Looking In All the Right Places

I have rededicated myself to writing morning pages every morning. For those not familiar with this technique from Julia Cameron in her book, The Artists’s Way, it is a writing exercise done first thing in the morning where you just keep writing 750 words by hand, the old fashioned way. Every day. I have made some modifications to her process. I fill one page of my composition notebook daily while drinking my morning coffee. Sometimes I do stop writing but get right back to writing when I notice this. This writing practice has a way of bringing up your deep thoughts. Somehow it is easier to write them out and then you realize that is exactly what you were thinking in a kind of hazy inarticulate way. I started this morning pages practice in 2012. Sometimes I am more consistent than others. I use the same Deconstruction composition notebooks in various funky designs and special colorful gel pens. It is the kind of habit that spills over into your every day life and effects many other things. It can be a direct line to self awareness. It helps me take action and not wallow in negative thoughts.

I know how powerful this practice can be, but I was astounded when I found myself outside writing in my decomposition book and realized I started seeing color combinations and design ideas right in front of me as I was staring out at our prairie garden. Some of you sharp readers are like, “hey, you were supposed to be writing, not daydreaming.” Yes, correct. Sometimes I alternate between the two activities. 

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Looking In All the Right Places. Sunset down the road last week. Variegated leaves for a great design idea. Brilliant green moss color. Prairie color combo of lavender asters and mustard goldenrod.

This is exactly what I said I had missed most taking a summer sabbatical in my Studio Notes last week in the article, Just Start. Here I was thinking about color and design, looking for inspiration. I obviously was looking in all the right places. I was outside on our kitchen patio on a windy first day of fall. I was letting myself daydream and be open. Simple stuff. An idea or intention to think more creatively, some time where I had no pressures, and a beautiful spot in nature. Perfect combination. I gave myself the time to be open and the space to be inspired.

I did something I have rarely done. I posted the photos of the color combination and design ideas on Instagram. As a rule, I have only posted my art on Instagram. It just felt so natural and I was giddy to be seeing inspiration all around me again.

If you feel a little down in the dumps creatively, try giving yourself the time and space that you find the most inspiring. And then keep doing that. This works if you are a knitter, a quilter, a musician, a dancer, a poet, a woodcarver, etc.  You get the idea. It can work for everybody.

Just Start

Have you ever had an experience where you need to take your own advice? For two years I’ve written about creativity and how to make time for creativity on a regular basis. The advice I give most often is to Just Start. I have found myself in need of this advice after my summer sabbatical. It was the right thing to focus on my family over this summer. However, I missed the regular creativity. After a while in the beginning of the summer, I stopped searching for new ideas for designs and color palette. I stopped thinking of ideas to share in these Studio Notes. These good creative habits were temporarily “out for lunch.” I need to get them back. 

I’m someone who needs the structure of getting into the studio at a certain time and working on a certain project. So I told myself I would start just hanging out my studio for an hour every day last week. Something always came up. Granted, some were family emergencies which I needed to help with. But I’m having a hard time being consistent. The ironic thing is I enjoyed being in the studio so much last week.

Playtime in the studio, September 2018

When I was in the studio last week, I worked on a commission piece as well as an idea for a long-term project. So while it’s easy to say Just Start, it can be difficult to execute. We all have competing demands: jobs, children, extended family obligations, grocery store runs, errands and administrative things that just need to happen. I realized I need the structure of studio time on a regular basis to give my creativity equal weight with other competing demands. More importantly, what I really want is that habit of creativity back, that mindset of always looking for ideas to create art or to write about.  So the important thing is not just the time in the studio, but how it changes your thinking by always looking for new ideas to try.

So tomorrow I’m going to be in the studio again and start exercising that creative habit. 

Coral Reef Updates

Coral Reefs, 2017.  Available for purchase. CLICK photo above to learn more.

My last big series with a nature theme is my Coral Reefs piece. These last three series I wrote about inspired me to offer custom EcoMemory art for people to remind them of their favorite places in nature.  It is basically what I was creating for myself with the Clouds, Forest, and Coral Reef series.

Part of my studio time this Fall will be dedicated to creating custom EcoMemory art for the holiday season. As one of my customers said, a work of art that is designed specifically for you is a very personal gift for yourself or for a loved one. Click HERE to learn more about my EcoMemory process of interviewing the client, writing an EcoMemory report explaining the design and colors, and the final artworks.

My summer sabbatical is ending and I am getting back into the studio again. So look for updates next week.  

Here is the original article.  

Last week, I started a  new series called Coral Reef, Lizard island. The inspiration for this idea is a documentary on Netflix called Chasing Coral.

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Collage of images taken by our daughter at Lizard Island, 2014. Turtles and cuttlefish are her favorites in the second row down.

The documentary tagline from their website is... "Divers, scientists and photographers around the world mount an epic underwater campaign to document the disappearance of coral reefs."

I highly recommend this documentary. You can see a trailer in the link above. It is powerful. You see people who love and study coral reefs documenting the effects of warmer ocean temperatures. 

This documentary hits close to home. The last part of the documentary was filmed at Lizard Island, a research station on the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia. Our daughter spent 10 days on Lizard Island in 2014, the year before the coral bleaching events that occurred in just 30 days and are documented in this film. Watching her see the damage done to a place that she loves was heart breaking. A significant portion of the coral died, along with the ecosystem that relies on it.

When I decided to write about this series, I asked our daughter, "Why is Lizard Island one of your favorite places?" 

She said,

"Lizard Island is one of my favorite places because it is an isolated island that is very pristine. There are not a lot of humans who live on the island since the only people allowed are researchers that really care for the island. You can tell in how they take care of the island that it is a labor of love. Also it is a remarkable place for seeing unique coral, sea turtles and cuttlefish (two of her favorite animals in the world). There is a huge biodiversity of life. The island is a little oasis in the coral reef that isn’t plagued by eco tourism and is remote so you feel like you are exploring an ancient sea because there are no people. And, of course, it is also beautiful, very colorful."

How does it make you feel when you think of Lizard Island?

"I feel grateful for being able to see such a beautiful place. I also feel Inspired by the diversity of animals and plants that are there."

Coral Reef, Lizard Island series. Day 227 of 2017. October 3, 2017. One of 25 six-inch squares sewn together for the final piece.

So I wanted to do an ecosystem series and I knew after watching this documentary that coral reefs would be the first one. I researched the organization involving the Chasing Coral team, The Ocean Agency. I love how they describe themselves and their mission.

"The Ocean Agency (formerly known as Underwater Earth) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2010 by a group of ex-advertising execs and creatives. 

We believe, above all else, great communication is key to finding solutions. We've allowed the ocean to lose it's magic - we've allowed it to become irrelevant. That needs to change and it needs to change quickly.

People can be inspired to act - we're just missing that all important word... inspired. "

Then I found out they have an initiative called 50 Reefs where they are focusing on how to solve the problem. 

"The 50 Reefs initiative aims to rapidly bolster existing coral reef conservation efforts globally by catalyzing new targeted action and investment in key geographies. It will identify and protect coral reefs that are least vulnerable to climate change, that also have the greatest capacity to repopulate other reefs over time."

Now, I was fired up to help connect people to the coral reefs through my art. Art can be a powerful vehicle to tap into people's emotions and inspire them. I do this to honor our daughter and all the people who are inspired by our oceans and all of its inhabitants.

I went about planning this series in my usual way, deciding the color palette and the design parameters. My color palette is based off of images at Lizard Island. I have 3 different shades of blue for the water on the top row of the final piece, tan for the sand on the bottom row with various shades of purple, coral, orange  and yellow to depict the coral itself. To be true to the images, I held up my fabric to the images to match as closely as possible.

My design for this series is different in that I am providing a scene for a real place. Usually my work is more on the abstract side but I wanted to give the feeling of the water above and sand below which really struck me in all the images. The coral reef part in the middle will be vertical strips of the different corals colors. When seen all together, it will be like one large healthy coral reef full of diversity. 

I want this series to be a tribute to all the people who care about our oceans and the work that 50 Reefs is doing to protect our oceans and coral reefs.

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Coral reef near Lizard island images from The Ocean Agency

Imagine Standing In a Forest Looking Up Updates

Forest, 2017.  Available for purchase. CLICK photo above to learn more.

As I wrote about last week, this article is all about the Forest series.  It is still one of my favorites. I felt like I was able to capture the mood I was going for. Sometimes that can be an elusive thing, chasing an idea and making it visible in fabric sewn together.

Here is is the original article.

My current series the Forest has been getting some attention in my Instagram account. Even people who have followed me for years said there was something special about this series with the multiple greens and the varying compositions. When I was trying to describe it to one of the commenters the thought came to me I really imagine standing in the forest looking up at the trees with dappled light all around and seeing the blue sky peeking through. I captured the emotion that I use to create the Forest series into words. Sometimes it is hard for me to capture that essence into words and I am practicing doing it. This time I felt like I succeeded. I shared this with one of the commenters and they got it.

The Forest using fabric. Day 207 of 2017.

Art evokes an emotion. Then what does this Forest series say? The calm greens and blues remind you of the peace you feel in nature as you are standing in the forest yourself.

Now people may say I had no idea it was about the woods since I never read the title of the series. This is the beauty of color. The colors themselves do the calming. You don't even need to have the image of the nature scene in your mind.

This series has been so fun to work in. But I say that about whatever series I am working on. In this case, I do feel that special connection having spent time in forests myself. That knowledge of time spent observing nature comes out in this series.

The Forest using acrylic paint

Last week I was in a bit of a creative slump. As I was talking to one of my artist friends about this she suggested I just go and play around with acrylic paint and the palette knife like I wrote about in Studio Notes last week. I shared an incident last week that a piece of art I made in high school with a palette knife and acrylic paint is similar in composition to what I make to this day. Back then, I thought I couldn't be an artist because I could not draw so I never picked up a palette knife again until Wednesday. At first I hesitated and thought it would be a distraction. It's not my medium and it might muddy my creative waters. But then I said why not. Be adventurous. It sounded kind of fun to do. I found an old paint set that I bought a few years ago thinking it might help my creativity flow by trying a different medium. I guess this seemed to be the time. The odd thing is that the set actually had a palette knife. So I just started by setting up the supplies. But I didn't know what to paint.  I realized I had the Forest series color palette and design parameters from my current series. This would be a variation reinterpreted in paint instead of fabric. This experience got me thinking.

If art is about emotion, the medium of that art is just the support system.

The emotion comes from the art no matter the medium. This goes a long way to quelling the issue is fabric art like other art like oil painting or watercolors. Art is art if it is made of fabric or paint or colored pencils. Art is about the emotion evoked in the viewer.