Lisa Call

Structures #15
©2005
12" x 13"
Private Collection

My Intention

Expand: to open up, to increase in extent or scope

Expansion: the act or process of expanding

Integrity: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility

I set my intention for the year by selecting these words to guide me.

Expansion

I am focused on growing by leaps and bounds in 2009. I chose the word expansion over expand as it’s the process of expansion that excites me. The end result will be great but I’m going to love getting there as much as being there.

What does it take to grow my art business? What structures, routines, and systems will I need to succeed? What goals do I need to set? What habits do I need to form? I love thinking about the process and then executing on it.

This isn’t just about my art career it’s about internal things also like expanding my acceptance and understanding of others. About deepening my relationships, expanding my view of the world, etc. The list is endless.

And of course building a great big new studio to make more big art. That’s the easiest and obvious expansion at the moment.

Integrity

When I settled on the word expansion it felt incomplete to me. I wanted to qualify it. I wanted to say "Yes – I want to expand but I want to recognize and honor my values – to be authentic." Not just to clarify the expansion but also because exploring and defining exactly what I want is an ongoing process.

While I have a good idea of who and am and what I want and how I want to say it, I’ll be doing quite a bit of marketing of my artwork this year. So to that end it is vital I am very clear on the message I want to send.

I wrestled a bit with the word integrity as the definitions sound very moral preachy, but that’s not how I think of the word. I think of it more as just being authentic and not being easily swayed by things you don’t agree with.

I considered authentic but it doesn’t sound as good with the word expansion. So I read more about integrity on wikipedia and felt it really was the right word. And it sounds great with expansion. Given my current studio construction I also like the connotation to the integrity of expanding a physical structure.

My intention is to identify my values and honor them, as well as expand beyond my wildest dreams.

Courage

I won’t be abandoning my word for 2008, Courage, as it will take much courage to proceed with some of the plans I have for the year. Expanding and living bigger is scary. Courage is about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. I got a lot of practice with that in 2008 and expect it will come in very handy again this year.

My Studio Newsletter

Yesterday I emailed my 4th studio newsletter for 2008, making my goal of 4 in 2008. It was my first year for newsletters and it feels great to have met that goal. If you aren’t a subscriber and are interested you can read it and subscribe here: Lisa’s December Studio Newsletter.

Structures #15

I wanted to include an image with this post so strolling through my folders I hit upon this small hand embroidered textile painting. I rarely hand stitch my textiles and to date this is the only one of the Structures series where I’ve done this.

Now that I see this I’m getting ideas for incorporating some stitching with my thinner lines. Hm…. Maybe time to explore and see if this idea pans out. Expanding the series in a new way. Cool!

 
Happy New Year Everyone!

Lines #12
©2008
3" x 3" – Mounted on stretched canvas
Sold

Lines #13
©2008
3" x 3" – Mounted on stretched canvas
Purchase Here

Lines #14
©2008
3" x 3" – Mounted on stretched canvas
Purchase Here

Lines #15
©2008
3" x 3" – Mounted on stretched canvas
Sold

Lines #16
©2008
3" x 3" – Mounted on stretched canvas
Sold

Lines #17
©2008
3" x 3" – Mounted on stretched canvas
Sold
 
 

More Lines

Tonight will be a short post as I was convincing myself I was not going to get a cold the last couple of days. Then they blew insulation into the existing walls of my house today and the bug won. Or at least something, be it insulation or virus, is preventing much breathing.

My accomplishment for today was to get these 6 new Lines textile paintings photographed. I also repohotographed Lines #18-#21. So you can check out the post and see that they don’t really have shadows incorporated in the artwork – Lines #18-#21 here.

I have a batch of bright colored 3" square Lines textile paintings to mount on canvas and then I think I’m done with these small pieces for a while. I started some large large pieces over the weekend and I’m having great fun. I’m also thinking the time I have before my house is no longer conducive to the making of art might be fairly short.

Latest Construction

Today they insulated my studio. It really defined the space and I’m happy as can be. I am sure I will love making art in this space. You can see the latest photos here:

Construction Dec 29

For some fun you can also see how they got the big wooden beams in my attic so they can tear down the wall between my kitchen and livingroom. It was pretty clever:

Construction December 23 and 24

Studio Newsletter

I’ll be emailing my last studio newsletter for the year in the next day or 2 and selecting the winner of Structures #83 from my list of subscribers. So sign up soon if you’d like a chance to own this textile painting. You can sign up here: Newsletter Sign Up.

 

Structures #83    ©2007    12"x12"

Topping Out

For the pure fun of doing something silly I decided to top out my home construction project today. Definitely in the joy category as it marks an exciting milestone in the construction project – that of the structure reaching it’s highest point.

Had I done the topping out correctly I would have done it last wednesday when they put the trusses on the roof and attached an evergreen tree to the last truss raised. Then it’s time for a little ceremony to mark that the framing has reached the top level.

It’s supposed to bring luck to the project but when I talked to the construction guys about it, to them it just meant they were supposed to get a beer. I gave them cookies.

So apparently I don’t know the rules, especially since I didn’t have a real tree, so instead it was a sparkly purple fake tree.

It will still bring good luck to the project, cause already it’s going really well. And it was pretty entertaining. I guess I owe the guys a beer sometime.

Latest construction photos are here: December 2 .

Artful Home

 
Structures #39 was selected to be included in this year’s Artful Home holiday catalog (pictured above). Today I had the first nibble of someone interested in buying it. Hurray! That is definitely joy. They changed their mind but I’m sure the right buyers will come along soon.

Being in the catalog, which is mailed to 200,000 homes, is delightful in and of itself. Here’s the page with my textile painting:

 
I think they did a fabulous job photographing the work. I need to tweak mine a bit:

 

Structures #39 ©2006    43"x29"

December Studio Newsletter

It’s nearing time for my 4th quarterly newsletter for 2008. I’m thinking I’ll have it in the mail in the next couple weeks.

I’ve decided to select one of my subscribers to receive one of my textile paintings as it seems like a festive joyful thing to share my work this way. I think it will be Structures #83 but I haven’t decided final details. I might decided to give away a couple ACEOs also. So if you’d like a chance to win a piece of my artwork please sign up below.

You can check out a sample Studio Newsletter here: Lisa Call Studio News if you’d like an idea of what you are signing up for.

Sign up here:

 
And of course, I will never share or sell your email address and will only use it for the purpose stated above. All emails sent will include a link to unsubscribe should you decide you are no longer interested.

My Taskboard on Oct 1

My Scrum Taskboard

In September I wrote several posts about using Scrum to manage my art career. In the last post I wrote about taskboards and explained how I was using it to track all the work I wanted to complete in September.

Quick refresher – the colored cards are the goals for the month (user stories) and there is 1 per row on the board. Each of the white cards are tasks that need to be completed for the bigger goals. The first column are tasks not yet started, the second column are tasks in progress and the final column are completed tasks. The colored cards on the right are goals I’m tracking but not actively working on.

Comparing the board from today from the board closer to the beginning of the month:

 
You can see I got a lot done. Certainly not everything but that big pile of cards in the completed pile indicates I did a heck of a lot art business and marketing this month. Probably the most focused and organized I’ve been in a long time, if not ever, for the business side of art.

This very visual indication of what I want to get done is a huge incentive for doing things. So I’m calling my first initial trial with scrum to be a big success.

Blocked Tasks

One thing I will add to my board is a 4th column. This is where I will put tasks that are blocked and in need of an external event for it to move forward. Such as waiting to hear from juried shows, or to get a return email, etc. I’d like a way to distinguish these tasks from the tasks I am actively working on (in column 2).

If a task is blocked for a long time it might mean I need to check in with the progress, or reevaluate the tasks and maybe find another solution.

Most of the goals (the colored cards along the right hand side of the board) are user stories where one of the tasks is currently blocked so once I add a new column these have a more natural home on the board.

Real Sprints

In scrum the goal is to put up on the taskboard only the work for a single sprint (I’m doing 1 month sprints). I obviously have much more work on my board than that so am not really sticking to that aspect of scrum.

There is a lot of value in seeing all (or at least most) of the work completed after a sprint completes so I’ll eventually get there but I’m not worried about it right now since my house is a big priority. We will hopefully begin building in a few weeks. I’m trying not to set too high of expectations during the building process.

Making Art in September

Although not managed through the scrum taskboard, september was a really good month in my studio also. One of my goals is to make art every day. Between work and kids and the house, it’s my escape and it helps keep me centered.

For September I worked in my studio 25 out of 30 days for a total of 55 hours. I completed 2 new pieces in my Structures series (#98 and #99) and made several small textile paintings.

Yay. That puts a smile on my face.

October Goals

So now it’s a new month and time to set new goals and maybe put some new goals/user stories up on my taskboard. I have some projects that ave been languishing on my todo list for months as I feel I’m still not quite caught up after moving in June. These are completed in October, I’m sure of it!

The first big goal for Oct will be to write and email my September studio newsletter. Then I’ll turn to a few misc tasks and then finally, I’ll tackle my website redesign project. I excited to get back to it.

Cherry Creek State Park, Denver, Colorado
 

Clarity

When I have clarity of intention I’m able to focus my actions on the things that will bring about my desires more quickly. I believe I am responsible for my own fate and focusing on what I want will result in it transpiring. So best to be very clear about what that is so I’m happy with the results. Hence my previous posts on my artistic success.

When I sit down with my todo list I think about each item and if it will lead to one of the goals on my list. If not I try to get the thing off my list – delegate it, don’t do it, or do it quickly. This is one reason why being clear is so helpful. It allows me to align my actions exactly to the outcomes I most want.

Another thing I meant to mention in my twitter for artists post, but it flittered out of my mind when writing, twitter fits into my long term success strategy. The marketing piece is probably there and it will help me sell art but more immediately I see it as a wonderful community of artists. I’ve meant dozens and dozens of new artists the last few weeks and am going to enjoy getting to know them better through their tweets. If you are trying to decided if twitter is right for you, one way to make that decision is to think about if it fits into your long term vision for your career.

Where Do You See Yourself?

Violette Severin has done a series of artist interviews on her blog and I was asked to participate. You can read my interview here: Interview with Lisa Call.

One of my favorite questions she asked was "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" I gave a fairly short answer on her blog as I wasn’t yet done working through my definition of success. The list of items from last weeks post, What Does Success Mean To Me, is the more clear answer to that question.

Some people might have a problem with defining success so another way to think about it is with this question. What do you envision yourself doing in the future?

Positive Day Dreaming

I’ve been trying out positive day dreaming and it seems most of the time it goes like this:

I wake up and get to spend the entire day in my studio making art. Then the next day I get to do the same. And the next and the next. I even toss in some marketing activities cause it’s fun now and of course eating good food, making the art in a beautiful studio and spending part of the time with the people I love.

Right now I can think of nothing I would like more than to spend an entire month making art and not going to work. Okay admittedly an entire life doing this would be better, but with the remodel I think I might be working for a few more years now. A tradeoff that will be well worth it.

Still – I think I’m going to figure out how to take a month off work and just make art the entire time. What a perfect use of my vacation time. It puts a huge smile on my face just thinking about it.

Studio Newsletter

It’s time again for my quarterly studio newsletter. I expect the September edition to be sent by end of the week if not sooner. As has become habit, I will have a few ACEOs for sale to my newsletter subscribers.

You can check out a sample here: Lisa Call Studio News.

You can sign up below for the newsletter:

 
And of course, I will never share or sell your email address and will only use it for the purpose stated above. All emails sent will include a link to unsubscribe should you decide you are no longer interested.

ACEO #7
3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
sold

ACEO #10
3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
sold

 

ACEO #11
3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
sold

Motivation Revisited

I wrote an article about motivation in my latest studio newsletter outlining 5 steps I take to stay motivated and on task to complete large projects (you can read it here – it’s the 3rd article: studio newsletter).

Another thing I do to keep motivated is to give myself rewards along the way and when the goal is reached. Nothing like getting something I really want to keep me moving forward. Sometimes it’s a simple as a container of expensive decadent ice cream or new art book to keep me plowing through a task. The best reward for doing household chores is a few hours in my studio.

Dell Studio 17

My big reward for getting my house sold and moving to my new home was to buy myself a new laptop. My old computer was 7 years old and not in the best shape. I upgraded the memory last year and that helped but it really needed to be put to sleep. In addition, having the big thing in my bedroom/studio/office was heating up the room and it was taking up way too much space.

So I ordered myself a "desktop replacement" laptop, which means it is big and heavy. It’s a Dell Studio 17 (17″ screen) with a fast processor, 4 gig of memory, beautiful high resolution screen and even a finger print scanner for security (okay – so it came installed – it’s kinda silly and I have no time to set it up right now but it’s still a fun toy). And best of all it’s orange.

I also bought my kids new laptops, also with 17″ screens, but theirs’ were Dell Inspiron 1720s and instead of an ATI video card they had nVIDIA. A few weeks after the computers arrived I found out that these graphic cards are probably faulty. HP has been offering extended warranties for effect computers but Dell is still dragging their feet. It looked like a situation I didn’t want any part of so I shipped the kids’ laptops back this morning and will replace them with Studio 17s with the ATI video cards.

Their laptops aren’t quite as nice as mine, but still way nicer than any kid might need. They were a big help during the move and deserve a reward also. I’ve also told them these laptops are their birthday presents, xmas presents and bribery for helping me move out and back in for the remodel. They grumble a bit with that comment but they are happy to have such nice computers they aren’t really complaining.

Markings #21 In Progress   ©2008

ACEOs For Sale

There are still 3 ACEO’s available for sale that I made last month to include with my newsletter. If you are interested in purchasing one (shown above) please send me email and let me know which one you’d like. They are $21 US and include shipping to anywhere. These 3 Art Trading Cards were all inspired by Markings #21,.

ACEO stands for “art cards, editions and originals”. Originally known as ATC, Artist Trading Card, and are traded between artists. When sold to the public they are referred to as ACEOs. The primary rule for an ACEO or ATC is they be 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ – the size of a trading card. They are created in many different mediums and are collectible, trade able and affordable art for everyone.

Structures #97 (In Progress)    ©2008

 
Some updates:

Art

I started a new textile painting (see above). Not very far along yet but I’m loving the funky greens. I’m just blocking in the background shapes and much will change before I start adding some thin lines that define my fence motif.

I find myself wanting to make much smaller pieces in my much smaller studio. Or maybe it’s the heat of summer. The thought of dealing with a really large quilt right now sounds too hot.

Studio Newsletter

I completed my studio newsletter and emailed it on saturday. If you think you are on the mailing list and didn’t receive it please let me know.

It took longer than I planned but I got it done. For a week I would say each morning "finish newsletter" and then evening would come and I’d find better ways to spend my time. I finally pushed myself to finish it by telling my accountability partners that I would donate $100 to a political candidate I didn’t support if I failed to email it by the end of day.

The ironic thing is the last article I finished for the newsletter was the one on motivation. Hm. If you aren’t a subscriber you can read the newsletter here: Lisa Call’s Studio Newsletter.

If you’d like to subscribe to receive my quarterly newsletter via email when it is first completed go here: Sign up for studio newsletter.

Heat

We have now had 16 days over 90 degrees here in Denver. Three more and we’ll have a new record, which I don’t think will be a challenge as the forecast is showing only 90+ as far into the future as I can count. Not the best summer to not have air conditioning.

Thanks to all of you for the concerned comments on my last post. Unfortunately my house isn’t equipped with electricity that will power an air conditioner. Only 4 circuits, nothing is grounded and if the refrigerator is on the microwave won’t work. All of this will be remedied in the remodel but for now we are jut pretending it’s 1955 (the year my house was built).

Although a few days ago I purchased a portable evaporative cooler (ie a swamp cooler) and if I load it up with lots of ice I can get my bedroom cooled down enough to sleep. I’m starting to feel human again but need a few weeks of 8 hours of sleep to starting thinking straight.

Remodel

The builder and I are working on the design for the new house. Not sure how long it will take, that will probably be determined on how many times I change my mind, but after that we have a month to wait for permits then the building can begin. Probably just in time for the cooler fall weather to arrive.

Unpacked – For Now

The studio/bedroom/computer room

My studio is set up! I even have an 8 foot by 8 foot flannel covered design wall with Markings #21 ready to go (it was folded up with lots of pins in a box until yesterday).

The entire house is pretty much unpacked. At least for now. In about a month I will be taking everything back down and moving to an apartment as the builder I hired adds the addition (on top – decided going back would hurt my tree). I hope to be back in the completed house, with a nice big studio, by christmas. It’s definitely an exciting, action packed year around here.

The studio/bedroom/computer room

Good thing I don’t have many clothes or there’d be no room for art.

Making Art

And even more exciting – I’m making art! It feels great. It’s been months since I spent any serious time in my studio and I’m loving it. I feel like a real person again. Or maybe I just feel like an artist again.

Yesterday I sat down and was ready to get to sewing when I realized I didn’t have some very important things – like rotary cutters, scissors, seam ripper, etc. The simple basic things I used every day. It took me 2 hours of hunting in my garage to find the box with these items. It was all in a slide projector box, labeled on every side as "Easter". Clever of me to hide it like that to make unpacking more fun.

Here’s what I’m working on:

Markings #21 In Progress

After a few hours of sewing today this is the result:

Markings #21 With Some Progress (the left 2 panels have been sewn together)

The Newsletter Will Happen

I think I will make 3 or 4 ACEOs with my scraps from this piece to offer in my studio newsletter, which I plan to email by this weekend. That’s a bit later than I hoped but I’m still working on it. Last week I got a bit side tracked with life but I’m back to really focusing on the art this week and am making some great progress.

Structures #6    ©2001    20" x 26"

Getting Back to Normal Life

Yesterday afternoon we arrived back home from the trip to Montana and had 24 hours to get the kids packed for camp and off again for 2 weeks. I’m now back home and faced with the rather large chore of unpacking and settling in. I also have a todo list a mile long of things that I let drop the last couple months, many of them art related requests that need attention.

When I start the think about all that needs to be done I get a bit overwhelmed. So I’m doing my best to not think about it all. I got a lot done the last 3 months by just working on my goals every day. So I’m sure that in no time I can get caught up again if I just stay focused.

A rough outline of what I would like to accomplish in the next 2 weeks while the kids are at camp (no reason to think about the zillion of other things cause this is enough for now):

• Unpack entire house
• Set up studio
• Make small art for studio newsletter
• Write and send my second studio newsletter
• Catch up with the very many outstanding requests for photos, info, etc of my art
• Find all my dye supplies and dye fabric with my childhood friend, Kelly, over the weekend
• Process the 400+ pictures taken while in Montana (my kids went a bit nuts with the camera – I think well over half are to be deleted)
• Figure out timeline and budget for getting house repaired and possible addition added, talk to 3 builders and select one to do the work

Tomorrow I return back to work. After 2 weeks off it’s going to be difficult but it pays the bills right now so off I go. My todo list would be a snap if I didn’t have to give up 40 hours a week. Although now that I live in Denver my commute will be 10 minutes instead of 30+ so I’m looking forward to having an extra hour in my life (not to mention the gas savings).

Artful Home Studio Sale

The Artful Home (formerly known as guild.com) is holding a studio sale. Lots of amazing art at good discounts. I have several pieces available for sale that can be viewed from my Artful Home Artist webpage. The items marked as Studio Sale are discounted from 30-40%. The sale ends on July 15th.

The above piece, Structures #6, is one of the items I included in the items for sale and can be seen here: Structures #6.

Squares #4    ©2006    11" x 9"

 
Some more thoughts on the design principles from my kids’ Expeditionary Learning school and how they relate to being an artist.

[All my posts on design principles.]

Design Principle #9: Solitude and Reflection

Solitude, reflection, and silence replenish our energies and open our minds. Be sure students have time alone to explore their own thoughts, make their own connections and create their own ideas. Then give them opportunity to exchange their reflections with each other and with adults.

My kids write a lot of reflections in school. When they go camping or backpacking or on any of their expeditions a portion of the time is spent sitting alone writing about the experience. They also write reflections on their major projects each year and include them in their portfolio of work. My 15 year son considers this a minor drawback for a really awesome school. My 12 year old daughter says it’s boring.

Mom thinks is wonderful. To sit and reflect and then journal about their experiences and then to share their thoughts with their peers and others. Great way to integrate all they are learning.

Journaling

I’ve mentioned a few times that I journal each morning and each evening before bed. Although much of this writing is not directly art related it makes a big difference in how I travel through life and approach my art. If I fall out of the habit of writing things get a bit disorganized in my head and it takes only days to set things right again when I start writing.

This blog is a public version of my writing, journaling and thoughts about being an artist. It’s much more directly related to my art and in the 3+ years I’ve been writing I’ve learn tremendous amount about my art, motivation and inspiration.

Taking the time to reflect and to write the words down, on paper or blog, is one of the important ways I spend my time alone. The silence and solitude are key to finding the place where I can think, reflect and write. It’s a chance to discover what I’m passionate about, what motivates me, what feeds my soul and what I am grateful for. I understand my art, and through that myself, better each time I sit down to write.

What type of writing do you do and how does it impact your life?

Studio Newsletter

Yesterday I got serious about packing. I intend to finish the majority of it today and I’ve taken monday and tuesday off work to prepare for my move. In addition to fun things, like hanging out in the crawl space under my new house as they clean, inspect and certify the furnace, I am going to get the June addition of my studio newsletter written and emailed to subscribers.

Like last time, I’m going to make available a couple ACEOs or other small works for my subscribers (last time they sold them all within hours). I haven’t decided yet what to make but I want to spend a bit more time in my studio before saying goodbye to the space where I got my art career off the ground. The studio will be the last thing I pack.

If you missed my March newsletter you can read it here: Lisa Call Studio News.

If you aren’t a subscriber to my newsletter, sent 4 times a year, and would like to be you can sign up below:

 
I will never share or sell your email address and will only use it for the purpose stated above. All emails sent will include a link to unsubscribe should you decide you are no longer interested.

Squares #4

The artwork pictured at the top of this page was complete a few years back. I usually complete small hand stitched piece each year. Some how this was the last piece I completed. The Artful Home (ie guild.com) is having an online art sale from July 1-15 and I just uploaded this piece to be included in that sale. When they have the sale work online I'll post a link to the 14 pieces I'm including.