London Calling

I've got to admit, I love to work through a self-development book.  Maybe it's the Virgo in me, but writers like Julia Cameron and Eric Maisel have been my creative friends, available at the flick of a page, ever since I realised that I wanted to write.  So, today, Eric Maisel says 'Craft One Ceremony'. A creative soul needs a moment's safety at the dawn and the close of the day; just reflecting, just being. So anyway I went to Neal's Yard in London's West End, in search of an exotic tea, Japanese perhaps, to drink for my tea ceremony each morning. My journey past the docks took me past the Port of London, once the busiest in the world for tea clippers. I thought of the hundreds of masts and spars that would have been there, barely less than a few generations past. 'Who needs anything different,' I thought. Back home as I pour my very British cuppa, I think of my hero and his struggle to make a living in the docks, like his ancestors and mine. I raise my mug to their tenacity, their laughter, their courage in times of war and peace. That's ceremony enough.

Jennifer Pittam is a winner of 'Coast to Coast' Writing Competition and is working on a historical novel. Read more!

Sculpting a Life: Ice Lessons.

By Susan Gallacher-Turner

This week taking a walk in the park is freezing, literally. Early morning temperatures are in the teens and the ‘highs’ for the day are in the 20’s.

As I walk by the lake every morning, I see a new layer of ice. The ducks are crowded into smaller and smaller ponds where the ice isn’t frozen until finally, the top of the lake is completely covered in ice. While the ducks huddle as best they can, the heron stands in solitary splendor on the ice.

When I usually spot the blue heron, I find her camouflaged by tall grasses beside the lake or perched on a grey branch near the shoreline waiting to catch the fish swimming by. This week is different. The heron stands on the ice in the middle of the lake waiting and watching. I wonder, why would she even bother? She can’t catch the fish through the ice.

Perhaps there’s a lesson here on the ice for me.

When I look out onto the icy lake, I see a barrier, like a solid floor, closed door or glass wall. I see what’s on top, the ice. I don’t see what’s underneath hidden from my view.

But maybe the heron does. And that’s why she’s standing in the middle of the lake on the ice. She sees what’s underneath the ice. She sees fish, food, possibilities and life.

Suddenly, I see it too.

I see that although the top layer of the lake is frozen. Nothing is moving. Nothing is growing. The trees are bare and appear lifeless. That’s just the surface. Below the fish are swimming. The algae are growing. The trees are very much alive even without their leaves.

At this time of year, when the sun comes out only briefly and darkness covers more of our days, it’s easy to get stuck in an icy frame of mind. Feeling cold, gray and seeing the world around me as frozen and unmoving.

But the heron showed me that below the icy, grey surface, the world is teaming with life. The world is moving and thriving. Just because I don’t see it or hear it, doesn’t mean that the things aren’t happening all around me. Things that, like the heron knows, take time to come to the surface.

What do I do in the meantime? Take my cue from the heron, walk out into the world, then wait and be ready to catch those fish when the ice melts.

If you’d like to see my art, check out my website at www.susangt.com or read my other blog, Susan’s Art & Words at http://sculpturepdx.blogspot.com

Read more!

London Calling

'I'd like you to write a 2,500 word autobiography,' says Eric Maisel in 'The Creativity Book'. The wind howls outside and the rain lashes down. 'I can't,' I think. 'I won't,' my mind shouts. I can't penetrate that whirling bundle of protective noise - the one that every artist uses to hide the creative centre of the soul. Tentatively, I put down a note about my first creative experiences, with my wax crayons in the back garden at Woodford Green. I remember a picture on the wall of our little Victorian School, and my astonishment when I noticed it was mine. I remember a week in the Scottish Highlands, painting for dear life. I remember sadness, the years when my art seemed like a love lost forever. I remember when I caught a glimpse of it again, a brief flash in the graveyard. I stand in the graveyard. It's not so scary. People picnic here in the summer. They bring their babies, their weddings and their loved ones at the last.The rain has stopped, the wind pauses. I beckon to Lost Art. I have plenty of time.

Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

Sunrise by Sandra Lee Schubert

Inspiration


We had a guest speaker at the Wild Angels group. David Johnston is a playwright that I have know for years. He is not tabloid famous, but, his plays have been produced internationally. He has a nice body of work that he could point to as he offered us his advice. One of his biggest tips came not as part of the presentation but in the Q and A. Someone asked how often he wrote and he said that he wrote at least two hours every morning. Two hours! He also mentioned inspiration and how we wait for inspiration when we should coax it out. 


David gave us something important. We have come to treasure inspiration.It becomes this thing we long for as if it will save us.Truly when inspiration strikes words flow from an underground aquifer.It is blissful to be in the flow.  Inspiration is lovely- treasure the moment it comes unheeded. But we can't wait for it. We must tap it ourselves. Like David we should go to the well each day. 

---

Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..
She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own Visit her blog. 
Email her> Sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter. Read more!

Who Are My Clients?

You probably carry around a mental picture of a typical creativity coaching client or a typical meaning coaching client: maybe a mental picture of a forty-year-old writer, painter or musician stalled in his or her career. You might not picture someone like Ellen McGowan, one of the South’s best-known sculptors—and 85 years old.

As part of a promotion that one of my publishers ran, Ellen won some coaching sessions with me. We had a lovely and productive time together. Ellen was kind enough to recently write to me and say, “Those few hours helped me more than you know!!” She also told me a bit about her current creative life:

“At 85 years old I feel enormously fortunate to be in such good health and in such good spirits. I still work every day in my studio near Memphis. My work is in the collections of such notables as Bette Midler, Lee Trevino, and the late Alex Haley, author of Roots. Recently, Christian Brothers University in Memphis established the Ellen Fossey McGowan Collection, a permanent repository of my work. I am very much honored.

“My days are full. The studio is where I go to restore my acquaintance with self and to put into my figural clay work all of the infinitely variable features of the people, those close to me and total strangers as well, whom I observe living their lives in this fascinating and mysterious world. The artist's life is rewarding in unique ways, but it can also be fraught with bouts of self-doubt. That’s why your books—I believe I own all of them—have been so integral to my creative wellbeing. I turn to Affirmations for Artists almost every day for comfort and inspiration. I cherish my creative life and I look forward to many more years of work.”

If we start living to be 130, at the age of 129 we will still have to meet our meaning needs and our creative needs. We will still be obliged to face the challenges that thoughtful, mortal beings will always face. Those 129 years of living wisdom will not prevent us from having to deal with new creative challenges and new meaning crises as they arise.

Inhabitants of some parallel universe may achieve something like a permanent retirement from challenge, maybe by virtue of the lobotomy they receive as part of their retirement ceremony. In this universe, where we are obliged to think and to feel until we pass along, there can be no retirement from the demands of making meaning. I think I’d rather live here.

**

More about Ellen at her website:

http://www.ellenmcgowan.com/

And here’s a nice write-up of Ellen at one of the galleries representing her:

http://www.james-ben.com/news_mcgowan.htm

**

P.S. I am getting lots of nice feedback on my Overcoming Creative Anxiety class available at dailyom.com. To refresh your memory, you can start it at any time and pay whatever you want. Take a look:

http://www.dailyom.com/cgi-bin/courses/courseoverview.cgi?cid=48











Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it. Read more!

London Calling

Today I took class with Anne Aylor www.anneaylor.co.uk in the Lucas Arms, an old pub not far from Kings Cross Station. The class was a precious 'time in' with the artist soul. We worked upstairs, lulled by the creaking pub sign and the smell of burning sage. Anne, a gifted novelist, has a talent for nurturing the embryo writer in others. For a precious day I found myself once more with Thomas Tarling, his charming and courageous woman Mary and the enigmatic leader of the fair, Zackariah Scarrott. 'One's religion,' said J.M. Barrie, is 'whatever one is most interested in'. Today, the religion of the practising writer was extended by a few more hours, in a London pub with the rain beating down on the streets outside.

Jennifer Pittam is a winner of 'Coast to Coast' Writing Competition and is working on her first novel.

Read more!

Sculpting a Life.

Losing Control.
By Susan Gallacher-Turner

For the past month, I’ve taught 3 different project classes in 3 different places, gone to meetings upon meetings, done interviews, and managed to squeeze a few hours in the studio. Ok, I’ve been busy. The point is: how much of these creative projects and time are within my control?

As a self-employed artist, teacher and writer, you might think all of it. I used to think that, too. Not anymore.

I’ve always been a self-motivated creative person. If I wanted to make something, I made it. If I didn’t know how, I figured it out. That might mean reading a book, taking a class or just doing it. Whatever I needed to do, I did it. Myself. I had creative control of my project.

That was an illusion. I wasn’t in control of my creativity then and I’m not now.

I may want creative control, but I don’t have it. It doesn’t matter whether I’m working alone in the studio, on a group project, or in a class with students. Students show up or not. Some people are easy to work with, others not. Ideas that seem good, go bad. Supplies get discontinued.

What I really want is a good ending. That’s why I think I need to creative control. What I need to do is lose control and follow the creative road. Trusting the bends, bumps and detours are all important parts of the journey. And that the end result I’m trying to control isn’t the end at all, it’s just a stop along the way. Sometimes the stops are good. I make a beautiful piece with clay, metal or words. Sometimes, it’s bad. I recycle the pieces and learn something new.

Maybe, creative control isn’t something I really need and don’t really even want. It’s just my fear wanting to drive my life, so maybe it’s time to shift into a different gear. Lose the control and maybe I'll enjoy the ride more.

If you'd like to see some of my sculpture, visit my website Susan Gallacher-Turner Sculpture. And you can read my interviews with people living a creative life on my other blog, Voices of Living Creatively or listen to the podcasts at Voices of Living Creatively website. Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

The Bridge by Sandra Lee Schubert @2009


Last week I wrote two poems while a friend was visiting his doctor. I heard someone say I am getting banana pudding for fat boy. That one statement started a poem and another began after reading about someone who was learning about trick or treating. Now this is not a piece about writing poetry but about explaining it.


Do poets need to explain their poems? My friend writes the most complicated poems. Each poem requires a visit to Google, a dictionary, possibly Wikipedia and skills in translating foreign languages. Even after all that work you still may not know what he has said. People expect not to understand his poetry.


But what if you write a fairly simple piece and people ask, "what does it mean?" Are you obligated to give them an answer? Poems have layers. The layer the poet writes, what it means and what it means to others. When I write a piece there is a clear meaning in mind. But I can be surprised when something I've written does not have the clear meaning I intended. A poem can have  meaning the poet didn't even know about until someone else reads it. That is when feedback becomes valuable.


Again the dilemma is when to explain. My thought is to allow the poem to be opened up to interpretation. You can't be in everyone's home explaining a piece. At some point you have to make sure you a well-written piece and then let it fly. 

---

Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..
She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own Visit her blog. 
Email her> Sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter. Read more!

Garden Views: Cultivating the Inner Gardener

If you’ve ever been to someone else’s garden that had a magical quality about it, haven’t you come home wanting to create a similar mood in your own space? How do you replicate that inexplicable, but tangible, x-factor?

I’ve spent the last three years interviewing gardeners who have this special touch and analyzing what they’ve done. But only after training with Eric Maisel as a meaning coach was I able to design a process to help other gardeners do it themselves. My coaching practice, Cultivating the Inner Gardener, teaches gardeners how to put themselves in a mental space that allows them to develop an intimate, holistic relationship with their gardens.

Cultivating the Inner Gardener can multiply the pleasure you derive from your gardening experience many times over because you’ll start to make better choices that result in a personal space that’s not only beautiful and healthy, but also provides a sanctuary from the world that speaks to your soul.

Through a series of assignments and exercises you’ll learn how to rediscover and focus on the things that really matter to you about your garden, restore meaning to your gardening efforts, and revitalize a cherished pastime.

If you want to discover how to express more of your personality and creativity through your garden, how body/mind/spirit can play itself out in your gardening activities, and how you can take more pleasure in the journey, visit: http://cultivatingtheinnergardener.blogspot.com or contact me at loisj7@gmail.com.

Lois de Vries' thoughts on gardening and environmental issues run the gamut from gardening in her own back yard to promoting land management practices that reconnect people to the Earth. Lois is seeking a publisher for her book, The Transformational Power of Gardening. Visit her blog at http://loisdevries.blogspot.com
Read more!

BRAINSTORM cover

Read more!

I'm very excited to be heading to DC this week for the opening of "Portrait Of Maquoketa" at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. Artist Rose Frantzen painted 180 portraits of her local townspeople in Maquoketa, Iowa, that will be on display through early July.

I met Rose and her artist husband Charles Morris about a year ago and had the pleasure of working with them over the spring and summer on their book, Portrait of Maquoketa, which is being sold online and will be sold at the Smithsonian gift shop while the exhibit runs in DC.

After I conducted a number of interviews with Rose last spring, I wrote an introductory essay for the book and helped her write and edit short reflections about the people, their portraits and her artistic process.

Later in the summer, I listened to Chuck read his essay aloud, which relates biographical information about Rose, discusses some of her other works besides Portrait of Maquoketa, and periodically reveals snapshots of what it must be like to be part of such an amazing marriage of two talented artists. Chuck not only wrote this marvelous essay that ends the book; he also labored on the layout design book all summer long. Then, together with Rose in the late summer and early fall, he saw the book through the many steps involved in the printing process.

The opportunity to work with these remarkable people was handed to me out of the blue from the Freelancing Gods via friend Al T., who thought my husband Chuck would enjoy meeting Rose and Chuck and arranged for us all to have dinner in Davenport one cold winter evening. That's how freelancing can work sometimes -- opportunities sometimes just seem to fall from the sky.

So I'm feeling very lucky today as we prepare to head to DC tomorrow to see the exhibit at the Smithsonian, honor Rose, and celebrate the 180 Maquoketans whose faces will grace the halls of the National Portrait Gallery for the next 7.5 months.

Read more!

Wellness & Writing Connections Conference

On Saturday October 24th, on a beautiful fall day in Atlanta, Georgia more than sixty writing enthusiasts met to share, learn and talk together about the connection between writing and wellness.

The vision of John Evans, convener and founder of the conference brought us together for the third annual Wellness & Writing Connections Conference.

What makes this conference unique is the variety of professions represented. Writers, poets, physicians, nurses, psychotherapists and teachers of writing convene together. What we share is a passion for writing and the connection between writing and wellness.

Check out the website and plan to meet us in Atlanta next year!

Wishing you happy and healthy writing,

Susan Borkin

Susan Borkin, M.A. is a licensed psychotherapist, author and speaker. In her practice she provides psychotherapy, coaching and training for people who are interested in using writing as part of their healing, growth or transformation. Read more!


Read more!

Sculpting a life and a living. Writing. Showing. Teaching. Making.

'Reflection', copper repousse'


By Susan Gallacher-Turner

Looking at this month, I’ve been blessed to be able to do everything I love to do.

As an artist, I sculpt out of metal and clay. I’ve made jewelry and garden art and started new masks out of mesh and copper.

For two weekends, I was part of the Portland Open Studios Tour and opened my studio to men, women and children interested in finding out what I do and how I do it. It’s always a little hectic getting ready for the event. I clean out my studio, set out demonstration materials, put out some of my pieces for display. It’s a lot of work. But what makes it all worthwhile are the looks of wonder, the words of appreciation and the people who come back every year to see what’s new.

Right after my open studio event, I delivered a large copper repousse’ piece to a juried exhibit downtown. My piece, “Reflection” will hang in the First Presbyterian Church as part of the Works of Faith exhibit until January 2010. It was wonderful to meet my fellow artists and the people from the art committee on Sunday.

Later in the week, I started an artist in residence at a local elementary school. The project is based on my ‘Ethnic Portrait’ series and involves the students in art and writing, two of my favorite activities. I met with the teachers, went over the supplies and the time lines. Then I went back to my studio, made an example of the project and prepared some supplies. At the school, I set up, presented the project and taught the classes with the help of the wonderful teachers and students. It was a great experience!

Today, I’m setting up interviews for articles I write on my blog and others. Writing advertising copy. Making a list of the supplies needed for the second week at the school. Getting work together for a photo shoot tomorrow. Putting some paint on one of my mesh masks. Taking my dog for a walk in between rain storms and making dinner.

Sometimes I worry whether it will all get done, but it does. Somehow, in spite of the bumps, I am able to sculpt a life and a living doing what I love to do. I’m grateful.

You can see more of my sculpture work on my website, Susan Gallacher-Turner Sculpture and my blog, Susan's Art & Words. And listen to podcasts or read my interviews with other creative people living a creative life at Voices of Living Creatively website, www.voicesoflivingcreatively.com and http://voicesoflivingcreatively.blogspot.com Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

Glittery Man by Sandra Lee Schubert @2009




Glittery Man 


Are you holding on to an old and outdated vision of who you are? 


I had several disappointments this week. The person who has been my creative muse for years disappointed me in an unexpected way. I was surprised. She inspired to take on a creative persona that has framed how I have lived my life. The disappointment became the catalyst to question whether the creative persona I had inhabited was still valid. The next day someone questioned the very same persona. He said there was a cognitive dissonance - my words and images were not in sync. Was the universe trying to get my attention or what? 


We want to be authentic and we want to put forth that which has the most meaning for us.  But what if you have taken on a image that does not represent who you are?    


I went to two business expos at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC. One was a small business expo and the other was for event planning and design. The small business expo was fine. There were good seminars and the exhibits were interesting. The information was good and solid for the small business owner.


But the event planning and design expo was very exciting. Besides floor to ceiling silvery dangles the glittery man greeted the attendees with his body flashing light all over the entrance. There were full out party rooms done in all gold, crystal and white. A Tiki bar was on hand and a drag Queen wore a table full of chocolate. The music was infectious and loud. There were beauiuful exhibts and beatuful people throughout the hall. I was immediately sold. I wanted to host an event somewhere, anywhere. If I wanted a real life example of a brand living up to expectations this was it. 


The event planning expo was the frame I have carried, but I have been living like the Business expo. One is solid, but has little energy, the other married excitement and business. I have tons of information. I have a billion ideas. I can be very creative but I live in a box. At the end of the day I am not that exciting. 


Creativity asks us to live differently. We can't do the same thing as everyone else and expect a different result. We may have to shake things up and throw out the very way we have been living. I was all shook up this week. Two people I admired made me question what I have been doing. It sucks. But, I think it is a good thing. My creative life has been ho-hum. My business has stalled big time. It took a glittery man and some friends to point out I have not been living up to my potential. Do I know what is next? No. But I am willing to leave the old persona behind and craft a better one. Is your persona in need of a makeover?  

---

Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..
She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own Visit her blog. Email her Sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter. Read more!

Television Musings - Rants and Raves of a Romance Writer

Desperate, Shark and Glee

By Kathy Carpenter

Desperate Housewives continues to try new things. In a recent episode they showed the same scene from five points of view. They did this by playing the scene then going to a different family four different times to show what the other family was doing during a specific event. Sort of a rewind effect. Worked out nicely, I thought. Television continues to become more creative trying to give us the same emotions we get from a book.

Shark Tank- What I love about this show is the Sharks. Is not the fact someone has the opportunity of a lifetime to take their company to another level. But The way they compete against each other to get the deal they want. Or work together or even try to save another Shark from a deal they feel would be bad.

Glee - A show from the previews did not seem like my type. It looked like another Friday Night Lights from last season. To my surprise I like it a lot. It has a Soap Opera feel, one of my favorites. With secrets, people going after people , with great music and dance. I’m hoping they can come with enough to keep it going after the initial story play through. Often a problem with new shows. Only time will tell.

Read more!

Television Musings - Rants and Raves of a Romance Writer

Desperate, Shark and Glee
By Kathy Carpenter


Desperate Housewives continues to try new things. In a recent episode they showed the same scene from five points of view. They did this by playing the scene then going to a different family four different times to show what the other family was doing during a specific event. Sort of a rewind effect. Worked out nicely, I thought. Television continues to become more creative trying to give us the same emotions we get from a book.


.

Read more!

MAD HOT JOURNALING!

There is indeed something hot in the Journaling World!

Ruth Folit, founder of LifeJournal software has recently announced the creation of the International Association for Journal Writers.

If you are a regular journal keeper or want to become one, this is the place to be--- Articles, tips, audio and upcoming classes focused on journaling. Two dozen journaling experts from around the world (including yours truly) will keep you informed, learning, "juiced" and most importantly, writing.

You'll want to check out the IAJW today and join us! Visit here.

So, how is your own journaling going this fall? If you are feeling sluggish or haven't written in awhile, there's a simple solution. Walk outside and grab your journal or a notebook and pen. Take a walk, even for ten minutes.

Try this. Think of an issue or concern that has been nagging at you. No need to dwell on it; once you have the thought, write it down and then just let it drift off. Walk slowly, noticing the details around you. What color is the ground? What do you notice about the trees, leaves, branches, plants, insects? Walk slowly, look closely.

Take a deep breath. Continue on your short journey for a few minutes more. Stop and look at anything that grabs your attention. Study it. Stay with it, let is speak to you.

When you are done with your walk, open your journal and look again at the issue or concern you noted before. Now do some writing and see if the issue seems different or has changed in any way.

Let me know what happens! Visit me at www.susanborkin.com or write with your comments and thoughts to susan@susanborkin.com.



Susan Borkin, M.A. is a licensed psychotherapist, author and speaker. In her practice she provides psychotherapy, coaching and training for people who are interested in using writing as part of their healing, growth or transformation. Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

Book Signing by Sandra Lee Schubert @2009

Book Signing

This past week I went to a book signing and reception for Gary Vaynerchuk, author of the new book, Crush It. I've been to a few signings for friends, but this was the first promoted via social media and with lots of buzz. It was at Borders Books in NYC in the Time Warner building at Columbus Cirlce. The location itself added to the excitement of the event.

The author has a following of enthusiastic true fans who happily packed the event space. He entered the space like a rock star. Truthfully, he is a rock star. Here was someone who knew he had to create his own stardom. What did I learn?


First, to get any where you have to want it badly. I see this over and over again in successful people. There is an energy that propels a person forward. We have all heard about having a fire in the belly. I saw this played out at the book signing. Gary is up late working and then jumps out of bed early in the morning. Second, you have to take charge of your own stardom. Even if you are just a little twinkle in a mass of sun like stars you still have to make yourself shine brightly. Third, you don't do it alone. Creating doesn't happen in a vacuum at some point you must take your work out and share it with the community.


I've watched Gary interact online for a year. He makes friends. He is also someone who remembers you even if he has met you once in a crowd of other people. Here is a guy who knows how to use everything at his disposal. He also has a ten book deal with his publisher. I have no deal like that, do you?

Maybe you or I don't have his big kind of personality. Or, we forget who we just met the second we turned around. But we can still learn how to transform our passion into something big. Can we meet each day with the kind of excitement that makes the heart race?


Take time and read about your favorite successful artist/writer/actor/business person. What makes them tick? What kept them going in the face of adversity? Look for the traits that are similar to you. Figure out which traits you have that are comparable and what ones you need to cultivate to success. Find and exploit your passion. Discover your inner rock star and let her out in a big way.

---

Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..
She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own Visit her blog. Email her Sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter. Read more!

Sculpting a Life: Susan Gallacher-Turner's turn in the Pacific Northwest

Portland Open Studios:
Opening my studio and my creative process to my neighborhood.

I do sculpture work in aluminum screening, copper sheeting and clay. I love faces and animals and the concept of shapeshifting. I see faces and figures in the landscape around me, the leaves on the trees, the clouds in the sky, the rocks and even the marks on the ceiling. My source of inspiration and materials seem right to me, that’s why I do it.

But to others, I realize it may seem a bit odd. Since I work on my own, in my studio, this isn’t a problem, really. I can do what I do and no one knows the difference. Until now.

As part of the Portland Open Studios Tour, I invite people to come into my studio and watch me work. They get to see me push a bear shape out of aluminum screening, press dragon scales into copper sheeting and read some of my stories. I explain how I do what I do. I show them the materials and the process. I answer their questions.

I have some of my finished pieces on display, so they can see the finished product as well as the process. I hope it helps them to understand what I do and why. I hope it helps them learn more about art, the creative process as well as inspiring them to honor their own creativity.

Every year, I feel a little like the curtain is drawn back on my creative process and there I stand, alone and revealed to the world. It’s a little scary. But every year, I find out just how wonderful and generous and eager people are to share in the creative process.

If you’re ever in Portland the first two weeks of October, get a tour guide and come and visit my studio! This year, I was interviewed by a fellow artist and you can read the interview on the Portland Open Studios Tour blog at http://portlandopenstudios.wordpress.com

To see more of my sculpture visit my website at Susan Gallacher-Turner Sculpturewww.susangt.com or read my other blogs, Susan's Art & Words or Voices of Living Creatively. Read more!

Writing and Art Matter!

At my writing group last night, one member – I’ll call her Julia – said she was recovering from the flu. Possibly the dreaded H1N1, we decided after hearing about her symptoms. On one day, when she became dehydrated and nearly delirious, she said she kept torturing herself with the thought that her writing was worthless, that she should be spending her time doing something to “help people” instead. “I still am feeling that way a little bit,” she confessed. “It won’t quite go away.”

I know so well this tricky turn of mind, this saboteur, this ambivalence toward creating art that arrives with sickness or other vulnerabilities – an uncertain income, a move to a new city. The rest of us rallied for her, trying to dispel her grey sky that wouldn’t clear. “It helps people to write something that is cathartic for them to read.” “When we’re creating, we’re more alive, and when we’re more alive, we’re more useful to the world.” “Besides, we don’t choose our art; it chooses us. We create because we must.”

Someone asked Julia, “Is the act of writing important to you?” Suddenly our friend’s face shifted from worried to peaceful, residually sick to the picture of health, dark cloud to beaming light. “Of course,” she said, smiling.

When I took Eric Maisel’s class on creativity coaching, he asked us to begin each day by writing “I matter and my writing matters.”

Art does matter. Writing does matter. Of course.

Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from Across the East River

Transfiguration by Sandra Lee Schubert 2002

Creating Your Poetry

The word iconographer means "image writer", and comes from the Greek εικον (image) and γραφειν (to write). I have created three icons; two are small pieces done in the traditional method. The other icon follows the same concept of writing with an image, instead of traditional methods I used collage to create a visual poem in three pieces. The poem is represented as a triptych, each stanza is a panel.

The poem was in response to a class assignment on visual poetry and the tragedy of September 11, 2001.Thinking about what to do, I was reminded of the loss of icons on that terrible day. The images were of the World Trade Towers, the loss of our idea of power, America as a safe haven. I looked for photos and words that represented these iconic images in the newspapers and magazines. In creating the poem I wanted to rise above the tragedy and look for some of the bright spots.


Read more!

Take a Break!

“In the relentless busyness of modern life,” Wayne Muller writes in Sabbath: Finding Rest and Renewal in Our Daily Lives (Bantam, 2000), “we have lost the rhythm between work and rest.” He explores the concept of “Sabbath” and its rituals and references in Judaism, Christianity, and Buddhism. Muller says the Sabbath is celebrated in various forms because it is in our nature to need a day a week to rest, celebrate, delight in, and savor our lives. During the rest of the week we may be driven by work, tasks, and worries, but once a week we’re supposed to chill out.

A true Sabbath, he argues, is a day of reflection and a day of no activities done out of obligation. Whether your Sabbath is spent alone or with friends or family or the larger community, the only goal should be rest and renewal.

Which is why when my friend Sheri prefers to stay home from church on Sunday mornings to garden, I think she is taking a particularly special form of the Sabbath. And why this morning when I hiked along the Coralville Reservoir, thinking about John Muir’s enthusiasm for nature as the greatest of all temples, I too was “obeying” the Sabbath…as I was later this afternoon while working on my novel, feeling the warm sun coming in my office window, enjoying the rush of a scene coming alive on the page.

If you’re a creator – an artist, writer, gardener, musician – and if you’re looking for an excuse to work on that creative project you’ve shelved for awhile, just remember that you owe yourself – and life itself – a Sabbath at least once a week. If on that day you are creating with joy and peace and delight, you’re honoring the Sabbath.

On the other hand, sometimes we need a break from everything. Doing nothing is an option, too.

Read more!

Television Musings - Rants and Raves of a Romance Writer

By KATHY CARPENTER

New Season Survivor

I’m back. Had to take some time to move and even though we only moved a mile that’s a major event for us. The actual move took a month and we may have all the boxes in the house emptied by Christmas. We are getting there. Did you catch the new Survivor? I mean that Russell and if you saw the show you know who I’m talking about. (They do have two Russell’s this year.) But this guy has got to be the biggest jerk yet, and they’ve had some doozies. But who picks on there own team from the start, dumping there canteens and burning their socks?

Unfortunately the team will need his strength. Thus America will be forced to endure him for weeks. Great for the show gives people something to talk about.

This week we also saw the new season of Dancing with the Stars. Favorite guy, Donny Osmond of course I’ve been a Donny fan since “Go Away Little Girl.” Favorite gal, Kelly Osburn kind of won my heart. Both of these held there own this week but it’s a long season. I love all that dancing.

Which is a good thing because So You Think you can Dance is coming back with another season, which is in auditions this week but next week we can watch dance four nights a week. Yipee!

Read more!

Sculpting a Life: Susan Gallacher-Turner's turn in the Pacific Northwest.

Living, loving, creating and Maui

Last week, I was on Maui. The beautiful, lush, tropical island with soft, sandy beaches and warm surf is a fantasy land. And fantasy is just what I needed to recharge my depleted physical, emotional and creative batteries.

My life over the last 19 months has been a bumpy, sad, scary and difficult road with no end in sight. Yet. My husband’s been laid off, worked part time, laid off again. Three people we’ve known, worked with and raised children with have died. My daughter moved away from home. The life we had, that we thought was stable is gone. And we’re both searching for ways to use our talents, live our lives creatively and make a living.

Seeing people we know die too young was shocking. But it also helped us see life as a gift that doesn’t come with guarantees. What it does come with is choices, and the biggest one is to live in fear or live in love.

I spent many months in the fear zone. I wasn’t sleeping or eating very well. I lost weight. I cried a lot. I tried to get out of it by looking for reasons and causes of the difficulties, trying to figure it all out. So I could fix it all and everything would be back to normal again. It didn’t work. I had to realize that there are many things in this life, my life that I can’t control: cancer, economic recessions, industry changes and children growing up.

One day, tears streaming down my cheeks, again, I asked a friend what I could do. She said, “Let go and let God”. Now, she knows I’m not a religious person and I don’t like the word, God. But in that moment, I realized that she was right. And that God didn’t have to be the male, power figure that I grew up with but a name for the essential energy force that is in and around all of us.

Something shifted that day. I had been telling my self to let go. But I was like a child on the monkey bars, who weary of hanging on was still too afraid to let go and trust that I would land on my feet.

Maui. The trip to Hawaii was an act of trust, of letting go and loving my life instead of fearing for it. It seemed crazy at first to my ‘control’ mind to book a 5 day trip to Maui when so much is still up in the air. And yet, it felt completely right. Right after we booked the trip, I felt this incredible sense of relief. I didn’t know what the feeling was at first, then it hit me. That’s what ‘letting go’ feels like.

And I like the feeling. Oh, I still had my scary moments getting ready for the trip and getting on the plane. Even though my mind was having a hissy fit, there was a place inside me that was calm, clear and rock solid.

On Maui, I rose at dawn everyday. Watching the sunrise, hearing the birds call back and forth to each other, seeing the colors change on the distant island and the sea, I felt calmly present. My mind was silent. My body tired at first, began to rest even as I walked the beaches and floated on the waves. I picked up sweet scented flowers on the path and filled bowls with them. My creative vision became clear once again and I saw the ‘masks’ in the palm trees and the figurative forms in the tree trunks. I longed to paint the warm reds, oranges and pinks of the sunsets and the luscious greens of the distant sugar cane fields. The deep blue green waves and the light peach clouds made me want to take out my pastels and draw in a way I haven’t allowed myself to do in many years.

I wrote in my journal inspired by articles I read that told of other women’s life changes. I realized that my life isn’t bad, wrong or odd, just changed. And many of the changes, as my friends have pointed out, are good changes for me, my husband and grown-up children. But the lives that ended, have shown me the importance of living. Really living.

What does that mean for you or me? Everyone has their own ideas. Mine is to live a creative life that sustains me in physical, emotional and spiritual ways as well as inspiring and helping the world and the people around me. How can I do that? I don’t have the complete answer. Yet. Maybe I never will. But surrounded by the beauty on Maui, I opened up to life and love. I know that my choice is to live in love instead of fear, and finding ways I can share that through my life, art and writing is creating a life worth living. Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Taste and See by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

End of Summer Prompts

Not the senses I have but what I do with them is my kingdom. Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)

BONUS- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

1. The Box - Fill a box with different small items that have different textures and weight to them. As example you can include a couple pieces of fabric such as burlap, silk or velvet. Put shells, rocks, marbles, keys, etc into the box. Explore it with eyes closed. Are you afraid of what you are touching? How do things feel with your eyes closed? Bring them to your face; sniff them. See if you can identify the items without looking at them.

2. Taste exercise - You can choose to do this with eyes closed or opened. Take some different fruit or food items preferably items that have different textures. Some examples would be an orange, avocado and piece of bread. Spend time looking at the items as if seeing them for the first time. Notice the shape of the avocado. Feel the texture of the orange. Sniff the bread. Take time with each one tasting, exploring and learning about these new things you have discovered.

3. Create some of your own sensory explorations. Listen to new music. Walk barefoot. Run one block really fast.

4. Write about the above as if you were an alien. What did you discover? How would you describe this new planet? How do you feel about the people you have met? How did if feel to be blindfolded in a new planet?

---

Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Watch People by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

End of Summer Prompts

Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature. Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

WEEK FOUR- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

Observe: Become a people watcher. Look at how people move. Notice the color of their hair. Imagine them as children. Do you think they were happy? Do they look sad now? Pay attention to how people interact with each other. Look for the small movements. The way a man touches a woman's face. How children talk to each other. Do they snuggle against each other? Are they competitive or shy? In your daily routine, notice one new thing. Maybe it is the color of the marble in your building lobby, or the way a street curves.

Listen: Eavesdrop on some conversations. Write down a sentence or two that appeals to you. Take copious notes. Write down all the sounds and smells you encounter. Make up new names for all the colors. Take in your environment in a new way. Sit down and begin to write based on your notes or discoveries. Make some simple observation or create a full-blown story. Try one page and then two. Discover one new thing each day.

---

Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Hildegarde by Sandra Lee Schubert

End of Summer Prompts

You know criticism when you get into this business. You accept the bad with the good, the tabloids and the positive side of it. Carmen Electra (1972 - )

WEEK THREE- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

In her essay Bad Writing, Julia Cameron gives us writers the task of going out and buying the tabloids we usually read secretively on the supermarket line. Julia suggests looking over some of favorite titles and creating your own "tabloid" story. "Alien baby is my love child", "8,000 year old man found buried alive in desert", "Writer's fear stepping out of the ordinary", you get the idea. Have fun with it. Create outrageous tales. If you do it with abandon and a sense of fun you should find you are energized and want to return to your work.

Look for ways to expand how you create. If you paint, try coloring with regular crayons or making collages out of found pictures. Create poetry by cutting words out of magazines. Create poetry with found pictures. Creating should be deep, fun, joyous, exciting, and enlivening. Create with your arms wide open and allow inspiration to meet you in all places.

---

Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

Read more!

Don't Quit Your Day Job

Creating and Creating a Schedule

Well now that both of my kids are back to school, my writing time will severely dwindle down.

I didn’t reach my writing goals over the summer, but once again, I can say I wrote more than I ever had before. For awhile now, I’ve decided that increasing my writing input should be my only goal. It’s easy to get in a rut and as long as I can say I’m increasing my input, I can stay motivated.

However, the more I entrench myself in my writing, the more I see that constant production is vital. I’m writing for three blogs right now and in the world of blogging, constant and timely content are crucial. As much as I hate to admit it, I think I need a schedule. I’ve tried to stay away from scheduling my writing time. As the mother of two teenagers, and working a full-time office job, I have enough my time scheduled for me. Writing is joy for me and I certainly don’t want it to feel like a chore. Still, if I’m going to take my writing seriously, it’s probably time to start treating it more like a part-time job.

In the past, my efforts to schedule my writing time have fallen flat. So many other commitments constantly come into play. One of the tips I read in all the writing books is to stick to the time you set aside like any other appointment you may have. This is easier said than done.

If you already work full-time, the rest of your day is somewhat limited. It can also be difficult to know from day to day what’s going to completely come out of left field and suck up your whole evening. Sometimes my son doesn’t need any help with his homework, other times we’re up way past everyone’s bedtime trying to get it done. The mail could yield an incorrect or confusing bill that causes me to be on the phone with a customer service rep for hours, (this actually happens to me quite often) or I’m a taxi service for my children for the evening.

As much as I would like to say my writing time is sacred, truth be told, I can’t take care of my personal affairs at the job they pay me to do, so it does have to come off my writing time, like it or not.

So I will have to ponder this one in the coming weeks. I’m going to closely observe my non work hours and see what I can reasonably expect of myself. I’m open to any tips or suggestions!

Read more!

Sculpting a Life: Susan Gallacher-Turner's Turn in the Pacific Northwest

('The Red Fairy' Mask)

Masks: Why do I love them?

I love making masks. I’ve made masks out of paper, plaster, felt, clay, copper, brass, aluminum and screening. I’ve made masks of cats, dogs and frogs, wolves and polar bears, birds and bugs. The sun and the moon. A dragon, phoenix, and thunderbird. It doesn’t matter to me what kind of mask I make, it’s always a fascinating process.

Why do I love masks? I’m not sure. All I know is that making a mask is like searching for an answer to a question I don’t even know I have. It’s relaxing. It’s playful and joyful, mysterious and magical. Its peaceful solitude and energizing connection all at the same time.

Maybe I don’t have to know why. I can just love making masks. Period.

You can see my other masks on my website at www.susangt.com and visit my other blog, Susan's Art & Words at http://sculpturepdx.blogspot.com Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Heart by Sandra Lee Schubert 2009

End of Summer Prompts

I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork. Peter De Vrie

WEEK TWO- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

Remember the first person or thing you loved. Was it a parent, toy, character, pizza? Take five minutes and write about that first love.

Take five minutes and write about the love that got away.

List 25 things you associate with the word heart. As an example - Valentine's Day, weddings, surgery, chocolate, babies, exercise. Looking over the list choose a couple to explore. Write the word on the top of the page and begin to free associate. Let the words flow without editing for at least 15 minutes. Look over what you wrote. Were you surprised by what you wrote? Disappointed? See if you can expand on it or pull a line or paragraph and create something entirely different. Try this with several of the words on your list. You may find new thoughts and ideas emerge from your list.

---

Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show- Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators.

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

Read more!

Wild Woman of Queens: Notes on Urban Creativity from across the East River.

Sandra Lee Schubert

End of Summer Prompts

You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair “the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.

Stephen King (1947 - ), On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, 2000

WEEK ONE- TAKE ACTION PROMPT:

Write. Write again. Write one more time. Each day write 50 words. Pick a topic or not. Observe - what do you see? Touch - what are the sensations? Listen - hear a piece of conversation and then write a story about it. You can write more but not less. Write with a friend. Go to the park and write for ten minutes and then go play. Write waiting on line. Just write. Don't think about it too much and don't worry about editing it. This is not your great novel. You are laying tracks, building the foundation, and developing the sense that writing is something you can do.

Read books like King's; pick up Ray Bradbury's book, Zen in the Art of Writing, or One Writer's Beginnings, by Eudora Welty. These books are great sources for observing how a writer takes from life and recreates stories.

Wherever you are in life; honor your journey. Create your environment to support your creative self. Surround yourself with people and things that feed your muse. Share your work with others and you may find that you are a happier and more satisfied person. Discover the brilliant, talented and wonderful person you are.

---

Sandra's e-course leads people to be their creative best through telling their stories and talking to interesting people on her online radio show-
Wild Woman Network: Radio for Creative Vagabonds, Thinkers and Innovators..

She is a creative vagabond, a poet, and a writer who co-facilitates the Wild Angels Poets and Writers Group at the historic Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. Visit her blog: Email her sandraleeschubert(at)gmail.com or @writing4life via twitter.

Read more!