Creative Spark! For WRITERS

I came across this post on a blog today and I just had to share.

Personally, I find writing very gratifying.  Getting the words out on paper, even when they sound like crap, helps me to visually verbalize my thoughts and get them all flowing in the same direction.  Journaling and blogging are helpful for this. 

I am currently working on a writing project (hopefully you will see something about it on my sites sooner than later).   Helping creative people understand the importance of being creative is SO important to me because I have struggled with it in my little lifetime.  Now I understand the importance of what I am doing, regardless of what others think.

But with the writing project I am working on I really want to influence others.  Hopefully, my experiences will be helpful to someone else. 

Anywho, back to the blog.....redundant words are my Achilles heel!!! This chart is useful in helping to make my writing more visual and less...boring....I hope! ;) There are so many words out there....let's use them all.

Enjoy!

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=84010

Creative Spark! Artist in Your City

I love to create...
     But I also love to teach.

The artist in your city looks like all of us because we all are creative.  But for me, if you see me out and about you may see me trying to Hustle My Happy through my art.  That is part of the reasons why I teach community art classes and work as a performing visual artist.  The creative interaction you get with other people is wonderful!

So I won't write much today....I will just say to keep an eye out for me. 

I might be at your event,
I might be in your town,
I just might be in your country.....

But no matter where I be....I will be creating.

 



We are ALL Creative!  I hope to spy you somewhere doing your thing one day soon!

Blessings,
TeMika
          

An Artist's Money Rant

I just gotta get this out. Not being paid for my art really sucks.  What is worse is when no one even wants it.  And what's even worser (yes, today, worser is a word!) is if I get haggled for something I created.

As an example, I used to make wire jewelry.  I loved to twist and turn the wire around specially selected gemstones.  Each one was special.  Each piece was unique.  And each and every piece took time, patience, practice, waste, repairing a jacked up manicure, and investment in products and marketing.  I fought with myself on pricing.  And then when I would take it to craft fairs I sometimes had to argue for small amount of money. 

Maybe my work was crap. 

                Maybe they didn't like it enough to pay what I asked.

                                Maybe it wasn't worth what I asked.

                                                Maybe I wasn't worth it.

This is the downward spiral artist's can feel sometimes - screw it....maybe I should speak for myself.  But that's how I felt. 

So I stopped making art.

Of course I did a few pieces here and there for myself and family/friends, but I did not dare put my painted artwork out there.  And eventually I gave up on selling in the saturated jewelry market. 

Then I was sad.

                                                Very sad,

                                                                            because I had given up on myself.

But my Artist Rehabilitation, as I endearingly call it, brought me out of the dumps and helped me realize a few thing about being an ArtEntrepreneur.  This is briefly what I learned:

1.       I MUST create, even if no one else cares.

2.       I must create, even if they hate what I create.

3.       I will take the time to create and tell my ego not to judge the process.

4.       I will share what I create, because that is what I have been assigned to do.

5.       I must educate myself to know what my work is worth in the marketplace. 

6.       I will value my work but must also be willing to let it go if it brings someone else joy.

Isn't that the real reason why we all create.  We want to give.  We may want to give joy, knowledge, reflection, discussion or spark social change.  But we must create, share and let the work breathe on its own.  Metaphorically speaking, we must all birth our creative babies into the world and let them go.

That is all I have for now.  I hope this message finds you creatively sound, and if not, put down what you are doing, get quiet, think and create.

Blessings,

TeMika
http://www.artisking.org/
http://www.tbbcatl.com/business.html
http://www.dgonzalezesq.com/

VISION BOARD - My Future Art Space

When prompted to explore what my future art space would be, I decided to turn to the all-knowing Google to seek inspiration.  I am visual, so I figured I would seek images that inspire me.

I really want a space that feel wide open, airy and free.  It does not have to be tidy (and knowing me it won't be), but it must be wide open.  Lots of lights.  Lots of breathing room.  This is what I see:

http://www.homedit.com/19-artists-studios-and-workspace-interior-design-ideas/

http://www.cocokelley.com/2013/08/sunset-magazine-seabrook-part-ii/

 

http://www.awesomehomedesign.com/amazing-home-office-and-workplace/

 

 

I also felt the need to be near nature.  The attached blog link by Red Poppy Interiors http://redpoppyinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/02/artist-retreat.html  gave me the feeling of a woodland retreat near the water.  Secluded but secure. 

 

 

And I would love for my desk to be clean and organized. Something like this!

http://www.walterfoster.com/blog-contributor/Stephanie-Meissner/60

 

 

And to give me a place to retreat, I would like a nook to relax and rejuvenate in.

http://www.sevenchimneysfarm.com/creativespaces.html

 

Although my space is a retreat, I would like to be near by to a town or city to be exposed to a variety of people.  Even though this space is a cool woodsy area, it could easily be a warm climate too.  The idea would just to have a retreat, nature, quiet and a wonderful work space. 

 

I think the images are quite helpful for me but I just for the record (if there are any donating parties out there!) MY WISH LIST includes:

 

A heavy duty easel

Lots of materials on hand

Comfortable chair & bed/futon & sofa for guests

Lots of Lights!  (and also a good electrical light source)

An organized, clean office

 

Schedule: I would love to have people around enough where I can get a break but not too much of a distraction.  So I would not generally have them IN my studio, but near by.  I know it's selfish!  But I would like to spend at least 8 hours creating and 2 hours on admin on workdays.  I would like my lifestyle to allow for more time with my friends and family.....they are very important to me.

 

Recreation: With hiking, water and a garden nearby, my recreation is right outside!

 

Inspiration: My inspiration, MY MUSE, is always people.  I love to people watch.  If I could sit and watch people on a nearby beach or watch people move about in a city space I can always be inspired.  The inspiration is endless with people.  There are so many stories to tell.

 

So if you are day dreaming of a place to call your own, what does YOUR space look like?  Allow yourself to DAY DREAM and BELIEVE that you can have what you want.  If you do, it can surely come.

 

Until next time, I hope your daydreams become a reality!

 

Blessings,

 

TeMika

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



 



Art Studio Porn

A lustful, rainbow of color is splashed in different areas of my special room.  It is guarded with locked doors for privacy but allows voyeurs to look in with a wall full of windows.  My warm, brown wood floors get wet and wiped down with a messy towel.

Get your mind out of the gutter!  This is the place I currently call my artist home – my Art Room.  This is the place where I go to get away from the world to be quiet, to listen and to create. It is my special place….......

..........but sometimes Thing 1 and Thing 2 find their way in to interrupt my flow.

 

Sometimes I like the company.  Creating things can get lonely! The Art Room, which it is lovingly called, is a space I had to fight for.  I wrestled it from the hands of every family member and I have to defend it daily.  I often let visitors in to keep me company and to encourage creativity instead of TV/Computer time.  Having my family around adds a burst of energy.  I accept that not much work will be done in these times.

But for the times I do really focus, I try to start with the meditation table in the corner that is shielded by a colorful fabric screen I glued and sewed together from old fabric.  The Art Room is office, yoga space, art studio, welcome area, mini gallery, teaching space and sewing room all in one.  The screen helps me to hide the invading spaces when they are not being used.  It blocks them off to quiet the chaos.

I am currently working on adding to both of my portfolios – which I keep separate because of the subject matter. I am also working on another set of book illustrations for an author and I think it will be very fun.  I enjoy getting to the final product, but I often don’t like what I’ve done until I separate myself from it for a little while.  It helps me to dabble in multiple projects at times because it distracts my judging ego, helps me shift focus and give me inspiration.  

I love my studio, but I would love to have a space that is wide open with large windows.    I would love to have a place to do really large works and real walls instead of a screen.  I would love to have a futon to welcome guests and allow me a place to camp out or just daydream.  But it’s coming.  All in time.  It simply begins with a thought.

But for now I am so grateful to have a space to call my own (even if Thing 1 and Thing 2 slide in to keep me company...I'm glad to see them coming). 

Until next time, I hope that this blog finds you creatively turned on, happy and whole.

Blessings,

TeMika

Life Lists - Preparing to Kick the Bucket

It finally clicked recently that I ain't getting any younger.  Even worse, I'm realizing that I won't live forever, so I have officially started my bucket list.  I have been coming across information recently on how to create an effective bucket list.  For highly creative, idealistic people like me, it is important to have lists to keep me on track.  But what is even more important is attaching a TIME FRAME to get it done,  otherwise, it never will come into existence.

The C4 Atlanta Blogathon (#C4Atlanta) has prompted me to come up with 5 GOALS to achieve within the next 30 years (Just 5?  Really???).  I won't bore you with my list, but just as an example, I would like to own a motorcycle, an RV and/or a boat.  I guess I am feeling fernweh today (that's your vocabulary word for the day).  The thought of these modes of transportation make me feel free when I see myself using them.  Wide Open Space.  Wind blowing through my hair.  Warm weather.  Free.  That's how I want to feel.

The next task was to come up with 5 goals to accomplish in the next 5 years.  So I had a few repeated items, but that was ok because I really started to see what was important to me.  Setting a timeframe for accomplishment allowed me to see that, yeah I really do want to travel to Australia, but do I really have to do it soon?  Is it really important for me to live by the beach right now?  And if it is, then I better get to work!  I don't have a magic genie in my back pocket and if I want it then I need to make it happen.  You get where I'm going with this?

 Lastly, the prompt asked me to set 5 goals to accomplish in the next 12 months.  Gosh!  Put the pressure on, why don't cha!?!  Twelve months! That means by March 4, 2015 I will have to have become a Motocycle-Riding, Veggie-Loving-Yogi-Art Entrepreneur who is preparing to travel to CUBA!  See what I mean about creative and idealistic? But what the hell, stranger things have happened and the joy is in the journey.

I found this prompt very valuable because as I evaluate what is most important for me as an individual I realize I have to, in this life, do three things:

1.       Define what I value and want in life and go after it

2.       Realize my word must be law...If I want it, I have to get it.  If I say I am going to do it, then I need to start today...no excuses

3.        Keep living, enjoy the process and live like today is my last

So I ask YOU fellow creatives, Have you started your Bucket List?  What is really important for you to do in this lifetime and is there something you can do today to make it happen?

Until next time, I wish you peace, love and creativity!

TeMika