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The new year is here. Know what that means? My awesome chickie, Leonie Dawson's 2014 life-awesoming planners are out. I love them and swear by them for productivity and getting your creative dreams fulfilled. There is one for life and one for business. I use both. I love seeing my goals manifest. It's such a great resource and it's one of my top 3 highest recommended "get that creative life going" tools.

Get yours, today!

Creative in the Kitchen: PB&J - Adult-Foodie Edition

It's been awhile since I've done a "Creative in the Kitchen" episode, so here's one for all you foodies out there.

Peanut butter and jelly is a childhood comfort food, here in the US. Now that I'm a mama and am chronically ill, I've been eating it a lot. It's quick, it's tasty and it's good fuel. But plain peanut butter and grape jelly can get a little boring, so why not mix it up a bit?

BEHOLD!

On wheat bread, the order goes as follows - for jelly L-R - strawberry, apricot and currant. For the peanut butter side - T-B - peanut butter, hazelnut butter and almond butter.

You can go and eat the whole thing and let the flavors play. But, for me, I like them cut apart into separate little flavor explosions, as you can see an "exploded" version on the bottom of the plate. Serve that up with a tall glass of milk? A foodie twist on a childhood basic.

And, in case you wanted to know, my favorite flavor combo was the currant jelly with hazelnut butter. But, then, I'm spoiled 'cause my mom-in-law makes the currant jelly and it is amazing!

Let me know what flavor combos you've tried and let me know which one is your favorite.

And, as always, please remember that we are all visionaries. We just have to figure out where we excel.

Love to All,

-Bri



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The Best Advice I've Ever Given

A few years ago, I went into a gas station in my hometown to buy cigarettes. The cashier was a friend of mine and he knew about my inspirational writing and the kind of "out of the norm" life I live. Outside the gas station sat a girl, all knees and elbows, around 15 years of age.

My friend said to me, "Would you sit and talk with her a bit? She's getting disheartened about her life." So I said, "Sure," and I went outside to talk to this girl.

I sat on the bench across from her, outside this run-down gas station and as I looked across the table, I saw myself looking back at me. Large brown eyes that shone both hope and despair. Long brown hair, brushed but not styled. And I thought back to myself at her age.

Given all the years and experiences that separated the 15-year-old Bri and the 27-year-old Bri, what would I say to my past self, if I was given the opportunity? In the humid August evening, I spread out my long cotton skirt. I sat and talked to this girl who could have been me.

"This is the best advice I can think of to give you," I said. I took a long drag of my cigarette and exhaled it for dramatic emphasis. "I want you to go out into the world and fuck up."

This young girl's mouth dropped open. That was exactly the reaction I was looking for. I knew, at that moment, she was hearing me. I knew that I had just cut through all the walls that all 15-year-old girls put up between themselves and adults. With those two final little words, I had her.

"Let me explain," I said. "The best thing that can happen to you is for you to finish high school and go on to college. From there, I want you to go out and explore this world. I want you to talk to people that you think you have nothing in common with. Become friends with them. Go out and have adventures. Make mistakes. Make HUGE mistakes. Inconvenience everyone around you - friends, family, lovers. Because through your mistakes and your fuck-ups, you'll learn not only who you are, but who and what you really want to be."

I talked to this girl for almost two hours. I told her stories of my life. I listened to stories of hers. In the end, she went her way and I went mine. I haven't seen her, again.

But my advice stands. And it's the best advice I can give to anyone, really. Everything transformative that I've ever experienced and every great story that I recount at dinner parties? They often started out as really bad decisions.

"Hey! I'm going to hop into a car with 6 people I barely know and go camping 1,900 miles away. There'll be about 30,000 other people around in a state park - none of which have showered in 2 weeks. There won't be any toilets or cell phone reception, but I'm gonna come back with a puppy!"

"Hey! I'm going to go and dress up in Medieval garb. At 11:00 pm, somewhere in Pennsylvania with myself dressed like a hippy and my friend dressed like a Catholic priest, we're going to go get carryout beer from the only bar we can find. It happens to be a biker bar and the guy who's staying with the car? He'll be crocheting a scarf in the back seat!"

"Hey! I'm going to strap myself to a guy I don't know and jump out of a perfectly good airplane at 13,000 feet with nothing between myself and death but a thin sheet of nylon!"

See? Bad decisions.

But each and every one not only turned out for the best, but gave me an experience and memories I'll carry, forever. Essentially, each horrible decision and each fuck-up, they made me who I am, today. I am grateful for each and every time I made a mistake, each time that I stepped outside my comfort zone and each time that I said, "Well . . . why not?" Each time, adventure happened. And each time, I learned a little bit more about who I was, as a person.

During our daily routine, we get stuck. We begin to think that who we are during our routine life is who we really are, at our core. This is almost never the case.

Camping with 30,000 other people, I learned that I am not alone in my strangeness and that there are many different ways of existing in the world. Walking into a biker bar dressed in crazy costumes? I learned that I can be adaptive in awkward situations. Jumping out of a plane? I learned that I am strong, confidant, brave and that I can FLY!

And that's the truth. So I urge you all to take risks and make some bad decisions. I encourage you to fuck-up and fail and flounder and be confused. Stretch and do something you've never done before.

My comfort zone expanding as of late? I auditioned for a movie (which I didn't get), and I'm competing in a landscape art competition this weekend. I've never done A) an art competition or B) landscape painting, so I'm really psyched to be pushing my art envelope in this new way.

What are you doing to push your comfort zone? What do you find when you're outside of it? Let me know. I'd love to hear your stories!

Until next time, remember that every single one of us are visionaries. We just have to figure out where we excel.

Love to All,

-Bri


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Willing to Be Wrong

Sir Ken Robinson, author, TED speaker and advocate for creatives, told a story of a six year-old girl in school.

The girl was sitting in the back of the classroom drawing when the teacher walked back to her and asked “What are you drawing?” “I’m drawing a picture of God," she said. The teacher laughed said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” And the little girl said “They will in a minute.”

With this tale, Sir Robinson is explaining to us that children aren’t afraid to take chances. If they don’t know something, they’ll risk failing or being wrong. Creativity, in and of itself, isn’t about being wrong, but to quote Sir Robinson: “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

Children who are still okay with being wrong are the most creative, you can see it by giving them crayons or blocks or paint. Without having much knowledge of the world, kids pour their creativity out in the form of play.

What can we big people learn from this?

My children have always been my best teachers. Through my time with my daughter, Pookie, I've reclaimed the joy of banging on pots with a wooden spoon and I've picked up blocks to build towers with.

Most often, we use our knowledge and life experiences to draw from in creating. Robert Epstein says, “Creativity, in short, is not something mystical; it’s an extension of what you already know. To be more specific, new behaviors (or ideas) emerge as old behaviors interact.”

 I used my art and writing as therapy for a long time. I processed my life experiences and let it all flow down onto the paper because I was denied access to actual therapy for various reasons.

Was everything that came out good? Oh, hell no! But Jack Smith said it best, "You have to be willing to be bad for 20 years in order to be great and, even then, there is no guarantee."

In my younger years, my writing was trite and shallow, but I did have moments of insight and profound wordsmithing. I did have art that was well-received enough to get me a solo gallery showing during my first semester of art school. I was okay with being horrible. I was okay with working for years without success, even though success did come. In this way, I was able to find my authentic voice and deepen my artistic vision. These things only come with time.

But what is the secret to being creative?

Steve Jobs, before his death, explained that “creativity is just connecting things.”

It’s a promoted idea that the best ideas flow from what we already know, like the river that originates from one spring. But what if we don’t know very much? What if we've never been creative in our life, yet have that deep urge to paint or sew or dance or act?

My advice is to watch children. What do children do if they don’t know something? They think about it and give it a whirl. They try. And they try without huge clouds of doubt and fear above their head.

If you go into a kindergarten classroom and ask, "Who can draw me a air plane?" Every single child raises their hand. Somewhere along the line, we are taught that not everyone can draw. Not everyone can write. Not everyone can run well or catch a ball. So, we sit on the sidelines while the star athlete catches the ball. We read and read and read, but never pick up the pen to write our own story.

I've never figured out why or how this process happens. All I know is that, somewhere, we learn that if you do something badly, you shouldn't do it at all. We're taught that making a mistake leads to mocking, to torment and to ostracism. It opens us up to hurtful criticism and social pitfalls. We think that being wrong makes us look like a newbie (which we often are at new things, but no one wants to be called that).

In Buddhism, they talk about approaching things with a beginner's mind. That means a fresh perspective. To approach something as if you've never done it before. From this mindset, new ideas emerge and innovations are spawned.

If you wanted to make yourself an outfit, but had no idea about what society says you should wear, how would you dress? I think fashion designers (especially the couture ones) think like this a lot. And it's awesome! It's new and exciting and spins our eyes and our thoughts in a whole new way.

My lovelies, this weekend, I want to encourage you to risk being wrong. I want you to do something you think you're bad at and try to be okay with it. If you're not "the best" at something, it's okay! It just means that you're learning and that is a very precious time.

My beautiful souls, I believe that we can release all these negative ideas about ourselves. So what if I can't shoot a three-pointer in basketball if my life depended on it. So what if, when I try to draw a shoe, it kinda looks like a space craft? Who says that there can't be a race of little alien toe people who just love flying around in their loafer-ship?

Mischievous toe-alien

Reach, my darlings. Stretch! Go beyond what you think you can do and be willing to be bad at it. It's only through being "bad" that we learn how to do the best that we can. No one expects you to come into this life, rip roaring and ready to paint The Sistine Chapel at 8 months old. We've all got to work at it and that's completely okay.


And please remember, my precious loves, we are all visionaries. We just have to figure out where we excel.

Until next time, love to all.

-Bri


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What You See, Not What You THINK You See

If you're going to be working in any art, but even especially if you want to work in 2D (that's painting and drawing and such), one of the big questions you might ask is this: where do I find subject matter?

Well, I find mine in a couple of different ways. The first is the site Pinterest. On this site, I find wonderful pictures and it gives me a place to store images that I like, all in one place, so I can reference them often. You can find my Pinterest "Visual Inspiration" Board, here. Photographs are great, if you don't have access to models on a regular basis. Pictures will show you how light falls across something so that you can generate good highlight and shadow. I also highly recommend this book. It's been immensely helpful to me.

Find it here on Amazon

Highlight and shadow, understanding light, is going to be what will take your art from "a three year old could have done this" to "wow!" Take notice of where the colors of a person's skin gets lighter. That shadow, under the chin? Is it really black or does it look purple?

One of the greatest piece of advice for art was given to me by Mrs. Watson, my art teacher in Jr. High and high school. This was her motto. She even had us write it on the inside front cover of our sketchbooks. And I'm going to share it with you right now. Ready?

It takes a lot of looking, a lot of studying, a lot of getting lines to agree to make a figure look proportional. Look once, twice, three times at a line or a shadow before you draw it. Really look at it. Study it. Does it arc slightly one way or another? Why does it do that? Is there a bone or muscle under there that needs to "come through," yet remain hidden in the figure? All art students start off by drawing naked people. That's because it teaches you how to distance yourself from an object, break it down into its' component lines and shadows, and then transfer that thing you're looking at on to the paper.

Before I discovered Pinterest (and when I was in art school), I compulsively collected magazine pictures. For my purposes, women's magazines and National Geographic were my favorites. I kept these magazine clippings in folders, clipped into a 3-ring binder. You could paste your finds in a notebook or journal. You could tack them up to your studio wall. Whatever works for you.

For starters, don't worry about collecting one type of image or another. If it strikes your fancy, keep a log of it. Even if you're not sure what you'll do with it, yet. As your image collection grows, you'll start to see underlying themes and elements emerge. Are you collecting pictures of women dancing? Animals? Interesting jewelry? Sometimes I combine elements of one or more pictures that I like in my art to give me an entirely new image and concept.

Just keep your eyes open and you'll find what you're looking for. What you look for, you will find.


Hope you found this helpful, my lovelies. Until next time, please remember that we are all visionaries. We just have to figure out where we excel.


Love to All,


-Bri


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The Most Important Tool: A Sketchbook

Besides the computer, there is one tool in my creative arsenal that I find to be absolutely invaluable. That wonderful, magnificent tool which I value above all others is my Sketch Book. My sketchbook is where all my ideas are first hatched. It’s where I work with them and play with them until I’m ready to make them manifest in the world. It’s where I jot things down for later. It’s a simple thing, spiral bound with a black cover and white pages. The size is an 8 1/2” by 11” with perforated pages. You can find ones just like it at Wal-Mart or any hobby store and they’ll run you close to $10. Most of the time, I decorate the cover in some way that is whimsical, makes me happy and inspires me to continue working with it. My sketchbook, which I keep on my nightstand by the bed or often carry with me, is the place where I allow myself to dream my wildest dreams on paper.

If you ever see me doodling, writing or painting in my sketchbook and you ask me what I’m doing, the answer will 100% of the time be one of two things. Either, “dreaming” or “playing.” In my current book that’s beside me, now, are sketches for costumes, bits of poetry, mandala paintings, self-help book workings, fairy drawings, tattoo ideas, blog post topics and inspirational quotes. Within the pages of these free-form books, I hardly ever take myself too seriously. It’s not like anyone ever looks inside but me. I also use this book to play with new tools like watercolor pencils (used in the Self Care series) or Art Masking Fluid.

In my sketchbook, there are no lines, no margins. Just plain sheets of white paper. This is what I prefer for recording my free-form creativity because the lack of lines and structures makes me feel less constricted. I don’t have to write neatly on the lines or stay within the margins or make anything look pretty. Writing or drawing all of my ideas without lines gives me the space to add to them, later, if I need to add notes or expound.

Keeping a sketchbook also helps me see not only what I’m thinking about and saves my ideas for later, but it also allows me to observe how I’m thinking. This can be a big help in the future. If I see that, say, most of my ideas about “play” are coming from nature, from observing animals, I can go to the internet or library and research more on that particular topic. If I’m drawing mandalas and I notice a theme, again, I can research various symbols and use that to extrapolate.

I’m also a fan of “word bubbling” in my sketchbook. This is another format for storing and expanding on ideas and “to do” projects. If you’ve never tried it for brainstorming or organizing about goals, I’d give this exercise a try and see if it works for you.

A word bubble from my sketchbook regarding what I want to do with my creative work

Another exercise I do is "what's broken"? This gives me an idea of potential pitfalls to work on. I draw circles within circles, like a bulls-eye. Then, I label each one, broadening the scope as I go. The very center is "My Desk." Going out, the layers are Office, Workload, Team, Division, Organization, Neighborhood, Country, World. Inside each ring, I write what I don't like. In "Desk," I may write 'no central creative location.' In "Office," 'constant cleaning is frustrating' and 'lack of space for myself.' This gives me very concrete things written down that I can work towards changing. Maybe I could hire someone to come in once a week and do some cleaning for me. No matter what exercises you use, let them guide you to figure out what you really want out of your career, your art and your life.

Now, as far as size of the sketchbook goes, I prefer no bigger than the standard 8 ½” by 11”. Any smaller and I feel like I’m cramped in the writing space. Any larger and it’s not as easy to transport. I try to always make sure my purse is big enough to carry my sketchbook because I love going to places and people watching. I’ll sketch random people in there or write down snippets of interesting overheard conversation. It’s always nice to have my sketchbook handy, just in case the lightning of inspiration strikes at odd moments. 

For convenience, I also prefer my sketchbooks to be spiral bound. They lay on flat surfaces or on my lap better. But you should experiment and try different types over time. Maybe a pretty Leather Journal would work for you. But don't get something so expensive that you feel you are only allowed to put your "good" ideas down. 

This happened to me with more expensive journals. I payed a nice price for a beautiful leather bound journal and you know what happened? I didn't write anything down. Not a thing. My inner critic kicked in before the ideas were even put on paper, judging them as "not good enough to record in such a beautiful book."

If you’re interested in living a creative life, a sketchbook is the first tool that I would say that you need to own. Even if your sketches or notes are things that only you can read, it’s okay. Who cares?!? Better to get the ideas down on paper, available for review and mulling than to not record them and end up forgetting them completely. Take this little thing and make it yours. Color the cover. Paste pictures from magazines in it. Let this blank book reflect all your hopes, dreams and vitality.

Here's a picture of the cover of my current sketchbook.

The artwork is not mine. I found it on the internet, here, and used Paint.net (a free version of Adobe Photoshop) to add my name. I also used a black pen to define the lines a little more. The cartoon is originally by Rion Vernon and I felt like it represented an idealized version of how I wanted to be -- beautiful, sexy, confidant, relaxed and artistic with just a bit of a sly, knowing smile.

All of the best artists have kept sketchbooks and, after their deaths, their sketchbooks have become quite famous. The sketchbooks of Leonardo da Vinci are some of the most amazing things I’ve seen. Also, books are available which show you inside others’ sketchbooks and those can be used to spark ideas of your own. I haven't read any, yet, but they're worth checking out. Seeing the inspiration of how others work creates a beautiful web of creative individuals, all interconnected and adding to the pool of beauty in this world. Our stories and processes build on and boost each other. That's a pretty cool idea, don't you think?

If keeping a sketchbook ends up just being a thing that tickles you, you might want to take a look at a thing called a smash book. Personally, I haven’t made one, yet. But I’m going to on my next vacation. Part scrapbook, part travel journal, I think the concept looks like a fun one!

For a very little investment, some pluck and a pen, you’re on your way to living the vibrant, beautiful and creative life you’ve always dreamed of having. Let this world excite you and, if you've got a sketchbook, you don't have to work about losing your ideas, no matter how fleeting they are. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. 

And, who knows? Maybe we’ll meet one day. I’ll let you flip through my sketchbook if you let me flip through yours. Creativity, like wildfires, can be set ablaze by just one little spark which we share between us.

Forever encouraging you, my shining loves. 

Remember! We're all visionaries. We just have to figure out where we excel!