We've all experienced the reality gap. Probably much more so when we're wide eyed and bushy tailed, fresh out of college, and less so as we progress in our careers. The gap narrows. Partly because our skills get honed and we get a lot better at our jobs. Partly perhaps because our ideals get tempered by our experience of the real world.

The danger, of course, is that talented, inspired, ambitious creatives will give up when that void between what we want things to be and what they actually are keeps beating at our confidence.

Ira Glass On Storytelling sits you down and gives you all the sage advice you wish someone had given you when you were just graduating from college. Yes, there will be a gap and yes, there will be disappointments.

"You will be fierce. You will be a warrior. And you will make things that just aren't as good as you know in your heart you want them to be. But do a lot of work, a huge volume, and you will catch up and close that gap."

Comic: Lore Sjoberg

These are some our my favourites :

Apple + The Rainbow Warrior (greenpeace flag) divided by false teeth equals : apple first logo

Pacman on chillies executed during the french revolution = casanto

Too much surfing on the internet using hp ....

Enjoy!!

Generally, it's done with pen/cil and paper. Well...

Courtesy of Hope Wilbanks on Plurk, I found out about a free software that does that: FreeMind.

I tried it out for a couple days before I decided to post about it here. I did a mindmap of an article I've previously written and on Kiernan's Curse. It works great for small and large projects.  It's definitely a keeper.

The only drawback I've found about it is that with the large projects, if I print the map, it either takes way too many pages or (when condensed to one page) the print is too small to read.

But, hey, that's quite all right.

You can download the basic or master versions. The master version has a .pdf converter and some other features. (The PDF thing is the only thing I remember off the top of my head.)

It was a bit confusing at first, but that passed quickly.

I am definitely going to add this to my collection of creativity tools.

I'll measure the inside section and the border width of the rug tomorrow!!!  And maybe try to work on a couple of the elephants in the border!!  : )

Happy Hooking!!  Sunnie  : )

Majestique Events & Gifts, Inc. was started in 2000 by Charna Little; However, It is a service with more than 20 years experience behind it. Add a vast array of creativity, excitement, enthusiasm, quality, and uniqueness and you have one of the hottest Event Planning establishments on the market. Majestique plans Weddings, Showers, Bar Mitzvahs, Retreats, Birthday Parties and more.

Not only does Majestique plan events, but it offers a distinct and unique line of Gift Baskets and Custom Blended Body soaps, oils, Shea Butters and other bath products by Majestique Spa.

There are four generations of craftsmanship, love, talent and creativity in each basket, soap or bottle of oil. The herbs used to create Majestique’s Body products are Hand selected, Home grown, and custom made all with LOVE by Ms. Little herself! Majestique does NOT test on animals nor do we use preservatives or chemical to create its products. We make everything FRESH to order therefore giving you the best possible product. We also donate a percentage of our yearly income to support research and awareness for Sickle Cell Disease as well as host annual fundraisers for this cause.

Dad,
You’re right
Right on the mark
Everything you say
But got to let it go
The past is bound to drown us
Been over this so many times
Same scene a hundred times

Yeah, been away to long
Always been this way  
Different than you all
A thinker and a dreamer
Somewhat of a loner
Got to live this life in my own way
Forget that I don’t love you
How could I not
I may be miles away
Love you just the same

You got to let this go
Love me as I am
For doing things my way
I’m just like you
Living my own dreams
It ain’t easy being me

Can’t we just
Forget it all, move on
Haven’t done much wrong
Just being on my own
You’re still my dad
I don’t know
Maybe this is what it is
But it doesn’t have to be like this
It isn’t for me
Love you more than you know
always will....

July 19, 2008

Stuff in my head: We all have a responsibility to our family, but if you aren’t close and hardly ever speak because the distance is to great and everyone's life is way to busy, why not take the chance to be happy and love each other when you finally connect. Why spend time rehashing the past and asking why the distance? Why this? Why that?  Why not try and understand each other and encourage the bond rather than the distance. Anyway, I love my dad. OMG, today's my brother's B-day! :)

©2008 OneWord Studio Inc.
Image source: Photobucket

Me: “I just got this really cool image in my head that I feel like dra…”

Bitchy Voice In My Head: “Nope! You can’t draw, you suck! And so do all of your ideas.”

[sad face]

Sometimes I’ll draw something, and I’m actually really happy with the result. Other times I hate how something turns out, and when that happens I feel like giving up completely.

So, I guess in a roundabout way, I’m saying at the moment it’s down to confidence. Well not just that. I can’t seem to come up with good ideas on the spot either. Aren’t “creative” people supposed to be good at that sort of thing?

Remember that 8 foot Alice in Wonderland project I posted last year? That assignment was late. I went through a few ideas before I settled on that one. 4 that I can remember, one of them being a different version of the Alice in Wonderland theme. But I remember all the ideas I tried before I finally got it right actually seemed like pretty good ideas, but I was having trouble executing them I guess. Nothing was turning out the way it looked in my head, which often seems to be the case.

My favorite radio show “This American Life” is having a t-shirt designing contest, and I can’t even come up with anything. I suck. I’m not creative. Maybe I should just quit studying art and go to librarian school.

UPDATE: Okay, so I guess I have an idea now, but the question is can I actually get it to look good on paper?

Now, to construct this - I want to use the actual basis of facts that I know already and maybe back it up with information from other sources (maybe).

Of –>
This is to define what kind of flow is described, however the information could pertain generally to several areas including creativity, energy, money, effort, originality, products, markets, internal landscapes of the psyche, intellectual abilities, psychic and spiritual energies, or I suppose, water given the impetus by removing constraints.

A restrained flow of creativity, originality, thinking, creative energies, spiritual energies, efforts and intellectual abilities is no different than a dam constraining those energies from emerging into the world surrounding it. This isn’t all that complicated. A blank sheet of paper is all that is needed to prove it. Either the flow does or doesn’t happen onto the page. Either it is full, evenly distributed and open or it is not, and is hindered in some way. This is easy enough to find out.

Pick any subject matter at hand, a blank piece of paper and a pencil, begin writing thoughts concerning the subject matter. Come back to it after ten minutes away and add more thoughts. Are the thoughts easy to grab and convey to the paper? Or are they stumbling or fragmented?

(see outline from post before this one for complete overview)

Written by Cricket Diane C "Sparky" Phillips, 2008

Cricket House Studios, 07-19-08, USA1

"Creating the Tangible from the Impossible Every Day."

My life is a work of art

The master artist has made it

As with all his works it has

A plan, a modeling and a making.

Destroying and building

A changing.

Until the perfect form appears

Whole and beautifully wrought

A delight to the craftsman’s heart

Fit for his abode.

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI: VUE DU MONT FUJI

Hokusai meurt en 1849. Ses dernières paroles sont: "Encore cinq ans et je serais devenu un grande artiste."

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI: AUTOPORTRAIT

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Over, jettison intellectualism and fucking consumer sovereignty flumadiddle.

Bagi saya, kreativitas adalah salah satu fungsi dari kebebasan. Mengapa demikian? Kreativitas hanya bisa dimiliki oleh jiwa dan pikiran yang bebas. Bagaimana mungkin kita bisa mengembangkan ide secara leluasa apabila jiwa dan pikiran kita terkungkung oleh pagar-pagar pembatas yang bermukim secara logis maupun psikis. Maka, agar bisa menjadi manusia kreatif, bebaskanlah diri anda.

Selamat membaca buku di atas!

Welcome to Tiana Kaczor Fine Arts

This is a place to connect to the creativity that flows out of me. Whether you have come by just to observe, or you plan to purchase, all are welcome. Without you I would be nothing. Well, not nothing, but a lot less. I tend to feed off of others. That's often where the best creations start. So inspire me with your comments, your project ideas, your links to others. In return I promise to give you the best that I've got. Let us learn from one another, create together, and build a path to ... well I'm not sure, because we haven't got there yet, but let's hope it's a fun journey.

Artists draw from all areas of life to find inspiration for their creations. In this blog you will not only find information about my specific creative activities in visual art and music, but you will also find comments about anything in my life that I feel will be of interest to others. Politics, literature, entertainment, anything that I come across is fair game.

Every week something new to exhibit, share, sell, or discuss. I hope you will visit me often, and tell your friends! To start off I'll give you a maze. It seems fitting now to go back to mazes. I have drawn them during times of change in my life. Perhaps I am looking for a new direction, a new path. I have a feeling this will be an exciting one. Am I ready? You bet! 1, 2, 3 . . . GO!

This Blogspot blog has corresponding Tarot cards for the stones -- like the major arcana Moon card for the Moonstone.  Fun :)  I scrolled down the page and found a pic of some gorgeous little pink orbs with white-ish swirls, "Rhodochrosite."  I love those!  That pic makes me happy -- and suh-weet that it's corresponding card is the Page of Cups.  It has a sweet, loving energy (sometimes referenced as "Cupid"), sometimes a child-like energy, and this card is also about intuition and creativity.

I googled "Moonstone" and found another nice site that has some worthy elaborations on different stones.  I love stones, and have several at home, but I don't give them near the attention I feel they deserve.  Years ago I was advised to put certain stones on my different chakras (and visualize, deep breath...) while lying down and it was a very nice experience, but I don't recall ever doing it again.  So many fun metaphysical things to do, so  little time, lol ;)  But gotta get back to "playing" with my beautiful little stones -- especially the Moonstone, it would seem, given the synchronous emphasis on it.

*Muah* ;)  (A bit of that Page of Cups energy showing here, ha)

Peace,
Dove

i am working on editing my prose and have been a bit preoccupied on my deviantArt page as well.

whatever the matter. . . a poetic indulgence for you.

i have very few musical fixations, but when i become fixated on a particular song or band it becomes borderline obsessive compulsive. joy division and depeche mode are often that for me, but partly because i'm something of a relic in my musical taste. i never quite left the 80's.
however, there are editors and interpol and they've helped give me a point of connect between that era and this era. in short, i've become fixated and one song in particular has been stirring at the heart strings.

the title is "pace is the trick" and the chorus struck most poignantly with me:
"i've seen love
and i follow the speed in the starlight
i've seen love
and i follow the speed in the star-swept night."

this morning, prior to lying down for a few hours, i penned this while listening to the song:

the fragility of light

deconstruct it all
decompose it all
upon a pile of refuse.
what was
is no longer.
what is
is no longer
worth the breath it takes
to speak of anymore.

within my hands, i hold
absolute destruction.
your soul, it was so pretty.
placed atop your head, it was a halo.
your soul, it was so alluring.
the moth intercepts the fire
in a kamikaze mission,
because your soul
it was so attractive.

but within my hands,
i hold little more than broken pieces.
it shattered in my grip.
i had no idea
i was holding it too tightly.
it cracked under the pressure
of being light in the darkness.
your soul, it was a beacon,
but within my hands i hold
dust being carried off by the wind.

tear it all apart.
rip away the shadows;
deconstruct the pain.
like a moth to the flame,
you followed me
to your own downfall.
and within these hands
that only know how to destroy,
i find the urge to join you
on your funeral pyre.

i shall make it more of a habit to post a few works up here for your perusal and critique. in the meantime, much work to be done.

be well, dear friends,
peter