Quinn McDonald's Blog, page 65

Other people’s happy

You’re on the interwebs. You’ve just bought something. Or posted about a book you read. Or signed up for a class. You are happy. You stay on the computer and see a post about a different purchase, book, or class. Someone else is describing their choice in glorious terms. And just like that, you are unhappy with your decision.

You should have done more research, you think. The other choice was better. Smarter. The joy goes out of your emotional sails like hydrogen out of the Hindenburg.

How can it be that your satisfaction and joy could be deflated so fast? How did you get left with dust in your mouth and heart?

Comparison is a natural inclination. But the conclusion that the other choice was better is not a natural inclination. It’s a mindset that makes unhappiness the norm. And it’s a short, straight road to competitive happiness. It’s a tough game, and you can’t win it. Because there are always other choices, bigger choices, better decisions.

If you aren’t sure about what makes you happy, it may be time to spend some time with yourself, discovering more about what lights your heart, what brings you joy. It’s not about what others are doing. Where is your center? Where is your balance? Your joy is uniquely yours. Be proud of it. Satisfaction feels like a ripe tomato–warm and heavy for its size. Your joy is yours to have. Nurture it.

-–Quinn McDonald knows the Inner Critic doesn’t want you to be happy. He’s just jealous.

Filed under: Inner Critic, Opinion Tagged: feeling joy, finding your bliss, happiness

Reading List (Suggestions)

You could, of course, go to Goodreads, and ready reviews, but if you are ready for an interesting book to pick up, here are some suggestions:

1. Serena Barton’s Wabi Sabi Art Workshop: Mixed Media Techniques for Embracing Inperfections and Celebrating Happy Accidents. North Light Books, 2013. With a title like that, you can’t go wrong. You know how I love the concept of Wabi Sabi (I’ve written 44 blog posts on wabi sabi) so Barton’s book was a great treat. Barton finds design and beauty in the ordinary. She works with wax (encaustic), tissue paper, specialty papers, creates layers of texture and helps you create freely and deeply. Seth Apter, a contributor to my Inner Hero book, wrote a review of Barton’s book here. And Pam Carriker worked one of the projects on her blog on Tuesday.

2. Seth Godin, Tribes. Portfolio, 2010 Godin is the master of the compact, to-the-point blog post. Here’s a quote from a post about his disastrous first speaking engagement:

Just about anything worth doing is worth doing better, which means, of course, that (at least at first) there will be failure. That’s not a problem (in the long run), it’s merely a step along the way.

If you’re not willing to get your ‘worst one ever’ out of the way, how will you possibly do better than that?

He writes unselfconsciously about customer service, creativity, and, in this book, the groups we create and lead. He doesn’t tell you how to be a leader, just how some really good leaders (in today’s business world) found their way to leadership. Their secret? Passion. Leaders don’t get elected, they lead because they care deeply and get a few people, then more, to listen. He’s caught some flak because it’s not a how-to book, but how could you write a step-and-step on all leadership? It’s a dense, powerful book that is fascinating to read. Don’t have time? Listen to the audiobook.

3. Jane Davies, Collage Journeys: A Practical Guide to Creating Personal Artwork. Watson-Guptill Publications, 2008 Collage is so much more than tearing images out of magazines, and Davies makes you happy to explore the possibilities. The book covers different styles, including painting with paper, making color collage samples. layering with transparent materials, and how to develop a working visual vocabulary.

What are you reading and loving right now?

—Quinn McDonald is reading several books at a time. Again.

Filed under: Book Reviews, Journal Pages, Recovering Perfectionists, Wabi-Sabi Tagged: collage, leadership, recommended books

New Books, Demos, Classes

My projects in three new workbooks!

North Light Books (my publisher) has released three books that combine exercises from several popular journaling books–mine among them. The new books are workbooks–with pages of projects followed by blank pages so you can use the book as a workbook. I’m pleased to be in good company and found myself looking at the re-combined projects and exercises with new interest.

The three books are  stART Journaling, Mixed Media Storytelling Workbook, and Doodle Draw Journal. All three books are edited by Kristy Conlin, whose name appears on the cover. All of the authors are recognized in the back of the book, and yes, we will receive royalties from sales.

This month I will be doing lots of demos for Splash Inks at various Arizona Art Supply stores in the Valley. You can see the schedule locations and phone numbers at that link. The demos are free, but seating is limited, so you will need to make a reservation. Here are the dates, if you’d like to come visit and see how the inks work. I’ll be showing how they mix, using stencils with ink-tinted medium for cards,  turning the inks into spray inks for use with stencils, painting, and my favorite, marbling with the inks.

Sun City: June 19
Tempe: June 22
Scottsdale: June 29
Phoenix: July 6

More good news: I’ll be teaching three classes at the Phoenix Arizona Art Supply, starting in July. Registration will be up in about a week or so, but save the date if you are interested.

Front view of an accordion folder

July 13: Monsoon Papers. In the morning class, we’ll be making Monsoon Papers. I’ve developed some short cuts, fun additions, and ways to bling up the papers. In the afternoon class, we’ll make two projects with the papers. One is an accordion fold journal with interesting embellishments. The other is a holder for loose-leaf pages shaped like little houses. You’ll create four or five houses to put in the accordion folder.

Of course, you’ll be writing on those cute little house-pages.

August 10: Paste Paper. In the morning class, we’ll explore paste papers, colors, textures and different styles of making them. In the afternoon, we’ll make projects with the papers.

September: Loose-leaf journals. We’ll be making and covering 7″ x 10″ (approx. 18 x 24 cm) three-ring binders in the morning, then creating pages on different papers of different sizes in the afternoon. I have to set the date on this one.

Hope to see you around the Valley (greater Phoenix, Arizona)

–Quinn McDonald is happy to be teaching again!

Filed under: Creativity, Quinn's Classes Tagged: arizona art supply classes, in person classes

Fixing, Helping, Interfering: Tough Call

Three years ago, a hummingbird built her nest in my fig tree. To my great delight, she laid two eggs that hatched right on time. Being a fan of Phoebe Allen, the videocam trained on California hummingbirds, I knew what to expect. One of the windows gave a perfect vantage point on the nest.

The hummingbird eggs are the size of a Tic-Tac.

About a week after hatching, the mother didn’t come home one night. There had been a Grackle tussle at the front yard hummingbird feeder earlier that evening, and I feared the worst. Grackles raid nests of other birds, eating the young.

The mother hadn’t returned by 4 a.m., and not at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. Sixteen hours is a long time in the life of a small bird, so I got a ladder, filled a pipette with hummingbird food, and fed the two little ones. They were thirsty. I knew they needed protein, which I could not provide. At 8 a.m., I had found a wildlife re-hab volunteer, cut the branch off above the nest and delivered the babies, complete with nest for rescue. I felt virtuous and caring.

When I got home, I found a hysterical hummingbird flying around the cut branch where the nest had been. Whether it was the mother or simply another angry hummingbird is above my pay grade. But I now felt like a meddling fool.

The hummingbird taking refuge and panting on the front porch.

The consensus of many naturalists was that I should have left the nest alone. Birds, coyotes, rabbits and other animals I share the desert with are professional wildlife. My good intentions are less “helping” and a lot more “interference.”

I no longer feed quail ( the coyotes figured out when feeding time was, and then made quail feeding time their feeding time.) Training wildlife that humans feed them habituates the wildlife to trusting behaviors that does no one any good.

Our urge is to fix and rescue. As a coach, it is wiser to be the naturalist of the spirit, and trust that people will thrash their own way through their problems. Clients need support and encouragement, accountability and room to explore. Not every struggle will work out, but that, too, provides growth and learning.

The tendency on Facebook and blogs today is to present solutions that worked for you and expect they will work for others, too. They may. They may not. But if they don’t, you have habituated a human to being provided answers, and you will be blamed if things don’t go as hoped for. 

It’s hard being a friend and not micromanaging events you’ve experienced and know just how to handle. But if you think it was heartbreaking to see a hysterical hummingbird, watch a friend who followed your advice and failed.

–-Quinn McDonald is a naturalist and certified creativity coach. Which, she notices, have a lot in common.

 

Filed under: Creativity

Being in the Moment, Really

Being in the moment has become almost a catch-phrase of hipness. There is a competitive zeal among social media posters to show how in-the-moment they are.

From The Problem With Multitasking.

It makes me chuckle when being in the moment hits the wall with the eagerness to multi-task. Text messages are sent with the expectation that you will stop doing whatever you are doing (including teaching or driving) and answer the text. Last week a client chided me for not getting back fast enough. When I explained that I was teaching–standing in front of a classroom teaching–and returned her text at break, she said it wasn’t fast enough. “I expect more from my vendors,” she said. The only comfort I could offer her was the same level of concentration and attention would be hers when I was working with her.

It always surprised me when my coaching clients read their emails or check Facebook during their coaching session. There’s been enough research done to make me sure that reading Facebook takes up most of your attention and distracts you from coaching.

Being in the moment allows you to focus on one thing exclusively. Deeply. Thoroughly. Multi-tasking (which really doesn’t exist, we task switch, paying attention to one thing at a time, and switching back and forth) seems like a much more attractive skill when we are waiting in line or waiting for someone to pay attention to our needs.

Yes, there have been some studies that show that creativity is enhanced when creative people make blender-pulses of thought over similar circumstances that gave different results and picking experiences that coincide with what you are working on. That doesn’t sound like multi-tasking to me, that sounds like lateral thinking about a single problem. Staying in the moment.

Still, when the doctor is finally in your room dealing with your paper-clad self, you want all the brain power focused on you. You wouldn’t take kindly to the doctor checking emails and texts while you are talking about your suppurating wound.

In yoga class, I noticed a woman who was checking her texts between downward facing dog and child pose. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of yoga?

Be a proud single-tasker. Take the time to be and stay in the moment till the thought is done. Re-capture the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time for more than five minutes at a time. Your brain will thank you for it. (And so will your coach).

--Quinn McDonald was never a good multi-tasker, and always was horrible at collating anything.

Filed under: Coaching, In My Life Tagged: creativity coaching, in the moment, multi-tasking

Saturday Creative Love

No-fat potato chip.

Creativity can come in many styles, including cooking. Potato chips are not on any of my menus anymore, until Cooking Man made me some. He sliced washed, raw potatoes on a mandolin, soaked them in cold water, spread them on a paper towel, and cooked them in the microwave. Presto, amazing potato chips! No fat, low calorie and even low carb, as long as I don’t eat a bag full. He got the recipe from another blog, and am I glad! Here is an extra:  low-carb, gluten-free chewy almond bars. I’ve made them twice and they are delish!

Joshua Katz noticed that even though we have cable TV and hear each others languages, we in the U.S. still have different words for the same thing and different pronunciations. So he made 22 maps for different words pronounced different ways. They are fascinating to look at, particularly if you feel strongly about how the word “caramel” is pronounced.

Paddi McDonnell did an article on typographic art. I love typographic art–the subtlety, the cleverness. The portraits (scroll down on the link) are really well done.

BrussPup’s  YouTube channel is a mix of art and sound. He sprinkles sand onto a metal plate and connects it to a speaker that plays various frequencies. The sand vibrates and moves to areas of no frequency (so no shaking) and fascinating patterns are formed.

Mircea Popescu does linocuts. That’s sort of like saying that Bach wrote some music. Her linocuts are so complicated, it is difficult to imagine how she does them, and how she keeps track of the layers. Or the lines.

Have a creative weekend!

–Quinn McDonald is chief curiosity officer of QuinnCreative.

Filed under: Creativity, Links, resources, idea boosts Tagged: creativity coach, homemade potato chips, linocut art, sound and art

On My Workdesk . . .

Note: Thanks for the 76 percent of readers who would read a newsletter. Another 11 percent said “It depends if I like it.”  So, it looks like I’ll be starting a newsletter soon. Stay tuned–I have to create a space to sign up and get the first copy together. Thanks for voting!  Congratulations Barbara I –you are the winner of Marney’s book!

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While I’m working on the Commonplace Journal, ideas began to bubble to the surface of my brain. Many of the pieces I work on are now looseleaf pages. Why?

Looseleaf pages

let you create more than one page at a time
 allow you to work on different stages at the same time
let you to turn the page in different directions while you are working.
give you more freedom in color choices–you don’t have to worry about pages that back up to each other and don’t coordinate
Don’t have a gutter or a wire  coil to work against
Let you separate private from public pages (important if you teach)
Encourage sorting through your work in ways that a book doesn’t
carry a smaller package of looseleaf pages to work on instead of a bulky book

The very idea of “book” is a closed object. We think of a row of spines, books closed in.

Now suppose you store your looseleaf pages in such a way as to invite opening, sorting, reading them, even cutting them up to recycle them into new pages. Now that’s a real art journal.

In the Inner Hero book (coming out in January), I have several suggestions on how to carry looseleaf pages. But the one I remember best from Middle- and High-School is the three-ring binder. It’s practical, it is meant to be opened. It lies flat (it really is lie in this case and not lay).

The big binder shape is a little awkward, but that’s where I started. I used a recycled binder, a naked one with no creepy plastic. Note that the outside edges are offset. That’s fine. When it’s full of paper, that will disappear.

Using, gaffer’s tape, I covered the space around the ring mechanism and the place where the Japanese Washi paper meets the book-tape edge on the outside. (You’ll see it in the next photo).  Gaffer’s tape is a woven cloth tape, very similar (but less expensive) than book-binder’s tape. I mitered the corners and glued the washi paper down.

Although this Japanese paper looks delicate, it can take a lot of abuse. It’s dense and tough. I glued it with PVA book glue, being careful not to stretch it, so it wouldn’t warp the cover. You can see the black gaffer’s tape that protects the join of the paper to the red cloth cover on the spine.

Using map pieces and the index for the atlas of maps, I created a collage for the inside covers. You can see the effect of taped edges on the left compared to un-taped on the right. I taped both sides to make the book look neat.

The first thing that went in was the 27- page quote collection I printed off yesterday. Then some other inspiration pages. For now, this is going to be the reference journal.

Coming up next: Smaller three-ring binder journals, about 7 inches x 10 inches. No, they won’t fit in my bag, but they don’t need to. I now carry looseleaf pages in my Monsoon Paper carrying case. (below)

I’ll be teaching Monsoon Papers and the carrying case on Saturday, July 13, at Arizona Art Supply in Phoenix. Save the date, details will be on my website soon.

How do you feel about using a binder to hold journal pages?

--Quinn McDonald is prepping four classes, one online and three in-person.

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Inner Critic, Journal Pages, Quinn's Classes, Tutorials Tagged: covering a book, three-ring binder journal, washi paper

Bark Paper

The sycamores are losing their bark. Arizona Sycamores, which grow in the Sky Island area South of Tucson, will grow in Phoenix if they get enough water. And the stand I walk through every morning is well watered and cared for.

In the early summer, the bark of the sycamore splits and the tree looks old and damaged for a few weeks.

The bark of the tree lifts up, and the young bark underneath hardens. Once the bark underneath is ready to act as the tree’s skin, the top bark flakes off.

For someone from the East Coast, who is used to Birch trees, the sycamore shedding is very different. The bark is stiff and thicker than birch bark, and much more likely to split.

The newer bark is smooth and very pale, and the trees suddenly look taller and more elegant.

You can see both kinds of bark on one tree.

The bark was lying around on the lawn, so I picked some up and took it home.

I soaked one piece to make it pliable, then, once I could bend it and flatten it out, it went under the iron to heat, dry and flatten it. Then into the book press to keep it flat. It came out of the book press flat and smooth enough to write on.

You can see the difference in flatness and smoothness between the treated piece on top and the bark the way it was on the ground, bottom.

“What we are never changes, but who we are never stops changing. –Gil Grissom. The bark is smooth enough to write on, but it’s brittle. I tried to pierce holes in it to see if it could be stitched, but it’s too brittle.

Birch bark, peeled into layers.

Birch bark, on the other hand, is pliable and thin, and can be stitched. Birch bark also has the dark lines on it. Birch trees aren’t native to Arizona, they need a lot more water than even Northern Arizona has. Birch bark can be used as paper without any more treatment and has been used as paper in both India and Russia.

For now, the sycamore bark will have to do as thick and inflexible writing slabs. Not as nice as Birch, but with rustic appeal.

—Quinn McDonald is a naturalist and a journalist. No surprise she’s writing on tree bark.

Filed under: Journal Pages, Nature, Inside and Out Tagged: bark paper, birch bark, Creativity, sycamore bark, sycamore tree

Tips, Quotes, Ideas

On this morning’s walk, I photographed some “alien alphabets” –marks on the street left by the utility company. The name needs to change. In Arizona, “alien” is not a little green humanoid from outer space, it’s a slur for people not born here. On the same walk, I added other alphabet figures  based on shapes–gates, grates, tree limbs. No new name yet, but a lot of exploration ahead.

You probably have a file of quotes someplace on your computer. Me, too. I got a gift of a bunch of quotes from Traci Paxton Johnson, and added to it. Today, I noticed I had 27 pages of quotes. Printing them out (back and front of the pag, of course) and storing them in the studio for future use (I have that alphabet to try out) made sense. So did sharing some of the quotes that slid by on the screen on the way to the printer:

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” –Japanese proverb

“Fear is the natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.” –Pema Chodron

“If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to sleep with a mosquito in the room.” –14th Dalai Lama

“In the end, we remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” –Martin Luther King

“Patience is not about how long you can wait, but how well you behav while you’re waiting.” –Buddhist Bootcamp

Tip: If you live in a hot climate and have sliding doors, don’t grease them with oil. The heat degrades it and makes it stickier. And it collects cat hair.  Instead, rub the runners with plain candle wax. Works wonders.

Tip: Tired of drinking water all day long? Gather up some stray tea bags, brew them and make a blended ice tea. Choose a mix of fruit flavors and green tea–rose hips, hibiscus, mango, blackberry, and green tea. A great refreshing drink. No calories, lots of flavor, lots of antioxidants.

Tip: Have blank pages at the end of your journal? Fill them with an index–using page numbers or dated pages, so you can flip to the back and know what’s in each journal. Or use the back pages to test colors of new inks, paints, or pencils.

–Quinn McDonald is switching to summer hours, not because she likes getting up at 4:30 a.m., but because the sun rises early and so do the cats.

 

 

 

Filed under: Creativity, Journal Pages, Links, resources, idea boosts Tagged: alphabets, ice tea, journaling, quotes

Newsletters: Worth Considering? (Plus Giveaway)

Yes, I’ve had a newsletter. Twice. Each time, it became too unwieldy to manage. Too much content. When I switched from newsletter to blog (which seemed sensible at the time), I deleted the newsletter address list, after I invited everyone over to the blog.

That left me with, umm, no announcement or contact list. Sure, the blog mentions my classes, but if you ask “Really? Where? ” you aren’t alone. The Workshops page on this blog is often overlooked. And updating it often happens only after I announce something on the blog. (See my upcoming demos at Arizona Art Supply).

I can’t really expect people who are waiting for me to announce the poetry-writing class to read the blog every day to see when it will run (Late July, early August start) or to check the Workshop page. A newsletter would be a great way to do that.  I am grateful to everyone who is signed up to the blog, and to everyone who tells me they start their day reading the blog. Realistically, though, a lot of people check in once a week, Or once a month.

So here is the question: Should I start a once-every-two-week newsletter? Or are newsletters passe? (I don’t want to create a business Facebook page. Yet)

More information:

The newsletter would list my classes and demos, in person and online, local to me or local to you.
It could contain a few other items not in this blog–a link to a clever tutorial (not necessarily mine), a book suggestion (creativity-related, including books I quit reading or didn’t enjoy), or a creative-life tip or quote from my reading.  It would be short (not like my blogs, I know).
You’d be able to subscribe and unsubscribe anytime you wanted (you’ll have to unsubscribe from the same email you subscribed with). No questions asked.
I’ll start small, just an email list I handle myself. No cookies, no tracking, no selling or renting your name. I have enough trouble managing my time.

Leave a comment if you have ideas, suggestions, or thoughts about a newsletter.

Take Our Poll
Giveaway

Oh, and of course there will be a drawing for leaving a comment and taking the poll:  a copy of Creating Time, by Marney  Makridakis. The subtitle is “Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life.” You can read my earlier review here.

–Quinn McDonald is curious, again.

Filed under: Creativity, Links, resources, idea boosts, Quinn's Classes, Raw Art Journaling Tagged: creativity coaching, newsletters