Eric Maisel, prolific writer and creativity coach extraordinaire, has launched a new creativity resource with his wife, Ann Maisel.

Think­ing about writ­ing a mys­tery? Need to raise money to pro­duce your album? Need help as a begin­ning cos­tume designer? Want to give more pow­er­ful audi­tions? Look­ing for inspi­ra­tion as a tex­tile artist?

You’ve come to the right place!

My name is Eric Maisel and I’ve invited cre­ative and per­form­ing artists from around the world to share their expe­ri­ences and their exper­tise with you—for free. Our World Salon is a world­wide com­mu­nity of cre­ative indi­vid­u­als from all walks of life who are look­ing for com­mu­nity, resources, and a place to feel heard and under­stood. We hope that the World Salon will become that place.

Our fea­tures include a library of Ten Tip pdfs that you can down­load imme­di­ately, read, and use. And we’ll be adding more all the time! We have a fea­ture called World­wide Per­spec­tives where more than a hun­dred cre­ative and per­form­ing artists from around the world share their expe­ri­ences in “Let­ter From” columns (for exam­ple, “Let­ter from Los Ange­les,” “Let­ter from Lon­don,” and “Let­ter from Berlin”). We have other fea­tures, too, like an artist’s voice fea­ture, links to great arti­cles, a coach’s cor­ner, a philosopher’s corner—please look around!

I hope that you’ll want to con­tribute to our com­mu­nity. Many of our fea­tures are open to you. Look around, see what inter­ests you, and join our world­wide com­mu­nity of contributors!

Please enjoy your visit.

Check it out!

The other morning, I brought the corn husk materials from last night’s dinner out to my compost pile. I perused the pickings around the peas. I popped one pod in my mouth. I’ll let the others linger and grow another day or so. I strolled by my little swiss chard piece of a plot in front of the okra, and was struck with an idea for breakfast. I picked a few leaves thinking of combining them with eggs, and considered what else to add as I reentered the house.

Last week’s storms broke Grandma’s hanging tomato plant. The remaining tomatoes are ripening on our kitchen counter.

I chopped some garlic as I started to scramble the eggs. I gave the swiss chard a few licks with the knife and tossed those in. I took a small tomato from the opposite counter and did the same — a little salt and pepper later, and voila!

Garden-fresh swiss chard and tomato scramble, from garden to plate.

This is why I love to garden. Everything you grow yourself inspires and tastes better, from plant to table in 10 minutes.

Crossposted from musings in mayhem.

My girl set this display on her art table and asked, “Mom can I have some paint?”

And she began to paint…

The results…

This also gave Mama a chance to work on some new things…

What’s inspiring you (lately)…?

It’s all around.

I took these photographs at one of our local garden centers.
Bright colorful garden pots.
Big bold color.

My kind of place.

Discover your world.
Walk around your neighborhood.

And discover something NEW.

Are you looking to infuse your life and your world with more color? Check out my self-paced e-course COLOR YOUR WORLD here. Classroom opens April 1st!

XOXO

I have a stack of journals in which I have collected ideas. There are about 6 of them. There is no rhyme or reason to them. Pretty little journals with random thoughts and dreams and ideas. This collection began to wear on me about the same time that I committed to writing out my business plan for the Creative Business marathon. How will I ever find the time to look through these? What am I missing out on? Do I keep re-inventing the wheel of my creativity without realizing it?

I have this same awful habit when it comes to pictures as well. Files and files of pictures on my computer. Random files simply listed by date. No wonder I feel so scattered all the time. No wonder I can’t seem to think my way clear to a concise plan. I have these stacks of randomness. Until this weekend…I looked through the pages of the journals. And guess what I found?  Most of them are only halfway full. AND most of the ideas I am ALREADY IMPLEMENTING. And the pictures? Well that was not as clean and tidy. In fact, that took hours.  LOTS AND LOTS of hours. But that too is complete.

I feel CLEANSED and ready for my NEXT STEPS…

[photo credit]

It wasn’t the teaching part that concerned me. Heck, I’ve been teaching for 20 years, and I know I truly am a gifted teacher. I feel confident in that. But having never had any formal art training myself, I really didn’t think I was a candidate to teach art techniques to adults. To kids, sure! But to grown women (and maybe even men), most of whom are probably artists themselves? This is a bridge I’ve never crossed. I’ve seen all those awesome videos artist/teachers create to demonstrate their techniques. And I have no clue how to make a video. I can “take” a video with my camera, but what to do with it after that? Clueless! So there are no videos in my little class. What there are, however, are tons of photographs and witty commentary demonstrating the techniques step-by-step. And the most awesome thing about it? It’s not just Kelly teaching the class; it’s Kelly, Sarah, and Olivia teaching the class together. My contribution to the 21 Secrets Art Journal Playground is wrapped around creating art journals with your kids, using the things they say as prompts. My class is called “The Things They Say,” and the girls and I had a ball creating the samples we demonstrate in the class.

Another awesome point about this class is Connie’s generosity towards the contributing artists. She’s set up an affiliate program to allow us to reap some financial rewards for our contributions. Each artist has a special link, so for me, click here and you’ll be taken to my personal registration page. The girls and I would love some of the Studio Mothers community to join us! Registration opened September 20, and the class itself starts October 1.

1. my new printer won’t communicate with my computer, so I can’t print out the edits I did at writing group to read and redline a bit more by pages in hand.

2. you come to me in fits and starts while occupying half my concentration all the time.

…you make me do cartwheels, figuratively speaking, of course:

1. I love a new idea, it makes my heart race and my arms want to write or type in that very moment to the exclusion of all else. I get that tingly feeling like a teen falling in love.

2. I love rewriting, reworking, getting it right.

3. (Please let there be a 3 so the positive side can win today.) That netherworld feeling of one foot here, in the house with the kids and the laundry, and one foot there, in my imagination with my character and his family and friends and dog. This week has been hovering around 100 degrees outside and in my manuscript, it’s Thanksgiving in New England — bare trees, the beginnings of snow, nose reddening winds.

Ah, thank you writing, for the cool, cool breeze!

[Crossposted from musings in mayhem]

Yesterday I had one of those rare creative spells in which, no matter the interruptions, I wrote steadily over the course of about 6 hours on the new idea.

I’m really enjoying it. That spark was what was missing in the edit draft two stage of the manuscript. I mean, I enjoy making the improvements, but it’s a slow road.

But having something else to be excited about is just plain fun.

So I will continue to edit when I have good uninterrupted chunks of time, as in when my writing group meets. But in the meantime, I’m going to have fun over here on this little idea in all the little moments I have between the usual family business.

Making stuff up is so much easier than fixing what I already have. And it’s fun. I feel like a kid with a kite. It’s time to fly.

After my prior whiney blog share, I felt compelled to crosspost from musings in mayhem something more positive on writing that happened shortly after.

Lately, ideas flow furiously as I move through my day. The momentum is to a degree that I have never experienced before. Ideas come in the middle of the night as well. I am no longer making the dreadful mistake of thinking I will remember them in the morning — I NEVER DO! In the past, I would have an idea and I would wake literally every hour and rehearse the idea in my head convinced that this time I would retain the inspired thought only to wake up with NOTHING. And then of course, the constant awareness of the thought throughout the night would play so vividly, that restlessness would creep in. But I digress…

The biggest fear in all this productive yumminess is that the flow will end. I admit my pessimist’s attitude when it comes to the idea of a writer being able to make a living from her craft — surely one would run out of ideas after awhile. So, rather than enjoy the bounty of material for as long as it lasts, I calculate the endgame, challenging whether or not this is the most practical use of my time given the length of time a windfall like this could possibly last.

These thoughts are hilarious given my state of life at this moment. I am a stay-at-home mom of a toddler. I am a type A, multitasking, yoga-practicing woman who has incredible amounts of energy. I have about 10 books I am in the process of reading. Three “books” are in various writing stages. I crochet to relieve stress. I am dabbling in homeschooling. I started a six week e-course this week. I run an etsy shop. Oh, and the e-course is about DREAMING BIGGER. Yeah, lack of ideas is not really my issue; it is focus.

What about you? Where does your writing anxiety stem from?

[photo credit]

The second memory was far more fun. I think I was about 13, so Kim would have been 3. Mom was trying to take me to school and Kim to Nana’s for the day so she could go to work, but the Pinto wouldn’t start. She got out of the car, beyond frustrated, and Kim and I followed. She kicked the car and said, and I remember this soooo clearly, “This f*#%ing car isn’t worth a s*^t!” Kim looked at Mom and then kicked the car and repeated word for word what she said. That was the first and last time I ever heard my mother cuss.

Isn’t it interesting what memories stick with us? I honestly don’t have a lot of early childhood memories; I wish I did. Most of the memories I do have revolve around my Nana since I spent so much time with her, like the time we visited Aunt Livy and Uncle Wilbur in Key West when I was 7 or 8 and Nana discovered that I was a sleepwalker. I went to the mall that night, sitting on the end of the bed pretending to drive and then walking down the hallway to Sears, Nana told me. (I still sleepwalk and now tend to move furniture and groceries in my sleep, go figure.) I also learned how to play penny ante poker that week. My Nana and Aunt Livy were card sharks, and I still love to play poker today. DH is a very sore loser and says Aunt Livy and I cheat. And at 88, she just grins at him and hands me a card under the table…naw….just kidding…sort of.

Before my parents divorced, Mom worked all day as a nurse, and Dad often worked two jobs, one of which was at Sears selling appliances. I know they did their best, and I’m thankful for the determination and independence they created in me. I want to create determination and independence in my girls as well, and I’m hopeful that I’m also creating lots of memories for them. I want them to remember these days. Maybe that’s one of the benefits of blogging; hopefully they’ll be able to go back and read these stories and they’ll spark memories.

Right now, the girls and I are taking an online class together called Mermaid Warriors. It’s with McCabe Russell, and we’re loving it. McCabe works with young girls using art to help build self-esteem, and she’s taking us through her class with wonderful videos and a discussion blog. One of the things I want to do with the Purple Cottage is mother/daughter art retreats combined with lessons in self-knowledge, self-esteem and good citizenship, and when I stumbled across McCabe’s blog and class that teaches you how to do just that, I knew the Universe was speaking to me! (I’m slowly learning to listen to her.)

This weekend, the girls had a friend sleep over and we created our first Mermaid Warrior project together, these fun little journals out of scrapbook paper and ribbon. We had so much fun! DH even pitched in where we’d let him. It was a girls-only event after all. I took some video of the girls creating their books and talking about what they wrote in them. If I can ever figure out how to create a movie, I’ll share it with you (anyone point me to a good tutorial?). They’ve since continued to write in them and add stickers and drawings. They even created journals for their primary teacher and their art teacher and are so proud of their work. I know we’re on to something here. More Mermaid Warrior projects coming. Don’t you just love that name? Perfect for us, don’t you think?

Cross-posted from my personal blog….

this is how our older one spends her days, our dreamer, the experimenter, the one who consistently eats her ice cream cones from the bottom up while she gazes at the sky.

i’m not sure where i would be without either of them. they are my teachers.

some food for thought from my favorite ranter on how to play nicely in art and life.

Crossposted from Artsyville.

an EXTRA special thank you goes today to the fabulous jennifer new, who published my artwork this week on her recently started blog mothers of invention. jennifer, who is also the author of drawing from life: the journal as art (a must-read for art journalers), spun off the MOI blog from her series of excellent articles on the challenges that women face while balancing a creative career with the round-the-clock demands of raising a family. she is currently working on a book proposal to give the many creative mamas out there a much needed resource on how to manage those challenges.

jennifer’s articles have put a voice to many of the feelings i’ve had since my first child arrived nearly six years ago. in her words i recognize the despair and resentment i’ve felt from having to abandon a great idea or cut short a creative process because someone won’t take a nap, needs something, is systematically emptying out every dresser drawer in the house, or just won’t let me complete a thought.

her writing has also made me realize how much of my creativity i owe to my children. the urge to create came and went during my pre-baby years, but never consistently, nor with much conviction or purpose. once my girls burst on the scene, so did my desire to create, and that desire fed on itself until it became an essential part of my life, my way of making sense of the world.

just watching my children grow and learn is creativity in progress. they constantly push me out of my comfort zone and i think that’s essential territory for an artist to explore. they approach life with a freshness that cuts to my heart when i stop and take the time to think about what they’re seeing and feeling. life is so new to them; they’re trying to understand things that i expect and take for granted. they say and do things that would never occur to me. their interpretations of the world take my mind in unexpected directions.

my girls have also taught me to live in the moment. with children, there is no tomorrow, no yesterday, only now. because of them I’ve learned to pay closer attention to my surroundings because I have to, and I’m surprised by what I see and what I missed before. i create with an intensity and purpose that i didn’t fully understand before they came into my life. recognizing the significance of those small moments has helped me to be a better mother to my girls as well as my art.

so thank you, jennifer, for your insightful writing on such a complex topic, and for bringing together such a diverse group of women to discuss our common challenge. we are parents, we are creatives — and in order to satisfy both of those worlds, we must be mothers of invention as well.