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back in school

By on June 13, 2013 in Biz Chat, day in the life, Inspired

Flora Chang Happy Doodle Land Lilla Rogers

There has been so much I want to share with you, but making time to blog has been hard. I started an online course called Make Art That Sells by artist agent Lilla Rogers. It has been pretty challenging. I like the challenge, but so far the subject matter has been things I don’t normally draw like mushrooms, pyrex dishes, and flowers – things I don’t really connect with.

I’m learning a lot and having fun stretching myself (and even came up with new characters I probably never would have come up with), I just wish I would have been more mentally prepared for the work load in a short time frame, but I’m glad the course content justifies the (hefty for me) price.

I’ll try and share our assignments next week, but I don’t want to promise anything. The way the course works is we get a mini assignment on Monday, then the main assignment on Wednesday, and it’s due that Sunday afternoon. Lilla prefers artists to not wait until the last minute, so the earlier I can turn in the assignment, the better. We also get really great informational posts Monday-Friday, so you could potentially be working on the course everyday of the week, which is what I did last week. I’m hoping to get my project done earlier this week to take Sunday off. Even though it’s pretty intense, I’m enjoying the environment. I wish I were more social in our FB group, but people are posting their progress on our assignments and I don’t want to be influenced by their work, so I try to keep out of there.

There are some people from the Austin area, and we are going to plan a meet up, which I am excited about. It will be nice to meet people in person that are working toward similar goals. I just wanted to pop in to let you know this blog isn’t dying, life is just a bit busy right now. Hoping to get back on top of my blogging this week. Are you doing anything to challenge yourself this summer? If this was the only new thing on my plate this summer things wouldn’t be so crazy, but Robo Roku is evolving, and we need to be ahead of that instead of playing catch up, like we’ve been doing. As new, challenging, and a little bit scary as everything is, I’m still eager to go down this path. Try checking out the hashtag #makeartthatsells on Twitter or Instagram to discover new artists. You can also click on the artwork by Flora Chang above to hear about school from one of my classmates.

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motivational monday: be better

By on June 3, 2013 in Biz Chat, Inspired

Be Better
image source

Sometimes we can get caught up in being the best at xyz, we end up losing sight of what truly matters to us. Creatives tend to have many passions and we can spread ourselves too thin trying to be the best at so many things and making impressing other people a priority. At the end of the day, we need to make life/career choices based on what will make us happiest and pay our bills, not what will “wow” people the most.

Are you suffering from the need to conquer the world in various fields, and starting to wander (or already wandering) all over the place?

Take a moment to imagine your perfect (and realistic) life.

What career or hobby are you doing five days a week in your perfect (and realistic) life?

Are you skilled at this? If not, start working toward your goal.

Creatives tend to be skilled in various fields, and it’s fairly easy to start doing things just to make money. Be careful with that move, you don’t want to sell yourself short on time.
I do web sites for clients as a part time gig, and do my best to limit our client intake.
Any time spent on client sites is time not spent working on new designs, which is what I’d rather be doing. We don’t need to put all our talents up for sale, it’s best to use our time toward accomplishing our number one goal.

Think about your number one goal. Write it down real big and hang it above your workspace, bathroom mirror, and/or bed. Remind yourself how precious your time is, and when you start getting involved in a project that steers you off course do your best to course correct right away. Spend this week taking steps to focus on your number one goal and plan for your “perfect” future. Let me know how the goal focusing goes and good luck!

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6 ways to get creatively unstuck

By on May 29, 2013 in Biz Chat, Inspired

patience

Have you ever found yourself creatively stuck? Been in that place where you start spiraling into a dark cloud filled with negative thoughts? When we find ourselves at a creative loss we often begin to question every little aspect of our lives. It’s a bad place to be in, but I can give you tips on getting out of that place. The trick is to know when you are in that dark place. If you find yourself in a place of self doubt and gloom try answering these questions:

1. What is troubling me?
2. Did this trouble me yesterday? Last week? Last month? Last year? If so/not, what has changed or not changed?
3. What solutions are there to my problem? Just write down any possibilities, don’t over think this.

RWE eatfitlive

Sometimes when we have a string of bad times we lump all our problems together, making smaller problems seem bigger. Answer all of the questions for all your perceived problems. Notice I said “perceived problems”? It’s all too easy to take our blessings for granted and imagine our lives are worse off than they truly are. Here’s a reality check:

  • Do you have a job that pays your bills?
  • Do you have a roof over your head?
  • Do you have food in your home?
  • Do you have friends/family you can call?
  • Do you have good health?

Those are wonderful gifts many people don’t have. Acknowledge your blessings.
Tough love coming up…. Don’t be a spoiled baby!!
If you think someone else’s life is perfect you are either fooling yourself, or being fooled. Either way, we all have obstacles to overcome. Maybe we are awkward and have a hard time opening up to people, maybe we have parents that don’t believe in us, maybe we are financially struggling, maybe our creative works are not selling, maybe we have health issues that make day-to-day living hard. We ALL have ups and downs, just not every one wants you to know that. The important thing is for you to not concern yourself with the successes of other people and just focus on trying to be the best you can be every day. There is always going to be someone better at something than you, just like you could be better at something than someone else.

http://www.kerismith.com/blog/how-to-feel-miserable-as-an-artist/via Keri Smith

Now that you’ve taken inventory of your troubles, reflected on your blessings, here are 6 ways to get those creative juices flowing…

EXPLORE – explore your surroundings, new music, new movies, your city, your dreams – write them all down and underneath each one write why you have that dream, and what living those dreams would look like. you may find some dreams are not ones your truly want after all.

ABSORB – absorb positive thoughts, fragrances you love, music that touches you, kindness given to you.

TRY – try new flavors, new mediums, new methods, try doodling, try finding a mentor, try exercising to get your adrenaline pumping.

PLAY – play like a child – fly a kite, draw with chalk on your sidewalk, play hopscotch, play with play-doh – create something, then smash it and create something new, play video or board games – this will get your brain thinking about something else.

RELEASE – release your fears of messing up, release your fears of looking silly, release yourself from pressure from other people, release your jealousy, release your hate, release your fear of the unknown.

JUST BE YOU – do that silly dance you do when no one is looking, rock out on air guitar, sing super loud along to your favorite tunes, just enjoy that you are living.

Once you’ve explored, absorbed, tried, played, released, and found yourself again, revisit your problems with hopeful eyes and a heart that knows this is just a moment that will pass, just like all the bad moments that came before.

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