Art Every Day Month – Page 9 – Life Unfolds Blog

Out of the Box – AEDM Day 9

I have two back-to-back dream box workshops at It’s Yoga. Just got back from the one today with the 28-day Teacher Trainers and had such a blast with them. Each group has it’s own energy and this one felt gentle, inviting and playful. I loved hearing about all their different dreams including opening up a retreat center in the woods, singing opera and much more!

I dove right in, too, and made my own dream box this time. This new box is about being a leader in Expressive Arts Coaching. Participating in the Art Every Day Month challenge has been a great way to really get my creative juices flowing and I’m so excited about where this new direction is taking me in the coaching community.

Back to the yoga studio tomorrow for the weekend warriors!

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, It’s Yoga Teacher Training, dream box, Law of Attraction, Expressive Arts Coaching, art visioning[/tags]

Purls of Wisdom – AEDM Day 8

I just got home from a knitting class at Article Pract. The talented and creative Julie Weisenberger, of Coco Knits, is teaching us how to make adorable felted baskets.

I was totally frustrated with myself because I didn’t get very far, was rusty with the needles and I forgot to practice casting on beforehand. I was reminded of how I tend to feel “remedial” when I’m learning new skills, especially in a group class. I do the whole comparison thing, get distracted by other people and I really hate reading instructions that have numbers or things to count. Lots of gremlin thoughts wrapped up in all that! My friend kept reminding me to just have fun – otherwise my stitches would be too tight ;).

It usually takes me awhile to get comfortable with a pattern. Once I can see the pattern taking shape, I find my groove and start to really enjoy myself. I think that’s probably a pattern (pun intended) that shows up in my life, too! When I’m trying something new, I can be really hard on myself and have high expectations. Then once I ease in and start to get a feel for where things are heading, I allow myself to enjoy the process. Would be nice to accelerate that ramp up time!

Anyway, I’m excited to do my first felting project and I think the end product of a wavy striped green and blue basket will be really cute. Must practice patience!

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, Knitting, Felted Baskets[/tags]

Stringing it all Together – AEDM Day 7

I’ve had a magical past 24 hours. Last night I led my first Ladies Who Launch Incubator here in Oakland and it was such fun! I love this work and am so inspired by all the amazing, creative projects that each woman is launching.

I felt like I did when I was a kid on Christmas Eve – having sooo much fun at the Christmas Eve party with all my cousins, playing games, having fun, not wanting to go to bed and excited to get up first thing in the morning to open presents. I couldn’t sleep because of all the energy from the Incubator AND because I was anxious to hear this morning about a position I had applied for a couple of weeks ago. Well, I’m thrilled to share that I’ve been selected as a Quest Circle Coach for the Coaches Training Institute and will now be part of the CTI family, which has been one of my dreams!

To top it off, I had lunch plans with my friend/mentor, Caroline, at her whimsical house boat in Marin. My art project for today came spontaneously as she shared her latest passion of stringing colorful beads. As we finished up a scrumptious lunch, she spread out her rainbow of beads on the table. I was a kid in a candy store! I made a serene strand of lovely green/blue beads accented with a yellowish gold. Like in knitting, I enjoyed how the pattern naturally emerged as I strung each bead. A reminder to just trust the creative process.

Once I was done, Caroline found just the right spot to hang it from her sea shell chandelier. This one-of-a-kind, gorgeous jellyfish-like fixture is adorned with several strands of beads handmade by her and many of her friends and family that visit. What a cool community art project and a way to honor the important people in her life!

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, The Coaches Training Institute, CTI, Quest, Ladies Who Launch, Incubator[/tags]

Modeling Clay Metamorphosis – AEDM Day 6

Another day, another medium. I noticed this afternoon that I had some hints of feeling blue and the urge to just curl up in bed (which I did for a bit and it was just what I needed!). Must be anxiety about a couple of big things I have coming up in the next few days. So, I thought I’d work with those emotions in my artwork for Day 6.

I started off molding the clay into a figure curled up ball with hands cradling the head. That’s basically how I felt earlier today. And knowing that I have the option to change my perspective (like I did with my Day 2 piece), I wanted to also play with transforming that same piece of clay into a more expansive, open and confident figure. So, I spent a few minutes consciously reshaping it into the figure below which felt much more inviting and full of possibilities. A much better place to come from as I lead my first Ladies Who Launch Incubator tonight!

Leah (the creator of Art Every Day Month) had a great post today about “Digging into Defining Beliefs.” She shares about her own journey of uncovering her limiting beliefs and doubts and how she has come so far since. She’s got some great examples of how to reshape your own thinking to be more positive, productive and affirming. Just what I needed for today :)! And I love her encouragement to just keep creating and putting yourself out there without apology!

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, expressive arts coaching, art visioning[/tags]

Who Let the Dogs Out? – AEDM Day 5

I haven’t done a pencil sketch in many years, so it was cool to try my hand at it again. Especially with one of my favorite subjects, my dog Emmett. Brian is always taking great photos of Emmett (he’s very photogenic – it must be that “eye liner!”). This sketch is from a photo that Brian took last year.

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, dogs[/tags]

Cute as a Button – AEDM Day 4

Seems like it’s baby season! Many of my friends have just had babies, are having babies soon or are thinking about their second! I love making little cards and gifts for these special occasions. Today I created a few baby cards using pieces I had in my stash of craft supplies. It’s fun to see what I can make from what I have already – kinda like cooking dinner using only the ingredients you have on hand.

In the book “Living Artfully” artist and entrepreneur Sandra Magsamen says,

“Celebrations are an opportunity to use your creativity and imagination to connect with the people you hold most dear.”

I love how she encourages us to find simple ways, like creating handmade cards for friends and family, to bring more creativity into our lives.

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, handmade cards[/tags]

Bee Creative Every Day – AEDM Day3

On Day 3 of Art Every Day Month, I took an encaustic painting class (painting using melted beeswax). I enjoyed learning a new medium and look forward to playing around with it more. My mixed-media collage features photos of my grandfather and Japanese paper. A few years ago, I created a collage book about my grandfather’s story of being the first Japanese-American employee at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, so it was nice to reconnect with that.

Rock Paper Scissors, where I took today’s class, is a cool artists’ co-op in Oakland that offers free and low-cost workshops to help foster creativity, community and collaboration. Watch this YouTube video to see the space and hear more about what they’re up to.

[tags]NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, Art Every Day Month, encaustic painting, Rock Paper Scissors Collective[/tags]

Seeing Different Perspectives – AEDM Day 2

Day 2 of NaBloPoMo and Art Every Day Month! My intent for this piece was just to take up the whole space with oil pastels. The end result is nothing like what I envisioned in my mind, but I like that something completely new emerged.

My friend Dorie, an Expressive Arts Therapist in training, shared with me that during her art making she takes photos to capture the progression of the piece. I thought that would be interesting to play with here…

I also started to rotate the page as I filled in all the white space, to discover how I might want to add more color and lines. It was cool to notice how shifting the angle changed my perspective.

If I hold an inquiry (such as “What would more balance in my life look like?”) as I ponder the different points of view, I can be open to new ways of responding.

In the top horizontal version, the yellow center looks like an eye, so I could choose to have more “focus” on what I am doing.

But as I rotated it clockwise, I started to see a woman with her hair flipped out over her shoulders and talking on a phone. Perhaps, I can seek out more girl-talk with my friends.

From this angle, the yellow and blue circles seem to be lying next to each other or embracing. I could spend more quality time with my husband.

And in this view, I can see a candle flame flickering with smoke wisping above which makes me imagine lighting a candle and meditating or another way of looking at it is to follow my passion.

See how there are so many more options made available by accessing my creative wisdom??

What do you notice by shifting your perspective? What new choices, options or innovative solutions surface from your intuition? Playing with different perspectives is a powerful coaching skill and it helps us to get unstuck. In fact, in my coaching, I use a tool from Karin Bauer, creator of Guidance Cards, which can be used to help clients uncover new ways of seeing a situation.

Try on a new point of view today!

[tags]NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, Art Every Day Month, art visioning, expressive arts coaching, coaching[/tags]

The Art of Simplicity – Art Every Day Month Day 1

Today kicks off National Blog Posting Month (post everyday for all of November) and Leah’s Art Every Day Month challenge. For me it’s a jam-packed month already but I couldn’t resist the structure and support around inviting more creativity into my life.

One of my tenets going into this challenge is to expand my idea of what constitutes “art.” Even though I crave creativity, often times I forgo it because of excuses like I don’t have enough time, my idea isn’t fully formed, I don’t know how to execute my vision, it will turn out stupid so I won’t want to show anyone, blah, blah, blah. And so, I end up not creating anything and my inner muse stagnates.

So, this month is all about busting those limiting beliefs and trying something new. It’s about honoring the creative process and not worrying about the end product.

For my first endeavor I wanted something simple and quick. The crisp autumn air inspired me to use the changing leaves. And given that I just launched my new coaching name and brand, the theme of transition seemed appropriate. I gathered a few fallen maple leaves and stamped Japanese characters on them in silver ink. They read “truth,” “beauty,” “grace.” I love that the leaves are imperfect and delicate and yet they are still beautiful.

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month Challenge[/tags]