What I'm Listening To

Hi again! It’s been awhile and this is my first post of 2016! I hope everyone is having a great year so far. We got back a little over a week ago from a 9 day vacation and I am feeling rested and relaxed (and still fighting getting back to “real life”).

Back in April 2015 I posted about a creative podcast I was listening to, and since then I have discovered so many more and wanted to share what I’m listening to. I look forward to new episodes being posted every week and my mood gets a good boost after a listen to any of these.

 

Being Boss-

This podcast from Kathleen Shannon and Emily Thomson is geared towards creative entrepreneurs and gets into the nitty gritty of being in charge of your business. Not everything applies to my “side gig”, but I enjoy listening and can often apply things they discuss to how I work as a fine artist and even my day job in finance.

 

The Lively Show-

Host Jess Lively discusses how to live life with intention and talks about topics from health to living a creative life. I never really thought about living with intention before, but at this stage in my life in my 30’s I am glad to be learning about it.

 

Creating Your Own Path-

Jennifer Snyder interviews all types of creatives to see what inspires them and how they work, which is a great way to get inspired to create myself.

 

The Jealous Curator: Art for Your Ear-

I absolutely love the Jealous Curator’s website and her impeccable taste; so I am so happy I can hear Danielle Krysa interview artists about their work and how/where they got their start.

 

What are you listening to to get your creativity flowing?

 

 

I'm an Obliger

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how I can get more accomplished in my daily life, especially when it comes to making art. I recently read the book Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin and had a suspicion that out the the "Four Tendencies" that I am an Obliger. After this brief Twitter exchange with the author herself, it became even more clear.

 Brief explanation of an Obliger from Gretchen's book:  meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet expectations they impose on themselves

So taking this into consideration, I am trying to approach my day to day differently. Realizing that I am an Obliger and having that definition and awareness alone has pushed me a bit. If I think "well why don't I have the motivation to sketch tonight?", I know it is because no one is waiting for me to do a sketch, there is no deadline. I work better under a deadline. How do I work creatively under a deadline on my personal projects? I'm sure my various art director friends are great at this, but I need some help.  I have been meaning to write and blog more, so there is an idea! If I create more, I can share it here. Two birds, one stone. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, so I'll start with this one idea and see how I do. 

For now, I will publicly shame myself here and post photos of various ignored projects in my studio at the moment

I bought paint and pastel pencils Sunday afternoon with every intention on painting that night. It's now Thursday evening and I have yet to touch only the pastels for just 1 quick sketch. 

I bought paint and pastel pencils Sunday afternoon with every intention on painting that night. It's now Thursday evening and I have yet to touch only the pastels for just 1 quick sketch. 

This finished collage needs to be listed on Etsy, but it hasn't been done yet. I clearly need to vacuum this rug too...

This finished collage needs to be listed on Etsy, but it hasn't been done yet. I clearly need to vacuum this rug too...

I have no idea why this ball of fabric is laying on top of brushes and various items. Maybe as a reminder to go through my fabric stash to get ideas for a new piece?

I have no idea why this ball of fabric is laying on top of brushes and various items. Maybe as a reminder to go through my fabric stash to get ideas for a new piece?

Recent Collages

If you follow me on social media you have already seen these pieces, but I wanted to share my recent collages on my blog as well.  I started these as studies for paintings but I think they can stand alone as their own pieces. I've been digging through my fine art paper scrap stash (built up over years!) and have been having fun with collage and not pre-planning, just making it up as I go.  I love how these turned out! I've been extra conscience about what images I am drawn to when looking at art and why, and keeping that in mind when I'm making these collages.  I want to make so many more...better get busy!