Awaken Joy; Intuitive Painting

When do we close the doors on parts of ourselves? Sometimes it just takes a chance word from someone we respect.

Many years ago, I drew a little person—an elf?--into a still life in art class. He just seemed to want to be there, so I drew him in. The teacher asked me why, and when I answered, “he wanted to be there”, she said, “You mean YOU wanted him there.” I don't know why, but a door closed for me then. It seemed that allowing something to emerge from my subconscious onto the paper wasn't allowed, and I've felt...limited in my artwork since then.

I want to open that door back up, but how?

So, I bought a book: Intuitive Painting Workshop, by Alena Hennessy.

Today I tried out the first "lesson" in Alena's book.

I thought I'd make a Christmas card design. Alena suggests using hand made or interesting papers for the background. I made my own background papers. That's as far as I got, but it was enough! I'm back in my studio having fun! When the papers are dry, I'll do the next step.

I tried both regular copy paper, and 90# watercolor paper
 
 





  



Recipe for Crinkle Paper Background: 

• Wet paper all over on one side
• Crinkle it up into a ball
• Drop paint on in here and there, until you have as much color as you want. Remember, the inside of the ball will be uncolored unless you take extra care to drop color deep into the crevasses.

card made with crinkle paper background

• Carefully lay the paper out flat to dry

Opening Reception for the Art Show--Worth It?

I had a great time at the opening reception for my show at Vashon Tea Shop Friday night! Thanks to all who came!

Before the reception,  I worried that the music from the Vashon Book Shop next door would drown out Kat Egglestons's wonderful guitar playing at the opening reception. I worried that no one would come. I worried that my work would not show well. I worried that no one would like my work.

 I worried, I was suddenly exhausted from the work of putting up the show, I had that sinking feeling one gets after spending a lot of energy on something and fearing it won't work out.

I do not plan to sell any of the art. I am showing illustrations from past and current work, both studies and published. Nothing I am ready to let go of. I do hope to encourage people to buy the published books, Peacock Princess and Atom's Monster, either directly from me on my web site, or from Vashon Book Shop. And I want to kind of "prime the pump", to begin to get people interested in my current project, "Troll Story".

My accountant would say this was a disaster. I spent weeks preparing the show, and during the reception I sold only two books, Atom's Monster for $5 ea--and that thanks to my husband! He is the one who kept showing my books to people! I was too shy....

 No one showed up for the first 1/2 hour or 45 minutes. I did not communicate well with the book shop to make sure they had copies. My publicist was tearing her hair out!

But...

I had a wonderful time and so did everyone who came!

Was it worth doing? Absolutely!
Why?
Well.....It's difficult to put into words. The value can't be measured in dollars.  It isn't about "networking".

For me the interactions with friends I had not seen for awhile, with people friends brought in to see the show, with people I was meeting for the first time--these interactions nourish me. Maybe it's about being recognized as the artist, the creator of something worth coming to see, being focus of attention.

Maybe it's about the exchange of ideas. Or the music. Or the general joyful feeling that filled the space.

I feel like it is community building. Creating a common happy experience for people.  Sharing my joy. And that is important to me.

Sharing my joy.

Awaken Joy--My Business Soul Mission

My Business Soul Mission: To Share my Joy and to Help People Connect with Their Own Deep Joy

For a long time, I thought this was kind of a wussy mission statement. I mean, how un-businesslike can you get? And, yeah, right, how is this going to change the world or eliminate hunger? Or contribute toward World Peace?

Then I saw the movie, "I Am".  Wow! Proof of what the ancient peoples and sages have been teaching us all along. We ARE connected! We Do affect each other, even when we are miles apart!

Electrons which are in close proximity adjust their vibrations to match. When one electron is moved far away, and its vibration is changed, the other changes its vibration as well.

Our hearts radiate vibrations depending on our emotions, and these vibrations are picked up by the hearts of others around us, changing their vibrations, as we are changed by them! So what the Buddists say, "If you want to change the world, then change yourself", is true!

My business mission really is practical!

" It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." - Albert Einstein

Soul Business: Business Culture

In the business world, money counts; people don't. Or so I've always been taught. The lesson hit me really hard when a wealthy businessman hired my son to wash his cars for the then handsome sum of $5 an hour -- just over minimum wage. This same businessman, hearing that I had just graduated from college (as a single mom with three sons), offered me a job as part time office manager.

I was on a special program at the time, where the state would pay half my wages. This businessman, recognizing that my son wasn't mature enough to handle the  job, but that I did have the skills needed, offered to pay me a whopping $4 an hour--of which half was paid by the state! He would be out of pocket $2 an hour. "You have to understand, " he said, "washing my car is personal. This is business."

Oh, so business means screwing your workers, I thought. I did not take the job. My attitude toward business was a bit soured after that.

It has always been important to me to be a kind, compassionate, honest person. To recognize that people are more important than money, to live my work life with the same integrity as my personal life. And I always felt divided, like making money would require me to be the kind of person I detest. Like my personal life and my professional life required me to be two different people, living by two different sets of values.

Until I met Kelly Rae, through her class, Flying Lessons. Here she promised one CAN have a successful profitable creative business in line with one's values. And then, in the HelloSoul HelloBusiness class, she and Beth Nichols showed me how to create a business culture that expresses the same values I live by!!

Here are some of the values I want my business to express:
*Giving Beautifully
*Living Joyfully
*Behaving with Integrity
*Respecting the Earth
*Caring for the Earth's Inhabitants
*Celebrating People of compassionate Power

I am so excited! My business can be a means for living my values! For doing the work -- the soul work--that I feel called to do!

Who is my business in service to?

Deana bought one of my scarves

I've been doing a lot of thinking and journaling about my "who": who do I want to work with? who do I want to be around? who is the customer I want to work with? And I'm having a bit of a conflict. If I draw to me people as customers who I enjoy being around, that would be creative, fun people with integrity, compassion, an appreciation for beauty.


In truth, this does seem to  describe the people who buy my hand painted silk scarves. But what do they need? They seem to have it all together.


I have a strong desire for my art to be of service, to reach deep into people's pain and sorrow and do a healing.  I want my art to lift people up and to connect them with the Source of All Joy. However, I have been told-- and part of me believes--that art is a only luxury, for people who can "afford" it. 


That perception, that art is a luxury,  is in direct conflict with my desire to be of real service to people who are hurting.


The truth is that we are all in service to Divine Source. Since we are expressions of the Divine Source, that's where guidance, wisdom, truth, love, and the ability to act comes from.
 Mark Silver, Heart of Business

the art and business of Surface Pattern Design

I think I shall still be signing up for classes when I'm 103. I really LOVE how easy it is on the internet! Tomarrow (This is not spelled wrong. This is an old way of spelling this word; just look in any good dictionary!) I start a 4 week class: module 1 of the Art and Business of Surface Design and Pattern with Beth Nichols and Rachael Taylor.

I am absolutely blown away by the other people in the class! People from England, Australia, Canada, Sweden, SOUTH AFRICA! ESTONIA and more! I've gone from knowing no one else who was an artist to knowing artists from around the world!

(I wish I could figure out how to put a button for this class in my sidebar)

True Riches--Enduring Joy

An eagle flew over our heads as we performed the Qi Gung movement "fly like an eagle" on the beach this morning. Outside the harbor, a north wind kicked up whitecaps against an outgoing tide. Inside my body/mind, a sense of peace feeds a song of joy.

A broken stock market cannot rob me of riches such as these. The joy in my soul is like the pearl Jesus speaks of, or like the ecstasy Michael Mead was referring to in this quote:

Happiness, like happenstance, can come or go on a whim; but joy is an exaltation that remains in the soul, an opening to the realm of spirit that alters our nature.” – Michael Meade


An Opening to the Realm of Spirit.  Enduring Joy. Yes. That's it. That's what I want to give you through my art. True riches.

This scarf, inspired by a madrona tree at a local beach, is for my friend Joy.  It isn't finished yet; you can see the salt crystals that will give the tree the texture of madrona leaves.

These scarves are among those I will offer for sale at Saturday Market tomarrow.

Art in a New Economy #2

New Life in the Forest

I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!
I wrote and submitted an article for the Vashon Loop, a local newspaper, to let people know about my show coming up at PSCCU (Pugest Sound Cooperative Credit Union) and about the silk painting class I am offering in September!

This is the article:

Art in a New Economy

            We are in a time of change. Oil is running out, and increasingly our quest for oil damages the environment. Everytime I go to the grocery store, the prices are higher. The climate is changing. Old ways of doing business don’t always work anymore, and the traditional way of putting profit first has damaged our environment, our culture, and now our economy.

            These are turbulent times. For many, these are harsh times. Where can we stand, with the ground shifting beneath us?

            During World War 1, when he was asked what he would do for the war effort, the Impressionist painter Monet said, “I will paint”.  Monet’s paintings of the pond, the gardens, the bridge at Giverney, offer the soul a place to rest. His paintings still turn our eyes toward beauty, toward that which is good in the world.

            This is where I choose to stand: in Beauty, in Compassion, in Trust. Will you join me?

                                                Suzanna Leigh

                                                www.suzannaleigh.net

A Stand for Beauty; Life in the Puget Sound

            Paintings on silk by suzanna leigh

            Opening at PSCCU Sept 2

            Reception 6:30-8:30

Silk Painting Class series September 11, 18, 25

            Sundays 1pm-4pm

            Suzanna’s Studio 20733 87^th Ave SW

            For more information: 206 463 5255

 (darn this text box, would not do what it was supposed to do!)

Is is the Devil, or Just Plain Tiredness?

I've been feeling so Turtle-ish this week. So in my shell, reading instead of creating, not even trying to sell my art, to take the necessary product photos, or to apply to shows. Just can't quite figure out what is wrong with me.

Oh, wait, I did finally take some product photos today--93 photos of a dozen scarves. And Saturday I spent all day at the Saturday Market and sold two scarves and a card.

Still, when my business mentor at WACASH called yesterday to check in, I had been spending all day on personal business and most of last week as well, so I felt really......um.....like I've been goofing off. Mentally fogged. Overwhelmed  by what I have not accomplished.

Mark Silver's post,

Is It The Devil, or Do You Just Need a Nap?

really hit the spot. He points out that sometimes tiredness is resistance, and sometimes, it is just tiredness, and he gives some pointers on how to tell the difference.

SOMETHING is missing. I do feel unfocused, unmotivated.
Like I just haven't quite figured it out yet.

I looked at Diane Kappa's web site. Diane is someone my mentor suggested I contact, as she is a painter on silk, as well as a designer who licenses her work. Oh, my heavens, this woman has it together! Her web site alone gives me some ideas on how to proceed, even while showing me how very far I have yet to go!

Fremont Sunday Market

Nichole and Bobbi, my neighbors.
check out Bobbikin's jewelry

Panic hit as I set up the booth. You know, that feeling that my wares won't sell, that they aren't good enough, that I don't have enough to make a good showing, etc. It will rain. No one will come. I'll freeze my buns off.

And some of it came true. I sold two cards and a print. I froze until I figured out how to put up one of the tent walls and had a good hot meal. I couldn't figure out how to hang the silk paintings, and the scarves got all bunched together because of the wind, so it didn't look like I had much. It poured for the last two hours of the market.

Karina of the booth of HolieBowlies,
 and Tim Fantastic

And I had a BLAST! It was fun! I made new friends, studied the people who walked past, took lots of photos, got new ideas for designs. I even found someone I may share a booth with. I feel as though I laid the groundwork for later. I will be back at the Fremont  Market on Sunday. Maybe I will see you there!

The Oh GoodnesS Me Plan; a Business Plan for Artists

A business plan is a fine thing. It is built of numbers and dreams, and it requires careful thought and a bit of research. Before I could create a business plan, I needed to:

Heron Scarf in process

a. figure out who my customers were likely to be (I made this up from the few customers I have had already)

b. think about where I might sell my wares (art fairs and boutiques)

c. figure out how much each piece cost to make, what I can sell it for, and what my profit margin would be

d. know how much money I need to live on

e. know how many I need to make and sell in a month to make that much money (and not go crazy!)

f. have a good idea what my monthly expenses are likely to be

Love these patterns, but I have not
 been able to do it again. Every piece
is one of a kind! 

It is very helpful, this business plan. It is made of numbers, though, many many numbers in neat little rows and columns--lots of rows and columns!  Numbers just don't quite satisfy me. I need more.

Then my Artist Magazine arrived, with an article on OGSM, a business plan for artists. YES! OGSM stands for Objectives, Goals, Strategy, and Measurement. My brain immediately put friendlier words to the letters;  Oh GoodnesS Me.

So.....Objectives.... To make money, right?
AH...if my objective is just to make money, I should go sell stocks or insurance. You and I know there is something deeper and broader. We need objectives that talk about our yearning to grow as artists and to reach a larger audience, as well as the business side of art.

I have objectives as a practicing artist painting on silk, and objectives as a teacher, as well as for the business side. Here is my beginning:

Area	Objectives	Goals
1.Professional Development as an artist--technique	1.Master using natural dyes	1.Create an inventory of at least 5 natural dyes, including tumeric, madrona, a good brown, a good green, and indigo by Strawberry Festival
	2.Master using various methods pf applying dyes and fabric paints to silk	2.Try stamping, stenciling, block printing, and various Japanese techniques by Christmas

Strategies	Measurements
1. Find partners to dye with, through the Fibernet group. Collect madrona bark and other local plants for dyeing.Try some dyes available at weaving works.	1. I will have 20 scarves dyed in natural dyes by Strawberry Festival
2.Just do it! Commit to a minimum of 3 hours  a day in the studio trying new techniques	2. I will have 20 scarves displaying the various techniques by Studio Tour in December

Don't get me wrong. I need the numbers too. Numbers are how we keep score in this culture, and--more important-- numbers can tell me if what I am doing is working.

Check out Blue Sand Studio for some more ideas on goal setting. I really like Suzanne's way of setting up monthly goals for her jewelry making.