Quinn McDonald's Blog, page 40

Red Barn Discount–till April 30

The studio s a mess. Navigating across the room takes steel-toed workshoes and a good sense of balance. But it is coming together. Two new bookcases flank the window and the desk has been moved. The wobbly, leaning bookcase is now empty and will get taken out tomorrow. Bins will replace the bookcase and hold all the art supplies I need close to the desk. Besides sneezing my brains out from the dust, I’m glad to be making progress, even if it is slow.

Looks like a painting, but it’s the view from the classroom at Madeline Island School of Arts

As I bring order to chaos, I’m day dreaming about Madeline Island. I’ll be teaching Jungle Gym for Monkey Mind the week of June 2, teaching a class that combines writing,  print-making, exploring color and texture, and book making. Best of all, you don’t have to have any experience in those arts to have a successful week.

I dream of the amazing prairie surrounding the farmhouse and studio buildings. The warm, friendly  breakfast where you get to meet the students and instructors and talk about art and writing. Then a day of sinking into a project that you can really explore. Work any time of day or night. Enjoy the food, galleries, and shops the island has to offer, or take the 20-minute ferry ride back to the mainland. Each day in class, we will do a new art journaling technique and a writing exercise. By mid-afternoon you are deep into your own work at your own pace. It’s exciting and relaxing at the same time.

The work tables at last year’s class. This year’s will be just as filled with papers, colors and ideas.

Jenna Erickson at MISA has extended the special and made it even sweeter. I’m still a few people short to make the class, so I’d love to persuade a few more of you who are on the fence about going to take the leap and sign up. I know it’s still cold in a lot of places, but the class is in June, and the closing date is coming up soon.

Jenna came up with the“The Red Barn Special.” This is specifically for my workshop at MISA. It’s simple. Save 30 percent on your on-site lodging reservation and when you register for my workshop by April 30, 2014. Call Jenna Erickson at (715) 747-2054 to ask for details.

April 30 is decision day. I’d love to have you there, and I know you will learn a lot about yourself, your Inner Hero, and art journaling!

-–Quinn McDonald hopes to find the floor of the studio sometime tomorrow.

 

 

Filed under: Art/Freelance Biz, Quinn's Classes Tagged: Madeline Island, MISA, mixed media classes, Quinn's art journaling classes

On the Worktable

I’ve been working on a series of collages that are minimal. It’s been fun returning to collage, and the Monsoon Papers that slipped between shelves in the bookcase I’m unpacking have been put to good use. The collages don’t appear completely straight in these images, because the pages are slightly curled.

“Night Falls on the Mesa” (above) is a mix of Monsoon Papers and Gelli Print papers. The saturated color is unusual for me, but I like it.

When I first started making collages, I used nothing but text, numbers and diagrams in black and white. I decided to try that technique again.

“The Ten Percent Truth” is a summary of my fears and doubts about flying. Travel is my way of life right now, and having been in more than one airline accident over a lifetime of travel,  I work hard to appear perfectly calm when on an airplane. Self-discipline practice is not always fun, but making this collage was.

“Give Spiritual Direction” is an exploration of math, science and belief. As in the one above, there is a bit of color in the piece, to lead the eye around the elements, which include pieces from a math book, a clockwork design, and the earth showing different equinoxes. The title of the black-and-white pieces always come from print included in the piece.

These practice pieces are fun and helping me think about the structure of collage. It was David Addix (whose class I took in Tucson) who suggested filling large sketchbooks with collages to improve color and composition skills. It’s a great exercise.

–-Quinn McDonald is having fun with collage while struggling with the floating paper tide in the studio.

 

 

Filed under: Art in Progress, Creativity, Links, resources, idea boosts Tagged: art in progress, collage, creativity coaching

Altered Imagery: a Giveaway

The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery is a mixed media book explaining techniques for collage, altered books, art journals and more.  The author, Karen Michel, is a New York mixed media artist.

I’ve had the book in my collection for a while, and it has been a solid source for techniques and inspiration on topics I didn’t know much about: altering photography, digital work, and printmaking techniques. Because of the popularity of art journaling techniques, I thought it was time to pass it on.

The book has sections on various multi-media techniques:

Photography, which includes both 35mm photography and Polaroid photography.
Altered images working with scanners and printers.
Found sources, such as magazines and found objects and working with image transfers.
Printed images: using acetate as a negative, using photographic images to creating rubber stamps.
Creating monoprints

There’s also a gallery of projects and tips done by contributing artists, including Julianna Coles, Traci Bunkers, Lesley Riley , Michelle Ward and Lynne Perrella.

If you want to add it to your collection, leave a comment. I’ll announce the winner on Saturday’s blog. Be sure to check back on Saturday to see if you won!

–-Quinn McDonald is (gulp) is re-doing her studio. The first stage (of three) is just starting. With some luck and hard work, it will look less like an explosion in a paper factory and more like a studio. It will also be a guest room. (That’s the third part).

 

Filed under: Book Reviews, Links, resources, idea boosts Tagged: book giveaway, mixed media books

Non-Attachment: Hard Work, but Worthwhile

Non-attachment seems to be against everything we’ve learned: ambition, competition, beating out the slower contenders, winning, success, and “we’re #1!”

The eclipse on the 14th was so important to me, but I was in a place with cloud cover. Instead, I made this collage, which helps me imagine it.

Non-attachment sounds lazy, uncaring, and weird. It’s anything but. Non-attachment does not mean you don’t care, won’t try, or give up. Non-attachment means you care deeply, do your best, and then don’t expect the world to throw money (or fame) at you.  A few examples will help with clarity:

You are in line for a new job. You are asked to take some good-fit behavioral tests. Attachment to outcome move: Instead of answering honestly, you suss out what the company is looking for and answer that way. Outcome: you get the job and are miserable, because the job fit is awful and you have to keep re-programming your authentic self.

Non-attachment to outcome move: You answer honestly. If you get the job, you can behave authentically and be appreciated for your skills. If you don’t get the job, you can be glad that you didn’t waste time trying to force yourself into a bad fit.

You want your creative work accepted into an upcoming gallery show.  Attachment to outcome move: You interview the gallery curator to discover what the show is about. Not exactly your favorite topic or medium, but you are an artist and can do anything.  Outcome: You work very hard and very long to get that theme into a piece of work. You are not chosen. You begin to doubt yourself as an artist. You also start to make snarky comments about the gallery owner.

Non-attachment to outcome move: You interview the gallery curator to discover what the show is about. Not exactly your favorite topic or medium. You thank the curator and ask to be kept on their list for future shows. You have free time to pursue your own creative work and have a piece ready for another show at another time.

Someone you know on Facebook posts her latest (in a long series) humble-brag. You call her on that s**t, because you know the truth behind that story. And you tell her what she should have done to earn real praise. Outcome: you look like you are trying to control the universe (again). Worse, your FB friend feels embarrassed, takes your advice next time and it ends in disaster. She blames you.

Non-attachment to outcome move: You take a deep breath, roll your eyes, and congratulate her.

Non-attachment frees you from the responsibility, outcome and control over work that is not yours to do. It allow you to do your best work without blaming yourself if you don’t win the prize. It allows you more emotional room and freedom.

Non-attachment is hard to learn. If you work in a corporate situation (or ever did), it is harder. But the freedom feels wonderful, and is something worth practicing.

–Quinn McDonald wishes she could hit the stride of non-attachment more often.

Filed under: Creativity, Recovering Perfectionists Tagged: letting go, work for joy

Giving Credit

Of course you can protect your work with a copyright notice. And you can take the additional step and protect it with the U.S. Government, so you can sue a violator not only for use, but for damages. (You can’t sue for damages unless you register your work.)

Tree of Life, Klimt. No longer under copyright. Image from http://bit.ly/1r1q1eV

Giving credit openly and freely would make most copyright unnecessary. Giving credit is not a boring obligation, it is a smart way to get your name known. To be more visible on the internet. Giving credit makes you look smart, but even better, helpful.

How does it work? Simple. When you use a photo from Flickr, Creative Commons (following their rules first), or mention a book, a quote, or an idea that is not yours, tell your readers where it came from. And not just whose work it is, but where you found it. For example, if you find an image of Klimt’s on a website by butterycrumpets (on Let’s Draw Sherlock!, for example) it becomes a different story than if you find a Kimt image on Wikipedia. The context is different, and the story you have to tell about it is different.

A different kind of tree. A Palo Verde whose brilliant yellow blossoms drift into desert snow this time of year.

Context changes emotions and opinions, and when you leave breadcrumbs for people to follow, you open up a whole new path for people who are curious and interested in more than knowing where to take the next Kimt image from.

When you give credit, you become the person in charge of information, and people will think of you as a good resource. (Not a bad way to be thought of.)

When you give credit, you also share information, and as Annie Dillard warns, “Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.”

― Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

Giving credit makes you look generous. That includes techniques you learn in a class, ideas you came up with (but find that others share, too), and shortcuts that make you look smart.

Why share? Because it makes the world more interesting, more expansive, and encourages other people to share your ideas and class tips. And to quote Annie Dillard again (Goodreads is wonderful for finding quotes):

“There is always the temptation in life to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for years on end. It is all so self conscience, so apparently moral…But I won’t have it. The world is wilder than that in all directions, more dangerous…more extravagant and bright. We are…raising tomatoes when we should be raising Cain, or Lazarus.” ― Annie Dillard

-–Quinn McDonald is surprised how many people think clutching information to their chest is a way to become smarter. Every teacher knows that you learn by teaching.

Filed under: Creativity, Links, resources, idea boosts, The Writing Life, Tutorials Tagged: copyright, sharing

Saturday Creative Stroll: April 19, 2014

Diego Fazio is known online as DiegoKoi. His artwork is frequently mistaken for black-and-white photography. The work, which he does only with a pencil, is hyper-realistic.

Before he did the portraits, he was a tattoo artist in Italy. He started drawing in 2007. It takes Diego hundreds of hours to finish a piece.

Jason de Graf also does hyper-realistic art. The Canadian artist, born in 1971, uses acrylic paints to create paintings that look like photographs.

Above: Aether, acrylic on canvas, 27″ x 44′

Of his paintings, he says, “Many of my paintings are about the relationship of light with reflective and transparent surfaces and my journey to understand those qualities and convey my sense of wonder and intrigue over them. In all of my paintings the subject matter is a springboard and a means to explore my ability to communicate something unique to the viewer.”

Seattle artist Bing Wright spent the last 10 years experimenting with black-and-white photography, and has recently returned to color photography. But not just ordinary color photography.

He photographs sunsets, projects the photograph onto a broken 14″ x 11″ mirror in his studio, and re-photographs it. The result is a stained-glass effect of rich color and startling line.

Whether you celebrate Passover, Easter, or just love Spring, have a beautiful weekend!

–Quinn McDonald loves dedicated and focused artists who create outsider art.

 

 

Filed under: Life as Metaphor, Links, resources, idea boosts Tagged: creativity coaching, hyper-realistic art, outsider art

Postcard Play

The busy and focued iHanna is doing another postcard swap. Having missed the last one, I signed up for this one. You can sign up till April 28, 2014.

Not being able to decide on one direction, I chose two completely different types of cards, and made about half a dozen of each. The requirement was 10, but making two extra gives me some choices–or two extra postcards to send to someone else. If you’ve been reading this blog, you know how much I love making and sending postcards.

Here are some of the chicken series. All these cards still need to be pressed flat.

This one is made from a constellation atlas. The red parts are Monsoon papers.

Another chicken collaged from hand-printed papers and a bit of Monsoon paper (the grass.)

The chicken body is made of suminagashi-printed paper. The beak, comb and wattle are hand-printed papers from a Gelli Plate. The grass is a section of Monsoon paper.

The other series are ink drops on watercolor paper. When they dried, I printed quotes on them.

The quote: “It’s hard to have a life of creation if you have created a life of maintenance.” –Barbara Winter

Another quote that speaks to the work of creativity. “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” –Roald Dahl

–Quinn McDonald believes in magic and chooses the rockier life of creativity over maintenance. She is easily bored but also easily amused. She is the author of The Inner Hero Creative Art Journal.

Filed under: Art in Progress, Coaching, Quotes Tagged: iHanna's swap, postcard, postcard swap

Checking in on the Word of the Year

Moonrise over Houston. The bright full moon is caught under the wing, as we turn west toward Phoenix.

April is already half over and I haven’t checked in on your Word of the Year. Do you remember it? Is it serving you well? If not, you may find that putting it down and choosing a new word is just what you need.

“Scatter” is my word. It’s been very interesting. Some days, I do something from all parts of my life, some days I explore the edges of something I’ve done for a long time.

On the business front: I’m amazed at the people I sit next to on airplanes. So many people crushed by their own lives. Who flee into “busy” to give themselves self-worth. Who will talk to me about their lives although they don’t know me. Very interesting.

On the coaching front: I’m grateful for clients who recommend me. Very grateful. It’s a wonderful way to accumulate more gifted people who want to work on change.

On the creative front: I’m exploring collage again. Deeply. Collage with Monsoon papers and words. Always those words! And after returning to my Commonplace Journal, I’m thinking I need to teach a class that includes . . . . a lot.

On the identity front: I’m so interesting in how people perceive others. Now that I have identified as an outsider artist, I have found that I’m not alone. There are creatively hungry people out there. And yes, people who just like to mess around. Room for both!

On the art teaching front: I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Madeline Island class makes. The long, cold winter slowed class enrollment, so I’m holding my breath and hoping for a few more people who want to retreat into creativity, explore writing and art and make a journal –all in early June!

What’s your experience with the word you chose?

–-Quinn McDonald is thinking of working on a plane-coaching model, because she seems to be doing a lot of listening to people’s stories.

Filed under: Art in Progress, Coaching, Quinn's Classes Tagged: creativity coaching, Word of the Year

Saint Paraphernalia

The woman across the table looked at me. We each had piles of collage papers around us. I had just remarked that the line of art pieces each person in the class had done, looked sacred and regal.

A possible Saint Paraphernalia looking for a small, dropped thread.

Her face lit up. “I love saint paraphernalia,” she said.

“I’m not Catholic,” I answered, unsure of what she meant.

“Oh, I’m not either, I just love the beautifully illustrated lives of the saints, and the candles, and gilt-edge books,” she added.

I smiled, having misunderstood her to say that she loved Saint Paraphernalia, and assuming I misunderstood one of the names in the panoply of Catholic saints.

Now I’m thinking that Saint Paraphernalia needs to be the patron saint of multi-media and collage artists.

“Wisdom,” by Jane DeRosier. I love the collage presentation; and wisdom is needed for a Saint Paraphernalia. Image link below.

We pray to her to help us sort through the boxes to find that little corner with that color or design that fits right here, that we need now, that can’t be found. Saint Anthony, patron saint of lost things really isn’t what we need. We need someone who loves color and texture, little found pieces of art. She values order but knows that order isn’t the answer to storage problems. Remembering what the order we chose to use is the important thing.

And then there is remembering what we finally threw out last week and need now. Followed by leading us out of despair. A perfect saint for those who deal in small, treasured objects.

—Quinn McDonald thinks she needs all the divine help, of any kind, she can get.

Image link to Jane DeRosier’s original artwork on Juxtapost.

 

 

Filed under: Creativity, Inner Hero/Inner Critic, Life as Metaphor Tagged: divine help, patron saints for artists, saints

Adam, Fear, and Problem-Solving

When the training client told me that I’d have to bring my own computer to show the Powerpoint, I said “of course.” But I didn’t want to bring my laptop. It’s heavy and it’s the only computer I have. Yes, it’s backed up, but still, dragging it around wasn’t appealing to me.

Luckily, I have an iPad with Keynote on it. (Apple’s version of Powerpoint). But how to get the file from the computer to the iPad, I asked at the store. “It’s simple on iTunes,” the genius-bar employee said, and gave me some steps. I wrote them down. Now, I hate to admit it, but I’m not a big music fan, so I don’t know iTunes very well. My playlists are all books. Yes, I have music on my iPhone, but I really don’t use iTunes.

Blocked as surely as if a boulder falls in front of me.

So I struggled with the instructions, which didn’t work. As any good Inner Critic knows, this is the clarion call to show up and make sure the stuck person knows that she is stupid, probably terminally so, and the client will laugh at her for not knowing simple procedures. Time to make a fast appointment for a one-on-one lesson. None available till I come back.

Fear shows up as anger first. Stupid store and their 10-day wait to get a simple lesson. Then, anger muddles thinking. I came up with the idea of using Dropbox, but I still couldn’t get the presentation itself moved to Keynote.

Notice what’s happening here? Fear blocks all problem-solving ability. I wasn’t thinking through anything. I was stuck in a place in which I would be humiliated for being slow, old, dumb, and not prepared in front of the client. That shame loop circled through my brain while I added more dramatic color and a sound track. [Cue "Chain of Fools."] No problem-solving whatsoever. Finally, I made another genius bar appointment, sure the Apple employees would mock me, too.

Not so. Adam came up, and I explained the problem with iTunes. Adam looked at me and smiled. “You can send it from one machine to another via email, then just open it in Keynote.” Of course. It couldn’t have been simpler. But while I was filled with fear and imagining a catastrophic scenario, my brain was too busy adding details, color and sound to the catastrophe to see the simple answer.

And then, Adam did something amazing. He showed me how to use my iPhone as the remote to control the Keynote presentation. Let me practice it to make sure I got the steps in the right order. And within 10 minutes I wasn’t an idiot, I was a tech-savvy professional, with an iPad and a remote, ready to go.

In those 10 minutes, I didn’t change a bit. I weighed the same, I had the same hair and eye color, wore the same clothing. The only thing that changed was fear. It was gone. Adam had solved the problem I could not because I was concentrating on the fear. Anger is the answer to fear, and anger blocks both logic and creativity.

I’ll probably make the mistake again. It’s a big problem and so not resolved by one experience. Or six, ten or a hundred. It’s a lesson I will repeat until I understand it, myself and the power of problem solving with a clear, creative mind and heart.

–-Quinn McDonald wishes a Happy Passover to all who tell the story of the Exodus tonight. And wishes strength and peace to all who live in fear and slavery of any kind, mental or physical, or their own doing or other’s.

Filed under: Art/Freelance Biz, Inner Hero/Inner Critic Tagged: blocking creativity, fear, problem solving