Injection of Inspiration

Blog world, i cannot tell a lie.  The past month I have been completely and utterly UNinspired.  I even started a painting and left it.  That never happens.  Usually the artists in me clicks on over into hyperfocus.  Growing up, I remember painting in our bathroom, I would crouch over paintings for hours upon end.  And yeah, the smells of turpentine & oils starts to make you feel a bit loopy.  Perhaps that had to do with the hyperfocus?  I digress.

I wouldn't say a sudden light has flipped on to make me suddenly inspired...but I can feel traces of the rays dancing into my heart.  They are creeping back in the crevices.  I welcome them freely.  Because a creative heart is a happy heart.  Life can so quickly become mundane if we aren't careful.  And I've been finding that it's vital to make sure and try to find more beauty than bitterness. 

On a podcast, I heard this analogy of Blue Ocean-Red Ocean ideas.  Red Ocean ideas are competitive, lots of sharks in the water.  Blue Ocean ideas are about putting yourself in a place where you can get out of the ordinary way of doing things.  A new, fresh, clean idea.  And it's interesting, because even though we are all basically working with similar key parts, what we produce can be so unique and relevant to who we are.

BOOKS::  I have a tendency to read sociology-type books and so it has been so nice to take a step back and read a couple of Rachael Hauck's fiction novels!  It had me laughing on one page and crying on the next.  The art of characters is a beautiful thing.  And authors truly have to possess a gift to be able to create likeable and relatable characters...ones that we feel connected to because we find small pieces of ourselves in them.

BRUNETTES::  Fascinating, alluring, exotic.  I have always secretly wanted to be a brunette.  I tried being one for a day & I'm not sure it was a good fit, but there may be a day when I try out some chestnut locks again.

MINERAL MAKEUP::  What an awesome invention!  I love The Perfect Face mineral makeup bc it has spf 30 and its light as a feather.  I'm happy to see cosmetic companies really working to try to use the earth's minerals and even adding ways to protect our skin.

MUSIC::  Some days my thoughts feel suspended mid-air and the right music can bring them right back down to earth.  Lately on that list has been Peter Bradley Adams.  And an owl on the album cover?  Please.  Sold!

ART::  Banksy is boss.  He is certainly part of the Blue Ocean group and I admire him for it.

What has been inspiring you?

In Front of the Lens...

...i become nervous.  Ok, sweaty even.  I pass no judgment when clients tell me how nervous they are and make sure I understand they're "not photogenic at all."  I get it.  Although most of them are incredibly photogenic once they relax and have fun and shake the gitters.  Unless you are Tyra Banks or Kate Moss, I would say most people feel the same unneasiness.  It's much easier to hide behind the lens.  We get controlling in front of the lens because we fear that the camera will translate a version of us that we didn't quite see in our minds (or the mirror). 

My dear friend & sista-from-another-motha, Ashley, came into town this last weekend and was wanting to get an updated picture of us since the last one was over 2 years ago.  When Matthew had us sitting on a high rock I felt we were doomed.  The infamous up-shot.  Ladies, you've got to know what I mean!  The poor guy.  It's no easy to feat to try to take a picture of women without them picking it apart.  However, we managed to dig through and find a decent one of both of us.  I'm also wearing my latest Etsy purchase, from Handmade Lovelies (who also owns Open Field Photography).  It's the perfect summer accessory & in yellow, my favorite color!

The Contagious Collector's Condition

It has happened.  I've been cursed with the triple C's.  The very thing I've always made fun of my brother for is the very thing I have began doing: collecting.  Growing up he went through pogs, paint guns, designer jeans, knives, beanie babies [as i'm certain he will hate me for releasing that] and so on.  I remember that one of his most offbeat collector's items was a Michael Jordan jersey that he proceeded to wear for 45 days in a row.  Gross. 

Yet I've found that if I find one lipstick I like, I usually want to stick on the bandwagon and collect all of them.  And scrapbooking papers and magazines, oh don't even get me started.  I always feel sorry for people who have to help me move from one house to the next, because I sit on the floor for hours, carefully sorting through my stuff.  I'm like a rat with a good piece of cheese.  Except my cheese is in the form of old magazines and notes I've collected.  Maybe some more brutal ways of putting it would be a hoarder or perhaps just green with greed? But for the sake of needing to put it in a small pretty box, we will call it Collector's Condition.  Anyone got a cure?

Tea & Sympathy

Sorry it has been awhile since you've heard from me, I've been taking a little breather for awhile. I do have some news... I have a new section of my website called "GIVING BACK" you can check it out HERE. Please let me know if you know anyone who qualifies for this, I'm just itching to give our brave families a gift!

This idea of giving back all took flight when a couple months ago I was looking on David Jay's site.  Since I missed out on getting to go to the Freedom Tour, I wanted to see if they had highlights and I found this video with the following quotes (from David Jay, Jasmine Star, and Dale Carnegie) that literately sent chills down my spine....

"Why is it that we start to value ourselves based on how busy we are?"

"I would rather see you fail at something you love, then succeed at something you hate."

"You will go further in 2 months by becoming genuinely interested in just 2 other people than you will in 2 years trying to get other people interested in you."

I believe these were the seeds that really sparked something in me. I've been moping around, saddened by the economy and how its directly affected us, our constant moving, and my lack of business. YES, I just said that. I know its the last thing I should confess on my blog, but if I'm gonna go down for being honest, then let it be. The truth is I'm hurting, and I believe that most people are right now - especially people, like myself, who are just starting their own business. Because essentially, in this business what you are selling is yourself. That doesn't come easy to everybody. It certainly doesn't come easy to me.

So right now I'm evaluating what God wants for me... trying to interpret if these are really signs of the times or if they are signs another direction for my life. I hope not the latter, but either way I need purpose. I think the journey for purpose will start here and now. I'm trying to find ways that I can use my art as a service and that's the reason I starting the "giving back" section. Rather than just worry how much money I'll make on a sale or how I'll get clients through word-of-mouth when I'm new to a town, I'm just going to start by putting it out there.

The beauty of helping others is that you become so intricately involved in their lives that the focus on our own lives trinkles out. And when my focus is on trying to perfect my own life and make sure all my ventures succeed, there is no happiness or reward to be found there.

I've been listening to the song "Tea & Sympathy"  by Jars of Clay and I am hanging on the line that says
"Not intend, To leave this castle full of empty rooms...don't trade our love for tea and sympathy." This is why I want to be real with you all and be honest about where I'm at.  Because I KNOW that if I keep pursuing something (even if I love it) that God has not designed for me to follow, there will be empty rooms in my heart.  For now I'll just keep praying and trying to find ways to use my art as a tool to help others!

   

I Don't Wanna Grow Up!

I said it over and over again, throwing my hands into the air.  The only thing that would've made my fit more complete was to launch a pacifier or some sort of sloppy baby food across the room.  But that's how I feel today - I don't want to grow up.  Tonight my husband and I sat and talked about how life was so simple when we were young.  You would wait for your own personal chauffer mom to pick you up from school, go home for a mid-day snack, maybe do some light homework then onto bed without the slightest worry in the world.  And the funny thing is, in my teen years I didn't realize it was simple.  I thought everything was magnified and more complicated in high school and like the pressure to have a cool car and stressing over missed curfews... please!  I had someone residing over my life.  Two grown-ups holding my hand as I crossed the bridge and telling me when to take the next step.  Now, although someone is still holding my hand...there is no prediction of when the wobbling logs will snap or if they'll hold up.  

That is life as a grown up.  You suddenly become vigilantly aware of what "the unknown" means.  You have to be brave and think for yourself, taking leaps of faith and not having someone there to tell you if it's a good move or not. 

So tonight as I lie my head down on the pillow, I will think of NOTHING that I have to do tomorrow or in the near future, but rather I will just be a girl on the playground at recess being pushed on the tire swing looking foward to carpool so I could get a Dairy Queen Blizzard. 

This picture is a prime example of the above post:   One of my last photos to post from the Soulographer workshop...a shot of a cute little girl eating cheerios and putting leggings on her head without having a care in the world.