Quinn McDonald's Blog, page 105

Inviting In Stress and Fear

When you own your business, you have freedom to set your schedule and choose your clients. You also have freedom from a regular paycheck, group-reduced healthcare costs, and shoving the blame for bad decisions somewhere else. Not all freedoms are equal.

It can be lonely out there.

In a down-turning economy, you would think that many companies would offer training to help their reduced workforce do the work of more people. You would think, but that is not happening. So this morning, I decided to have a meeting with my fear and uncertainty.

Looking at my schedule, I see it's not as full as I would like it to be. I immediately feel fear, financial stress, and worry. That's not surprising.  But those emotions doesn't solve problems. So I sit down to a meeting with my fear and stress. This is actually a great form of  mediation–and meditation. Instead of pushing all thoughts out of my head, as many ways of meditation instruct, I invite fear, uncertainty, and stress in. I sit with them, and ask them what they have to contribute.

"If you don't get work soon, you will lose the house," Fear said, getting right to the biggest possible scary result.

"But you only know training and writing and journaling, and that isn't being used in this economy," said Uncertainty, "and you don't know anything about medical jobs–the only ones that have been rising in this economy," Uncertainty added, quoting facts to make sure I felt deep, proven uncertainty.

"You are too old to get back to school, and that would take too long to retrain you, so you better stop eating or driving, because you are in bad trouble," Stress said.

"Thanks for letting me know, " I said, "but once we've established all that, what comes next? You've told me what isn't working, but what can I do that will work?"

Fear, Uncertainty and Stress were quiet. Fear spoke up first. "Well, if you don't do something, you will be in big trouble."

"OK," I said, "But that's the same thing you already said. I want to hear something I can do, undertake, think about." Again, Fear, Uncertainty and Stress were quiet. They had not been quiet for a long time. Every time I sat down to meditate, they would clamor so loudly that I could feel every muscle tensing. I spent all my time chasing them out of my head.

By inviting them in, listening to them, and asking for specifics, they had exhausted their efforts in the shortest of time. So we sat there, in silence, until I said, "Well, I have two new ideas for journaling courses. And my book is doing well–I got a nice royalty check last week.  And I have work to do to prepare demonstrations and classes for book signings."

Fear, Uncertainty and Stress immediately began to talk over each other, bringing up reasons why those ideas wouldn't work. Uncetainty was the Devil's Advocate. Fear was the Nay-Sayer, and Stress asked for more ideas to present to the committee. I refused to argue, instead, faced each objection, thinking it through, weighing the logic, and answering it.

At the end of the hour of meditation, I had a plan for classes, demos, and several fresh ideas for promoting the book. I would discuss them with my Creativity Master Mind Group to find the strengths in each idea and discuss areas of uncertainty.

I felt happy and hopeful. Because I sat down with Fear, Uncertainty, and Stress and listened to them, I saw that they didn't really have good ideas. They were disruptive and bothersome, but the more I chased them out of my meditation space, the more time and effort they used. Inviting them in and facing them reduced their importance and gave me enough space to come up with interesting, workable ideas. Arguing with them allowed me to overcome objections and refine the plan, to put a time limit on my efforts, and to create a schedule to the entire plan.

Meditation is not sitting in perfect inspiration. It's work, and it doesn't always demand an empty mind. Just a clear one.

—Quinn McDonald is a creativity coach and will teach a course on dealing with your inner critic in May in Wisconsin

Filed under: Links, resources, idea boosts, Raw Art Journaling, The Writing Life Tagged: dealing with the inner critic, meeting the inner critic, postaday2012

Creativity Needed, Apply Within

There was an interesting discussion on creativity the day before yesterday on this blog. People leaving comments tried to define it, explain it, consider it.

From my point of view, creativity is a combination of analytical thinking and imagination applied to problems to supply a workable solution. Whether or not there is anything new in the world is not the point. I'm not interested in splitting hairs over what "original" means–I'm interested in meaning making. And for me, that means untangling something that wasn't clear before.

So here is my thought on creativity: It's our nation's most valuable resource. Of course, there are other values that are important. But they come after creativity. In most companies I've worked for, the valuable traits are obedience, speed, silence, agreement, and giving up your own time for your work. And they aren't working very well as values.

I'm looking to creativity to provide value, meaning-making, innovation, and fresh views. Not just in the arts, but in manufacturing, medicine, education, politics, parenting, and leadership.

Personally, I think creativity needs to be taught in school and in the business world. Creativity needs to be encouraged, not buried in derision. Creative people may be different, but they are needed.

--Quinn McDonald is a certified creativity coach who teaches what she knows.

Filed under: Creativity, Opinion Tagged: Creativity, innovation, teaching creativity

Creating a Series

Last week, I made a birthday card for Chris Dunmire from the Creativity Portal. It showed three spirits, and each one had a different wish. You can read about it here. The idea of the female figures, with their backs facing toward the viewer was interesting to me. i began to think about other meanings, and I had to make a series to cover some of my emotions and ideas.

Here's the original:

Then I began to think  how three different people would interpret the same vision. So I made this one. Each of the cloaks are in a different language text. We see the same thing, but each of us thinks of it differently.

When I thought of three wise women interpreting the same vision differently, I began to wonder about the archetype of "wise woman." It's OK for wise women to be imperfect physically, as long as they speak wisely. We also think of a wise woman as kind and kind-hearted.

From there, I realized that if a woman is a regular woman, not a gifted spirit, she doesn't become powerful, she becomes invisible in our culture. Around age 45, women become discounted if they don't keep their figure, look younger, more appealing. So I made three women who are looking at a dazzling sight (the outline of glitter on the poppy doesn't show in the scan), but fading from view. You can see through them.

From there I saw the visibility/invisibility issue in another perspective. Now the women are alchemists, seeing visions of triple suns and wearing cloaks that appear magical. Now they are far more than wise women, they hold special powers to change their world and themselves.

Finally, I wanted the women to share something other than what they were looking at. This time, there is a hint of light in the sky above the women, but they are obviously very different. But each of them has a special edging on her cloak —music. The power of music to heal and inspire is a magical power of its own. Each woman sings her own song and is united to the other through the power of music.

That's what I think when I'm in the studio. I love this series for what it inspires in me. I'll fill journal pages with the thoughts I had about these faceless women who spoke so clearly to me.

--Quinn McDonald is a writer who believes that meaning making is the purpose of creativity.

Filed under: In My Life, Journal Pages, Raw Art Journaling Tagged: art journaling, loose leaf journal pages, mixed media, seires of journal pages

Kits, Directions, and Being Perfect

Last Saturday I was de-stashing at a local craft store. There were about 40 people, taking their online store onto the sidewalk, or selling the items they make at classes taught in stores and online.

Typical collage kit: magazine pages, map stickers, cards, stamps, handmade paper, mulberry duo-sided art paper, butterfly transfers, sage burlap fabric, and the wonderful "Don't Throw Me Away" sticker from a package.

People wandered over–it was a great Saturday morning, sunny and mild. I saw a lot of purchasing, so I was cheered. The first person stopped at my table looked at the collage packs I had made and said, "Whose are these?" Not understanding the question, I said, "Mine."

"No," the woman said patiently, "Who made them?" I knew now what she meant. This was going to be hard to explain. "I'm not selling brand name kits," I said, "These are made up from papers and ephemera I'm not using anymore, so I'm selling them. De-stashing my art stash," I smiled.

The woman picked up a collage pack. "Where are the directions?" she asked. "What's this going to look like when I finish it?" I needed to be brave, here. "There are no directions, you can use the material in any way you want. No directions, no sample. It's a collection of color-coordinated papers you can have fun with," I said, hoping I was encouraging.

The woman was not to be fooled so easily. "Well, you can't just put papers together and call it a kit," she said, sternly. "It has to make something. It has to have directions, otherwise you won't know what to make with it." I was filled with ineffable sorrow. There was no spontaneity, no curiosity, no joy of experimentation here. Just determination to complete a task.

"Do you like to work with kits?" I asked.

"Well, yes, real ones," she said. "I have some cards I'm selling here. You should come see them! They are perfect!" she said proudly.

And they were. I wandered over to her table and saw stacks of boxed, perfect cards. The Thank You cards  were stamped and embossed on scrapbook paper. All had perfect bows tied, each with a rhinestone in the center. The Congratulations cards had bands of perfect glitter perfectly applied. Not one flake out of place. She beamed at me. "See?" she smiled, "This is what a kit looks like when it's done. These weren't easy."

"They are perfect," I agreed. "What do you think about when you are making them?"

"Think?" she said, looking puzzled. "I create a little assembly line, and watch TV when I'm doing them," she said. "I know the steps by heart, so I don't have to think, I can watch TV," she said.

A vision of thousands of croppers, caught in front of their TVs, each in a confined craft sweatshop passed through my mind. "What do you do if you make a mistake?" I asked.

Her face froze. "I don't make mistakes anymore," she said. "I make the same cards over and over, so I know how to do it," she added.

I smiled, "Never, ever? That's impressive," I said.

"Well, I wouldn't tell you if I did. I rip them into a thousand pieces and burn them in the barbeque," she admitted.

From the movie "Norma Rae," Sally Field, as Norma Rae, holding up the sign to break the sweatshop tactics.

I'm sure that there are thousands of happy croppers in the United States, doing what they need to do to turn out perfect cards. They are satisfied with their exactly lined up ribbons, rhinestones and glitter. But my heart aches to climb up on their worktables and hold up a sign that says, "Create what you want!" or "Do no-rules art!" or even (my favorite) "Make meaning, make art!"

There is so much more to creativity than watching TV while you roll glue runners next to a ruler, completing kits. I'd like to gather those people up and take them to my messy studio with very few rules and see if they remember how to play, how to drop into the wordless creative joy that makes rich meaning and lights up your soul and makes you want to get up every morning.

I'm happy to say that I'm teaching a class in May that bridges the two worlds. I'm teaching Postcards from the Other Side of Your Brain at Valley Ridge on May 5 and 6 of this year. There will be directions and samples. But we will start the day by walking outside and breathing deeply. We will work individually in an environment where mistakes are welcomed and worked into the art. We will share our thoughts and work privately. If you want to work differently, you can. Because we will be making meaning. And that always yields the most amazing art.

–Quinn McDonald is a creativity coach who teaches art projects that start with meaning making and include heart-deep writing, and exploration into satisfying results. If you haven't played in a long time, really played, come join the class.

Filed under: Creativity, In My Life, Raw Art Journaling Tagged: collage, cropping kits, mixed media, scrapbooking

Watercolor Brush: Synthetic or Natural?

Artists use brushes for many purposes–to paint, certainly, but also for applying glue, frisket (a removable masking fluid), ink, varnish, or sealant. Brushes are also good for removing eraser dust, glitter, cat hair, and the occasional cookie crumb that finds its way onto canvas, paper, or journal.

The confusing information about brushes is the number associated with their size. Flat brushes are measured by the width at the ferrule, and that logic makes it easy to guess how large the brush it.

The synthetic brush (black handle, top) holds considerably less water than the smaller squirrel-hair brush.

Round brushes measure from 0 to 24, with 0 being the smallest in the group. They also go below zero, with 0000 being smaller than 00.

Mop brushes are numbered with the same system, but the size of the brush doesn't equal the size of the round brush. This can be a head-scratcher if you are new to buying brushes.

Tip:  A typical squirrel mop #0 equates to a #10 round; a mop #6 is the equivalent to a #16 round, and so on.

Tip: Genuine hair brushes (from kolinsky sable, red sable, fox, squirrel to ox and goat ) use real hair from the animal, (generally the tail). Real hair has ridges and scales and holds water better than smooth synthetic brushes. Natural brushes are also "springier" which means they recover their shape better while in use. Natural  brushes are more expensive than synthetic brushes. Often, much more expensive.

Tip: For watercolor, which demands loading with lots of color and water while retaining a good point, use a natural-bristle brush.

Tip: Acrylic paints are alkaline and wear out natural-hair brushes faster than synthetic brushes.

Here is why the natural-hair brush is worth the extra price when you are painting with watercolor–the "fatness" of a synthetic brush doesn't tell you how much water it will hold. So I did an experiment.

I put all three brushes into water. (I tinted the water blue to make it show up on the photo.) You'll notice I didn't just drop them into a jar. Natural-hair brushes shouldn't be left point down to soak. It ruins the point. And once a natural-hair brush has a bent tip, it's ruined.  Wet, the two larger brushes look about the same size.

The synthetic brush (black handle, top) holds considerably less water than the smaller squirrel-hair brush.

I then pulled each brush straight out of the water, allowed the water to stop dripping, then squeezed each brush over a napkin. The wet ring shows how much water each brush held. The synthetic brush (black handle, above, top) sheds water as you pull it out of the bottle. The smooth fibers don't hold water like the scale on the hair of the natural-bristle brushes. The natural brushes hold more water.

The water-ring of the synthetic brush is smaller than the water-ring of the smaller of the two squirrel brushes. It's a big difference; when you are loading your brush with color and water, use the biggest brush for the work. For my money, I prefer natural-hair brushes.

Tip: A cheap brush doesn't save you money. You will spend more time working with them. They often shed hair on your surface, and that's difficult to pick out without disturbing the paint or surface.

More information on brush material and sizes.

–Quinn McDonald is discovering a certain joy in using watercolors and watercolor brushes for their lack of control.

Filed under: In My Life, Links, resources, idea boosts, Tutorials Tagged: synthetic brushes, watercolor, watercolor brushes

The Joy of De-Stashing

It's de-stashing day. The Craft Retreat, at 59th Ave. and Greenway Rd in Glendale (Northwest corner) AZ,  rented 40 tables to people, and we are going to be selling the things we make or, in my case, de-stashing. Selling things from my studio that are still usable, but not by me. So I've got paints and inks and papers, ephemera packs and rubber stamps, pan pastels, pencil cases, and other stuff.

Parchment paper core to wrap papers around and samples taped on outside of mailing tube.

Come on by if you have the time. I'm also bringing a few of my books, which I'll sign, if asked.

I've spent the last week or so emptying boxes, piling up material, then making ephemera packs, labeling items and putting them in boxes.

Here are some thing I learned:

1. Open up three or four boxes at a time, sort them into piles–keep and go. Don't start making a "give away" and "maybe" piles or you will stiffen and collapse from indecision.

2. Open and sort boxes till you have a nice "go" pile. Put the "keeps" away, sorting them into boxes according to some sort of system, either by use (collage, painting, jewelry) or by type of item (paper, paints, inks.) If you have a lot of something (rubber stamps) you might want to sort them by topic (leaves, hearts), by holidays, by size or by mounted/unmounted. Anything that makes sense to you. That's important, because it's the only way you will ever find anything again. For example, I have a box marked "class" and it holds brushes, scissors glue sticks and items I use when teaching. If I had to assemble it every time I teach, I'd get cranky.

3. Storing papers is hard. I have a lot of papers that are large and need to be rolled and stored in mailing tubes. In order to roll them, you need a core, and I use parchment paper, scrunched up. You can see it in the photo, looking like a firecracker fuse.  In order to remember what I have in each tube, I cut a piece of each kind of paper and tape it to the outside of the tube. In the one shown, all the paper as washi that have gold in them. I have another one for double-sided mulberry papers. Again, whatever system works for you. It's the only way you'll find anything.

4. Look at the go stack and sort in the way you will sell. In my case, I made ephemera kits–packages for collaging with a variety of papers and tickets, cards, and other papers in them.

5. Label them with a price. I used masking tape and wrote the price on it.

6. Make sure you take change (both bills and coins) and a method of selling. I'm a fan of the Square. It allows me to take credit cards using my iPhone.

7. Have a plan for the end of the sale. You don't want to bring the items back into the studio–your purpose is to make room. Know what you will do at the end of the day: Drop the unsold items off at a freecycle location. Drop them off at a Goodwill store. Phone a public school the week ahead of time, and ask if the art department needs supplies. Contact someone in your town to see if a homeless shelter, battered women's shelter, or other place that helps the under-served needs art supplies. Drop them off, don't expect anyone to come pick them up.

Hope to see some of you at the sale!

--Quinn McDonald is de-stashing. Just in time for house guests who will appreciate a roomier studio.

Filed under: Creativity, In My Life, Links, resources, idea boosts, Opinion Tagged: cleaning up, de-stashing, storing art papers

PostCrossing Postcards

One of the people leaving a comment mentioned Postcrossing–the postcard swap site. It's a work of genius–simple but lots of fun. You register, and are allowed to send five postcards. PostCrossing gives you the names and addresses and a registration number for each card. You send the cards.

This postcard from India has doodling on it--but doodling varies by culture! Who knew? And I love the quote, too.

When the cards arrive, the recipient registers it, and it counts for the sender–and the sender's name is put into the "receive a postcard" list.

You can have five postcards traveling at any one time.

So you don't swap postcards, you simply send them to someone and receive postcards from others. I've belonged a bit over a month and have sent 17 postcards, 12 of which were received. It took the one to Russia 43 days to arrive. I was afraid it wouldn't for a while. I've also received seven postcards, the closest from Lake George, NY and the furthest away from Xi'an, China.

This delightful card from Finland came from a woman who sent it because she thought I might never have seen autumn leaves. I loved the sentiment, there is no way she knew about my life in Connecticut and D.C.

You can make your PostCrossing interesting by requesting direct exchanges or sending handmade cards. Your profile indicates if you'd like to do either one.

This cheery Czech sun wishes a warm and sunny soul.

I'm having a lot of fun with this–There is no pressure to send, but you should register the card as soon as you get it.

It's a great way to connect around the world.

–Quinn McDonald is having fun seeing the world through other people's eyes.

Filed under: In My Life, Raw Art Journaling, The Writing Life Tagged: Postaday2011, postcards, postcrossing, travel

The Past in Your Closet

On this Saturday, I'm de-stashing. The Craft Retreat, a local craft supply store, at 59th Ave. and Greenway in Glendale, AZ, is renting tables to customers. Some people are selling items they made in classes they took at the store, others are selling what they make in their studio. I'm de-stashing. Rubber stamps, packs of ephemera, fabric pieces, paints, containers, canvas–tools of art I no longer do.

Gene Simmons, then and now.

While pulling boxes out of the closet, I came across the very first loose-leaf are journal pages I did, about six or seven years ago. A shiver of horror ran down my spine when I looked at them–miles from what I consider acceptable today. But I didn't throw them out. We grow slowly, and sometimes we don't see how much we've grown, how far we've come. Instead of horror, I treated myself to some delight.

Design, construction, materials have all improved. At the time, if I liked a technique, it went into the piece I was working on, whether it was sensible or not. I no longer do that.

The words were still appropriate and fresh. That may be because I've been a writer for a long time, and the growth in the collage side is more apparent.

It's easy to criticize yourself when you look at art you made years ago. But there's a lot to be learned by looking at an older piece and seeing what you've changed. Why did you make the changes?

What was the result?

Why did you choose to do some of the older techniques?

Did they work, or were they a fad?

Does some of the work still please you?

What technique or concept pleases you still?

Is the thing that pleases you now shaped differently, or would you do the same again?

What color did you use most often? Do you still like or use the color?

The answer to all those questions create a pattern of growth in your art that you can see and measure. While you might cringe, it's also good to know that you have grown over time. Producing the same art year after year without any change means you are stuck.

"I'm not stuck, it's my groove," one of my coaching clients used to say to me.

If you are sticking with the same colors and patterns, it's not a groove, it's a rut. Look at some of your older work and see what it has to say to you. I was surprised, a nice lesson on change while de-stashing.

–Quinn McDonald is a creativity coach who will be selling tools and ephemera this weekend.

Filed under: Coaching, Opinion Tagged: change, de-stashing, growth, postaday2012

The Wisdom of Silence

You've heard it often, particularly at work, "Just let out that anger [frustration, fear] and you'll feel better." Or, "Go ahead and [vent, cry, scream, throw a tantrum] it's better to get those feelings out." I'm raising my hand, politely, to say, "Please don't."

It's considered common wisdom that letting your feelings out makes you feel better, lowers your blood pressure, avoids ulcers. Time Magazine said we are hard-wired to swear when we hammer our fingers, just as dogs yelp when you step on their tails. I humbly point out that until we can speak dog, a yelp is just a yelp. If the dog bit your foot, that's a different thing.

Back to humans. I'm convinced that giving yourself permission to scream and yell is not a good idea. Ever. I'm all for expending anger and frustration by physical release–running, jump-roping, swimming–after all, there is adrenaline involved. But I am against slamming pots and pans, throwing pillows or plates, and other displays of drama.

Here's why: After the adrenaline rush is over, there is clean up. If you throw it or break it, you are the one responsible to clean it up or glue it back together. This is easier with plates than with another person's emotions.

From http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-ferguson

In one job I had, my boss had a horrible temper. His raised voice and angry tone always made me feel diminished. That often led to me feeling angry. I had to struggle to control yelling back. I think yelling begets yelling. Yelling also begets escalation, and what started out as a pea-shooter event grows into pouring boiling oil over the ramparts right before the cannons fire and Napalm drops out of the sky. In other words, the whole event heads in the wrong direction.

I have also lost control of my temper. I felt hot anger and words pouring out of me, and another me was watching in horror. I never felt good afterwards. I never felt relieved. In truth, I felt sick. Sick at what I had just said about myself. Sick about how I showed up in the world. Mostly, sick of how I had driven the solution away and brought out the worst in the situation.

A few weeks ago, I had a woman in a class, who vehemently insisted that what you were thinking should be said. "It's better for me!" she said. It may have been, but it was torture for the class and for me. Whatever I said, she disagreed with, topped the story, told a story that proved the opposite point. During the break, I spoke to her privately and asked her to please let me move the class ahead so I could keep on time. She snorted, "You just want me to shut up." I ached to agree. Instead I said, "There are 14 hours of material in this class, and the class won't end until I've taught it. If you disagree at every turn, we'll be here a long time."

She looked at me and agreed. And as the class came back in, she stood up, came to the front of the class, faced the group and said, "Quinn told me to shut up, but I bet you want to hear what I have to say!" I suppressed the urge to zip my plastic lunch bag over her head and looked apologetic but said nothing. I could have defended myself, but it may have turned the whole class against me. Instead, by her bold assumption, she had lost the approval of the class.

Winning is not having the loudest voice, the longest endurance, or the biggest punch. The winner is the person who walks away feeling proud of their behavior. And that's hardly ever achieved by screaming.

--Quinn McDonald rides a motorcycle and used to make smart mouth comments to bad drivers. She quit when she noticed that one of the drivers she'd snarked at had a gun on the passenger seat. Gun trumps opinion, every time.

 

Filed under: Coaching, In My Life, Opinion Tagged: anger, fighting, self-control, winning an argument, yelling

Collage Postcard

Chris Dunmire runs The Creativity Portal. If you've never visited, do take a peek. You may never come back, but I'd rather have you slip into the rabbit hole of wonder and creativity than not see it. Chris is turning 40, and wants postcards. You don't have to ask me twice.

I wanted to make a collage postcard for Chris, something that expressed a wish and was fun to make.

Three wise-woman wishes for Chris.

After some thought, I wanted to send Chris the traditional three magic wishes. Because Chris is a powerful woman, I wanted the wishes to be women.

Three women, watching the dawn of a new year, each with the power of a wish. One represents travel and international friendship, one represents color and self-expression, one represents words and thoughts–all happy, of course!

I cut out the cloaks–from a map, a piece of shaving-foam marbled paper, and a book page. Then I cut out the hair from black paper and sprayed it with a product called Goosebumps Texture Spray by Tsukineko. The spray adds a gloss and speckles. I used it to add gloss and texture to the hair, to separate it from the background.

When I was done, I created a morning sky with the marbled paper, added a mountain horizon with black paper that covered the rest of the card. Then I added the three wishing wise women and their hair.

Of course, the second I completed the card, I wanted to make a series–lighter background, different cloaks. Maybe different hair. It might be irresistible to try.

Happy Birthday, Chris!

–Quinn McDonald loves making single-page art journal sheets that she brazenly calls postcards and  mails.

Filed under: Creativity Tagged: art journal pages, birthday card, mixed media, postaday2012, postcards