Month: March 2008

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Having fun

I know it’s been a few days since I was here. Had to be out of town for a couple days and then there is always the catch up from that. Got back on Thursday afternoon just in time for a Chamber Board Meeting and then spent Friday preparing for my Fourth Friday Reception. Whee! Passed myself coming and going!

This is Sunday, my day off, and I’m having fun. I was building a new web site for the Northeast New Mexico Arts Alliance that will become the primary site for disseminating information about the upcoming Art Trail that you may have read about. I don’t remember if I wrote about it here or not, but our press releases were picked up by the Raton Range and the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle.
Anyhoo….I got the website essentially built and then started learning about how to use Google Maps. Way Cool! and so very easy to learn! Wahoo! Check it out at www.nenmarts.org
and be sure to click on the tab that says “3Ts Art Trail with clickable map” It’s too cool!

Now that the trail is moving ahead (almost taking on a life of its own) I’m breathing easier. If you are an artist, artspace or gallery along the trail, be sure to download the application after reading the eligibility requirements. Get those applications completed and in as soon as possible! We’d like to be ready to work on promotional materials for approved sites by May 30! (yes, this year.) I know it’s a tight time frame, but required for our start up funding.

So, did I say I’m breathing easier? That was dumb. I’m still up to my ears in the Maven bootcamp materials and now I’m trying to digest Butterfly Marketing all at the same time. Have I lost it? Not likely. Just madly driven. I’m learning so much it makes me hungry for more! Education is a good thing! (too bad I didn’t figure that out in school!)

So, the next video I’ll do (I hope tomorrow) will feature the work of Jacqui Binford-Bell. A local to this lovely valley and a huge support to me, Jacqui is a fabulously creative lady. I’ve talked before about her masks (from which she retired, but I still have a handfull) and her new bright and somewhat mystical paintings. They are getting better all the time. I think you’ll enjoy seeing it so I’ll try and keep the camera still!

The snow is melting here, and the spring winds have returned. I’ve still got 4 feet or so of snow outside my living room window, along the north side of the house. As it slowly melts I’m optimistic about a plethera of columbine waiting to sprout underneath it. Take a look at this pic taken in January. Now you can see that it will take some time and warm temps to melt this pile of snow!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Introducing Danny Stewart’s Jewelry

I told you, I’m having crazy fun with this! Here is #2:

So, yes, I fully intend to do this for each of the artists in my gallery. And keep in mind, that is something that changes regularly, so this could go for a long time. This week, as an example, one artist left, and I added a new one. Why does an artist leave the gallery? Most of the time it’s due to the fact that the work just isn’t selling…meaning it’s just not quite right for my current market. Bear in mind, the market also changes, as the tastes, desires and needs of the market fluctuate. Staying in tune with that requires an ongoing investment in understand my clients and customers. I want and to be able to understand what you are looking for, even when you may not know. Understanding human nature, and what effects us can only come from a heartfelt thirst to experience and share in the community. Careful understanding of who I am, what’s in me and what effects me is a core part of that. If I don’t know who I am, how can I possible come to know who you are and fully enter into that relationship? It’s an ever emerging process and experience.

One thing I came away from the conference (New Beginnings. LIVE! with Rich Schefren) with is the realization that I don’t have to wait till I’m perfect to enter in. In fact, I can’t, since that won’t happen in my life time. Gary Vaynerchuk (www.winelibrary.com guru) said it best. Know who you are, then be there, just as you are, zits and all. (paraphrase, but you get the idea). Thanks, Gary. I never would have tried the video thing if he hadn’t gotten that through my extraordinarily thick head. Passion is great, but it’s nothing without embracing the whole.

I am still so blown away by that conference and the intense work I’ve been doing as a result. It’s real. Paradigm shifting, life altering. If you haven’t figured out what I’ve been talking about for the last month yet, click here to read about it.

As I close this post, let me extend the invitation again…Please comment. I’m not writing a diatribe. I want to hear from you!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Getting the hang of Video

Finally got it! New Handicam is here and I can’t stop playing with it! So this one’s for you Roy Brown!

There will be a new one tomorrow! And then 29 more after that, not quite daily (I’m taking Easter off!) But I’m having so much fun it’s hard to stop! Have to say, Thank you, Gary Vaynerchuk! Wahoo! I saw him at the much talked about conference that I went to, and after he blew us all away on the stage my first “action item” was ‘buy a video camera’, and so, I did, and Tadaaa!

Gary made us believe we could “come as we are” and say hello to the world, blemishes and all. What a relief! and What a blast! I’m certainly no pro, and it’s definitely “as i am”. I hope the viewers have as much fun watching them as I do making them! The big danger is, when will I paint! No worries. The more fun I have, the better and more I can! So check back for more tomorrow!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Pondering the "Zone"

Did you ever say “I can’t draw a straight line”? Or, perhaps, “I don’t have an artistic bone in my body”?

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard that in my gallery. Usually, I say, “If we were all artists, then who would collect our work?”

The truth is, at one level or another, we probably ARE all artists. On the surface it’s easy to see. Visual Artists (painters, sculptors, potters and such) and dancers, musicians and stage performers and writers…clearly artists.

But what about the rest of us? Do you have an uncanny ability to make new from old..say, in your home, or with your clothes? Does your ensemble, earrings, necklace, clothing, shoes and handbag all coordinate to look like you just came off the runway in New York? Or what about the prize winning garden in your front yard or the fabulous dinner you take such pleasure in preparing and presenting to your family and friends?

Perhaps those things don’t fit our conventional perception of the Arts, but they are trademarks of creativity, talent and (ahem) skill.

I am positively passionate about demonstrating that you have it in you. The creative flow that for most is quietly waiting for the opportunity to erupt, till it spills forth beauty and joy, or expressions of pain and anger.

My best paintings have come spontaneously from the deepest places of my being, and in fact I couldn’t tell you how I did them. I don’t remember. Finding the door to open the flow of soul expression can be tricky. We like to bury it deep. But if we can dig it out, unlock it, unleash it, it is an exciting, deeply healing, life altering experience that you can actually learn to repeat! Honest! It’s that timeless, other-worldly sort of experience. Whether you are drawing, painting, dancing, acting, writing, playing music; what ever it is that your natural creativity flows into; that place where you lose track of where you are, what you’re doing, what time it is; that “zone” as some call it. Warning: it’s addicting!

The truth is, that ability lies within you. Pay attention to what you find you lose yourself in. Then pursue it. It doesn’t mean you’ll become an artist. It means you’ll find a quiet place of restoration and retreat, or a happy stress-free place to visit, so to speak.

I seriously think that there are “tricks” and “triggers” to unleash the creative within you. Actually, now that I think about it, I’m sure of it. I’ll have to chew on that some more, but as i ponder what I observe with my students and with other artists, as well as my own experience, I’m sure it’s true and that I just have to put it down so I can see it. You know how it is.

Have you been there? When you enter fully into that which you love to do, can you stay there for hours, unaware of time and light and temperature changes? Do you emerge, looking at what you did and wonder who did it? If so, please share it! I’d love to know what company I’m in!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Egad how time flies!

I can’t believe it. Here I was trying to post everyday. Life happens I guess, no matter how we determine what we intend to do. It seems to me that it takes incredible determination and energy to actually get done what I intend to. Maybe it’s that “run in with the power of synchronicity while diligently following my path” issue that Rich Schefren mentioned in a recent blog. Just when I think I’m making progress, WHAM! something is thrown in my way to keep me from where I’m headed. Enough of that! If you know me, you know I’m pigheaded stubborn and tenacious as a pit bull!

It’s just been one of those days. A stop at the post office and I walked out with 5 pounds of mail…and that was after I threw away all the blatant junk! That’s what I get for stepping up to the plate all the time! Se la vie!

While I’m digging through that, I’m pondering all the changes taking place in the Gallery– in Angel Fire– hmmmm, in the country. It’s that time. Spring is approaching and the old must make way for the new. It’s life. An ongoing cycle of new, growing, living, aging and dieing. Not that we ever really get used to it. When we’re young, we don’t notice much besides ourselves. We always want to be older than we are. When we’re older, we notice more (assuming we’ve grown along the way), and we long to be young again. Shifting the paradigm, the focus from what we’re not, to what we are, really are, is where confidence, energy and power live. Not that it’s easy, because it’s not. This program I’m in, that I’ve mentioned in nearly every post recently, is shaking up just about everything for me. It’s a good thing..but also work. Rich and Jay. What a team! If I could do it over again I’d do it in a heartbeat!

If you haven’t done so yet, check out the program. (Please know upfront, that I am also an affiliate. If you buy the program from that link, it benefits me.) Then, for laughs, check my squidoo lenses. Click these links: squidoo gallery squidoo katherine and squidoo Angel Fire. Post comments, favorite them, Digg them. It will help the gallery, and Angel Fire. Lets work together..One Angel Fire. For that matter, post here! I’d rather not be talking to myself!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Cool new tools

Hey, Fun and cool stuff. Check out these cool new tools! http://www.360desktop.com/ This is an awesome tool. If that doesn’t do it for you see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_ncr1Ee9e8 Looks like the perfect thing to solve the “what file did I put that in? Where did I put those business cards? What was that URL? I can hardly wait!

Looks to me like everyone who’s anyone is at SXSW in Austin this weekend. I didn’t even know about it (how can that be? I haven’t exactly had my head in the sand). I’ve been following the tweets (www.twitter.com) of Rich Schefren and Gary Vaynerchuk ( winelibrarytv.com) and am determined to get there next time around. In the meantime I’m still working through the 100 page business growth strategy template I came with from the Maven Bootcamp. Not easy, believe me, but worth every moment of effort.

On local matters, we have a new Mayor and Village Council in Angel Fire! Wahoo! Landslide Larry (Leahy) will be sworn in tomorrow, as will Stuart Hamilton, Deb May, and Leahy appointed Al Lott. It’s not lost on me that Larry, Stuart and Deb all campaigned on a ‘Unite Angel Fire’ platform. Voters made it clear that this agenda superseded even the lunar landscape roads around the village. Clearly, the attitude is that if we’re working together those seemingly insurmountable issues will be manageable. While I couldn’t vote (I don’t own property in Angel Fire, just a business) I wholeheartedly support this and am excited about the future of our Village for the first time in years. I know it won’t be easy….but nothing worthwhile is.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Break in the Weather, Unlocked the Painter’s Block

Ahh, crisp..is that the word? -12 yesterday morning as I drove to the gallery, the new 12-15″ of pristine white snow as yet untouched, except for the elk track and the piles created by the snow plows. Beautiful scarcely says it…whether it makes up for the yet ongoing freezing winter is yet to be seen. Snow is coming yet again, but in the meantime my “Painter’s Block” is broken. YAY! Yupo paper to the rescue! Coming shortly (as soon as I recieve that video camera I ordered) I’ll show you how to pour and paint on the slick surface of Yupo (Synthetic) paper. It’s a blast, I promise.

In the mean time, I spent the afternoon filling the long nearly empty Jewelry case of Danny Stewart. Of course, i also sent a newsletter about it and made so many typos my face is red! I even typed his name Smith instead of Stewart. Good grief…guess my head was dazzled by all the beautiful new pieces he brought in. Rings, earrings, bracelets (cuff and link) all in that fabulous inlaid work his is known for. If you’re in Angel Fire, or headed this way stop in and take a look….If you’ve seen his case before you’ll know it’s often nearly empty. Come see it before it disappears!

Home now and Grace (my black lab) can’t figure out why my laptop is on my lap instead of her…so guess I’ll sign off for now.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Snow, Snow and More Snow

Oh, gotta get that video camera. It is snowing, again. Or is it still? It is getting so deep on the north side of my house it’s more than about 5 feet. I can’t see out the window unless I lift the shade all the way!

And I’m walking with a smile none-the-less. I don’t think I mentioned it here, but my local arts council has formed an alliance with surrounding communities, and namely, the Raton Arts and Humanities Council and active artists, arts organizations in Las Vegas, in a new coalition: The Northeastern New Mexico Arts Alliance. It is our aim to create an Art Trail that runs from Raton, down highway 64 through Cimarron and Ute Park, then over the mountains (and through the woods) to Grandmothers…oops, no, to Eagle Nest. From there on to the junction of highways 64 & 434 and turning left to Angel Fire, then on through Black Lake, a detour to Ocate, then back and down to Mora and then Las Vegas, which brings you back to I25. The exciting news is that we have been approved for start up funding (still one more hurdle to cross, but our odds are good) that will really set us on the path. (no pun intended.) Wahoo!

On top of that, my favorite candidate, Larry Leahy, just wiped out the competition in the Mayoral race in Angel Fire! Frosting on the cake: Stuart Hamilton and Deb May will be joining the council. Yet another WahOO! Life is good! I told you…..clarity and focus change everything. Not that I had anything to do with the vote…I can’t vote in Angel Fire cuz I don’t live there. It’s just good. And good is, well, good.

later.

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM
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Brain Dazzling Conference with Rich Schefren & Jay Abraham

Wow. Believe me, that (Wow) is an understatement. If you get my newsletter you know I actually canceled the February Fourth Friday so I could head to Orlando for the “Live” Dream Team New Beginnings Conference from Strategic Profits. First, the conference packed in the value experience for participants. The “Dream Team”: Rich Schefren, Jay Abraham, John Carlton, Frank Kern, Gary Vanerchuk, Maryellen Tribby, Jeff Walker, Tom McCarthy, Paul Scheele, and… Mike Filsaime. I don’t think you could have put more power on that stage. Part of what made it so awesome was two-fold: the Dream Team was accessible. The conference, interactive. Here’s the sweet end of the deal for you….you can experience it too. The Live 08 home study course will put the Dream Team in your living room.

As the days sped by, they gained intensity as I then hit the space limited “Maven Bootcamp”. The three day intensive, exhausting, exhilarating interactive exclusive still has my head spinning….in a way. I have clarity and vision like I haven’t had in years. Confidence packed with intent, purpose and plan. And there’s home study of this one too…but be careful….it’ll change your life!

I’m on a new and living course. I know what I want and am developing a plan to get there. Clarity and focus have given me an exhilarating weightless experience. Here’s proof: I had been home less that 24 hours when I was notified by American Express that my card had been compromised. Since the card was in my possession, it was immediately evident that I’m somehow a victim of id fraud…on my gallery accounts.

This is the second time in less than 6 months. First my mastercard was compromised, the villain, whoever they are, using Western Union to access the cash advance feature and cleaning it out up to and over the limit. It took four months and 20 hours of phone calls to get that fixed. Then, pow, the crooks hit my AMEX card. How? Beats me. American Express, true to their exemplary customer service, had it fixed in 24 hours, new card and everything.

But here’s the evidence: No tears. No pacing, tense overriding fear. I took care of it. Called in the claims, filed the reports (police report will get done tomorrow) gave notice to credit reporting agencies. It’s not that I don’t care, or that I’m numb. It’s that I’m focused. Not dissuaded. Not shaken. Not beaten.

In this unsteady, uncertain time in which we live it is imperative to know who you are and where you’re headed. It’s purpose that sustains, vision that empowers and strength that is leveraged.

That’s not focus looking inward, but outward. Consider the home study, but don’t buy it and let it collect dust. Let your decision be commitment. It’s worth it.

Now onward and upward. Back to work in laying out my strategy and plan. It’s hard…and exciting. Can you see the smile on my face? Have a fabulous day!

Angel Fire ArtSpace,
3469 Mountain View Blvd, Suites B2-4 Angel Fire NM