AEDM: Day Eight!

Today’s ATC is simple.


I started with an embossed background.

Added an image of an old building (which seems familiar, but I can’t place it).

Then, added a flower that I painted with shimmery paint. (You can’t see it in the picture, but trust me, shimmery!)

Finally, some silver letters that say “Yes”.

I edged the whole thing with black paint, and called it a day.

Full confession, I believe I’m running out of creativity. Seriously. The well is almost dry, folks.


It’s only day 8, and I feel like I’ve used up all my artistic resources. (Between this challenge and NaNoWriMo, that is.)

Here’s hoping the inspiration fairies kick in soon.

I begged them to join me in my Morning Pages today…

If any visit you, please send them my way!

The Artist's Way: Week Six, Post Four

Like the past five weeks, here’s my weekly check-in.

1) I did the morning pages 5 days this week.  I think they’ve become much more focused.  In earlier weeks, I’d just ramble on about anything that popped into my head.  But, lately, I’ve written about specific things: my NaNoWriMo novel, my AEDM ATC’s, my fear of being a creative failure, my concepts of God, etc.  It’s been an interesting evolution.  Now that I’m half way through the program, I’m looking forward to seeing what I’ll be writing during week 12.

2) Artist’s Date: This was my stay-in artist’s date, and I was able to travel around the world!  I decided to spend an hour going to some of my favorite creative blogs and seeing what everyone is up to.

Here’s a list of just a few of them, so you can experience it for yourself:

Crescendoh

Decor8

Danita Art

The Kathryn Wheel

Christy Tomlinson

Isn’t it amazing?  So many creative people around the world. It makes me feel hopeful and that things won’t ever get as bad as some think, because there is so much beauty being birthed every day through so many different avenues!  Maybe I’m just being a romantic, but that’s how it makes me feel!

What do you think?

3) This week, I consciously looked for synchronicity and nothing happened (at least, nothing I was aware of).  Maybe next week?

4) No issues.  Am I supposed to be having some?  Does that mean I’m doing something wrong? Who knows? Oh, well.

And now, here’s the next stage in my Artist’s Way painting.

I have no idea where to go from here...

UP NEXT: Week Seven!

The Artist's Way: Week Five, Post Four

First, let me do the weekly check-in…

1)   So, I only did Morning Pages 4 days this week.  I just didn’t have the energy to write for a half-hour.  I don’t really have an excuse, except to say “I didn’t wanna.”

2)   Yep, had an Artist’s Date.  You know the drill.  More down below…

3)   Synchronicity?  I don’t recall anything.  Well, now that I think about it, ever since I decided that my NaNoWriMo book was going to include zombies*, I have noticed a lot of zombie-related things popping up: articles, TV shows, comic books, etc.  It could be that I was surrounded by these things the whole time (most likely) and didn’t notice.  But, it’s interesting nonetheless.

4)   No issues that I can think of. Except, of course, my half-hearted attempt at Morning Pages.

Now, on to the Artist’s Date:

I decided to take a solo photographic tour of the architecture of my city.  I called it my “Backyard Beauty Bonanza,” because I wanted to see what beautiful things I could discover in my own familiar backyard, aka, city.

What I decided to do was get in my car, and drive around.  Simple enough, right? Anything that caught my eye, whether building, house, or street, I would investigate.  And every time I had to stop (law-abiding citizen that I am), I would look for something beautiful.

It was really quite enjoyable, and it opened up my city to me in a whole new way.  I would definitely recommend this to all of you!  But, I do have a few tips to make it more enjoyable (and less life-threatening):

1) It’s best to go in the early morning.  There’s less traffic, and therefore, you are less likely to be honked at when you swerve over to the curb to take a picture.

2) Know how to work your camera.  Driving is not the best time to figure out how to zoom, or how to add an old-timey patina to pictures.  Trust me.

3)   Don’t have something planned right after.  I thought giving myself an hour would be plenty of time, so I scheduled something directly following, and I was sad to have to leave an area of town that I would have liked to explore.  You never know what you’ll find that you’ll want to leave your car to investigate.  Give yourself the time to wander.

4)   Bring something to take notes with.  That way, you can jot down what street your dream home was on, or where was a little shop you wanted to visit at a later time.

5)   Have great music.  Something that invokes magic, mystery, adventure, and singing!  Nothing brings down your exploration mood like radio commercials. Bleh!

Okay, now, on to my “Backyard Beauty Bonanza”!

At my very first red light, I saw this scene out of the corner of my eye. Beautiful!

If you have one of these in your area, that's a great place to start!

Dream home, by chance?

"Liz, is that a horse and wagon?" Yep!

Old firehouse, anyone?

Don't you just love this old church!

"Liz, is that an Antebellum home from your trip to the South?"  Nope, a house right down the street from me!

Friends, I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  

So, here's a challenge for you, next Saturday morning, get your camera, notepad, and your favorite mix CD, and have a "Backyard Beauty Bonanza" of your own!

UP NEXT: Week Six!

And, here's a picture from the latest step on my painting!

*You might be wondering "Why, zombies?"  Good question.  The answer: I have no idea!  I've never read a book on zombies, seen a movie about zombies, or thought about zombies (except to avoid them).  But, I wanted to try something a little out of my comfort zone.  So, zombies it is!

The Artist’s Way: Week Four, Post Five

"Two posts in one day, Liz?!" Yep!  I'm on a roll...

Okay, first, a quick weekly check-in:


1. I wrote 6 out of 7 days. And this was the first time that I didn’t want to write. I had stuff to say, I just didn’t want to take the time to say it. (It takes 25ish minutes to write three pages—at least for me.) But, I made myself anyway. (Including writing affirmations on colored paper and folding it into Origami lotus flowers. (I like having them around as a visual reminder, and plan on getting some sort of container to display them.))

2. My Artist’s Date was easy this week, but made me incredibly happy! I’ll talk more about that later.

3. I didn’t really notice any synchronicity this week. But, to be honest, I forgot to look for it.

4. Aside from the sadness I felt at not reading (and the realization that I need to get additional hobbies), no specific issues came up for me.



Now, on to my Artist’s Date:

Friends, as you know, this week I’ve not been able to read. It left a gapping whole in my life and I missed it terribly. But, you also know that it was very eye-opening for me. So, I’m grateful I did it!

That being said, I specifically waited to have my Artist’s Date until Sunday, when my reading moratorium was over. You can guess what I did for my date, right? I read!!!

And not just anything, but this…

So inspiring! You can order this magazine here.

And this…

One of my favorites! You can learn more here.

And this…

Fabulous! You can see more here.

It was an art and creativity explosion in my mind, and I LOVED IT!!!


I’m so glad that there are such amazing and talented people in the world (including yourself) to inspire me and push me to keep at it, and remind me that I’m not alone in this Creative Life Experiment!



Now, go find something to spark your creativity!


Wait! Before you leave, here's the next stage of my Artist's Way painting...

Polka Dots, anyone?

UP NEXT: Week Five

The Artist’s Way: Week Four, Post Two

If I were to ask you the question “How are you?,” what would be your response?

Ten to one, I bet you’d respond “Fine,” no matter what was going on in your life, right?

Ya, me too.

And if you asked me “How are you feeling today?” I’d probably respond “Okay,” no matter what was going on in my life.

Glossing-over our emotions and thoughts is easy to do in conversation. (We don’t think the other person really wants to know anyway, and is just being polite.) But, it is next to impossible to do this in the Morning Pages. In fact, they really don’t allow it (I’ve tried). They press you to answer the questions “How am I?” and “How do I feel?” with an honesty that bares you to the bone. They make you answer even if you don’t want to because you know that it’s going to be painful (and require you to take action).

This truthfulness is what Julia calls Recovering a Sense of Integrity and that’s the focus for this week. She really goes into detail about the value of the Morning Pages in regards to uncovering who we really are, what we really believe, and how we can hide these truths from ourselves.

Here are just a few quotes that I loved in this chapter:

“Over any considerable period of time, the morning pages perform spiritual chiropractic. They realign our values. If we are to the left or the right of our personal truth, the pages will point out the need for a course adjustment” (p. 80).

“The process of identifying a self inevitably involves loss as well as gain … As we clarify our perceptions, we lose our misconceptions. As we eliminate ambiguity, we lose illusion as well. We arrive at clarity, and clarity creates change” (p. 81).

“Each day’s morning pages take a swipe at the blur you have kept between you and your real self” (p. 84).

I’ve experienced this, this unknown part of myself that suddenly makes its appearance on the page.

And it can be startling.

One of the rules of Morning Pages is that you don’t go back to read them. So, you’d think that that would mean you don’t remember what you’ve written (and in some cases this is true), but what happens is a tethered unraveling, an experience of coming undone and yet remaining connected. Slowly, more and more of me is appearing on the page. And it makes me uncomfortable facing myself in such an intimate way (which sounds strange, I know).

Let me give you an example to help you understand. A few days ago as I was writing random thoughts in my Morning Pages, a line appeared that was so shattering I actually stopped and held my breath because I was going to cry (and I hate crying). It was a truth so tender that I wasn’t prepared for it, and the line has been haunting me ever since.

I wasn’t going to share it specifically because it’s such a personal revelation, but, since it’s just the two of us, I’ll offer it for you to ponder:



It’s terrible to long for something you know you won’t give yourself.



The Morning Pages have shown me that this is my truth, my integrity.

And it breaks my heart…



UP NEXT: Not Reading = Sad Liz