-image-Creative Results and My Newsletter

February 28, 2007 | E.R. News & Such, A Kick in the Butt, Go Ahead - Create It!

Some of you may or may not have noticed that I have a sign up form for a newsletter in my side bar. In fact, I know some of you have signed up and I owe you an apology because you’ve gotten nothing from me as yet. My excuse is that I’m changing systems, you signed up with Constant Contact and I’m changing to 1ShoppingCart, but I’m still trying to figure out how to make the new system work. It’s a crappy excuse for not keeping in touch with you though. So, my apologies. I’ve got an idea of the direction I’m going in, and I’m excited to start sending stuff out to you and tt’s on my list of priorities to get this all worked out this month. (Actually, I’m going to take the newsletter signup down for now, I’ll repost it when I’m up and running.)

(It’s been pointed out to me that some of you may not realize that Flaming Renaissance is the blog of myself and my business, Everyday Renaissance, through which I coach, speak, and teach on all the kinds of things I blog on: being creative, living abundantly, discovering yourself. Which is why I have a blog with a newsletter… I’m working on Everyday Renaissance’s website and full and complete launch as we speak; I’m planning to have exciting news by the spring! I’ll keep you all posted)

Anyway, on with the interesting stuff.

Last week I posted the Walk in This World Exercise to make a list of 20 Creative Things, I promised I’d share mine just as soon as I had it, so I’m making good on my word.

Here is, in brief, my 20 Small Creative Things I Could Do:
1. Go for a Walk
2. Have a long luxurious bath
3. Buy Comics
4. Read Comics
5. Laugh - uncontrollably
6. Read a good book - a fictional waste of time
7. Buy Flowers
8. Do Nothing
9. Watch birds fly
10. Write down the poem for Wakizashi
11. Go on a photo scavanger hunt
12. Try a new recipe
13. make and send cards to friends
14. Give something away
15. Draw something from Life
16. Write off of a prompt
17. Indulge in a chick flick
18. Surf for online art
19. Buy someone’s art (I really like these, especially the “Goddesses”)
20 Scrap a page

I showed you mine, now you show me yours!

-image-Paintings - As Promised

February 27, 2007 | Just Me, Art & Such

Here, as promised, are the paintings I finished this week while on my retreat. (Sadly, scanning is not the ideal method of digitizing these paintings it seems. You’ll just have to take my word for it that the flowers are really much more detailed and lovely in person!)

I’ve already redrawn this painting double it’s size. I’m hoping to get the highlights better on her face in the larger version, although, I should say, the whiteout of the flowers (caused by the scanner) makes her shadows look much more overwhelming (or off) than they are on the original.

I love this piece. What do you think?

Can you blame me? It’s beautiful (if I do say so myself).

I’ve been pondering what to call it. The only thing I’ve come up with is “Beauty” (or maybe “Beautiful”); it makes me think of another painting that I’ve done, and plan to continue a series on, called Wonder (I have another reference photo for “Bliss” in progress too) in which case the one word name would tie it into the series. I especially like the analogy that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and this is a beautiful image of an eye. Of course, it could be a little corny…

This one came out looking a little more “illustrated” than realistic (I’m blaming it on the lack of a face to build up layers with). And I’m still working on a title for this one too. (This scan is also less impressive, you’re missing a lot of the cloud detail, but you get the idea.) The reason I painted it is because I had been thinking about a kite as an analogy for prayer and when I went looking for images of kites I found this. The vast sky between the boy and the kite struck me and I’ve been saving it to paint. So, I’m thinking of calling it “Praying” (I thought about something like “Like a Child” or some such, but thought it was definitely corny!) I want whatever I name it to make the person looking at it think about something more than what a cute kite flying illustration it is. I’m thinking of painting it larger (it’s only about 6×4) too.

-image-On Our Deepest Fears

Mentor Meditations

I first heard this quote in Akeelah and the Bee (a movie every pre-teen child, and hopefully dreaming woman needs to watch by the way), and it’s been carried around in my soul ever since. It’s true. Don’t just read it: digest it. Devour it. Marinate in it.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
~Marianne Williamson (emphasis mine)

Now, what are you going to do about it?

-image-Deepest Fears and Powerful Points

A Kick in the Butt, A Pick Me Up, The Real You

When I got back from my trip I had a small pile of emails to read and respond to, among them was one from Jana telling me to visit a particular post she had made in my absence (it was in relation to our on-going conversation). I’m so glad she did, because I happen to love the quote she was posting in response to (see today’s other post).

Sometimes, I talk to people about who I am and what I do and I can see the look of doubt that washes across their face. It’s all well and good, they tell me, but… I know what they are thinking. It’s selfish, too self-focused, I understand, I once thought like that too. That’s one of the reasons I love this quote, because I’ve since discovered that it is the furthest thing from selfishness.

It’s sometimes hard to explain to women (especially women, it has to do with our nurturing natures I think) that taking care of ourselves, loving ourselves, and investing in our own dreams and callings, is the greatest gift we have to give to the others in our lives. Jana makes a powerful point:

To hold back, to be afraid, is to deny OTHERS…

Who are we not to be ourselves? Not to live up to everything that was put in us to be?

That’s the ultimate act of selfishness. To hold back from allowing ourselves to explore everything that we have within us to give because it’s scary is selfish. It denies others the beautiful things, loving words, and powerful acts that were yours to put into this world. But, even worse than that, it tells our children, our sisters, and everyone we brush up against, in subtle, unspoken words, that it’s not ok to reach and stretch for dreams and that living - truly living - is more than any of us can and should ask for. It tells others to sit down, be quiet, and do what’s expected of them.

So, I’m being gorgeous, talented, and fabulous, I’m doing it to make sure that you know it’s ok for you to be gorgeous, talented, and fabulous too!

-image-I Came Back!

February 26, 2007 | Get Inspired!, Just Me

You may now all let out a collective sigh of relief! Not that you hardly missed me what with my ingenius forethought to post-date posts for you. I’m so smart! I’m so smart! (Never mind, I’ll finish my little song in private.)

How was your weekend? Mine was lovely. There was only one true flaw - I didn’t get to sleep in the entire time.
Day 1 - I woke up at 7:30 with the uncontrollable need to pee. I tried to roll over and go back to sleep but it flet like someone had stuck a water-balloon in my pajamas, so I gave up and got up. Once you get cold, there’s really no going back to bed you know. Day 2 - I was awake at 8:30 (yes, 8:30 is early for me, or at least, it’s not sleeping in), no reason, I just woke up. Sigh… Day 3 - was the dog’s fault. My hostess had a lovely dog who was locked (with the cats) in the kitchen (she works on the weekends so I was blissfully alone - I love being alone). On Day 2 (her first day of work) he had cried when he heard me moving around and realized he wasn’t alone. So, I let him in with me. On Day 3 his natural genius kicked in; he figured I must be home and so decided to wake me up, at around 7:10 or so by crying and howling miserably. There’s only so much of that you can sleep through. I let him in my room and tried to get back to sleep, but that whole “once you are cold” phenomenon kicked in and I was up.

I had really been planning on the sleeping in, so I’m not as well rested as you would expect after four days of having nothing to do and nowhere to go! Oh well, it was wonderful none-the-less. Sigh… I don’t want to make you all jealous so I won’t go into details or anything. Suffice it to say I spent the time in a little farm house in the middle of nowhere with no cooking or cleaning and no schedule. Every mother’s dream.

I did, happily, find the space (within myself, not the house, the house is a painter’s home and full of literal art space) to begin to paint again. On Friday I set out to paint (that was a mistake) I spent most of the day dabbling and fidgeting (I covered one canvas - acrylic - over three times dissatisfied with what I’d done on the lower layer - and I still hate what’s on it). Then I decided that what I really needed to do was paint my way, my things, only if I really wanted to paint them (not because I was supposed to be painting). So, the next day I read, and I wrote in my journal, and then I began to draw. I draw in my sketchbook and suddenly, I had to paint. I just had to. (I love working with people, but I find it much easier to paint in their three dimensions than to draw them). I finished two small paintings that afternoon. Small, but lovely.

I’m going to try and post them. I’m immensely happy with them. They are so me, and they are pretty darn impressive (if I do say so myself). I’ve actually already redrawn one of them onto a larger sheet of paper so I can see what it would look like big (I’m thinking of doing the other big too).

What I discovered:
As much as I love looking at other painters’ works I need to not evaluate my own work in comparison to theirs. There’s not some limited “Talent” pool where once the others take there share what’s left is all there is like it or not. There’s room for all of us to be immensely talented - in our own ways. (It’s actually only skill that sets us apart, and that can be learnt.) So, I need to stop thinking about what paintings others would want, or others would paint, and simply paint my own works. After all, I’m not painting them for you (as much as I’d like you to like them and gush and comment with tons of compliments) I’m painting them for me.

My hostess had a phrase written on a display in her home; it caught my attention: God is my audience. It’s something worth keeping with me, I think.

(p.s. I’ll let you be my audience too, just as soon as I get the work from real to digital format.)