6 x 6 in.

The first ever Creative Thursday moose ;) and her trusted confidants.

{click here to buy original}

This is for Laurie! Finally! finally I’m following through on my promise to post this recipe.

Every time I make this bread, I’m reminded how good it is and how I want to make it more often, then I remember that it takes a day ahead of planning, and then I remember that I like to procrastinate, but then wait! I remember that I’m super organized and I don’t procrastinate anymore ;)

Here is the recipe passed on to me by Sean’s step mom from an article in Cook’s Illustrated. Notes from me are italicized.

An enameled cast-iron Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid yields best results, but the recipe also works in a regular cast-iron Dutch oven or heavy stockpot. Use mild-flavored lager, such as Budweiser {mild non-alcoholic lager also works}. The bread is best eaten the day it is baked but can be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a cool, dry place for up to 2 to 3 days. {this bread also freezes well and is good defrosted + toasted}

• 3 cups (15 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting work surface
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast {the yeast is key here. look for 'rapid rise'}
• 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt {i always use sea salt, because that’s what I cook with}
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water (7 ounces) at room temperature
• 1/4 cup plust 2 tablespoons (3 ounces) mild-flavored lager {fun to finish the beer while mixing the dough}
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar {i was out and used apple cider vinegar this time, worked fine}

1. Whisk flour, yeast and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
2. Lay 12 by 18 inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.
3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6 to 8 quart heavy bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6 inch long 1/2 inch deep slit along the top of dough.  Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot  (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. {and enjoy!}

There are variations to this recipe that I have not yet tried, like adding olives, rosemary and parmesan, or making a whole wheat loaf, or adding cranberries and pecans.

Oh and one of my favorite reasons to make this bread, using my green dutch oven that I love. I bought it just for baking this bread and now I use it every chance I get. As a creative it matters to me to have pretty, colorful cooking pots and utensils. I find that pretty things inspire me and they really add to the whole cooking/baking experience.

Anyone inspired to make some bread this weekend? I think I’m going to have another slice right now...

There are those in the world that are willing to be first. They believe in something when others 'wait and see'

The group that has joined us on our newly re-opened Creative Coconuts 'island in the middle of the internet' were willing to be first.

Such a wonderful group of people, I can’t help but share a sampling of some of the coconuts, their lovely spirits and gorgeous work with you.

thank you to the coconuts, past and present, for believing in our new venture.

from left right

• Jane Davenport
• Faith Evans-Sills
• Sarah Stevenson
• Andi Dargin
• Belinda Fireman
• Suzy Enyon
• Niki Jackson
• Mairi MikaMika Alexopoulou
• Monica Soeldner
• Stacie Spencer
• Anne Weill
• Kristen Walker
• Stephey Baker
• Beki Lambert
• Denice Brown

In the thick of deadlines over here for some exciting projects. Was having a nice day designing and creating when this afternoon a lot of stressors presented themselves or as I tweeted "the shit hit the fan". Good thing I’m so organized these days... I can handle it, well sort of...

Truth be told, 5 weeks later,  I think I’m still recovering. Just don’t have my usual stamina to deal with stress. *sigh* But now I’ve had some dinner, some really delicious dark chocolate and all I need now is a good night’s sleep and I’m thinking tomorrow will be looking much better.

And hey! there are magnets in the shop!

Always thinking about ways to expand the Creative Thursday collection. I’ll be honest and say that I was hesitant to add magnets to the shop...then I recently bought one from a fellow artist...and now I am kind of, seriously loving them. So I decided to try six of my designs in this format, just for fun, and I’m really pleased with how they turned out.

I’m not sure yet if I will stock them, so for now there are only 3 of each design. You can find them all right here.

6 x 6 in.

There has been a lot of talk online about how we live with the tragedies experienced by Japan last week. Liz wrote a great post here.

Do we mourn, do we go on with our daily lives? Do we do both? 

The world is so much smaller than it used to be. We learn of the world’s tragedies in an instant and our hearts immediately go to those in need. We recognize that we are all in this together.

However as I mentioned before, I often feel helpless when an event like the earthquake and Tsunami’s of Japan happen so far away. What can I do to help? 

What I do know after my experience last month is that prayer and sending good thoughts do make a difference. I also know that I am best able to help someone when I feel happy, not when I am sad and mourning loss. This means that the way I have coped with the events of the past week, because we also received news that one of our kitties, Riley, is terminally ill,  is by appreciating all that I do have, and by focusing on activities that bring me joy. Believe it or not, all the organizing was one of those activities. And as you know, the other is painting.

I’m always so moved by the ways in which the hand made community in particular offer support during times like these. I would like to help too.

I loved painting this piece. I felt better and I sent good thoughts to anyone out there who might need it today, especially in Japan. I am also donating 30% of the sale of this painting to the Red Cross. I will be listing it as a limited edition print in my Etsy shop as well, with 15% of each sale of the print also going to the Red Cross.

{original is sold}

Do you even want to live an organized live? That is the question.

Clearly I do want to live an organized life. In fact I highly recommend it. However it’s very likely that you will listen to this and either think that I’m slightly crazy and/or highly ambitious to attempt this experiment. Either way, it was totally worth it ~ an achievement for me, being 98% organized with everything on my entire, 'master' list in one day. It will be interesting how much of this organization I can maintain, with no stress *ahem*. If I find a  fun way with minimal effort to stay organized, I’ll come back and share some tips with you.  The one tip I leave you with, is if you can 'do it right away'. Life starts to pile when you put it off 'until later'.

Click above to listen. This episode runs approximately 1 hr. 9 minutes. {I never said organizing was speedy}

click here to download MP3
Download Instructions
Mac Users option click and Windows users right click on link above to download the file.

Links related to this podcast:

Martha Stewart Living

Today Show

Marc Maron

WTFpod

Netflix 

The Creative Coconuts

Why I left Facebook

Oprah Magazine

Real Simple Magazine

My attempt at Digital Organizing

Choosing a Simpler Life

*Note* one should start organizing the day after St. Patty’s Day. Today just have fun, be creative and if you like a black and tan, have one of those immediately!

I’ve decided to do it!

You know the days when you could just use some insight, support, inspiration, perspective and guidance from someone who has stood exactly where you are?

After several requests for one on one consulting, I am now offering one hour consults by phone. A creative booster, if you will. What do you want to talk about?

• Jumpstarting your Creativity, personally and/or professionally
• Pursuing Creativity as a Career
• Licensing from Cards to Fabric
• Your Etsy Shop
• Working with Galleries
• Art Shows
• Podcasting
• Blogging
• Social Media
• Teaching Online
• Branding
• Marketing
• Balance

As you may know if you taken classes with me before, my intent is always to encourage you to follow your own guidance ~ so an hour should be all we need to get you focused and inspired. Since I work full time as an artist, I will be starting small with the consulting and see where it takes us. Ok, then! Here we go. I am now opening a space for 5 people to consult with for a Creative Hour. Please email me  for pricing and questions marisa{at}creativethursday{dot}com

https://vimeo.com/21072960

I did it!!!!!!!!!!

6 x 6 in.

So, I made my usual trip to a local farmer’s market today, and this Sunday I decided to stop by the little petting zoo/pony rides that they set up at the market every so often.

I watched all the animals crowd around the green hey they were having for breakfast, you know before they went 'on'. It’s like they were getting ready for their performance/socializing time. Having a little breakfast, getting a drink of water, taking out any pent up aggression {that would be the one goat who had horns accompanied by an intense need to be the only one eating the hey} And by animals, I mean sheep, lambs, goats, chickens, ducks, one little pig and bunnies! You know I’m all about the bunnies these days...it must be the 'year of the rabbit' influencing me. 

Seriously, I loved watching all of them interact.  I could’ve stood their for hours. Seeing as how animals are often the main subject of my work, I also could’ve painted at least ten paintings inspired by what I observed, one of which was this tiny white bunny that had to be very cautious not to get caught up in the shenanigans and very often ended up sitting towards the edge of the pen to get a little sunshine. 

Out of all the photos I tried taking with the Iphone {animals are so hard to photograph when they are moving around, which is almost constantly- why don’t they know how to pose?} this bunny was my favorite. I posted it to my Instamatic stream and someone commented that it was a 'lucky rabbit' and I thought maybe so? The painting is my afternoon expression of the photo I took this morning.

On a side note: check out this awesome kickstarter project that needs funding before March 22. Here’s a chance to help encourage more creativity around the world, "Voces de Cambio"

{click here to buy original}

 hey, who’s in my egg? 

which came first the chick or the bunny?

which came first the bunny or the egg?

There’s a lot of intensity happening in the world today. Honestly times like these can make me feel so helpless, but then I remember that one thing I can do, with a blog like this, is put a little bit of joy into the world the best way I know how ~with a bunny and a chick of course. One of my first attempts at story telling through a series of paintings. Each one is 3 x 3 inches.

Hope these bring you a smile. They had me cracking up when I was painting them last night.

love. sending lots of love to the world, especially Japan.

{click here to buy originals}

I don’t know why it has taken me so long to add fabric to my shop? I think that artists who are used to selling their work primarily as originals and prints, have to feel ready to release their art in this kind of format.

As I said in my marketing email that I sent out earlier this morning, it makes sense really that someone as passionate as I am about encouraging others to be creative would design a product that people can be creative with. 

Now it’s here! Just a taste of what’s to come. These first four designs I have added to the shop are digitally printed by Spoonflower and will be sold exclusively in my online shop. My official fabric line that will be manufactured with Andover is also underway and is set to be released in late spring of this year. 

Cannot wait to see what you all will be creating!

happy creative thursday!

I made a pillow today! The first one with my own fabric designs on it. These are not even the designs that I am working on with Andover that will be released in the Spring. These I had printed through Spoonflower and...I may finally be ready to list some for purchase in my Etsy shop?!

Oh boy- am thinking that this fabric designing business is just the beginning of something. All I know is I sure am enjoying this whole sewing 'thing'. I want to learn more, more and more.

It’s a Sewing Monday over here. I promised myself a creative day away from the internet as much as possible, so I will keep this brief. 

If you remember I was quilting for the first time during my visit with Lizzy. I also promised I would share with you the final result of my first quilting/patchwork attempt: Viola the Cat. Comprised of mostly Lizzy House fabric from her Red Letter Day collection, oh and a little Lizzy Dish, {am enamored with her fabric}, a hand embroidered face on felt and my first ever hand made button. I did not know there was a little contraption to help you make those. Um, Hello! I see button making in my future.

And quilting, well not the precise kind, but more of the spontaneous kind is in not only in my future, bu it is in my right this very minute.

back to the sewing machine...

Something pretty - something different. No characters, just flowers. A new series of fourteen mixed media originals.

I think with everything I’ve been through the last couple of weeks, I’ve just needed to be surrounded by something pretty. 

It’s no secret that I’m slightly obsessed with taking Iphone photos. It’s also no secret that I love flowers. Combine the two with my other love painting, and here you go.

There is something about nature, flowers in particular that I can stare at for hours, so calming and soothing. And the colors are incredible. I’m one of those people who always makes it a point to have fresh flowers in our home. They never last as long as I’d like them to, so I think I took all of these shots over the last year so I could make them last forever. 

Hope you enjoy them.

Oh and if you are needing inspiration this weekend, which at this moment I think I am needing, and you are here in L.A. check out one of my favorite authors Tama Kieves who will be speaking on one of my favorite subjects "Unleashing Your Calling - Creating the Work and Life You love". When I was first starting out in this journey and did not know how any of this would come together, it was Tama’s book, "This Time I Dance", that gave me hope and brought me comfort during some of  the most challenging times of building this business. I highly, highly recommend it.

{click here to purchase}

Flowers are a pleasing image to go with talk about recovery and fibroids? yes? What image does one choose when discussing fibroids? These awesome gladiolas, just about to bloom, were given to me by Seanie. *bless him*

*whew* here I am! back at the blog. I’m going to be honest and say that there was a moment there over the last ten days when I thought about leaving the blog all together, because tweeting to communicate is just so much easier and far less time consuming...especially when you are about to write a post like this one.

Probably, really, I was and still am tired after having my body invaded and also I’ve been avoiding this post.

Why? because I’m private and modest {not to be confused with prudish} and there’s really no way around coming back to this blog without sharing at least some of what I went through with you. 

And why would that be? Because I’m all high and mighty on my soapbox about being genuine, and I believe that a certain level of honesty these days helps us feel more connected and less alone.  I really got that when I wrote my last post about 'approaching possible surgery'. You have no idea how much comfort it brought me to not only hear from you, but to know that so many of you understood exactly what I was going through. When facing a scary, uncomfortable life situation, knowing you are not alone = priceless.

So this is the part of this post where I will say to any of my male readers if you are squeamish about 'lady things', and female readers if you’re squeamish about your bodies, you can just stop reading here.

Actually I want to take a moment and talk about the squeamish females among us ~ of which I am one, until recently that is. Since we are living in a more transparent world, I think it’s really a shame that many of us have limited knowledge about and appreciation for the absolute brilliance that is our body. Knowledge is power, when you are ready to know, which is key. With the internet, there can be too much knowledge, and more specifically the scary kind. Which as I’m sure you already know that is not my style so hopefully this post won’t be scary but more informative. Not to worry, I’m not getting into all the nitty gritty details. I’m still private at heart, but I’m going to be as specific as I can be so that those of you who might be dealing with something similar can get the help you need.

A five centimeter fibroid was removed from my uterus - can I hear a hallelujah {without abdominal surgery!!!} My understanding, since my knowledge and awareness of fibroids and their removal has only recently become commonplace in my world, this is quite a feat for a doctor to accomplish.

The stress was in the uncertainty of it all. As  I mentioned in my last post, I did not know what outcome I would wake up with. Naturally I felt immense relief waking up with no fibroid and a trip home that same day. Not only for the recovery time involved but the cost. The cost is more than double if you have full on surgery and have to stay in a hospital overnight. And I do have insurance. Believe me, my experience with the expenses + insurance is a whole separate post that I would also like to talk to share with you one of these days.

Here’s the thing- apparently a lot of women have fibroids, or have had them or are living them with them right now and don’t even know about them. What is up with that?! I wonder? Really I do. I did not know I had one. I had no crazy cramping and I didn’t think my period was unusually heavier than it had been. It was discovered by my doctor while researching other complications, yet another separate blog post topic. My doctor says that they kind of sneak up on us. This one I had may have been growing anywhere from 3 - 5 years. Yup, I’ve not only been growing a blog and a business but I’ve been growing a fibroid too. Makes me wonder, do you think stress influences the growth of a fibroid...

Also if you have a fibroid, you can be anemic. Fibroids basically hijack your blood supply to survive and whether you notice it or not, you do bleed more during your period. I have now been diagnosed with anemia and am taking iron supplements to get my blood back to normal. Probably the reason why I seemed to get plenty of rest and yet, still felt tired most of the time. 

I hope I haven’t scared you so far, because this is not anything to fear. Fibroids are 99.9% not cancerous and many people do live with them. But it’s good to know if you have one, and it’s good to know that  removing them while leaving your uterus in tact has become more routine. That’s why it’s so important that we women really understand our bodies. Turning the other way because we are embarrassed or squeamish or don’t like doctors or whatever, doesn’t really help us in helping our bodies do the job they are so magnificently designed to do ~ stay healthy and balanced.

Also let me make note here: I am a huge advocate for alternative healing, specifically acupuncture. But there are times when the resources we have through western medicine are needed and for me personally this was one of those times. 

I also loathe taking medicine which is most likely why my body had a total freak out the night before my procedure. For those of you who might be facing something similar, just know that the day before might be a little harder than the day of. And if you go under anesthesia, the days following are also harder than the day of. Pain meds work wonders except in my case on the night before my procedure...yup, part of the process is putting your body into false labor. That’s right the day before my surgery I was having forced contractions. Lovely. This is to open your cervix so that a telescope can be inserted to do the procedure internally without causing damage. Believe me, even after that hellacious night of forced contractions, I will take it any day over having abdominal surgery. It was quite honestly one of the worst nights of my life. Not every person will react the same, so do not let me make you think that my experience will be your experience. Just be prepared either way and know that you will be alright. Also I didn’t realize until it was too late that I was supposed to take a nausea med at the same time that I took my pain med, one hour pre-the onset of contractions. Without going into any more detail, let’s just say I have way more compassion and respect for all mothers who have experienced intense morning sickness and/or severe labor pains. *yikes* you ladies are brave.

I also have way more compassion for anyone who has been severely ill,  had surgery,  gone under anesthesia, who has had to lay there in that sad excuse for clothing that they call a hospital gown, all alone on a gurney while hospital attendants 'not so gently' wheel you into an operating room.

Recovering form the night I had + the procedure + anesthesia is no walk in the park. On one hand I think it’s good not to know too much before you go into all of this. On the other hand I kind of wish someone would’ve prepared me, just a little. Because what I learned through this whole experience is that when you take fear out of the equation and relax into what’s happening with your body, knowing that it’s all part of the process, the physical discomfort lessens significantly. Stress only exacerbates pain. I want to say a special thank you to Megan who left a comment for me telling me exactly what she went through recovering from anesthesia. I read her comment on day 2 of feeling totally out of it and felt much better just to know that what I was experiencing was normal.

Thankfully I think we forget pain pretty quickly right? Otherwise I don’t think women would knowingly have more than one child. 

Ten days later, aside from feeling very much like I just want to be home and quiet {not including twitter where I’ve been chatting up a storm} I feel almost 100% normal. Oh, and to help the lining of my uterus heal I am on hormones temporarily, so I am also easily agitated, cranky and definitely have crazy weird cravings from Louisiana hot sauce to malted milk. *poor Sean* let’s just say that I’m not a the biggest joy to live with presently.

But I’m alright, and I have my moments of utter appreciation and bliss for making it out of all of this with relative ease. I learned a lot and have come out stronger and braver and as I mentioned before way more empathetic. I have also learned that rest is good, trying to cram it all in is just too stressful. Also, I think I’m going to try and adopt the gentle pace I’ve needed to get better into my regular routine. I wonder if the fine, hurried folks of Los Angeles will understand?

What I also wanted to share with you again is how much hearing from so many of you was such a great comfort to me. There was a moment when I was all by myself on that gurney waiting to be wheeled into surgery when I thought of everyone and all the good thoughts you had sent my way. I know it made a difference. Can’t thank you enough for all the love xo

I hope me sharing this did not freak you out, and better yet brings some comfort to anyone who might be in the same shoes as me. All in all it wasn’t so bad. I am not a good sickie, who is really? I don’t think I have a very high tolerance for pain. I am a bit of a baby when it comes to all of this, so my story may be a little bit dramatized ~ although...there were some tough moments. My doctor{s} have been awesome. The hospital staff was very kind. I am on the other side.

So how about we get back to pretty art, cute characters and creativity over here? Speaking of pretty art, I started a whole new series, in a different medium that I am really excited about. Hint, it has a little something to do with the Iphone...