Category: Art Every Day Month

AEDM Day 26: Family Collage

No, I don’t have a bun in the oven!  Nor is there one planned for anytime soon.  However, when I was pulling magazine clippings for my values collage cards earlier this month, I happened to come across several Asian-American babies, kids and moms (and a dad!).  I figured I’d grab them while I could since it’s rare to see faces like me in the mainstream media (although it’s getting better).

I’m still not 100% sure I’m ready to take the parenthood leap (and who ever is?!)  I love my quiet mornings where I get to wake up without an alarm clock.  I worry that being an HSP would make motherhood ultra-draining.  Plus, Brian and I are used to living pretty independent and flexible lives (which include lots of sleep and a deep involvement in our work).  Life is good.  Sure, we’ve talked about having a family… in the future.  When I look at this collage, I see a vision that’s fun, creative, loving, connected, healthy and joyful, so that makes the whole idea a little less scary.  And it reminds me of the magic of childlike wonder.

Last week, I was in Montclair after my dentist appointment and I walked by this super cute storefront called The Tulip Grove.  I’m going to a friend’s baby shower this weekend, so I figured I’d go in and get a gift.  This is not just a baby shop, it’s also a community/education center complete with a classroom for workshops and support groups.  I was talking to the store owner because I love to connect with local entrepreneurs and it turns out that I met her business partner last year at a Ladies Who Launch event.  I remember her talking about this vision she had to create a destination spot for new moms.  It was awesome to see how beautifully her vision came to life!  And I love knowing that should the time come for me to need a resource like that, I know where to go!

Oh, and one other random thing about my collage… The strawberry is actually scratch n’ sniff!  I just had to cut it out cuz it smelled so good.   I used to have a scratch n’ sniff sticker collection when I was a kid, so it seemed appropriate for this piece. 🙂

AEDM Day 25: Staying Warm and Toasty

With the chilly weather here, it’s hard to believe that I actually went for a dip in the pool on a sunny afternoon just last week.  Cooler days and grayer skies call for sips of soothing tea or yummy cocoa to warm my spirits.  Today’s art is in honor of some of my favorite cold weather beverages.  Okay, perhaps tomato soup doesn’t totally count, but I do usually drink it out of a mug!

I’m super sensitive to caffeine so a Spicy hot chocolate from Bittersweet is an extra-special treat to be had early in the day.  And of course it must be topped with one of their homemade marshmallows!  (Oops, I misspelled it on my drawing – no spell check with handwriting!!  Heehee.)

Right now, I’m nursing a lovely cuppa Calming Yogi Tea before I call it a night.  Cheers!

AEDM Day 23: Little Knitted Bag

My mom taught me how to knit about four years ago while I was sick during Christmas.   My mom is always working on some knitting project.  I haven’t knitted for many, many months, but with her here visiting, I got inspired to do a little knitting again.   I know if I ever drop a stitch or get stuck, mom can lend a hand!

Today’s piece is a little knitted bag that I learned how to do a few years ago in a class.  It was my first venture into decreasing and increasing and is a great standby for when I want to have a finished product in a relatively short amount of time.  I still need to finish up the i-cord and the little leaf detail, but I’ll do that tomorrow.  Felt good to be working with yarn and needles again.  Maybe my next project will be the felted dog collar pattern from the teacher I took my other classes from.  I think Emmett would like that.

AEDM Day 21: Fall Leaves

While walking Emmett this evening, a tree caught my eye.  The golden leaves looked so stunning against the midnight blue of the sky.   That inspired my art for today.

I recently finished Keri Smith’s latest book How to be an Explorer of the World and enjoyed her simple suggestions for appreciating the beauty all around us in our day-to-day lives.  She encourages us to pay attention to our senses.  As an “N” (Intuiting preference) on the MBTI, I tend to notice patterns, themes and meaning – more of the intangible qualities.  What I got out of reading this book were ideas to cultivate more “S” (Sensing) ways of taking in information like observing specific, concrete details and literal data.

I gathered fallen leaves and then took them home to do crayon rubbings. I practiced my sensing muscle by trying to describe specific details like color and texture.  I look forward to more exploration of the world!

AEDM Day 20: Colors and Lines

A simple doodle tonight.  Brian started it off with a scribble which I then turned into this shape and filled in with color.  A nice, quick exercise!

And how cute is this?  I met with a woman named Kimiko Sakuma this afternoon to share ideas with her about how to incorporate art and creativity with her instructional design background.  As a thank you she made me this super sweet and thoughtful card and treat!

AEDM Day 19: Book Sell Sheet Part II

So, I kept the commitment that I made in yesterday’s post to spend the afternoon today doing work related to the book.  I printed out drafts, organized my book binder and did some writing.  I also did the second side of the future book sell sheet.  I based it on the format of the other examples my book coach provided me but added a creative touch.

Feels good to have made more progress on my project.  And as luck would have it, our guest speaker at the SF Coaches meeting talked about the process she went through writing her book.  She had a friend call her each morning to hold her accountable!  She also shared how she helped her clients finish their books and other creative projects by simply taking small steps.  It could be just writing one paragraph each day and then slowly working up to a page per day.  Or spending 15 minutes a day painting.  Before you know it, you’ll be farther along that you every thought you could be!  I like that approach.

AEDM Day 18: Book Sell Sheet Part I

We just had our Ladies Who Launch Oakland member meeting tonight.  I invited bestselling author and publishing expert Jennifer Basye Sander to give us insider tips on how to get published.  Writing and publishing seem to be in the air.  On Thursday, I’ll be participating in a call “Ask the Author: Writing/Coaching” through the Creative Artists community that I co-lead on the Co-Active Network.  Plus, several of my clients happen to be working on books and I’m slowly plugging away at my own book.

A couple of months ago my book coach suggested that I do a visionboard-esque sell sheet for my book to help inspire me.  She sent me a few examples of traditional sell sheets and encouraged me to make one with my own creative flair.  So, that’s what I took on for my art for today.  I’m also working on the back side that has more details like bio, media and marketing highlights and testimonials.  Last year, I made a fake book jacket and that manifested in being featured in two books this year.  So, I’m hoping that by creating this visual reminder for myself, I’ll be more focused on my writing and finishing the rest of the draft.

I enjoy writing when I allow myself to jump in and be in the flow.  It’s just a matter of making that time and energy commitment.  As I reflect on passing the AEDM half-way point, I notice that I habitually save the art for the end of the day.  No wonder why, under normal day-to-day circumstances, art-making falls by the way side.  Same with the writing.  It doesn’t happen unless I carve out time on my calendar (and turn off my e-mail!!).  So, tomorrow I’m blocking out noon to 4:00pm to spend on writing and book-related work in preparation for my weekly 9:00am Thursday check-in with my ever-so-patient book coach.

P.S. – The Tuesday Kiss the Paper posts are up.  My question to the sisters this week was, “What do you wish for your sister?”

AEDM Day 17: Elements Mind Map

I’m still trying to figure out what I want to put on the pages of the Exploding Box I made yesterday.  I made a visual mind map of some ideas (from a book called The Art of Ritual) that would fit the structure of the four sections.  During the leadership program I went through, every morning we practiced a ritual that honored the four directions and seasons.  It was a symbolic way to start the day. I’m still in the middle of my creative process around how I want to complete this project, so I’ll sleep on it and see what comes up tomorrow!