Mud Pies and Magnets

When I was a kid, a common thing to say to friends when we were trying to think of something to do was, "Hey! Let's make something!" I remember making all kinds of different things. Here are some examples. I used to like to find really smooth rocks and paint pictures on them. I still have one left on which I painted a little owl. I would find an empty shoe box and scraps of this and that and create a little room for one of my small animal toys. It would have the most elaborate things—a stereo system with albums, carpeting, furniture, lamps, and so on. I got into making potholders with a little device my mom had for making those. I got into macrame. I drew a lot. When I was really little I drew a story sequence of birds in a nest in the middle of about a dozen small paper plates. My mom saved it and I still have it! My friends and I would try to make whatever we decided we were going to make. Once we got the bright idea to make mud pies, just to do it. What I remember about it was that at first it was really fun to dig in the mud, but after awhile it was just difficult because it wasn't moist enough and we weren't near water (or didn't think of that), but we were determined and did make mud pies! Making things, creating, is a magical experience. Even kids growing up now in this age of technology still really enjoy making things. Whenever my nieces and nephews visit, we always do something together where we're creating something. They love it. And, so do I!

A side note... When I was about three, my mom was making enameled jewelry and was using tweezers to place various pieces of glass on the piece she was working on. I was hanging around (of course too young for my mom to have me be a part of it in any way). Well, I found the tweezers. I was on the floor, I guess, and I saw the outlet near the baseboard. "Hey!" I thought. "These would fit right into those two holes! I wonder what would happen?" (I doubt I went through this entire verbal dialogue with myself, but you get the picture.) So, being the curious kid that I was, I jammed the tweezers into the outlet and got the surprise of my fucking life. All I remember was the feeling of electricity going through my body, a big noise and sparks, and smoke coming from the outlet (which had to be replaced). All I can say is that I was one lucky three-year-old. I remember that it hurt, that jolt of electricity, and I realized I had made a big mistake. I don't remember anyone being overly concerned, but I'm sure I was just in a daze and don't remember. Anyway, that was my introduction to art projects. I will never forget it! And, I'm still curious but a whole lot more cautious.

Anyhow, reading the fourth chapter of Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon is called "Use Your Hands," and it really got me thinking about how fun it is to make things. It stirred up memories of making things all the time as a kid, which is why I began this post by discussing some of that. As an adult I have continued making things. I go on kicks. For awhile I got into watercolor painting. My own style. I have no technique, but I really enjoy it. I like to paint very ornate, micro-detailed designs on different things like little pots for plants, wooden shapes that I then make into magnets, bowls, picture frames, boxes, and so on. I like to make thing with beads and charms, both jewelry and non-jewelry items like bookmarks. I discovered how to make cool refrigerator magnets using glass pieces, silicone, art of my choice, and strong magnets. One of the reasons I really enjoy making things is because I enjoy giving them to people as gifts. One Christmas I gave my family only things I had handmade. It was really time-consuming, but totally worth it!

Being creative has to involve doing things, moving, feeling things, listening, smelling, even sometimes tasting. This is one of Kleon's main points of the chapter. He says that "computers have robbed us of the feeling that we're actually making things." I like how Kleon uses example of other types of artists, such as musicians and orators, to illustrate the point that creating has to involve bringing your entire being and your body into your work. For graphic designers, or anyone who creates on the computer, it's easy to get stagnant if you don't do some kinds of hands-on work. Kleon says that sitting in front of a computer and creating just from the head is no good—we can't create just from the head because our inspiration comes from doing things that involve all of the senses. I am totally in agreement with him! Sitting in front of the computer for hours on end is deadening to the mind, body, and soul. I do enjoy my computer work, but it can't be only that. I love his idea of having an analog workspace and a digital workspace. I actually already have those, as probably many of you already do too. They are in the same room, right next to one another. I call it my art room and have art on the wall made mostly by artist friends of mine. It's inspiring! I always work with some kind of music playing, and it's very comfortable. It has a good vibe.

I think that engaging as many of my senses as possible will help creative people produce better work, and that's because it wakes us up! It is how humans experience the world. We don't just see the world; we see, feel, hear, taste, and touch the world. Kleon's description of bringing analog tools back into his process made total sense to me. He said that the work he did that engaged most of his senses was so much fun! He said that "there was a kind of magic happening." (p. 58) And most importantly, "it didn't feel like work. It felt like play." When what you are doing feels like play, of course you are going to produce better work! Your love and enjoyment of the process are evident in what you create!

Generating ideas on the computer might work for some people, but using analog tools first, such as a sketchbook, are much better. Collecting things to put in your idea stash and then getting them out and spreading them out over the table when you want inspiration is also a great way to get the brain active and more "alive." Kleon likes to move back and forth between his analog space and his digital space. The analog space is for idea generation and the computer is for executing the ideas. "When you start to lose steam, head back to the analog station and play." (p. 61) I love that line and will try to start working that way.

When deciding what kind of analog project I wanted to create, I was pulled toward my magnet making project (ha...). So below are a bunch of pictures, all captioned, that show some things I have created over the years (things I really enjoy making), my workspaces, and the process and final execution of my analog project. I miss doing this kind of project!

Set of magnets I painted (acrylic on wood). These are about 1 1/4 inches high.

Same kind of magnet project, but these depict my actual cats. I added the halo when Zöe died.

The most recent set of painted magnets.

One of my painted pots. I have painted dozens of these. Yes, that's a little person at the top. He came with a terrarium kit that someone gave me from TWIG company. :)

Another pot. The plant isn't looking so good...

I guess you might call this kind of thing "folk art?"

I have no idea where I got this idea, but I made a few collaged outlet plates. I used various papers, applied them with Mod Podge, and on this one I added a few little rhinestones.

Same idea.

I have always tried to find special ways to commemorate beloved pets of mine who've passed. These little matchbook memorials are just my style.

The first magnet set I made (of this particular style). The images are patterns from a Victoria's Secret catalog.

So my workspace is currently one big messy room. This is a room that for years was our "office." We kept the main computer, file cabinets, bookshelves, and stuff like that in it. I needed an art room, so I gradually took it over. The main computer is now in another room (the "studio") where my husband spends much of his time practicing guitar and saxophone. All of our musical gear is stored in that room. So anyway, we each sort of have our own space. When I went back to school, my room also became my work room for school work. So now it has a computer desk with my large monitor and tablet (printer is in the studio but I print wirelessly), and a utility table where I can spread out.

Digital Work Station

Analog Work Station
It doesn't always have so much stuff on it. I just have some of the materials out that I keep in the room to give you an idea of how much crap I truly have! I keep everything as organized as I can, but I really need a bigger room. Notice the wall of art. I have so many talented friends and family members.

Getting ready for the project. All materials are on the table. Now I have to look through a bunch of images and decided what I want to use to make a few magnets.

After considering cutting up a copy of one of my watercolor paintings or a greeting card that has little musicians on it, I settled upon images from an old calendar (the little pics on the backs of calendars that show what the pages look like are great for this). This is a Tibetan Buddhist art calendar. 

Put the glass (I don't know what you call them—flat on the bottom, rounded on the top) on the image where you want, then I just trace around with an exacto knife and then finish with scissors.

Finish and fine tune with scissors, making sure the glass fits just right over the shape.

This is some toxic stuff. I only use it because all other glues leave bubbles or don't work right for one reason or another.

Put a pea-sized glob of the silicone on the picture...

 ...and then the magic happens. It's so fun to watch as you press the glass down and the glue spreads out—the glass magnifies the image and makes it come alive! (This is before the magic has happened.)

Voila!

Now who can I give these to?

Go make that stuff you love! Now!

As I continue to read Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon, I continue to learn valuable lessons—lessons about creativity that I can actually immediately apply to my creative life and my life in general. In the six-page third chapter, "Write the book you want to read," Kleon tells us to create what we wish to have created, no matter what the medium. The chapter leads up to his mini manifesto, "Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use—do the work you want to see done." I love this! Short chapter it though may have been, it really made me think about my general M.O. through much of my life or at least different aspects of my life. So much of my life has been spent doing things in ways that I believed were expected of me. Who was expecting me to do these things? My parents? My peers? My teachers? My employers? My community? Society? The law? Those were the beliefs. And, yes, there are certain things one ought to do because one is expected to, or because it's a cultural or societal norm, or because of laws, and so on. Well, excluding those obvious norms to which most of us adhere, even if certain things were expected of me by others, is that reason enough to spend my life doing such things? I'm realizing that I'm using the word "things" way too much and being too vague. I'll give you a few examples.

After high school I had no idea what I wanted to do. In my family there was no alternative to going to college, so that was a given. That's a good thing in many ways. So, I started at Parkland as an art major. I took some of the beginning studio classes and found that I didn't have the patience or confidence to be in that program right then, and I had been interested in psychology since high school; so I switched majors to psychology and then transferred to the U of I after two years. Continuing my psychology major, I found that my interest had decreased substantially, and I felt lost. My dad, who had a joint appointment at the U of I as a professor of musicology and also anthropology, advised me to get a bachelor's degree in anthropology, so that's what I did. It sounded somewhat interesting, but the main reasons I finished that degree were that I had to finish a degree because it was expected of me, I hadn't figured out what I really wanted to do, and my dad was strongly advising me to go the anthropology route. I enjoyed a number of my classes and learned a good deal, but in the real world I wasn't qualified for much...I became a secretary at the U of I where I stayed for four years.

What was I really interested in all of this time? Music and art. I dabbled in little art projects, did a little painting here and there, and made jewelry and other crafty items. I played in some pretty lame cover bands, but it was fun. Again, a couple of reasons why these interests/passions weren't nourished were that I lacked confidence in myself and my abilities and also that I was expected to have some kind of full-time, secure job with good benefits. The safe route. Whose expectations were these, I have to ask myself again? I know my parents had these expectations but also wanted me to be happy; however it really was ingrained in me by my dad that you have to have security, health insurance, etc. Who else expected it of me? Did I expect it of myself? I missed out on a lot because of fears of disappointing someone or many people! I missed out on developing and following my dreams because of fear of failure, mostly.

So here I am, probably more than halfway through my life, and I'm actually doing things about which I'm passionate—art and music. I started writing songs in my 30s and put a band together to record the songs and then play shows to promote the record and support my efforts. I didn't really follow a dream until that point in my life, and I was still stuck to keeping a secure day job, which at that point was teaching elementary school (definitely a field I joined because of what I thought I was expected to do). I let go of the "secure" part of that statement after teaching for ten years and quit my teaching job to go to massage therapy school. I worked as a massage therapist for a great clinic, made pretty decent money, and enjoyed what I was doing. And, it was not a job with benefits like paid time off or health insurance. It took a lot for me to let go of that "expectation" and do something I wanted to do. Massage is pretty hard on one's hands, thumbs, wrists, shoulders, and so on; at least it was for me, so I explored some options and decided to go to Parkland in graphic design. Now I was feeding another passion—art.

Music and art are both creative fields, and so I feel like I'm in a really good place. I have an acoustic duo with a partner with whom I completely mesh, and we recorded a CD to be released in a couple of weeks. It's the most fun I've ever had working and writing with another musician. We play out every week—a great tension relief and break from the demands of school. And now I'm getting ready to embark on yet another career; actually I now have a part time job as a graphic designer at a design agency and I still have a few more months of school before I graduate. My point is that it's taken me this long to feel like I'm doing the things I want to do—love to do—not the things people expect me to do. This is exactly what Kleon advises people to do. Create the things that you want to exist in the world. Do it now. When I was at a loss for what I  should do next in my life, I did, as Kleon strongly advises, ask myself, "What would make a better story?" We are here in this life, in this body, with this mind, for a very limited time, and we know it will end but have no idea when, so we have to ask ourselves what the most important things are to us and do them.

I still have a long way to go to get to a place where I always know what I want and even what I like for that matter. Most times I do know what I like, and I think if I learn to follow that, I'll be more certain of what I want and what I want to do. So I got a lot out of this chapter and am looking forward to continuing reading the book.

If I could rewrite my life, I would have stopped believing the fearful thoughts that come and go; I would have started a meditation practice which helps one develop an unconditional friendship with oneself and get to know oneself, who we are at our best and who we are at our most messed up, accepting all of it. I would have learned self confidence and become a risk taker quite early on so that I could have gone ahead and done things I loved, not just the things I thought were expected of me. Maybe I would have had some real success with a music career. Maybe I would have explored art or design much earlier and be a successful and well respected designer by now. Maybe I'd have gotten really involved in animal rescue or something related as I'm also extremely passionate about animals in so many ways. Honestly it's hard to say that I would want things to be different from what they are right now. I really try to practice full acceptance and nonresistance of every moment as I'm in it; the mistakes I've made in my life have been some of the factors that led me to where I am right now, and I feel very fortunate in this very moment. I'm happy about what I'm doing in my life. I couldn't have happened any other way than the way it did. I'm a whole lot wiser than I used to be, but part of that wisdom is knowing that we all know how it feels to be completely lost, to be a complete mess, to feel embarrassed about ourselves, and also to feel comfort, love, joy, satisfaction, and peace. We all fuck up. We all do good. I'm here, now, making the most of my life as much as I am able. Every moment counts. Every creation counts. Opportunities to learn are in our face all of the time. No, I wouldn't rewrite my life story, but I am more aware now that I do have the ability to write the rest of my own story the way I want it to be. I'm really fortunate in this life!

An exercise that Kleon suggests (p. 48) is to create something based on the imagined collaboration of your favorite creative thinkers and doers with you in the lead creative position on the team. I decided to create something as close as I can to what I imagine I could create with three designers I truly admire: Jessica Hische, Milton Glaser, and David Carson on my team. References and my final created piece are below.

Jessica Hische

Milton Glaser

David Carson

Gloria Roubal, "in collaboration" with the above designers

P.S. Brian Eno is awesome. I will probably write a review of something he created. For now I'll say that I love something he said that went something like this: "The older I get, the more I realize that I'll commit to anything that is far enough in the future." I just find that funny and so true for so many people! Ha!

Emulation—The Best Form of Flattery

I'm continuing to enjoy the book Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon. Chapter 2, "Don't Wait Until You Know Who You Are To Get Started," is filled with examples and different ways to express the idea that the way we come to know who we are is by creating things and going through the creative process. There is nothing wrong with pretending to be what you desire to be or to create by copying other people's work for the sake of practice and understanding. In fact, it is the process of doing these things over and over again that will allow you to find out who you really are and what you can really do. We have to copy, practice, imitate, emulate, and finally we will come into our own.

Copying is important. "Fake it 'til you make it," (p. 30) applies to so many things. For instance, you can apply it to having a positive outlook on life. You might feel really negative inside, but if you act "as if" you are more positive, the patterns in your brain can actually change based on your behavior as well as your internal self-talk. In terms of creation, we learn by copying. I love the quote on page 33 by Yohji Yamamoto, "Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self." I'm starting to understand and practice this more and more.

Repetition, practice, and even failures are important. In order to do something well, you just have to do it over and over and over again, every day. Some days you will feel like a failure, and other days you will feel some success, but the point is that you commit to doing it every day. You just do it like you do anything else on a daily basis—eat, brush your teeth, and so on. In a well known Michael Jordan quote, he says, "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." I couldn't find the other quote I was looking for by Jordan, but it added to this by saying that he just keeps going back out on the court. No matter what. Every day. As visual artists and designers, we have to do the same thing.

Attempting to get inside the head of your heroes is important. Kleon makes the point that when we copy for the sake of practice (not plagiarism), it's like reverse-engineering. We do it to try to understand how it was done in the first place. We are attempting to figure out the thinking behind the work. When Kleon writes, "Don't steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style," (p. 33) this is what he is referring to. We want to see the world through our heroes' eyes. I want to be able to think the way Jessica Hische thinks! If I can copy her work enough, emulate her work enough, maybe I'll start to understand the thinking process behind her design and illustration. There's a difference between imitation and emulation, and that eventually you have to move from imitating to emulating your hero's work, because that's when you break through "into your own thing." (p.38) Emulation is transforming your hero's work into something that is your own: "Adding something to the world that only you can add." (p. 41)

Kleon's chart of "Good Theft vs. Bad Theft" is a concise checklist that can be used when you are attempting to emulate your hero's work. These are concepts that are important to memorize so that you can always check yourself to make sure your emulation only includes "good theft." I attempted to emulate Jessica Hische's work by creating a decorative drop cap. Her project, The Daily Crop Cap, was what helped to get her on the map in the design world. I have huge Pinterest board of her work, and many of the pieces are her drop caps. There are SO many different things she has done with letters in this project! I decided to try to emulate a Jessica Hische drop cap, and I think it was a good first try. I chose one of her simpler styles, and I added sprinkles of my own flavor to it. Below I've posted two of her drop caps that were inspiration for my "stolen creation," and then the last image is that creation (H). I had so much fun doing it, and it is right up my alley! Let me know if you think this is simply imitation or if I've started to move into emulation, which was my goal.

Read!

Everything you absorb that affects you in some way becomes an influence in your life, creative and otherwise. Reading is a great way to absorb things, to experience aspects of humanity, science, art, nature, emotions—it's endless.

Austin Kleon, the author of Steal Like An Artist (which I'm currently reading), suggests that we should always be reading. I agree with him, but I'm afraid I fall short of this; I love to read, but I go in and out of reading phases. I have read many different kinds of books, and I get in moods to read both fiction and nonfiction; sometimes I don't feel like reading anything at all. My time is so very limited while I'm in school that I don't know when I would read for pleasure!

I do have some favorite authors and topics, but I also enjoy finding a book I've never heard of that just looks interesting, so I'll buy it or check it out from the library. Sometimes I really get lucky! I've found some of my favorite books this way. One such book is Wesley the Owl. I saw it in a book store, read the back, thumbed through it a little, and decided I had to have it. It is one of the most amazing books I've ever read. I've read it several times now. I've even finished a book only to turn right around and reread it! I did that with the book Alive, the true story of the Chilean soccer team whose plane crashed in the Andes mountains—a true survival story. I got a bit obsessed with it, actually.

• • • • •

So today I went to the Champaign Public Library and found a slew of books that interest me. Each one interests me for a different reason. This is the stack of books I checked out. I've also listed my reasons for selecting each of these books.

A Thousand Morons, by Quim Monzó (Book of short stories, and I'm very interested in short stories)

Girl in Translation, by Jean Kwok (Great reviews, and the topic interests me)

Pet Sematary, by Stephen King (A book that was recommended to me by a friend, plus I like S.K.)

Choke, by Chuck Palahnuik (by the author of Fight Club, which I haven't read but love the movie)

Making Rounds With Oscar, by David Dosa, M.D. (Extremely intriguing subject to me)

Sad Stories of the Death of Kings, by Barry Gifford (I'm a Barry Gifford fan)

Other Voices, Other Rooms, by Truman Capote (A classic I've always wanted to read)

The Parrot Who Thought She Was a Dog, by Nancy Ellis-Bell (Looks hilarious and educational)

The Daily Coyote, by Shreve Stockton (Animal lover that I am, the cover drew me in)

When I Grow Up: A Memoir, by Juliana Hatfield (I love Hatfield's music and want to learn about her)

Paul McCartney: A Life, by Peter Ames (Never read a McCartney biography and it's about time)

I'll do my best to read at least one or two, hopefully more, of these (renewing them if need be). The first book I think I want to read is Making Rounds with Oscar.

• • • • •

Kleon has a list of recommended reading (p. 45), and I looked most of the books up on Amazon to "look inside" when possible and also read some reviews. I decided to obtain a copy of Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott. Amazon had a super-cheap used copy, so it should be on its way. I think it looks like an excellent book that will help me with my creativity in graphic design and also writing, which is the book's focus. I wrote my first short story a couple of years ago, and I really enjoyed the process. I'm also pretty happy with how it turned out; the final version is about 180 degrees from where I started, and I had a lot of mentors along the way. 

• • • • •

John Waters is quoted as saying, "Nothing is more important than an unread library. There are many books I want to read and haven't yet. Here are ten books from my unread library (I have a couple of these, but I haven't read any of them yet):