Grounded

My Goddess of the Lotus

The final stage of my four month Vision Quest with Whitney Freya brought us down to EARTH which is pretty appropriate as I plan to bring into this post an analogy about some cute fluffy creatures with big ears that like to burrow below the earth and make their homes among tangled tree roots, but more on that later.

Here with feet on terra firma we solidified the lessons learned in building our creative practice and gained clarity on what we wanted to manifest going forward.

Working through Air, Fire and Water had prepared the soil ready to plant the seeds that would be the start of new intentions. As I've been painting layers and meaning I've been building my understanding of what it will mean to take my coaching message out into the world.

I've also been realising how important it is to nurture those tiny new ideas and actions. Just like little green shoots, they are tender things that require constant attention - if I don't give them enough light, feed them or leave them in the dark they will wither and die. Ideas and intentions need room to grow, to put out new shoots that explore and develop.

Our the course of Vision Quest we have been learning to switch on and listen to our intuitive mind. The act of creativity, when we are completely in flow, will quiet the noise of our everyday lives and allow messages to come through. This might sound a bit 'woo woo' until you actually try it. Just as our brains sort through the day's events in the form of our dreams at night, so does our right brain like to figure things out.

Ready for the rabbit analogy now? Strictly speaking the bunny wisdom I want to share with you comes from a creature that didn't always live underground - not until he was 'real' anyway! I am of course referring to the Velveteen Rabbit! Tapping into our right brain through the creative process is like rummaging through our stuffing until we find what makes us real.

The simple act of writing down our thoughts and questions we seek answers to on our canvas and then covering them with layers of paint is like spark to a flame for our right brain. As we play, the brain sifts through its store of knowledge and produces solutions. It asks not "what is it?" but "what can I do with it?". Being intuitive opens us up to taking a much wider view, we look from all perspectives, going beyond the here and now. It never ceases to amaze me at what comes out when I start to paint, collage, create. I'll often look back and wonder if someone else made what is before me.

Then, moving off of the canvas and back into 'real' life we begin to learn the lessons from our creative practice. So many times when I make art I'll stare at a terrible first layer and want to quit. But I've learned to keep going, reinventing, trying something new, innovating.  It was just a step on the journey, a test to see if you could fight off any resistance you were struggling with.

And so now, as I develop my coaching practice I'm taking these lessons to heart. I fail fast, try another layer and bring in different tools and methodologies to see what will happen next. It's already making me a better coach.

And if you don't believe me, how about this guy?

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We  have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift."

Albert Einstein

Going with the flow

“If you are interested in something, you will focus on it, and if you focus attention on anything, it is likely that you will become interested in it. Many of the things we find interesting are not so by nature, but because we took the trouble of paying attention to them.”
― Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life

Have you ever felt the flow? Perhaps it was while watching a movie, playing a console game or ... CREATING! That's when I get it - those times when hours fly past because you are so immersed in the enjoyment of your process. When I'm in flow my intuition seems to take over. It's my right brain kicking in and adding its flavours to my creative juice.

Letting my paint and life flow in the direction it needs to go

Can you remember what it was like when you were a young child and presented with a blank sheet of paper and some poster paints. Did you sit there and moan to the teacher that you couldn't draw or that you didn't know what to paint? Or did you slather colour across the page, sticking your tongue slightly out of your mouth in concentration, and just make something?

Flow is naturally represented by Water and was the element explored by Whitney Freya and my band of vision questers last month. We dove deep into our soul and cleansed ourselves of notions that we weren't good enough or that everything had to perfect.

Imagine your life at present immersed in water right now. Are you all at sea with the waves of life taking control and casting you against the rocks. Is the sand clogging your senses? Do you need a sense of direction?

Or are you at one with your intuition, flowing down the river? When an obstacle appears on the horizon you don't fear it, you just flow right around or maybe grab the things from the water that will serve you and let go of what doesn't.

I've been painting with my intuition, just letting what wants to come make its way onto the canvas. Mostly the same canvas, I've fought the impulse to hang onto something just because it looked good at that moment and instead practiced detachment.

Evolution of a Picasso-inspired painting - later it became a red bird!

The lessons I've learned have applied in my work life too. I was holding onto a role that had been a comfort blanket but hadn't realised how much it had gone from soft and welcoming cashmere to a scratchy horse hair that was bringing me out in a nasty rash! So, I bravely let go of that which no longer served and followed my bliss. Right now for me this is stepping away from my regular income and throwing myself in the deep end as I launch my Creativity Coaching business. Scary stuff but there are no rocks so far! The water is warm and I'm bobbing along just nicely!

And as I flow into this new coaching career I seem to have Liz Gilbert on autoplay in my ear reminding me about how important it is to act on your ideas before they carry on downstream to find someone else to grow them to fruition. So, while in flow I've already launched both a new Facebook Group and a collaborative art project to further help bring my tribe together.

Art is Life. Life is Art.

Phoenix rising

Rising from the canvas - layers of paint underneath this Phoenix

This month on Whitney Freya's Vision Quest programme (where I'm training to become a Creatively Fit Coach) we are working with FIRE! Fire brings forth change and most of us are hard-wired to resist that right! But to create we must burn away resistance and stick our hands in that metaphorical fire. We might not find it as uncomfortable as we first think!

As we grow older and/or step away from a regular creative practice it's easy to carry around thoughts and behaviours that don't serve us. How many times have you said or heard a friend say "I don't have a creative bone in my body" or "I can't paint". Well, I'm here to tell you that as long as you can pick up a paintbrush and drag its laden bristles across a surface... then... YOU CAN! Vision Quest takes us through this process

The single most important change you can make each day is the movement from not creating to creating and once you take that first step it's a delightful ride to creating with wild abandon!

As we grow as artists there's more often than not a desire to make meaning from our creative pursuits, but sometimes just the very act of making the art is meaning enough in itself. The act of laying down colour and watching it mix and settle on the canvas is juicy, exhilarating and even a little bit sexy!

The beauty of many painting and mixed media materials is their ability to layer - to cover up. Not mistakes, never mistakes because we don't make those when we create! Oh no... we just make decisions that we move on from. We find interesting discoveries and openings. We just have to trust in the process.

Pretty soon what we thought was just blobs of colour starts to talk to us, to whisper itself into creation. Just like the Phoenix rising from the flames and all the other metaphors and stories that give us lessons in transformation and alchemy. Fire destroys but also purifies and opens up land to new growth.

Can we burn away your creative tangles and frustrations and open you up to rebirthing your creativity?

Sari - my Phoenix companion

Following my nose

My drawing of Little Bunny from the original illustration by J P Miller

When I was a little girl one of my favourite books was Little Bunny follows his nose, a story about a rabbit that sets off on an adventure with nowhere particular in mind. He just ... follows his nose, in other words his intuition!

There was something about this idea of nose following that I always loved - a clear clue to the free spirit in my nature, the yearning to always know what's around the next corner from the country path and city street to the results from the choices we make.

My intuition and I are friends and, although she doesn't say much, she's always there to nudge me in what she believes to be the right direction. I don't always listen though (bad Lisa!) and usually regret it if I shut out her opinion. My intuition lives in the right side of my brain alongside the power of the subconscious where she looks at pattern, shape, thoughts and puts the seemingly disparate together to make new meaning. She's a clever thing.

Recently I let her give me a huge push. I'd reached a point in my career where I wanted to inject something new into the mix. I've been thinking a great deal recently about sharing the wealth of knowledge and experience I've gained over the years. I've a yearning to make a difference in people's lives - particularly other artists and creatives. I love to talk about creativity, right brain magic and art making. Moving into coaching seemed to offer everything I was after and then, wouldn't you believe it, the Universe only went and delivered me an email from Whitney Freya offering the opportunity to train with her and become a Creatively Fit Coach.

We started our first month in September focusing on the under-utilised power of the right brain - a topic so close to my heart. I was blown away the first time I read Dan Pink's A whole new mind - why right-brainers will rule the future and love to let my right side loose outide the box - to rip it open, tear it up and make something new! Of course, there's a balancing act - we need the left side too, but as the world became more automated our right brains just haven't been given enough to do. For many, they are packed away in bubble wrap and placed in storage. It's time to get them out for a play!

Whitney's tool bag of exercises are designed to exercise and limber up the cramped right side - it was time to understand exactly how we will stretch the creative muscles of our clients' creativity and energise them into artistic action.

This month I've been losing myself in Mandala-making, spending time switching off and being 'me' and just playing with pens on paper.

By far the most interesting exercise I found to be the Soul Scribble. This is a method of tuning out of your left and into your right hemisphere. It's really easy, why don't you have a go now.

Grab a sheet of paper and a pen. Take a deep breath and try to switch off the 'noise' of daily life - you know, the thinking about chores you need to do, the urge to check your phone, wondering what the dog is up to... Try and empty your mind and ask it what it needs you to know.

Now just close your eyes and scribble on the page. About three seconds should be enough. Now, look down. What do you see? A tangled mess of lines? Look again. Turn the page 90 degrees, squint and turn it again. Write down five words inspired by the drawing then just keep writing and see what comes out.

I saw a whale on a stormy sea - was that me? Riding the waves, singing my own song?

Another day I drew my scribble, looked down at the marks on the page and saw a pair of lungs. Not really surprising as I'd had a chest infection all week and was still coughing so hard it felt like I was turning myself inside out. I grabbed at this symbolism and started writing about how my lungs feel clogged. Then the magic happened. I moved beyond the sickness and took my power back. I wrote down the word BREATHE. I realised that the story wasn't about my lungs at all. It was a message to slow down. Maybe that's what the chest infection has forced me to do... I have already started this process but it's given me more clarity. I have put many of my projects on hold so I can focus on becoming a Creatively Fit Coach. I'm putting away the things that aren't serving me at present. Not all of them are bad, far from it. There just isn't space for them in my life right now. That's OK. They can wait.

I saw a face with crazy hair that looked like two women. Was this perhaps the strongest message of all? That my exploration of both sides of my brain is exactly what I should be doing, that I'm learning. The figure on the right side looked like she was climbing out of my head - emerging, ready to move into her own power.

The Soul Scribble is taking us into our right brain, it's speaking in symbology rather than words and forcing us to think differently - it's taking us to answers to unspoken questions. It's incredibly exciting and I can't wait to share this and all the other things I am learning with my clients.

Magic is happening my friends. Stay tuned... there's so much more to come - I feel it in my soul scribbles!

Creativity, The Muse & Me - Part 1

This week I'm interviewing myself (as Graham Norton and Oprah still haven't called...). It's all part of a lovely little blog hop. I was nominated by Latisha Guthrie of Petal and Moss. I met Latisha last year on Pilgrimage - she's a special lady.  Go visit her blog and find out more!

Anyway, I started answering the required questions and got totally carried away with my answers, so I am going to split them over a few days so you don't get sore eyes reading it all or, worse still, nod off!

So, without further ado, let us begin at the beginning.

What am I working on?

Now there's a question! It might have been better to ask what I'm not working on! I'm one of those people who likes to have a whole pile of irons in the proverbial fire. Some might say I take on too much, which is often true (and I never learn!). I go through phases of frenetic activity followed by a bit of singe-ing around the edges that threaten to ignite to full-blown burnout. I am getting a little better at managing this ... or at least I am trying my hardest ...

So, let's focus on a few of my current rash of projects:

1. Online art courses

I am a self-confessed art course junkie; but this is an addiction of which I have absolutely no intention of quitting. You'll see a recurring theme here for a passion for learning - more on this later.

So far this year I have been taking three courses:

Studying under the Masters led by Jeanne Oliver and a host of passionate artists. We have imagined ourselves into the art studios of the geniuses of Matisse and O'Keeffe, sitting alongside their ghosts and feeling our way into their paintbrushes. We didn't just restrict ourselves to those of bygone eras and centuries though. One of my favourite modern artists is Francoise de Felice and I loved the week we played with her soft techniques and beautiful ladies.

With Misty Mawn's Full Circle, we have journaled, sculpted, snapped, painted, drawn, collaged and gone digital. I have gone through nearly a vat of gesso and filled my phone's memory with photo manipulation apps. If it's captured... I'll grunge, double expose and recolour it!

Finally, the smiley face of Carla Sonnheim brightens my inbox with a monthly dose of fairytale magic in the Year of the Fairytale. This month we are building up mattress layers of story in our illustrations of The Princess and the Pea.

2. Collaborative Art Journals

I am a joyous participant in two of these projects. The Magical Journal Journey is now in its third year and iteration. This year our themes centre around our favourite artists. Matisse is my man. I created the first few pages then sent it on its globe-trotting way to receive my friends' art!

The second of these collaborations involves around 25 artists. This Saturday I am getting to meet many of them for the first time - I can't wait! We might all be relative strangers to each other - but I know we will have PLENTY to talk about!

3. My book!

Yes, those that know me well will be aware that I have promising to get myself published for centuries... But at last I may have actually made a start with the semblance of a plan, and as fortune would have it, there's ... you guessed it ... another online course to help me get there ... Christine Mason Miller's Conscious Booksmith course will help me launch my words from head to page and to take the plunge into becoming a bona fide author. Who knows, I may even write two - depending on writer's angst...

4. Continuous bookish learning

I have a recurring dream that I am back at University and realise far too late in the term that I haven't attended any lectures or written my essays. I think it's a form of regret that I didn't study harder. I did OK, but didn't exactly set the academic world on fire - I kept all that passion for the social life to be honest... They say education is wasted on the young and I would have to agree. Now though I devour 'text books' - on business, marketing, creativity, positive thinking, self help, motivation, organisation, feminism and magic. I just can't get enough of this learning malarkey!

Well that will do for today - come back tomorrow for the next question and the line up of bloggers who will take up the baton next!

Today, here's a quick link to the other two bloggers on the hop with me this week - Lisa Hofman and Eileen Nishi.

 

E is for Einstein

There was a great deal more to this man than wild hair and physics. In fact, he came up with one of my favourite quotes about creativity:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

Imagination takes me places that my life does not. I visit planets, lead revolutions and hang my paintings in the kinds of galleries frequented by people with deep pockets. My imagination has the capability of doubling two and getting five. It knows no bounds. It believes in anything it chooses.

Imagination is a powerful thing, which when mixed with its cousin intuition, opens the door to creativity. From this heady mix have come pieces of music powerful enough to bring you to tears, creatures the like of which we have never seen, heroes and villains and technology that blows your mind!

Day 5 of the Blogging A-Z. I'm enjoying this :)

Simple on the outside

The simplicity of this sketch is what makes it so remarkable. One man on stage with a stool. One man off stage with a drum kit and you have the makings of a perfect comedy moment.

However, I couldn't help thinking about what must have gone into the creation of this performance. I stopped seeing five minutes of entertainment and instead marvelled at hours of planning and preparation, impeccable timing and a comic genius whose acting makes us truly believe that there is actually a full drum kit sitting in front of him, with a curious cat wandering onto set just at the right moment! And let's not forget of course the years of honing his craft.

As part of my day job, I recently created a two minute video sketch which was used at a conference. It took HOURS to make! First there was the research, writing and fine tuning. Then we had to source costumes and make up, find a location and set. On the day I even had to find a bevy of strong men to help move an incredibly heavy board table that was blocking my cameraman's view. Filming took four hours (acting is definitely not their usual day job!). Add to this editing and final tweaks and a simple two minute film became something of a cinematic marathon.

It was worth every effort though when the audience laughed in all the right places and memories of our VPs for Sales and Finance impersonating Austin Powers and Dr Evil will be indelibly printed on memories for many years to come! The hours and labour were forgotten - the final delivery was everything.

As creatives we don't need our audience to think too deeply about what has gone into our output. The end result, is after all the most important thing. The bit that goes behind it is all part of the magic - the secret wand-waving and ingredients we mix together to create the simplicity of the marvel. I rather like that.

Seasonal Sketches

Something seasonal for the Christmas countdown. Later today I will have to tidy away the art supplies in order to rediscover the dining table - which I keep 'for best'. I mean there's no point using it to eat on every day is there? It just won't feel special when we do.... That's my excuse for covering it with an art supplies mountain and I'm sticking to it.

In 2013 I intend to sell lots of art to fund operation 'we're going to need a bigger house'. Lately just getting through the door has become a piece of performance art in itself.

It's good to state ambitious intentions. Yesterday I took delivery of The Icarus Deception a very exciting new book by Seth Godin. He challenges the cosy old rules of comfort zones and compliance and reminds us that we all have the wings we need to soar. It's about bravery, adventure and creativity. I'm in.

Sharing today for Sunday Sketches. Pop on over and see what the gang are up to!

When will I know...

...when I am good enough?

I am going through a frenzy of painting over old canvases. Not much is safe and paintings I once adored are rapidly disappearing under a thick blanket of gesso as I wonder how I ever thought they were worth hanging on a wall.

Will the pieces I created fresh this week meet the same fate this time next year? Will I ever be satisfied?

Mind you, didn't many of the great Masters do the same thing? Aren't there instances of restorers finding older paintings hiding underneath those prized today? I wonder what lies beneath the Mona Lisa? I think it might be something saucy - which possibly accounts for that enigmatic expression she's been wearing for the last five centuries or so.

Maybe one day the experts will apply the digital thermal x-ray techno wotsits and see the large eye that resides beneath this mermaid. I'm pretty certain there's something else below that one too!

If you own a masterpiece and another is found underneath, does that make it twice as valuable? Imagine rubbing off Venus because you preferred the 'still life with old shoe' underneath! I wonder if there is a law against such things?

I am starting to talk nonsense now! You should really read yesterday's post where my philosophising was of a more intellectual nature - and I won't be painting over the art I share there either anytime soon (particularly as I no longer own it)!

It seems appropriate that this piece I am sharing for Paint Party Friday this week is very much a work in progress and, given the number of paintings underneath her, I assume she will remain so for many years to come!

Tune in next week for the next version!

Postscript: Carol just left me a comment mentioning the male figure behind the siren. Well, I thought for a moment she was seeing things, for I never painted a male figure. But then I looked again... and what do you know... there he is! How spooky is that?!! Thanks Carol. Namaste!

Who am I?

I am me. Mother, Daughter, Lover, Writer, Artist, Dreamer.

I like me. She is fun to be around. She has fingers in many pies - sometimes they get burnt (she never learns!) and often sticky, but mostly delicious (that's the pies, not her fingers).

Me is the girl who found the part of her that was missing through blogging and art and has never looked back. Life just wouldn't be the same without paint down her fingernails and a dining table collapsing under the weight of art supplies!

Me is the girl who spends so much time thinking outside the box that she can't remember where the box is anymore. Who needs a box anyway?

Me can't drink more than a couple of glasses of wine without getting extremely tipsy.

Me is the girl who dreamed of running her own eCourse to share her approach to creativity with others. So she went on ahead and did it! It launched this week - it's so exciting!

Me dreams of a house in the country complete with an ENORMOUS art studio. I went from being a Town to a City girl to a Country girl and back to a town girl. I think country girl wins (but not too far from London.... so I can get my fix).

Dream House Hallway

Me isn't very good at walking in high heels but likes to wear them when sitting still.

Me likes to dress like this - but most often can be found in jeans and a flowery top.

Source (it's not actually me in the picture!)

Monsoon dress - my favourite shop

Me is very untidy - my mind is often in chaos, so I can I possibly be expected to put away my shoes or file those papers?

 Me has learnt that being yourself is the route to happiness and that we must have faith in ourselves. Me knows that there's nothing wrong with dreaming so big that your soul grows wings!

Me likes bad jokes and corny word play

Me has actually organised a piss up in a brewery - on more than one occasion!

Me loves being a member of this inspiring online creative tribe that support each other helping all to grow and unfurl their wings.

Me believes in magic and fairies, God and true love.

Me believes that in a former life she may have been turquoise.

Source - me!

This piece of self love (well, you have to do it sometimes!), is for a wonderful blog hop that arty Amy has organised. Find out more about artists and dreamers across the globe in the All together now party where we are all to dress in our best frocks, look in the mirror and like what we see. Leave a comment on this post and I'll enter you into the competition to win the piece of art at the top of the page - the one about whispering hearts.
I created this piece for Inspiration Avenue's Art with Heart weekly challenge.)

This is me

Find me here, there and everywhere:

Facebook - personal
Facebook - creative biz
Facebook - messy book group
Pinterest
Twitter - personal @lisawrightstuff
Twitter - creative biz @wrightbrains
Creative biz site
LinkedIn

Unfurling

Once upon a time, there was a creative soul who sat day after day, night after night pouring her soul forth into her art and writing. She believed in the power of creativity and took trips with her Muse into the deepest secrets of her imagination. It was such a wonderful place that she wanted to share it with others, so she began to write the words that would map out a journey into the creative soul via the right side of the brain - where the magic happens. Today the first of her students are rising to flex their creative muscles, load up their joy in experimentation and most certainly leave behind any self-doubt.

What to expect

This course is not an instructional 'copy what I do' course. I won't show you how to paint or write like me. What I will do is guide you through a series of exercises and teach you techniques to find your own creativity. I want to you to be surprised by what you find.

I'm giving all my students top marks from the start - because they all deserve it. They are here to open up their hearts to possibility. We will banish the 'can't do that demons' to the abyss where they belong. We will draw, paint, write, photograph - whatever our creative Muse wants to do; but at the same time if you just want to paint or write, then that's fine.

We are looking a different ways to find inspiration, to see what's before you and to express yourself.

It's not always going to be easy. At times students may find all they have created is a mess, but that's where the learning really starts - where's the fun in getting it right first time? We will also be working through these exercises collectively and sharing (if we wish) through our group. We will support each other on this creative journey as we find our own Muse and develops different styles. We will start to realise that the mess was just the starting point!
This course is for anybody that wants to try something new and challenging, who dares to be different and who wants creativity bursting into bloom from every pore!

The guarantee

Why not try it and see if you like it. I will offer full refund to anyone who doesn't believe it is helping them dig deep into their creativity by the end of week 4 - can't say fairer than that!

More information available on my website - including the all important sign me up button. What's stopping you?

Take the leap with me (don't worry, I'm holding your hand very tightly and will be with you all the way!).

Normal service will resume shortly

Readers. I totally need to focus on my new business plan and avoid all distractions until I can come back here and properly tell you all about it.

I'm going to slip off the radar for a week or two, best rest assured I'm thinking about you all and working on something I hope you are going to love!

Back soon!

A love affair

I'm in love. It's true. I can't keep it in. My heart is pounding, my soul dances polkas and my eyes light up from within.

This isn't the same love I hold for my sweetheart and my gorgeous boy though (for they are both most dear and truly loved in their own unique and special ways).

No, this is a different kind of magic altogether. It's the loving 'what you were meant to do'. It's random paint splotches forming shapes and pictures. It's eyes revealing personality from the page. It's texture, colour, depth. It's mystery, magic. It's Art.

Sometimes I want to create art so much it hurts - a physical pull. Others I feel pain from frustration when what I yearn to put onto canvas just refuses to take shape. Art makes me happy. Art soothes and caresses away the stresses of the day. Art is part and parcel of me.

It took me a while but I finally learnt that I was born to create. Sure I can do other things (and have to!), but creativity is as much a part and parcel of me as my boy and my sweetheart. Creating makes me happy.

Sharing today with a Valentine's blog party with the Fly Tribe - celebrating our love of art.

PS: I was properly spoilt today. I feel loved :)

PPS: If you love art, you might like to sign up (see the button top right) for something exciting I am planning. All will be revealed soon!!

Quiet introspection

It has been a week of hard work and downtime thinking and reflection. I have not stopped and my body is complaining and urging me to both do some exercise (far too much time spent sitting in front of a computer!) and get some rest.

However, I am far too tired for the former and excited for the latter! This combination of emotion might result in a somewhat strange post, but let's just get on with it and see what happens.

Day job in the past couple of weeks has involved everything from changing tattoos on a man's head using PhotoShop to directing commercials and watching men dance along to Olivia Newton John...  I do love what I do!

Come evening, I have been partaking in my new favourite hobby - learning! I am so excited to be taking the Hello Soul. Hello Business course with Beth Nicholls and Kelly Rae Roberts. This week has been about introspection, discovering why we do what we want to do. Taking the time to reflect so we can build the right foundations for our creative businesses.

I was forced to delve deep into my passion for creativity. Why I have I chosen to take this path? What are my motivations? Well, I love to bring interest to the ordinary; colour and fun to the every day. If I can make people smile and take them on a journey of understanding that gives them pleasure and touches their heart and soul, then I'm getting that warm feeling inside of me.

Today was the culmination of weeks of hard work involving a huge team of talented people at Rackspace - one of the companies I have pleasure to work with. We put on an event to set the stage for 2012. Yes, there was PowerPoint involved... but also a theatre, cross dressing, ice cream, stunt doubles, pyrotechnics, drumming, camp performance, wigs, medal ceremonies, singing, a chariot and even an Olympic torch.

I need to transition this post into talking about art now, but am struggling to find a suitable link sentence... so let's just get on with it...

Last night I felt the urge to express through art a little of how I was feeling and this 'self portrait' was the result (I'm not blonde, nor do I have long hair... or indeed actually look like this....). Instead it just felt like me looking in. Quiet introspection. I just ripped a page out of an old book and played with my pastels and pencils. This evening, when I scanned the image in I was rather intrigued to spot a message hidden in the words... A moment of serendipity if you like...

Look closely and you'll spot...

... my name (Lisa. I have no idea who Eleanor is... maybe my Muse?) and then see how it talks about guts and instincts... just seconds after I'd listened to the course audio and heard Kelly Rae share how she believes that her intuition is her most valuable business tool! Serendipity?

(Also sharing this piece with my friends at Paint Party Friday).

Let's party

Well, this is it, another year draws to a close and what do we have to show for it? Quite a bit actually. I feel content, headed in the right direction with a feeling that I've achieved something. I'm also ready to tackle 2012 head on with some ambitious plans intended to stretch and grow untapped potential.

Lately there's been an internal shift - a real desire to keep growing. Not literally, of course, I'm quite happy with my current height and indeed plan a bit of a shrink of certain parts of me - notably waistline...

No, it's a mental thing. Take a peek at the pile of books by my bed and in my Amazon wishlist and you'll find a foray into the world of business academia. I'm devouring Dan Pink, Nancy Duerte, Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Garr Reynolds... and I'm glued to TED lectures. There is a distinct theme to these explorations and it doesn't take me far from my roots. It's creativity. It's the power of the right brain and its influence over the left. It's my passion for bringing colour, imagination and spark to the workplace; to raising the bar with the way we communicate and engage with our colleagues; to help build businesses that release the potential of the people that work there and above all enjoy what they are doing.

2012 will see my personal growth flow into my business so I can take what I've learned from these masters, mix it with my years of experience and add a little touch of 'me' to help my clients achieve their own goals - and maybe set themselves on a journey they weren't expecting, but one which does them a power of good. Who knows? 2012 is waiting in the wings - opportunity is there for us to grab and I've got long fingers!

***

I was going to use this post to share with you my word for 2012 and reflect on choosing the word PUBLISH worked out for me in 2011... but this is getting a bit long and I haven't even started on explaining what's going on with those two ladies up top! You'll have to come back tomorrow to read that story.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for 2012 - may you dreams and hopes come to fruitition. What are you most looking forward to? What's your biggest dream?

***

So, moving swiftly on. The ladies are a couple of crazy witches brewing up a wild party night. Inspired by lovely Amy's live class, they began life as a couple of models cut out of Elle and stuck onto some scrapbook paper. I gave them a makeover ready for tonight's festivities (them being so not happy with the black and white look)... They were both expecially pleased with the hair - their own being scraped back in a dull ponytail. They are brewing up trouble for tonight... beware of strange haired ladies wanting to kiss you come Midnight....

Here's the full version

Overwhelm Awash Inarticulate Unworthy

Close your eyes and imagine soft swathes of gossamer-thin silk floating in a warm breeze and wrapping themselves around you. Your eyes can't quite focus through the rainbow of layered colour but you're aware of thousands of butterflies and sparkling birds dancing across your field of vision. The most enchanting music is playing and you're losing yourself in a haze of texture, shape and image. You smell the sweetest fruit and drink an intoxicating draught of euphoria...

This is how I feel when I look at art. Or at least this is a tiny, inarticulate description of what goes on somewhere between my heart and soul.

When I'm taken by these moods I feel a creative calling. I want to connect with my own art; to dive into the depths of inspiration and swim between, up and through layers. I am awash with emotion, craving to make, to create; but at the same time feeling so small and unworthy. I feel carried away by a cruel current as I desperately grasp at the flotsam of ideas and hope that I might atain the lofty heights of those I so admire.

It's too easy to give up. To allow that overwhelm and lack of self belief to win. Right now, I would far rather write about how I feel than try to capture it with paint. I have no idea where to start. I want to collage, stamp, embellish, paint, draw, mould, shape...

Does anyone else ever feel like this?

***

Some time and some art research later...

Ah, apparently some other artists do (particularly those named Henry)...

"Creativity takes courage"

Henri Matisse

“I find in all the artists that I admire most a disturbing element, a distortion, giving evidence of a struggle . . . . In great art, this conflict is hidden, it is unresolved. All that is bursting with energy is disturbing - not perfect."
Henry Moore

I feel a tiny bit better now. OK, Henri et Henry. I'm listening.... I'm off to face the struggle.

Image is a screen shot of my Pinterest favourite artists board - the source of all this angst!

In conversation with Picasso

"My mother said to me, 'If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.' Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso."

Pablo Picasso

That Picasso was a wise fellow. Over the last few years, I seem to come across his quotes everywhere I go and they are just so memorable. How can I possibly choose which ones to include here? How could I pick a favourite? Oh just imagine what it would have been like to spend time in his company...What conversation... What inspiration...

Pablo Picasso: Action is the foundational key to all success.

Lisa Wright: And so now I will get started on that painting instead of just keeping on thinking about it.

Pablo Picasso: All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

Lisa Wright: My latest art experiments are reminding me of the value of play and not expecting to create masterpieces with every output.

Pablo Picasso: An idea is a point of departure and no more. As soon as you elaborate it, it becomes transformed by thought.

Lisa Wright: Couldn't agree more. When I both write and paint, sometimes all I need is a gem of an idea, a dash of words on paper or a sprinkling of paint, then the souffle rises! Indeed when I started writing this post, I had absolutely no idea I would be ending it having a chat with the man himself. I don't like to overplan my creativity. I love to see the idea grow its own roots and shoots and then let it take me just where it wants to go. Creativity definitely isn't tame!

 

Pablo Picasso: Are we to paint what's on the face, what's inside the face, or what's behind it?

Lisa Wright: More often than not, I find that the girls I paint tell me what's on their minds. Their personalities form under the pencil and brush. They are independent from me. I am just the means to bring them to life and allow them to tell their story.
Pablo Picasso: Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.

Lisa Wright:  I never thought about it that way before, but I guess that's very true. We do see our own truth in each creation.

Pablo Picasso: Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Lisa Wright: I wish I'd learnt this lesson earlier in life. Art is the magic lotion that soothes deep, the medicine that 'refreshes the parts' nothing else can reach and the food for the soul. Well said my man.

 

Pablo Picasso: Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.

Lisa Wright: I wouldn't say bad. I would say training. When I was a girl, I was always copying paintings and greetings cards - anything I could get my hands on. They were my teachers. But yes, as we grow as an artist we certainly shouldn't need to copy anything, just be inspired to take the direction your soul/muse wants you to take.

Pablo Picasso: Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.

 Lisa Wright: But what are we destroying? Something worthless without further creation? Does the blank canvas have any value other than anticipation? When we layer, we have to destroy what is beneath yet we fill with new promise. We are the creators, holding the life of our work in our hands fed by a diet of imagination and determination.

Pablo Picasso: Everything you can imagine is real.

Lisa Wright: Real in what sense? There are frightening things lurking in my imagination sometimes and I'd really rather they stayed there. We can certainly make it real if we want which in itself is a scary thought...

 Pablo Picasso :There are only two types of women - goddesses and doormats.

Lisa Wright: I am no doormat. That must make me a Goddess. Thanks :)


What was that Pablo? My favourite Picasso painting? Guernica. Possibly one of the most powerful paintings I've ever seen*. I am moved, not just by paint on canvas, but the message and story behind it. I recently learnt the story of this terrible crime against humanity in the name of war and weaved in the fictional account I read was also Picasso's involvement.

All this rumination and conversation was inspired by Inspiration Avenue's weekly challenge - Picasso - and the desire to have something to present as my Sunday Sketch! See what these prompts lead to - legendary house guests. He's gone now, but it was wonderful having his company for an hour or so.

Tune in again soon for my next conversation with another legend ... Who next? Maybe Winston Churchill?

* Unfortunately I've only ever seen in reproductions and not the original. However, I'm going to Madrid for a short break soon, so fingers crossed I'll have time to see it.

Top sketch is the man himself (he sat very patiently while we chatted). Ink blobs came through from other page and felt appropriate for this portrait. Next is inspired by... and finally I mixed the two together, just to see what happened.

Under their wing

I've lost count of the number of online art classes I've taken in the last year or so. I've learnt so much from them and would probably count them as a little addiction. Before I finish the current one, I'm planning the next or dreaming over technique or inspiration books. Frankly I just can't get enough.

I took some time yesterday to think why that was and the reason came to me in a flash (of paint naturally - crimson acrylic to be specific). I want my own personal teacher! One that sits next to me in the same room and shows me where I am going wrong (and indeed right!). One that teaches me technique by live demonstration so I can stop and pester with questions - all the Whys and Hows that I like! I'd love someone to push me so hard I teeter on the brink but at the same time produce my best work.

Right now I feel like I'm trying to catch up on 20 years of missed opportunity; cramming all that learning into as short a space of time as possible.

Where can I find such a person? Could I ever afford them? I'd love to go back and study art full time but that's just not possible. It's a shame because I am ready for it now... I understand... I feel the pull, the tugs at my soul. My Muse would love it too.

Do you think instead that the ghosts of Van Gogh, Klimt or JW Waterhouse might fancy taking up residence with me for a while? Full board and lodging in return for a lesson or two??

Perhaps Mucha could have helped with this! Nearly finished homework for my Willowing class (just need to take a touch of the undead out of her skin tone). Mucha - if you're listening - I had serious trouble with her hands - I rushed them - and had to give her a couple of nurturing hearts to hold... with her grey arms. What would you have done oh wise one?

PS - That's not a zebra in the bottom left corner, but merely my slippered foot holding the painting down in the wild wind. Taking photos outside seemed like a good idea at the time until she took off for a tour around the garden!

Passion

I'm bringing my Sunday Sketch a touch forward  this week since I'll be posting my One World One Heart (OWOH) piece tomorrow. I've written a little fairy story, so you'll have to come back and let me know what you think - you might even win something! (See the button in the sidebar for more info on OWOH.)

This week has been all about sensuality within my art as I finished my Goddess (painting on canvas below,  inspired by Tam's course and loosely by Klimt), created another (sketch above, and as you can see, somewhat more inspired by Klimt), then completely let rip with the paint on an unfinished piece - I'll share it later in the week. It's taking a familiar topic but with a different approach. I was totally in 'the zone' when I painted her. She was inspired by nobody but me. I surrendered totally to the passion of art and let go... Just a few finishing touches once the latest layer dries and she'll be ready to unleash.

Tam's course over at Willowing.ning is food for the soul. What a wonderful group of artists are sharing their work in the forums. I am blown away by all that I am seeing. There is creativity bursting out across the globe with so much support and encouragement from all. It's so exciting to see the magic pouring forth from every paintbrush!

I'm covered in gel medium and acrylics (there's a dusting of peelings from my fingernails surrounding my keyboard!). I wish I could put into words quite what happens when I combine music and paint (and possibly pinot grigio!). I don't care if I never sell a painting (and am beginning to understand why Van Gogh persisted for so long). I am floating, my soul is lifting. What is this potent magic? How has it enchanted me so?

The Book of Lisa

This is very much how my book looks at the moment. It has its heroine and some words but the story is all jumbled and seems destined to remain so. Yet time... in that way it has... is slowly ticking away... Has the moment now arrived to put all this talk into substance?

 I am deep in thoughts and plans for the New Year. I have even put to work a new notebook on the subject Lists sit neatly and safely within a pretty cloth cover tied with a blue bow). My ambitions and goals are written in blood (well ink from a Bic actually, but that doesn't sound quite so melodramatic!). I feel that the last year saw a massive growth in my creativity. There was more focus, loads of learning - I dare not calculate how much money I spent on all those online courses - and so much practice and, above all, fun!

In the last two years I've written over 500 blog posts. I make my living by writing and thinking creatively. Yet I feel there is still so much to be achieved. It has been noted that perhaps I hide in my art away from the tricky task of book writing and publication. You see, picking up a pencil is much easier and requires more relaxed thinking. I can watch TV at the same time or natter to the family. I can listen to music and go from start to finish in as little as half an hour.

Beginning to write a book however, is the first brush mark on the Forth Road Bridge! Chapter after chapter stretches out across the horizon, empty and waiting for its piece of the story and then when I finish, what then? Statistically unlikely to be snapped up by agent or publisher first go, so it will be back to the beginning... Is it any wonder I keep putting it off?

The clock keeps ticking though. The next 12 months will see me submit short stories and artwork for publication (the first one actually went off today!). My word for 2011 then? Well, it can only be one... PUBLISHED!

I was planning on writing this post anyway, but it ties in very nicely with two wonderful challenges. The Three Muses - Book and Inspiration Avenue - reflecting on the last and future 12 months.

She is my Muse - an excerpt from a painting I did last night, with some digital additions of words and time piece.