Everyday Creativity • by Ruth Bleakley

OK, I’ll admit it: I have a creative compulsion. For me, the need and desire to create new things goes beyond simply wanting to — if I go for too long without indulging in some kind of creative pastime, I get seriously “itchy fingers.” I know I’m not the only one! The question is, how do I balance creative time with my everyday life?

Art as an Everyday Possibility
I started making things at a young age. Rather than lots of structured activities, my mom provided us with all sorts of art supplies that we could use as we pleased (except glitter haha, because it was so hard to vacuum!). Lots of coloring books, clay, string and beads, paints, pastels, crayons, watercolors, and stamps were available so that as I was growing up, “creating art” wasn’t a sort of sacred thing that you went to a class once a week to do — it was more of an everyday thing. Then I got older and I took art classes in school almost every single year, so that by the end of college I was wondering, “How do you keep making art outside of school? What if no one assigns you projects?”

I was consumed with this question and asked everyone creative I knew — I thought when I finished school I’d be locked into an office job, with no time for art. I had an idea that art was for kids, and adults didn’t “do art” unless they were professional artists, or maybe they took a class once a week. I wondered what would happen to me without the motivation of projects, deadlines, and grades. Well, I’m here to tell you that you that only good things will happen when you’re allowed to make and create things wherever and whenever you want! The key is to make sure you have the tools and space you need, much like my mom did when I was little, making art an “everyday” thing.

Keys to Creating
Here are the key ingredients to making art an everyday possibility:

• Set aside a “studio space,” somewhere that you can leave your work out undisturbed without having to clean up mid-project (so, NOT the dining room table). Over the years I moved from a small TV tray that I’d set on my lap to a cheap IKEA table with a clamp lamp to my studio now, a full room in my house (formerly the TV room … which brings me to my next point).
• Recognize the amount of time you spend in front of a screen, and sacrifice some of it to make art. Do you know how much TV I used to watch when I was a kid? Guess! If you guessed in the realm of three to four hours a day, you’d probably be right! When I misbehaved in middle school and high school the punishment was taking away the TV. Now, I still love to watch shows (Lost, Game of Thrones, and Parks and Rec come to mind!), but I’ll watch them in DVD form on my computer instead of getting sucked into channel surfing for hours. I also used to spend hours a day playing computer games. How much time do you spend watching TV and using the computer? Could it be that’s why you “don’t have enough time” to make art?
• Make whatever you want. This one seems obvious, but I think a lot of us swear off certain things because we think we’re “too old” for them (I’m thinking like spin art or magazine collages) or we’re “not good enough” (like oil painting or origami). Listen: If you want to try something out, just get a cheaper version of the supplies, check out a book from the library, or watch a YouTube video and go for it! Much of what I know about bookbinding is self-taught — I even taught myself Adobe Illustrator for my stationery and invitation designs. You can do it too!

To learn more about Ruth Bleakley, visit ruthbleakley.com.

Art Saves • by Megan Duerksen

An Early Creative Life
I cannot remember a time in my life that did not have creating in it. My young childhood was spent drawing ballerinas in a spotlight with one leg pointed to the sky, over and over … trying to make it perfect. Then I drew evening gowns and girls with perfect up-dos in my junior high days.

My favorite subject from kindergarten through 12th grade was ART, hands down. It was the only class I did not get in trouble in—I was never sent to the principal from an art teacher. It was a place I felt good about myself, comfortable, confident, and unafraid to try.

My parents fostered a creative life for me. They encouraged drawing and creating and made big projects with my sister and me. Or they let us make messes making our own art.

Creating with my Children
I grew up, got married, and had five children but still MADE time at every stage to create. Something. Somehow. On our vacations I would bring all my scrapbooking supplies because that is how I relax—by creating.

Photography and writing out stories while layering papers and pretties was an outlet. When I was stuck in the house all winter with young children I would paint furniture … on a drop cloth in the middle of the living room floor. I learned to sew and my outlet of creativity changed shape. I began to sew using color and pattern as my guide and felt such a calm when I would create with the hum of the sewing machine alongside me. Photography was a part of my father’s creativity. When I picked up a camera I could see the light he talked about or I could see the composition he used when I looked through my lens. Using photography now is my most natural way of creating.

My children are older and I can create using paint and glue and make anything they want. They very rarely are working creatively without me doing it right alongside them … because I want to make things too! We create together.

The Beauty of Blogging
I combine photography and writing in the virtual world now instead of in scrapbooks. I blog and share my creativity digitally. And now because of that blog, I have the privilege of hosting groups of women for weekends in my home where I can encourage them to create!

I get to share my passion with women who are happy to learn to sew, try new ideas, or just need some time to be pampered. I get to make new friends with people I never would have met without my blog.

The Journey of Art
I tell myself and my children all the time, “It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to look like you thought it would. It doesn’t have to be done.” Creating is a process that will never be finished. It is a journey, a beautiful, colorful, amazingly wonderful journey. It feels like most people want to “go and do” things for fun but my idea of lovely is to “sit and make.”

Art can be anything! A photo … a flower … a painting … a story … nature—art brings joy into my life every day. Art is a way I can let the gifts that God gave me come though from deep inside. God put the desire to create in me. It’s always been there. When I MAKE time for myself to create, to see beauty around me … I can handle the hard stuff of life so much better. Art is calming. Yes … art saves.

To learn more about Megan Duerksen, visit megduerksen.typepad.com.

Create & Connect • by Britt Bravo

When I turned 40 a few years ago, I wanted to do something special to celebrate, and honestly, to prepare. For the 40 days leading up to my birthday, I created a four-part daily practice of moving, playing, reflecting, and connecting.

A 40-Day Practice
My movement usually took the form of practicing yoga, walking, or going to a dance class. I reflected by writing three “morning pages” in my journal. I connected by writing one letter a day to tell someone how he or she had made a positive impact on my life. I played in a variety of ways: crafting, baking, watching funny TV shows, spending time with the hubs, seeing friends, going to the movies, dancing, and painting cards for my connection letters. The connection piece was the richest part of my four-part practice, especially when the writing was combined with creating cards. By the end of the 40 days, I felt energized and ready for the big day. Most importantly, I felt more connected to myself, and to the people who had made me who I was after 40 years.

Energized & Happy
A year or so later, I participated in Leah Piken Kolidas’ Art Every Day Month. During the month of November, I spent time creating each day. I collaged, sewed, painted cards, cooked, and baked. By the end of the month, I felt as energized, clear, and happy as I did when I completed my move, play, reflect, connect experiment.

Having Fun & Doing Good
When I think about both experiences, the joyful thread that ties the two together was that I created things that connected me to people: cards, gifts, and food. I enjoy making things for myself, like creating a collage in my art journal, and I like doing things for other people, but there is something special, and healing, about creating and connecting. It allows me to have fun and do good.

To learn more about Britt, visit brittbravo.com and follow her on Twitter at @bbravo.

Be Everything You Were Meant to Be • by Joanne Sharpe

Paintbrushes in Hand as a Young Child
If there’s a cliché about artists starting out as a young child with a paintbrush in hand, I guess that would be me. I grew up with an uncle who was a sales rep for an art supply distributor in Manhattan. At age 11, I was painting raw canvas with his samples, using expensive tubes of oils and $65 paintbrushes! That was the beginning of my love affair with really good art supplies. An artist is what I was truly born to be. After majoring in art, I graduated from college with a degree in Art Education.

A Stay-at-Home Mom & An Artist
I was an art teacher for 18 years in public and private schools and summer camps. There was a shift in my “art path” when I had my children. My teaching career was put on hold for a few years, after bringing home newborn twin boys to an 11-month-old son and 3-year-old daughter. (Yes, that’s four kids in 3 years, a set of “Irish triplets.”) Everyone was reluctant to babysit four kids under 4 that weren’t their own, and day care was more than my salary. I loved being a stay-at-home mom.

Fast forward a year, and art saves me in my “not quite dream job” as a Tupperware lady. (You gotta’ do what you gotta’ do!) I could do parties at night while my husband cared for the kids after work. It turned out to be a great gig. I earned the free Tupperware company car (a brand new mini van every two years) and had it for 8 years. But, all along in Tupperware, my heart was haunted by my thoughts, “I AM AN ARTIST! I have to do my art!” I needed my art!

So, in addition to bouncing from house to house selling plastic, I designed a line of fun, funky illustrated Tupperware-themed party invitations and had them professionally printed. They were a huge success selling at national conventions and worldwide through mail order. It was the right job at the right time in my life. I was able to make my art, even if it was creating crazy invitations for a “Burp a Bowl Bash.” Art saved me, even as a Tupperware lady!

Art Is Me
As my children got older I was able to devote more time to my art as a career, exhibiting at shows, selling art at festivals, and freelancing with an agent. I licensed my designs to dozens of manufacturers and was still able to be home for my kids. My success in art licensing gave me confidence to pursue art full-time, as a career. Art allowed me to have an income and be present to my children on a daily basis.

Now that my kids are all in their twenties, my energy and focus is my art as a career and lifestyle. I teach online lettering and art journaling classes, as well as numerous creative workshops from coast to coast. I just signed a contract with a large publisher and I’m writing an art book! I’ll be teaching in Italy in 2013!

My whole life has centered around the identity of being an artist, living what I was created to be. Lady Gaga has it right when she proclaims, “I was born this way.” To me, art is intuitive. I’m very blessed with the skills and tenacity to “be everything I was meant to be.” Art not only “saves,” art “is”… art “IS” me.

To learn more about Joanne Sharpe, visit joannezsharpe.blogspot.com.

A True and Trusted Friend • by Tracey Clark

Just the Right Time
Art indeed saves. I know this firsthand. My art—my photography—has saved me a number of times. I didn’t dabble in photography until my early twenties but it came just at the right time, right before I graduated college. For my five years as a causal and somewhat wayward art student, I didn’t know what on earth I would do with my art or how I would incorporate it into a career. The skeptics (many of which I knew and loved) told me I’d never make a living with art. But, I held this belief in my heart of hearts that I would be able to make it work some way. I didn’t know what I would do once I graduated, but I did know that whatever it was, it would be creative.

Falling in love with photography (quite by accident) landed me a job immediately following graduation (quite by accident) and the rest is history. If it weren’t for finding photography (or perhaps it found me) I don’t know where I would be now.

Mining Out the Beauty of Life
Fast-forward over 10 years later when I gave birth to my second daughter. It was at that time that photography saved me again. Up until that point, I had loved photography (for both a hobby and for a career) but I didn’t need it. During a bout with post-partum depression, which meant difficulty in coping with everyday life, I found that the only way I could mine out the beauty of my life (my daughters, my husband, my health, my home) was through my lens. I didn’t realize it at the time but once I looked back, I saw exactly what had happened. I was able to stay afloat, holding onto gratitude but focusing on every single bit of my life (at that time it was much about a new baby) and capturing it on film. It was healing and transformative.

An Extension of Who I Am
I recognize that my passion turned into something even richer, deeper, and more meaningful. My camera has become an extension of who I am. It’s an outlet, a muse, a true and trusted friend. My art—my photography—saved me and I know now that it will continue to do so, not only amidst the big transitions but also within the quiet moments. Art, no matter what medium you choose, is awesome like that.

To learn more about Tracey Clark, visit shuttersisters.com and www.traceyclark.com.

Art: An Outlet to Connect my Past, Present and Future • by Nelly Eisenhower

How do I sum up how art saves me in a few short paragraphs? Do I mention its meditative qualities and how I can lose all sense of time? Do I talk about its healing qualities in my journals allowing me to tell my deepest hopes and fears? Do I just simply talk about the joy that it brings me when I am pushing paint around a canvas or journal?

Family Connections to Art
As I struggle to begin, I begin looking around the room. When I look out the window, I am gazing at a stained glass panel that was made by my aunt. I get up to go to the kitchen and walk by two paintings that have been painted by my mom. Sitting on my counter is a glass bowl that was made by my cousin in a glass blowing class. I turn to walk back into the living room and I see the teddy bear my Nana made for me sitting on a cabinet next to a wood carving done by my Poppop. All of these items were gifted to me at some point in time.

I come from a family that surrounds itself in making. Whether it is painting, crafting, or decorating, lots of our time is spent creating. I can always remember making something or having someone making something around me. I am struck by the amounts of art that surround me made by my family. Finally it dawns on me what art gives to me daily — connection. Art is not merely an act of creating for me; it is an outlet to connect to my past, present, and future.

The Beauty of Handmade
I have always been delighted at the receipt and giving of a homemade gift, something that you have made with your own two hands. I will walk into a store, and instead of thinking, “Oh, I should buy that,” I am thinking, “I can make that” — a habit picked up from my Nana. When I am making something for someone, I think of the recipient and how he or she has impacted my life. I always imagined the people giving me handmade gifts have done the same.

I see the beauty in a handmade gift — something you have made with your own two hands. As you are making whatever it is, you are thinking of that person and connecting to them by making them something.

To learn more about Nelly Eisenhower, visit nellysjunkdrawer.blogspot.com.

Color + Kelly = One Happy Girl • by Kelly Barton

When I think about it ... the little girl loved to watch her mama draw big fluffy blooms while chatting on the phone.

When I think about it ... life was filled with colorful gardens, vivid images in the pages of the encyclopedia, and the amazing illustrations of Theodore Geisel. Art saves.

When I think about it ... my school days included art and music everday. E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y.

When I think about it ... to encourage a child to create with abandon can only add to their daily toolbox.

When I think about it ... test-taking for this little girl proved to be stressful and anxiety filled, but given a box of crayons and a sheet of paper, her whole world would blossom. Art saves.

When I think about it ... color simply makes me happy. And on those less than shining days, the act of walking into my studio and picking up a brush changes my perspective on the world that day.

When I think about it ... I am a girl who wanders, filling up each little pocket with color, with flare and care for the beautiful faces I meet along the way. Art saves.

When I think about it ... life without art would mean a life lacking color—and that is not fun at all.

When I think about it ... I am right where I am supposed to be. Painting my girls and releasing my stories with each stroke of the brush and each line drawn with my treasured graphite.

When I think about ... the mantra—ART SAVES is part of my sacred life.

When I think about it ... I hope that you are thinking about it too.

To learn more about Kelly Barton, visit kellybarton.com.

Living Art Saves Me from Growing Indifferent to the Beauty Around Me • by Corey Amaro

I see a moist fertile ground underneath, aching for a seed, and one is planted with a whisper: “I never knew that before ...”

Have you ever felt the air change, though there isn’t a breeze? Something new takes root in the urge to create, to let your passion have free rein?

The Artistic Way is Like a Garden
Nevertheless, a creative life, the artistic way, is like a garden. We hold seeds, waiting for the right season to plant them. Waiting can be hard, but if we plant them too soon they might not take root ... when the sun warms and the rain softens the ground, a seed drops and we gently cover it, wondering if can take the entirety of our soul and grow ... waiting carefully not to pull at it, or stomp out the little green things that might appear. Believing in it, we water it, shelter it, give it room to grow without weeding it to death ... with a gentle hand.

Tender and true through the seasons it becomes, changes colors, grows anew, endures pruning and stagnation, blooms ... Then you see as if it were the first time a love exchange. As I go through my day I think to myself: Isn’t life incredible, challenging, fearless ... bold?

Taking Life’s Paintbrush in Hand
It is easy to become caught up in the day, forgetting to see the tender new growth, the underline hope, the smell of rain, the sun warming our backs. More so, it is easy not to notice the person right in front of us ... the inner song of their soul, their spirit, the beating of their heart, the source that passes between us.

The artistic life is allowing ourselves full expression in who we are, be it cooking, dressing, creating, loving, playing, listening ... it is about taking life’s paintbrush in hand, dipping it into the daily colors of our day-to-day experiences and painting it with our heart, mind, and soul.

To learn more about Corey Amaro, visit willows95988.typepad.com.

Finding Myself in Art • by Katie Pertiet

Documenting Memories
Finding myself in art is the journey I have been on since I was a child. I was always interested in art. My dad was a book publisher and I found myself creating technical illustrations for him as a teenager. Photography became a big part of my life after my dad gave me my first Nikon when I was 15 and I started developing my own film in high school. My camera was always with me as I became yearbook editor and it was in high school that I found scrapbooking. I used scrapbooking as a creative outlet as I attended college majoring in graphic design and working as a photographer at a local photo studio. A position in my sorority as Chapter Historian began to open my eyes as to the importance of scrapbooking for documenting events and memories for those that would come after us. I had never thought of it that way before.

What Makes my Heart Soar
After college I worked as a graphic designer, always scrapbooking vacations, etc., for a creative outlet. When I welcomed my daughter, the desire to document grew astronomically. I continued to work as a designer and when I started scrapping my pages completely digital is when my life changed. I took my professional skills I’d developed with Photoshop and Illustrator, along with my love of photography, and built a new business, DesignerDigitals. It’s a business where I can create what makes my heart soar. It’s where I’ve found myself. This is what I love to do: create and scrapbook. I couldn’t be any luckier! And sharing this passion with people from all over the world has helped me now look outside myself and create for others. I am truly fortunate.

To learn more about Katie, please visit katiepertiet.com.

Making Things: Always Have, Always Will • by Kerry Lynn Yeary of Kenner Road

I’ve always had the creative bug. I remember being 7 years old and making my step-father a cardboard tool box with cardboard plumbing tools for his birthday. I remember wanting to drop band in sixth grade because being in the band meant that I couldn’t take the art class that was offered at the same time. I remember taking three art class electives in a row my senior year of high school so I could teach myself how to make ceramics, throwing clay pots on an antiquated wheel in the back of Mr. Geddes’ art room, all so I could really dive in and not feel rushed to clean up the clay after only 45 minutes. I remember being the one who made all of the signage and paper displays at the retail store that I managed during college. I make things, I always have.

Believing in Myself
I’ve soldered. I’ve made candles. I’ve crocheted. I’ve beaded bracelets and necklaces. I’ve done wire work and taught myself how to use power tools. I’ve done rug hooking and braided a wool rug out of thrift-shopped linen dresses. I’ve taken sculpture classes, I’ve painted and drawn figures. I’ve scrapbooked, made mixed-media journals, and created altered art projects for CHA. I’ve owned a scrapbook kit club and designed exclusive stamps. I’ve designed a paper line coming out this year and taught myself Photoshop and Illustrator. But I’ve never believed in myself enough to call myself an artist.

Six Little Letters
I know. It’s silly to give one word such power over me, and it’s a struggle that I still have as I sit here and write these words for Jenny and Art Saves. Labeling myself as an artist and accepting that “title” has always been difficult. It’s what I dreamed of being as a child and what I still dream of being now, but it’s still not how I describe myself to others. I wish it were. I wish when people asked me what I did that my response back would be, “I’m an artist.” But the title still doesn’t seem like it fits me, not yet.

Maybe I will always feel this way. Maybe I won’t. Maybe one day, after I realize it’s just a word, just six letters put together next to one another to describe something creative that someone does, I will stop letting it intimidate me and just let myself be it. An artist. Maybe the struggle to accept the title as artist is what lets me dabble and try new things so easily. Maybe not labeling myself lets me be freer and more open to experiment and move from one art form to another. Maybe it keeps me from really being what I was created to be.

An Artist.

Always Making
Right now, all I know for sure is that I don’t have an answer. All I know is that I’m on a journey and that I’m still exploring. I’m still learning and trying new things. I’m still struggling and experimenting. The one thing I do know is that I make things, and I always will.

To learn more about Kerry Lynn Yeary and Kenner Road, visit blog.kennerroad.com.