Lisa Call

Postponed

As hopefully everyone that was planning on attending the show knows, my opening reception has been postponed until next week.

The reception is now Sunday February 28, 2010 from 1-4pm with my artist talk at 2pm.

Working with No Deadline

As a result of the postponement I’m having a relaxing day working in my office and studio without feeling any pressure of a deadline. It’s really quite nice.

And I’m getting a lot done, tidying up loose ends from the show, getting things scheduled for the future, dealing with things I’ve put off for much to long, etc.

I definitely prefer working this way – without a deadline. Without the pressure of having to get things done. And usually I’m good at working this way. I don’t procrastinate too much.

I think I procrastinate less. I set aside my work time and I just work with no temptation to sneak off and read blogs or watch Bones on hulu. When I’m under pressure I find I’m much more likely to do such things.

Maybe an act of self-sabotage? Since I’m already under pressure why not make it worse? It’s a game of sorts – to see just how close to the wire I can push things.

Basically it’s silly. But it is a recurring habit that I recognize that I have.

So I’m very happy to be deadline free at the moment as I really don’t enjoy that kind of stress.

Photos

Two of the items I’m dealing with today required photographs of me. I’m generally not fond of such things so I avoid these types of requests.

Fortunately last year my coach forced us all to get professional photos taken. I got mine back from the photographer in april 2009 and stashed the CD in a drawer and ignored it.

Today I pulled it out and was happy to note that they were actually much better than I remember. Big relief. I’m even putting it here on my blog, a rare thing to put a photo of myself anywhere, as long as I have it out and dusted off.

Next Up

Now that my deadline has passed what’s next for me?

On the blog front I am planning on writing the articles I missed on preparing for an exhibit as I have much more to say on the topic.

In the studio I’m going to be quilting some large pieces to enter into Quilt National and also making some smaller companion pieces to go with the work in my Dwellings exhibit.

On the art business front it’s time to get busy on constructing the foundations of the business. Getting all my paperwork up to date and clarifying the systems that keep my business running smoothly.

I also plan on focusing on makebigart. I’ll be giving a talk in April in Denver titled “Time Management: The artist and the internet” as a start on that project. (more details to come)

I have to say I’m feeling much excitement for 2010 – it’s going to be a fabulous year!

A Word not a Resolution

A few years ago I read about Christine Kane’s idea of picking a word for the year instead of making resolutions. As I was never a big resolution fan this worked for me.

I was more into predictions. In 1999 I asked my kids their predictions for the year. Their answers: 7 year old son: “I’ll be in boy scouts”, 3 year old daughter: “French fries and hamburger. Go to McDonalds and eat in the car. No, I want chicken nugget fingers”.

I predicted I’d get the house organized (hm – that kinda sounds like a resolution). Either way it didn’t happen. Although my daughter might have gotten a burger but my son lasted only a few months in scouts before quitting.

So this word thing sounds good to me. I’m a big fan of boiling things down to a simple concept as the resolution wasn’t working very well.

In 2008 I selected courage and made some huge changes in my life, in 2009 I went with expansion and integrity and it brought more amazing things into my life.

A New Decade

Every year I want to pick the same word, Joy, because when I boil down my intentions to my most basic desire, all I really want is to be happy. Blissfully, joyously happy.

Yet I never pick this word as I am a 3 on the enneagram (a personality indicator kinda like a myers briggs but maybe more spiritual – I find them both interesting – btw – I’m an INTJ).

As to the enneagram – the 3s – we are the achievers. We get stuff done. We get a lot of stuff done. And sitting around laughing is great but it doesn’t cross anything off the todo list.

I pass by Joy every year with a bit of longing. No more. I’m declaring the 10s as my decade for Joy. So in everything I do, I am intending joy. And much blissfulness and smiling.

I might pick it as my word of the decade for the 2020s too, if things go well the next 10 years.

Moving Forward in 2010

As I think about 2010 and my plans I can see big ideas. Huge exciting things in my head that I want to do.

I also see some things in both my professional and personal life that need a bit of work on the ground level so I can grow in a sustainable way.

My intention is to put a lot of focus on the foundations of my art business, such as my website, inventory, image storage, etc. All the systems that keep it running smoothly.

Ditto for my personal life. I want to look at my habits and beliefs and focus on making sure the foundation is solid. I’m at the beginning of a new relationship and establishing a healthy base is key.

Yet I don’t want to just muck around on the systems and get stuck in the basement. I have big ideas for how to grow all parts of my life in new and exciting ways. I intend to find joy by doing new fun stuff, not just working on the basics.

With that in mind, my word for 2010 is Construct.

Yes – definitely a ‘getting things done’ 3 kinda word.

It reminds me of my home construction project – the importance of the solid foundation but also the fun of framing the big new studio.

2010 is going to be yet another fabulous year.

 
What’s your word of the year? If you wrote a blog post about it please link to it in the comments – I’d love to read about what everyone is intending.

To celebrate the new year I want to first honor my accomplishments for 2009. Most of these are art related but not all of them as life and art are not possible to separate.

1. I choose Expansion and Integrity as my words for the year and found it impacted much more than my art.
2. I completed construction on my beautiful new 450 sq ft studio (not to mention the rest of major home renovation project). If you are in town contact me for a studio visit.
3. I spent a month in South Africa on an incredible, fabulous vacation.
4. I moved my mother to Denver so she could live near me.
5. I spent 388 hours in my studio making art (that an average of around 7.5 hours a week for the year.)
6. I worked in my studio 165 days in 2009, a huge number of days given the year I’ve had with other commitments.
7. I created 35 small textile paintings in my new Dream series, inspired by my trip to South Africa.
8. I created 12 new textiles paintings in the Lines series – these small works are mounted on painted stretched canvas.
9. I made the first 3 textile paintings in a new series – Ascending , I’ll explore this series in more detail in 2010.
10. I created 9 new ACEOs.
11. I designed 1 new textile paintings in the Markings series (it still needs to be quilted.)
12. I created 5 new textile paintings in the Structures series and design 2 additional compositions.
13. I added 1 new artwork in my Home series, as a gift for my mom.
14. Total I created 66 new textile paintings in 09. Most are smaller works but the Structures and Markings pieces are about 7′ square.
15. I spent an unknown number of hours marketing my art but it was a lot. I didn’t track the numbers this year as I had other priorities.
16. I sent 4 studio newsletters in 2009.
17. I set an intention to write a monthly newsletter and revamped my format to facilitate this goal. I’ll pursue this further in 2010.
18. I ended the year with 584 newsletter subscribers, adding 153 new subscribers in 2009 (you can join here).
19. I wrote 132 blog posts.
20. My blog exceeded 100,000 page views 3 of the 12 months in 2009 and traffic continues to grow even though this was the least number of blog posts I’ve written in a single years since I started blogging 5 years ago. Thanks to all of you for your support!
21. I continued to build a strong community on twitter.
22. I wrote 4180 tweets.
23. I ended the year with over 2500+ followers on twitter.
24. I became more active on facebook by creating a fan page for my artwork.
25. I sold 22 of the 35 textile paintings in the Dream series.
26. 15 of the Dream series were presold before I left for Africa to collectors that gave me great confidence in my artwork.
27. I sold Structures #39, which was featured in the 2008 Artful Home holiday catalog.
28. I sold 10 ACEOs.
29. I sold 22 additional textile paintings (mostly smaller work or older work).
30. Total of 55 textile paintings sold in 2009
31. I decided to sell my handdyed fabric for the first time ever.
32. I listed 25 yards of Handdyed fabric for sale and dyed an addition 21 yards for sale (that will be listed later this month).
33. I sold 14 yards of my handdyed fabaric.
34. I sold enough PFD fabric to others to keep my account open with Kaufman for the second year in a row (details here).
35. Structures #78 was juried into the SDA show in Kansas City in 2009.
36. Markings #22 was juried into Form Not Function for 2010.
37. I survived my rejection from Art Quilt Elements.
38. I did yoga every morning for a month with the help of my facebook friends’ encouragement.
39. I cut sugar out of my diet for a month, it made a huge difference in my sleep.
40. I wrote in my journal through out the year.
41. I spend a lot of time with my sister this year during the 3 months we were moving my mom and I enjoyed it tremendously.
42. I was able to visit with other family members this year (my brother, my step mom, my aunts and uncle, my nephews and brother in law, etc). I’m grateful for all time I get to spend with my family.
43. I visited the Denver Art Museum numerous time through the year and love how much closer it is now that I live in Denver.
44. I attended numerous artist lectures at the the art museum as part of the Logan lecture series.
45. I enjoyed several wonderful meals and outings with my artist friends.
46. I attended First Friday and local galleries several times through out the year.
47. I bought an amazing monitor for my art business to process my online images.
48. I took private photography/photoshop lessons to improve my skills in those areas.
49. The quality of my online images are greatly improved as a result of the above 2 items.
50. I participated in Christine Kane’s Platinum coaching circle for 1/2 of 2009 to move my art career and life forward.
51. I had 4 or 5 massages.
52. I had acupuncture (which is magical) 4 times.
53. I took a short but wonderful family vacation in New Mexicoin July where we ate a lot of green chile.
54. Participated in small art showcase and Fine Art Department again this year.
55. Received innumerable wonderful, supportive and informative comments on my blog, on facebook and twitter.
56. Maintained a daily photo journal of the progress of my new home and studio construction throughout the entire project.
57. I selected over 20 colors for the walls in my new home and now 8 months later I still love every single one of them.
58. Donated and gifted 10% of my gross art income (15% of the South African Impressions artwork).
59. Worked a fulltime job as a software engineer.
60. Moved into a project management role at the day time job
61. Thoroughly enjoyed being a mom to my 13 and 17 year old kids, as I do every year.
62. Purchased dozens of beautiful new works of original art by artists I admire, including some amazing arts and crafts from South Africa.
63. Met a man who’s company I very much enjoy and am exploring a relationship with him.
64. Started a new project called Make Big Art, to empower, educate and encourage artists.
65. Created a website for makebigart.
66. Started a blog for makebigart.
67. Wrote 9 long blog posts for makebigart.
68. Started a facebook fan page for makebigart.
69. Began a photo journal of my trip to south africa.
70. Loved living in my house during construction (now that is over I wonder how I did that but it was great fun at the time.)
71. Remained friends with my builder after the completion of my construction project.
72. Pampered myself with an expensive hotel room the 1 night I couldn’t be in my house during construction.
73. Gave a lecture, Social Media: Marketing Miracle or Waste of Time, at the Create Denver Expo.
74. Helped Alyson Stanfield with her workshop, A No-Excuses Art-Marketing Seminar, in Estes Park.
75. Had a wonderful time with Alyson and Cynthia in Estes Park.
76. Gave away Structures #83 to one of newsletter subscribers.
77. Revamped my prices and blogged about my reasons (one of my most popular blog posts to date). They used to be way too low.
78. After changing my prices, I revisited my decision and tweaked it a bit.
79. Returned to setting very specific goals and tracking my studio time after trying to wing it for a while.
80. Wrote a series of blog posts about building a studio, including an extensive look at studio lighting and electrical needs.
81. Wrote an entry about music in the studio for Vinyl Art’s contest: Storied Past contest.
82. Was published in Quilting Art: Inspiration, Ideas & Innovative Works from 20 Contemporary Quilters by Spike Gillespie. This is a fabulous book and more, much more, than I anticipated. I highly recommend the book.
83. My ACEOs (art cards) were published in the October 2009 Artist Magazine along with a few quotes. I was so busy during that time I never blogged about this but will eventually.
84. Completed Structures #100 – a huge milestone that I celebrated in my July studio newsletter (and with much dancing in the studio).
85. I was a featured artist on crafthaus in September.
86. I kept a sketch book while in South Africa filled with wonderful memories of my trip.
87. I saw zebras and giraffes and other very cool animals in Africa.
88. Went on an amazing hike in the Drakensburg (the mountains in South Africa).
89. I fell in love with South Africa and am looking forward to returning.
90. Helped my son select college to apply for as he’s leaving the next year.
91. I came close to making a profit on my artwork in 2009.
92. Created a squidoo lens with reasons why people buy art.
93. Created a squidoo lens for MakeBigArt.
94. Maintained my squidoo lens on Contemporary Art Quilts.
95. Worked with accountability partners most of the year to keep myself on track.
96. Gave away more of my belongings after I settled into the new house. Freeing up more energy for positive things.
97. Bought myself the worlds most comfortable bed as my thank you gift to myself for surviving the home remodel, of which no amount of money would have been too much. It’s luxury.
98. Ate much ice cream.
99. Laughed as much as possible.
100. I promised my kids I would get them a kitten. I haven’t fulfilled this promise but I will soon as life has settled down finally.

Creating this list is not an easy task. Reaching the magic number of 100 requires a lot of looking back. The goal is to look back and enjoy my accomplishments.

And to realized I did a lot this year. Because I spent so little time in my studio (only 7 1/2 hours a week instead of normal goal of 20 hours a week) I get discouraged. But building a studio, traveling to south africa, moving my mom to town and starting a romantic relationship – these things all take a lot of time and energy and they are all valuable and I no regrets.

It’s good to look back and be grateful, of which I am very much.

Tomorrow it’s time to look forward to 2010 and all I plan to accomplish and the word I will use to guide me.

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.

Structures #73 – In Progress
Textile Painting
©2009 Lisa Call
Detail

Holiday Weekend

This 3 day weekend I work in my studio 16 hours. It was the first weekend it felt like home again. I’ve loved having the space but hadn’t really felt it was broken in yet. Now it does.

I’m most thankful it rained all weekend, so I relieved myself of all responsibility for pulling the nearly 2 foot tall weeds in the landscape free yard. The day will come when I’ll have to deal with that issue, but with the rain I was free to just make art.

I’m nearly finished putting the surface stitching (quilting) on Structures #73 and started some new ACEOs. The first ones of the year.

I also made big progress on Structures #100. I decided to make it the first new larger piece I designed in my new studio and it went together well. The composition is done so now I need to get it basted so I can start quilting it also.

Planning

It feels great to be motivated to make art again. Seems like it’s been a long time.

After my post a few days about about adding some more structure to my studio time, I decided to set some specific goals for the year to keep me motivated.

For 2009 my studio goals:

- 550 or more hours of studio time (~10 hrs a week)
- 256 or more days making art (70% of the days in the year)

As of today I’ve put in 126 hours in the studio and made art 68 days this year. To make my goals I’m going to have to make art pretty much every day for the rest of the year and put in at least 15 hours a week.

I’m be in South Africa for nearly a month later this summer, so I’ve factored in that time away from the studio also.

As a point of reference, in 2007 I put in 870 hours in my studio. The year I had a very clearly defined goal of 20 hours a week in my studio.

In 2008 it was 446 hours in the studio. A year with the laid back “let’s not set specific goals” plan. I also sold my house, moved into a house with no studio and started a major construction project – so to be fair I was a bit busier also.

Next up is going to be doing some planning and setting specific goals for the business side of art. I’ve been very reluctant to do that in the past and I think it’s time to get more serious about tracking the hours I spend on the business and keeping a better schedule.

I have big ideas of things I’d like to accomplish – specific goals will help me get there.

Quick post tonight as I cook dinner and head out the door to an artist lecture at the Denver Art Museum by Sandy Skoglund.

One of the things I love about twitter are the quotes people post on occasion. Here are a few that resonated with me today:

Failure

“People fail in direct proportion to their willingness to accept socially acceptable excuses for failure.”

Tweeted by Sandra Martini

This is so relevant to what I wrote about yesterday about not making goals because I wanted to be the free-spirited artist type. It’s socially acceptable to not get stuff done cause I’m an artist and schedules are stifling.

Well – forget that – I’m not going to fail and my art career is not going to fail cause it’s cool to just float about unrestrained by structure.

Preparation

“The will to win is worthless if you do not have the will to prepare.” – Thane Yost

Tweeted by Jane Button

I read this and immediately equated ‘prepare’ with ’setting goals’. Some other day I might have read it differently but today it dove tails nicely with my intent to get back to structure.

Bathing

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” ~ Zig Ziglar

Tweeted byValery Satterwhite

Love this. I journal every morning and most mornings I set and intent for the day. When I can’t think of something specific it is often something along the lines of ‘live the day focused on the tasks I want to get done.’ Staying in the moment helps me stay motivated for the current task.

Bumper Sticker

My tweet for the day:

"Want to get new bumper stickers for my car – anyone have some good art ones? Any pointers to sources for art related bumper stickers?"

Didn’t get any pointers. So how about you blog readers? Do you have any art related bumper stickers on your car? What do they say?

If you don’t have one but wanted one – what might you put on it? Anyone have resources for some funny pre-made ones?

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.

New Hardwood floor has been laced into the existing floor.

The Power of Building

Just a few weeks left to go and the house will be done. Today all sorts of people were doing stuff, which is documented over on smugmug in my daily photo update: February 16 construction photos.

We’re in the phase of construction known as "totally in your living space". So every day I have stuff to move about so I can cook dinner. Yes – I know crazy to keep cooking but it’s in part my desire to not eat crappy takeout food that made it so I can afford this remodel in the first place.

I look at the hardwood floor and the nice cabinets and my amazing studio and know that not going out to eat very often or spending money on $5 coffees over the last 7 years is a large part of why I can do this. So I cook dinner and just get over it. It’s been a very powerful experience to build a house with money I earned myself.

There have been times when I started to question some of my decisions – especially since they are a bit out of the ordinary. There is very little closet space in this house. But I have no desire to have clutter and to store a bunch of stuff – so why build in a place to store junk I don’t need?

Takes much relaxing to realize this house is mine. Totally my power to do what I want, I earned it. And the best part is, if I change my mind in 2 years I can just change it. I have the power to do that also.

New Goals Update

I set some really excellent goals to work in my studio an hour a day and keep up with email and make forward progress on my other art goals through the end of the construction.

Some days I pull this off and some days I don’t. Most days I don’t. But I have made it to my studio more days than I haven’t so I’m still keeping that intention in mind each morning and seeing where it takes me.

This weekend I spent over 6 hours in the studio working on the final piece for the show that I cannot yet show everyone. I’m loving it and as soon as it’s done I”ll start something else and then I can post photos of my artwork again.

Between construction and the last couple months being about art I cannot share I’m amazed I find anything to write about at all. So thanks to all of you for coming back every so often to see I am still here.

Hand Felted All Wool Pebbles
© 2009 By Chrissie
Printed With Permission from the Artist

Five More Weeks

I sat down with Jim, my general contractor, yesterday and we went over the plan for finishing up the remodel/addition. Five more weeks to go. And pretty much right on schedule even with all of the things I added into the project. Having awesome weather really helped, plus the crew is excellent.

Although I’ve moved into my studio and new bedroom those rooms aren’t yet finished. I spent many hours today washing drywall off the floors as I’ve decided I’ve had enough drywall dust in my life. I’m far from done with this task but it’s good to get started and I think by end of the week I should have it cleaned up (just in time for them to come back and finish the new drywall in the existing side of the house).

I’m also going to start painting colors in my bedroom and office tomorrow and I’ll start moving my stuff into the laundry room cabinets and organizing my kitchen cabinets. (See the latest construction photos here: Feb 4 and 5 and Feb 6).

The Plan

With all the house activity there hasn’t been a lot of art or the business of art going on at my house, which is not okay with me. So extending the discussion from last month, habits, I’ve decided to create a daily plan for the next 5 weeks to keep me on track.

From now until March 13 I will be spending most of my non day job time on the house but I’m also including the following in my daily schedule:

Studio Time:

• M-F: 1 hour – first thing in the morning (before turning on the computer)
• Sat-Sun: 2 hours – first thing in the morning (before turning on the computer)

Art Business Time (not to include email – but making forward progress on other goals):

• M-F: 1/2 hour – immediately after dinner
• Sat-Sun: 2 hours – late afternoon before dinner

Answer Email (I did pretty good keeping up for 1 week but am back to a long inbox):

• M-F: 1/2 hour – 9-9:30pm
• Sat-Sun: 1 hour – after dinner

While it’s tempting to skip the art while I’m in the last bits of hour stuff, I know I’ll be happier if I make time for art. Plan starts tomorrow. Goal is to make 6 out of 7 days for each of these activities and these are minimums – more time on art is always welcome if I’m so moved.

I’ll report in a blog post each sunday how I did for the previous week.

Felted Rocks

The above photo is one of my most recent new art purchases. A saw a link to these amazing felted rocks via twitter and immediately had to buy some from the makeyourpresentsfelt etsy shop. Chrissie custom makes the stones for each customer (how cool is that) and her packaging is amazing.

I collect real rocks and these felted ones are a must have for my collection. They are even better in person then they look in the photo so if you a rock collector I highly recommend them (she’ll relist them in her shop if they are sold when you check – so just check back later – it’s worth the effort).

If you aren’t a rock person check out this really cool bracelet made with felted beads – if I wore jewelry I’d buy it myself. Love the colors and the felted beads are too cool.

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

Exercise and Art

Sitting in front of a sewing machine for 22 hours in 2 days (like I did 2 weekends ago) is pretty taxing on a body, or at least it is on a body that is in it’s 40s. Without exercise I couldn’t pull off marathon weekends like that.

Yoga and walking are my current favored ways of moving my body and keeping my blood flowing. Walking clears my head, adds images to my idea store for future art no matter where I walk – in town or in the mountains. There’s always something to see to be inspired.

Yoga is truly magical and by far my most favorite way to exercise. Stretching, strength, mind body connection and relaxation all in one. Perfect way to prepare for a day of making art.

Daily Habit

These days I haven’t had done much of either of these. My floor is really gritty from the construction and many days there isn’t enough floor space and when the kids are home I wake them up if I do yoga early, or the construction works arrive and the saws aren’t very conducive.

So basically I just make a bunch of excuses and have fallen out of the habit of doing yoga daily. A year ago I went 3 months without missing a single day of yoga, now I’m lucky if I get in a few minutes once a week.

I’m craving the type of life where yoga is again a part of my routine. A perfect morning to me would be to get up at 5:30 for a half hour of yoga then a shower, some journaling, time in the studio, breakfast with the kids and then work (and since we’re talking about perfect that work would not be the software job – it would be the art career). Soon – yes soon.

I know it will be easy to reestablish the yoga routine the minute the builders are out the door. The walking is a bit harder. Sometimes I walk during lunch at work (my favorite is to walk to the nearest playground and swing on the swings). Sometimes I hike on the weekends. Sometimes I walk around my neighborhood and feel a huge appreciation for being able to live exactly where I want to live.

But nothing is habit and I quickly forget and then I stop. There is nothing preventing me from establishing this routine now so starting tomorrow I’m going to make it a higher priority to get out and walk at least 20 minutes, 5 days a week.

By end of february I’ll check in and see if I’ve got a habit forming. Time to add walk to my joes goals profile.

Why Exercise?

In addition to the obvious reasons – the physical ones – I find exercising to be almost vital for my mental health. I’m significantly happier if I’ve been exercising. Yoga and walking aren’t as strenuous as what I used to do but given everything else I’m interested in, it’s enough for now.

After my divorce in 2002 one of the first things I did was lose about 15-20 pounds via the divorce diet, which is really quite miraculous although I don’t recommend it, and by working out at the gym.

Then I started running, and that I believe, is what got me through all the mental stuff of the divorce and the first relationship breakup 1 year later. The negative voices ran circles around my head as I hit the pavement every morning training.

In 2003 I ran a half marathon and around the same time I found a lot of internal peace having worked out all of the crap out there on the sidewalk.

I ran for a while after that but not long, my knees objected and I didn’t have as much time as the art career had really started taking off and the need to get the voices out of my head diminished.

I would love to find the time to start running again, on a much gentler pace, as I think it’s an incredible way to keep myself in balance and happy. It’s such an excellent way to expend any negative energy on something positive.

We’ll see if that happens after the construction is over. It’s not a super high priority but I’ve got it on my list of habits to form if I can find the time.

 
What are you exercise habits? How do you think they affect your art?

Lines #7

Today I finally rephotographed Lines #7 with my better lens. It’s just amazing to me how different the color quality is between the 2. I suppose this might be obvious to a photographer but I’ve got 0 training in that area.

A big thank you to those of you that bought art today as a great investment since my prices are going up on February 1st. I think I have the best blog readers in the world.