Melonius Thunk

Vulnerability (AEDM - Day 11)

If you've read any of my early posts, you know that I'm in a period of life transformation.  I left my legal career of 14 years on September 30 to pursue the creativity that lives within my heart.  To say that this move was difficult or scary is an understatement!  But I know it was the right decision.

I don't know yet where this transformation will take me.  I have no idea what my next career might be.  Yet  life is in the living, not the final destination.

One of my first steps on my new journey is simply to engage in creativity and connect with other creative people.  So when my friend Courtney posted on Facebook that she needed artists to decorate hearts for a charity auction to benefit the Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry, I immediately said I'd be happy to decorate a heart.  Of course, I couched that by saying "I'm not an artist per se, but I'd be happy to help".  Thank you, Courtney, for taking me up on my offer - little did you know the growth opportunity you were providing!

I had a hard time deciding how to decorate my heart and actually changed my mind several times.  A lot of fears and insecurities arose in the process:  would my heart be too "crafty" and not "art"?  what if no one bids on my heart?  oh my goodness!  there are "real" (professional) artists participating! and so on. 

I don't know why this vulnerability surprised me.  After all, insecurity is what led me to a career as an attorney in the first place.  And here insecurity was again - this time chipping away at the purity of the creative process.  A couple of times I got so wrapped up in the end result that I got frustrated and discouraged and almost lost sight of the process - the juicy part.  So I acknowledged my feelings of insecurity - after all, this is the first piece I've done for public consumption - and reminded myself that my goal was just to have fun with being creative.  Once I let go of trying to make something that would please others, I created a heart with which I am very pleased.  AND I had fun doing so.

That's not to say my insecurities are resolved or that I no longer feel vulnerable.  I'm still plenty vulnerable!  But I now see the gift that I've been given with the opportunity not only to indulge my creativity, but to step outside of my comfort zone, to claim my creative spirit, and to share my spirit with a small portion of my community.  Now that is growth!

The auction is next Tuesday, November 17.  I've already got a few butterflies in my belly and I'm sure they'll have more friends joining them as the auction draws near.  And yes, I'll be a nervous wreck on the 17th.  But that's okay.  Because I'll be growing.  And growth is good. 

Happy Creating!
~ Melony

FALLing into Art Every Day Month (Day 1)

Here it is, November 1, 2009, the first day of Art Every Day Month(AEDM) 2009 at Creative Every Day.  My life has been rather hectic of late, but I did manage to get out this morning and capture some of Fall's beauty via my handy-dandy point-and-shoot digital camera.  I had fun walking around my neighborhood, capturing the sun as it filtered through the trees, playing with the macro feature on the camera, and soaking up some of those gorgeous sun rays courtesy of Mother Nature.

Here is a sampling of my (unaltered) photographs:

 

Happy Creating!
~Melony
  
  
 
  
 
 

Experimenting with Oil Pastels

Last weekend I bought a set of oil pastels and some dry media paper.  I've never worked with oil pastels.  Don't know the first thing about them.  Don't even know if I have the proper tools.  (Do fingers count as tools?)  But today I shed the cellophane and began to play!

I spent a while just experimenting to see how they took to the paper, how they blended, and so on.  I had so much fun getting my fingers dirty! 

After a while I had a pretty good sampling on paper.  I had a couple of mats from an old project, so I used them like a view-finder to see if I had anything there that would be interesting in an abstract way.

Here's one abstract example: 

But my hope for the day was to create something formy good friend and neighbor, Tara, who was celebrating her 50th birthday today.  The one I chose for her is shown below.  I framed it in a chrome silver frame with a black mat, but I had to photograph it outside of the frame due to the glare on both the glass and the chrome.

Full View

 

Closeup

The colors in Tara's piece are actually vibrant, but did not translate very well to the photographs.  The full view photo is fairly close though.  Not bad considering I used the wall in the back hallway as the backdrop!

What a fun way to spend a dreary afternoon!

Looking Ahead to the "Art Every Day Month" Challenge

Today I stumbled upon Leah Piken Kolidas's website Creative Every Day.  What a gem of a find!  Leah is already living one of the principles I am hoping to incorporate into my daily life -- that of being engaged in creative activities every single day.  I feel like I've bumped into a kindred soul!

Every year Leah challenges people to join her in her Creative Every Day endeavors.  You can do this by joining in the challenge for the entire year.  But that's not the only opportunity to dip your toes in the creativity pool, because November is Art Every Day Month! 

Leah started the Art Every Day Month project some seven years ago as a personal challenge to create art everyday for a month and blog about it.  While she encourages participants to create something every day in the month of November, her real goal is to promote creativity in general.  Yes, the challenge comes with some rules, but Leah is quick to point out that the rules are made for breaking.  In other words, participants are invited to mold and shape the project for a personal fit.

Daunting?  Not at all!  In Leah's own words:  "Art is also loosely defined here. I mean art in the sense of anything creative, whether that be painting, drawing, knitting, sewing, cooking, decorating, writing, photography, clay, jewelry-making or whatever!"

I signed up to participate in Art Every Day Month on the spot!  This could be just what I need to jump start my creative living practice.  How exciting is that?!?!

Oh - remember that creativity treasure box I mentioned a couple of weeks ago?  I am very excited to make it a reality and put it into use!

I can hardly wait for November to see what kinds of creativity activities I will sample and the like-minded creative folks I will encounter along the way.  Let the creativity roll!

For the Love of Cuba!

Or Cuban musicians, anyway.

Tonight I attended the Tiempo Libre concert at Transylvania University.  What a concert it was!  Complete with keyboards, guitar, drums, congas, trumpet & trombone, saxophone, and a very limber lead singer.  This was high energy at its best.  These guys jumped, jigged, and shimmied without abandon.  Their version of Latin Jazz certainly made it difficult to sit still in your seats.

I took my mother and grandmother to the concert as we continued to celebrate their birthdays.  I told them there would likely be some hip shimmying, but I had forgotten exactly how much . . . and the degree of said shimmies.  Perhaps my favorite comment of the evening, courtesy of NaNa in reference to the lead singer, was "I don't know how he keeps from throwing something out of place!"

Alas, one of the best parts of the concert was watching the students (and a few others) dance with joy along the side aisles and front of the theater.  Beaming with smiles and overflowing with positive energy, they truly let the music move them.  At one point there was even a congo line that encircled the theater's mid-section -- the smiles on the participants' faces were simply radiant.  I wasn't one of the "others", and I missed the congo line, but I know I was not the only "mature" attendee tapping my feet in my seat and dancing in spirit.

Yes, it was a very nice evening.

Let's Talk Creativity

As you know, I am seeking my place in the creative world.  So, naturally, creativity will play a major roll in forming my future.  That's what I'd like to talk about today:  creativity.

I've been thinking about the "elements of daily living" I'd like to incorporate into my life and creativity is at the top of the list.  My goal is to engage in some form of creativity most every day.  That could mean active first-hand participation or passive participation as a "consumer" of others' creativity.

This past week I've done quite well in the passive participation category.  I attended Teresa Bartenstein's art show opening, went to the St. James Court Art Show, finished Pat Conroy's South of Broad, and saw the movie Julie & Julia.  And I have a few more passive arts activities planned over the next week:  a Tiempo Libre concert at my alma mater Transylvania University, Actors Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and I might hit the Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen show in Berea this weekend.

So where's my active participation in the creative process?  Writing this blog has been the only creative endeavor in which I have actively participated this week.  Writing has been nice, but I'd like to find more ways to engage in creativity on a regular basis.  Classes are one option and I'm looking into a class at the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft called Creating Colorful Creatures: Fabric and Polymer Dolls next weekend and am considering a mosaics workshop from the mosaics guy himself in Chattanooga in November or December. 

I'd also like to assemble a "treasure chest" of creative activities from which I can draw when I need a creative fix.  I plan to gather a variety of activities for my treasure chest (or toy box!).  Things like needlepoint, collaging, coloring books & crayons, finger paints, sewing projects, knitting/crocheting projects, beading, jewelry making, paper mache, and things like that.  Of course, I don't know how to do all of these things, but learning will be part of the fun.

How do you satisfy your creative urges?  Do you have suggestions for treasure chest must-have items?  I'd love to hear from you!

Joy & Creativity to All!

Research at the St. James Court Art Show

Another incredible day.  That's two in a row.  Wow!  I'm on a roll!

What started as a dreary, rainy day turned to sunshine and crisp Fall weather.  Mother Nature had perfect timing!  The first weekend in October marks the annual St. James Court Art Show in Old Louisville.  On this special weekend, crowds upwards of 300,000 flock to the Old Louisville neighborhood to shop for art made and sold by the artists themselves. 

The art ranges from clay to clothing, to jewelry, to glass, to sculpture with prices from a $15 trinket to several-thousand dollar creations.  It is an art junkie's dream come true.  And that is where I spent the first Friday of the rest of my life.  I like to call it "research" as I spent some time talking to the artists and connecting with other creative people.

I did buy a couple of pieces, but I am proud to say that nothing I bought was very expensive.  Now that I am embarking on the life of a "starving artist", I have to watch my nickles you know.  One of the items I bought is very apropos and reads as follows:

I decided that the world of work is not conducive to JOY --

and so I became a dreamer of dreams that come true.

I'm much happier NOW.

Thank you, Kay Foley, for expressing so eloquently my hopes for the future!