Athena Dreams Design

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!

How to Talk about . . . Myself

As a self-employed artist and designer, part of my job is to market and/or talk about my art, show my design portfolio and share my work with others. And truthfully, I have always been uncomfortable about how to do this. 

And so I ask myself: Is it because I was raised by stalwart New England stock who implied that talking yourself up was just not the thing to do? Not sure . . .  Is it because I want to avoid rejection? Probably . . . Does it work for me to feel so very uncomfortable about talking about what I do and not try to change it? Not at all.

Recently I had an e-mail conversation with a friend about this very topic and her take on it was: "It's sharing with others and inspiring them with beauty. One of the loveliest things we can do for one another.

I share this story with you because I think I am probably not the only one that struggles with this. I write this post because I hope that someone will read this and begin the process of re-calibrating how they approach talking about their work, their art, their writing, their music; talking about things in their lives that they are excited and proud of, and just sharing in a real way who they are through what they do.  Being real. Being authentic. Being our truest selves.

And so, without too much more over thinking, some things I would like to share with you all:

A few days before I Ieft for holiday in mid-July, Brittni from PapernStitch posted an interview with me on her PapernStitch blog. It was a fun interview with some different and intriguing questions (some quite challenging to answer) and I completely and totally enjoyed the process. You can have a read here, and also find out some more about what Brittni is doing with the PapernStitch exhibition space. The site has grown quite a bit this year, and she is doing some wonderful things with guest writers on the blog, and inventive ways of advertising the exhibition space.

And lastly, I am so honoured to have been added to the goodheARTed: a community of art and craft, curated by Heather Murphy. Have a look, she has put together an ever widening and wonderfully inspiring group of artists, photographers and crafters for you all to visit.

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, everywhere you are. 

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!