Shhh- My Souls Talking

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Shhh- hear that? That litany of voices in your head...how do you ever get anything done? I have the same mixture of sounds blaring through my skull every day. Here are a few things that I do to shush them up.

!. Julia Cameron is a genius...I write three pages in long hand everyday. EVERYDAY. Some times its lists, sometimes its notes, diary pages, sketches with catchy phrases...but everyday I write something. It totally dispels a bit of that noise and trash that's cluttering up my brain space.

2. Meditate- I sit for 10 minutes EVERY DAY in a quiet place and let my self quiet down and I just breathe. When a thought comes in my head, I gently imagine that I let it float into a box and then I concentrate on my breath again. Even if I only get a few seconds of real meditation everyday, a few seconds to me is better than none.

3. Walk outside. Go into nature. Sometimes just letting my bare feet touch grass and soil soothes the loudness in my brain.

Try one or all of these things. Get a routine set up, where you write, then meditate, and then maybe go outside. Slow down and b-r-e-a-t-h-e. With time you'll notice that its a lot more quiet and roomy in that ole skull of yours.

Saturday Project- Hand Carved Stamps

I've been hand carving stamps for my art journal, and I freaking love it sooo much! Making something with my hands and then being able to replicate it on all types of surfaces is so cool! Lately,  I've been working on one of a kind stationary- greeting cards, postcards, bookmarks, and stamps just work perfectly with them. I love little letters of affirmation, and I get so excited when I receive something in the mail- It's my favorite.

  I'm actually using a woodcarving set and some of my pottery tools to carve into the carving block. I just drew an image on a regular piece of paper, turned it over and scribbled on it- creating a transfer. Then I took an Exacto knife and cut the image down to a more manageable size on the block

 - then just trimmed the bulk of the block away...carefully(!)... with the scoopy tool. When I finished I tapped out all of the crumbs and stamp away! So easy! The block was only 2.97 from Micheal's but you can order it here too.

As you can see from the images, I still lack a little practice at taking my time and getting crisp edges. But that will come the more I carve. And this is the third stamp out of 1 4x4 block! I'll keep at this one and perfect it! I hope this will help you see how easy this is to do, I was so intimidated till I finally tried! Easy Peasy!

The Reason I'm a Bartender...for now...

 This is my awesome friend Xaine (Go to her site-NOW, you will be astounded by her talent)- an amazing Fiber Artist, super creative and talented in everyway; and-she's having a bad day today...ie: "I can't make it financially, I'm not good enough, I should just give up now,  I'll never make it" etc...

 I have these days A LOT. They're scary, debilitating  and sometimes brings on such a strong wave of depression, I won't even go into the Studio for days. WHY? What happens in our head that makes us do so well for so long and then in the blink of an eye we are so depressed we decide we'll never do anything with our lives and we may as well quit now. I know that when I have a bad night bar-tending or my bills are due, I  start thinking " If I wasn't such a crappy artist I wouldn't have to work at the bar" which continues into," I'll never make money, I'm not a real artist, I should quit now, I don't try hard enough"... which sends me into an even further decline of looking online and comparing my work to others work and getting jealous, and wishing and wanting, and not be as good as...which wastes DAYS. At the time I don't see that, but what I SHOULD be doing is CREATING THROUGH IT ALL!
 When I start feeling 'less than'- I need to get off my arse and get paint on my hands, or a pencil to some paper, and work through my pain, and self doubts. I have to force my way through that cloud of funk.

As for comparing myself to others- that should be a NO NO in all artists lives. I'm an orange your an apple- hell, usually i'm a cactus...not comparable- yet I do. Finding inspiration from other artists is awesome- being inspired to the point of jealousy or competition is CRAZY. I'll never make art like you- my soul is like a snowflake, a thumbprint...it's unique to me and even if I painted the same picture it would still not look exactly the same because it would have my art soul all over it.

 Yeah, so I'm not self employed yet, and I have to work another job to help out...but that should fuel me into wanting to work harder and prove to myself that I AM AN ARTIST! Sometime, part-time, quiet time, all the time... doesn't matter, I'm an Artist and as an ARTIST I have to MAKE. ART is MAKING AND DOING, not the done...not the product, and the more I make, the more options for others there are out there for some one to fall in love with, and want to purchase. I will forever more try to work through my depression instead of marinating in self loathing!!! That's a promise I'm making to me and you!

SADHAKA

Sadhake means the student who strives for a goal.

 This is the most recent painting I'm working on, and this is what I look like when I paint. Neither is too impressive right now, but both will clean up well! I'm doing the Artists Way again and we meet every Wednesday and I realized the reason I never fully commit to this (or Anything else) is because I'd have to know me completely...how terrifying! To know yourself inside and out, no self doubt, full conviction...tha'ts the scariest thing ever! But it's my goal. I've been doing some list making and mind mapping and I have my goals and priorities set and ready to accomplish, broken into month by month lists...it's totally doable, I just have to stay on my own ass to follow through. I let myself down more than anyone else and that's the first thing to change. I WILL follow through on every task I give myself for now own. No more jumping ship and running when things get too difficult. Wish me luck!