Category: creativity

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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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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