Creative Blog Tour Questionnaire

I'm participating in a blog tour - I think I like that name better than "Blog Hop."  If you are following the tour than you have come to my site via Faith at Scrapbooker PhD.  These are the questions I have been asked to answer: 
1. What are you working on? 
Oh my goodness, so, so much!! Actually it has been bananas these last couple of weeks between VBS and summer camp.  I did some of the photography for Vacation Bible School and also helped out in the kitchen (not artsy - but believe me - we were definitely creative!)  Last Monday was the first day of camp and I was the first segment so I had a lot of prepping to do!  We started out with stations for the kids to roam freely.  I wanted to get a sense of their interests and abilities.  

Many of the girls hot glued flowers to floral wire to make crowns and jewelry while they boys flocked to the artist trading card station.  They  also created costumes out of fur scraps, feathers, tissue paper and fabric and did relief watercolor painting that we embellished with glitter and doodles. The next day we made giant marble runs using packing boxes, drain pipes and balls. 

Next week I am teaching Monday through Thursday for 2 different camps so I will have a lot of fun projects to share!

2. How does your work differ from others?
That is such a good question.  My work features a lot of color, impulsiveness and dimension.  Sometimes I aspire to clean, balanced, structured work but in the end my true voice wins.  I suppose it is balanced in an eclectic way but because I try to tell a story on a variety of levels, the balance is tiered.  I try to say something beyond the obvious with layering materials, varying styles and using a variety of techniques... kind of like a mix tape.  You know what I mean?

3. Why do you write/create?
If I don't create I feel emotionally constipated.  I'm sorry for the bathroom metaphor but it is the best way to describe the emotional bloating I feel when I am not accessing that part of myself.  Making things opens up my release valve. I love being creative - it is my soul's default state of being.   It is my resting place - my toll booth to joy.  I soar when I am creating.  I feel safe, authentic and alive.

4. How does your writing/creating process work.
Honestly, I look at my supplies.  My Cricut, my giant drawer of glue, a box of vintage buttons, a tub of modeling clay and the wheels start turning.  Say what you will about hoarding supplies- all I have to do is look at my stash and I start feeling the love.  And of course - if all else fails...Pinterest.

So now on to you!  I get to invite 3 fellow bloggers to join in the blog tour.  Please leave a comment or email me if you would like to join and I will get you all of the information!

Mini city under construction

I teach art and creativity at St. Timothy's school as an after school enrichment program and during summer camp for 10 weeks. The program is called "Create and Innovate." One of the most infamous activities we do is create a city out of recycled items. We started this activity on Monday.

It begins with a "city planning meeting" where we determine the scale of our city with action figures and dolls. Both Barbie and a Transformer are too large. This year we have settled on a game piece of a knight in armor (with sword drawn) as our point of reference.

Next we discuss what we want to have in our city: school, church, gas station, hotel, park, houses, stores and a jail are some of the buildings we are currently working on. A Bat Cave was suggested so we will see if we have room for it today.

Each child gets building bucks to use towards buying supplies and services

as life slows down creativity bubbles to the surface

I sat there, unsuspecting...dare I say, indifferent? Then it happened. A creative idea made its way into my mind's eye. It had texture and color and challenges that made me nervous. It was fluid, told a story, had a beginning, a middle and an end. It did not emerge out of something I had recently seen nor was it inspired by school, work or an online challenge. It was a unique artistic concept for me to explore at my leisure.

But where did it come from? Oh hell, this detail was unimportant right?. What was important was that it wasn't, and then it was- and that it was mine and no one else's. So I sketched in my art journal for the 1st time in months. I had improved since the last time I doodled out an idea. How refreshing. I had become accustomed to expecting more from myself than my hand could deliver. I wrote out instructions for graduating the values in the margin and identified the shading. It was a recipe for an oil painting and it WAS NOT a still life.

I drifted back to it's origin. Where did it come from? And then it hit me. The creative thoughts flooding my mind came from the quiet space in between the activities that constitute "my life." I had just spent the last few days floating on an inner tube, taking long walks and enjoying my family. I had noticed how fast butterflies flap their wings; I had waved hello to passing strangers; I had strolled. These activities allowed my mind to decompress for the first time in nearly a year and there was space for creative thought to bubble to the surface. This is an important revelation indeed.

Quiet, balanced living does not come naturally to me. It's just not my default. I lean more towards the hustle and bustle, flippity floppity, READY-SET-GO! style of living. But if my artistic process would benefit (not to mention my mental health) I might give it a try...At least until next semester :o)

What is your style?

There have been occasions when posed with a decision, offer or situation that I have responded “well that’s just not my style…” Whether it be fashion, music, art, décor, movies or scrapbooking, I suppose I thought that by knowing what IS NOT my style meant that I knew what was. Not true. I have borrowed hundreds, maybe even thousands of styles over the years but it was not until just recently that me and my style got chummy.

I used to try on personal styles like hats in a vintage shop – I’d go from sophisticated to rebellious to hippy in a matter of weeks all under the guise of being “eclectic.” While these styles were fun and fabulous, none of them where my mine. It wasn’t until I stopped looking for definition that my style became evident. You might say it found me. One day I looked around my home- in my closet, on my bookshelf and through my scrapbook pages and realized that my style was everywhere…even on my TIVO!

At first I was a little disappointed because I had secretly hoped that “it” would be a style of pure genius. Something to put me on the map… when people of stature and clout described innovation and creativity they would say…”wow – it’s so…Jilliene.” But low and behold it was neither newsworthy nor likely to get me into the VIP suite at some who ’s who after-party.

Once the initial disenchantment passed I began to see the colors of my style. The lines, the patterns, the flavors, the attitudes – this was my truth and I liked it. It was cheerful, and fun, adventurous and undisciplined. It was clean and organized with a bit of chaos for good measure. There were hints of my mother and shadows of my favorite artists scattered about and the totality of it all was beautiful. I could see this beauty in my children’s faces and in my grocery cart and in the laundry basket. I was leaving my own distinct mark and I wasn’t doing it wrong!

With this awareness my creativity soared. I trusted my instincts like never before and became willing to let things happen. I knew I could count of my style to work out the details. My artwork became an act of joy rather than a quest for understanding. I was no longer searching – now I was exploring.

I can see the difference in my scrapbooking pages since I got friendly with my style. There is more glimmer, more life, more happiness in them – the same hold true for me.

A theif named Fear

Of all the heists known to humankind throughout history, the greatest thief there ever was, was Fear. Fear has stolen love, wealth, success, liberty, creativity, invention, health, dreams and even life from many a great person. Fear has the ability to convince it’s Mark to literally hand over treasure, walk away from opportunity, hide from truth, discard relationships, refuse assistance, dismiss innovation and reject potential. We let Fear steal from us. We allow Fear to rob us of possibilities. We can make a choice not to.

I often find myself blocked creatively and otherwise because I am afraid to make that first step- to commit to a color, to waste a sheet of paper, to take a chance. The Fear grows in conviction if I remain idle. I become afraid to spend time on something that may not work, or to believe that I can do something only to find out I failed, or worst of all, to find out that I am devoid of any talent whatsoever. Where do you think fear keeps all the energy he steals from me? Does he have a giant vault with my name on it?

The next time I experience Fear I think I’ll say, “no you can’t have that!” and I’ll do the next right thing. If Fear suggests greater catastrophe, I’ll smile and say, “bring it!” And as my stomach dances around with butterflies and nausea, I’ll breath in deep breaths of acceptance and breath out my need for certainty. I’ll be me, whoever I am at that moment and use that Fear dripping energy to do exactly what I must. No easier, softer way; no hiding from the lessons or troubles that await me. I’ll put pen to paper, brush to paint, glue to photo, or foot to floor and I’ll keep the fate that awaits me. It is mine and Fear can’t have it.

Inspiration

Some of my greatest inspiration occurs when I am trying to fall asleep. There is something about the silence, the stillness of the dark that causes “out-of-the-box” thinking. I keep a journal and a pen at my bedside table and allow myself to break from my concentration on sleep to jot down ideas. I know that if I don’t put them on paper I’ll lay awake even longer trying to burn the thoughts into my memory banks for access in the morning or else, I’ll lose the ideas forever.

Tonight as I tried to drift off I kept thinking about passion. Not the kind we try to recapture after five or ten years of marriage, but rather the kind that drives us and brings about innovation.

There have been times in my life when I have felt completely devoid of passion, unclear what I am interested in or where I am going. Yet today, at time in my life, I am filled with passion and I have no idea why or where it comes from. I suspect that passion, creativity and hope are roommates in my psyche because where there is one, the others are sure to follow and once the three get to talking…well bippidee-bop, you’ve got inspiration instead of sleep.

Enough writing for now - it is time to play with the Basic Grey Pheobe paper I got in today. I just love the colors, patterns - the whole collection is gorgeous! Tomorrow I'll post some photos of the projects I did at Expo! The Rusty Pickle classes where dynamite! I've got to take some pictures to put in them!