Motivation Monday- Are you resisting creativity or nourishing it?

Happy Monday! I hope you had a super awesome weekend. Thank you for helping me spread the word about my Kickstarter Project, I feel like I just can't thank you enough for all of your help.   I have a special surprise- my Portland friend Kat really wanted to guest post a motivation Monday :)  So here goes..

In the word’s of one of my favorite inspirational bloggers, Seth Godin, “What matters, what makes it art, is that the person who made it overcame the resistance, ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making. Something risky. Something human.”

We are all very familiar with the voice of resistance…well at least I am…  the resistance to the doing, making and living our dreams…

.....resistance.......... to the life force that resides deep inside ourselves, our soul; our truth. I know that in order to get over the resistance I have to creating, I need plenty of sleep and plenty of time by myself...... to think, do nothing and get my imagination running……

I often imagine that the soul, that harbors the creativity within each one of us, is a garden.  And that garden needs to be watered, exposed to sunlight, nourished and cared for in order to bloom.

Spring is in the air here in Portland and things are beginning to bloom. How will you overcome your resistance to creating? How will you nourish your creativity and soul this Spring?  

Thanks to Erika for the opportunity to guest post! Come check out more of my musings at: http://thesheddingofaformerself.blogspot.com/  

Calculus and a Cupcake

Happy Friday! I still can't believe I finally was able to launch my kickstarter project and I am so thankful for all the wonderful support all of you have given me this week.  I really needed it! The sun is shining and we had about an inch of snow yesterday and it was just enough for snow angels!

I snapped these photos outside of my house but I think they look a little alien like up close.  Don't you think?

Here is a little mixed media study for my etsy shop.  A cupcake painted on paper collaged over a sheet from an old teach yourself calculus book .  :)  Who doesn't love cupcakes? I do.. Have a great weekend! 

PS- Only 41 days left in my kickstarter project and help me spread the word.  Next week I am going have some tips and tricks for making a video! I was really nervous about making the video for my project and thank goodness I had help from people who know what they are doing and I learned a ton!

Day 42- Gravity is my enemy.

It's official I just want to announce my studio looks like a truck ran it over and backed in and did a couple of wheelies.  That might be the sound of productivity.  

Here is  my piece that I working on for a portrait show called Face2Face.  Yes portraits! I have never been in a portrait show before because I only do portraits in my sketchbook.  So I am a little nervous.  How the show works all the artists bring a cd of our own image to the artist party and then we put them in a bag and pick out a cd and that's who we paint. 

Who we receive is supposed to be a secret but we all know I have never been good with secrets.  You are talking to someone who would find her Christmas gifts early and rewrap them.   I put down a layer of 1960's pages of an old vintage dictionary and oil painted over the top.  She is sitting on the subway.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful support for my kickstarter project.  I am so incredibly thank full for everything. 

Outerspace

I just want to say thank you so much for all the nice words yesterday and all of the support that you have given me and I am truly thankful.  My kickstarter project will be up for the next 43 days and I still can't believe that I just got this project off the ground. Woohoo!  I was super nervous shooting the video because I am a little shy in front of the camera.

(oil study on paper)

The reason why I wanted to create my own artist  residency is because I thought number one it would be a great project to do and I have always wanted to do a artist residency.  Typically an artist goes to art school and then goes and does a residency or a fellowship, but sadly I never went to art school.  I also wanted to make art and take pictures and fund my project based on the book and my paintings.  So why not make my own residency?   That's where Kickstarter came into the picture.

I have a ton of art shows and events lined up in Portland for the next couple of months and planning on going to Hong Kong end of April.  Busy times! But who needs sleep?  What are you up to this Wednesday?

The Hong Kong Project

I am so excited! I am launching a kickstarter project.  I want to create my own artist residency in Hong Kong for two weeks and, at the end of this artistic journey, publish a coffee table and iPad book of my paintings, drawings, and photos.

Typically, an artist residency is where an artist visits a location to isolate themselves away from their typical environment. It allows the artist to have the gift of time to create based on entirely new creative influences!

I want to use this opportunity to create a series of oil paintings and drawings in order to be able to come back and edit and publish my first travel writing/art table book and have the book tell my story through artwork and photographs. 

I need your help! I need you to help me spread the word- so I can make my dream a reality.  Thanks for helping.  :)

Motivation Monday- small town girl, big city dreams.

 Hello! How was your weekend? It was a little chilly here but the sun was out in full effect this weekend.  My husband and I enjoyed some quality time, we had chocolate covered donuts, treated ourselves to cafe au laits, and  we took our little dogs on a couple of extra long walks. 

 In fact  little Winston gave up half way through the walk and laid down and said no more! Well he said no more with his sweet large bulging puppy eyes.

I want to show you this picture.  This picture I took when I was in Turkey this summer and it was at the amphi theatre in Ephesus.  There is a temple of Artemus and it is considered one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.  It was once a Greek City and then a Roman City, and is even mentioned in the bible.

Well first of all is was really HOT that day, over 100 degrees and I was melting and walking around the ruins.  :)  So my husband and I climbed on top of this amphi theatre and we looked out and it was a moment that I will never will forget.  It's a moment were you realize how large the world is and how small you are.

I often think being from a small city like Portland, that my dreams seem so big and far away.  One of the big reasons why I started a blog was to meet new friends beyond Portland.  I often think that I need to think beyond my small city and realize everything isn't so far away.  It's all with in my finger tips.

Happy Monday :) Creative thoughts you way.  It's official I have the green light on my project and I will announce tomorrow.  Woohoo!

99 loft balloons.

Check out these clouds outside my window yesterday.. sadly not snow clouds.  What are you up to this weekend? I am surprising my husband with a bottle of champagne rose and some pizza.  Pizza and champagne is the most magical combo. 

I have been working hard this week on lots of new paintings and a few little things for my etsy shop.  This little painting study is a girl holding some red balloons.   She is collaged over an 1960'song book and her song is Beautiful River.

Take it to the Bank!

 You wouldn't believe what happened yesterday.  Can you guess? We got about 10 minutes of big fat fluffy snow and we are supposed to get more this morning.  One of my dogs put one foot in the snow and turned around and sat on the front door mat and the other dog jumped right in and froze in position because he didn't know what to do with himself.  :) Silly dogs, they act like they have never seen an eighth of an inch of snow before.

Banksy? Have you head of him? He is a British street artist and activist whose identity remains unconfirmed.  I think one of the most interesting thing about Banksy besides his well thought out work is that the public as a whole doesn't know who he is.  He could be walking among us and most people would never know who he is.   Banksy created a brand into his character and his character is a famous one.  He hired sign painters to paint these in 2008.

I rewatched Exit Through the Gift Shop (on instant watch on Netflix if you have it) and it made me think how Banksy wasn't really the center of attention of the movie but was.  The documentary is about a film maker who chronicles the lives of street artists and gets obsessed with finding Banksy.  He finds Banksy and then ends up becoming a street artist himself but he doesn't know how to make art, so he hires people to make the art for him.

Another street artist that I love is Swoon and she is mainly known for her wheat paste cut out figurines.  I think she was the only woman street artist in the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.
She is also in the documentary Our City of Dreams, which follows women artists at different stages in their career.

 Alright enough education for one day.  Class is dismissed!

DIY -The Hunt

As you may know I love to go on the junk hunt... I mean treasure hunt.  I went on the hunt this weekend and I had some major scores and I am very proud that I negotiated! and fiercely!  I also wanted to give some pointers on the best ways to treasure hunt.

  (Old Radio- turquoise with handle)

Tip #1.  Estate Sales
If you want old stuff which is what I love this is where you can get the best stuff and usually for the best price.  I used to love going to garage sales but estate sales is where people want to get rid of everything and if you go on Sunday it's usually 50% off.  The above radio I got for $5 bucks and look at that cute handle.  When you go to an estate sales- look in closets and boxes- sometimes random people accidentally close drawers and doors.  Also if you want to buy something look at it and look at it carefully- if it's damaged you can probably get a few bucks knocked off.  If it's a professionally run estate sale- usually you can haggle if you buy in bulk or a large item.  Also you should ask the main pirate (person in charge) usually the minions will say no.  I think that radio might find it's way into one of my paintings.

(Old Iron, Old Stapler and 1960's dictionary)

Craigslist is a great resource to find estate sales but be careful because sometimes someone will put estate sale in the listing just to get people to come.  You will know it's a good if they say how many years worth of stuff there is- like 30-40 years worth of stuff.  DING DING DING! good sale.  If your in Portland this website estate finder is kind of amazing and they post pictures. 

(Piggy Bank from US Bank that shows date, and old radio)

Tip #2 Estate Auctions
First of all do not be intimidated.  If you need newer stuff and at a good price like furniture, bikes, house stuff this is soo much better than Good Will and better priced.  Most estate auctions have pictures for the coming up auction and if you see something you like then go to the preview.  When you go to the preview decide what your limit is going to be for the item and stick to it. 

(Look how cute her bangs are, but the pants are questionable)

The trick I have noticed with estate auctions is that the later you stay the cheaper the stuff goes for because people leave.  At the estate auction I go to- you tell one of the worker bees to put an item up, but like I said wait until later on in the auction.   Also they do everything in lots- so some stuff comes in bulk but sometimes the auctioneer will separate the items.  Estates Unlimited is the one by me and it's every Friday.  It's always is packed full of stuff and it's packed with people and they have 75 cent popcorn :) 

(Isn't this dreamy? Look at her cute salt water sandals)

Tip #3 Luck
There is some luck involved to finding really really good stuff.  If you keep your eyes pealed while driving you will see sales coming out of the wood work.  If it's an estate sale I will stop.  If it's a garage sale I will do a slow drive by and see if it's worth getting out of the car.  It really depends on what your looking for.  Me? I love anything old.
**

(Old Atlas and old teach yourself calculus book)

Lots of luck if you go treasure hunting. My friend Angela from Pickles on Pizza- loves the vintage hunt and has an adorable shop on etsy with all of her vintage finds.  

Don't Cross the Red Line

 cappysue

Do you know what the red line is?  I call it the red line of death.  Well the red line is when you cut .. scrape... scratch.. yourself and a red line can form.  The red line slowly grows and it goes straight for your heart.

mapmint

I cut my finger and put a little hydrogen peroxide.. neosporin.. and band-aid on it.  Later that day I was getting ready to go out that night.. it was Saturday night after all. :)

Dankcreations

And you know what was on my finger? The red line of death! So I proceeded to stick my finger in the bottle of hydrogen peroxide.  Then I started yelling for my husband to come immediately upstairs and bring a bowl.

ShebboDesigns

He yells from down stairs- What do you need a bowl for? I replied it is an emergency! So he runs up and he sees that I am upset and I carefully explain to him about the red line of death.  He asks me how come he has never heard of the red line of death and that I shouldn't worry about it.

 MileMurtanovski

I show him my finger and say look how red the line is.  I grab the bowl out out of his hands pour hydrogen peroxide and fill the bowl.  I dunk my whole hand in the hydrogen peroxide.  Trying not to scream in pain from the burning from the hydrogen peroxide.  I asked my husband if he could look it up on the internet and see what I am supposed to do and then call my mother.  He tells me he  is not calling my mother and that he will go and look it up.

AngelicAspirations

I am sitting on the floor in our bathroom, having my life flash before my eyes and contemplating which hospital I should go to.  My husband comes back and he has a sharpie in hand and lets me know we need to draw a line and if the red line crosses it we need to go to the hospital. 

Tbrown

He then marks my hand and says let me look at your hands.  He proceeds to look at my hands and he says.. You know what Erika.. You have these types of veins on each of your fingers and you are probably getting over excited causing your fingers to turn red.

 hawkgerber

My husband is bound to be right every once in awhile.  I'm still alive, even though those veins do look a little red.  Thank goodness I married a smart one.

Motivation Monday- Are you Dreaming Big Enough?

How was your weekend? Mine was spent looking at art, going treasure hunting, and watching old movies with my husband. :) I am starting to see small little signs of spring, but it's still quite gray here.  My little dogs are snoring away while I write this blog post and the sun hasn't quite come up yet.

For Motivation Monday- I want to pose a question to you.  Are you dreaming big enough? I know that sometimes it's easier to think of small steps and you need to think of those small steps, but sometimes I think I loose sight of that big fish. 

 What are you big dreams? Like BIG?. :) Sometimes I think we just need to say them out loud.

PS- Don't think I forgot Happy Valentines Day! Hugs and Hearts to you!