For the past 6 weeks I have been taking an online e-course taught by Marisa Haedike of Creative Thursday. The focus of the class was committing to your creativity. I have to admit, I was unsure if the class was for me because I already felt incredibly committed to my creativity, but I felt drawn to it. I emailed Marisa to ask my questions and she responded immediately. (This is BIG in my book because I am exploring this in my own work.) Out of our conversations, I decided that I wanted to create more movement in my work and feel connected to a community. So, with each week Marisa posted a podcast talking about an aspect of creativity (inspiration, self doubt, perfectionism, etc) and gave a “medium” assignment (painting, drawing, photography, etc.) to create a work with. The first week I spent a lot of time getting back into “artist-mind”… figuring out how to respond to an assignment as an artist would (week 1.) Truth-be-told, it was a clunky but rearding week. I spent a lot of time and energy on the piece PLUS I did an S-load of supportive work, remembering video, learning new programs and uploading video to the web, etc. As the weeks progressed, I went much easier on myself and enjoyed the process more. I felt the strong pull of “being the best” and wanting to post spectacular creations, (versus the experiments that only worked out OK - read about DeerMan, week 3) but I said, this is what I can do… RIGHT NOW. I tried a lot of new techiques (sculpting, machine felting old sweaters, needle felting, etc) experimented, used fabric I have been”saving”  and finished several projects I had been “almost” done with for YEARS, and projects I kept meaning to “get too”. I really broke my cherry in a lot of areas. So even though it did not always turn out the way I hoped (and sometimes UGLY), it felt good to make the attempt. Here are 3 things I took away from my experience, that have made a big difference in my day-to-day life:

• Willingness to just start
I often had to force myself to start, because I like to “think about it” for a million years first. I literally had to say, “just cut it heather!”
• Let yourself finish
I like to think about this too, so I will leave 1-2 things undone in a project… then dread going back to it. I will often leave the crotch open on stuffed animals for years. I’m not proud of this
• Use the good stuff
I horde good stuff and have a fear of wasting materials. I have committed to letting myself use them now (as long as I finish my project!)

The truth is, those first attempts are where the real magic happens because learning is magicl, it changes us. Sure, we will get better at executing the task at hand, but we must be willing to… walk out the door each day, step out of our comfort zone, use the expensive fabric, toss the favorite old seater in the hot washing machine…. it’s important to STIR THE POT, to move in new ways, to do the things that we love right now (instead of saving them for later or some day.) Creative energy is available right now, in this moment. The more we channel it, the more we have. Do not be afraid to start.

So in this moment, answer for yourself:

What are you willing to start this weekend/week?
What are you willing to let yourself finish this weekend/week?
What good stuff will you let yourself enjoy this weekend/week?

If you feel inspired, leave a comment and tell me what you are commiting to. There is power in sharing with a community.

BONUS: If there is an area in your life where you are ready to stir the pot, consider it is time and you are ready. Commit to doing one thing in that area today.

Thanks for reading.
Blessing to you, as always… heather

San Francisco Artist & Illustrator http://www.lisacongdon.com/

Here is something I got from Molly Hall’s blog that I liked:

SUN in Virgo & FULL MOON in Pisces
“The Full Moon is in Pisces, engaging the mutable Virgo-Pisces line, with its instinct for taking the pieces and working healing magic to reshape the form.”

Mercury Retrograde in Virgo
“This is a brass tacks sign that has a genius for understanding how things work. Mercury in Virgo retrograde, then, can show us ways to reach our goal, by working out the steps. There may be a roundabout way to get there. That’s one of the gifts of Mercury Rx — new ways of seeing a situation. And with Mercury in Virgo, that can mean solutions to practical problems that you didn’t expect.”

And, inspired by the Grounded Dreaming of Virgo Sun & Pisces Moon…

This is an image from my Full Moon in Pisces Collage. It’s a revolutionary idea for me, but it’s only just occurred recently – to collaborate with my husband who is also an artist. As we’ve begun our collaboration together, it’s been so fun! And that’s what we are calling it BE SO FUN. (This is also a family joke.)

And here is my Dream Card for this year: Grounded Perspective

I also loved Molly Halls article on the retrograde in capricorn.

I just hosted a Painting Class for 7 girls, ages 6-7 in my Petaluma Art House. It was so ridiculously fun for everyone. I really could not believe how easy it was for them to let go and paint! It was a cake walk for me. Not one single kid said, “i don’t like this” or “this is ugly” or “i hate my painting” or “I don’t know what to paint.” They said things like “look what I did!” “look, I made hot pink!” “can I do another one?” They could not get enough! AND they were thrilled with getting to paint ANYTHING they wanted to….and no one would see it.

I will definitely be offering more painting classes for kids. If you are interested, please send me an email. If you can round up 6 kids +, we have ourselves a class. Email Me

+ heather