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Happy Halloween!
Julie and Kirsty over at Copy + Paste are hosting a Halloween party today. Make sure you check out both of their blogs and the links that they will be sharing, for all sorts of clever tricks. They've very kindly offered a treat to go with it if you're joining in with their 12 Days Workshop: trick or treat!PS, I've got to get up stupidly early to go to college, but I will be back later on and joining in the fun.
I have a new blog post up at It's A Creative World, featuring downloadables for making yourself a cute kraft paper and scallop Christmas address book and organiser. There have been lots of great Christmas ideas going up all month, so check out my post and then browse around for awhile. And yeah, I know it's early, but I like the illusion that I will be all organised and on top of things, right?
I love my 'internet friends'. Don't get me wrong, of course I love my 'real life' friends too, and in a very different way. Many of my internet friends are people that I have met face to face, but only once or twice. The intermawebs allow us to make connections with folk that we may not meet otherwise, with shared interests and values. Sure, some of those connections are more real and lasting than others, but even at it's most shallow, you get that happy feeling that a good gathering can give.
Recently my online class habit has grown out of control. That's a confession for another time. November sees me with only two though.
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This OR That?
fabric OR paper
ink OR paint
grungy OR clean (totally depends on the project)
cut with scissors OR tear with bare hands (ditto)
measure OR just guess
careful OR haphazard
hoarder OR minimalist
Christmas OR Summer holidays
music OR talk radio
drive OR walk
gym OR beach
cook a meal OR buy take-away
fruit OR cake
ironing OR crafting
ironing OR vacuuming
my friends OR my own company
talk OR listen
you OR them (we'll take turns nicely)
always OR never (both make me feel panicky)
half-full OR half-empty
yes OR no
Feel free to share your answers.
In my fridge this week, pumpkin cupcakes. Get the recipe from Shimelle.com and make sure you make the cream cheese frosting with brown sugar and cinnamon too. The real secret - bake them, try them and take them to work to share (it saves you from becoming a pumpkin!!!). The plate is one that I painted at one of those paint-your-own places. I had forgotten about it, but it was perfect for these!
Oprah's magazine takes a little longer to get over here to the UK, but I am already excited about November's issue. The indie biz chicks posted about an online quiz from the new issue, so I rushed on over to check it out. I love quizzes. Of course, I realise that they never give you the full picture and it is pretty easy to tweak the results in a direction that you want them to go (we've all done that with the "Is he the one?" type quizzes, right?). However I do still think that they are a useful tool for a bit of self-reflection. Even if you are tweaking the answers, it tells you something about the sort of person you want to be, even if that isn't where you are yet.
That is exactly the focus of the quiz: who are you striving toward being? Who am I meant to be? It was written by Anne Dranitsaris (link kindly provided by Heather). Many people are reporting very accurate results for this too, which is intriguing. I did it twice, on two different days, because that's the kind of thing I do! I've decided, not surprisingly, that the first results are more honest.
So what did I learn?
I came up most strongly in the areas of striving to be knowledgeable, striving to be creative and striving to be spontaneous. What this means for me is that I learn about myself through being in learning situations. I need to be creative in some way, in order to feel authentic. Stimulation and movement feed me and give life meaning.
I was very interested to see the warnings in the results too. I should watch out for withdrawing from situations where I feel less knowledgeable, isolating myself through my creative practice, and feeling trapped (and lashing out) when in a stable situation. These areas are all ways in which I am already seeking balance, to maintain beginner's mind, to connect with other creative people and to embrace a degree of routine to anchor me. If you know me, you will be laughing a little by now at the truthfulness of what I strive for, and the pitfalls that occasionally befall me!
If you take this quiz, do share your results, I find it just fascinating! Either chat in the comments, or feel free to link to your own blog.
A Christmas prep project for this week. Starter tips and pdf files over on my post at It's A Creative World.
Last year I did a foundation year in art and design - these programmes are designed to prepare you for art school, and our college has the reputation of it being a similar experience to the first year of art school. I signed up wanting to develop my creative working practices, but wasn't really thinking about doing a degree.
Part of the way through, when the art school interview process started, it was hard. It was tempting to get in a victim headspace, whining about not being able to go to art school, listing the barriers. And yes, there are barriers, but they are not insurmountable. The truth is, I hadn't had any intention of going, I don't think it's the right thing for me at this point, and the choice is mine. It is easy to get caught up in things, whether the excitement of others or the sad stories you spin yourself when you're tired, stressed or otherwise low.
What I did instead was resolve to keep my creative practice going rather than collapsing in a heap at the end of the year. Well, I did that first! And I applied for a course run by the same college, called professional practice for artists. It's part-time, two days a week, with an expected full day a week of independent work. It should be pretty interesting. Fridays will be creative, studio or field based work; yesterday we took sketchbooks of mixed and reclaimed, repurposed papers to the British Museum. Saturdays focus on the professional side, the business really; things like websites, showing work to galleries, organising exhibitions, etc.
I have to head out in 15 minutes for that, so think of me while you have a lazy Saturday morning. I'll share some British Museum drawings later on.
This is a concept that has been on my mind for months now. Arguably, 'self' is on everyone's mind most of the time, from the time we are small and shouting "mine!" through an adulthood of carefully managing image and self-image. Ironically, the journey to shed self-absorption can only be travelled through a degree of self-reflection.
I think we spend a lot of time thinking about who we are, about who people think we are, about the sides of ourselves we want to hide. Living online brings this to the fore as well, whether you use an alias or your full name, an avatar or your photo, and the 'voice' and details you choose to share. It's uncomfortable thinking for someone who is seeking authenticity, as I know many of us are.
This isn't a crisis or a storm. It is a quiet question, a gazing, a path to wander along. I am the choices I make, but I am not my preferences, opinions and internal chatter. I am not my hair (great song by the way, check it out), or my clothes, although those choices tell you a little a bit who I want to be, maybe. I'm looking forward to getting to know me a little better.
Tools for the expedition into the interior: