and screaming into discussion critiques. No one wanted to discuss their own work, no one wanted to talk about areas that they thought needed improvement. And if I asked them to talk about some one else's work???? Forget about it. However, with time, and mandatory requirements, the students understood that critique was more about an understanding of our fears, of making the ego smaller, of comparing our work from the work we used to do....to see how we have improved, and talking about work that could have been changed, and how.
I am drying some clay pieces in the studio now. There is nothing to it, just let it be. Some really flat pieces should be slightly covered in the winter heat of the studio as to avoid warping. Some were just left where they were to dry. I am also waiting on an oil painting to dry...with the aid of modern mediums, will be ready in another day for more layers of oils.
In the meantime, I wait. I wait for the next step...the next move toward the completion.
I let go while that process takes place.
Soaking, drying, firing, mixing...a pause in creation, so the creation itself can go on with out the creator...to do it's thing.
I like to think about that painting or clay piece sometimes, upstairs in the studio, doing it's work without me so that we can move on towards completion.
It sounds silly, but i even love that part, the part about watching paint dry.
The reasons are because i have been that wet paint before, drying and deciding....hoping that no one disturbs me. Hoping that I can just sit here, and dry. As the creator/artist we are always deciding what our next move is. Although that path is not always clear, we walk away and let our creations be. When the time is right, we will know our next stroke of paint, our next mark on the clay, or our next word to write. In time, if you trust that you will know, you will know.

Wonder - Christmas 2010

It's a magical time of year. I am very fond of mystery. I am fond of things that just don't quite make sense, things you just have to believe in....like Santa Claus. My kids are 4 and 5 and the Santa thing is really really bringing up a lot of questions. I wonder if they see the conflict in what we tell them. Conflict in the chimney thing, or all the presents in one night thing? I just know there are a lot of questions. It is all very confusing. OR is it mysterious? I guess it's how you look at it.
I don't think young children question mystery, they just ask questions and then fit those answers into their version in their imagination. They create it, then they extend the creation. They add to the creation and take away; so it fits just right. It's a lot like making a sculpture or painting a painting...add, take away, flow with it: and whatever you do don't stop and think too much, just accept the mystery. Mystery is magical. Without it life is plaqued with logic and absolutes. Without it, there is nothing to look forward to. Without mystery the world would have no new books, no new works of art, no future music, no spontaneous adventures. Without mystery, we would know everything....what kind of world would that be? When you believe you don't have to figure it all out, you only have to do one thing, believe.
So I challenge you to think like a child, act like a child, feel the wonder tonight...feel the possibility that just might include newness and the beginning of something within you and within this world. Merry Christmas. May mystery and wonder be your guide as you celebrate together.

dancing like a crane

The yoga teacher tonight made me feel more comfortable about my crane pose when she suggested "our crane's might be moving and swaying because they are looking for fish in the water. "When you tap your toes down on the ground to keep your balance it's really just a curious playful crane...looking at what is in the rippling water underneath him." I really don't do yoga that much, but tonight I needed some stretching and relaxation, I didn't know I would be so transformed as to become a fowl. As I hoisted my arms up like crane wings and lifted my crane beak (AKA my right toe) I did feel like a bird. I liked the way she told us to dance with our leg, not give into the loss of balance, but see it as intentional movement. She told us that it's ok to explore what still felt like, what off balance felt like, what catching yourself from being off balance felt like, and what dancing like a crane felt like. It's ok to play. It's ok to act silly. It's ok to wonder.
"The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives" Albert Einstein Albert Einstein suggests that kids do it naturally. He also suggests that we can occupy that sphere of activity if we choose. If we seek the arts this will happen naturally. We can say..."I will honestly seek a creative beautiful medium today" It may be music, cooking, painting, drawing, or setting up a beautiful garden. These things are truthful, they are honest. This is because there is no need to judge something like that. There is no ego, just simply simply wonderful...a moment full of wonder. I think my pursuit toward being an artist has always involved my pursuit of truth and beauty. As I have gotten a little wiser I have stopped judging myself so much. I know that the art I make in this moment this day, is representative of me, right now....honest....and searching out beauty. What can you say was beautiful today? Seek it, and you will see it. It's everywhere.

Serving can be simple.

I put some new lights on the steps to the studio. They were a gift. That makes them all the brighter. I appreciate that someone I care about cares about me. She said "these steps are too dark at night" I have something for you. I let her give them to me and that gift inspired me to also pot some plants and sweep the steps.

I think the light that comes along with receiving is just as important as giving. With the weather events in Nashville in the last week hundreds of people have been forced into a position to receive. No other choice other than... "help me!" In normal circumstances it is sometimes challenging to be in a place of surrender. But during crisis, it is the relying on others that confirms our faith in community. These times make the character of our community visable. The way we serve, we show who we are. Each day that we show up, turn off the water to conserve, make a donation, watch someone's kids, or cook a few meals.

Serving can be simple, take your place in your community....however that looks for you. Don't overthink it, just make one motion in the direction of helping a neighbor.

Play Today

I traveled to New York City this past weekend. My mom and I visited my sister and brother. It was a reconnection that was long overdue. I picked up a book called "Playful Parenting" by Lawrence Cohen. His ideas about using play to reconnect with your kids and . The pages are filled with examples of a child acting out and then the parent choosing in the moment to not see it as misbehavior but as a cry for reconnection. I have been away from my family for a couple few days and I miss them. In the pangs of a little home sickness I can't imagine being anything but patient with my kids. But the truth is, we are all impatient parents at times. We all struggle at times with the feelings of just being bored with the routine we have. We all feel at times like we don't have any IDEAS. Maybe we feel like we are not CAPABLE in this moment to give our children what we need. I have a friend that jokingly says to her kids as she works or talks with my "Go and DO, go and Do {somewhere else}" In Playful Parenting Cohen writes "The fact is, we adults don't have much room in our lives for fun and games. Our days are filled with stress obligations and hard work. We may be stiff, tired, and easily bored when we try to get on the floor and play with children-especially when it means switching gears from a stressful day of work or household chores. We might be willing to do what they want-but then we get annoyed when they don't play the way we expect or when they demand too much from us"

The fact is we all need play. I am better off every time I connect with my kids on the floor, paint with my kids, beat on drums with them, or run around outside. It's a continual cycle of connecting, disconnecting, and reconnecting. This deep need to be child like, let loose, and be playful, makes sense to me. I opened Art Life to meet those needs in people I teach. After visiting NYC (the city where I lived and found my footing on my creative path), I once again realized that filling yourself up and those you love by playing -can go a long long way. Today I will see misbehavior as just a cry for reconnection instead of misbehavior.

Today after school, a family I know is coming in for an art playdate. The whole family making art together, making messes and connecting. I am thrilled to see people connect this way and I want to offer a playful place. A place where people and families are free from rules, obligations, and most of all boredom. PLAY TODAY!