Artist and illustrator Gloria Ho was introduced to me by a mutual friend who thought we might get along since we were both artists and Royal Bison vendors. Did we ever! From the first day we met we've had so much to talk about. Gloria's watercolours paintings are distinctive and she's so good at capturing the whimsy and delicate beauty of the animals and people that she paints.
I've found that the act of recording can be just as important as the act of paying attention, though for different reasons. Observation helps us tune in with the present moment. Recording helps us capture the magic of the moment for future use. Paying attention can enrich your life, but recording your ideas, discoveries, experiences, and learnings can help you to enrich other's lives with your creative productions. It can be tricky to figure out how to start a practice of recording, so here are four ways you can keep track of your experiences and observations. Use these to build up a creative archive that you can pull from at any time:
I met Tatiana in an online business course and was captivated by her passion for movement. We've shared plenty of creative struggles over early bird specials at the Sugar Bowl here in Edmonton and I always learn plenty from our talks.
When I mention her name in conversation, sometimes people don't know who I'm talking about - until I mention that she wrote Eat Pray Love. Though that's her most well known book, she's also written two novels (her newest, The Signature of All Things is brilliant), a biography, another memoir, a collection of short stories, and countless articles and essays. Her books have been best-sellers, she has won numerous awards, and Eat Pray Love was turned into a movie starring Julia Roberts
When I was 11 years old, I started a "Things to do when bored" list. It had suggestions like: write letters, work on alien photo album, put on a show, make puppets, puzzles, skulptures, beads, baking, watercolours, design clothes... etc.Many of the things on that list (which I still have) are things that I would like to spend my time doing now (even 'phone Eryn' is something I wish I did more often), and though I rarely slow down enough to feel bored, I do occasionally get stuck doing the same things over and over again and feel a need for inspiration.
One of my favourite parts about travelling is opening up my suitcase when I get home and pulling out all the treasures that I brought home. Gifts for friends, decorations for my home, edible treats and more spill out and remind me of all that I've seen and experienced. Of course, it’s not just physical objects that I bring home but memories, experiences, and plenty of inspiration. In Turkey, Egypt, and the UAE we saw so much and my heart is overflowing with the magic of it all. Here are some of the things I brought home from my trip, both the tangible and the ephemeral.
A musician that got her start performing in the punk-cabaret band the Dresden Dolls and is still touring. She became famous outside of her music circles when she launched a very successful (well over $1 million) Kickstarter campaign to fund her album and tour. Some people thought it was great that she was ditching the label model and connecting directly with her fans, some people thought she was misusing the platform and didn't deserve to get so much money. She has since done a TedTalk and written a book, both called The Art of Asking, about how and why she decided to take such a drastically different approach. She is married to fantasy writer, Neil Gaiman - another one of my creative role models.
She's a successful artist and illustrator based in San Francisco (thought she's been mentioning moving to Portland), and I've been following her blog and her Instagram. According to her website, she does commissions for all kinds of big name companies like Martha Stewart and MoMA. She has also written some books, including Art Inc: The Essential Guide to Building Your Career as an Artistand teaches courses on Creative Bug and Creative Live.
Whether it's a massive shift in understanding or just a small flash of insight, epiphanies feel pretty good.These moments are rare, and that's what makes them magical, but do we have to wait around until something randomly bursts through the clouds? Or can we cultivate an environment where epiphanies are more likely? I think we can and lately I've been trying to figure out how. Here's what I've come up with so far.
Christmas is coming and for me, 'tis the season to watch Muppet Christmas movies. There are so many to choose from! When we were growing up, the Muppet Family Christmas was on TV every year. Moments from that show stick with me as if they were my own Christmas memories: the Swedish Chef chasing Big Bird, Kermit meeting the Fraggles, Doc cuddling with his dog Sprocket and trying to avoid the chaos, and of course, Fozzie's Ma yelling "Watch out for the icy patch!"
