MOO Cards

Have you popped over to MOO to get your free MOO cards?

These little cards are great! I wanted to see what they were like, so I uploaded 50 of my own photos and had to pay only for shipping and handling (MOO does put a bit of advertising on the card.)

What a great way to promote yourself! I think of it as a type of 21st century calling card.

Another quote for today comes from George Carlin: The caterpillar does all the work but the butterfly gets all the publicity.

Creative Drano

Sometimes I think that summertime isn't such a good time for creativity - one is beckoned to go outside to enjoy the weather. Well, today isn't one of those days - temps in the 90s with tropical dew points, so I'm hoping to get some type of creative work done today along with the other parts of life that one can't ignore for too long or the task becomes massive.

I'm still struggling with making time for creative endeavors when work and other demands drain me of all creative desires. Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be, but it doesn't feel right.

It's not that I don't have ideas, I do, and I have a lot of projects in the pipeline, but that pipeline is clogged right now and I need some creative Drano.

The Bead Society I belong to had a challenge based on color - this is my entry. It probably won't win any prizes, but that doesn't matter. This is the type of Drano I may need on a more regular basis and maybe I need to learn to provide that for myself. I enjoyed the challenge on many levels. Could I have pushed myself more to create something more? Certainly. Am I happy with the result. Certainly.

I need to learn how to be more structured (on many levels) in my life. I think that technology also messes with my attention span. Time to step away from the computer.

Today's quote comes from Stella Adler: Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.

A Film by C Cook

IMMORTAL CUPBOARD: In Search of Lorine Niedecker from Cathy Cook on Vimeo.

This is an excerpt of a film made by an old classmate at UWM, Cathy Cook. Makes me want to make films again. Wisconsin Public TV did an interview with Cathy earlier this year.

There's something to be said about films as an art form - they exist only when shown, when stored they are pure potential. In order to experience someone's work, one must take time - literally - to see the art.

I've been thinking a lot lately about art forms that exist in time - such as film and music. In music the art exists while not being played as a piece of paper. In film, the art exists in a can while it waits to be seen. I suppose that poetry and writing also fall into this category.

Cathy also talks about what she learned from Lorine... "I learned from her what she had to put aside or move around in her life to make room for poetry..." hmmm. Making room for art. Something I must learn to do.

Today's quote comes from Eckhart Tolle: All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness.