Got Artist's Block? Try This !!!

Anyone out there facing some kind of ARTIST'S BLOCK?

As a rather new 'artist' (yes, I still put it in quotes, 'cause I am "just playing" with art, I guess ... it takes a whole lot of courage and gumption to say I AM AN ARTIST) ... what I struggle with is this: I came to the awareness a week ago, while chatting with my friend Margy, that (right now, anyway), I feel SAFER and MORE COMFORTABLE "making art" when I am in a class setting, or a workshop ... "with others".

One part of what I love about art is ... the COMMUNITY of art. I love the people. I love the synergy. I love the passion and the creativity and the energy. I have been fortunate to find great art teachers, people who can RELAY the information needed to teach a new technique, and who leave me INSPIRED to ... do it.

And while there is nothing 'wrong' with preferring or being more comfortable in such a setting, the thing is: I really really really want to incorporate MAKING ART into my DAILY life, and I can't afford the time & finances to TAKE A CLASS A DAY. :-) Really.

I have a beautiful MAS (My Art Space) in our garage now, I have a whole lot of art supplies just waiting to be all used up. It's that HOLDING BACK, that FEAR OF FAILURE that makes me unable to Just Do It.

So when I come home from a class, I face the FEAR of "not doing it right". Goodness, when it comes to art, what does "right" mean, anyway?

So along with Julia Cameron's THE ARTIST'S WAY, and along with LIVING THE CREATIVE LIFE by Ricë Freeman-Zachery, I am finding that the work of PATTI DIGH is opening doors for me -- in my head and in my heart and in my gut.

You know what I mean. The GUT is what tells you you're "in intuition" ... right? It's my gauge, anyway. Head - left brain. Heart - right brain, full of emotion and feelings. Gut - intuition, pure & simple.

Patti Digh's book LIFE IS A VERB: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally is amazing. (thank you, Ann, for pointing me to Patti's work ... you are SO my muse, Ann. you introduce me to so very much of the good in my world and I cherish you, for your friendship and for your "knowing" just what will appeal to me. it's a real gift.)

Living the Creative Life is available many places, including through Dick Blick: http://www.dickblick.com/products/living-the-creative-life/?wmcp=yahoo&wmcid=SiteSubmitProducts&wmckw=Living+the+Creative+Life

LIFE IS A VERB: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally - Patti's website - is at: http://www.pattidigh.com/

LIFE IS A VERB (the book) is available here:

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Verb-Days-Mindful-Intentionally/dp/1599212951

But what really has me excited right now is this: Patti and her friend and mentor, David Robinson, will be co-facilitating a TELE-COACHING CLASS for six months -- SIX MONTHS -- along the lines of the "work" outlined in LIFE IS A VERB. It begins July 7, and there will be two phone 'coaching calls' each month for six months. SIX MONTHS, friends.

What can you accomplish in six months? MY INTENTION is to get out of my own way - to get out from behind the FEAR that keeps me from trying things on my own ... like making art ... the fear of 'not doing it right' ... the fear that 'it won't be good enough'. Because as a child, I often heard messages along the lines of ... "you're not getting it right", "you're not good enough", and/or "you don't look the part". Stuff like that. IF YOU ARE A PARENT, please please note that verbal & silent messages we send to our kids WILL have a lifelong impact. I'm here to tell you!

So - if you're struggling with ARTIST'S BLOCK -- take the time and get inspired, get soothed, get motivated -- grab the books I mentioned, find other resources, talk to other artists - they ALL struggle with this at times. I'm sure of it. And CHECK OUT PATTI DIGH's website. Take a look at what "story" you might be hanging on to, hiding behind ... that's keeping you from living YOUR best life.

With love from your evolving ...

-- Princess Magpie

The Joy of Less, by Pico Iyer

Thank you, PATTI DIGH {Life is a Verb: 37 Days} for posting this on Facebook this morning. WOW, what a powerful testimony to the simple(r) life / lifestyle.

The Joy of Less
By Pico Iyer

http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/the-joy-of-less/?pagemode=print

I read it, each and every word, and it so resonated within me. Yet, I am not ready to "give up" and to "simplify" to the same level Pico has. But it's something I aspire to ... with maybe my art supplies left to add to my happiness :-).

Funny thing is, I had a most vivid dream last night:

I was in a large apartment-style building, with hundreds of other families. As we all looked out our front windows to see what the commotion we could hear was all about -- we saw a sea of emergency vehicles -- fire trucks, police cars, paramedics, ambulances -- literally thousands of them - just across the avenue from our building. {now mind you, I live in a single-family house now, but have lived in my share of apartments & condos over the years - yet nothing like this; this was in a big-city setting. ANYWAY ...}

They were trying to shout to us something important -- but we could barely hear them. We asked them to use a bullhorn - which they did - and what we heard was this:

"A huge fire is rolling this way and you MUST evacuate in 5 minutes. TAKE ONLY YOUR MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSIONS, AND YOU MUST CARRY WHAT YOU BRING WITH YOU."

You can imagine, I'm sure, what went through my mind {sub-consciously, or was I now partly awake?! it was hard to tell ...}. PHOTOGRAPHS. CHILDHOOD MEMORIES. THINGS FOR THE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN THAT THEY MIGHT NOT THINK TO TAKE ALONG. {you see, we were ALL in this one large apartment - and it was filled with "things". Possessions. so the question really became: WHAT is so important about all this STUFF?!} So I grabbed several sacks and totes and bags, filling them with irreplacable items, and even some replaceable items {including a Breyer horse statue from my childhood ... which have in reality long since disappeared from my possession, although I miss them to this day}.

And all the while, my mind kept repeating ... "so now I will get to live that simple life - with not much of anything around me. I wonder how that will go?"

The whole LESS IS MORE quandary -- is that true? Is it true for everyone, or just for some?

And this morning, I woke up to Patti Digh's post that we "must read" this article.

Powerful validation that my dream was trying to tell me something.

Your,

-- Princess Magpie, aka Davielle

and don't you just know that my nickname, PRINCESS MAGPIE, is now ... worrying me. I really am quite the magpie (gathering things), and I wonder if it's offensive to people. I even wonder if somehow, it's offensive to myself.

Rainbow

Oh, thank you to Patti Digh (LIFE IS A VERB: 37 days) for posting this ... and thank you to Ann, my blogging mentor and dear friend, for sharing this with me today.

please please please

take the time to view and listen.

I promise you goosebumps and maybe even tears.

EVA CASSIDY has been a favorite of mine ever since my friend Karyl 'introduced' me to her songbird-style music back when we worked together at CCI.

With no further ado, here's the link:

http://www.37days.com/2009/05/come-over-the-rainbow-with-me-just-for-a-moment.html

your,

PRINCESS MAGPIE

ART IS A VERB from author Patti Digh

Author PATTI DIGH (Life is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally) had this really fun post on her blog today ... I was so taken with the creative challenge she's putting out there, I just had to "borrow" it and see what you all think:

"10 May 2009
Look for art in your days.
Let's art! Art is a verb, right?

Thanks to all who responded to

the idea of making art for others. In this photo are the five names I drew from the old basket the Easter bunny always left for me when I was a kid.
If your name is pictured, email me at patti(at)pattidigh(dot)com and let me know your mailing address. Sometime this year, before the end of 2009, you'll find a handmade surprise from me in your mailbox!

As I looked at all the other names left in that Easter basket, I wondered if perhaps you'd like to choose someone else who left a comment and gift them with art this year (perhaps the person who commented just after you did?), or perhaps find five people in your life to gift with art before the end of the year. Surprise someone! Or put this whole idea out into the world in a bigger way wherever you are.

There is a certain joy in making. Do you need to be "an artist?" No. We are all artists. That's the truth of it. We come into the world making art. Let's reclaim that insane energy of creation, that space where YES is the impulse, not no. The place where the offer, not the object itself, is the thing of beauty.

There is a certain joy in making. In making something for someone--even someone you don't know and may never meet--to anticipate the smile it brings them, to have them know that YOUR hands, where YOU are, made the thing that is now in THEIR hands, where THEY are.

Creative is a verb, my friends. Let's."

You can visit Patti Digh's blog at: http://www.pattidigh.com/

Oh, Patti, this is the most terrific creative challenge ... thank you, thank you. I hope lots of new people visit your website / blog pages and buy your LIFE IS A VERB book, and take you up on this oh-so-incredible artistic challenge.

Let's all make 2009 an ART-FULL year, shall we?

-- Princess Magpie

Mixed Media - Round Two

With very mixed emotions, I embark tomorrow on another six-week class of MIXED MEDIA delights with local artist and amazing teacher & friend, Jane LaFazio.

Maybe it's appropriate to take a MIXED MEDIA class -- or six of them! -- with MIXED emotions.

I found out on Friday night that my friend-since-Junior-High, Sue, who in August would have celebrated her 30th wedding anniversary {my only trip to Las Vegas was to be her Maid of Honor, way back in 1979}, lost her beloved husband Ernie Llanos to cancer. He was just 59.

I found out on Saturday afternoon, from my sweet cousin Kathy, that our aunt Aggie - who is much beloved in our family - has been hospitalized for kidney failure. I have not yet been able to reach our cousin, Charlotte, who is Aggie's daughter, for an update.

And I found out this morning that the most amazing, big-hearted, incredible man in San Diego, my former boss, MICKEY CAFAGNA, lost his battle with cancer yesterday morning. He was just 65.

MIXED EMOTIONS doesn't begin to describe ... how I'm feeling today.

Happy Easter, Happy Pesach, Happy Spring to you all -- and remember to LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE YOU HAD JUST 37 DAYS LEFT (a la Patti Digh, LIFE IS A VERB) and remember to TELL & SHOW YOUR LOVED ONES you love them and remember to ... just be kind. To one another, and to yourself.

-- Princess Magpie