Get it? Got it, good.

I recently started, and stopped, maybe just paused, working at a small contemporary art gallery in my neighborhood. I was brought in to help more with the graphic design part of the business (and to help me get back into the business of graphic design) than the gallery side but they are physically located in the same space. So I've had contemporary art on my mind lately when I stumbled upon Shea Hembrey's TedTalk, "How I became 100 Artists."


Just as entertaining and engaging as this TedTalk is to me, is the debate about contemporary art that follows in the comments, so be sure to check this out too if you're interested in further reflecting on contemporary art. Is Shea making a statement about contemporary art? Is what he does brilliant? Ridiculous? Does he even 'get it'? Is anyone supposed to 'get' contemporary art?
For me, this was a humorous, clever and inspiring act. How multifaceted are individuals? How many personalities exist in one person? How many could I come up with (or even better/scarier, how many am I)? It was fun to think about all the identities one could fabricate and where they would even come from.
Also, on the topic of contemporary art, are there or should there be any criteria? What do you think?

Who stole November?

I guess that's that for Creative Every Day month in November! whah.

I got sidetracked with my 3 weeks of subbing hormone yoga in German..that's a good excuse right? I did study a lot for that. But I also did play around with a few projects, mostly just some fun in Photoshop. Found some new brushes from a magazine I discovered at the library called Docma (don't bother unless you can read German, if you can there's some great freeby stuff like cool brushes and good tips and tricks. I get easily side-tracked, have I mentioned that?

I miss Photoshop. It seems like as soon as I say/think I want to paint or draw, I'm pulled back to the computer and have this urge to explore Photoshop. So I went with it, although it was really with the intent to spruce up some wedding photos since our 5 year anniversary suddenly popped up (ya that's right..5 years already? no way:) and I didn't have one single photo framed or printed from this special spontaneous Monday night on Ft. Lauderdale beach where we tied the knot!









Oh, and it was my nephew's 10th bday so I did his invitations and made a little collage card of all the photos we have from him over the years.. that was fun. The collage was started in shapecollage.com which you can download for free, but you'll want to upgrade (I didn't, just cheated a little) so you can adjust photos and not have their logo blasted across your collage.

I will say that I finally have a nice little set up in my spare room with a desk to actually sit and play at, and I don't even care if it gets ruined! So I'm looking forward to more creative time, even if it isn't every day.. but that is always inspiring to read about (and see) what's happening at the Creative Every Day site and others who participate! Thanks!

Alexie pastel experiment

So I have now a whopping 2 entries for Art Every Day Month so far..no pressure to do something e-v-er-y day right? Anyway, it was fun experimenting, although I got a little lazy or something after a short time (maybe, frustrated?) with the pastels, but as I reminded myself that I'm not doing this to create anything great..or even good..I'm just experimenting for fun!

I've also been juggling this AEDM with a new endeavor, teaching yoga. I successfully completed a 200-hour intensive YogaWorks program in August, here in Munich (and boy was it intense, but a great experience!). September and October was spent either with visitors here for Oktoberfest, or me visiting places like Budapest, Cinque Terre and Lake Garda in Italy with friends and 'mein Mann' and so I am just now beginning to continue what I have learned in the yoga training and actually begin some teaching. Starting with 'hormone' yoga at my fitness studio, with the added challenge of teaching in German (also a first for me:) We'll see how that goes this Friday for my first class..

Meanwhile I will juggle yoga learning with art learning - every day or every other day..or so! But I'm enjoying both so that's what matters right?!

Alexie sketch

Dustin off the old blog..feels good! I've decided to participate again, although probably not every day, to the 'Art Every Day Month' challenge. I did it last year, or was it the year before? Oh my... Anyway, getting a little bit of a late start this month, but I have been fairly artistically active this past week. Couldnt get the scanner to work yesterday (I'll never admit to why this was), but now I've got my 1st sketch/project for the month. Its actually just a study for a possible painting of my niece. I was just back in Fort Lauderdale for her 1st Birthday. I don't get to see her so often and she had changed so much. That being said, the photo I used to sketch her is actually from around 7-9 months old. But it makes me laugh- no, she's not cross-eyed but does look it in this photo (and not just in my rendering I swear!)

Maybe I'll work up the courage to actually try and paint this soon, or some variation of it. I don't paint much..actually I don't really draw or sketch much anymore, but that is about to change..again!

Forbidden Joys - Artist's Way

This topic in my current chapter of Artist's Way (Recovering a sense of possibility) is a little ironic this week as it is Carnival. Only my forbidden joys are a bit tamer I imagine than most party-goers this week:)

This chapter really gets you thinking about what you really want- what you consider to be too crazy to do or go after, what is on your 'wish list', and what images support these desires (time to really visualize what these things look like and collect them into a file). I keep forgetting to do this once I close the book, but now I've written a couple index cards as reminders.

A few examples from my own lists follow.

"I wish"...
- I would get my a__ in the studio and work/play creatively for just a couple hours a day!
- I could help those less fortunate/those who are suffering
- I read more books
- I spoke better German
- I could travel just about anywhere, whenever I wanted to
- I exercised/practiced yoga more often
- I didn't have this crappy carcinoma right on my nose, or at all really
- I were more productive creatively
- I could do something I love and that pays!

"What I would try if it weren't too crazy"...
- Yoga retreat
- Creative (photography, drawing, or painting) workshop/vacation
- Produce and sell my own artwork
- Open a store/gallery/shop of some kind that sold other artists' work
- Dance classes (belly dancing? Tango? Salsa? I dont know!)
- Write a book/stories about my crazy family or my experiences married to a german/italian
- Go back to school

And finally, "Forbidden Joys- 10 things you love and would love to do, but are not allowed to"
- Go shopping (although many times i'm no at all in the mood anymore, I wouldn't mind having a better wardrobe:)
- Sit in the sun
- Get massages/facials/pedicures
- Go to museums and sketch, wander around (ok, I could do this, but for some reason I just dont)
- Ignore household chores
- Move to a bigger/nicer place (or get a place in U.S. and a place here)

That's only 7 but that's enough for now (and I need to think about this some more).

I'll end with a quote from the chapter by Peter Drucker. I often am not aware of the individual behind the quote or would like to learn more about the person, so I'll also link them for more information about the person).
He says, "There is the risk you cannot afford to take, (and) there is the risk you cannot afford not to take. "

Recovering a Sense of Possibility- Artist's Way

This morning while I was writing my morning pages for Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way book I've been working through, I thought why not post the processes and thoughts I'm working through here. True, I'm on Week 5 (despite having begun this journey last October!) I'm recommitting myself to it and think this will be a good way to do that, as well as retain some valueable points as I find them. So far, I've enjoyed the book: the morning pages, the letting go of the fear to create, the possibility of a more creative life, and learning not to be so judgemental/critical of not only what I create but the process as well. I've pulled out some quotes as I find them (there are many inspriational quotes throughout) and from now on I will post some of those as well as some of the words/tasks that I really connect with.

I'm now working through the tasks at the end of the chapter. But I've jotted down some of the words that I connected with (not necessarily directly quoted):

- If we learn to think of receiving God's (or some other higher power) good as being an act of worship -- cooperating with God's Plan to manifest goodness in our lives -- we can begin to let go of having to sabotage ourselves.

- Synchronicity! (Great word in this process)

- Pray to catch the bus, then run as fast as you can! (Love this, it's not enough just to keep asking the universe for things, you've got to actually DO something about it)

- The desire to be worldly, sophisticated, and smart often blocks our flow. (But wouldn't it be nice to know that you'll get recognition of some kind?? Careful with that!)

- Shake an apple tree and the universe delivers oranges!

- A great quote by Margaret Young, "Often people tend to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want."

Valentine Doodles..and L'Amour!

Or as they say, so romantically in German.. die Liebe! Ya...

Ok, here are some more Valentine sketches, doodles, and the last batch of cards- finally sent off to my peeps in the U.S. A little corny (I mean, its a corny holiday) but fun too!






Some doodles, this was fun to play in my sketchbook for ideas..while its snowy and rainy outside!