Recovering a Sense of Safety: The Artist's Way Begins

My life changed the day I signed up for an Artist’s Way Creative Cluster with Gretchin at Scarlet Star Studios in Portland. I was so profoundly changed, that with Gretchin’s blessing, I began offering my own version of Creative Clusters in Salem. My first group was several years ago and last night a new Creative Cluster began, this one in my brand new Alley Art Studio. Ahhhh, home again. Four beautiful and eager women gathered in a circle to begin their own journeys of transformation. For the next 12 weeks, we will gather weekly to discuss the tenants of Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way, talk about personal stuff, and get our hands a little messy with a variety of creative projects. We'll be laughing together, crying together, and creating together. And once a week I'll post a little blurb about our meeting. Last night we got to know each other, then did a collage project. Here's the new studio space ready for the special guests to arrive . . .

It didn't take long for everyone to get comfortable and settled in.

Let the cutting and gluing begin.

Block Trifecta: Around the Block #1

I'm ready to send off my blocks for the first round of the swap I'm participating in, Around the Block. My blocks are wrapped in tissue and tucked safely inside a padded envelope (and festively decorated for their journey) to make their way to Sarah Fishburn in Colorado. I will be receiving three blocks from Carolyn, who lives in Illinois, sometime next week. I can't wait to see what theme she has chosen. One of the things I love about swaps and round robins is the connection with artists from all across the US.

Oh, and I want to mention that I will be teaching the first round of my newest class, Bountiful Blocks next Saturday, September 12th. If you live in or near Salem, Oregon, think about registering. The cost is only $30 and all supplies are included. Speaking of supplies, I made my way to a woodshop in Salem yesterday to scavenge for pieces of wood worthy to do art on. BINGO! And Howard has agreed to do some cutting of the longer pieces . . .

Drum Roll: I Won a Great Giveaway!

I want to share, introduce, toot the horn of . . . well, you get the idea . . . Seth Apter. I was introduced to Seth when I joined with him and hundreds of other artists earlier this year in his Disintegration Collaboration. Seth is always coming up with creative ways to connect artists from all over the world. Once I discovered Seth's blog, The Altered Page, I was hooked. You're going to want to take a peek for yourself.

One of Seth's many projects is The Pulse, which Seth describes as : This is an ongoing, online project that focuses on the art blogging community. There have been three editions of The Pulse to date. Two have been artist surveys and one was a project called "Playing Favorites" where the participating artists shared a picture of their favorite artwork that they have made and a story to go along with it.

A while back, Seth had a giveaway to celebrate his blog's two-year birthday. Lucky me, I was one of two winners. I have in my possession a copy of Seth's zine, The Pulse Artist Survey and it is packed with artist goodness. Many of my favorite artists answer such questions as "Top 10 ways to get into a creative groove," or "In a few words or a few sentences, how would you describe your artistic style?"

If you would like to order a copy for yourself, or see some of Seth's artwork that is for sale, check out his Etsy site. In the meantime, here's a sampling of his zine, which also shows the cover art he did for this publication. Thanks, Seth!

Hippo Hardware and Trading Company

Recently, I recommitted myself to the Artist's Way. That means I'm back to doing weekly check-ins with a group who have completed an Artist's Way Creative Cluster with me. In addition, I've resumed writing Morning Pages (daily journal pages) and more recently, decided I want to get back into the practice of going on a weekly Artist's Date (both Morning Pages and Artist's Dates are part of practicing the principles of the Artist's Way). An opportunity to take an Artist's Date abruptly presented itself while I was in Portland dropping off a piece of art at the 100th Monkey Studio. I was winding my way to I-5, when I spied a store I have wanted to visit for years: Hippo Hardware and Trading Company. I found a parking spot right on Burnside and told myself it was meant to be.

The store? Well, it was pretty fabulous. If you needed some kind of fixure or socket or unusual bit or bob for around your house, this would be the place to check. The downside? Not much was priced and the things that were priced were on the expensive side. A few items I took to the counter for pricing were more than I wanted to spend. But like I said, if you were needing a special item, say a switch or a doorknob or a toilet seat or or or, this would be an excellent place to check. Oh, and I must mention that all of the people who worked there were exceptionally friendly (and funny). It was well worth the trip just to browse and allow yourself to be slackjawed in wonderment. Here are some photos I snapped as I took my first Artist's Date in a very long time.

Hippo Hardware is located at 1040 E. Burnside in Portland. What a hoot!

Just Keep Going

Just keep going. That was what I had to tell myself this morning as I approached my studio. I was feeling a bit disheartened, a lack of confidence for sure, the negative chatter getting louder and louder.

Back in early July, I responded to an open call for artists to contribute an 8x8 piece of art to the 100th Monkey Studio in Portland. The studio was assembling a “50-50 Show,” inspired by the 100th monkey phenomenon and with a theme of art as social change. The deadline to submit artwork was today and as of this morning, I had nothing.

I had been thinking about what I wanted to do for weeks and various ideas floated in and out of my head. I talked to my daughter Amy about some themes, talked to Howard about how I wanted to approach the piece. I read and reread the story about the 100th monkey phenomenon. In case you’re wondering what the heck the phenomenon is, here’s how the studio describes it:

The name of the studio was inspired by a story one of the partners read. It is a story that some believe to be fiction, but the message is one of positive social change.

The Japanese monkey, Macaca Fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years. It was documented that in 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists had been leaving the monkeys sweet potatoes in the sand in exchange for a look into their social culture.

In 1958, one female was documented as washing the sweet potatoes in a nearby stream to rid it of the dirt and sand. She was documented as teaching the habit to her mother and her playmates. The new trait spread throughout the island. Suddenly not just on this island, but on surrounding islands and onto the mainland monkeys were washing their food.

The number 100 is merely a symbol, but in the story it was used to recognize when the trait forever changed the species. This magical occurrence was named the 100th Monkey Phenomenon.

So today I arrived at the studio knowing I had a small window to create a piece of art for the show and then hop in my car and get it to Portland, an hour's drive away. I took a deep breath, put Black Eyed Peas on my iPod, danced around a bit, said a little prayer, and told myself to “do what I know.” And so I did, I started to glue down tissue paper and words, I added texture and designs. I danced and told myself to just keep going. Before I knew it, my piece was complete, except for a title. I went to my bookshelf and pulled out a book of quotes from author Paulo Coelho and the first quote I read was the one I chose (from The Zahir).

We are all growing and changing,
We notice certain weaknesses
That need to be corrected,
And although we may not always
Choose the best solution, we carry on regardless.

I added a line from the quote to my art: we carry on regardless. I glued the full quote from the book to the back of my art so whoever purchases it can know where the line on the front came from.

The final embellishment was a little clay piece that I purchased from Clarissa Callesen at ArtFest last year and was what I named the piece: ASPIRE.

Here's how my morning progressed:

My finished piece, Aspire.

I jumped in the car, drove to Portland, had lunch with Amy and my grandsons, dropped off the piece at the 100th Monkey, and before hopping back on I-5, I made a little stop at a store I’ve been wanting to visit for years. But that’s another blog post . . . .

The studio where my art will be hanging:

The show is a celebration of the studio’s third anniversary (3rd Annual Juried Show) and a fundraiser for the 100th Monkey Scholarship Fund (50-50 Show). For the 50-50 show, there will be 50 artists participating and each piece of art will be sold for $50. Please join the First Friday Opening on September 4th from 6:00-9:00 p.m. The studio is located at 110 S.E. 16th Avenue and the show runs through the end of September.