Don't be daunted

Don't be afraid, don't be daunted, just do your job. Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat, Pray, Love shares an inspiring talk about another way to think about creativity.

If you doing anything remotely creative this video is worth 19 minutes of your life:

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Jack Hadley founder of coworkutah recommended it. This morning Jack taught my senior seminar art class a thing or two about social marketing. I now see the value of Twitter and Facebook and blogging beyond just socializing. Thanks to Jack we are not listening to anyone who gives us the concerned look when we tell them we are artists. Today my fellow artists and I will be inspired to carve our own way.

I'd love to hear about what you thought of the video and if you have any ideas about how to stay focused on your creativity and not about how bad the economy is.

Wy'east Peaking Through the Clouds

Planes are magical. They lift you up and drop you off in a new place. Yesterday I was in Provo and today I'm in Portland. While you are on a plane you have some time to think about where you are going without being instantly in touch with the world via phone or internet. However, I did use my iPhone to take a picture of Mount Hood in flight as it was peaking through the clouds.
I learned that The Multnomah name for Mount Hood is Wy'east. In one version of the legend the two sons of the Great Spirit Sahale fell in love with the beautiful maiden Loowit who could not decide which to choose. The two braves, Wy'east and Klickitat, burned forests and villages in their battle over her. Sahale became enraged and smote the three lovers. Seeing what he had done he erected three mountain peaks to mark where each fell. He made beautiful Mount St. Helens for Loowit, proud and erect Mount Hood for Wy'east, and the somber Mount Adams for the mourning Klickitat.

Just goes to show what happens when women are indecisive. The mountain is more generally known as Mount Hood after some British general. I like Wy'east better.

10 Years Old Again

I felt like I was 10 years old again. Thursday night, my friend Chris and I went in to the woods armed with a flashlight in search of dead branches. We needed a lot of sticks. We dragged the dead branches through the woods and got some questionable looks as we passed a few cars on the road. Back at my apartment I thought if some parental figure walked into my living room they would have been aghast. It was so dirty with bark and branches and leaves everywhere.

We needed lots of sticks because we were working our creative minds to liven up our refreshment table at the Woodbury Art Museum with our tiny budget. With a little twine we decorated some old bottles. My friends Brynne and Jane, food artisans made some tasty treats that we served with apple cider. Robbie took these pictures of our festive decorations.

I was thrilled to be participant in the National Invitational Postcard Exhibit and I was so happy to see many friends come and support the show. Thanks!

P.S. We started a blog for the museum follow this link Woodbury Art Museum.

Reunited with the Past

As many of you know I work for UVU's Woodbury Art Museum. A selection of the dolls from the McCurdy Doll Museum will be on display at the Woodbury Art Museum from November 6 until January 15, 2010. Earlier this week I interviewed Shirley Paxman founder of the McCurdy Doll Museum in Provo, Utah. Mrs. Paxman told me many wonderful stories about the collection of 4,000 dolls.

When asked which was her favorite doll Mrs. Paxman said without hesitation, "Rosie". She received Rosie, a composite baby doll, for Christmas in 1929 when she was 9 years old. Like Mrs. Paxman, countless women can fondly name their favorite childhood doll too.

My favorite doll as a child was Ruby Louise, a 1983 red headed Cabbage Patch doll. I had secretly wished my hair was red because I wanted to be like Anne of Green Gables. My mother braved the crowds of people who all wanted the popular Cabbage Patch dolls for their daughters in search of a red headed one. I was so excited to receive her for Christmas and as I dragged her with me everywhere I went she became a little friend to me for years.

Mrs. Paxman told me she still had Rosie, and asked if I still had Rubie Louise. I regretfully told her, that Ruby Louise was lost along with most of my childhood possessions in our Gulf Coast home during Hurricane Katrina.

After the interview, Mrs. Paxman showed me through the many rooms of dolls. At my surprise in the last room, I saw several Cabbage Patch dolls still in their boxes laying on the floor. I was so excited to see a red headed Cabbage Patch amongst them. It instantly conjured up my memories of Ruby Louise. Mrs. Paxman picked it up and said she wanted me to have it. I tearfully told her that she shouldn't give it to me that it should stay with her. She explained that this doll should go with me because no one else would appreciate her more than I would.

Sadly disaster did take many things that I loved, but I am so thankful to have been reunited with my childhood doll in such a serendipitous way. I think sharing the experience I had with Mrs. Paxman truly tells the story of who she is and what she is about more than any interview question I could have asked.

Dinner with the Board of Trustees and President Holland

Last week I was invited to give a small presentation over dinner of my summer research that I was granted through the Scholarly and Creative Opportunities Program at UVU to the Board of Trustees and the President Matthew Holland of Utah Valley University.

I briefly explained that I explored my connections between art and music by specifically listening to the music of Elizabethan Report. It was a lovely dinner and a great opportunity to share my experiences at UVU in the art department.

President Holland has some outstanding ideas about Engaged Learning and Community Engagement. I am so happy to attend a University that offers these opportunities to learn by doing.

The art featured here is a sneak preview of what is to come. I painted this to Elizabethan Report's song "Two Silver Trumpets".

Hitting the Books

As you might have guessed I'm an art student. I'm currently taking 18 credits and working at the Woodbury Art Museum 30 hours a week. That kind of schedule is enough to make anyone crazy. Besides my art history classes there are no text books. But that doesn't mean that we artists don't read. There are over a dozen books that are piling up in the chair in my room that I am currently reading, skimming, and studying from. I thought it might be helpful to share with you some of my favorite books in future posts. Right now, "Book + Art, Handcrafting Artists' Books" by Dorthy Simpson Krause has really got me excited. I like this book because it combines artmaking and bookbinding ideas together. It even explores boxes and unbound collections. The instructions are easy to understand and inspirational.

I am currently learning some simple bookbinding techniques that I will share in a later in a post. For you local Utah readers, the Woodbury Art Museum will be having a book binding work shop very soon. Will let you know about the dates soon. Let me know if you are interested so I can get a good idea about how many to plan for.

50 Drawings in 50 Minutes on Top of Each Other

After the previous assignment with Catherine Downing, (50 Drawings in 50 minutes) my instructor Tawni Shuler, recommended me to do 50 drawings in 50 minutes on one big piece of paper. She asked me to use an organic form. I chose a piece of burlap paper and twirled it smashed it up a bit and then arranged it on the table in front of me. With this approach I never rearranged the object. I just moved my drawing paper around and changed mediums each time I drew it. I drew small parts of it, I drew it very large and very small. I drew it with my eyes closed. I tried angular approaches and soft circular approaches. The time went by very fast. As you can see the result doesn't look like a still life drawing at all. I had fun just playing with different materials. Sometimes,"Unexpected paths lead to great discoveries"(Wayne Hodgins).