A New Year

Its a New Year and I am looking forward to new challenges. The past year, while being unemployed due to a layoff, I was able to establish my art on Etsy, get represented by a gallery, and really start to focus. Now after a year of looking, I have found a job and started working full time in the beginning of December. I love the job and I am so grateful to have found one in my field, but along with a full time job comes the challenge of getting motivated to create. O and did I mention that I am moving in March? I am miserable when I don't create, but I am finding that I lay down on the couch, fall asleep after dinner, then I am mad at myself for not working on something. I am sure there are others out there having a similar experience. Let me hear about it and tell me what you do to motivate yourself. The first five people who comment will win a small handmade prize made by me.

Have a Fantastic Holiday and a safe, healthy and Happy New Year. I am looking forward to a brand New Year of creative experiences and challenges!

First Snow

Yesterday was the first snow of the season. During this busy time it was nice to take some time just to watch it fall from the window of my apartment and reflect over the past year.

After being laid off for a year and two months, I start a new job tomorrow and at the end of March I am moving into a house with a room for a studio. I am excited to start this new chapter in my life. I am hoping that I will be able to balance my art, my new job, and setting up a new living space. This new job will give me practical experience with running an organization and who knows what will happen in the future. I have been thinking so much over the past year about my life, my career, and what is truly important to me. This new job is certainly a step in the right direction. I feel like I am starting to come into my own and really know what I want from life. I keep thinking it would have been nice to have been this confident when I was younger, would have saved lots of heartache and disappointment, but then again, what I learned when I was younger is why I am who I am today.

So during this busy Holiday Season, take some time to reflect, think about what is important to you, and know that each new day is a new chance to do what you want to do and to be the person you want to be!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Creative Distractions

If you read my blog you know that I was laid off from a full time arts administration job in Sept. 2008. This week I am waiting to hear if I have a new job. Waiting is torture! So I have been keeping myself busy with some creative distractions. I have been sketching, knitting, and working with the Through the Viewfinder technique I discovered a few weeks ago. Here are some images I took in a make-shift studio in my apartment's kitchen yesterday. The day went by so fast and I have some fantastic images to work with. Of course the day would have been even better if I found out if I got the job, but I guess we can't have it all. So I continue to wait and find more creative distractions.

Artist Trading Cards

I was doing some research on swaps and found a great forum and swapping site for Artist Trading Cards. It is a great way to create some art, its a small commitment and is a great way to collect art from artists all over the world. Check out ATCs for All.

Creative Block

I have not been feeling creative lately. I have been pushing myself to do creative things. Even with a new lens for my camera, I just haven't been inspired. Towards the end of last week, I decided to go online and look around at what other artist have been up to. I went to Etsy and just searched and searched for hours. I found many creations that inspired me and in my research I found a photographic process called Through the Viewfinder. It is a technique where you use a digital camera to photograph the viewfinder of a twin reflex camera. Being a toy camera fanatic, I saw the images this technique produced and I was on E-Bay and bidding on a 1950s Kodak camera. It came on Saturday and I was off with cameras in hand. Now I am excited about a new series of photographs, using the images with my mixed media art, creating a handmade book and new images on my website. I just spent today photographing fruit for three hours.
Creative block is hard, I can't imagine anyone who enjoys it, but there is a huge pay off if you can work through it. I have been reading a few books about creativity and they all agree that creative block is like a growth spurt and necessary for an artist to move ahead. Some things you may want to do while working through the block is to just sketch in a journal, do something creative that is completely different from what you are use to, take a class, or research on the Internet like I did. Here are some websites to help you through that pesky creative block. Break that Block!

What the Heck is Creative Block?View Blog
Over Coming a Creative Block
How to Get Rid of Creative Block

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