The Artist’s Way

As many of you already know, I am not of the Bridget Jones persuasion. I have never believed that over analysing things is beneficial and as such, never really got into the ’self-help book revolution’. However, there comes a point when you’ve tried everything else and this is the only thing left. And sometimes, apparently, it’s the right way to go.

Since Christmas I’ve got stuck in a bit of a rut. A procrastination rut. I put things off in favour of something else, but then that gets put off in favour of something else and then I can’t do that til I’ve done something else first and so on.

The next thing you know it’s 8pm and you’ve done bugger all but faff about all day.

As someone who now relies 100% on self-motivation to pay the rent, this could not carry on. I was bored with not getting things done, frustrated with not being able to make a decision and downright cranky to boot. I’ve tried a few different things over the last 2 months, but they all seemed to make things worse. Breaking multitudinous tasks down into ‘bite-size chunks’ just creates even more tasks for you to faff over not doing. Having a schedule goes to pot the minute you find that yes, you’ve scheduled finishing that project today but it’s not going to happen because first you have to go buy more ink. Or you over sleep.

I was getting to the point where I was getting frustrated, because procrastination is not something I’ve ever suffered from. I’m the sort of person who, given a deadline of ‘by next Friday’ will have it done and on your desk this Friday so I can take next Friday off. I do things now or at the very least, next,  because that’s what works for me. So after some 15 weeks of constant procrastination and getting very little done, I decided I needed to try a new approach.

Anam gave me ‘Vein of Gold‘ by the same author a few years ago, and as a read-through-be-inspired book I found it useful. I tried a chapter or two as a work-through book this time but couldn’t find anything relevant. Procrastination for me is not about being disorganised, fear of failure or fear of success. It’s about ‘not knowing where to begin’ because there’s to much to do. I used to have it when I worked full time and at those times I’d grab my to do list and go wild-eyed into Liz’s office and say “Help! I’m overwhelmed! Where do I start?” Which would result in her grabbing my to do list, crossing off about half of it as ‘unnecessary’ and re-organising the rest into an order with strict instructions to do this and this by the end of the day. It was a magic formula that always worked. So I knew I just needed somewhere (anywhere) to start and then I’d have the momentum to keep going.

Enter The Artist’s Way, forerunner to Vein of Gold. You can download the first chapter from Cameron’s website and get started with morning pages and artists dates without buying the book. I have the book on the way, because now I’m curious.

I have to say, for what I needed it’s worked like a charm. Knowing I have to get up and do my morning pages within 45 minutes of getting up has helped me get up and get doing something straight away in the morning that doesn’t involve vaguely checking email and getting lost in blogland. For the last 5 days I get up, clean my teeth and such, feed the cats, make a cup of tea and immediately sit with my book and just drivel onto the page. (The word drivel here is explanatory both of what I write and how I write it since apparently my handwriting first thing in the morning resembles hieroglyphics).  What I’ve found is that by the time I get to the third page, I’m awake, I’m alert, I’ve got my whinge out of the way (read: I’m totally not a morning person) and I’m already deciding what I’ll do next. That what I’ll do next has, so far, no resembled my logical to do list at all. It’s as if my brain is waiting til I’m busy writing to do it’s own to do list and working out what it feels like working on today.

For the first 4 days I went from my morning pages through my get showered and dressed cycle straight into ’sketch out some of that, do your 3 hour class, come home and clean 1/3 of a room, continue sketching some of that, art journal, relax. Day 5 was my ‘artist’s date’ where I spent the morning working on a class project (where I’m the student for a change), then went to see Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton + Lewis Carroll = enough creative material for several weeks). In between I had lunch and took a 1.5 mile walk. No really. There was, like, exercising involved and everything. Day 6 involved setting up blog posts in advance, teaching a workshop, cleaning 1/3 of my studio lounge, then having an evening off and cooking a proper meal.

I feel energetic, motivated, I’m not longer frustrated or angry about making the  simplest decision and I’m getting things done whilst also finding time to relax and exercise. It’s as if doing the morning pages is my gateway into my to do list which, I might add, I have ignored all week. I know what needs to be done in my head and lately writing a to do list has become a practice in procrastination of the actual ‘do’ part. I’ve been adding them into my morning pages as I think of things, like a stream of consciousness. I read on the forums over on her website where someone said they found getting up in the morning ‘very disorientating’ and I knew immediately what they meant. That’s me. It’s like that feeling after you get off a roller coaster or a ship and you can’t quite work out where your legs go, but applied to your whole body and brain.

So, that’s where I’ve been this week. Taking some time out to figure out a way of working that really works for me and gets me doing things instead of thinking about doing things. Motivation, determination and creativity I have in bucket loads, but working out which bit to start with when I was on overload wasn’t happening. Since I’ve handed that responsibility over to someone else and my first ‘to do’ is set and void of decision making by me, I feel much happier and just get on with things.

I’ve got the book on order, should be here by Monday. I’m curious to see what the other 12 weeks of exercises are like. I enjoyed the Vein of Gold a lot, but it was too heavy and in-depth for my needs, but I’m assured that The Artists Way is a bit less taxing and do-able and with so much to catch up on I really need something that fits into my life. I’ll keep you updated as I go. I have a lot to accomplish over the next few weeks, not least of which is getting back to updating my blog regularly, so hopefully this is going to help there too. We’ll see shall we?

At the very least I’ve got a good foothold on two projects and a clean kitchen out of it.

Alice was Awesome

No spoilers that will ruin it if you haven’t seen it (unless you really don’t want to know what’s missing and who plays what)

The Cheshire Cat (Tim Burton/Disney Film Version)

The first bit was slow. It was fairly obvious that it was mostly scenery to wow the 3D viewers with (if you look carefully in the 2D you can see where the overlaps should be). But from the moment Stephen Fry wandered in as the Cheshire Cat (my favourite character from the book) and introduced Alice to Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter (my favourite character from the film), it picked up pace and became almost a different film.

‘Spot the celebrity’ was a fun pastime. The graphics and feel of the film was an interesting mix of Disney and Burton, which was intriguing to say the least, and it messed with the plot of the book in a new and interesting way that I actually enjoyed. It was also a strange mix of Wonderland and Looking Glass, with odd bits added in and even odder bits missed out (no mention of Dinah, the mock turtle, poor old bill, the missing gloves and fan, weeping a tidal wave or a trial).

It was a very peculiar mix, which put much more of the Hatter into the story, but then Johnny Depp pretty much carried the film for me. Anne Hathaway and Mia Wasikowska were OK, but I never liked either the White Queen of Alice herself very much. Helena BC was disappointingly banal as the Queen of Hearts with yet another twist on her wide-eyed-snipe-with-a-lisp character. I miss the days when all her characters were original and unique.

Overall, I enjoyed it though. I’m not a purist when it comes to squeezing a book and a bit into 108minutes, so the changes to the story were OK with me. I can see some being furious about it, especially how Alice is portrayed, but I liked this Alice much more than the insipid, whiny brat of the original book. They mashed up the original story a lot, but it works. Don’t go expecting a complete rehash of the novel and you’ll be fine.

One thing that bothered me is how ill Mia Wasikowska looked in the beginning. I thought at first that she looked emaciated and malnourished, however it occurred to me afterwards that it could be weird Burton-esque symbolism. When Alice is in the real world at the beginning everyone else looks normal and she looks like she’s at deaths’ door. (I was actually a little worried for the actress herself at one point). However, I noticed later that as she goes from being ‘Hardly Alice’ to ‘Almost Alice’ she becomes more normal looking whilst everyone else in Wonderland seems to take on a ‘bags under the eyes’ sort of look. I’m still not sure whether it’s a weird makeup/symbolism combo or whether maybe she actually was dog tired and in need of a good meal, and filmed the first bit of the film last. I’d be interested to know if anyone knows or has any thoughts on the subject.

Oh and for the record, I want to teach one or both of my cats to ‘evaporise’. Because it would just be such a neat trick. If they could also learn to talk and sound like Stephen Fry, that would be a bonus.

Alice? Alice? Who the **** is Alice?

Gonna find out soon, because once I’ve posted this I’ m off to the cinema. I love Alice in Wonderland and I’m a massive Tim Burton fan. Add them together and I’m in heaven.

Had some enforced downtime after a really busy week (more on that tomorrow) and finally got to do week 1 of Willowing’s Fabulous Faces course. I don’t like working in pencil and all my previous portraits have been illustrations or meant to look like someone, so doing an imaginary face, in a realistic style with unrealistic features was quite the challenge.

I’m really pleased with her though, not bad for a non-pencil user. I call her Sally, because she reminds me of the rag doll in Tim Burton’s ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’.

'Sally' 8x12" graphite on sketch paper

Bookbinding {1}-2-3 Starts Tomorrow! (March 2nd)

Back in November I agreed to teach a class for Shabby Cottage Studios and I am pleased to announce that registration is now open! All of this class is available immediately online, there is no week-by-week roll out.

Bookbinding 1 with Rhomany

I’m so excited to be teaching this class, which is the first of 3 workshops that will show you the fundamentals of bookbinding. It all starts with a scavenger hunt to find tools and materials from your other hobbies to make your books with. I have never believed that you should have to spend lots of money on specialist tools, so the only things you’ll need to buy for this class are the things you choose to buy or can’t re-purpose from around your home. You’ll be re-purposing your skills too. Want to knit or sew your book cover? Embroider the spine of your book? Do some funky things with beads and jewels? Then let’s play!

It’s being run through Creative Workshops (click the link and scroll down for the link to the workshop info) and it starts March 2nd. Price is $45*. In this workshop we’ll make two book structures, one glued and one sewn with a variation each (4 books in total), with plenty of ideas and prompts for you to make more if you want to – perfect for all your art journaling needs.

Here are just two of the books from the class.

*If you’ve taken 2 previous workshops with me, you are eligible for a loyalty discount of $10. Please contact me before signing up.

Bookbinding 1-2-3 breakdown

· Bookbinding 1: Tools, Materials & Techniques (No experience required)

· Bookbinding 2: The Art of Measuring & Stitching (No experience required but some would be useful)

· Bookbinding 3: Getting Creative & Doing Your Own Thing (No experience required but some would be useful)

International Fake Journal Month 2010

International Fake Journal Month 2010 starts 5 weeks today on April 1st 2010. IFJM is run by Roz Stendhal, a fabulous artist and art journal keeper, who was interviewed by Ricë not too long ago. I love Roz’s work and her attitude – that it’s not always about ‘just being creative’, sometimes you have to (quote) “learn your sh*t first”.

Anyway, back to IFJM. I started it last year, but I was so busy with getting the business set up I couldn’t commit. I think I did about 4 pages. I had thought maybe I would finish that journal this year, but it feels stale and I have an idea for another one. I’m going to try and do it this year. My plan is to get a book set up and over the next 5 weeks lay down some backgrounds and gather some collage elements so that all I have to do in ‘real time’ is put it together and add the writing. I like the idea of journaling a mile in someone else’s shoes. Of writing about a life I don’t have, or from a place I don’t live, about things I don’t do. Or being exactly who I am and just keeping a journal in a totally different way than I usually do. Or keeping a journal that’s about cats.

Roz describes IFJM as “a free pass to put anything in a journal that you might not otherwise put in” and you can interpret that any way you want to. It’s total freedom to do anything. If you’re one of a whole horde of journal keepers who struggle sometimes with letting go, with just doing instead of thinking too much, this might be what you need.

You can find out more about IFJM on Roz’s dedicated blog where she has a post explaining more about it and some criteria for submissions.

I did hear a rumour that Less (Comfortable Shoes Studio) was going to set up a group on artjournaling.ning.com for anyone taking part. Not sure if that’s happening but if you’re into art journaling you really ought to be a member there anyway, so go sign up