The artists way

[Susan Hosken]

I have started the artists way if anyone is interested. You can read along each week or just jump in with your ideas about the comments I write. The first chapter is about safety. How safe are you in your creative life? Have you always been safe? Also when did you consider yourself an artist?
lots of love from susan in australia

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

I'm around a couple of times a day, but yeah, I've noticed it too. It's mid summer and probably a lot of people are doing outdoor things and not spending as much time online.

In answer to your droughts question, yes, I've felt I've been in a drought all this year. I've been accepting it pretty well. Pondering it, too. I have six days off coming up and I plan to try staying in my art room the first day and see how it goes.

[Ang Monsoon]

Does the drought follow on from a period of intense creativity though? Sometimes I've been creative intensively and then a flat period follows. And I feel edgy. How does one maintain "balance"?

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

I think by learning about good habits, making our own rules ... and then following them! I've been falling flat on that, not anyone's fault but my own, I realize ... so I gotta fix it!

[Susan Hosken]

Angie, i'd love to know how to balance my creativity. I find I go through intense creativity for 2 weeks or more and then a quiet time for 1 -2 weeks. Quite strange. i am trying to learn to like the phases and to work with them.
lots of love from susan in australia

[MARY]

I've always had ups and downs with my creatvity..heck with just my ENERGY levels. I don't worry to much about it. Honestly, there are days that I 'force' myself ..especially in my 'studies'. I do it even if I'm not in the mood. And no, I don't always get into it once I start, but I set myself up a schedule and I adhere to the schedule rather faithfully, unless I get an RA flare-up. If I'm knocked out on vicodin, no use trying to do to much of anything.
In my quiet times I do have activities that don't require a lot of energy. That's when I cut out pictures from magazines for collage purposes. That's a favorite down time activity for me.

[Maureen]

Hi Mary,
It's good to see you, I have been missing you! You had mentioned once to me about cutting out pictures from magazines as an easy creative activity I could do if I was completely wiped out ... I just wanted to let you know that I have been doing that and I really enjoy it! Now I have a nice big file folder full of images ... I just have to figure out how I'll use them :-).

Thanks for the suggestion, and welcome back --
Maureen

[MARY]

Maureen:

I have 14 file folders full of images (I've separated and categorized them). I don't care though...I'll just get bigger folders. It's something that I totally enjoy doing!

[Jules]

Goodness! You are organized MARY!
Once I had my images all organized, seperated and catagorized- they were just 'reference' pictures then- I had no thoughts about collage at the time...Then, at one point I was going to make a huge nature collage- so I sorted everything by color...then I wanted to do a soulcollage - so I sorted by image...so for a long time they were about half by color and half by image...

I confused myself in a big way in trying to sort- because I never know how I will use the images, for color or for content...
now my collection is sorted basically by size , image and words

[Susan Hosken]

Barbara, I'm glad you still pop in but I haven't seen the discussions you are on. A few people are doing the poetry and i'm not a poet.
Hope you are out of your drought soon.
lots of love from susan in australia

[Ang Monsoon]

"Pottering About" that's something I thrive on. When life is really busy n there's not much time for pottering I feel worn out. When I've been busy with creative projects & I've finished 'em.....then it's flat......maybe that's natural "pottering time".....???

[Jules]

Hum. I also get busy with life at times, and do not get a chance to create...that is where my doodles come in- they can be done in 15 minutes- or while on hold on the phone. This way I am always doing something creative and artistic everyday. I go through pages of doodles that I do not care for during the crunch times, but feel good just having drawn something.

When I feel uninspired I will go straighten out my creative playpen. I will put away the things I left out during a high energy creative project- the ones where I do not want to stop the flow long enough to put things back away.
As I sort through beads, or fabric, paints, magazine images the juices begin to flow again- so there I am making a mess once more.
Would this be what you mean by pottering time Angie?

[Maureen]

Hey Jules. I just wanted to thank you for turning me on to doodling. I have about 3 sketchbooks full of them now! I do them almost daily. When I am stressed, or overly fatigued, they help to calm me and even help ease my fatigue.

You gave me the gift of doodling :-). How can I ever thank you?

Love, mo