Category: Reading Nook

August 2, 2015

What Is It About Art School?

Attending art school has always been a narrative that flowed alongside my life, particularly the Ontario Collage of Art and Design or OCAD (formerly OCA). When I was in junior high, one of my best friends had a dream of going there. At 14 she was already working on her portfolio. She took me down to The Grange, which was right by the art college and, at the time, was a beautiful little warren of exclusive shops and restaurants worthy of artists and their patrons. When my parents divorced, my mom pursued her artistic aspirations as a part-time student at OCAD, studying everything from sound to colour theory. My aunt went to OCAD. My sister Shannon went to OCAD. And my husband, Justin, went, for a time, to OCAD too.

But I never thought it was something for me. Out of all the arts, the visual arts have been the most intimidating to me, the most rife with art wounds. Over the past decade, I’ve given myself many opportunities for healing. I’ve attended all kinds of art classes, both online and in Toronto. I’ve spent hours art journaling, doodling and playing with drawing and painting. Every Sunday we have Art Day.

I’ve held it all lightly, as lightly as I could, and did my best to create for myself the encouraging environment I’d never been able to find.

This year, I’ve signed up for a class at an art school, not the iconic OCAD but a reputable school nonetheless. I’m doing a week-long immersive in collage – starting Tuesday. I’m so glad that I planned this many months ago when the beginning date was far enough away to be less scary. Now that I’m right on the cusp of the start, I’m committed. The decision has been made. The money has been paid. All that’s left is to go.

As I prepare for this next adventure, I’m so aware of all the stories I have in my heart me about art school and what this course is likely to be like. Here are just a few.

The Stories I’m Carrying Around about Art School

The environment is going to be confusing, unclear and generally a bit unwelcoming.
The teacher is going to gravitate to those who are already awesome and ignore those who are learning to be.
The students are going to be reserved and mostly do their own thing.
Other people will feel at home but I’ll feel like I don’t belong.
There will be one woman who is older than me by a fair bit and everyone else will be younger than me by a fair bit.
It’s going to be mostly self-directed.
I’ll relish the dedicated creative time but resent the lack of guidance and instruction.
Seeing what other people do will expand my range of possibilities.
Seeing what other people do will bring out my insecurities.
I’ll create pieces that I feel mark me as a novice and maybe a thing or two I feel good about.
I’ll indulge myself in the repeated fantasy of not returning but I’ll stick it out until the end.
It’s going to be on an emotional roller coaster.
I’m going to learn at least something in spite of all this.
I’m going to feel proud of myself for going.

And here’s what I know; those are just stories. Sure, they are stories rooted in past experience but they have no bearing on what next week will be like unless I wash everything in their colour.

But one of the things the kittens are reminding me of is just how unpredictable life’s adventures can be. This is why we creative adventurers benefit so powerfully from our practices, so we develop our muscles for showing up and being present to the moment; and from our projects, which nourish our confidence and grow our capacity; and from our performances, where we learn to trust ourselves to dance with whatever shows up and use it as nourishment for our creative lives.

The Stories & Strategies I’m Choosing to Carry with Me to Art School

Don’t think about it too much; just go.
Make sure I have all my supplies and know exactly where I’m going ahead of time. Who needs additional stress?
Have a journal with me at all times so I can have an outlet when/if things get intense.
Know that I can text Shannon and Justin to remember that I am connected to people I love and who believe in me.
Know that I can leave any at time. I am an adult and the choice of staying or going is up to me.
Ask for what I want/need to make it a positive learning experience.
Start with the belief that we, as a class, are a community, and everyone will likely be helpful.
Be the kind of classmate that I would like to have.
Be open to the learning, all of it – content-wise and context-wise.
Be open to loving it and wanting more.

I wonder which of my stories will be affirmed and which will be obliterated. What I promise myself is that I will enter this art school exploration with an open heart and a curious mind. From there, we’ll see what happens. Wish me luck on the adventure.

Any advice for me about this art school adventure? Anything you’d like me to share? I’ll be blogging about it as soon as I’m able.

July 26, 2015

Nourish Your Self; Nourish Your Dreams

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on.” Prospero. The Tempest. William Shakespeare.

Nourish Your Self; Nourish Your Dreams

I know you have dreams. I know that inside your heart are the seeds of many dreams, seeds that need to be nourished with time, attention and love. But I want to tell you a secret. What your dreams need more than anything else is a nourished, cared-for you.

Prospero is right, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on.” Though your dreams may eventually take on a life of their own, in the beginning they are fully dependent on you, so tending to yourself is, in fact, tending to your dreams.

When we take care of our bodies, we have energy to give.

When we feed our minds, we have tinder for our creative fire.

When we experience life, we have something to be inspired by.

When we take time to breathe, we give our dreams room to unfurl.

When we are nourished, we have lots to share.

And, creative heart, I know you want to share.

What Nourishment Do You Need?

How can you create an environment where you, your creativity and your dreams flourish? What do your mind, body, heart and spirit need? Some of us thrive on a rhythm of rise and fall, while others enjoy a steady pace. Some of us embrace mornings, while others come alive at night. What brings your energy to life? What nourishes your imagination, your spirit, your body? What lights you up? What grounds you?

Here are some journaling prompts to help you hone in on your unique way of nourishing yourself so you can create a fertile environment for you and your dreams. Be specific and see if you can come up with at least 10 different ways to complete each sentence.

Take It To Your Journal: Ways to Nourish Your Self

Some ways to nourish my emotional self are…
Some ways to nourish my physical self are…
Some ways to nourish my spiritual self are…
Some ways to nourish my mental self are…
Some ways to nourish my creative self are…

The seeds of our dreams need nourished soil in which to grow. Let’s start with nourishing our selves. Let’s start right now.

July 15, 2015

I Heart Salad Love

You may know that my sister is Suzie the Foodie, a flavour fiend who is always both creating and looking for awesome tastes. She recently explored Salad Love by David Bez, testing several of the recipes in her own kitchen with varying results. On her recent visit, she passed this book along, thinking we might get good use out of it – and boy, have we!

After many indulgences when Suzie was here (it’s bound to happen!), our household thought it would be brilliant to focus on salads for the season by working our way through the book. Salad Love made it easy because it’s organized seasonally. We started with spring and haven’t looked back. Every day we just go for the next recipe, unless for some reason we’re sure it’s not for us (We’re not seafood eaters, for example). We haven’t made a single salad we haven’t enjoyed, though I should mention we use our own dressings (Suzie was rather critical of the ones in the book).

Not only are we relishing the recipes but this approach has made the answer to “what’s for dinner” so easy because it’s always whatever is on the next page! It’s also been simple to adjust for personal preferences – a little more meat for Justin, a lot less meat for me :) Plus, it’s been a treat to end up having several salad-friendly ingredients prepped and ready to go.

Salad Love has brought us ease, taste and healthfulness this spring and summer and we’ve enjoyed every moment! Tonight: goat cheese, lentils and pine nuts – yum!

If you’re interested in this book, you might enjoy Suzie’s unboxing. It gives you a good look at what’s inside.

July 12, 2015

When Life Is Unpredictable, Get Creative!

When the unexpected happens, good or bad, and we’re thrown off our regularly scheduled life, our creativity often gets pushed to the side. What a missed opportunity!

Here are seven reasons to get creative when life gets unpredictable.

Let Your Creative Practice Hold You & Guide You

Having a regular creative practice can help you feel grounded during times of uncertainty and change. You may not be able to control all kinds of external circumstances but you can decide that you’re going to show up to the page or dance or sing, no matter what.

Let Life Be Your Creative Fuel

One of the great gifts of the arts is that they can hold the whole gamut of our experience. Whatever you are going through, whatever is churning, burning or buzzing inside, channel it into your art. Write a scathing poem. Sing a song of grief. Sew an outfit of ta-dah!

Connect to Your Inner Wisdom

Engaging your worrying mind in a simple creative activity can make way for your intuition and inner wisdom. Don’t be surprised if a sudden moment of clarity arrives while you’re colouring, doodling or beading.

Open Your Mind: Allow Your Life & Yourself to Be Shaken

We don’t like to be shaken but sometimes it is healthy for us to mix things up. When we’re out of our groove, that’s the best time to think about what song we actually want to be playing. Take this opportunity to open up your eyes and get a fresh perspective. Is this an opportunity for a fresh start?

Improvise

Creativity loves to dance with the unknown, to look for patterns, to make meaning out of chaos. Your creativity isn’t just for peaceful Sunday afternoons over cups of tea (though I love that, don’t you?) Our creativity is a force to be reckoned with, a skill we can draw on in every situation. Tap into your creativity and find your way to ride what is right here, right now. You never know what might happen!

Our Art is More than a Hobby

When we choose to stick with our art and creative practice even when life is unpredictable, out of synch or disrupted, we are saying to ourselves, to others and to the Universe, this matters. We’re saying, this isn’t a hobby; it is who we are. Like eating or sleeping, our art time is essential.

Creativity is Our Magic

Creativity is a gift that runs through every fibre of our being. It is the magic we draw on in times of need and in times of glory. It is where our resilience and our resourcefulness live. It is for every day and for all time. Even now.

What ever life gives you, create something with it.

June 28, 2015

Cultivating Awareness

Because “awareness” has a sacred quality too often we relegate it to special circumstances – a particular state of mind, a certain type of environment, an uninterrupted period of time. But awareness is a gift that’s available to us in each moment, whether we are sitting beneath a tree, gazing out our window or waiting in a doctor’s office.

Cultivate Your Awareness

To cultivate your awareness in any given moment, all you have to do is choose a focus and activate your senses.

Choose a sense: sight, hearing, taste, smell or touch
Select an area of focus (e.g. the tree outside the window or your cup of tea)
Pay Attention

For example, you might choose to explore your sense of touch combined with the focus area of your front closet. Run your hands along the sleeves of your jackets. Put that scarf against your cheek. Notice what it feels like to put your arm into that sleeve. Crawl into the closet and take a seat. Feel your back leaning against the wall. Simply notice what you notice. What does it feel like? What does it make you think of? What does it inspire in you?

In the Cultivating Awareness video, I use sight to pay attention to a small patch of my garden. In those few moments I opened my awareness to the present, nature, myself, my memories and my relationships. From there, I had ideas for a poem, a dance and a short story.

Cultivating awareness and paying attention to the world around us fills us with rich resources to draw on. Give yourself a few moments each day to connect to your senses and pay attention. Keep a journal nearby so you can catch the ideas as they start to fly! Let this simple creative practice be a powerful foundation for your creative life.

June 14, 2015

The Vulnerability of Being Seen (or Why I’m Scared in Guitar Class and How I’m Getting Over It)

I get nervous at guitar class.

Every week I get nervous.

When the teacher pulls his stool over to my music stand, I quake inside. As I try to play what I’ve been working on, no matter how well prepared I am, my fingers get wobbly and can’t find their way. I get lost. I stop. I start. I stop again. I wonder why I’m taking class at all.

I find myself stammering explanations, “Oh, we didn’t have much time to practice this week” or “I’m still getting used to this guitar” or simply, “I get so nervous!”

He’s heard it all. Everyone seems to start with a proviso, a defensive spell we offer up like shield that will protect us from critique, from the pain of being seen and found wanting. (Anyone else watch A Knight’s Tale? “You have been weighed and measured and found wanting.”)

And yet…

What is really happening in this moment?

I am in class because I want to be. I am studying something I want to learn, just for me.

In this moment, I am where I am with my guitar playing and wherever that is is fine.

There is no exam. This is not an audition.

In fact, yesterday I understood, for what felt like the first time, that my teacher is not there to judge me. He isn’t there to dole out gold stars (oh, how I love gold stars) or failing grades.

He isn’t going to grade me but he is going to watch me. He’s going to watch so that he can determine which of all the things he knows will be most useful to me in this moment. He will be able to help me grow if I allow myself to be seen.

We all want to be seen.

Well, we all want to be seen when we’re at our best and demonstrating mad skillz and (even better) are looking svelte and having a great hair day. Yes, that’s the time for selfies and celebration!

But before you get there, you have to be here.

Not only do you have to risk getting it wrong but you have to learn to be okay with actually getting it wrong. As you learn and grow, you’re going to play the wrong string, sing the wrong note, sashay to the left when everyone is sashaying to the right. It doesn’t mean this isn’t meant for you! This is simply a part of the package. It is natural, normal and dang uncomfortable.

One of our greatest creative skills is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. This is why it’s so important to work with (and to be) good teachers and coaches who create safe, constructive and supportive environments. It’s why developing your self-care is a profound part of the work, so you can lovingly and compassionately support your tender heart. It’s why creative living takes bravery, the bravery to risk, to experiment, to get it wrong and to show up even if it makes you nervous.

And when you do, remember to take a moment to weigh and measure and find yourself exceedingly brave.

This summer I’ll be leading a studio seminar about Creative Performance, the fine art of being vulnerable, showing up and being seen.

June 7, 2015

Creative Project: Creating a Capsule Wardrobe

It has been an amazing couple of weeks as the energy in and around me starts to get oriented to the new season. Whether you are moving into summer or winter, that shift can be such a good time to choose new projects, refocus your energy and/or make a fresh start.

If you’ve been watching Behind the Scenes, you’ll know that one of the ways I’m stepping into the new season is by designing a summer capsule wardrobe for myself. Jolie Guillebeau mentioned it in her newsletter recently and it sent me down a wonderful rabbit hole of exploration!

What is a Capsule Wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a compact collection of clothing designed to be complete for a season, comprising (ideally) of 28-37 items, which doesn’t include sleepwear or workout wear but does include shoes and accessories. (Truthfully, I laughed out loud when I saw it included accessories. My rings alone would knock me out of that ballpark!)

But there was something about this idea that grabbed me, something not only about the ease and simplification it offers but also about the capsule wardrobe as a creative act. As I imagined creating the Jamie Ridler Summer Collection 2015, I found myself getting more and more excited about the possibilities. Before I knew it, I was diving in!

Quick Tips & What Worked for Me In Creating a Capsule Wardrobe

Find Your Why. First decide why you’d like to embark on this process. If you connect to a reason near and dear to your heart you’ll make much better progress than if you simply say, “Oh, I should declutter my wardrobe. Maybe this will work.” For me, it was the magical nexus of creating ease and simplicity while expressing my personal style!

Treat Your Capsule as a Creative Project. Think of designing your season’s wardrobe as a creative project. What is your inspiration? What’s your colour story? What lifestyle are you designing for? What do you want to express? How are you reflected in the clothes you’re choosing? This seasonal approach gives us a great chance to experiment. Maybe you’ve been playing with the idea of creating a more artsy look or a glamorous one. Maybe your lifestyle has changed and you’re discovering who you are as a mother or an entrepreneur or a student. Let this capsule be an exploration of the part of you that is coming to life in the world!

Determine Your Needs. Every creative project comes with a set of needs, including your wardrobe. What’s the weather likely to be like? Do you have any special events coming up? What activities do you partake in? With art-making and gardening in the mix, I knew I needed some, well, shall we say “durable” gear. Another nice thing about the capsule approach is that you don’t have to figure out everything you’re ever going to need, EVER. You only have to think three months ahead. Much easier!

Start with What You Have. With your why, your needs and your vision in hand, start with what you have. (That’s the Studio Way: “Start where you are with what you have.”) You don’t have to tackle it all at once. First I looked at my outerwear. On another day I looked at what was in my closet. On a third day I worked through my drawers.

Remove What You Don’t Want to Include. I like to start with the easy stuff so first I removed anything that was not seasonally appropriate. Winter and fall stuff, outta here! Many people use this as an opportunity for assessment and clearing but I found that a bit too much, especially because I’m new to the capsule wardrobe concept. My priority this round was to get down to a solid wardrobe I felt great about this season. If it was an easy and obvious decision to let something go, I put it in a bag for donation. If not, I stored it.

Group Like Items. Next, group like items together: tank tops, pants, long-sleeved shirts, dresses. This allows you to see what you have and what you might need, making it easy to create a focused clothes shopping list. I had to laugh at myself as I did this. One by one I saw my collection of sleeveless black shirts grow and grow (and grow). Clearly, I didn’t need any more of those!

Gold Stars & Great Outfits. Now it’s time to start making choices. This is always a part of the creative process! What will you say yes to and what will you say no to? (Again, I found this easier because it’s only a for this season!) Remember you are assembling the entire cast for this season’s show so consider which items will play well with others. I found this to be a powerful part of the process. If I was going to have 33 pieces of clothing, 13 of those couldn’t be black sleeveless shirts! (Okay, I’m exaggerating) (a little). And if only three of them were going to be chosen, they would be the three I liked best! Suddenly instead of my favourite shirts being saved for special occasions, they were my go-tos! In that moment, I knew this capsule thing might just work! I felt good knowing that my favourite things wouldn’t languish in the closet. As a part of a much smaller wardrobe, they’d be worn and enjoyed. The summer of 2015 would be their year!

Admittedly, I’ve only been able to get down to 50 pieces and that doesn’t include shoes, jewellery or jackets, but I still feel the peace of having white space in my wardrobe. There is actually breathing room in my closet and an empty drawer in my dresser and that feels awesome! I’m finding outfits easier to choose and I’m enjoying my selections. I’ve learned a lot not only about my style but also about my lifestyle and my priorities. So far, the capsule wardrobe is turning out to be a rewarding creative project!

How about you? Are you ready to create your Summer Collection?

Resources

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Project 333
Free Wardrobe Planner from Unfancy