When teaching this time I promised to put up a post here at the blog that involved sharing resources to materials we used in class. And then it got me thinking and talking,  in a "less is more kind of way", of course ~ about how hard it is for some people in business, even our "supportive" arts community to share, and how that really kind of and I’m just going to say it "sucks". 

And believe me, in principal I understand. Many of us have worked tirelessly, hours and even years to learn what we have learned and discover the resources and even contacts that we presently have. And to just give that amount of work away in an instant? I know, I know let me also say there are exceptions in who you choose to share with. BUT I guarantee that for every one that took you a long time to find, someone, somewhere in your life gave you one of their resources that took them years to find. So in my mind it all evens out. 

Even though it’s hard for me sometimes, as I openly admit that I have a competitive nature and strive for excellence in this life ~and I too have worked long and hard to get here, I have always been a person who shares and I’ve used this recent time in my creative journey to challenge my beliefs that there is ENOUGH FOR ALL OF US, that there is ROOM FOR ALL OF US TO SUCCEED TOGETHER. And if this is true then share, and share away. What comes around goes around. And to all of the fellow artists, employers, and friends who have shared with me Thank You!

As promised here are some resources from our book in a day class

Book Binding Tape

Book Binding Tools

Wax Linen Thread

Decorative Packaging Tape {the green one I had in class I found in person in the tape selections at  Joann’s and *Edit* October 17 ~ I did find it online here!}

Chip/Backing Board {used to make book covers}

Awl ~ the tool I cannot live with out! *Edit* added October 17 {Can’t believe I almost forgot to include the awl, my most favorite tool!}

as well as my daily painting class

Art Boards

Plywerk

Favorite Tiny Brushes and I actually use the 000, 00, 0 size which I also buy in person

Favorite Art Supply Store I shop here in person

Matte Gloss Medium to extend the life of your paint color, acts as an adhesive and as a protective coating

When leaving a comment, I ask you, if you feel inspired, to please include a resource that you think would be helpful for others and we can treat this like a big "sharing" of resources post. 

I don’t mean to turn every post of late into more food for thought, it’s just that I am in teaching mode at the moment and food for thought is what it’s about. So less thought provoking posts ahead :)

the photos above and below are courtesy of the Squam student’s work in both classes. Thank you for choosing to spend your day(s) with me and with Swirly and I as your teacher(s). As before, your creativity continues to amaze me. Brilliant you all are. Brilliant!

painting above by the lovely Michelle

You know all the simplifying I’ve been doing? Well what I am finding is that it is now impacting the way I want to communicate as well. {You think you are just moving objects out of your life, when in reality you are actually moving ways of being out of your life while making room for the new}

And the new in this case for me is "less is more".

I’ve spent a big part of the last decade learning how to tap into a life that was right for me. And I’ve spent a big part of that same last decade being incredibly emphatic about my ideas and way of living. Only natural when you feel like you begin to get the answers you’ve been searching for, your whole life. Only natural when you are passionate about a life envisioned, that is finally becoming a reality.

But what I realized just before and during my journey to Squam this time around is that I’m done. I’m done speaking emphatically about anyone or anything. And don’t get me wrong I’m not losing my passion for life and the people in it, nor my excitement for the present journey I am on that involves sharing my joy for the creative life. {Also doesn’t mean I won’t leave you in the wake of a very long blog post from time to time or a video or podcast sharing my thoughts} :)

No, I just don’t need or want to convince anyone about much of anything anymore. If anything I simply want to be more of an example of the way of living that inspires me. I want to hold myself accountable to the idea that actions speak louder than words.

So, you can see I’m not really doing a big Squam Art Workshops re-cap this time. This post will pretty much be it, except for some of the beautiful creations from my students that I plan to share with you in the next few days. And the reason for this is a) I already gushed on and on about it in June. And b) While it was different, this time was just as lovely and because c) I’m not here to convince you of how fabulous it all is. Any of it. 

Also in particular to Squam, it’s clear if you follow the blogging circle of those of us that have attended the gushing has hit an all time high. And don’t get me wrong, in many, many ways a visit to Squam embodies all the things you read about, in fact so much so that it’s just not even possible to express it in words. But I now realize that the best way for me to share my experience is to let you to make up your own mind, to go with no expectations and to stay open to what it all might be.

It’s a little like the photo above. This is one of those photos that I hadn’t planned on shooting. The light was streaming through the trees, the wind was blowing softly and you could see bits of leaves that looked like glitter traveling through the sun’s rays. I wanted to capture the glitter and instead I got this ~ and when I tried to capture another photo like this again, it wasn’t possible. 

Staying open leaves room for the unexpected. And I am beginning to realize that making these discoveries for yourself is what it’s all about. 

Still all tapped out of additional words and thoughts over here. But I couldn’t just come back and then leave again without at least wishing you a happy weekend. And sometimes, just sometimes I like to leave posts how they used to be when I started this entire blogging business to begin with. A post with just a painting and next to no words.

This one is a special sock monkeys, painted at Squam and inspired by my students in my daily painting class and the stuffed red and white striped sock monkeys I saw at the General Store in New Hampshire. You never know where inspiration will find you. The secret is to stay open enough so you can recognize it when it makes an appearance.

have a great weekend.

{the originals is sold ~ special thank you to Meghan. But I have listed these two as a print over at the shop, to join the ever-expanding sock monkey family}

I’m home now. After a precarious "almost" landing at Chicago O’Hare, and missing Sean like nobody’s business {as was evidenced by the amount of times I could "casually" work the topic of Sean into almost every conversation while I was away} ~ I’m happy to be home, safe and sound. I will add more thoughts soon. Once again words fail me in this post, as sleep fails me, because I just keep staying up too late and getting up too early. What can I say when you’re excited about life and ready to get back to work {the new session of the e-course begins this Thursday!!} sleep is low on the priority list. But tomorrow, tomorrow, I see a long nap on the horizon. Until then, "Kathleen Turner" voice it is. 

Loved seeing so many of you at Squam xoxoxo

I’m in New Hampshire again. 

I had planned on writing more here tonight but the many hours of traveling have left me a little disoriented, including the inability to complete proper and/or full sentences. But I did want to say a quick hello and goodbye for a few days as my usual conversations I have with you here, especially my lengthier ones {sheez, how long was my "choosing a simpler life" post? clearly my life is simpler but not the post to describe it :)} will be turned inward for the next week as I’m about to begin my second teaching visit with Squam Art Workshops here in New Hampshire. I’m looking forward to another  adventure,  filled with creativity, time with friends and making new ones ~ and of course long conversations that go into the wee hours of the night ~ which are already beginning, which also means as I look at the time, that I must go to sleep right this instant.  

If I can I’ll pop in and say hello, and if not you’ll know where I am and I’ll catch you on the other side. In fact some of you I will get to meet for the very first time! {to my Nirvana girls, I’m thinking of you!} have a lovely, lovely week. still keeping it simple over here! {loved hearing your stories about how you too are simplifying} xo

Let me re-phrase that if Garbo had a man her wish would be that he serenade her with this song. Then again, she’s a cat. She’s pretty independent and she probably doesn’t need a man. Let’s just say her name suits her.

For those of you who have cats, maybe you understand. Moments where Garbo will calmly sit in my lap like this are few and far between, so I cherish them when I get them :) 

I was just having a creative thursday evening, working away on a new project at my desk, listening to iTunes shuffle when Garbo came over for a visit while this song was playing.  I snatched her up and on day 15 of the video blogging, Garbo joins me in a silent, "song moment", courtesy of  Lenny Kravitz and his song "More than Anything in this World".

{Then again this video could be one of those "proud parent" moments, one where only I will appreciate it. If so you might just have to humor me!}

You could call this my newest obsession. 

Although it’s not really new. In fact I think I’ve had several of these books you see pictured in this post, close to ten years now. What’s new about it is how this time, the concept of living a simple life is resonating so profoundly. After years of making attempts to put this kind of living into practice, it’s here to stay. Maybe it’s the many attempts of doing it other ways, only to find myself frustrated and out of balance once again, that I am finally, finally understanding what it means to have consistent balance and peace in my life.  And I’m going to tell you it’s not how the majority expects you to do things. But somehow these authors caught wind of this kind of living over a decade ago. They had the foresight to see where things were headed, the exact place we landed this year. For many of us, at least in this country, the "recession" has brought profound, albeit forced, reflection in the way we live; from everything to how we treat this planet to how we treat ourselves and others, to how we want to live going forward from here.

This is the post I referred to in my last video. I want to let you in on where I’ve "been" the last six weeks or so. I know I’ve still been here, but not quite in the way I usually am ~ because for the one of the first times in the past five years, since Creative Thursday truly began, I’ve been turning my attention back to my personal life. And I’ve been immersed among the concepts in each one of these books.

It all started with a much needed re-organizing and re-hauling of my studio this summer. Well actually it all started, as you may remember, in January 2008 and then as often happens as a self-employed person or just any kind of person at all projects get going, life gets going and before you know it months have passed by and you never fully finished the end of "your re-organizing your life" list. 

The re-organizing of my studio, led to a re-organizing of all my books which led to me opening up Elaine St. Jame’s book "Living a Simple Life". I blame Elaine. And that was it. What do they say the definition of inertia is "the tendency of an object in motion to remain in motion". I’m beyond motion now. In fact I think I’m way down the rabbit hole. Care to join me for a moment? Read on.

If I leave with you anything from this post, it’s that  taking the time to  re-organize your life is highly underrated. This includes seriously de-cluttering and simplifying your life too.

If you don’t already know this about me I’ve managed to move almost every 2 years, my entire adult life. Due to this mostly unplanned pattern in my life, setting up, keeping and clearing house has become relatively easy for me. And well, we’re about at the 2 mark point in this house so I probably should’ve seen this coming. Although we’re not moving...yet...we did decide that we want to be "lighter" going forward, free to make the choices we want, unencumbered by disorganization, too much stuff and unfinished business. Even with all my ease around this kind of change, this time, clearing house has been taken to a whole new level.

Here’s what "re-organizing my life" has been for me this time around. Did I already mention? It has been immense. And since this blog is also my personal record, one of the few that’s left seeing has how I’ve eliminated almost all of the rest, I am sharing this list as my record, so I can remember where weeks of my life went in 2009. These past weeks have included organizing and clearing out photos of my entire life, that’s right entire life, transferring every home video taken in my life, courtesy of my father and my wedding videographer, to dvds, that’s right every video, going through subsequent stacks, 3 years deep of favorite magazine subscriptions, reviewing every book I own, clearing out every cupboard, drawer, closet, room in our home, down to every toolbox in the garage. Oh and cleaning windows. We’ve also had a yard sale, {always "fun"} taken 4 carloads to Goodwill, had one truck pick-up from Salvation Army and countless bags have gone in the trash bin and, for those of you who are green, I’m happy to say the majority have gone in the recycling bin. I’d like to say that was it, but the funny thing is once you start you can’t stop. As Sean was saying, it’s like you get rid of something only to find something else underneath it. Eventually, {soon}, it will stop for now, and as I write this I’m celebrating the official end to the first round. Because you should know if you attempt this yourself, that once you start letting go you may become a little obsessed. Suddenly something you couldn’t part with yesterday, you can’t get out of your life fast enough today.

I’ve been here before, but something about this time is sticking in a way that it never has before. And all I know is I’ve never felt better.

And that’s just the moving objects around. I haven’t even gotten to the other part that pertains to re-evaluating everything in your life ~ a common occurrence in our family, but this time we’re also taking it to new levels. All of these authors confirm that this is the by product of getting your life in order, even as it pertains to your "stuff". You are "getting your life in order". One of the reasons we all procrastinate on these types of clearing out sessions is because you will have to look at things. You will have to feel things that maybe you’ve been afraid to feel. I mean hey, it’s bound to happen when you sort through a lifetime’s worth of photos? But you know what I’ve found this time around, it’s not really as scary as you think it is. You might actually find it more cathartic and and peaceful than you had imagined, reviewing your life, accepting and letting go of your past while moving forward in who you are today. 

We’ve also been re-evaluating relationships in our life, and I say we in this entire story, because thankfully Sean has been enthusiastically joining in on this journey with me, including letting go of 20 years of journals he has kept, that’s right 20 years of a life record. Talk about letting go of your past. We’ve been setting more boundaries. We’ve been raising the bar on what it means to be a friend and partner as well as raising the bar on the kinds of friends we want to have. We’ve been taking less crap from people, that’s right, I said less crap. Human beings can dump a lot of mental "garbage" {that spills out from their personal baggage}, on one another as well, and well we’ve had enough and I’m talking to you, my next door neighbor. We’ve been saying "no" more. And we’ve been taking time for us in the very way that feels best to us as a family. 

So what’s this have to do with you? I like to ask and answer that question these days whenever I get up on my blog soapbox, because I always wonder if my readers are thinking "so what’s she going on about now and what’s this have to do with creativity or me exactly?" While you are not a belonging from my past and probably not one of my close personal friends, if you visit here regularly you are part of another world I’ve been re-evaluating. The part that wants to look at just how much of my life and time is going towards the computer, mainly emailing, blogging, tweeting, flickr and last but not least facebooking. Is that everything? *sigh* How and when did it get this busy online? To be honest I’m not sure yet how these changes will play out in my online world {Although now it’s probably becoming clear to you just where the sentiment in my last post came from ~ which I’m happy to know made a difference for so many of you right when you needed it, just as I needed it.} As you know I like to keep those of you who graciously visit me here often in the loop. Most likely these are changes that won’t affect you at all. In fact any new changes will probably be positive. Because I know the difference in the way I presently feel will allow me to show up here with more clarity, focus, and sincerity.

Besides that, I want to share this with you because I highly, highly recommend doing this in your life whenever you feel ready. If you’ve been a long time follower of this blog then you have certainly seen me dance this dance on numerous occasions via certain posts and podcasts. And I have to say that one of the number one questions I get from my e-course students is "how does one balance it all"? Yes, "how does one balance it all"? One doesn’t. One can’t. One, meaning you, me, everyone must make choices about what’s most important to them and you can’t figure out what’s most important to you and your loved one’s lives if your too busy "balancing it all". 

This is the part of my blog "soapbox" where I step down for a moment and say: Please note, as the teachers and authors I am drawn to these days, continuously emphasize in their teachings ~ make these changes in your life, if and only if it feels right for you. 

And speaking of teachers I have to tell you that my experience teaching both in person and online has been a huge influence in this movement for me. This is because I have refused to teach until I could walk the walk I’m talking about and it hasn’t been until this past year that I’ve felt ready. What I realized in the same way momentum has struck in my personal life, momentum struck with the teaching. With every class, especially in my e-course I have asked more of myself. I don’t think I ever realized just how much a teacher learns from their students. My students inspire me. They inspire me to ask more of myself, to step confidently and joyously into the life I am most wanting to live, into the life and creative career I am now teaching ~ which for the record, let me just say if I wasn’t doing this, I shouldn’t be teaching it. To my students, thank you.

I decided to share this story because again, the impact has been profound and the repercussions to these choices are only just beginning. In many ways Sean and I both are completely out of our comfort zone and yet we both feel so at home in our new commitment to this type of living. So to those of you who know us personally, you’ll know where we’ve been, and where we’re headed from here on out. We’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like to really live a life on our terms regardless of circumstance, a life that includes more peace and contentment right where we stand. This time of relentless sorting has provided such clarity. Let’s just say things have gotten as crystal clear as my newly cleaned window panes. So really, no big declarations here, just making a commitment to living a simpler life.

Links to the books that have inspired my simpler life and yes, each of Elaine’s books that I’ve listed offers new concepts and ideas.

Living the Simple Life

Inner Simplicity

Simplify your Work Life

Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui

Repeat as often as is necessary.

And I’m not just saying that because I live with him.