but I'm posting instead! W00t. hehe. I start the new job tomorrow morning-I'm excited. I've already done all my little wacky things-like figure out what I'm wearing and set up the coffee pot so I just have to hit "go"...and now i"m sitting here staring at my blog.
Hm..
I did some meditation tonight-It's been one of my goals to get back into it-mainly because it does wonders while I'm in the waking world.
It's not just soothing and relaxing and all of that. It's baring and revealing and when I'm "on" I find that I can learn things about myself that I wasn't really aware of. It's sort of spooky sometimes.
I've been thinking a lot about the ideas and value structures I read about in Robert Pirsig's book. There's also a friend of mine who talks a lot about self betterment and the idea of personal growth. Some people either have it or they don't.
Which may sound a bit harsh, but really. I really believe that you're either in this life to make the most of it and learn how you can improve or you're not...and it's not always intentional. I don't think that many people really make the choice to stay in their one facet of life.
I think a lot of it has to do with a person's basic upbringing-what they were exposed to when they were little. And, it whether or not they were encouraged to be curious as a kid. This isn't always true-people in my family that I know had perfectly good opportunities to explore and be creative and learn new things and they adamantly refused and continue to refuse not to take them.
You compare that to some of the people in the world who literally came from nothing but knew that there had to be something else out there and it makes me a little bit angry. There's something to be said for shaping your situations into something that can help you grow.
I had a conversation with someone the other night...and it about made me crazy. This person tries so hard to argue with me for studying about the things that I"m interested in, or pursuing the random stuff that I do. They live their life based in paranoia about what might happen or what could happen or what they think is bound to happen instead of actually going through and finding out what the reality is.
More specifically-because of their own fear of the unknown (which is a lot in their world) anything and everything I suggest absolutely just has to be wrong or bad or misguided.
The book Lila talks about this. People who suffer from a non dynamic, low Quality life fight like hell against those people who are aiming for Dynamic Quality. Robert Pirsig explains all of this in pretty good detail and he has a lot of points but the things that stick out to me are that the life we live and the environment that we live in is fluid. It's always changing. This sounds like a pretty obvious statement but when you really think about it, it's pretty mind blowing. The idea that because everything is always in motion, and assuming as he does that, that motion is trying to move towards a higher state of Quality or Value, gives a whole new perspective to some things.
Your day to day life becomes about the fluidity of the moment and the idea of progressing towards something. Instead of moving away from the past, which people always tend to glorify, you are moving towards the future. Instead of moving away from what you used to believe or feel or know and suffering a loss for it, you are moving towards a new understanding of things, a new value structure, etc.
The idea, of course, is that in moving forward you really are moving towards something that has a higher level of Quality or Value (you'll have to either read the book, google it or wait for me to try and explain it all later if you're curious what he means by this) and not the other way around but one of the main tenets of the book that I got is that forward motion is positive motion. It's when you begin to stagnate or regress that you start having problems.
One of the major flaws that I find in the book is that he makes some pretty grandiose blanket statements, but that's also one of the "charms" I guess. There are a lot of things that I don't really agree with or, more specifically, that have changed a lot since the book was written but overall it's a great book to start generating ideas.
All of this was sort of vaguely floating around in the void while I was trying to meditate. Tonight was not one of the more stellar moments-I feel like a car that has been sitting in the driveway too long. It'll start but you have to really convince it.
My mind was all over the place for one thing (sort of like this post) and I kept having to bring it back to just breathing to get back in the moment. And sometimes, that was a struggle. I sort of had to laugh at myself at one point. I was supposed to be counting my breaths and before I realized it I had forgotten where I was at and was thinking about the fact that I need to change my air filter and how much it's going to stink because it's raining and cold out right now and tomorrow isn't promising to be much better.
'cause that's related to meditation. Ahem.
Anyway-I'm not trying to say that I've got some lofty, super clever goals and methods and that I'm working my way towards self betterment. I'm don't-I feel like I"m making a decent effort but I have eons and eons of work ahead of me before I really have any right to start telling other people what they should or should not be doing.
I just don't always know how to handle it when someone is so aggressively 'Anti Learning'- about different things or places or trying random stuff that has no real relevance to the greater schemes in life but that are fun or novel or whatever.
I dunno-I should probably be more concerned with getting some actual sleep tonight. I'm going to have to get up early for once tomorrow and, well, sleep is sort of helpful for that. :D
Lots of random stuff on my mind.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Lots of good things
The weather has been beautiful, I've finished a few really great books (I think some of which I alluded to in a previous post but which I fully intend to write more about later) and, almost trumping all of that, I got a job. Like, a real job that pays money and has benefits and all those good things.
I'm sort of excited. I think it's going to be a really good fit.
And, on the art scene, things have been going well too! It's the really fun, twisty turn down part of the roller coaster ride I think hehe. Good times. I got to get back into the swing of First Fridays on October 2nd for a friend's show (his site is here) and I practically sold out of jewelry stuff. I had to keep arranging the table to make it look like I still had inventory. It was mainly necklaces that were selling. People were all about it for some reason. Exciting. (c:
I also talked to the gallery owners and there's a potential I could have my own real show in their space in the future. Which would be great because really, I am overdue for a real gallery space I think. Personally speaking and all. I might be biased.
I've also decided that I need to devote some more time to writing. I've fallen out of the habit of writing much of anything so I sat down the other night and went back to talk to some of my characters. Happily enough, the fact that it's been rolling around in my subconscious since I started it means that the doors had not been sealed shut with super glue so I think there's a good chance for some development.
I had a few stunning realizations too-one, there was a huge logic flaw that i need to figure out before I can really progress the story. I started asking myself questions about my "bad guys" (thank you Tim) and I realized that there's this whole chunk of information that I've just sort of been glossing over that is extremely relevant. It may not make it into the actual story but I need to know how it happened so I can move forward.
And-I realized that I had completely neglected one of my main, integral characters...she's not exactly the protagonist but we need to care about her and i couldn't even tell you what she looked like two days ago. Sort of astonishing if you think about it really. My story has a big cast, which is a challenge and sort of interesting at the same time, and could be dangerous territory and I guess she got lost. Which is bad. The others I have all this great information for, and she always got swept under the rug I guess...whoops.
Finally, I think the biggest realization I had is that a lot of the stuff I wasn't writing or haven't been writing is the stuff that my character is supposed to be working through and dealing with-which are very important to me and I hadn't reached the point where I could actually write about them yet because I didn't understand them. I've since had some time to think some of these things through and process them and I guess I feel more prepared now to try and associate them with a character and her perspective.
Writing is one of those things where because your life is part of the material you pull from, if you're not comfortable with certain emotions or subjects, I feel like you can't always accurately write characters that are comfortable with those emotions or subjects. Not that you have to have lived every experience of your characters life-they are characters, not carbon copies of you, but I think for some of the bigger emotions, it's hard to write an interesting perspective if you've never had any experience or spent much time thinking about or working through your own perspectives first....
hopefully that makes sense cause I think I just confused myself. (c:
On a random note-people are so interesting. There is a well dressed business guy who is working on some paper or another...and he brought a sack lunch with him. We're in a coffee shop....but he brought his lunch. It's sort of funny. The owners here are really cool and I've done things like that before too but it's funny watching him unwrap his sandwich and eat his chips that obviously were not purchased here...oh wait...he's ordering something....cherry pie! (c: Ok, so at least he's being a patron now instead of just sort of enjoying the music and the view for free hehe.
People are strange. But I guess if they're cool with it-why not be economical. And they do have good pie. Mmmm....pie.
Alrighty-I've got to step away from the internet and go do a few things that I've been neglecting because of everything else.
Oh yeah, and I"m almost finished with my transcription training! I passed the mid-term exam for it with a pretty good score and I'm working my way through the last seven lessons. w00t!
I'm sort of excited. I think it's going to be a really good fit.
And, on the art scene, things have been going well too! It's the really fun, twisty turn down part of the roller coaster ride I think hehe. Good times. I got to get back into the swing of First Fridays on October 2nd for a friend's show (his site is here) and I practically sold out of jewelry stuff. I had to keep arranging the table to make it look like I still had inventory. It was mainly necklaces that were selling. People were all about it for some reason. Exciting. (c:
I also talked to the gallery owners and there's a potential I could have my own real show in their space in the future. Which would be great because really, I am overdue for a real gallery space I think. Personally speaking and all. I might be biased.
I've also decided that I need to devote some more time to writing. I've fallen out of the habit of writing much of anything so I sat down the other night and went back to talk to some of my characters. Happily enough, the fact that it's been rolling around in my subconscious since I started it means that the doors had not been sealed shut with super glue so I think there's a good chance for some development.
I had a few stunning realizations too-one, there was a huge logic flaw that i need to figure out before I can really progress the story. I started asking myself questions about my "bad guys" (thank you Tim) and I realized that there's this whole chunk of information that I've just sort of been glossing over that is extremely relevant. It may not make it into the actual story but I need to know how it happened so I can move forward.
And-I realized that I had completely neglected one of my main, integral characters...she's not exactly the protagonist but we need to care about her and i couldn't even tell you what she looked like two days ago. Sort of astonishing if you think about it really. My story has a big cast, which is a challenge and sort of interesting at the same time, and could be dangerous territory and I guess she got lost. Which is bad. The others I have all this great information for, and she always got swept under the rug I guess...whoops.
Finally, I think the biggest realization I had is that a lot of the stuff I wasn't writing or haven't been writing is the stuff that my character is supposed to be working through and dealing with-which are very important to me and I hadn't reached the point where I could actually write about them yet because I didn't understand them. I've since had some time to think some of these things through and process them and I guess I feel more prepared now to try and associate them with a character and her perspective.
Writing is one of those things where because your life is part of the material you pull from, if you're not comfortable with certain emotions or subjects, I feel like you can't always accurately write characters that are comfortable with those emotions or subjects. Not that you have to have lived every experience of your characters life-they are characters, not carbon copies of you, but I think for some of the bigger emotions, it's hard to write an interesting perspective if you've never had any experience or spent much time thinking about or working through your own perspectives first....
hopefully that makes sense cause I think I just confused myself. (c:
On a random note-people are so interesting. There is a well dressed business guy who is working on some paper or another...and he brought a sack lunch with him. We're in a coffee shop....but he brought his lunch. It's sort of funny. The owners here are really cool and I've done things like that before too but it's funny watching him unwrap his sandwich and eat his chips that obviously were not purchased here...oh wait...he's ordering something....cherry pie! (c: Ok, so at least he's being a patron now instead of just sort of enjoying the music and the view for free hehe.
People are strange. But I guess if they're cool with it-why not be economical. And they do have good pie. Mmmm....pie.
Alrighty-I've got to step away from the internet and go do a few things that I've been neglecting because of everything else.
Oh yeah, and I"m almost finished with my transcription training! I passed the mid-term exam for it with a pretty good score and I'm working my way through the last seven lessons. w00t!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
For those who think I talk too much...
go look at new stuff on my website! (c:
www.unravelledonline.com
the arrows actually point to something new and interesting now! Happy clicking...(go peek in Painting (at the end of the second section) and Jewelry for most of the new stuff...)
www.unravelledonline.com
the arrows actually point to something new and interesting now! Happy clicking...(go peek in Painting (at the end of the second section) and Jewelry for most of the new stuff...)
Just passing through....
So I went back to the source to see what sparked the response I found on Full Throttle and F**k It: Losing It
It got me thinking, which is always a good thing and I think I have to post. For those of you who would rather just have me tell you what the original post was about, too bad! Go read those two really great blogs! I'll wait........
done yet?
Alrighty...
I think I have to beg to differ on some of this and I have to offer a "new" idea or two of my own.
Creative folks like to talk about "it"- the magic, the thing that keeps them going, their muses, etc. They (we?) talk about it like it's a tangible, concrete object that we've somehow inherited or found lying in the gutter. We look at it like it's a big secret that only a select few of us have managed to find...and then when they lose "it" they either hang up the brushes, or they put up the pens or walk away from their novel or whatever. Some of the more attention starved ones choose to openly mope about how they used to be this or that and some tend to go sit quietly in a corner and wait it out and some choose to kill themselves.
So this is where I start to get a little...argumentative.
I don't think that there is a magic inherent to artists-at least not in the sense that most people consider. I think it comes down to something more universal-perhaps passion, or perspective. I say passion because a person without at least a shred of passion could very easily fall into the same holding patterns as all these artists who chose to end their lives early. Any person, mind you, without at least some interest in what the next day holds, or what the next month holds or the next minute holds, can find themselves considering some pretty drastic measures, just to shake things up a bit. People express their passion or at least interest in life in lots of different ways, some creatively, some not. We're all familiar with this-you dress a certain way, you order a decadent dessert just for the fun of it, you go on vacation to a place you love or a place you've never been, etc. etc.
Some people choose to paint. Or write. Or draw. Or sing. Or write music. They choose to express their passion or interest or opinions in things/life in a more direct way. I argue that it's when they become jaded towards their life or their environment that they begin to think they've lost the ephemeral creative "it".
You see it all the time. Artists stop creating because they stop caring. It happens to people all the time, it's just more noticeable by the time you've gotten famous enough to see your name in print, in lights or on an award or two here and there. It's also different because when you break through the fourth wall the exists between those who are famous and those who are not, everyone has an opinion on what you're doing. So if you have a bad day or year or month and you put work out anyway and it doesn't jive with the perception of what your work should be, people start to accuse you of losing "it" when really, maybe you just didn't care about the flowers as much this year as you did last year for whatever reason.
So let's say an artist stops caring and therefore stops creating. They haven't lost the spark that makes them creative, or talented. They could still sit down and draw the pants off anyone that challenges them probably, or outsing the best contestant on American Idol (idle...) or whatever-but they don't. Because they're over it.
Sometimes this can feel like they've lost their spark when really they're just bored. Thinking of the magical, artistic "it" lets people off the hook-it makes it seem like they have some special vision that makes the world more interesting or more exciting to them-so much that they just have to sit down and paint a picture of it in an attempt to convey that magic. I think the reality is that staying engaged in life enough to where things really do seem that intriguing takes work. Lots of work.
It's the same problem most adults have I think-you look at kids and most things are new and exciting because well, they haven't lived long enough to figure out the tricks behind the magic-as adults we come to expect certain things-cause and effect. Beautiful sunsets, etc. If those things are going to remain surprising and engaging, we have to choose to treat them as though they are new and exciting and different. It takes a great deal of effort sometimes I think to remind ourselves to stay engaged. Whether that means that we're going to wake up every morning and just make an effort or whether that means we're going to wake up and sit down at our respective Muse Centrals and "do" something with what we see or feel, is entirely up to us.
The other thing that you need to consider is that people have different desires to do things. I'll use my friends as examples. I have friends who are artists and friends who are creative and friends who are practical and all these things....each one of them is plugged in and engaged in life-they just desire to express that connection differently than, say, me. So some of us choose to paint and play with silks because we get really excited about the colors of the sunset last week-some of them choose to sit down and code some really complex computer languages because they just care how things work. But we're all plugged in to life. If my computer coding friends woke up one morning and suddenly didn't give a damn, they wouldn't lament that they had lost their ability to create code. They wouldn't think of it as having lost their "it". They would probably either relax and wait until something new developed technologically that got them excited or they would go back and revisit some of their older stuff to see if they could make it better or whatever.
Two more points and then I'll move on I promise:
One of the points that Steve brought up (which you all know 'cause you read his post...ahem. (c: ), is that perhaps Hemingway should have waited it out, spent less time concerning himself with what was, etc. etc. I couldn't agree more, but I think it has to do with social context. At the time that Hemingway and Jack London and all them were having their breakdowns, it wasn't socially acceptable to talk about your feelings, really (maybe moreso with Jack London's time, but he was a notorious drunk who, I think, personally, just got lucky...and wasn't real stable to begin with..), and I don't think the same essential skills of socially taking a break, or working through a tough period, etc. etc. had been instilled.
I'm reading "Lila" right now by Robert Pirsig and he talks about how the rebels following the Victorian era who were against all the stuffy reason, logic, manners and pomp of the times were able to rebel against it without any negative impacts on the overall society because they had been raised with an inherent social structure. They had a certain level of moral quality (his words, not mine) instilled in them and therefore the overall societal structure didn't suffer because of their personal rebellion. So fast forward to today-we have all that inherent, societal "talk it out", "processing," "closure", "becoming more centered" , dialogue programmed into us, whether we want it or not really, and therefore are better equipped to just wait out the tough periods, or change our focus, etc...Picasso didn't have that luxury. And he was clinically insane, without the same level of coping or medical help available to those of us today, so societally I think the odds were against these guys being able to work through their ennui.
Or perhaps they really were just sparks of genius that have gone out of existance. I don't know.
In the case of Johnny Cash, I think he was fortunate enough to live through the time periods that dicatated that you made it big and then you faded away-and he was blessed with enough internal flexibility to recognize the opportunities he had when he had them. He went back to what he cared about-the guitar and the lyrics and the music and the act of doing what he did. It stopped becoming about what his previous songs had become and kept being about what he was probably chasing to begin with-the passion for playing the guitar.
I could be wrong-there is such a thing as doing things purely because you are an opportunist and you're blessed with the talent to pull some things off better than others and there ya go, paycheck at the end, a little bit of fame, some comback action and your equation for success is completed. But I prefer to think that some of the really ingenious, creative people out there, aren't quite that....corporate...in their creations.
So, to bring all this to an end-talent will carry you a long ways, so will love of fame and the desire to be the center of attention-but when it comes down to it, you have to care about what you're doing and that takes work. It's a lifestyle and not an "it" that is always out of reach or always threatening to dissappear. You either have the drive to keep caring or you don't.
It's the whole "the unexamined life is not worth living" thing-you have to care enough to peek under the rock and let that curiosity drive you to express what you see in whatever way comes naturally.
I'll put my soapbox away for now.
It got me thinking, which is always a good thing and I think I have to post. For those of you who would rather just have me tell you what the original post was about, too bad! Go read those two really great blogs! I'll wait........
done yet?
Alrighty...
I think I have to beg to differ on some of this and I have to offer a "new" idea or two of my own.
Creative folks like to talk about "it"- the magic, the thing that keeps them going, their muses, etc. They (we?) talk about it like it's a tangible, concrete object that we've somehow inherited or found lying in the gutter. We look at it like it's a big secret that only a select few of us have managed to find...and then when they lose "it" they either hang up the brushes, or they put up the pens or walk away from their novel or whatever. Some of the more attention starved ones choose to openly mope about how they used to be this or that and some tend to go sit quietly in a corner and wait it out and some choose to kill themselves.
So this is where I start to get a little...argumentative.
I don't think that there is a magic inherent to artists-at least not in the sense that most people consider. I think it comes down to something more universal-perhaps passion, or perspective. I say passion because a person without at least a shred of passion could very easily fall into the same holding patterns as all these artists who chose to end their lives early. Any person, mind you, without at least some interest in what the next day holds, or what the next month holds or the next minute holds, can find themselves considering some pretty drastic measures, just to shake things up a bit. People express their passion or at least interest in life in lots of different ways, some creatively, some not. We're all familiar with this-you dress a certain way, you order a decadent dessert just for the fun of it, you go on vacation to a place you love or a place you've never been, etc. etc.
Some people choose to paint. Or write. Or draw. Or sing. Or write music. They choose to express their passion or interest or opinions in things/life in a more direct way. I argue that it's when they become jaded towards their life or their environment that they begin to think they've lost the ephemeral creative "it".
You see it all the time. Artists stop creating because they stop caring. It happens to people all the time, it's just more noticeable by the time you've gotten famous enough to see your name in print, in lights or on an award or two here and there. It's also different because when you break through the fourth wall the exists between those who are famous and those who are not, everyone has an opinion on what you're doing. So if you have a bad day or year or month and you put work out anyway and it doesn't jive with the perception of what your work should be, people start to accuse you of losing "it" when really, maybe you just didn't care about the flowers as much this year as you did last year for whatever reason.
So let's say an artist stops caring and therefore stops creating. They haven't lost the spark that makes them creative, or talented. They could still sit down and draw the pants off anyone that challenges them probably, or outsing the best contestant on American Idol (idle...) or whatever-but they don't. Because they're over it.
Sometimes this can feel like they've lost their spark when really they're just bored. Thinking of the magical, artistic "it" lets people off the hook-it makes it seem like they have some special vision that makes the world more interesting or more exciting to them-so much that they just have to sit down and paint a picture of it in an attempt to convey that magic. I think the reality is that staying engaged in life enough to where things really do seem that intriguing takes work. Lots of work.
It's the same problem most adults have I think-you look at kids and most things are new and exciting because well, they haven't lived long enough to figure out the tricks behind the magic-as adults we come to expect certain things-cause and effect. Beautiful sunsets, etc. If those things are going to remain surprising and engaging, we have to choose to treat them as though they are new and exciting and different. It takes a great deal of effort sometimes I think to remind ourselves to stay engaged. Whether that means that we're going to wake up every morning and just make an effort or whether that means we're going to wake up and sit down at our respective Muse Centrals and "do" something with what we see or feel, is entirely up to us.
The other thing that you need to consider is that people have different desires to do things. I'll use my friends as examples. I have friends who are artists and friends who are creative and friends who are practical and all these things....each one of them is plugged in and engaged in life-they just desire to express that connection differently than, say, me. So some of us choose to paint and play with silks because we get really excited about the colors of the sunset last week-some of them choose to sit down and code some really complex computer languages because they just care how things work. But we're all plugged in to life. If my computer coding friends woke up one morning and suddenly didn't give a damn, they wouldn't lament that they had lost their ability to create code. They wouldn't think of it as having lost their "it". They would probably either relax and wait until something new developed technologically that got them excited or they would go back and revisit some of their older stuff to see if they could make it better or whatever.
Two more points and then I'll move on I promise:
One of the points that Steve brought up (which you all know 'cause you read his post...ahem. (c: ), is that perhaps Hemingway should have waited it out, spent less time concerning himself with what was, etc. etc. I couldn't agree more, but I think it has to do with social context. At the time that Hemingway and Jack London and all them were having their breakdowns, it wasn't socially acceptable to talk about your feelings, really (maybe moreso with Jack London's time, but he was a notorious drunk who, I think, personally, just got lucky...and wasn't real stable to begin with..), and I don't think the same essential skills of socially taking a break, or working through a tough period, etc. etc. had been instilled.
I'm reading "Lila" right now by Robert Pirsig and he talks about how the rebels following the Victorian era who were against all the stuffy reason, logic, manners and pomp of the times were able to rebel against it without any negative impacts on the overall society because they had been raised with an inherent social structure. They had a certain level of moral quality (his words, not mine) instilled in them and therefore the overall societal structure didn't suffer because of their personal rebellion. So fast forward to today-we have all that inherent, societal "talk it out", "processing," "closure", "becoming more centered" , dialogue programmed into us, whether we want it or not really, and therefore are better equipped to just wait out the tough periods, or change our focus, etc...Picasso didn't have that luxury. And he was clinically insane, without the same level of coping or medical help available to those of us today, so societally I think the odds were against these guys being able to work through their ennui.
Or perhaps they really were just sparks of genius that have gone out of existance. I don't know.
In the case of Johnny Cash, I think he was fortunate enough to live through the time periods that dicatated that you made it big and then you faded away-and he was blessed with enough internal flexibility to recognize the opportunities he had when he had them. He went back to what he cared about-the guitar and the lyrics and the music and the act of doing what he did. It stopped becoming about what his previous songs had become and kept being about what he was probably chasing to begin with-the passion for playing the guitar.
I could be wrong-there is such a thing as doing things purely because you are an opportunist and you're blessed with the talent to pull some things off better than others and there ya go, paycheck at the end, a little bit of fame, some comback action and your equation for success is completed. But I prefer to think that some of the really ingenious, creative people out there, aren't quite that....corporate...in their creations.
So, to bring all this to an end-talent will carry you a long ways, so will love of fame and the desire to be the center of attention-but when it comes down to it, you have to care about what you're doing and that takes work. It's a lifestyle and not an "it" that is always out of reach or always threatening to dissappear. You either have the drive to keep caring or you don't.
It's the whole "the unexamined life is not worth living" thing-you have to care enough to peek under the rock and let that curiosity drive you to express what you see in whatever way comes naturally.
I'll put my soapbox away for now.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Oh my
it's been a while hasn't it?
I don't have internet at my house so it makes posting into the wee hours a bit more difficult. Anyway-I'm sitting at the office right now working on some things for tomorrow morning and it occurred to me that while I'm here I could be posting. I'm printing and I've got everything queued up for the next round-just have to wait for technology to do its thang.
The Fringe Festival was a success I do believe-there was some confusion and a lot of improv and required flexibility but I sold lots of jewelry (almost 400 dollars!) and I got to show some new work and stuff like that...always a plus. I also had some jewelry on display for the fashion show this year which was pretty cool. I had a good time too-there were a lot of cool people and despite having to sell jewelry in the parking lot of the venue instead of inside where we all thought we were going to be set up...(as I said, mandatory flexibility) things went well. I had a fantastic designer next to me who not only let me borrow one of their lights so people could actually see what they were shopping for but let me run around in the most gorgeous little shrug I've ever seen for the whole night. Hehe. It was a good time. There was 3 dollar Boulevard beer which was awesome and overall, it worked out pretty well.
I may have found myself a position on the visual arts committee for next years Fringe too...oops. I talk a lot and I have lots of opinions which is not always a good thing I know, but whatever. It needed to work better and I think I could help with that. The kid they had doing it this year got bombarded with two different equally demanding jobs for the Festival and on top of all that, he was getting his ass chewed for not having any information to really give to the artists. So yeah, it needs to have a seperate person in charge. Visual artists-we can be hard to work with, ya know...(c:
I also managed to get the show up at Black Dog Coffee Shop set up. Phew. That was a crazy dash. Remind me to have "spare art" on hand so next time I can just hang stuff and not have to do everything from scratch. Oy.
In other news-been getting some good freelance projects here and there which is good. You can check out my latest creation at: www.maxfearingart.com It's a site I did for a friend of mine who is a local artist. We're trying to get him some web recognition. It's getting there-currently it's a work in progress still but it's on its way. I also did a little bit of work for another friend of mine that I work with....jewelry commissions have been coming in since the Fringe as well. Not enough to pay the bills or buy the totally adorable, must have building that I want in Parkville but ya know. I'll take what I can get. If anyone wins the Powerball and wants to buy me a storefront, you know where to find me. (c:
I'm heading out to Colorado in September to go mountain biking with my boyfriend. It should be a lot of fun. There's a beer fest going on in downtown Denver too that we're going to hit up. That'll be a nice cap to our week out in the mountains camping and biking. Hopefully I don't actually kill myself hehe. We've been going out to a place called Landahl Park in Blue Springs, MO lately that has some really good mountain bike type trails. I know, I live in Kansas, there are no mountains, but this place does a really good job. All naturally cut trails that have lots of technical sections and lots of cool stuff to ride. I dig it a lot. I got a little banged up this weekend but no real battle scars. I was sort of disappointed. (c:
The weather has been crazy hot. I swear God was trying to come through my window last night....it was actually some severe lightening. I really did think that the generator outside my window had been struck....scared me half to death. Today was beautiful-I guess it got all of it out of its system.
Alrighty. Not much else at the moment to really report per se. Just trying to get as much playing outside done as possible as of late. (c: And spending lots of time at the coffee shop trying to get some things finished up so I can free up my time and maybe take on a real project here and there.
I've been reading lately too but that's another post all by itself. It will give me some incentive to post more regularly if I leave it for later. hehe. Hopefully at least.
I don't have internet at my house so it makes posting into the wee hours a bit more difficult. Anyway-I'm sitting at the office right now working on some things for tomorrow morning and it occurred to me that while I'm here I could be posting. I'm printing and I've got everything queued up for the next round-just have to wait for technology to do its thang.
The Fringe Festival was a success I do believe-there was some confusion and a lot of improv and required flexibility but I sold lots of jewelry (almost 400 dollars!) and I got to show some new work and stuff like that...always a plus. I also had some jewelry on display for the fashion show this year which was pretty cool. I had a good time too-there were a lot of cool people and despite having to sell jewelry in the parking lot of the venue instead of inside where we all thought we were going to be set up...(as I said, mandatory flexibility) things went well. I had a fantastic designer next to me who not only let me borrow one of their lights so people could actually see what they were shopping for but let me run around in the most gorgeous little shrug I've ever seen for the whole night. Hehe. It was a good time. There was 3 dollar Boulevard beer which was awesome and overall, it worked out pretty well.
I may have found myself a position on the visual arts committee for next years Fringe too...oops. I talk a lot and I have lots of opinions which is not always a good thing I know, but whatever. It needed to work better and I think I could help with that. The kid they had doing it this year got bombarded with two different equally demanding jobs for the Festival and on top of all that, he was getting his ass chewed for not having any information to really give to the artists. So yeah, it needs to have a seperate person in charge. Visual artists-we can be hard to work with, ya know...(c:
I also managed to get the show up at Black Dog Coffee Shop set up. Phew. That was a crazy dash. Remind me to have "spare art" on hand so next time I can just hang stuff and not have to do everything from scratch. Oy.
In other news-been getting some good freelance projects here and there which is good. You can check out my latest creation at: www.maxfearingart.com It's a site I did for a friend of mine who is a local artist. We're trying to get him some web recognition. It's getting there-currently it's a work in progress still but it's on its way. I also did a little bit of work for another friend of mine that I work with....jewelry commissions have been coming in since the Fringe as well. Not enough to pay the bills or buy the totally adorable, must have building that I want in Parkville but ya know. I'll take what I can get. If anyone wins the Powerball and wants to buy me a storefront, you know where to find me. (c:
I'm heading out to Colorado in September to go mountain biking with my boyfriend. It should be a lot of fun. There's a beer fest going on in downtown Denver too that we're going to hit up. That'll be a nice cap to our week out in the mountains camping and biking. Hopefully I don't actually kill myself hehe. We've been going out to a place called Landahl Park in Blue Springs, MO lately that has some really good mountain bike type trails. I know, I live in Kansas, there are no mountains, but this place does a really good job. All naturally cut trails that have lots of technical sections and lots of cool stuff to ride. I dig it a lot. I got a little banged up this weekend but no real battle scars. I was sort of disappointed. (c:
The weather has been crazy hot. I swear God was trying to come through my window last night....it was actually some severe lightening. I really did think that the generator outside my window had been struck....scared me half to death. Today was beautiful-I guess it got all of it out of its system.
Alrighty. Not much else at the moment to really report per se. Just trying to get as much playing outside done as possible as of late. (c: And spending lots of time at the coffee shop trying to get some things finished up so I can free up my time and maybe take on a real project here and there.
I've been reading lately too but that's another post all by itself. It will give me some incentive to post more regularly if I leave it for later. hehe. Hopefully at least.
Friday, May 15, 2009
A breath of fresh air
It's seriously trying to dump a tornado on us right now I think. Gotta love the midwest.
So I'm posting for a multitude of reasons...one-it's been forever and I thought it'd be nice to take a minute and drop a post.
two-I'm trying pimp this site-I've got my web hosting through them and if anyone you know needs webhosting for cheap, have them click this link for me...it's like a referral program thingie. Shamless. Shameless.
http://www.logicweb.com/56.html
Thirdly-I've got lots of random things going on at the moment.
I'm working on stuff for the upcoming Fringe Festival in July still..sadly nothing has really surfaced as far as work...it's a process and I'm trying to learn not to force things. I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself lately to make all this great, moving work about my year off and all that and frankly, not much is coming to me...the things I"m thinking about are related but I'm not sure how to let the viewers know that...or if it matters....I dunno. It's weird. I"m trying to avoid just doing some nice abstracts that are some open to interpretation that you could throw a dart at a "What's This Painting About" board and so long as you hit something, you'd be right...
I've also been thinking about another book...which I know is just one more thing, but I already know it would be easier to write...because it'd be true. And I'm a much better non fiction, this is what already happened and now I'm telling you a story about it sort of writer than I am a from scratch fiction writer...
I am still working on my novel though. Just not right now. Ahem. I know. I know.
I've been reading some great books lately too....I'll do a post on them later. I promise. ;-)
I'm glad that it's the weekend, that's all I can say. Work has been dead lately with summer break and all so I've been pantsing it....should be interesting over the next few months. (c:
I did get up some balls and go audition for the 2009/2010 season with The Unicorn Theatre and The Coterie...I'm really hoping I get cast for some of the projects. I'm stoked about this one in particular-and they're paid positions. Like, real money. Do you know how exciting that is? Hehe.
I'm throwing around some ideas about getting some different types of "padding" for my resume, some type of business logic certifications or something. I dunno. I'm no tech anything but I could definitely find something out there that would play to my strengths and get certified in it..hehe. Sadly "people skills" isn't a certification.
Anyway-I have to scoot for now but I'll keep things updated more often I'm hoping. I've got a few projects that I should be able to show off in the near future too.
So I'm posting for a multitude of reasons...one-it's been forever and I thought it'd be nice to take a minute and drop a post.
two-I'm trying pimp this site-I've got my web hosting through them and if anyone you know needs webhosting for cheap, have them click this link for me...it's like a referral program thingie. Shamless. Shameless.
http://www.logicweb.com/56.html
Thirdly-I've got lots of random things going on at the moment.
I'm working on stuff for the upcoming Fringe Festival in July still..sadly nothing has really surfaced as far as work...it's a process and I'm trying to learn not to force things. I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself lately to make all this great, moving work about my year off and all that and frankly, not much is coming to me...the things I"m thinking about are related but I'm not sure how to let the viewers know that...or if it matters....I dunno. It's weird. I"m trying to avoid just doing some nice abstracts that are some open to interpretation that you could throw a dart at a "What's This Painting About" board and so long as you hit something, you'd be right...
I've also been thinking about another book...which I know is just one more thing, but I already know it would be easier to write...because it'd be true. And I'm a much better non fiction, this is what already happened and now I'm telling you a story about it sort of writer than I am a from scratch fiction writer...
I am still working on my novel though. Just not right now. Ahem. I know. I know.
I've been reading some great books lately too....I'll do a post on them later. I promise. ;-)
I'm glad that it's the weekend, that's all I can say. Work has been dead lately with summer break and all so I've been pantsing it....should be interesting over the next few months. (c:
I did get up some balls and go audition for the 2009/2010 season with The Unicorn Theatre and The Coterie...I'm really hoping I get cast for some of the projects. I'm stoked about this one in particular-and they're paid positions. Like, real money. Do you know how exciting that is? Hehe.
I'm throwing around some ideas about getting some different types of "padding" for my resume, some type of business logic certifications or something. I dunno. I'm no tech anything but I could definitely find something out there that would play to my strengths and get certified in it..hehe. Sadly "people skills" isn't a certification.
Anyway-I have to scoot for now but I'll keep things updated more often I'm hoping. I've got a few projects that I should be able to show off in the near future too.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The goings on....
Ok, so I realize it's been a while since I've blogged anything. I slacked off. I'm sorry. Things have been busy around here though and I find myself with a few moments of calm to catch some things up. It's almost disconcerting to have nothing to do at the moment, I've gotten quite used to running around from place to place only about five minutes ahead of where I should be. Nuts stuff.
So-I've moved into my own place. I have no furniture except for a computer desk and a small table that I recently acquired to put my TV on...I don't have anything to watch on the TV yet but I have a DVD player and somewhere I have movies so life shall continue. I also have a coffee table that I painted turquoise and added cherry blossoms to...I think it looks smashing (c:
I've also found a second job, which is going fine if a bit scattered at the moment. I enjoy the work that I've got to do, if I can pin people down long enough to get the details and the resources so I can move forward with my projects.
I've also been doing a lot creatively...kinda....not really my own work, but I've been getting some small projects here and there which has been a nice buffer to my meager funds hehe. I am still a Mad Scientist happily enough and I'm going to be looking into a puppeteering job. Good times.
I also got cast recently in a one act play that is being produced as part of a fundraiser for Kansas City's upcoming Fringe Festival. (It's a big art festival that runs for a week where all the edgier and more indy artists can come and get some representation and have a lot of fun.). So rehearsals have been keeping me busy. I'm excited about the role though, I've been meaning to get back on stage for a while now and I found my opportunity to do it. The performance is April 18th.
I'm also going to be exhibiting work in the Fringe Festival so I've been trying to get ready for that though right now I seem to be more obsessed with finishing some of the books I've started instead of sitting down to paint. I'm still in the brainstorming stage as far as all that goes.
Finally...( I wasn't kidding when I said I had a lot going on..) I'm going to be attempting my demonstration in my martial arts class. I want to get my next rank really badly and I'm going to go for it next Tuesday I think. I"m not really nervous as it stands right now but I'm sure that could change. I"m trying not to psyche myself out or anything-I just want to get up there and do a good job and give it a good effort. If I fail, whatever, I can try again.
I'm hoping to be able to sit down and blog about some of the books I've finished and will soon finish, they've been really good and really influential I think as far as some of my ideas for my upcoming show at The Fringe. I titled the show "Wanderlust" because I've been wanting to sit down and focus some of my artistic energy towards exploring the deeper emotions and experience behind the traveling I did.
And I'm already planning the next trip hehe...I'm not sure how it's all going to work out financially but if I can find a freelance job to work that doesn't require me to be anywhere in particular I can work and still make some money I figure while I'm gone. (c: It wouldn't be for more than two weeks or so this time, my friend Jen and I are aiming to take a short trip before she starts grad school. We're trying to get to Scotland. It may be worth it to work on finding a ride from here to NYC and then flying out of there R/T since flights have been quite reasonable lately.
Also, you never know, I could get lucky and make a bunch of money at the festival-I'm going to be selling jewelry at the fashion show (which'll be a good place to try out some new design ideas I've been having I think) and hopefully sell some work. We shall see.
I'm also waiting to hear about the art grant I applied for and I"m keeping my eyes peeled for some other ones that may pop up. I met a grant writer the other day so I'm hoping to turn that into a great resource so I can learn how to write better proposals.
Anyway-that's about all for now, I"m going to go sit with my blank canvases and see what comes out. I had bellydancing over at my house tonight which was great and it got some good creative energy flowing.
So far, I'm in the process of fulfilling some of my promises for myself: I've had people over to my house to do creative things, I"ve danced in my home and I'm working on getting some unique pieces of furniture or the imitation there of to make it feel more like my space.
If I keep this up, I won't want to leave. (c:
So-I've moved into my own place. I have no furniture except for a computer desk and a small table that I recently acquired to put my TV on...I don't have anything to watch on the TV yet but I have a DVD player and somewhere I have movies so life shall continue. I also have a coffee table that I painted turquoise and added cherry blossoms to...I think it looks smashing (c:
I've also found a second job, which is going fine if a bit scattered at the moment. I enjoy the work that I've got to do, if I can pin people down long enough to get the details and the resources so I can move forward with my projects.
I've also been doing a lot creatively...kinda....not really my own work, but I've been getting some small projects here and there which has been a nice buffer to my meager funds hehe. I am still a Mad Scientist happily enough and I'm going to be looking into a puppeteering job. Good times.
I also got cast recently in a one act play that is being produced as part of a fundraiser for Kansas City's upcoming Fringe Festival. (It's a big art festival that runs for a week where all the edgier and more indy artists can come and get some representation and have a lot of fun.). So rehearsals have been keeping me busy. I'm excited about the role though, I've been meaning to get back on stage for a while now and I found my opportunity to do it. The performance is April 18th.
I'm also going to be exhibiting work in the Fringe Festival so I've been trying to get ready for that though right now I seem to be more obsessed with finishing some of the books I've started instead of sitting down to paint. I'm still in the brainstorming stage as far as all that goes.
Finally...( I wasn't kidding when I said I had a lot going on..) I'm going to be attempting my demonstration in my martial arts class. I want to get my next rank really badly and I'm going to go for it next Tuesday I think. I"m not really nervous as it stands right now but I'm sure that could change. I"m trying not to psyche myself out or anything-I just want to get up there and do a good job and give it a good effort. If I fail, whatever, I can try again.
I'm hoping to be able to sit down and blog about some of the books I've finished and will soon finish, they've been really good and really influential I think as far as some of my ideas for my upcoming show at The Fringe. I titled the show "Wanderlust" because I've been wanting to sit down and focus some of my artistic energy towards exploring the deeper emotions and experience behind the traveling I did.
And I'm already planning the next trip hehe...I'm not sure how it's all going to work out financially but if I can find a freelance job to work that doesn't require me to be anywhere in particular I can work and still make some money I figure while I'm gone. (c: It wouldn't be for more than two weeks or so this time, my friend Jen and I are aiming to take a short trip before she starts grad school. We're trying to get to Scotland. It may be worth it to work on finding a ride from here to NYC and then flying out of there R/T since flights have been quite reasonable lately.
Also, you never know, I could get lucky and make a bunch of money at the festival-I'm going to be selling jewelry at the fashion show (which'll be a good place to try out some new design ideas I've been having I think) and hopefully sell some work. We shall see.
I'm also waiting to hear about the art grant I applied for and I"m keeping my eyes peeled for some other ones that may pop up. I met a grant writer the other day so I'm hoping to turn that into a great resource so I can learn how to write better proposals.
Anyway-that's about all for now, I"m going to go sit with my blank canvases and see what comes out. I had bellydancing over at my house tonight which was great and it got some good creative energy flowing.
So far, I'm in the process of fulfilling some of my promises for myself: I've had people over to my house to do creative things, I"ve danced in my home and I'm working on getting some unique pieces of furniture or the imitation there of to make it feel more like my space.
If I keep this up, I won't want to leave. (c:
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