Mary Richmond Design

29 Things That Keep Me From.....

Taking that creative leap. I have not been creatively leaping much lately. I've been doing a little writing, hardly any drawing or painting and I'm behind on my last tile order. In fact I wrote this list rather than go out into the cold studio to paint it. Once I go out there it will probably take less than a half hour to paint it, another few minutes to glaze it and load the kiln and it will be done. I've put this off for days.....I haven't been able to find the energy to do it but since writing this list made me laugh I'll go do it after posting this.

Cynthia Morris challenged anyone/everyone to make a list of the 29 things that are keeping us from making a creative leap. I'm sharing mine here. It started out pretty tongue-in-cheek but as I was writing I knew deep down these are all the excuses I use to put off getting down to work....so here goes. Why not go here to Cynthia's blog and share your own list?

29 things that hold me back from taking my creative leaps…..

1. Goofing off when I should be working
2. Procrastinating
3. Stalling with housework and errands
4. Over dramatizing what has to be done
5. Making mountains out of molehills
6. Being disorganized
7. Being lazy
8. Not prioritizing
9. Giving the same weight to going to the post office as finishing a project
10. Not breaking things down into doable size
11. Making lists and losing them
12. Being easily distracted
13. I think I’m ADD….
14. Making excuses like maybe I have ADD….
15. Daydreaming instead of starting
16. Did I mention goofing off?
17. Not getting started
18. Not leaving myself enough time
19. Getting frustrated and quitting
20. Afraid the reality won’t be as much fun/as good as the thought in my mind
21. Hating parts of what I have to do
22. Being bored with my business (which is why I quit but I still have a few orders to finish)
23. Being unsure of what to do next
24. Being unsure, period.
25. Having no plan
26. Playing with the pets instead of working
27. Checking my email 400 times a day
28. Reading blogs instead of working
29. Did I mention goofing off????

Breaking Rules, Creatively Speaking

I thought I'd throw in a picture from summer on this gray, rainy winter day. Remember summer? For those of us in the northeast summer sure seems like a long, long time ago in a place far, far away....

Reading Cynthia Morris's blog recently I got to thinking about the rules we sometimes set ourselves as artists and writers and how ironic that is since most of us chose a creative path to get away from so many rules, especially rules about how to live or not live our lives. In her newsletter she refers to working in bed, even while knowing that was perhaps a bad thing to do and it set me to thinking about all these funny rules we have around our creative work, our health and even our spirtuality. How silly to think we can't write or read in bed all day if the spirit moves us because some sleep guru says it's a bad idea. Maybe it is a bad idea. And maybe it's a great idea to spend the day goofing off or working in bed just because you feel like it.

Have you noticed that in many circles there is a right way and a wrong way to go about your writing, your praying, your meditation, your eating, your reading, your drawing and even your sleeping? This one says clear the space of all other things, this one says use only pencil, this one says center your chakras, this one says find your blood type, this one says use your bedroom only for sleep and intimacy, this one says eat no dairy, this one says drink no coffee, this one says draw only after meditating, this one says write three pages non-stop then put the pencil down, this one says never erase, this one says never edit, this one says edit three times.....no wonder we're so confused. No wonder some people are simply paralyzed, pen or pencil in hand before they've even begun. No one wants to do it wrong!

Before anyone gets too excited here I know these are usually just meant to be suggestions, that they are meant to help people get down to it, that they are meant to help people break out of their routine and settle down with thier special creative, spiritual freedom. But as someone who teaches adults a lot I run into students who are often simply scared to even take the first step on what they hope will be their creative path. They have read this book or that one, seen this video or that one or gone to see some creativity guru who knows all the answers. They are convinced there is a secret they haven't found yet. They are afraid of not being worthy. All they want to do is try their hand at drawing or painting or writing or singing or dancing but they get so caught up in the mystique and seriousness of it all that they never lift the pencil or brush, they never open the notebook or join the choir or take the tap dancing class. Those that do often end up quitting because they sit next to someone else who has read all the books and whispers that they know the real way someone should be doing whatever it is they are doing and this teacher is wrong, wrong, wrong.

I think most of us just want to go about our business doing our thing. What is it in human nature that seems to invite us to judge and comment on the way someone else is doing their thing? I try and tell my students there are no rules, no right or wrong way. Some are relieved and gratified to hear this but others refer to the current popular book they are reading and sincerely try to correct me. There is a wrong way and I just don't know it. It says so on page 37. There are lots of books, lectures, videos, classes, workshops, etc. that lots of people find helpful. But for others I think they are just one more example of a status quo that the creative mind is trying to work around. Unfortunately these same teaching examples serve to keep many people from moving forward on their own creative journey. They just can't get past the rules and that's really a shame.

So this weekend let's all eat french fries and ice cream in bed while letting our chakras rearrange themselves. Let's get out our erasers and our colored pens and write outrageous stories about old lovers and angry mothers and draw goofy pictures of animals that will never exist. Or not.

What rules have held you back from your creative path?

Setting Goals, Artistic and Otherwise....

If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see some of what I saw yesterday--part of a pod of at least 100 Atlantic white sided dolphins! We were out on the Naviator in Wellfleet Harbor with a group of high school marine biology students when we had this amazing sighting. In all the years I've done programs on this boat I've never seen anything like it. Dolphins are off the Cape in good numbers but they don't usually come into the harbor areas and when they do it is not always good news. We contacted the stranding network but fortunately the dolphins headed out to sea as the tide changed and all was well.

As I helped unload the nets and gear from the boat yesterday and prepared for my afternoon after school session with younger kids I realized my goals are becoming much clearer. I love being outside and I love being with kids, answering their questions, showing them things they've never seen before.

My problem has always been I seem to have too many choices, not the opposite. There are always too many things I want to do. When I opened my studio/gallery a few years ago it was after working more than full time as a naturalist/educator and I missed my creative work. When I focused on my creative work and selling that work I lost touch with the part of me that thrives outdoors. The story in my life has always been about balance, or lack thereof.

I love to paint, I love to write, I love to wander around in nature and I love kids. Actually, I love grownups, too. I love people and I love to teach, to share my own wonder of the world around me, both through nature and through art. So how to combine all those without working 40 hours a day as I've sometimes been known to try and do?

It suddenly came to me on a recent early morning walk on the beach. I can do it all. My goal became crystal clear. It is to help people, children especially, understand how important nature and creativity are to their own personal survival as well as the survival of our culture and history. That may seem like a grand goal but the way I see it, every child that understands and accepts their role in the natural world will be more likely to be a humane and compassionate steward of that world. Creativity is part of our better nature, in my humble opinion, and can be nurtured in all environments and activities so is easily included in science and natural history curriculums. Each child that learns to love the natural world is one more citizen that will help keep the natural world diverse and in balance which in turn nurtures us.

  As many of you know I have been sorting through boxes and boxes of my family's memorabilia as well as my own paintings, tiles and supplies from the shop I recently closed. I am literally overwhelmed with STUFF. Then I go to galleries and am bored silly, not just with the work but with the whole idea that art should be this idealized special thing.

I start to think maybe we should just all create just like we all eat and sleep and work. Maybe we should just integrate it into our daily lives like children do. I find I am no longer interested in creating paintings to frame and hang on a wall. At the moment I am much more interested in my art being functional, being used, whether as a tile installation or a book illustration. So much of what an artist saves (or what anyone saves) is worthless to anyone else. So much goes to waste. Something like 72 million Americans buy art supplies and aspire to be artists of one kind or another. And guess who buys art. Artists buy more art than any other group. We are selling our work to ourselves. So why not expand that thought and invite everyone to do it? Let's just enjoy the process and not worry about the bs that often attends the academic presentation of ART.

This girl knows what it's all about. She carries nothing, she spends nothing, she worries about nothing. For a while at least I'm going to take my cue from her.

My goal is to help nurture a love and understanding of nature and creativity, especially in children. This can be done in many ways; through teaching, walking outdoors, writing my columns, writing and illustrating small books about the world outside our doors.....

And it only took about a hundred walks on the beach and about 600 children to help me see the light....

The Artist's Dilemma

Eventually most artists have to come to grips with this dilemma....what to do with the results of all that creative output?

Do we throw it out? Give it away? Sell it? Dream of being in the Louvre?

Most of us probably become artists because we simply love the act of creating. We don't become artists because we love business, self promotion or marketing.

Many artists have embraced marketing their work in this time of power marketing for just about anything but not so long ago this was so frowned upon that other artists laughed at or belittled their efforts as blatant self aggrandizements. It was considered soul sucking and bad for one's art to self promote the results of one's creative passion.

As I wander through cyber space I find myself getting depressed looking at other artists websites and blogs and reading about their efforts to sell their work. Some seem to be doing quite well, many are still struggling no matter what they try to do. And honestly, it all seems a little pleading and desperate.

I have sold a lot of art work without ever being represented by a gallery. I hate gallery shows and I hate openings. I don't like seeing work framed for idolization. I know that sounds funny coming from someone who makes pictures--aren't they supposed to be framed and enjoyed? Sure, but the whole effort to make them museum quality, archive safe, etc. makes me laugh. It's art, folks, not a fossil. Most of our work will be enjoyed for a while and tossed when the buyer wants a change. You can imagine your work being hoarded by collectors but that actually occurs so rarely it is barely statistically relevant. And do you know what many collectors do with work they think is really valuable? They store it in vaults so it won't get damaged. I bet most artists aren't thinking their work should end up in a vault where no one can enjoy it.

What do we really want as artists? I've been following Alyson Stanfield and her ArtBizBlog for about a year now and think she offers very good advice. In fact, it was through her questions and information about goal setting that I decided to close my shop and look for other work. No matter how hard I tried, i couldn't get up much enthusiasm for that much self-promotion.

Should artists get day jobs and let their creative work happen randomly and for fun? For the last year I have been talking to and interviewing artists to find out how many actually make a living from their art. I'm not talking about making some money, I'm talking about making at least $50,000 after expenses. So far I have yet to meet one. I read about some on the internet and in magazines, maybe. They never discuss what they actually make and since most are doing workshops, lectures and other activities I'm guessing they are not making enough strictly through sales of their art work. Perhaps a few are, but the average artist in this country makes less than $8000 a year according to IRS reports.

The cost of being an artist keeps going up and up. There are supplies, studio space, framing and computer gear. There's a camera and an easel or whatever your media demands. Let's say a gallery sells your piece for $20,000, an unlikely price for most of us but a price some artists receive. You may realize $10,000 from that sale. You must pay your framing costs, which can be significant, as well as the cost of painting it (time, studio and energy costs, materials, etc.) plus shipping. In many cases you will also pay for your own travel to and from the gallery, the cost of promotional postcards, etc. and even the cost of the refreshments for the opening (which is becoming more and more common) Let's say you get to keep $5000. The government will tax you on that, to the tune of about 40% including social security and medicare taxes. We're now down to about $2800. Not a lot compared to that $20,000 price tag, is it?

What about those doing art shows? The costs of doing shows includes all the equipment (tent, shelves, display walls, etc.), bags, paper for wrapping, cards, etc., travel, framing, clear wraps or shrink wrapping, matting, etc. Maybe and artist sells prints and cards so add the expense of that inventory as well. I know lots of artists who do these shows and very few who actually end up with a reasonable profit by the end of the season.

We donate to charity auctions, we hang our work for free in non-profit venues to help out libraries, hospitals, etc. We work for free a lot.

Can an artist survive financially today without a mentor of some sort? Most artists receive support from parents, spouses, friends and others while putting their career together. Some need that support all their lives.

Right now, I'm happy to have a day job that pays my bills. After about 30 years of trying to make it on my own I am actually enjoying making art again. I just don't enjoy selling it or selling myself in that constant "look what I did" sort of way. I have never done art that fits within most people's comfort zones. The money I'm making from my art, which is coming in quite nicely in spite of my day job, will be put into my IRA or travel account. For now I'm done with trying to earn my keep as an artist. I can't help but find pimping my art as somewhat repugnant these days and I suppose as long as I think of it as pimping I'll continue to find it repugnant. Why do I see it this way? I don't know, I just always have.

It's funny but a lot of this came about from searching the internet. Reading other artists statements, stories, resumes and even looking at their work made me realize how homogenous we all really are. Everyone's work looks alarmingly similar to me and a lot of it is pretty mediocre at that. People are self publishing books about art that isn't even represented anywhere and are writing artist statements that all sound alike and that make them sound different than who they are.

We should all have the opportunity to create. We don't all have to be great and truthfully, few of us will be. There's freedom in that. We get to enjoy the process and in the end, isn't that really what all of art is about?

Accidental Gardens and Other Things....

If you were to drive up to my house, this is what you would see from the street. It's a tiny Cape Cod style house with a very steep roof pitch. It's very cute and we love it. Except for the two years I tried out living in Mashpee Commons we've been in the house about 24 years.

I love gardens. I love flowers. And I'm a horrible gardener. I plant things and hope they grow. Every year I add something I hope will stay and most of the time, it does. Not only does it stay, it usually mulitiplies. The house was built in 1929 and must inspire loyalty. It has only had one other owner. After her family was grown and gone the woman who owned my house planted bushes and flowers everywhere and much of the plantings remain, though many have had to be seriously pruned and trimmed. In the front of the house she had planted ferns on one side. The tree that used to shade this part of the house came down in storm winds a while back but the ferns seem to survive even with the morning sun they now get.

I just leave them. There's a huge white azalea and in the spring there are hundreds of lily of the valley plants that came forth from the few I transplanted from the back yard.

My window boxes are scraggly this year, due to the heat and lack of rain. I water them daily but they would prefer rain, I know.

Here is a view from the other side of the house, showing one of two hydrangeas. There's also lots of bee balm and a butterfly bush in there as well as phlox that will soon be blooming. There's phlox on the other side as well.

Flanking the front door you can see two huge hosta plants. They were here when we moved in and I have planted hosta all along the side fence and elsewhere throughout the yard by thinning these two monsters.

This is by far my favorite garden. Some years I get it together to plant vegetables here. Even when I don't do that I spread my compost. My best garden ever grew from compost one summer. I had lettuce, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, broccoli and even some things I couldn't recognize at first. They all grew from seeds in the compost.

This year I cleared the plot but never got to planting my tomatoes or basil. I've been weeding it, though, allowing the Queen Anne's lace to grow and now have a lovely patch to show for my trouble. I know other people work really hard to keep weeds out of the garden but I'm not one of them. I even let fleabane and yellow sorrell hang out with my potted plants.

So much for planning, huh? Sometimes the accidental flowers, both literal and figurative, are the best anyway, don't you think?

A Most Wonderful Artist Date Kind of Day

I don't know if it's the sugar giving up, draining from my body after 3 weeks without a refill or if it's just the dreariness of this time of year or what....but I've needed to take some time off, take a break, rest and get away. I love my home here on the Cape but sometimes I just need to get over the bridge and do and see something different.

I decided to go to Boston today. I made a few plans to meet some friends, mostly around going to the new Institute of Contemporary Art that just opened. A young woman who worked for me in my studio a number of years ago was one of four artists chosen for the inaugural exhibit and I didn't want to miss it. Before I met my friend there, however I had time to go to the New England Aquarium for a few hours this morning.

Every time I go to the aquarium I tell myself I will go some day with my sketchbook and just hang out and sketch and today I did it. I took the bus into town, walked down Atlantic Ave. to the aquarium and for a little while had the place to myself. The staff was feeding the penguins and cleaning their tank area and I got to sketch several pages worth before moving on.

I sketched and photographed and sketched some more. I love seahorses (who doesn't??) and when I found a tank full of them I hung around sketching them in all sorts of fun poses. Then I found these guys hanging around on the bottom of a tank. A skate and a halibut, just taking in the day, letting everyone stare at them. By this time classrooms of children had arrived and were making all sorts of happy sounds as they moved from tank to tank, delighted with each new find. One young lady, about 11 or 12 hung out with me a bit, watching me draw. She told me she liked to draw, too but that I drew much better and we talked about how practicing really helps one get more sure of oneself. I also pointed out I was much older that her so had lots more practice time, which made her smile. I'm sure she thought I was quite ancient.

I took notes, filled about a dozen pages in my moleskine with sketches and just enjoyed myself. A real artist date for me....

My friend, Suzanne picked me up late in the morning and we headed over to the ICA. What a beautiful building it is and what a view! The exhibit space is wonderful and the shows were interesting and provocative. It's about time Boston had its own world class museum highlighting modern art! Suzanne and I met while taking a graduate painting course at the Museum School many years ago. We meet in Boston at least once a year to look at art and catch up. We always see interesting art and always have plenty to talk about and today was no different.

We especially liked hanging out here in the media room with its computers and pictures and fabulous view.

Later, after Suzanne left to meet her kids after school I walked much of Newbury Street going in and out of galleries, enjoying some wonderful and inspiring paintings. The weather was perfect and it was just nice to be walking the city streets, watching the people, looking in windows, looking up at the buildings. A nice change of pace.

I met my former worker bee, the most delightful and talented Kelly Sherman, for tea at Tealuxe late in the afternoon. She was all flushed and excited, having just come from an interview and picture taking session with a reporter from the Boston Globe about her inclusion in the show at the ICA. Her piece is thought provoking and visually interesting, a beautiful conceptual piece. At 28, she is well on her way to an interesting art career. She had much to say about her job as an artist assistant, her upcoming residency and her possible move to New York. It was great to see her and if you get a chance to see her work at the ICA, you should definitely do so.

Organizing the Studio

Some artists, like my friend, Diane, keep their studios neat and clean no matter what they're working on or how busy they are. I get so involved in the project at hand that I just keep working until the next appointment or obligation and I just leave everything to come back to. In the meantime stuff like mail and other projects get stuffed here and there and my studio becomes more a disaster area than a working, work friendly place.

These last few months have put me over the top, even for me. Piles of tiles, both broken ones to be recycled and bisqued ones to be painted on were everywhere. Tools were scattered, pieces of paper with phone numbers, backs of envelopes with messages and heavens knows how many cards, bills and other notices were shoved wherever there was space the day I looked at them. It was a mess. So much of a mess that the last two weeks I've just given up and stopped pretending there was any semblance of order. This doesn't exactly help the work process but it doesn't hurt it either. What

it does hurt is my general efficiency. I lose important papers in piles and I get behind on things I shouldn't get behind on, like correspondence and bills. I don't throw them away but finding them becomes a challenge when all semblance of order has disappeared.

Fortunately I do have a system beneath it all so when I have the time to organize everything it's not too terrible. It was a dreary rainy day here and so cleaning the studio was my task for the day. It's not complete but as you can see, it is much improved. I filed, I tossed, I mailed and I put things away. I wrote addresses and phone numbers into my organizer and I filed all the business cards and important phone numbers back into the rolodex on my desk. I made phone calls long overdue, wrote thank you notes and sent cards out.

It's always fun to have an all consuming project but it's nice to get my life and my studio back in order too.

What kind of artist are you? Is your studio tidy or do you have sporadic cleanups like me? I know what to do and how to do it, in terms of keeping it organized but in the heat of a heavy work load.....I forget. And it would be worth the time and energy to keep it clean and organized, I think. I lose a lot of time and some credibility, too, I think. What works for you?

Dealing with Writer's or Artist's Blocks

Into every artist or writer's life will fall a nasty little thing known as "THE BLOCK". Just thinking of it can be enough to put any self-respecting creative person into a tailspin or a catatonic state.

The problem with a block is that it is all about nothing. Nothing happens. Nothing inspires. Nothing occurs. Nothing comes to play. Nothing hangs out and walks you over to the refrigerator or to stand staring out the window. Nothing makes white paper look dangerous and computer screens threatening. Nothing keeps us from working.

But it does.

The truth is everyone has blocks but most people have to go to work anyway and just work through their bad days, weeks and months. Eventually they feel better or something shifts and they begin to feel inspired again.

Creative types can get into a panic just thinking about a block. It steals their energy, their inspiration and in many ways their whole identity. The biggest problem with a block for a creative person is the fear that inspiration has packed its bags and is never returning.

Julia Cameron wrote a whole book about blocks called "The Sound of Paper". She offers many ideas to help an artist or writer through a block but I especially like this one. "In order for our artist to thrive," she says, "it requires careful grounding....All of us know certain activities that bring us relief and grounding....Select and execute one grounding activity."

Kenneth W. Davis, author of many writing books, suggests we "build a prototype." Instead of working in a totally focused and linear way, work around an idea, building it in several ways to see what works best.

The problem with blocks is they often are accompanied by emotional upsets, depression, fear and other personal issues that affect our self esteem and our very ability to work. I often remind students who are in a period of what seems like really awful work not to despair. It is often true it is darkest before the dawn and often those awful periods signal a time of imminent breakthrough. If they can just keep the faith and keep working, they will often start to see huge improvements and those dark days will soon be forgotten. As those of us who create on a professional and daily basis know, the dark days will return soon enough. Like so many things, creativity seems to run in cycles. It takes perseverence and faith to keep creating. A muse is a fickle thing but if we feed it, pet it and treat it well, it will ultimately stick around.

There will be good days and bad days but it helps nurture the creative process to just keep showing up at the drawing board or the computer. Probably the the best way to deal with an overwhelming and scary blank page is to just make a mark on it. Doodle. Write the first word. Any word. Write, I can't write today because....In the infamous words of Nike, Just do it. The rest will follow.

Learning to be Creative

Because my studio is open to the public I am often working on a painting or tile mural while customers are coming in and out. Many comment on how lucky I am to be able to paint, how lucky I am to do what I love or how talented I must be. I laugh and say, yes, I am lucky to do what I love but really it has been a simple choice I made, one that many don't take because of the financial constraints, not because they couldn't do the same thing. I just chose to make my living doing what I love best which is drawing, painting and writing. As for the talent? I don't know about that. I know I've sure practiced a lot and I'm still practicing every day. I think we all develop different abilities according to our interests and inspirations when we're young but that if a person really wants to learn something, they can. I teach beginners to draw and paint all the time and have come to feel it is more about confidence than technical abilities.

Many people say they aren't creative, they can't be creative, they're totally left-brained. That's just restrictive and silly, really. We're all creative as children but as we come into adulthood that seems to change. Our society has done a lot to convince people they're either CREATIVE or NOT CREATIVE. This is done by defining fields of study, job choices, etc. The truth is many people trained in science and medicine play musical instruments, keep journals, take photographs and paint for fun. I see them in my adult classes all the time.

How can you be creative? Well, in the infamous words of Nike, Just Do It. Be brave. Trust yourself. Take a lesson, open a sketchbook, sing a song, act in a community play. You probably already do lots of creative things. Cooking, decorating, parenting, teaching, gardening and sewing are all pursuits that involve creative thinking. And if you're mechanically inclined or a builder? You bet you're using your creative juices or you wouldn't be able to solve problems.

There are lots of tools out there to help you jumpstart your creativity. There's the well known "Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron, which is a great resource but may be more involved than a beginner may want to deal with. This is a great book to work through with a group so check you local papers or start your own group in your living room. If you want to write, check out Natalie Goldberg's "Writing Down the Bones" or Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird" for inspiration.

Books and classes are great but the biggest obstacle to being creative is probably procrastination and guess what? Books, especially, can keep us in our heads and keep us from actually creating by reading about someone else's ideas of creativity. Maybe you should just purchase a blank book and start drawing or writing or making collages or all of the above without worrying about how to do anything. Just do it. Don't worry about what it looks like, just have fun. The only difference between you and someone who calls themselves an artist is really just the confidence to do so. This may make you laugh at first but just keep doing it. Who knows what will appear? The most surprising  and wonderful thing about creativity is it has a life of its own!

The first thing you might write in your new blank book is the answer to this simple question, 'what does being creative mean to me?'