The other day I looked out the studio window and saw the telltale sign of spring: the little extensions on the end of the tree branches. No matter what the thermometer says, no matter what the weather reports, the only one I believe is the tree. She tells me when spring is really here.

And this is why I trust her! On Art Day, I looked out the kitchen window and saw green! I grabbed my camera and ran outside to have a look. I was shocked and delighted to discover just how far the tulips had already come! I asked Shannon for her patience as I freed these sprouts from their protective chicken wire. Clearly it had done its job, saving some of these beauties from the squirrels, but now it seemed to be strangling them! A gentle cut here and there and they were free.

This is similar to what happens in our own creative lives. As we begin the delicate task of growing, we need protection, a gentle shield against those who might tear asunder our tender showings.  When we have grown enough to stand on our own, the defense that had once been so key to our survival blocks our way. Then it is time to let go of that precious protection and brave what is next.

Art Day this week asked me for some bravery. Our assignment for Carla Sonheim’s Y is for Yellow class was to do gesture drawings, quick drawings that capture the movement, the essence of a figure. I know this is one of Shannon’s all-time favourite art forms. In fact, I remember a theatre poster that brought together her drawings of essential moments of the actors. Striking! For me though, ack! I’d never done anything like this before and it seemed wildly intimidating. The good thing was that it only required seconds of courage! At the speed of this exercise, 5 figures could be done in about a minute. I could be brave for a minute! What I found was that when I was in the experience, there wasn’t time to be afraid or to judge. There was just the work. I was reminded, once again, how often the answer to our creative conundrums is found in the work itself.

The other challenge coming in the time ahead is to develop a series. Shannon and I spent some of our time talking about what our series might be, what it might look like. I looked to what I have enjoyed most over the past several years of Art Day. What left me always wanting to do another piece and another and another? I know that there must be an element of discovery and surprise for me. I lean towards watercolours, mostly for their ease of use and the way they look and feel with pen. This reflection was a great way for me to gather my knowing about myself as an artist. For this series I have set myself some specs: watercolour and found drawings on a paper square. I can’t wait to get started!

Something else I can’t wait to get started is this new and exciting adventure I am on with Fresh Collective here in Toronto! A friend of mine suggested that I apply to their role model campaign so I had a look.

We love entrepreneurship, creativity, self-expression and community. Inspired by our customers, the Role Models Program is designed to celebrate those values, showing you fabulous ways to look great while you’re living your fabulous life out loud!

Clearly we are on the same page! So I filled out my application, had a conversation with Laura-Jean, the founder of Fresh Collective, and now I am officially a Role Model! How cool is that?! I am so excited by all of the possibilities not to mention my very first photo shoot, which is coming next week. Wish me luck! And expect to see a new haircut soon.

I have always been very inspired by style while being incredibly against repressive attitudes we see in the fashion industry. For me, the whole point of style is to express the uniqueness of who you are, to help you shine your individual light and grace into this world. It is for each of us to be a unique wildflower, not one in a series of homogeneous cultivated roses. (I have nothing against roses, mind you!) That’s why I so enjoy this short video of the exquisite Iris Apfel, especially this quote:

The greatest fashion faux-pas is looking in the mirror and seeing somebody else.

Iris Apfel

Here’s to looking in the mirror and seeing ourselves!

Creative Prompts for Your Studio (Remember, your life is your studio)

• Take some time to notice the changing season around you. What are the telltale signs where you are?
• Like the tulips, is there something you’ve relied on for protection that it’s time to let go of? Will you let go?
• What have you been wanting to try that feels intimidating? Muster a moment of courage and dive in, if only for a minute or two. See what changes after you step across the bridge of fear and truly encounter the work.
• What do you know about yourself as an artist? Take some time to look at the creative work that you most enjoy doing and look for clues. What mediums, themes, motifs, approaches are you drawn to again and again and again?
• Is there an opportunity that you’ve been eyeing? What would it take for you to throw your hat in the ring? Do it this week!
• Put together one outfit (even if you have to buy a piece or pieces) that when you wear it, you look in the mirror and who you see is you. Wear it.

This is what my mornings look like these days as I get up at 5:30 AM to get to the gym by 6:30. It’s so weird locking the door behind me, feeling like I’m heading out to choir or to meet a friend for drinks when really I’m about to sweat up a storm and get my morning started! Today as I left my house, I saw the stars! Here’s what I saw on the way home.

Can you tell what it is? Frost on a car windshield and the reflection of trees. Beauty is everywhere.

Writing…

One of the best things about these early mornings is that I’m home by 7:30, ready to sit down with Scout on my lap and write for at least an hour. This week I’ve been writing about my own art history, revisiting my journey with different arts, from dance to theatre to music to the visual arts, noticing the places I flourished and the ones that shut me down and thinking about how great a class on this topic would be.

stART: Creating as We Go…

This talk of our personal art history continued during the recording of stART: Creating as We Go with my sisters, Suzie and Shannon, with each of us sharing a bit of our own story.  It’s amazing that three sisters from the same family can have entirely different art journeys. As our mom always said, “Every child has different parents!”

During the show I was really inspired by Shannon letting go of one of the TV shows that she always watches in favour of specifically using that time for creating. It’s amazing to see the impact that’s had on her creative life. I’m imagining what I could swap out of the schedule and replace with art time but I keep come back to the same answer: the dishes. I think maybe I should look to my TV watching too!

By the way, this episode of stART is coming soon. I’m just trying to sort out a little something with the video. When it’s ready, I’ll share the link in the Studio Newsletter.

Journal Club…

A big part of my work in the studio this week has been preparing for our first ever Journal Club! We’ll be meeting in my Zoom Room cafe online for 6 weeks, getting to know one another and taking time for our practice. We’ll do some free writing and answer some prompts too. We may even do some doodling! I am so looking forward to this weekly creative time in creative community. It’s going to be such a lovely way to spend an hour each week. I hope you’ll join in too!

Thinking about…

Something that has been catching my ear lately is how people feel about standing out. In fact, I asked people about it on the studio’s Facebook page and it’s clear that for many people there’s a real discomfort in being noticed, in standing apart, in receiving attention. Where does that come from? What messages did you get about getting noticed? What is your experience with standing out? How about with fitting in? I think this is something really interesting to explore. I’m particularly interested in how it’s related to our Art History. Fascinating!

Wanting to See…

Something else that looks fascinating is the Outsiders exhibit of American Photography and Film at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Here’s how they describe it.

“Harnessing the descriptive and expressive capacities of photography and film, the artists in this remarkable exhibition, Outsiders: American Photography and Film, 1950s–1980s, all participated in changing the image of American life. Motivated by a sense that the status quo was untenable, and that current visual expressions of American life did not reflect what they knew and saw of the world, they deployed their chosen media to reflect a more complex, more authentic and more diverse view of the world in which they had grown up.”

I wonder if we created an exhibit of our photos of what we know and how we saw the world, what we would come up with. What would we see of each others lives and how would that compare to our Pinterest boards?

I know in my collection of photos over the past 8 months you would see a growing relationship with and love for our Studio Kittens.

A Kitten Progress Report…

Scout has grown into such a sexy cat. He’s lithe and agile and his fur is silky soft. He’s incredibly sensitive. If he was a tarot card, he’d be the Prince of Cups. I’d say he has the soul of a poet.  When he is in the mood for love, he is all purrs and relaxation, stretching and turning and giving you his belly. He sits on my lap for hours while I’m writing, occasionally looking up with love and a desire for attention. Then when something unnerves him or he has the kitty crazies, he is off like a shot! He’ll jump at his tail, bounce of the wall and run so you can’t catch even a wisp of his tail!

Ah, Shibumi, that face says it all! See why I simply have to take a comics class? Nothing else will capture the sheer range of her big personality! She remains the smallest of the cats but you wouldn’t know it by her linebacker stance. She’s bold, loving and relentless. She’s constantly pawing at the window ready to take on whatever creature she sees outside. At least three times a day she brings me her favourite rubber soccer ball so that we can play fetch (and I’m sure she asks Justin at least as many times!) She’s also the only one who likes to be held (yet – I’m currently working on Scout) and Justin walks around with her perched on his arm like he is a branch and she is a black panther. I rather think she’d like that image of herself!

And Mr. Escher Pants, wow, this week we have made such progress! Only very recently did he start seeking out attention and even when he did, it mostly involved him walking away as you tried to pet him. It’s like he gets too excited by the attention. He craves it and when he receives it his whole body fills with energy like he’s just going to jump right out of his skin and so he walks away. Sometimes he even stops, drops and rolls over but if I take a step near him, he turns over quickly and dashes!

This week though, for three nights in a row, at about the same time in the evening, he has come to see me. Little by little he has let himself stay for some love and attention. And yesterday, when he walked, stopped, dropped and rolled, I reached out and he let me touch him! There were even purrs! What a breakthrough. Yes, everyone, he’s training me well ;)

And that’s today in the studio.

Prompts for Your Studio…

• If you were going to redesign how you start each day, what would you do?
• Take It to Your Journal: Write about your own Art History.
• Take a moment right now as you read or hear this and look for beauty. What do you notice?
• What could you swap out (e.g. a TV show) in exchange for some creative time?
• Take It to Your Journal: How do you feel about standing out?
• Take some photos of what you know and how you see the world.
• Where are you an outsider? Where do you belong?
• Go to a gallery exhibit that calls to you.
• In any medium, create a portrait of someone you love.

Moving…

This week I have started going to a gym for 6:30 am workouts! I know – crazy, right? I thought this would be a good way to support my writing practice. By 8:00, I am sitting at my desk, having already made a great start to the day and I am ready to write. It’s a big change to get up and out of the house so early. The first day I went, I left my breakfast on the counter because I’d underestimated the time I needed. I was totally worried about being late, so I almost didn’t go. Then I got almost to the door of the gym when I realized I’d forgotten my shoes, so I almost turned back. I mean, it’s already uncomfortable to make a start on something new, never mind this early, never mind late, never mind without most of my breakfast, never mind without shoes!

But I went anyway.

Here’s what I know. There is always a reason to turn back. There’s always solid evidence that the comfort zone is the place to be. But the unfamiliar doesn’t get more comfortable until you step into it again and again. I figured I might as well start that process even without my shoes!

Learning…

Something else new that I’m preparing for is taking the Writing and Drawing Comics e-course with Summer Pierre. I’m so excited and totally nervous. At least the supplies are unintimidating: a composition book, some index cards, a Black Pilot Precise Pen (fine) and a Black Papermate Flair Pen (medium). I ordered the pens on Amazon and had the cards and the notebook on hand. I’m ready for class, Summer!

Reading…

If you watch Creative Living Bookshelf, you’ll know that I picked up this book quite a while ago, Plant Dreaming Deep by May Sarton. It takes me forever to work through a book. Right now at the far edge of winter, I couldn’t have been more delighted to read a chapter about the garden. When May describes her excitement about her morning tours, I feel excited by what is soon to come:

“From May on, I can hardly wait to get up to see what has happened overnight, for one of the pleasures of the garden is that something is always happening; it is not static even for a day. I go out by six-thirty and sometimes earlier, still in my pajamas and a wrapper, to take look around before breakfast.”

This is just what I do too when I take my camera to capture a #goodmorninggarden moment each day and share on Instagram and Facebook.

from last year’s garden

These days I’m looking longingly out the window, waiting for the snow to melt and for things to start sprouting and I’m not the only one.

Kittens…

Windows will always be a favourite spot for kittens. Our three seem to rotate between three favourites: the front window that looks onto the street, where I imagine they watch with amusement all of the people heading to work while they enjoy their life of luxury, the kitchen window, where they often perch with tails swishing, watching squirrels and birds flit by and elude them, and then the studio window, where they sometimes peer out at the sky, Shibumi, in particular, pawing at it as though the glass will give way and a whole new world will open up to her. I know that feeling too.

Thinking About…

And the other day I came across this, which has me thinking.

“In their book Art and Fear David Bayles and Ted Orland tell the story of a ceramics teacher who announced on the opening day of class that he was dividing the students into two groups. Half were told that they would be graded on quantity. On the final day of the term, the teacher said he would come to class with some scales and weigh the pots they had made. They would get an ‘A’ for 50 lbs of pots, a ‘B’ for 40 lbs, and so on. The other half would be graded on quality. They just had to bring along their one, perfect pot.

The results were emphatic: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group graded for quantity. As Bayles and Orland put it: ‘It seems that while the ‘quantity’ group was busily churning out piles of work—and learning from their mistakes—the ‘quality’ group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.” Matthew Syed from Black Box Thinking

Does this resonate with your own experience? I’d certainly say that the last two years of having a regular art day has made all the difference for me, not only in developing my skills and confidence but also in loosening me up for learning. The more I make, the more I’m willing to experiment.

Prompts for Your Studio

• What practices will or do support your creative life? How might you start them, return to them or celebrate them?
• Move your body.
• Go anyway.
• Step outside your comfort zone.
• Take time to read.
• Take a moment to just look out your window and breathe.
• Experiment with quality over quantity. Notice the impact.

Getting back to Art Day with my sister Shannon this weekend gave me that wonderful feeling of things finally settling down just a bit. It’s amazing how grounding it is to be back to your normal routine! Though, actually, that’s a bit ironic for this Art Day because we worked on our next Y is for Yellow class by Carla Sonheim, which invited us to really get out of our comfort zone and try things we don’t usually do.  For me that meant abstracts (okay, I did paint a fish) and working with a more neutral palette. It cracks me up that I ended up using a lot of green, which Shannon tends to use, and she had a fair bit of pinks and blues on her palette, which I tend to use. I guess that means we followed the rules!

There were times in this exercise that I felt completely in the weeds. I had no idea where to start or how to develop an abstract painting. I still don’t! But the wonderful thing was I didn’t panic. I didn’t get mad or even particularly frustrated. I just kept painting. In the moment there were two things that helped me keep going and eventually finish with paintings I quite like.

The first was Carla’s instruction to keep going until you liked it. I really committed to that and I trusted (mostly) that eventually that would happen.

The second was that after I had been painting for some time and was still not liking the results, I got curious. What was I doing or not doing? One thing I noticed was that I was being very protective of the two little bits I did like on the painting. Every choice that I was making was to protect those bits but nothing else was working. It was only when I decided to let them go and trust that I’d find something else to like that I did!

I love doing collage work too and have been wanting to do more of it. This weekend I gave myself a little bit of time to start developing a piece. I really enjoyed just pulling together this and that and seeing where they led me – clearly to gentler skies!

I think Escher was on the same page! (I love that on Facebook Michaela called him a Purrito!)

Today in addition to working with my brilliant clients, I popped out to put more Give a Girl a Journal packages in the mail. Girls in Ontario and across the US (Florida, Arizona, Texas, New Jersey and North Carolina) as well as girls in Germany, Australia and India will be getting journals soon! Feeling inspired, I took the scenic route back and I’m glad I did. Check out the robots I saw on the way home.

Now that’s a sentence you don’t hear every day!

Prompts for Your Studio…

• What routines help you feel grounded?
• Book an Art Day for yourself. I know “Art Day” sounds really ambitious but we spend about 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon creating. What time can you give yourself?
• Get outside your comfort zone by experimenting with the opposite of what you normally do. This can apply in life too, not just in art. If you always dress in neutrals, try something bright. If you always make the most efficient choice, try the most leisurely. Where can trying the opposite stretch you?
• Is there anywhere that holding onto what you like is actually holding you back?
• Where might you find some gentler skies?
• Be a part of the circle of magic that is Give a Girl a Journal.
• What did you see on the way home today?

It seems like every day in the studio there simply must be a kitten story and today is no different. In fact, I have a breakthrough moment to share. Last night, for the first time ever, Escher dropped a ball at my feet. Half offering, half invitation, it was all amazing, a big social step from our most reticent rescue. You’ve come a long way, Escherpants!

This morning I settled into writing and had a wonderful time digging into some thoughts about our creative lives and how they develop. I was noodling how our creative expression can be a kind of manifestation lab for our life. Whatever we want to bring more of into our life, we can start experimenting with in our art. Wanting more courage in your day to day? Start with being more courageous in your art! Want more spontaneity? More focus? More fun? How can you allow that energy to permeate your creative work no matter what your medium is?

If you’re on Facebook with me, you’ll know I was also getting curious about why it is we never judge our creative efforts to be enough. “I studied dance but only at the local community centre.” “I’ve never really done art, except for summer painting classes.” “I draw but it’s not any good.” Do you find yourself diminishing your creative experience this way? What would it take for you to consider your efforts enough?

Let me follow that up with the fact that I have signed up for a class I feel wholly unprepared for: Summer Pierre’s Writing & Drawing Comics E-Course! Ever since the kittens came into our lives I’ve been drawn to the idea of creating a comic.

Though I feel tentative about my drawing, I find myself wanting to capture all of the wonderful moments they give us. I find myself filling my fauxbonichi with moments like this.

My hip is feeling much better today. Thank you, everyone, for the well wishes! I’m still moving slowly and being gentle with myself. Readying more packages for Give a Girl a Journal seemed the perfect way to spend the afternoon. As I read the little notes that people often leave when nominating a girl to receive a journal I was blown away by all of the love. It is life-affirming to witness a tribe of women looking out for girls with such love and care and deep belief in all that is possible for them. May every girl experience such love and care and belief.

As I wrote, immersed in this circle of love, a song came on that always stops me in my tracks. I’ll close today’s diary by sharing it with you: Lament for Phaedra by John Tavener, performed by cellist Maya Beiser.

Prompts for Your Studio…

• Inspired by Escher, where might you expand your comfort zone and come out of your shell?
• What do you want more of in your life? How can you experiment with that in your creative expression?
• What will it take for you to consider what you create to be enough?
• Capture a moment of your day in a drawing (even if you don’t think you can draw) (especially if you don’t think you can draw!)
• Look out for someone today.
• Nominate a girl or sponsor a journal at Give a Girl a Journal.
• What’s a song that stops you in your tracks?

 

 

Over the past while, I’ve found myself not moving as much as I normally do. I’ve been stretching and strengthening my creativity more than my body and now it is time for a change. To  kick-start my return to moving and grooving, I thought I could use some structure and support so off I went yesterday on an exploratory mission to a local fitness spot.

The experience was great and as I recounted to the director how I’ve been tending (and not tending) my well-being, I knew this was just the right move. She gave me some simple tips for making a good start, from having a protein and a produce at every meal to getting up from my computer every 2 hours to do some simple but effective hip and lower back movement. Perfect.

As I walked home, I was planning a new structure to my day, imagining early morning workouts and then time in the studio for writing. I was feeling encouraged and motivated, ready to make a fresh start right away, when I slipped on a thin covering of snow on the sidewalk. For a moment I caught myself and almost stayed up. Then I lost control again;my feet slipped from beneath me and I landed hard on my hip, a hip with deep memories of old dance injuries and pain.

Ouch.

After that, tending myself looked very different yesterday. I lay down gently and rested, rested, rested, allowing everything in the studio to wait. I get pretty grumpy when I can’t get to it but I had to giggle when my friend Bridget responded to my plight with “My body also tries to injure itself when I mention the gym!”

Today I’m creaky but my hip is improving. I thought it wise to have another gentle day in the studio but managed to get a few things done, like cuddling with the kittens.

One of the best new routines in the studio is morning cuddles with Scout. As soon as I get my coffee, he bounds in before me and jumps on my chair, waiting to crawl into my lap for cuddles. It’s amazing to remember that just 8 months ago he was so skittish we couldn’t get close to him at all. I think he’ll always be high-strung, our Scout, but he’s also a total lovebug.

It was exciting to spend some of the day packaging up journals to send to girls around the world. Today I prepped parcels for girls in Florida, Minnesota, Virginia, Ontario plus India and Australia! There’s nothing like sitting down with a cup of tea and a dream come true!

My husband, Justin, also has major changes occurring in his work life and today was a pivotal day. That made it the just-right day for cookies. Thank you to my sister Shannon who just happened to leave a package of Pillsbury chocolate-oatmeal cookie dough in our fridge!

Cookies, journals, change and cuddles: all in all a pretty good day.

Today’s Prompts for Your Studio…

• What is your body hungering for? How can you give it more of what it needs?
• If you sit a ton at the computer, set your timer and ever 2 hours get up and move.
• Cuddle with kittens, if you can. Puppies are good too. (PS “Kittens” and “Puppies” can be terms of endearment for your grown-up furry friends!)
• Participate in Give a Girl a Journal
• Bake cookies.
• Take or make a picture that shows today’s weather.