Athena Dreams Design

Desire to Inspire

Christine Mason Miller's book Desire to Inspire is going to be released very very soon, and I honestly don't think I could be more honoured and happy to be a contributor (amongst so many amazing and wonderful contributors) to her book.

Visit her blog today for 60 seconds with moi on the topic of becoming ourselves, leave a comment and get entered to win a give away on Christine's blog.

And then stop by Amazon, and pre-order your copy of the book, it's going to be an amazing addition to your library, truly. Stories, quotes, anecdotes, exercises to support your journey toward your own vision of a meaningful, mindful life, from 20 different women who are all on their own personal mindful journeys. Sharing our experiences with each other is a beautiful thing, and this book will be 20X beautiful.

Kelly Barton .:. Her Vision of Squam (the show)

Photo by Thea Coughlin 

my squam story is a a simple one and maybe you had a similar journey.

i am mama to three pixies who i love so. when they were young i stayed at home and found myself becoming very bored, so i decided that i would put my 8th grade home ec experience to use and began sewing. from there my creative journey blossomed and i ended up heading back to college to finish up a degree in graphic design. our projects at that time were all created by hand. i loved sitting there meticulously placing each letter and filling them in with my prisma markers. i also took a watercolor illustration class and that was when i decided that along with graphic design....i had to paint. 

"splash" by Kelly Barton 

for many years, i would do creative things. i had a couple of booths at local fairs, sold items to family and a small number of friends. i worked as a graphic designer for a small marketing company, here in our little town and again, i was becoming bored (heads up...are we catching the theme here).

so, after months of working to position ourselves so that i could freelance, i sucked it up and gave my 2 weeks notice. i was FREE! well, sort of.

through the land of ye' internet, i had found a little pod of blogs. and it was then that i eventually came upon "squam...the virgin voyage. i yearned to go. i had no clue if it was what i needed or would fulfill this gaping hole that i had. you know what...i did.

i hopped a plane heading from the land of corn to the land of squam. i can't even express how stinkin' excited i was, knowing that in a few short hours i would be meeting up with nothing but artistic, creative, welcoming, gorgeous souls. i met up with my carpooling chicks, jenna and sue. we stopped at the general store to pick up lunch and snacks. as i milled around taking in all the goodness, i heard a..."kelly?"...i turned around and there she was, miss athena dreams, herself. i still get teary thinking about what that moment forged. just like meeting the other two hamilton girls, tracey and sarah. finally getting to meet liz lamoreux and so many others.  it was just what the girl from middle indiana needed.

so when liz and susan handed each of us the opportunity to be part of a juried gallery show, i was so happy to send in a few pieces. my favorite part of this journey, was getting to look through the images of new friends pieces of art. i would sit there in wonderment, amazed at all the talent that sat on the lake with me. my only reqret was that i didn't get to make it to the actual show. but i did get to attend the second year of squam art workshops. where i got to do it all over again. 

"bad fog" by Kelly Barton 

i think, for me, getting to meet, sit, merge with so many artists, from different walks is my true blessing. it is what we each need. maybe we need this for different reasons, but we need it and by giving this to ourselves, to each other...we give and receive a gift. and i have seen, first hand this gift being passed on.

so if you haven't yet, and you are still pondering this opportunity. c'mon do it. give yourself a little gift. elizabeth has created the perfect little spot and loves watching each of us bloom.

-Kelly Barton

You can find Kelly at her etsy shop Happy Girl 64 or her blog The Camp

• • • • • • •

This is the third in a series of essays/interviews/words from one of the artists that participated in the first A Vision of Squam Art Show that took place in September 2009 at artstream gallery in Rochester, NH. This year the show will be hosted by the Sandwich Artisans Guild gallery. 

• For information about the how to submit to the 2010 show, please go here. 
• For information on registering for Squam Art Workshops in 2010, visit the SAW site and Elizabeth here.

Pictures to Tell a Story

Sometimes pictures tell a story just as it should be told, and just as it should be heard. And so, some pictures to tell a small piece of the story of CORE: art & design of the torso. Words to come later in the week.

 

 

 

(I love this person's reaction to Outi's piece)

An Interview and a Give-Away

This morning I am ever so pleased to give you an interview with the lovely, the very talented and the über-cool mary anne radmacher. 

Leave a comment with your three most favourite words and you will be in the running to win a mary anne radmacher journal. Here you go!

1. Your first thought when waking this morning?

Very aware of how sore I was from a day of mainland grocery shopping, hauling cases of water and traveling around in city traffic for seven hours.  I schooled myself in a planned return to the elliptical trainer.

 

2. What is one thing that makes you dance?

Getting real mail from friends.

 

3. Three favourite words?

Joy.  Gratitude. Viola!

 

4. A book/writer that has changed your life, or your view on life?

Hugh Prather, HOW TO LIVE IN THE WORLD AND STILL BE HAPPY.

5. An artist that has changed your life, or your view on life?

I’m conflicted in this because he was such a conflicted soul:  Picasso.  Nothing was off limits to his creativity.  A paraphrase of one of my favorite sayings of his, “If you knew, in advance, what it was going to be – why would you bother creating it?”

6. Favourite colour(s) and why?

Ironically my favorite colors now are colors that I was very VERY resistant to in the first half of my life.  Orange.  Yellow.  Green.  These are invigorating, illuminating, happy colors.  And I was such a serious, focused soul in the first half of my life I thought the right colors for me were blue, purple and black.  Now, in the second half of my life I am serious, focused and joyful. And I appreciate the colors that reinforce and validate that state of mind.

 

7. Favourite place(s) in the whole wide world?

Where I am in any given moment.  Assisi, Italy.

8. Recipe for staying positive when life feels hard?

Write to make it right.  I write until I discover what I need to know. Also, I remind myself that my attitude is the one thing I control and at any given moment I may, “choose joy.” 

 

9. What is your fondest/dearest wish right now?

To compassionately pursue my mission: inspiring myself and others in spite of challenging circumstances or criticism.  To fully engage in all the gifts I have been given and validate my actions by my own measures, daily.  To meet all my obligations and embrace my life experiences with abundance.  Oh, wait.  Would that be three dearest wishes…can I roll them into one?   Yes, please.

10. At the end of this day what things are you totally grateful for?     

At the end of the day I am totally grateful for my circle of known souls:my husband, my ancestors and family, my island friends, my far away friends, my writing students, my writing partners, my professional associates whom I consider friends, my licensing partners.  I am grateful for the people in my past, both advocates and adversaries, who have contributed to who I am today.  I am grateful for the whole “food chain” of talent and labor that bring services and supplies to my life here on the island on which I live.  Interestingly enough, it was not last night but just this morning I wrote four pages of gratitudes of just this very thing…my gratitudes for the people in my life expanding outward from my heart and history like concentric circles.  water rings around the stone of my life thrown into the river of our days.

So, remember to leave a comment that includes your 3 most favourite words and you can win a copy of this wonderful journal published by Brush Dance. (I will leave the comments open until next Monday 21 September.)

Have a wonderful Monday!

mary anne radmacher .:. Lovely Mention-ables

My first introduction to mary anne radmacher was a card sent to me by a friend, maybe 10 years ago now. I found myself looking for more of her cards to keep, to give and to have in my card drawer, just in case. 

Her writing pulled me in, making me think about all the possibilities out there in the world for me and for everyone else; her words created a sing-song melody in my head when I read them, and the message I took from her words (whether it was her intention or not) was that we all need to show up (in a big way) and be willing to go all in on our own lives. 

A few years later, I started working as freelance designer for a stationery and journal publisher, and I "met" mary anne all over again, this time through her words and her artwork. An amazing collaborative experience ensued, and continues still. Through the years that I've worked with her we'd never met in person, not until this summer. Her words, her paintings, her ideas and enthusiasm for life, her willingness to always laugh, her drive for living a creative life, for encouraging and inspiring so many other writers and artists, and continuing the journey of being all in on her own life - these are some of the things I so admire about her.

And did I mention the books? The books . . .  I have given her first book to many, many friends since it first came out, and continue to take it off the shelf and open randomly to read:

There are many reasons you lean forward on any given day. They are all perfect metaphors for this book. When you're trying to see something better, you lean toward it. When you are listening to someone and can barely hear, you lean in. When the really exciting part of a basketball game comes, you lean forward in your seat. When you're trying to catch, to see, to listen to the best bits—you lean forward.

Lean forward in to your life . . . catch the best bits and the finest wind. Just tip your feathers in flight a wee bit and see how dramatically that small lean can change your life.

-mary anne radmacher, from the introduction to Lean Forward into Your Life

Please take a moment to visit mary anne at her website, check out her books here, and her posters and other products here. Please stay tuned on Monday for an interview with the artist herself as well as a give-away offer on one of her journals! And meanwhile Live Boldly, Laugh Loudly and Love Truly!

A Vision of Squam - The Show Goes Live (very soon)

1 September opens the First Annual Squam Art Show - A Vision of Squam - and can I tell you how thrilling it is to see this event almost at it's opening day?  Pretty darn thrilled in so many more ways than I can even begin to say . . . 

I received the above postcard by e-mail from Susan at artstream the other day, and had a little moment, just me and my computer screen, a happy thrilled, excited feeling in my tummy, and a little bit of moisture in the eyes.

And so, an invitation to one and all:  if you are near the Seacoast area of New Hampshire (Rochester specifically), or anywhere in the vicinity of New England between the 1st and 30th of September, make a visit to see some of the work that came from artists, students and teachers that attended the Squam Art Workshops in 2008. The opening celebration for the show is Friday, 11 September.

• Thank you to all the artists who submitted work for this show - I know for some it was the first experience down this path of showing work in a gallery, and there were nerves and worries, but you all stepped up, and I am so proud of all of you! 
• To Elizabeth, gorgeous mistress of the muse, for all the inspiration she provides 
• And to Susan and Mary Jo at artstream for being so very willing and excited to host this show. 

A dream come true . . . and a postcard to remember it by . . . doesn't get much better than that in my world! 

Lovely Mention-ables

A few weeks ago I got a message from Jenny Swanson, telling me about a daily art project called the Retrieval Project. She and her husband and family have taken some wonderfully amazing leaps of faith (all in the name of art and living the life they dream of) and after several moves, find that some of their treasured belongings are being held hostage somewhere in Minnesota, while they are in the Bay Area. 

Read about their journey and the their incredibly creative Retrieval Project. And see how a painting a day can fund the reunion of a family and their treasured belongings. This project started 1 August and will be going until 19 September. 

* * * * * *

Have you been longing/thinking/hoping for a more professional looking blog? Lots of posts this past week about Niya Christine's 5 Elements of Professional Looking Blog Design, but here is one more. The live webinar (broadcast through Typepad's webinar series) was on the 12th of this month, but you can still hear the recording of the live discussion. Niya and Andy Wibbels discuss the best (oh yes, and the worst) of small business blogging, and use lots of great examples from the blogosphere.  

Can I just say that this "webinar" is a wonderful resource if you are feeling some blahs about your blog, and wanting some great design input, theory and/or ideas about how to grow, enhance or change your blog. 

Niya comes from a strong art background, and has an astute sense of design, an amazing way with words, a finely honed sense of marketing, branding and an inate know-how to spotlight a product, a person, a rabbit or an idea. I am just saying if you need a website or blog design or help with how to market your small business or promote yourself, she's your Girl, (oh and she's an amazing and wonderful friend too).

* * * * * * *

So, this is something I have wanted to do for a while, start a new weekly "column" called Lovely Mentionables where I talk about the happenings in my world, and let you all know about artists, people, writers, art happenings and anything else that strikes my Mentionable fancy. Please contact me if you have something Lovely and Mentionable that you'd like me to share.

Some Things You Might Want to Know

For the month of June I have been spotlighted over on Jena's blog Modish. This is the last week of discounts at my etsy shop, through the Modish blog. So stop on over to Jena's Modish and read all about it! 

And since we are on the topic of Modish, some of you may have read my monthly goal posts and linked back to Jena's other blog Modish BizTips where she has organised a group meet up to help keep us all accountable with our "to-do", "need-to-do", and "i-really-want-to-do-but..." lists. Many of you noticed the top thing on my list for the month of June: 

Look for some more ways to promote my shop that are not the paid for kind. Send out more e-mails to folks asking them if they would be interested in writing about my work.  

And asked me to let them know how that went. Well, bring it on Jena... she recently did an Etsy Virtual Lab about how to submit your work to Bloggers. If you missed it, you can read her recap, and see the cutest video grabs of her talking, as well as follow the links to an incredibly generous and informative list of submission sources and a step by step tutorial on how to approach bloggers about your work.

With her design and style blog Modish, Jena is one of the most supportive voices out there for the handmade-artist-community. And with her new-er blog she has opened up even more opportunity and information for the creative business entrepreneur.

Visit Jena's blogs, and don't forget to check out the Modish discount at my etsy shop that runs for the rest of June.  

Feed Your Soul .:. Download Some Art

Jen Wallace at Indie Fixx started a wonderful community project this year called Feed Your Soul: the free art project, and I was lucky enough to be asked to submit a piece of art. 

Each piece of art  - from an amazing group of artists - is an original created just for Jen's project, and all of the pieces are free to you. Just download and print and you have a new piece of art to hang on your wall. 

For the month of June, I am featured along with Belinda Kemp, an artist from Mebourne, Australia. Stop by and see all the art and artists that Jen is showcasing, read some interviews, and download some new favourites to hang in your home or office.

In Jen's own words: Even though the economy is tanking, it’s more important than ever to stay positive. We shouldn’t dwell on the negative news, it’s just not doing our souls any good. To that end, I came up Feed Your Soul: the free art project to hopefully bring a smile to your face and brighten your day.

Enjoy some art for your soul, and thanks so much to Jen for starting such a soul-filled project!

Why We Share our Art*

For the past week I have been busily - sometimes merrily and sometimes choppily - working on painting commissions, and it got me to thinking about why we share our art*. 

Why do we spend days and weeks in a studio with our brushes and our paints and then hang the finished pieces on a beautifully blank white wall for others to see; why do we put our words to pages that will live briefly on shelves in a bookstore, waiting to be taken to a new home, or be read aloud to a room full of people; why do we get up on stage and sing/play a song or 10 that we have written, to a room full of people, some friends and some strangers; why do we spend hours behind a lens and then publish/show the photographs we have taken? I could come up with a bunch more illustrations, but I think we all get the idea here...

Why are we compelled to create and then share our art?  A simple question, but I would imagine there are a multitude of reasons. These are some of the reasons that I came up with today:

• To share something of ourselves - our ideas, our dreams, our vision, our deepest thoughts, our humanity
• To communicate 
• To connect 
• To make our world a little broader, a little wider, a little deeper
• To tell each other who we are 
• To share a moment in time   

So, for me, creating art* is like a conversation. A conversation with an awesomely charming and wonderful friend. A conversation about life, and the world, our places in the world, the dreams we have for our lives, the dreams we dreamed last week, a fragment of poetry remembered, some laughter, stories about childhood, and on and on and on - one of those conversations that goes on all night, punctuated with moments of silence, gazing at the night sky, and then back to the conversation. 

What are the conversations you see in your own artwork? I would truly like to know. . . 

*The word Art is used here in a general way to describe anything that one creates in any medium of choice.