No Hats Were Actually Harmed in This Video
Hip Hop Garlands from Christine Mason Miller on Vimeo.
This past June, when the Garlands spent their first few days back in the states at our house, we were treated to an impromptu backyard rap concert by Ellie, Jack, and Benjamin. Benjamin is not only United Airlines’s future head menu coordinator, but also the one who asked my husband if he liked to dance and proceeded to point to the top of his head and exclaim, “Because that’s dancing hair!”
I would like you to take special note of what happens when Benjamin tosses off his hat ~ who goes after it? Because mere seconds after our standing ovation, all hell broke loose:
Hip Hop Garlands: The Aftermath from Christine Mason Miller on Vimeo.
Once Benjamin’s shrieks alerted us to his distress, we took immediate action, and retrieved his hat intact.
Tilda or Tilda’s Mom?
* Ready for fun most any time yet still requires a hefty amount of down time to recover.
* Very smart and keenly aware of her surroundings – i.e. knows exactly when there are enough distractions for her to indulge in mischievous behavior.
* Smart, yes, but capable of outrageously ditzy moments – i.e. backing up into a wall while playing, and immediately whipping her head around, because “Who the heck did I just run into? Never mind, now I want to chase my tail!”
* Magnificently willful and prone to intense displays of stubbornness, standing her ground for inordinate amounts of time in a variety of situations.
* A wee bit clumsy – i.e. when she runs down the stairs it basically sounds like we wrap her in a burlap bag and let her fend for herself.
* Able to turn a moment of frustration into one of gleeful laughter – i.e. “I know you’re mad at me but look how cute and funny I am!”
* Loves nothing more than a good foot rub.
An Afternoon With The Artist Unique
I recently spent an afternoon perusing Carmen Torbus’s latest book, The Artist Unique: Discovering Your Creative Signature Through Inspiration and Techniques. I chose to give it a go with encaustic wax transfers, following instructions developed by Bridgette Guerzon Mills. I’ve been experimenting with various techniques on flat canvas panels, which are sturdy enough to do the kind of layered work I like to do but not too expensive.
I started by layering some decorative papers and a light layer of paint, shown above.
I added an additional layer of a Golden acrylic color called Titan Buff, which is a nice soft cream hue that creates a nice background for images transfers.
I chose an image from a vintage Japanese family photo album, which is a bright blue book filled with extraordinary black and white images of a family growing up in the 1940s and 1950s in Japan. I found it at an antique mart in Medford, Oregon. The image I made a photocopy of shows seven women in kimonos.
I followed Bridgette’s easy instructions, applied my image onto a layer of warm encaustic wax, and before I knew it the paper I was pulling away revealed a lovely wax transfer. Success!
With my mixed media work, I do not normally rely on specific, detailed techniques. But I know for certain this is a trick I will use again and again. Who knew it was so easy?
Mary Anne Radmacher has been doing her own creative experimenting with Carmen’s book. Take a peek at her process:
Look What I Made! Ugly Lumps! Yay.
How Do You HONOR the Learning Curve?
Five Things
Five Things is up and running again, with new summer banner. A little late, I know…
1. Magic in Poland ~ 11,000 twinkling balloons released into the night.
2. Waterfalls around the world
3. Ten Sites to Help You Develop Your Creative Side…
4. …from My Life Scoop: Tips for a Connected Lifestyle
6. And a special #6 ~ A fun, wee interview with Bahieh K.
My So Called Hiatus
{Taken in Yosemite last year.}
Last week, one of my friends couldn’t resist giving me grief for the fact that I boldly announced I was taking a break from online activities only to then proceed putting together eight entries within three weeks. This is about on par with my usual frequency, which means the teasing I got was spot on.
Swirly: 0 points
Miss Smarty Pants, as I like to call her: 2 points
Even though I have, indeed, continued offering things up during my so called online hiatus, I’ve still experienced the space and distance I was craving. What I’m learning is that it isn’t about going cold turkey, but about letting go of the pressure of specifics. Specifics as in “I have to post at least x amount of times per week,” or “I need to create poetic, meaningful narratives of my everyday experiences every Tuesday” or, my personal favorite, “I need to post a Tweet that I posted a blog entry and announce on Facebook that I’m now on Pinterest!” While it is true I’ve been inspired to write about everything from my recent obsession with So You Think You Can Dance (my new dream job ~ to be Cat Deeley) to a shopping trip to Nordstrom with my husband, I have lately felt resistance towards the idea of constant documentation. Right now I just want to let my experiences be whatever they are, and conjure up whatever thoughts and ideas are coiled within them, without immediately thinking about how I can articulate these everyday revelations and musings in a thoughtful, artful way.
I am making these thoughts sound a lot more stress-laden than they are. They are actually light, passing inklings – more akin to faint clouds in the middle of summer than big stormy thunderheads. But still, it is in those tiniest spaces of time where some of the most impactful changes can be made. Not to mention that if I can’t manage the smallest details of my life in a way that creates calm versus angst, then I’m doomed when I get to the bigger stuff. My hiatus, it turns out, has not been about walking away from social media, but about walking away from the pressure to feed my “social media platform” unless the interaction will somehow nourish me as well.
The real hiatus has been related to my voice. I am still sharing all kinds of inspirational goodness each week, but as far as the snippets and stories that have become a mainstay of this blog, I am currently in the process of exploring different ways of sharing those. I am now in a beautifully fertile time of quiet seed scattering, disguised as dog walking, file organizing, reading, and bicycle riding. What, exactly, will blossom, I don’t know, but I’ll find out soon enough.
“A being is free only when it can determine and limit its activity.” ~Karl Barth
From Cuba With Love
{Photo taken in Havana, Cuba. Notice the message on the wall to the right of the book.}
Interview With Carmen Torbus
Mary Anne Radmacher and I continue to play our We Love Carmen Torbus volleyball game, and we’re having loads of fun. Read Mary Anne’s latest homage to all things Carmen right here, and let yourself be inspired by my recent interview with the star of the show, Carmen Torbus ~
What was the inspiration for The Artist Unique?
I taught a workshop a few years ago called, Spill It. It was all about encouraging the idea of putting more of who you are into your artwork. The things that make you who you are and the things that light you up – your thoughts, paint, emotions, poetry, writing, photography, intuition – these things make you unique and incorporating them into your artwork with make your artwork unique. I loved the visual of having each person take all of those things, putting them on their palette and spill it all onto canvas. It’s you, on canvas.
While I was developing the workshop, I kept feeling like something was missing or this was meant to be something bigger. Writing a book was something I always wanted to do – in a bigger dream that I had really considered taking seriously kind of way. I decided to go ahead and entertain the idea and started brainstorming a book proposal and my Spill It workshop became the initial proposal for The Artist Unique: Inspiration and Techniques to Discover Your Creative Signature.
What advice would you give to a budding creative artist?
Follow your instincts. Learn the techniques you’re drawn to. Choose colors that speak to you. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Ask lots of questions and reach out to those that inspire you. And more than anything, create intuitively and go where your art pulls you. There is no wrong way to create.
If you could curate a themed group art show, what would the theme be and why?
It would be Inspired Mess. I love messy art. It draws me in. My favorite messy art has elements of inspiration – meaningful text, images, quotes, loose interpretations. This is why I love mixed media… I’m so inspired by the lack of rules when it comes to mixed media art.
I often refer to myself as a bliss follower, mess maker and lover of the words, “I’m so inspired right now.” The idea of an Inspired Mess themed group art show completely blisses me out… let’s do it! Who’s in?
What does the statement “I am an ARTIST” mean to you?
I am an artist. I AM and artist. I am an ARTIST. I am an artist. What does that mean? Although I paint and sketch and doodle and draw, that doesn’t make me an artist. The artwork I create doesn’t make me an artist either. What makes me an artist is my pompoms, my megaphone and my spotlight… I am an inspiration artist. (Wow did I just say that out loud? I’ve never staked that claim before. Ok, I’m about to just start writing what ever comes to mind and let this just flow for a few…) I paint inspiration and encouragement into people’s lives. When needed, I sprinkle bits of color, I drop powerful words of hope and possibility, and I string paper lanterns of positivity through their lives. I am a cheerleader, creator of messy artwork and encourager. My art takes the form of inspiration, positivity and encouragement – whether is written, spoken, painted, pasted, plastered, photographed or shared.
What does the statement I am an artist mean to me? It means I believe in me and my work. (And that rocks my socks off and scares the daylights out of me at the same time.)
How have failures and disappointments served your creative journey?
Every failure, set back and disappointment has been an opportunity for growth. I believe that without difficult times, I wouldn’t be equipped to enjoy the high points. I learn more about myself every time I hit a roadblock. Sometimes reflecting on those times helps me see the lessons and how I’ve gotten to where I am today. ope and encouragement, and sharing what I learn along the way.
Thank you Carmen!!
Legacy
{Photo taken by my husband in Big Sur last year.}
“To become fully human means learning to turn my gratitude for being alive into some concrete common good. It means growing gentler toward human weakness. It means practicing forgiveness of my and everyone else’s hourly failures to live up to divine standards. It means learning to forget myself on a regular basis in order to attend to the other selves in my vicinity. It means living so that ‘I’m only human’ does not become an excuse for anything. It means receiving the human condition as a blessing and not curse, in all its achingly frail and redemptive quality.” ~An Altar in the World
I have written much about the difficulties I have had throughout my trajectory as a blogger and member of this online creative community, most recently right here, where I outlined a few commitments I made to myself in order to steer clear of unnecessary drama. Through my continued informal inquiry into this topic, I have developed a deep appreciation for a much more fundamental truth about all of this, which is that this community is not any better or worse than any other community of individuals. We are human just like everyone else. And when humans come together - each of whom sees everyone else as characters in their own ongoing narrative – there are going to be tangles. There are going to be deep soulful connections, life-changing gatherings, and wildly inspiring collaborations as well as unprofessional interactions, cliquish-ness, and mistrust of another’s actions and intentions. That statement is true of this community as well communities of yoga instructors, teachers, dog trainers, and real estate agents. My husband works in the investment industry, and he deals with some of the very same issues I deal with in my industry. The nature of the work everyone is doing doesn’t matter; what is relevant is that we are all human beings, and sometimes forget we are dealing with other human beings, all of whom, for the most part, are doing the best they can and trying to find their way – just as I am, just as you are.
I do not say this to be discouraging about this community, but to (hopefully) encourage everyone to take a deep exhale, to recognize that we can let go of any expectations we might have that our particular coterie is better than others. Amazing connections and opportunities can be enjoyed as a result of this global online gathering, and it is also entirely possible we will run into people who will not believe the best in us, who – because of their own fears and sensitivities – might take something personally that has nothing to do with them. And because online interactions can be so immediate, very often words are sent across the ethers in a reactionary, rather than thoughtful, moment. I have been guilty of all of these things. Because I have an online presence, which I use mainly to promote and share my work, I took the time and effort to develop my own personal handbook of sorts for engaging with this community. After having experienced my own share of dramas as the result of flying by the seat of my pants, I have found that by setting clear boundaries I can avoid the kind of interactions that drain me, confound me, and make me want to move to Greenland.
A friend recently asked me what my “hidden agenda” is with the work that I do. I am going to give a different answer here than I gave her, one that is more specific to the topic of our community. My hidden agenda is to encourage all of us to take a deep breath – to try to take one step away from the idea that there is a finite amount of space for everyone’s voices to be heard. To pick up the phone and have a conversation rather than send an email. To choose not to announce to the world or anyone else that an idea was stolen, and instead engage directly with the person in question. And in that engagement, bear in mind that it is unlikely that person pored over your work or website, intent on claiming your work as his or her own. On the other side of that coin, if you are looking for information and inspiration, and you find something that compels you into action, put your own thumbprint on whatever work you do. I know work is, literally and blatantly, stolen from time to time (it has happened to me on a number of occasions), but we can still choose to be professional.
My hidden agenda is to encourage all of us to own our actions, acknowledge when we’ve messed up, and apologize when it is appropriate. It is my hope we can all learn to see one another, and recognize that even if we don’t feel a perfect connection with someone – or perhaps if the person we meet face to face doesn’t live up to the person we created in our minds after reading their blogs or books – they are still a human being with his or her own fears, hopes, and dreams. My hidden agenda is to challenge all of us to not take things so personally. I’ve experienced or heard stories about blog entries, blog comments, art shows, retreats, collaborations, books, paintings, emails, and even Etsy store descriptions being taken personally. And when the worst possible assumptions are made about these endeavors and there isn’t a timely, respectful conversation about them, friendships and alliances can be lost in one quick instant, each person walking away unsure of what, exactly, went wrong.
“Every human interaction offers you the chance to make things better or make things worse.” ~An Altar in the World
There is a sentence in my forthcoming book that says the same thing, almost verbatim. I wrote that sentence many months ago, before I read these words by Barbara Brown Taylor this morning. When I read them, my very first thought was, “Great! Now someone, somewhere, is going to think I stole this sentence!” That is where my mind goes all too quickly these days – straight to the fear that something I do is going to offend someone, for some reason. That I have to now stop – before I do anything – and take stock of what everyone else is doing, and make sure my actions don’t pierce the imaginary line we all have a tendency to draw around ourselves at times, fearful our voice won’t be heard, our work won’t be seen, our careers won’t soar. I don’t like living with that fear, and unfurling my “hidden agenda” is my way of trying to move beyond it. To, instead of griping about feeling that way, try to inspire everyone – especially myself – to treat one another with the same respect and kindness we want for ourselves, and not be so quick to rush to the worst judgment possible.
These tasks aren’t easy. They take patience, mindfulness, intense awareness, and trust – in our colleagues and fellow community members as well as in our own work and unique voice. What kind of transformations would happen if we all gave this a go? Where can we be softer, kinder, and more focused on our own actions instead of the actions of others? This community is only going to expand, so we’d better figure these things out now. We are the teachers; we are in the throes of building and growing this world wide web of artistic and entrepreneurial souls. What kind of legacy do we want to leave for those not yet involved?
Of Course
Yesterday I posted the following on Twitter:
Wherever you go today, look everyone in the eye.
Last night, as I was reading An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor, I read the following passage:
