I’m about to embark on the most creative act a woman can dream of, though I’ve been in the process for the past nine months, this is the finale. Drumrolls please… better than having a painting displayed at the MOMA, an award winning book or film, songs topping the charts or debuting at fashion week… having a baby is the ultimate expression of beauty that an artist (that anyone!) could dream of.
Many of you have been asking, so I thought I’d give a little update… don’t get too excited, but we’re in that transition stage of our second baby coming! Which means that he could show up any moment now, or that it could be several more days. Which is vague and suspenseful and it’s hardly possible to concentrate on anything or plan much in the meantime. Feels like I’m on standby for a really great destination – bags packed, house clean, arrangements made for our little seven year old, all ready… but will we ever get there? (I’m telling myself over and over that the answer is yes!) I can’t really believe it, it’s been so long and even though there is no doubt we are almost there, I don’t think it will be real until I’m holding him. Close friends and family know that we’ve waited years for this new addition in our lives, so each hour that passes by just means one stride closer to finally meeting this sweet little bundle. Cross your fingers for us!
+ The Art Spirit by Robert Henri
I’ve written and spoken about this book many times before, and there is good reason. This compilation of letters, notes and lectures to the Robert Henri’s students are loosely organized by technical advice, inspiration and teachings that I come back to again and again. A favorite aspect of this book is how I can turn to any page and just jump in. I can’t help but feel like he was somehow a mentor of mine when I growing up… I found a paperback edition when I was around 15 at a used book store and it’s been dogeared and referenced ever since. No artist should be without this one! (On a side note, I’ve also noticed the my reactions to his paintings I’ve been fortunate enough to see at museums strike a very personal chord with me, the same feeling I’ve had before when seeing art professor’s works in galleries have on me. Since this book is all in text, it was much like being taught at school, without ever seeing the professor’s personal work but learning from their style and being schooled in everything they could pass on to me. Then: seeing everything come together in their vision on the wall, understanding how every brushstroke from their hand came onto the canvas for the first time… you understand that work more intensly, more intimatly, it’s a a non visual language that you understand from that mentor relationship.)
+ The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp
I know a book is worthy of teaching me something great when instead of just sitting down and plugging through it, I reach for my notebook and pen and cannot stop taking notes through the length of it. There is an impression (stereotype?) out there that artists, because of their independent nature and willingness to change up the rules, don’t work well or are unreliable and flightly, etc. Though I know that holds up for some, Twyla proves in a stern fashion that there is a great discipline to craft, and it takes more than luck or talent to fulfill that potential. This one will whip you into shape!
+ Trust the Process: An Artist’s Guide to Letting Go
If you are going through a rough patch, creatively speaking. If you are lacking confidence. If you are not sure what step is next. If you doubt that you should even start on the path of being an artist. If you don’t know where or why to begin. This is the book for you, truly a favorite. (Hey, you might even avoid some psychotherapy picking this one up.)
+ Walking in This World by Julia Cameron
I read this so long ago, but had to include it in my list because I remember so many lightbulbs going off over my head while reading it. It was like a bouquet of wattage floating over my red hair, but I know I need to go back and reread it to recall exactly what it was. Most any Julia Cameron book will bring the artist to a good place in my opinion, and she certainly has a lot to choose from. I’ve read most of her books, but this one in particular is special because it inspired the theme to my blog from one little line, “When we express our creativity, we are a conduit for the great creator to explore, express, and expand it’s divine nature and our own. We are like songbirds. When one of us gives voice to our true nature, it is contagious and others soon give tongue as well.” (Bold added so ya’d notice the name there, grin.) I have tried to live by that since those words sunk in years ago, it’s become the spine in my work and I love to feel my enthusiasm build when I hear it flowing in my mind.
What about you, do you have some favorite encouraging books for artists? I’d love to hear your recommendations!
+ Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Lisa suggested this one as one of her favorites and I have to agree, there’s a reason it’s popular among artists! Go grab a copy if you haven’t had the chance to read it, it’s a slim little collection of letters, but you might want to take your time and savor it.
I’m so impressed with The Greenwood Collective building’s space…all that light, all that exposed brick, open galleries down a flight of stairs. It’s got a true arterior soul. There was a lot of great community artwork being shown tonight during the art walk, among the unveiling of all the penguins. I stopped in briefly tonight to say hello and took some more pictures of the Penguins on the March. Enjoy!
As promised, here is a look at my completed penguin for the Penguins on the March project! Inspired by the distance that penguins cover in their migrations, I felt that this guy was meant to be a traveler, and so I set out to bring that part of his personality…
He wears a scallop edged coat made of 1970s National Geographic maps, all cut into teardrops shapes and assembled project runway style. (I swear at any point, Tim Gunn was going to walk into the room, hands clasped, and say to me, “Make it work!”) Trimmed in velvet and vintage leather and plastic buttons, he dons a hat I crocheted for him, a lime cotton collar, as well as a tiny paper suitcase.
Mini trees near the base elaborate his sense of wanderlust through various landscapes, and gives him a pacific northwest vibe.
This morning Magellan was part of the Penguins on the March launch at the Space Needle, where he met all kinds of people, young and old, including other Seattle artists part of the project.
The launch event is a celebration of art and wildlife conservation, inspired by the Woodland Park Zoo’s brand new Humboldt exhibit, and continues tonight where Magellan and other penguins will be at The Greenwood Collective during the Art Up/Open Up Greenwood-Phinney art walk. After today, Penguins on the March will begin migrating into Ballard, Fremont and Greenwood-Phinney, where some will be featured in front of neighborhood businesses through September. (Catch some select penguins at the Waiting for the Interurban sculpture in Fremont tomorrow, June 13th.) After migrating through Seattle, the penguins will be auctioned off to benefit Woodland Park Zoo’s field conservation program, which supports 38 wildlife conservation projects in 50 countries worldwide. More pics from this morning’s launch, taken before the crowd got going…
One of the yummiest places in my city…Pike Place Market. Though it’s not just for tourists, lately it’s been packed because of the beautiful weather and all the summer season. Weekends become especially difficult to navigate through all the visitors just standing between you and the seafood. There is usually a wall of people there just to look, not necessarily to buy. Locals like me forget that not everyone in the world has a market like ours, with goods displayed in such a novel way.
