Lisa Call

Structures #91
©2007 Lisa Call
12" x 12"
Textile Painting (hand dyed fabric, batting, thread)
$700
Purchase Here

Weekend Plans

The kids are celebrating father’s day this weekend with their dad (and will be giving him the art they bought him). Which means I have the weekend to get lots of stuff done.

My todo list:

• Studio time: surface stitching/quilting on Structures #111 so it is 3/4 complete (estimate ~18 hrs)
• Dye fabric: for back of my next large piece + a few yards cause it’s fun (estimate ~3 hrs)
• makebigart.com: get the initial pages of the website done and first blog post written & launch (estimate ~6 hrs)

I’m exited – making lots of forward progress.

By my math that’s about 14 hours of stuff to do each day – which means it’s time to get moving.

Energy

The number one question I am asked is how I have the energy to do this stuff. So I wrote a series of blog posts on the subject and now seems like a good time to summarize them:

• Energy – Physical Health
• Energy – Organization and Clutter
• Energy – Attitude
• Energy – Personality Type
• Energy – Making Decisions

I think I could write more posts in this series as there is probably more to say. Hm…

But right now it’s time to get to the studio and get to work.

 
PS. I think Structures #91, above, has amazing energy – I think it’s probably that saturated red.

ACEO #38
Textile Painting
©2009
3.5" x 2.5"
$40
Purchase Here

ACEO #36
Textile Painting
©2009
3.5" x 2.5"
$40
Purchase Here

New Artwork

These 2 new aceos are a bit of a departure for me. To date all of my aceos (except I think #2) have been inspired by existing artworks by use the same fabrics as I used in a larger textile painting. These 2 I just went with some hot summer colors and had fun with them. Same with ACEO #37, which I posted the other day, loved that bright bright yellow to play with.

It feels really good to have new work coming out of my studio again. It seems everything has been on hold for about 5 months so this is way cool.

Because I sold all my small work in January it’s also been a chunk of time with not much income coming in. Between the art sales and fabric sales (sold half of them the first night), I’ve got a bit of cash flow again. Woohoo. So tomorrow I’ll be ordering more fabric for dyeing.

Thanks everyone for the support.

Really Super Productive Week

In addition to getting in 18 hours in my studio (3 over my goal of 15 per week) I also worked on my art business 28 hours this week (along with the 40 hours at the day job).

At the beginning of the week I worked out a method on how to record and track art business time and after I refine it over the next few weeks I’ll post details on what I’m doing.

My inbox is down to 29 emails again and this time I’ve figure out a way to process emails that seems to be working. Again – after I get it refined a bit (as in figure out what the heck I’m actually doing that seems to work) I’ll write about that also.

Now I need to focus on getting caught up on blog comments. I think there is about a month outstanding. And the last 2 posts about my studio need to come to closure.

Completion – it’s good thing to feel, things are really clicking for me and I’m loving working on my art.

Weekly Planning

Now I’m off to do my weekly planning. My super high productivity will slow down a bit. My planning needs to reflect the expected time with kids.

As it’s summer, the kids’ schedule is a bit wonky. I’ll have another 5 days with them at their dads, then they return on friday and be with me until July 5th. So the number of hours getting things done will decrease as they still like spending time with me (sometimes – being teenagers it becomes less and less each month so I try to maximize the time I can with them.)

Photography and Weeds

I’m very happy with how much better my photography is turning out these days. I still have a bunch to learn but I’m not nearly as frustrated as I was before.

My second private photo class is sunday. Time to talk printing, then I can get on some old todos that require a printed portfolio.

I’m also meeting with my builder this weekend to talk about a covered patio. I can’t afford to build it at the moment but I need to put in some landscaping so I’m going to get a design so I can plan the rest of the yard accordingly.

I had hoped to do landscaping earlier but the universe had other plans for that money, so now I’m working on plan B, which is do the minimal to keep from getting a big fine for not having any landscaping. Got my first nasty-gram from the city last week. Oops! Apparently 2 foot high weeds are frowned upon.

This is what happens when you work 86 hours a week. Something has to give:

Page From My Sketchbook Used to Track Studio Time (click to see larger image)

Tracking Studio Time

I wasn’t planning on writing tonight but I want to write this down while I still remember the thoughts I had today thinking about the post I wrote last night and some of the comments that were left.

I mentioned several times on my blog that I track my studio time. The posts I wrote early in 2008 ( This One and Another One ) are very interesting reads.

These posts indicate a change I made in tracking studio time. I went from being very systematic about it, to taking a more laid back approach. It was all part of the search for who I wanted to be.

I’ve since decided that is a bunch of crap-ola. Yep – I’m going back to a definite plan for how much work I want to get down in my studio.

It Didn’t Work

I discovered that trying to take the "Oh, It doesn’t matter, I’m more floaty and creative if I don’t put rules around it" approach to studio time resulted in my getting significantly less done.

In Jan-Mar of 2008, right after I devised that crazy scheme, I did basically nothing in my studio. My kids were in Europe – I was home alone – there were no excuses or distractions. It was simply me being less systematic. As a result I would often say "I’m tired" or "I don’t feel like it" and stuff like "I’ll do it tomorrow".

None of that stuff really results in things getting done. Instead it’s a good way to get nothing done but have a lot of lofty reasons for why I didn’t.

Like "self care is just so much more important than making art". Hm – NOT! Making art is the #1 thing I say I want to spend my time doing. Not avoid doing.

Why Does A System Work?

So I’ve thought a lot about why my old way of doing things, with rules and precise tracking, worked and I think the answer is it is basically the same thing as setting a timer.

There has been tons written about boosting productivity by using a timers (check out these google results). I think my old plan was essentially that. I timed myself.

When I walked into the studio I trained myself to look and the clock. That was it – timer was running. I didn’t stop working until the time was a even increment of 15 minutes. And then I wrote it down.

Because the timer was running I wasn’t tempted to run off and do other stuff, like check email or do my laundry.

When I left my studio the timer was off – I wasn’t racking up minutes. So I’d hurry back to get the timer going again.

I know this sounds kinda crazy but after seeing it in action and reading all the timer and productivity stuff (my favorite person that write about this is Christine Kane) I’m convinced – it really works. And not just for studio stuff. I now use a timer for my writing and planning art business stuff now also.

I have been spending 15 minutes each morning entering addresses into my snail mail mailing list. Fifteen minutes isn’t a lot but over time it adds up and with no big drama effort, I’m going to have the last 18 months of avoiding this task whipped into shape.

Going with No Goals

In my attempt to be more floaty I also gave up setting goals for how many hours I would spend in my studio each week. I decided to just let it happen. As I mentioned – it didn’t.

What happened is the emotional side of me got all excited and it had a field day. Woohoo – we get to run the show and stop her from doing what she wants.

I only made art when I felt like it. Or when I magically had time.

Okay – really – I work full time as a software engineer. I’m a single mom every other week with 2 teenagers constantly wanting stuff. I own my home, have to pay the bills and do all those house things that need done. There is the yard (okay there was the yard – it’s now dirt). Family, friends, quack quack quack.

I don’t have time to put in 20 hours a week in my studio so of course if I give myself an out I’m going to take it. There weren’t any goals so it didn’t matter. No disappointment so why bother doing it.

Thumbs Up To Goals

So forget that no goals thing. I’m now setting my goal to 15 hours a week. I’m making it lower than before because I also plan on doing a lot more art business stuff than I used to.

By setting goals I have something to aim for. I may not always make that goal but by identifying it and writing it down I have a much better chance of making my goal than without writing it down.

By setting goals I am no longer giving the emotional side of me free reign to do what I want. I get scared or worried or anything about what I’m working on. Great – recognize the feelings – but I’m not going to let it stop me from pushing forward.

Eventually those feelings realize they aren’t in control and they get a little less loud.

By setting goals and being systematic I’m significantly more creative and make much more art than when I’m all new-agey. Trying to be like those non-driven people I sometimes think I should be like, who always seem more creative and spontaneous and fun, didn’t work for me at all.

I need structure and systems for my creativity to work.

A few days ago my morning Thoughts from the Universe email contained the following thought:

Until the really “great” stuff comes along, Lisa, do the not-so-great stuff.

The not-so-great stuff always leads to the great stuff. Whereas doing nothing pretty much leads to nowhere.

And do it with a passion -
The Universe

And my initial reaction was that, yes, I may not be getting much done during construction but at least I’m doing some things, filing papers, some art, making dinner.

Then the obvious hit me – building my beautiful new studio IS the great stuff. Woohoo for me!

Home #6
©2008
4" x 4" – Mounted on stretched canvas
Sold

Home #7
©2008
4" x 4" – Mounted on stretched canvas
Sold

 

Home #7 and Home #6 – On Canvas

The Joy of Friends

Today I made plans to visit with several of friends, both new and old, throughout December. When I get all wrapped up in getting things done, it’s sometimes hard to stop and honor the amazing women in my life. That will not happen this month. I’m taking the time to let them know how much I value their friendship.

Not much beats a good laugh with a good friend over some really yummy food. What a perfect month for such things.

Courage

Short post today because tonight I’m determine to get my article done for Christine Kane’s word of the year guest posts. Look for my post about a year of couragecourage over on Christine’s blog sometime this month.

The Achiever

I am a type 3 on the enneagram, The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type:Adaptable, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious. So I come by my energy partly to fulfill all of that success-oriented drive that I have. Definitely that is the upside of being a three, but just like all of the types, there are plenty of downsides.

All the image oriented stuff. Ugh – yeah – at times that can be me. And the "never ever admit you might have a flaw" stuff. Yep – me also.

Threes are excellent at getting things done. I have a ton of energy and am always up for doing stuff. The flip side is I’m less adept and relaxing. This year I made creating space a priority and in addition to my (near) daily yoga practice I look for ways to slow down and relax. Finding a boyfriend that lives in the mountains has been a big help in that direction.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

The photo at the top of this post is of 3 new catalog covers that feature images of my artwork (Structures #14, Structures #11 and Structures #46). The catalogs are teaching resources for a company that does a lot of Myers-Briggs training and testing.

I love this personality type stuff so was thrilled with they asked for images earlier this year. I just got the completed catalog covers in the mail this week.

I’m an INTJ the Myers-Briggs world. Which explains all of my planning and list making skills. And my geek side. My natural preference is to be organized and efficient which amplifies my energy as I rarely waste much of it:

INTJs are ambitious, self-confident, deliberate, long-range thinkers. They dislike messiness and inefficiency, and anything that is muddled or unclear. They value clarity and efficiency, and will put enormous amounts of energy and time into consolidating their insights into structured patterns.
…
INTJs have a tremendous amount of ability to accomplish great things. They have insight into the Big Picture, and are driven to synthesize their concepts into solid plans of action.

Playing to Strengths

There are a lot of people that find these personality indicators to be a bunch of junk and admittedly there is no scientific proof they are accurate. But I believe they are useful in helping to identify patterns and preferences and when used to aid in personal growth they can be extremely valuable.

This information can be used to identify the positive parts of my natural inclinations. Knowing what I might be good at is helpful in taking those those strengths and expanding them.

Not an Excuse

Even more helpful is understanding my weaknesses so I have a reference point for how to move forward past those potential road blocks.

It’s easy to read personality type indicators like the enneagram or myers-briggs and use it as a way of staying stuck. Easy to think "Oh well I a _____, might as well accept this is the way I am" and just be that way.

While I don’t think I can change who I am fundamentally, I know I can change my thoughts and my attitude and the past year I’ve done a lot in that direction.

Using these tests as an excuse for bad behavior or using them to limit my choices or abilities is not acceptable.

Managing the Work

In my last Art and Scrum post I talked about tasks, which are basically todo lists for each of the stories.

As we all know there are many ways to maintain todo lists. I’ve tried all sorts of different methods of managing them and some work better than others.

For a while I was managing the project and task lists from Getting Things Done with a spreadsheet. [as an aside - I find the project lists and task lists from GTD very similar to stories and tasks from sprint - very similar - just different names and slightly different descriptions as to what they are]. There are also several software programs that can help project teams maintain their tasks lists. I think they are overkill for what I’m doing with my art business.

I didn’t much like the spreadsheet as I’m not big on putting lists online. I much prefer to hand write my lists as there here is something more satisfying about the writing process than typing. I also find online lists get out of date quickly and lists online are basically obsolete as soon as they are printed. I’d make notes on the printout and then weeks later I’d give up with the online list.

So I’m going with what many scrum experts claim to be the best way to do this: a task board.

The Task Board

A task board is a whiteboard or corkboard or some such thing that can be divided into columns and rows. I’m using one of my smaller portable design walls and have it attached to my wall as shown above.

I’ve written each story on a notecard and these are all in the left hand column. Acceptance criteria are noted on the card along with deadlines or any other notes I think are important to remember. Only stories for the current sprint are placed onto the task board.

Each task for each story is written on a white index card (sticky notes work great with white boards). There are 3 columns where a task card might be placed:

1. Not Started: The tasks all start in the second column on the left. This is the column for tasks not yet started.
2. In Progress: When a task is started it is moved into the next column over – this is for all tasks in progress
3. Completed: When a task is completed it is moved again to the next column – for all tasks completed.

By moving the tasks physically on the board I can see in one very quick look how the sprint is going. As you can see in the above photo, I had just started this sprint as almost nothing is done and just about everything is in the not started column. As the month has progressed I’ve been moving cards to the right. At the end of the month I’ll take another picture and show what it looks like.

The Daily ToDo List

I find that having this huge pile of tasks to tackle can be overwhelming and I can start spinning my wheels. This board is really pretty and cool but I can’t use it on a day to day basis.

So each night I evaluate where I am and I move tasks cards around as they change status. I then pick 2-5 tasks that I want to work on the next day and write them down on a piece of paper. My favorite – little scraps of paper that I can carry around as I move through my day. And I get to cross stuff off. Who doesn’t love crossing stuff off a list.

This little todo list allows me to put the big task board out of my mind (so I can avoid those "oh my gosh I have way too much to do how will I ever get it done" thoughts). I just focus on just a few items knowing that they are steps that make sense that will move me forward towards my larger goals.

A Few Notes

You’ll notice some yellow and orange story cards on my task board on the right hand side. These are for stories that I’m not actually working on right now but I don’t want to forget about. Things like juried shows I entered and I’m waiting for results, or commission projects that are on currently being approved, etc. I know I won’t have to "do" anything this month on these stories but I don’t want to forget about them either.

You’ll also note there are not tasks for the last 2 stories on the board. That’s cause I didn’t have them written when I took this picture. I now have tasks for one of them and am working on tasks for the last one (the update of my website). This is not good scrum. I’m not sure I care.

The Rest of the Stories

The stories on this board are just the stories I want to work on for September. All of the rest of the stories (in scrum called the product backlog) are also written on index cards and they are stored on a shelf next to this board. Every once in a while I flip through them to make sure I’m not missing anything important.

I also add new stories to that pile when I think of new things I want to do. I used to have great ideas for things to do with my art career but didn’t really have a good way to capture them. I’d write some in my sketch book, some got added to todo lists and many were just forgotten. Now I keep a stack of blank note cards and just jot it down and add it to the list.

 
I find this visual and tactile representation of the goals I’m working on for the month to be really helpful. In one quick look I can see how things are going. Right now I’m thinking this is one of the better things I got out of my scrum training.

Another post on my series on Scrum and how it relates to my art business. You can read all of the posts here: Scrum and Art.

Product Owners

There are 3 roles that people can play when they are on a Scrum team: Product Owner, Scrum Master and Team Member. All 3 of these roles apply to activities I do as an artist so I’ll cover them in differing amounts of detail. I feel the product owner role is a key role so I’ll probably talk about it the most.

A product owner is responsible for something called a Product Backlog in the scrum world. In simple terms this is a list of things, called user stories, that need to be done. In the software world this is the set of requirements of the system being implemented. The product owner creates the back log and, maybe more importantly, they prioritize the items on that back log. They are the ones with the vision for what the product should and could be.

Today I became a product owner for one of the scrum teams at work. As the former requirements engineer of the team, I got elected (and I agreed) that I would do well in this role, as writing user stories is a lot like writing requirements. Okay, actually it’s the same thing. The entire team will help out with prioritizing the list and the vision as we all have a vested interest in the outcome of this experiment.

The Artist as Product Owner

This role of product owner applies to me as an artist in couple of ways.

First with my art itself, I need to determine what type of artwork I want to make. Oil paintings? Textile paintings? Ceramic pigs? That’s all pretty straight forward and obvious that an artist needs to do this, although not always easy. Nor is it always simple to restrict ourselves to just one or even two mediums. Today I found my self hunting through the Denver Art Students’ League class schedule thinking about taking oil painting classes.

In addition to the art, I also need to define my art career business objectives and prioritize the activities. Should I blog or should I enter a juried show tonight? What is the ROI (return on investment) for each of these activities? How long will it take to do these activities? Should I have a facebook account? Should I sell my art on etsy? Should I make reproductions of my work?

Some of the aspects of scrum can help me figure all of this out. Or at least organize it in a way that will help me see what my options are. The first piece is to figure out what the art product backlog is – what are all the projects and business ideas that I have. For those that like the Getting Things Done lists – this is very similar to a project list, although with more detail so prioritization and estimation of the size of the job can be more easilty determined.

The other day I created a bunch of user stories for my art business, in the next post I’ll share info on the details of that activity and what goes into a user story.

Remodel Update

The builder has come up with a very cool design for my house. Scope creep (ie it’s getting bigger) is occurring again but hopefully not horribly so. It is by far the best design so I’m excited to see some plans soon.

A huge bonus will be I don’t have to move out of my house for them to do the remodel. I was not looking forward to moving out a few months after moving in. The last design, which I eventually rejected, involved picking up my house and setting it in the backyard to put in a basement. Hard to live in a house when that happens. The new idea is just a backyard addition, with some remodel work in the existing house to fix stuff in need of repair. Not as much entertainment, but more realistic.

What is Scrum

Today was the first day of my 3 day Scrum Master Certification Training for my day job. Yes, I kid you not, Scrum training. It’s all the rage in the software development world. And no, scrum is not an acronym as you might expect from the software world, but instead it’s just like the term might be used in rugby – a bunch of folks trying to get stuff done in a way that might seem to be a bit of a jumble.

In short scrum is a framework for managing software development. It’s "agile software development " in that it’s adaptive and intended to respond quickly to changes in the market place. If you are really interested (or more likely bored or procrastinating) you can read about it on wikipedia here.

Why Scrum

The idea of Scrum is to not plan out an entire year or 2 year software release in it’s entirety before starting work. Requirements for a release always change as software is developed and in the old models of development responding to these changes was difficult and costly and always met with resistance from all parties.

With Scrum only a few of the features are decided up front (the highest priority ones) and after they are implemented, the next highest priority features are determined and then implemented. In addition each feature is completely implemented and tested before it is called done and the team moves on to something else. This ensures a high quality product by not leaving about bits of unfinished work.

Is This Topic Even Remotely Related to Art

In previous years I listed my annual goals in January, spelling out everything I wanted to do with my art and my art business for the year up front. Then spent 12 months attempting to get it all done, and occasionally changing my mind. Pften leaving bits unfinished, which is never very satisfactory.

This year I decided to take a different approach. In January I posted my annual goals and they were quite simple – do the most immediate and high priority tasks and when they were finished I would figure out what came next. See my 2008 Art Goals post for details.

Turns out what came next was moving. Now that I’m moved I have another month before I move out for my remodel. So art isn’t the top priority this year. That’s not to say I’m not working on it a lot, I’m just not setting big goals and getting upset about not meeting them.

Apparently I’m an early adopter of scrum for my art business and it’s worked out pretty well. I’m not all stressed out that I have a long list of goals for the year that will not be met. When the move and remodel are over I’ll just pick back up again with my next highest priority art business goal and get to work on it.

There are some similarities between Scrum and David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD), which I really like, such as single list of all projects. I can see that some of the way I manage my GTD project and next task lists fit neatly into the the scrum methodology.

So in a way, this is kind of an art related post. It was also something to do as my new printer aligned the print head.

Structures #97   (In Progress)    ©2008

Structures #97

This evening I finished the construction of the composition on Structures #97, as shown above. The next step in creating a textile painting is to baste it, then add the surface stitching.

I don’t have my large custom sewing table set up in my new house yet but I think this piece is small enough to do the stitching with my smaller table. If it’s too frustrating I’ll stop and put it aside for later and move on to creating new compositions but I hope it will work. It will be fun to have a textile painting that was started and finished in my tiny bedroom studio.

Upcoming Week

This weekend was pretty laid back and relaxing. Friday night with friends, saturday in my studio and getting a few things done, sunday a beautiful 7 mile hike in the mountains with a friend and the evening spend in my studio.

Next weekend is crazy busy with birthday celebrations for my son (he’s turning 16 this week), a day/evening long interview for inclusion in an art quilting book, a free composting class offered by the city of Denver and my work will be in the Denver Modernism show over the weekend (more on that later), so any progress on art or art business goals will have to happen M-Th. Not a lot of time.

I decided the focus this week should be about making art – and doing a bit of organizing – specifically:

1. Baste Structures #97 and begin surface stitching – finishing at least 1/3 of the piece.
2. Play around with some of the house/home ideas I have in fabric.
3. Finalize floorplan for my remodel/addition (we are getting close).
4. Finish setting up my new laptop and retire my desktop.
5. Update my Getting Things Done list with all my projects (art and personal). I’ve let this lapse since my move and I’m starting to lose a bit of focus as a result.