My Box

Lettering #2 Mosaic
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com

My project box that is. Through all of the not part of reality silliness in The Creative Habit I found a few gems. I finished it on my Kindle iPhone app the other day and am putting what I learned to use.

1) Start a morning ritual to get myself going in the right direction. My first thought and attempt was for this to be making green smoothies and then working out doing The Shred. But that was just too much to do every day, especially on days following a rough night with Alex. So it soon got whittled down to just the green smoothie part. Much healthier than a cup of coffee and a more long lasting energy, plus it is for the entire family. And Alex needs all the veggies I can get her to eat. Plus we are fasting for the next three weeks and coffee is out.

2) A box for my creative project(s). One box for each one to keep things focused. Right now I am using a shoe box, but when I get the chance I will probably take her advice and get the kind you can buy at Office Depot. In this box goes all the papers I have found that could possibly work for my project. Various papers including plain ones, pre-printed ones, washi and my own woodblock and gocco print scraps. Along with that I have a two tiered pencil case that keeps the small pieces so they don't get lost in the shuffle. And at the top level of that case are the ones I think I will be using. She just suggested a box, but she is a dancer not a visual artist, so I felt the need to expand to suit my needs.

3) I also have an computer based tool that I am trying out as a way to gather and organize various materials. I can save websites and images and put them into folders so they are easy to bring up whenever I need them.

Have I mentioned how much I love the Kindle app yet? Because I do, yet it actually keeps me from getting an actual Kindle rather than making me want one. I'm a minimalist when it comes to what I carry with me and having it in my phone is perfect. Now I read my physical books at home, but I always have something as backup on my phone.

Now along with a novel (The Blind Assassin for you curious types) I am reading another book to boost my productivity. This time it is a book that is practical for all people called Getting Things Done. The latter is on my Kindle app again which makes it handy for a quick read and note taking. I plan on always having one fiction and one non-fiction books going at all times. Funny how just six months ago I could barely find the attention to finish a book in six months and now I am reading books within a week tops.

Just another sign that things are improving.

Onwards and Upwards!

new materials
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com

Since I was so happy with this piece from last week I've decided that it needs to be a series. It just feels right and my energy for it is high and consistent. I haven't had that in ages, instead having short and sudden creative bursts where I make a piece in an hour and then may go as long as a few months before making another in the exact same way. The inspiration then was still real, but different and very fleeting. This feels much more purposeful and planned. Well, because it is more purposeful and planned!

Last week I downloaded The Creative Habit for the Kindle app on my iPhone and am reading it bit by bit daily. It isn't perfect, in fact some of the advice is downright laughable. Such as the one where she suggests to take a week and not talk, at all that entire week. I'm not a nun and I have obligations, as most people do, that require me to be able to communicate in more than just hand gestures and notes. Maybe some of the artists that don't have day to day jobs, or a family that needs them can do this exercise in restraint. But for the vast majority of us it is not only not practical but it is not possible. But overall it is a positive experience to read it and I am better off for it. For starters it has gotten me to rethink my day and try to get on some sort of schedule. Or at the very least get my day started with a bang instead of a groggy hour watching Curious George while downing coffee.

So I have been attempting to change my morning routine by going to bed earlier and waking up earlier and better. The attempt to wake up at 5:30am so I could use that precious time to work out before my daughter woke up did not go so well. I have pretty bad insomnia and when 5:30 came around I would be going on sometimes no more than four hours of sleep. Every time without fail I would turn my alarm off and go back to sleep. But now my husband and I have a schedule that allows me to work out in the morning and make the family a good breakfast and I don't even have to get up before seven on most mornings. Of course with a toddler, staying on a strict schedule is impossible, but for the most part it works. And that book pushed me to make this change.

This has impacted my health and ultimately my creativity. I'm not as tired any more and my head isn't so muddy. I've been working out whatever has been muddling my mind out slowly for the past few months and am really starting to see some results. I've been obsessed with Google Calendar and various scheduling apps for my iPhone, trying to find the perfect mix to keep me on task.

Quakers, Shakers and Candlestick Makers

Winter in New England
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com

Just a quick post before I head off to bed, hopefully tucking myself in before ten tonight. I've had a touch of a cold this past week and haven't been sleeping well on top of that. I have to wear a mask when I sleep or I have eye pain and sometimes that mask comes off in my sleep and I end up with the pain again. I saw a doctor awhile back and he gave me some goop and drops and said it would be better in a week, but it wasn't. But if I wear this mask and it stays on, which it does most of the time, I don't have any problems. Something in bed just seems to irritate my right eye.

Things are pretty good here. I'm drawing and writing a lot these days. New work is being made weekly, I'm hoping to do some printing this week. Lately it has been very relaxed and simple collage work. Reading an old favorite book of mine called Wise Blood and The Screwtape Letters right now. Both dark but in very different ways. My near complete lack of reading since blee was born has been bugging me for ages now and I am finally doing something about it. And what a perfect time to grab a book and cuddle up in bed with it. Jon is a total non-fiction political/social/ economic book junkie but I think he would enjoy Wise Blood. He read The Screwtape Letters years ago. Wise Blood was one of my favorite novels when I was in high school.

Went to a Shaker village in New Hampshire on Sunday kinda spur of the moment. I needed to get out of Boston in a major way and it was too icky to go do the cliff walk in Newport, RI like we had planned. It was a quiet little trip but I think the three of us had a good time. The Shaker religious sect is a pretty interesting one. Except for their complete celibacy to the point of not even communicating with the opposite gender I can really stand behind them. It is sad that they died out, but great that there is so much that is preserved.

blee is growing tall more and more each day and eating like a little piggy. At lunch she just couldn't get enough of her baby food and the adult food that we gave her. Then on the road home she drank a full 14oz bottle of whole milk! And then for dinner she ate chicken and some blueberries. She likes fruit and meat a lot, but veggies are a struggle with her. She will do sweet potatoes and squashes and carrots if I mix them with (a lot) of applesauce but that is about it. Oh she kinda likes cucumbers.

Okay, time for bed I've rambled enough. Hope everybody had a great weekend to start off a great week. Keep warm!