Places to hear poetry

As a mom of 4 little ones I don't have much time to read. I end up doing a little bit of reading here and there. To make sure that I am putting something artistic in my brain daily I need easy access to reading material or honestly it is not going to get done. I have a bunch of poetry books about the house, but sometimes I find it even easier to listen to a poem online. Here are some great places that I go to to listen to a poem a day. The poems are a mixed bag of course, sometimes I like them, others not so much. Here are two:

The Writer's Almanac usually has poems that are very accessible and easy to read. And you get to hear Garrison Keillor's wonderful voice.

The Poetry Foundation is a little more contemporary. I subscribe to their paper magazine also and have found that sometimes they have some edgy and difficult to follow poems. But it is still a great resource and I have listened to a wide range of poets at their site.

The trick is to make poetry reading a daily habit. That can be a difficult to maintain given the busy and often distracting life of a Mom. But these poetry sites makes it a little easier, you just have to remember to bookmark them and then take 2 minutes for a daily visit.

Stamping with photoshop & handmade books

I have used stamps for a few years. They are a really quick and simple way to add dimension and decoration to art work. I love to use them to stamp over my photos, but sometimes I get frustrated at how I am limited to the size of the stamp. I have some stamps where I have big and little versions of the stamp, but for most of my stamps it's one size fits all.

Well there is a way of expanding the options! It is found in photoshop. I have only Photoshop Elements 4.0, if I can do this technique with this ol' program anyone who has bigger and better versions can probably do so much more!

You need some version of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, a scanner and a printer.

Here are the steps:
1) stamp the image onto a piece of white paper
2) scan images into your computer
3) open the image in photoshop
4) highlight the image with a marquee tool
5) in Edit choose 'Define brush from selection' give it a name and viola: you have a custom made brush.

Open up any photo and then choose either the eraser or brush tool and pick your new brush, adjust the size, color, opacity etc and 'stamp' it on your photo. This way you can add your stamp to your photo at any size you choose!




I like to print my 'stamped' images and then use those in other artworks. I like to use Printworks Premium Matt Photo Paper best. Yeah, versatility!




Stamps are from the new Lynne Perella 'Heart's Desire' collection for Stampington & Co.

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Handmade books

On a different note, Tracey over at Mermaid Beach has a wonderful tutorial for making little books. I have made books like these before but my technique was slightly different. Tracey's technique is neat and so I followed her directions for this one.



Take 10 minutes to watch her video and enjoy the lovely music she has playing.

Have supplies will craft

Half the battle of getting any art done at all, for myself or with my kids is having the supplies, and having them handy. I had done some altered clothing a while back for Stampington and had invested, OK, that is too strong a term, I purchased a bunch of fabric paints. I tried the out a bit but found the paint too sticky and unyielding to get excited about. So the paints have been in a basket on my shelf for a while.

At the Target dollar spot I picked up these little fabric pink purses, 3 for a $, and some ribbon for the girls to decorate - it is summer which of course means less school, more crafts, you know? As they were getting ready to launch into the craft I remembered the fabric paints. These paints are perfect for kids to use as they have pointy tips so you can squeeze the paint out and draw with them. Lily decorated a few purses for her friends, Laura made 2 for her granny.

I am glad that I have tried so many different arts and crafts in my time so that I have pretty much any of the supplies I may need for the kids to do crafts whenever it takes their fancy... which with my girls is a daily thing!

A poem that knocks you sidewards

B.H. Fairchild is a master of language. Case in point: his poem 'Body and Soul'. Beware - this is a long poem. But brilliant. I am in no way interested in baseball, but I am a lover of understanding human psychology. How Fairchild lays out such complex thought processes while relaying a story is beyond me. Simply masterful. My husband periodically reads this poem to me in the car, it never fails to move. So set aside 5 minutes or so to be dazzled.

Family Art Project

Lily loves cats but Matthew is allergic to them. To make up for the fact that we can't have cats last year my husband wrote a children's story for her called 'The Cat Family'. It is an adventure story about a family of 17 cats each with their own unique personalities who discover elves living along side them in their house. It is all set in the magical land of Kalevala and some of the cats activities mysteriously resemble my human children. It is a lot of fun!

I printed out the story and made it into a book. Mark read it to the kids last year when we were in Ireland at Powerscourt Gardens. We moved to different parts of the garden to read each chapter. The kids loved the story and for a touch of serendipity as he was reading chapter 4 in the Japanese Garden a cat came to visit us!



Over the past year Mark and Matthew continued on the story and have written a second story about the cat family, this time about an adventure the grandfather cat had when he was younger.

I made a book for it and we plan on reading it to the kids this year at the same place. We are off to Ireland in a few weeks, I will post pictures of this years 'read'. The book I made this year is not as elaborate as last years, as I am running out of time and I have a bunch of other things to do before we go. But I reckon that it is better to have made something rather than nothing at all.

Reading, always reading

Annie 'reading' at Barnes and Nobles


Everyday. Every morning. Every evening.

Each of my girls chooses books off the 'literature' shelf: a shelf with the books recommended by educational catalogs or friends, books with awards embossed on their covers, for me to read aloud. Matthew will usually depart to another room to read his bigger kid books without interruption.

Reading is part of our way of life. So it makes sense that we regularly spend Friday evenings at Barnes and Nobles. Usually my kids will gather lots of colorful cartoon books to read, books that are not on the literature shelf at home, and browse for an hour or so alone. That gives me, perched on one of those impossibly low green painted kid size chairs, the chance to read the latest mixed media magazines or craft books. Gotta take the time to be inspired when I can!

Real life poetry

Ok, challenge: Try reading this poem without getting choked up - John Updike's 'Dog's Death'.

A place for thoughts

I love art books, journals, handmade book, altered books of any kind. I love how they feel in my hands. I love to write my thoughts and ideas in something with texture. Nothing is easier to alter than a spiral bound book picked up in the dollar section of Micheal's craft store or Target. Another book to decorate and record in. Lovely.

Keeping it up

Yes I have been keeping it going - my semi media fast. I was a little more relaxed this week, but I didn't do any computer when the kids were in the room, nor did I read the news headlines at all. Yeah!


My Annie Rose, second from left, with her 3 year old buddies on Memorial Day.

It has been a social week for us, with a long Memorial Day party, a doctor appointment, playdates and a birthday lunch (for moms only, the kids stayed home with a sitter and her two siblings. I was not missed). Somewhere in there we got some school done, lots of reading and coloring. I guess not every week can be project week.


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I was tagged by Shelly.


What is your current obsession?
Indie craft blogs and the Twilight books (a guilty pleasure)

What is your weirdest obsession?
hmmmm, can't think of anything

What are you wearing today?
Black v-neck shirt, orange flowery skirt, no shoes

What's for dinner?
Tacos

What would you eat for your last meal?
Steak and mashed potatoes with peas

What's the last thing you bought?
a weeks groceries

What are you listening to right now?
A/C blowing

What is your favorite ice cream flavour?
Vanilla

What do you think of the person(s) who tagged you?
Shelley - creative, inspiring, talented

If you could have a [vacation] house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Co. Wicklow, Ireland near my mother

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Prague, to a cafe called Europa (if it is still there!)

Which language do you want to learn?
none, i don't have the time or talent to learn anything else right now

What's your favorite quote (for now)?
'You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them' Psalm 89v9

What is your favorite colour?
Red

What is your favorite time of day?
lunch and late evening

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
I like all my flowery skirts with smocking waists

What is your dream job?
With kids - being here at home
When the kids are grown - being a writer whose stories get made into films and I can go visit the set and turn up to the openings, or being a poet/artist with a huge airy studio

What's your favourite magazine?
Anything by Stampington & Co.

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?
It would go towards a new washer, mine broke this week :(

Do you admire any one's style?
My friend Shannon Mucha

Describe your personal style?
Skirts, long sleeve tops, flip flops

What are you going to do after this?
Finish a journal I am altering, read some more of the 'New Moon' book from the Twilight series

What are your favourite movies?
Gladiator, Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, Memento, LA Confidential, Queen Margot, Phone Booth, The Good Shepherd, Once, this month - Twilight (if you hadn't guessed)

What's your favourite fruit?
Oranges

What inspires you?
Artistic people's work, talking to artistic women, talking to my husband, listening to Damien Rice

Your favorite book?
The Late Wife by Claudia Emerson

Do you collect something?
Bowls

I am meant to tag others, but I don't really know who to tag, so anyone is welcome to play along. Let me know if you do it so I can read your answers. Email me: shonacole@aol.com

Poetry

I love reading poetry. Perhaps I am not all that deep/clever/intellectual but I like poetry that is accessible - readable, understandable at first or second reading. Rather than writing out a list of poets that I like, over the coming months I am going to link to poems by some of my favorite poets. I hope that you like them and are inspired to want to read more.

Claudia Emerson has been my favorite poets for over a year now. I just can't read her enough. Today's poem is one from her latest book entitled 'Figure Studies'. I love when a poem makes me 'see' the story and feel it at the same time.

This link will bring you to the poem 'What they Want' by Claudia Emerson

In the future I would like to post actual poems here, but my attorney husband is helping me research the best way to do that without violating copyright laws ;). Does anyone know any good places to find out about copyright and blogging?

Breaking the habit

I read somewhere that it takes a month to break a habit. My habit is called 'checking email' morning, noon and night. While I call it 'checking email' really it has morphed from that to checking Drudge headlines, AOL headlines, Facebook or any number of other sites.

I have noticed recently that often when my kids finish breakfast I am on the computer, as soon as I make them lunch I am on the computer, as soon as we are done school I am on the computer. Many times I would answer their questions while facing the computer! Well, I felt convicted that I don't want them to be in front of a screen all the time, I monitor their 'media time', so why should I allow myself endless, unchecked media time? They learn from watching me, right?

So this week I decided to do a media fast of sorts. I decided to only get on the computer when the kids are down at night. I made a new commitment to really be the artistic mother that I have been and desire to be, to be more mindful of the good things in my immediate life and to model what I want my kids to be.

So how did I fair?

The first day was easy. I was motivated and convicted. I spent the extra time with the kids or reading. The second day was harder. At lunch I was almost ready to break my pact and check emails, but I grabbed a Mark Helprin book and read outside instead. By day three it was easier.

I really enjoyed the extra time I found I had and in the evenings I still got done all my art project work (I am working my way through my book's 12 week workshop) and emails checked. OK, I missed out on the news headlines, but hey, why do I need to know who won American Idol or who died in a firey crash anyhow?

So above and beyond regular kid's school crafts and activities we made fairy houses, had a nature walk and made a nature table, made daisy chains, went to the library and read a bunch more books than normal, I timed my son juggling (55 seconds for 3 balls, 47 for 3 clubs, 36 for 4 rings...) and generally I faced them and looked them in the eye every time they asked questions. And, of course, I took photos of all of the above.



And besides reading Mark Helprin, I read an Above Rubies magazine (and cried), re-read the latest from poet Claudia Emerson and portions of Amanda Soule's 'The Creative Family'.



Can I keep it up for the month (and beyond)? We'll see, but I feel energized that I stuck by my plan for this week.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope your day is a beautiful one!

Book Title!

I have the title of my book.... drum roll please:


The Artistic Mother: A Practical Guide to Fitting Creativity into Your Busy Life.


I am very excited about that title. I think that it pretty much sums up the main focus of the book.

I have often picked up wonderful 'how to' books and magazines, filled to the brim with ideas and new techniques, I get so inspired and want to do everything in the book, right now!... but then real life crashes in on me and I have to do the laundry, make peanut butter sandwiches, potty train etc. For a long time I never got around to doing some of the projects I wanted as being proactive with my time and maintaining the motivation for art didn't come naturally. I wanted a workshop, a 'real life' schedule, a clear path laid out for me, instructing me on how this self taught art life was going to actually fit into my life. Well, in reality no one was going to do that for me. So I learned how to do that for myself.

And now, I have written that path down in this book.

Unfortunately, it won't available until next Spring. Fortunately, the folks at North Light Books are total pros and will make sure this book does exactly what it is meant to and look exactly how it is meant to.

In the meantime, do you like the title????

An extrovert being silent = difficult space

There is so much I can't share yet, so much that will be/maybe in the book - words, ideas, art, photos. Just like for Stampington & Co. I don't like to put on my blog what they may put in their magazines, I am trying to not post photos or ideas that maybe in the book.

I am a big talker, keeping quiet is very hard for me. My real life friends can attest to this. And when I talk I like to speak from the heart, to be authentic and real. When I can't do that - because of possible publishing - I end up being silent. I could ramble on about other things, but my passion is for motherhood and creativity. Both are the topic of my book. I want to talk. But I want to honor the publishing process.

I am so close to sending my final book draft to my editor, Liz Casler. I have sent her a few versions, but I am never satisfied and keep revising and reworking it. At some point I need to say 'it is finished'.... at least until Liz comes back with her changes, which I know will be coming - it says so in the North Light Authors handbook at least 20 times!!

Artwork from my wonderful contributors is pouring into Liz's office and I am so excited! I feel so honored that they are a part of this book. I just love Shelley Kommers work, Liz just received her artwork. Check her out.

One day I will be talking more here, or perhaps in a new blog format (I have a few podcast ideas, then I could really talk and not just write). I hope you will stick around, check back in and forgive my silence.

Somewhere in Texas

It is 80 degrees in Texas, 'winter' has faded and the humidity has begun to descend. I am closer, closer to completing my manuscript. I feel like I am wrestling with a giant. Months ago I had the first draft of the text written and sent off to my editor and I had turned my focus to the art portion. Once that was complete it was like a veil lifted and I could see all the flaws in the text. The repetition, the missing points, the sentences that didn't make sense! I cringe at the thought!

Since then, I have been buried in words and ideas and points and logic.

I need to get my hands gluey again. I have another AOC deadline coming up to lure me from Word and the thesaurus. Hurry up stamps and get here!

Being an author is consuming. But in truth I am the happiest I have ever been right now. I have my kids about me. I have my purpose. I am singing in my own way. My vision for the book is that it can inspire other mothers to find their version of this feeling; a rather lofty goal I know, but why not think big?

Apronology

Last night I was soldering some pendants and my mother was musing about how my granny and her sisters use to knit and sew together in the evenings and take crafts with them where ever they went. My mother did make my clothes when I was little too, but mainly out of necessity. She didn't revel in it, it was just something she did.

Now she doesn't make things, but she was marveling at my love of creating. But I don't just love the act of creating, I love having things 1) that I took the time to make 2) that are artful 3) that you just can't buy in Target.

One of my favorite things is to make stuff for my girls, they love everything pretty and are always so pleased when I make something for them. That kind of encouragement will always bring you back. Anyhow, I was delighted to be in the newest Stampington offering Apronology. Featured in those pages are these aprons I made for my girls when I was at a crafting weekend. I bought the flowers, sticker backed ribbon and buttons at the scrapbooking store we were crafting in, which are not really my style, but I knew Lily and Laura would like them.


When I work I wear a black apron by Michael DeMeng, but after reading this magazine and seeing all the lovely handmade aprons I am feeling inspired to make myself one. Misty Mawn and Rebecca Sower are both in there and worth, as always, checking out.

North Light & snow

With the photoshoot done, tomorrow I meet with the talented designer, Marissa Bowers (who designed books like Pretty Little Things, Exhibition 36 and Semiprecious Salvage, Taking Flight to name but a few) and work more with Liz on the text. I feel so confident that this great North Light team will produce a book worth reading. Not only are they a professional, interesting, friendly group, it seems that they love what they do. And everyone knows when you love what you do you do it well.

Pinch me, is this really real?


And while I have enjoyed taking in the bright whites of Cincinnati, I am looking forward to the warms hues of home, the place where all my art begins.

North Light photoshoot

I have a WHOLE new level of respect for those arts and crafts book authors who went before me. There is so much that goes into producing a book, from writing the copy, creating the projects, dividing them into steps, photographing the steps, keeping it all in order, making sense.... all while being creative, interesting and new. Oh my!

Today was the first day of my book photoshoot. I thought that I was really prepared, I had written up the steps, had all of my supplies ready, had even drawn up a shot list. But even still, when I got there I almost had stage fright, I had to create in front of other people, think about what needs to be in each shot so a reader could follow along, pause for the camera while do something I usually do freely, alone. It was fast paced and exhilarating.

I find it hard to visualize what the book will ultimately look like, but I am resting in the knowledge that the photographer, Christine Polomsky and the editor, Liz Casler are pros and they know what to do, they have been here before. They guided the process today so effortlessly, so I know it will turn out great.

I feel like going on to Amazon and rating every North Light book 5 stars and giving the authors and all those involved kuddos for their time and effort.

Granny has arrived

My mother usually comes for a visit in the Spring, but this year she is here a little early to watch my kids while I go to North Light Books for my book's photoshoot. So this year I am especially grateful, but nervous now she is here because her presence means that I am really doing this!

It is one thing to write here at home and make projects with steps that I like to do, it is another thing to show them to the world and say 'here, why don't you buy my book and do this too'! Going with my art and words to Cincinnati is the first big step in my coming out of the cocoon of creativity, where I have been surrounded by my supportive friends and family. Phew! What will the world think? But more pressing: what will the editor, photographers, book designers and whoever else is on the team think?

But stage fright nerves aside, I am excited about this pending trip: I know I will learn so much about the book making process, I am going to meet many cool and creative people, I get to fly alone for the second time since I moved to the States (without a diaper bag and snacks and sippy cups), I get to show what I know I can do, what I like to do and be paid for it.

I am looking to those positives to help me forget that I am leaving my babies and wonderful man for a whole week. But take a look at that photo, my kids are in great hands: my mother's. She spent the whole day today, jet lagged from a 24 hour trip, playing with the kids, doing crafts, wrestling on the bed, watching their 'show' (You Tube video coming soon), walking up to see the horses in 40 degree weather and on and on it goes. She is the best granny my kids could have. She has hit the ground running so that I can do my thing.

welcome to 2009

It is going to be a good art year. I feel it, I am committed to making it so.

In the latest Cloth, Paper, Scissors Chrysti Hydeck has a great article on creating layers in digital art. I love being inspired by books and magazines, I love having something in my hand to curl up with on the sofa that then makes me bound up to my studio/computer and get working. I created this photo using her directions, I like the texture.

And my smiling, happy artistic Lily is the perfect face for my 2009 art vision. Ahhh, if I could go back in time and be a child like Lily, happily creating everyday.... sweetness.

I have been laying around for a few days nursing a cold going over and over my vision and goals for this year. I have distilled them down a little. Each line and word represents so much to me, but I want to be succinct.

Here are some of my goals. I feel by posting them here I am going to held accountable:


2009 goals

write an artist statement for each group of photos, art work and poems

learn more about my new lens and decide on my next purchase (tripod, lens, photoshop ???)

listen to/read a poem a day

re-organize my craft room and kids craft shelf system

do a craft with the girls every Friday and Lily & Laura one on one at least once a week

take my camera with me daily

meet every AOC and North Light deadline

blog once in a while until I turn in my manuscript, after that.... more

visit 5 art blogs (art or photo) a day

re-read all the photo 'how to' books I own

work with Shannon at least once a week on our Motherhood art project

work on the sculpture path at least once a month, write up the proposal and get commitments



.....I may add to this list, but this should keep me going for now....