Athena Dreams Design

At Work on Ideas: pinterest-ing pins

Seeing sketches in mid-creation, or drawing tables filled with the tools of a craft, journals being worked on and creativity in session always gives me a thrill. I love to get glimpses of how others work, aspects of the processes that other people use, a peek into someone else's world.

(clockwise from top left):
journals on Wild Thyme Creative {pinned by Theresa L.}
A Canvas for Creativity by Lucrecer Braxton (found via Liz Lamoreux}
Journaling 101 by Chookooloonks {pinned by Trish W.}
Pen & Ink by Nicola Hensel {found via Pia Jane Bijkerk}
Sketches by Emerson Made (pinned by me}

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Each week a different topic illustrated with some of my favourite images from Pinterest.

If you are a Pinterest user, pinning on pinterest please remember to "Link with Love" and credit the maker, the creator, the ideator, or the originator.

If you'd like to share on Pinterest you can find me here!

A Book and A Pack of Girls = Gathering

Serendipity, happenstance, fortuitous-ness, stars aligning – all of these were in abundance when we  began gathering that first afternoon for Christine's book release. We (read we to mean a pack of girls) walked past these letters on the sidewalk, left no doubt by someone who was changing the marquee at the movie theatre, but letters left without a sitter, are letters that WILL be rearranged. And so the week of the book release begins.

A few highlights for me:

• gathering with old and new friends to celebrate what Christine has created
• a spontaneous hair cut on Venice Beach
• travelling with a pack of girls at all times for 4 days

• feeling perfectly and beautifully imperfect within a circle of friends
• getting dressed for the Event {with a pack of girls}
• standing at the Event, and feeling really and truly honoured to have contributed to this amazing book, with an amazingly gifted group of women
• a spontaneous and exuberantly prepared late dinner after the Event
• the after party gathering that turns into girls night, with one, very well-adjusted man with a really really good sense of humour in attendance

• going to West Hollywood to a friend's Open Studio and buying The perfect painting for my guy for Christmas (oh and one for me too!)
• coffee every morning at the kitchen table, reviewing the day before and planning the day ahead {with a pack of girls}
• planning the next visits and the next times we'll see each other, and being grateful I'm a girl with friends that fill my life with as much joy and honesty and vision as I can hold.

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.

The Threads that Connect

Interwoven threads. 
Connecting lines.
Strength in a fragile fabric.
Patterns.
Repetition.
A balance of open and closed. 

All of these things (and probably so much more) make up what lace is all about. A fragile, beautiful, fabric that has a tensile strength. I have some lace that my grandmother gave me years and years ago, that someone in the family made many many years before, and also some that she had made. She called it tatting, and the word still makes me smile. And just what does all this talk of lace have to do with anything you might be thinking?

Well, we have quite a few boxes in the garage that remain unpacked almost 9 months after we moved in, and this weekend I spent some time opening a couple of them; under the premise that if we haven't missed or needed anything in those boxes, we should probably toss the stuff or give it away. 

I made it as far as the second box I opened. I found the lace and just below the ziploc bags of lace, I found packages of letters that my grandfather had written to me over the years after I had moved away from New England. The letters spanned the years of my adventuresome 20-something travels and living overseas and my 30 something years of settling in the bay area. He talked about his life in New Hampshire with his dog, and sent me cartoons clipped from The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal, told stories on my mum and uncle, siblings and cousins, and mused about what was happening in my life, what was happening in the world - politically and otherwise - and commenting on the stories I was sending to him. 

I spent about 3 hours sitting on the cold concrete floor in the garage, reading through letters and running my fingers over the lace. I never opened another box. Old lace and letters. Not something that I might need, and clearly not things that I have missed or thought about over the last 9 months, but isn't that kind of how the threads of a life weave together and complete themselves? We are aware of what is being built and yet living the moments as they come, we miss so much of what is being created until we have that moment to step back and, yes, look back and see all the connections and threads that weave through our lives. All the beauty, the fragility and the strength.  

Visit Flickr artists who created the work above at these links:1. Lace of Dew, 2. Lace and Legs, 3. Lace detail, 4. Lace Fluffy Ruffle Gloves, 5. White Crocheted Lace Choker, 6. lace and tassels, 7. lace leaves, 8. lace snow, 9. Lace Trim, 10.vintage lace, 11. Lace Tree, 12. "Amulet on Lace Doily" Acrylic Painting, 13.flickr.com/photos/98048196@N00/2521316048/, 14. antique white taffeta and lace reconstructed skirt, 15. lace by the yard, 16. Lace & Light

 

Things for a Thursday

 

If you make a little trip over to Gypsy Girl's blog, you can leave a comment to win Brené Brown's new video The Hustle for Worthiness (it seems to be all the rage across the blog-iverse). All you have to do is leave a comment on Gypsy Girl's post saying "I'm worth it!" and you're entered. And P.S., whether you win or not, keep saying "I'm worth it" to yourself, it's incredibly moment changing.

 

Kate of Your Courageous Life has lots of things going on, but most especially check out her e-course which is starting 28 March... yes, you too can commit to living Your Courageous Year, or spend some days commiting to radical creativity. 

 

Candy Glendening, one of The Meetup girls has written an amazing post all about how she runs her own creative business, works a full time job, and keeps her family together. Have a visit and read about how she is Making it Work.

  

And finally, I cannot say enough good things about Erin and Jaime and their company Bakery. I recently finished the latest round of their e-course - Bakery's Half-Dozen: 6 Weeks to a Tastier Business -  and I heartily and thoroughly recommend it to any and all of you who are struggling with things like: a business plan, a marketing plan, how to talk about your business, your work, branding, multiple businesses and how to approach each one etc. etc. ... the list goes on and on. Contact them to find out when their next course is starting! They are warm and helpful and a ton o' fun!

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!

Field Trip!

Alex the model and Alex the photographer at work

Sometimes taking a break from the deadlines and the must-dos, and the everyday, is just the thing to get a fresh perspective on one's life. I went off on a hot and sunny Sunday to work as a photo assistant to the ever lovely and wonderful Alex on a photo shoot for Pretty Plum Sugar. It was a day out of time for me, to push aside the ever-growing to-do list that I was feeling overwhelmed about and leave the studio for a little adventure.

Have you ever looked through the pages of a beautifully photographed catalogue and thought, wow I'd love to be living the life that these photos depict (never mind wear the clothes, have that dining room table or uhm, look like that model)? I felt like I was living back stage, getting a very up close view of how a photo shoot leads to just those kinds of "i-want-to-live-in-them" photos.

We looked at spots to shoot, we arranged and re-arranged folds in the clothing just so, moved a lock of hair here or there, we tromped through a field, (and some of us) climbed ladders to arrange bedding in a tree fort, we got dirty feet, wrangled some goats, waited for make up to be re-applied on the model, re-applied sunscreen, and we worked until it was too dark for Alex to shoot any more photos.

Though I am pretty sure that this does not mean a career move for me, I do know that the experience gave me new energy and a new perspective on my own work. Watching the shots come together and watching Alex balance lighting and make-up and angles to get the shot that she was envisioning, to get the shot that she knew she wanted, made me feel excited again about coming home to paint. Getting to experience someone else's creative energy, and vision made me feel so incredibly grateful for my own. Funny how that works isn't it?

So the newest thing added to my to-do list? Once a month, go on a field trip, drop the to-do list on the floor along with all the worries and deadlines, get out of my head, help a good friend with a project, and see where the experience takes me. 

And now you can take a little field trip of your own over to Alex's place, to see her exquisite photographs of the day . . .

And Just What, May I Ask, is a Pecannoot*?

Jess Gonacha - amazing painter, illustrator, and pattern designer extraordinaire - has started another endeavor that is full to the brim with Abundance and Collaboration and Wings for the Spirit and Dreams in the Daylight .:. Pecannoot.

I know I have spent a fair amount of moments thinking about where the world is right now: economically, politically, socially, environmentally... and all those other ally's, and though I have cut out all the doom and gloom news from my daily fare, and consciously tried to remain positive, tempered with some realism, there are days where the weight of everything that is happening in the world, and in some cases to people I love, get the better of me.

So the goal for me has been

How do I stay positive in a world over-run with negative?

How do I stay buoyant when all the pictures advertise drought?

and these questions lead me back to this shortlist:

• Create for the sake of creating 
• Support my fellow artists
• Reach out and make connections with people
• Write down all my fears on a piece of paper, and then burn it (repeat as necessary)
• Seek out at least one positive, every day
• and then, Create because it feeds my soul.

When I read Jess' announcement about her new blog, I clapped my hands and said Yes (my positive for the day)! Her new site is all about ABUNDANCE and ART, I mean could it really get much better than that? She is looking for artists to contribute work to be shown on the site, so stop by and have a look and submit some artwork. Artists supporting artists - Jess models that ideal with beautiful grace and abundant enthusiasm.

When I read her announcement, I e-mailed her immediately, and sent an image that I had created this past fall, and I am totally thrilled that she posted it on the site today.  It's kind of like being in second grade, and after art period, your teacher puts your drawing up on the bulletin board, and you feel so happy and shy, all at the same time. Remember those moments? Submit some work and recreate a second grade moment . . . I am so looking forward to seeing what you all submit.