Being Creative When You're Short on Time

Lately I've found it more and more difficult to find time to create. With working full time and trying to help get Java Journey our coffee shop store front ready for opening...there is little time left for creating. Add to that additional demands of my job which require me to be at conventions on occasion (like this weekend) and it gets even harder.

Maybe you are in the same type of situation. What works best for me is having both designated times for creating and also learning to work in small snatches of time.

Our lives are busy and it depends on what season we are in as to how much time we have. But if we don't make time, creativity probably isn't going to happen. Here are some things I have learned to do in order to still be able to work it in.

First, get up earlier and work later. I get up one hour earlier than I have to and try to work on writing at least for an hour before I go to work. Some days I make more progress than others but if I have it on my schedule, it is more likely to happen. I also try to do the more creative part of the writing in the morning before I leave. When I get home, after dinner, I try to write an hour more. Some days this is the last thing I feel like doing but at least I am doing it. And, I tend to do more editing in the evenings when my brain is more tired. It takes less energy for me.

When it comes to my art, I usually reserve Sunday afternoons for that. But, being human and having other things to tend to sometimes--such as family gatherings--that doesn't always happen. When I miss my Sunday creative time I try to work some other time in elsewhere. It is possible to create in small allotments of time--not the best method--but it can still be done.

For instance, if I only have a few moments to spare I can still prepare a canvas with gesso or draw out what I plan to water color. If I am working on jewelry, I've found I can streamline my efforts if I work on certain components at a time rather than trying to do an entire piece at a stretch. For instance, I might work on earrings one night where all I do is is put beads on pins. Or I might work on the central focal components of a necklace wrapping beach glass.

If I want to watch a dvd but haven't got my creative time in, I cart what I can work on and enjoy the movie. So I might be bending copper wire into shapes or putting jump rings on finished necklaces.

The general rule is, the larger the task, the more time it takes. By doing small tasks and certain components I can then put the pieces together to make a finished piece.

Movie Review: Lost in Austen

I have long been a Jane Austen fan and have read just about every book she's ever written mutiple times. I've practically memorized Pride and Prejudice and own both the Two-Part BBC version of it and the more recent version starring Keira Knightly. So it was with great anticipation that I sat down last night to watch an Austen-related chic flick by myself, in this case Lost in Austen.

Many a story has entailed a character going back or forward in time and this is precisely the device that the author uses in Lost in Austen. Not exactly a new device, but I found that it worked.

I don't want to give away the plot but, suffice to say, that Amanda Price, an ardent Austen enthusiast is enamored with Pride and Prejudice and, like many women, has read and re-read the story to the point of knowing its characters intimately. But her dreary every-day life leaves her unfilfilled, especially when it comes to her beer-guzzling boyfriend who has just proposed to her.

One evening while reading her beloved Pride and Prejudice for the the umpteenth time, she finds a stranger, Elizabeth Bennet, has entered her apartment via a hidden door in her bathroom. What follows is an adventure for Amanda as Elizabeth stays behind and Amanda finds herself right in the thick of the Bennet household. But without Elizabeth there things quickly go awry as familiar characters such as Mr. Bengley and Mr. Darcy are introduced to the Bennett ladies, with the addition of Amanda and no Lizzy to be found.

The author tinkers with just about every relationship and takes them down other roads so that soon are are a tangle. Despite her best efforts to salvage them, Amanda finds that things quickly go from bad to worse and we get to see what happens had the characters been paired up differently.

The story is fun, and clever, but also a bit exasperating at times because Darcy and Bingley are not paired up with the right people. Darcy's pride and snobbishness are magnified, while good-natured Bengley drowns his disappointment in love in drink and becomes a lush. It does not bring out their best character traits.

I would love to hear from other Austen fans who have seen this movie. I found it quite enjoyable thought at times frustrating as Amanda didn't get to experience the full-force of Darcy's honorable traits as Elizabeth does.

Climbing the Next Rung on the Ladder, Part II

Creativity breeds creativity. The more we are exposed to creative works and the more we are around innovative people, the more it ignites and hones the creativity in us. In my last blog post I promised to share what I am doing to reach my goal of taking my creative arts to the next level.

One major step I took this past month was to join Full Circle Arts a local artist’s co-op here in Hickory, NC. They offer art and craft courses, and have a local art gallery in which members can exhibit their work. The co-op has several levels of membership. The higher level costs a monthly fee of $50 which allows members to display their work any time in the gallery without having to put in volunteer hours. It also gives them a sizable discount on any art classes the co-op offers. This higher level membership takes 15% commission from any artwork sold.

The co-op’s less expensive level of membership (the one I signed up for) costs $100/year, requires members to serve 6 hours a month in the gallery or in some other volunteer capacity for the organization and allows members to display their work in the gallery. These members pay 30% commission on any artwork sold.

This one step alone has already caused me to raise the bar on my work so that it is of a quality suitable for exhibition and I’m already getting to know a few of the folks who participate in Full Circle, which is great because I’ve badly needed to connect with kindred creative souls. My task now is to focus on creating theme-related pieces that create a cohesive grouping which in turn could possible be exhibited as a show. For instance, I have produced several pieces that are board game related. Here’s one called Get a Clue About Life. I actually made two small companion pieces to go with it. If I wanted to keep going with the game board theme I could tie several pieces together.

I am still forging my brand which centers on taking discarded, broken or seemingly valueless items and turning them into art. I attach a small piece of printed parchment paper on each finished work that tells about me and the inspiration for my work. This small self-promo piece is also a part of the branding process. More importantly, to truly develop a brand, I need to be consistent in the look of the works I develop. I mentioned previously that I have two styles developing, a playful, colorful style, and a more serious, abstract side. It’s not unthinkable to have several looks, but is important that each type of style have cohesiveness.

Below is the text I include on my promo paper.

On the front it reads: Another Unique Original by Teena Stewart

On the backside it reads: Teena Stewart experiences wonder & worship regarding the Master Artist when she works on artistic endeavors. The world can be broken and ugly at times and our lives sometimes mirror that brokenness. Teena delights in finding discarded, broken, and valueless things and reworking them into something beautiful just as the Master Artist can do with our lives if we let Him.

She whole-heartedly dedicates her life to the teachings of Jesus Christ. To learn more about her and her work, visit http://www.serendipitini.com

Climbing the Next Rung on the Ladder, Part I

One of my goals I wrote down for 2009 is to take my art to the next level and part of that goal included focusing more on style, theme, and brand.

What I have found in my art is that I am still trying to develop a style. I’ve moved away from just doing paintings and drawings to more mixed media and collage. I have also begun to toy with jewelry making.

Currently I am working on developing professional looking pieces I can begin marketing online, in shops, shows, and even galleries. My passion is to work from discarded or broken items and turn them into art. I rummage through second hand stores and yard sales looking for interesting items that might work. Since many of these finds are one-of-a-kind this has allowed me to produce some interesting pieces. The down side is that there is little continuity. One finished piece is very different from another. If I plan to do a show, this presents a problem because just as people come to know a writer for his genre and style of writing, the same should be true of an artist. This is known as branding.

If I have too many styles or unique looking pieces that have no distinct style people might think they are produced by different artists. This won’t develop loyal collectors. I need to reign myself in and begin to work on developing cohesive pieces. Yes my style is developing…the use of found, broken and discarded objects is part of that. I’ve also noticed I’ve got a playful, whimsical, colorful style, and then a more serious style which leans toward golden and earthy colors. The picture above is a work I did called the Queen of Hearts. It's an example of my playful style. You can see more examples of it at my Serendipitini website Serendipitini . (I’m still working on getting more of my artwork displayed there.)

In my next blog post I’ll talk more about actions I’m taking to reach my goals.

Great Website for Free Graphics

While working with my daughter, Rachel, to create the Serendipitini blog and Serendipitni website (serendipitini.com still under construction) we wrestled with the creative look of the blog and website. Self-promotion is a necessary evil for freelancers and we are no exception but getting the right look to convey who you are is also imporant.

Rachel pointed me to an awesome website that offers a free graphic a week. This is more than your standard clipart. I thought I would share it with you. The site carries
abstract, background, free, grungy, purple, swirl, texture, vectors

I love the style and look of what they create. We found graphics to work for our logos on both our blog and website there. Here's the link if you want to check it out.

What is art?   It's a question debated in every freshman art history course.  

The 2003 film Mona Lisa Smile depicts just such a scene.  Katherine Watson, a liberal and feminist art professor teaching at Wellesly College in 1953, attempts to challenge her conservative female students' narrow minded definitions of art.  Watson flashes a slide of "Carcass" by Soutine on the screen.  

The following discussion ensues:  

Katherine Watson: "Carcass", by Soutine, 1925. Is it any good? C'mon, ladies, there's no wrong answer. There's also no textbook telling you what to think. It's not that easy, is it? 

Betty Warren:  Alright, no. It's not good. In fact, I wouldn't even call it art. It's grotesque. 

Connie Baker: Is there a rule against art being grotesque?

Susan Delacorte:  Aren't there standards? 

Betty Warren:  Of course there are! Otherwise, a tacky velvet painting could be equated to a Rembrandt! 

Connie Baker:  Hey, my Uncle Ferdie has two tacky velvet paintings. He loves those clowns. 

Betty Warren:  There *are* standards! Technique, composition, color, even subject. So, if you're suggesting that rotted side of meat is art, much less *good* art, then what are we going to learn? 

Katherine Watson:  Just that. You have outlined our new syllabus, Betty, thank you. What is art? What makes it good or bad, and who decides? 

[Slide changes to reveal a childlike drawing of a cow] 

25 years ago, someone thought this was brilliant. 

Betty Warren:  Who? 

Katherine Watson:  My mother. I painted it for her birthday. Next slide. This is my mom. Is it art? [referring to a photo of her mother]

Susan Delacorte:  It's a snapshot. 

Katherine Watson:  If I told you Ansel Adams had taken it, would that make a difference? 

Betty Warren:  Art isn't art until someone says it is. 

Katherine Watson:  It's art! 

Betty Warren:  The right people. 

Katherine Watson:  And who are they? 

So, who decides what is art... and what is not?  Artists have always pushed the boundaries and limits of art, challenging the standards prescribed by society and academia.  Determined not to be limited by something as limiting as a definition, these artist rebels broke new creative ground through unique and progressive techniques, at times bordering on the bizarre and macabre in their attempt to elicit a new reaction from their saturated audience.   Picasso, Van Gogh, Dalie, and Warhol--artists whose work we now house in fancy French museums and accolade as reference points for aspiring artists ("Here.  THIS is art.")-- were rebels in their own time.  

But as time has gone on, each generation of artists has had to push further and harder to create "new" art, to challenge our pre-concived notions of aesthetic beauty.  

And today... well, it's gotten weird.  Take a look at the following work created in 1917 by Marcel Duchamp, a ground breaking modernist.  Entitled "Fountain," this sculpture was displayed in a number of prominent museums including Indiana University Art Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Tate Modern. 

Huh.  Art?  Anyone who's every scrubbed yellow crust off a public urinal might disagree.   And if you think that's weird, talk a look at this.  The National Ceramics 2000 show at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York featured works of art that are... "odd" at best.  The follow is a sampling of the pieces on display:

-A human head with a steering wheel attached

-A piece of rotten fruit covered with maggots

-The severed lower torsos of a man and woman, topped with steak and chicken dinners sitting on plates

-A Bozo the Clown mural adorned with toilet plunger, mousetrap, and other objects

-A portrait of a woman the artist tells us was abused—depicted bloody, cut, with lizards skittering over her body

-A face-off between Jesus and an Indian medicine man

-A pair of amputated feet hanging from an industrial chain

-A mother getting her throat cut, graphically, by a baby.

Karl Zinsmeister, a colomnist for artrenewal.org, comments on the exhibit in his article "When Art Becomes Inhuman": "This is the high art of today... 'anti-art.' It ridicules, it desecrates, it celebrates vileness, it rejects all rules, conventions, and decencies."  

While I'm not likely to showcase any of the items on this list in my dining room, I don't know that I agree with Zinsmeister's scathing review.  And though it's true I would rather spend my time gazing Van Gogh's "Starry Night" than Duchamp's "Fountain," I also will be the first to tell my daughter that her fingerpaintings are --without reservation or limitations-- ART.

Perhaps as they say (and who are "they," anyhow?!), art truly is in the eye of the beholder...  Or better yet, the creator.

More About the Poor Man’s Copyright

After responding to my friend regarding his copyright question I wondered if what I told him about the “poor man’s copy right” was still considered valid. So I posted a question about mailing your own work to yourself on one of my writer’s lists to see if that method is considered effective.

Several writers responded with virtually the same answer. The general consensus is that if you don’t have money enough to register your copyright, then you won’t have money to defend your postmarked copy in court if it ever needs defending. It was felt that the method isn’t reliable.

With book manuscripts, if the publishing house you submit to offers you a contract and does not register copyright on your work, you would be wise to register it yourself. Here is a link to where you can go to register your work.

The latest version of the Copyright Office's FAQ tackles this urban
legend http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html