Sunday Morning Coffee #9

You never know where you will find art that appeals to you. This is a mural in The Flying Star Cafe in Santa Fe. I love it. Maybe it is the mosaic effect of the brick, or maybe the magic is in the little stars?

I love cups and saucers anyway – one of those things I constantly find myself sketching and painting.

What I am going to do when I grow up . . .

Being a pioneer these days is a rough business.

Compared to crossing the plains in a covered wagon, breathing oxen exhaust, not so much, I suppose, but challenging nonetheless.

The thing about a world of constant change is that you have to keep changing – constantly.

Our whole way of life is changing – at a rate that spins the head, and you can either spin out of control, or figure out on a weekly (or daily) basis, how you can best adapt to the moment.

I launched my internet business and online “brand” in 2001.

Of course, nobody knew I was there, so I started a Yahoo Group called New Idea Exchange that grew into a wonderful community and stayed lively for many years.

I published free magazines – made of HTML web pages because PDFs were not a familiar thing to most folks, and internet download speeds prohibited that file size anyway.

So, I published CD “books” (PDF files), on Photoshop techniques which were very popular, but most of my audience did not really embrace digital art at that time. I also spent all my time burning CDs.

I can’t remember exactly, but sometime around 2005, a couple of big things happened. A reader discovered that Sheer Heaven made great transfers, and I started teaching online workshops on photography. I also started blogging.

My love of Art Journaling came along in 2006, and I started teaching it in January , 2007.

Things took off in directions I had never expected. Sheer Heaven became popular worldwide, and my workshops grew and grew.

Though time was a precious commodity, in 2009, I went back into the retail business, because I love the connection with my community, and I love sharing a joint project with my husband. Gives us lots to talk about. I never wanted us to be one of those couples you see at a restaurant table, who have nothing left to say to each other, and enjoy(?) their whole meal in silence.

Sheer Heaven stays strong because there is nothing like it. There is nothing like my workshops either, but *everyone* now teaches workshops, and the competition for students’ attention and tuition is intense. I also do not have the time to be as present in live workshops as I was, or to deal with juggling the scheduling. So, you have seen me move many of my workshops to a WHENEVER basis so you can have them when you want them.

Now, it is 2012, and I am beginning the second decade of my online “brand”. I am sitting on ten years worth of “content” – most of it lost in archives and file formats that are no longer viable, although the information is as valuable and wonderful as it ever was.

Through blogging, I have learned that I love to write.

eBooks are the biggest thing on the horizon.

It makes sense for me to be an ebook publisher.

Though I will share much more detail as we go, my goal for this new decade at Cre8it is to embrace my inner “author” and share what I know (old info and new) through ebooks published under the Cre8it “brand”.

This time, the content will not go away, but will be readily available in my virtual “bookstore”.

I am very excited about this, and am actually working on three books right now – two new and one exciting rewrite. My Creative Drawing Workbook has been a constant best seller, but it needs lots of company in the Cre8it bookstore.

As we said yesterday, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I have to learn to allow the time it takes to make this a great new era for Cre8it. I will certainly be letting you know when each new book, workbook, or mini workbook is ready. Hopefully, you will love this idea as much as I do.

And speaking of good, inspiring books . . .

I want to share two with you this week that appeal to me on several levels, because they are not just books, they are interesting ideas which you can put to work in your own art journals, and they both deal with doing something you love – to solve a life challenge.

Lee Crutchley is a British Artist/Illustrator who had had enough one day, sold all his belongings and traveled around the world for a year or so. When he got back home, the recession had hit, and he realized that he would not be able to get a job any time soon. Rather than sit around and mope, he decided to use drawing (something he loved), and quotations he had been collecting since childhood (something he also loved), to keep his creativity in healthy shape during the downtime.

Everyday, he illustrated a Quote in his Moleskine Sketchbook. He started posting these pages on a Tumblr blog, and picked up a following, which led to this book . . .

Filled with 152 pages like this . . .

For some reason, you are allowed to read the entire book online before deciding whether to add a signed copy to your collection . . . enjoy!

Quoteskine

I am going to start adding illustrated quotes to my art journals! I have also collected quotes and poems my whole life, and even made books illustrating them with found pictures – way back in college. Hmmm – I wonder where those books are?

Obsessive Consumption . . . .

Kate Bingiman-Burt found herself with some pretty huge credit card debt – and no idea how she got there. Friends asked her where the “diamond tiara” was that she must have purchased for that kind of money.

So to keep track of her “obsessive consumption”, she started drawing something she bought everyday. She started doing that in 2006. She now has a very successful art career, a blog, gallery shows, signature products, zines, and a book on Amazon which I highly recommend. It’s sort of a biography of an artist told through purchases.

Obsessive Compulsion on Amazon

Here are some sample drawings . . .

You will so thoroughly enjoy exploring Kate’s website, blog etc. that you best plan to spend some time there . . .

http://katebingamanburt.com/

I LOVE creative problem solving, and the fact that art careers can be built online through doing what you love.

Notice that neither of these were “quick and easy”, but the results were certainly worth it!

Don’t you feel the urge to go draw something you bought today – or yesterday? What a great art journal page starter.

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