Thank You: Getting to Roots

I'd like to begin with a Thank You:

Great Thanks to each and everyone of you who managed to wade through the mire of my latest ranting to offer support, constructive energy, sweet thoughts and encouraging vibrations. I feel as though when I experience a victory, each of us experiences a victory. I am truly blessed to have met each of you through your inspiring writings and beautiful work in this corner of the Universe. You are magick makers.

Much Love and Light to all of you.~*

Brigid Altar 2008 Mixed Media. By Molly Roberts

It was quite a weekend. In the last 72 hours there have been some BIG changes in the Molly Cosmos:

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Firstly, I have changed my major. In the past few weeks, I couldn't seem to figure out why I was feeling such crippling anxiety and frustration with my art education courses. I'd been avoiding completing my observations and have begun biting my fingernails down to the wick. I had a lightbulb moment. It occured to me that I had a passion for children and their imagination, but never really had a passion to teach. I felt as though I had to teach in order to survive. I confused my joyfull and candid experiences with my tutoring students as humanlings with an enthusiasm for teaching. I had been lead to believe that a fine arts degree for "fine art's sake" was frivilous and self indulgent. I've arrived at the conclusion that this wholly false. I TOO can build a career on my skills.

I'm good at Paint.

Paint makes me happy.

I'm going to do it.

I'm getting back to my roots.

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Secondly, the first Creative Gravy Workshop is almost full! Of the initial 20, only 5 seats are left with 2 weeks to go! I'm currently booking my second workshop for April and scouting new venues in the area. I also recieved an offer to facilitate the workshop for an interior design firm in the area. Hooray!

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And Finally, with some Help from my folks and siblings I've been given a boost. With a generous loan from the Bank'o Love (which has an impeccable interest rate by the way) I now have the cushion I need to book spaces for art fairs and workshops and get back on my feet. I am blessed to have a tribe that is so willing to invest in me. I won't let you down!

I also recieved a call back for a job! I'm scheduled for an interview this week!

Doll Machine Gallery is a go-go.

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I am feeling the movement!

This goddess is getting back into her groove. :)

Let's hope these winds of change keep filling the sails!

What's new in your world?

Gentle Breezes, Friends!~*

Introducing: Creative Gravy!

The first Creative Gravy Workshop is a Go-Go! (Check out the butterfly badge below or on the sidebar to visit the Gravy blog home. ) The space is booked, the promo pamphlets and posters are being printed as we speak, and now we patiently wait for the ladies to sign up!

I must give one giant she-bear hug to all you goddesses in the blogosphere! Without your precious feedback and heartfelt support, this wouldn't have been possible. You truly are magick makers. From my heart to yours--

Much Joy, Many Blissings & Merry Making!~*

Wishcasting Wednesday: Workshops!

It's a bright arctic sort of morning at Apartment Number 5.
A perfect morning to warm up with Wishcasting!***

This week our Wishtress, Jamie, asks us what we would like to create. Oooh---excellent question! As many of you know I've been carefully and busily tending to my Creative Gravy workshop, editing, adding, and refining. I have initial work finished--the seed is there. But a pile of Word files isn't a workshop until someone signs up. What I need is a hybrid, a little green shoot that is a miraculous mutant, the kind science has never seen before. My Wish is for this workshop seedling to sprout wings and take off out of the dirt to spread the word!

Midsummer Night by Molly Roberts. Click for larger view.

I wish to create a space for women to learn, to be enticed to investigate, to understand the sensual joy and intellectual excitement that springs from making something novel and unique to their experience. I wish to create a workshop like grandma's brownies--a workshop that women come to, take a bite out of, roll their eyes and say, "Ooh damn! This Art thing is Yummy in my tummy! Can I get another one?"

*** I wish for this workshop to be picked up!***

Now the question is: What do you want to create?

Go out and be the fairy god mothers you are and make Wishes come true!

Merry Making, Friends!~*

Build It: They Will Come

Apartment Number Five has been a-twitter despite the bitter cold. Winter break is officially over and I've been busily preparing for the new semester that begins bright and early Monday morning. It is a perfect evening for a New Moon, a girl, her broom and a few curls of sage smoke. Time to clear out the stale and soggy, and invite in the Fresh and Fortified! I conquered the clutter, swept the corners and decided to honor my space with some fresh flowers--a present to me for being such a good me. :) (It just tickles me to see the little bouquets of ruby dotting the apartment.) A quiet evening of cleansing and calm the night before the school year kicks back into gear--I couldn't have planned it better myself! It's going to be an exciting month: a new plate of classes, Famous Graves rehearsals to run, a workshop in the works and for the first time--real live kids to teach (gulp!)!

"Koi Pond" by Molly Roberts. 2008. Available for sale Here

I am also proud to announce that "Making Creative Gravy: A Workshop for Women" is completed! I have elaborated upon my Creative Gravy series and fleshed it out into a full length lecture and workshop that includes group discussions, writing exercises, meditations and many more goodies geared toward inspiring women of all abilities and interests to create. The transcripts are typed, images have been selected, and supply lists have been tabulated. Now, I'm on to creating promotional materials and booking my first test runs of the workshop! Through some excellently productive and stimulating discussion with my sister Anna, and the rest of my family, I've been able to hash out potential audiences and venues for this shindig. I may be hostessing the first workshop as early as March! Hooray!

Now, I'm off to finish editing the transcripts and treat myself to a lavender bath and a good book to soak up the last bit of break. It was quite the holiday--full of writing, reading, wandering, mayhem, general mischief making and shameless debauchery. :) But I'm anxious to get back to work--there's a degree to be earned, music to make and paintings to paint!

What plans are you laying for the coming month?

*~Merry New Moon, Friends!~*

Creative Gravy: The Exquisite Corpse

People are wandering down the middle of the street, as there is close to a foot of fresh snow on the sidewalks. It's about time we had a decent blizzard! The talking box is always shouting about "The Storm of The Century" which usually results in a few measly flakes. But THIS, this is excellent. :) (However, I apologize to all those whose flights have been delayed!) It's wonderfully quiet here. There is no sound with the exception of a soft kitty snore and the distant grinding of gears as our neighbors do their best to displace the snow.

I wanted to thank the Glitter Queen, Jennlui for passing on the Friendship Award to HerSpeak! What a Sweet Heart! (I'll be passing it on later today, I want to try my best to branch out and find some new kindred blogosphere spirits.) And now--to the Gravy!

Brain Baster: Making Creative Gravy
Part III Continued...

The last few Gravy posts have been exercises designed to help you do a little mental yoga through experimental mark making. Today, I'm going dish a bit on an superb way to stir the Gravy with friends! This is simple yet strange game that works equally well for artists and cocktail party attendees alike! It kicks the crap out of Yahtzee, that's for certain...

Image by Gregory Abbot

Gravy Maker #7: The Exquisite Corpse

Ooh! How decadently dark that sounds! However, the title of the game makes it sound much more morbid than it truly is. (*sigh*)

First, a little history!
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The Exquisite Corpse is a parlor game developed by French surrealist painters in 1925. These artists were interested in startling juxtapositions and using dreamscapes as a basis for their work. This technique would also be used later in the Dada and Fluxus movements and also goes by the names "the rotating corpse" and "the exquisite cadaver".

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I just love to imagine artists back in the day with their skinny mustaches and smoke curling from crumpled up cigarettes as they sit at cafes sketching beautiful ladies with stainless steel penguin feet.

Here's how it's played! You need 3 or more people. (You could do two if you so choose, but it just doesn't work as well.) You'll need a piece of paper and a writing utensil for each player as well as some sort of time keeping device. The first player draws something in the top third of the paper for 2 minutes. (It can be anything--some people like to use "The Body" as a general theme to begin, so you might start with something like a "head". But really, it's up to you.)

When the keeper calls "time", player one folds the paper so only a small portion of their drawing is exposed. The paper is passed to the next unsuspecting player who continues drawing where player one left off. Again, after "time" is called, player two folds their paper, leaving only a little hint uncovered and passes it to the final player. Player three then draws for two minutes, completing the sketch and reveals the weirdness of what everyone has made!

So Easy! So Silly! So Peculiar!

If people are worried about "not being able to draw" assure them that the worse drawer you are, the better the outcome of the game! It's supposed to be fast and funny. It's not a contest, it's a good-spirited collaborative effort to make something featherbrained! There's really no way to mess it up--the wackier, the better. This game can also be adapted for words. Instead of each player taking a turn to draw, you can write down or collage words, folding to leave the last letter of the word exposed for the next player. This leads to something that sounds like a mad lib. :) Try this with friends over coffee, as an exercise on your studio floor with your kids, at a holiday gathering or as a meeting icebreaker with colleagues. No one will miss Uno, I promise. :)

Oh! I almost forgot--check back tonight for a Goddess Giveaway! :)
Until then--

Live Curiously, Friends!
Merry Making and Many Blissings!~*

Introducing Creative Gravy! Gravy Maker 1 & 2

I've heard from folks on several fronts that lately they are feeling flat, deflated, uninspired. Maybe it's the weather, perhaps the season or nagging colds but both here in the blogosphere and in the third dimension the lack of Merry "Making" is unsettling. I want everyone to be able to lasso this amazing creative full moon energy and make beauteous things! So what I've decided to do is write a few words on Inspiration. (It will be written in several installments as it would become One Epic Post!) Originally I thought of titling it, The Not So Super Secret Secrets of an Inspired Studio...but decided that was far too cumbersome. How about,

Brain Baster: Making Creative Gravy

I can dig it. :)

INSPIRATION: it's a loaded word, isn't it? We feel we need to be inspired to make work. Whether it be creating a painting, a sketch for a novel, a form for dance, a scrap booking layout or melody for a song-- we need The Juice. What happens when the creative well dries up? What do we do when we wander into our craft rooms like zombies or stare blankly at the paper and become uncomfortable or alarmed that our brain has left town without us? I think too many people believe that inspiration is a dramatic "light bulb" experience in which suddenly a complete creation is shown to you in a vision. I don't know about you--but I've never woken up in the middle of the night screaming EUREKA! because I've just dreamed the next Madame X. The Muse comes to you in all sorts of ways that are much quieter than this: a snowflake landing on your jacket, the dancing spots that are created when light falls through a glass of water, a double take at a newspaper headline that your brain rearranged.

Inspiration is not necessarily trying to refill what is empty, but waking up what is dormant.

Now, Let's get to the kitchen!

Gravy Maker #1: Let It Go

So many times when I speak to people about creating work, their biggest obstacle is fear. They get stuck in the mud of the preparatory stage because they are too afraid to make a mistake, or are terrified it won't be amazing, of they are worried about critique. Let it go. Firstly, Making Art is an Art, not a science! There is no perfect formula, so exact set of instructions. That's the joy of making: The complete and total Broad-acity of the whole affair! You'll never know unless you give it a whirl. Secondly, so what if it's not perfect? If a piece doesn't turn out the way you hoped? No one dies. No one looses their job and we're all still friends in the end. :) You can't be afraid of failure. It will stifle you. I like to think of works as experiments. If a masterpiece fails--that's huge. If an experiment fails--well, it was an experiment and not all experiments work. Trust yourself that you know what you need to do. Say no to the nagging fear. Say no the block.

Take a deep breath, and Let It Go!

Gravy Maker #2: Setting The Scene

It can be difficult to feel The Flow when we are overwhelmed, overtired, ill or a combination of all three zappers. BUT there is much to say about the power of persuasion. Setting the scene is key. What I mean by that is: What does your workspace look like? If it's a cacophony of crap, no wonder you don't want to make work! An organized workspace can be beneficial. Secondly, is your workspace itself and inspiring environment? When you enter this room does it get you into a groove? Inspiration boards are a good way to trip your trigger! Collect up images from magazines, newspapers, greeting cards, art prints, gifts from friends, your favorite magickal items and let them commune on your walls and in your space! Do you love the flicker of candles or twinkle of strings of lights? Put them up! Use music to further develop your stimulating sanctuary. Incense, smelly candles, and essential oils are all excellent additions. Maybe you think a small altar devoted to creativity and flow is important? Does a steaming cup of coffee with two lumps of sugar sitting on the table get you in the mood to create? Or are you a swirling glass of Port sort of gal?

The spirit likes to be talked to.
We do it through food, music, and the arts.
What wakes up your Spirit/Soul/Inner Goddess?
Make a space that supercharges you!

Gravy Maker #2 Continued: Setting The You

Now that we've covered the "studio nesting" portion, let's talk about Setting The You. Do you feel like a Creatrix? Do you feel like a bubbling font of ingenious ideas? If not, why? Just like the studio, sometimes the maker needs a little spiffing up too. It's about waking what's asleep!

Hey, Me? Yeah, it's me, I mean you. Whatever. It's time to get up...

What I'm going to tell you may sound like a one way ticket to Crazy Town, but it works--trust me. When I can't get a damn thing to come out of the other end of the pen or the brushes are betraying me...I dress up. I put on striped stockings, let my hair out and put on my strawberry apron. Getting into a mood, or character drastically changes things. If I am going to make dark work, maybe something sneaky and fantastical, I'll slip into black skinny jeans, hawk up my hair and paint my fingernails with my favorite black polish and throw in some gray netting somewhere. If I'm painting a goddess portrait I like to wear plum or scarlet and put on big earrings and stones. Maybe you would fancy working barefoot? In stilettos? In a flowy Grecian gown? Putting on red lipstick? Taking the make up off? Putting on a green velvet cloak and hunting boots? Maybe simply wearing a piece of jewelry you find to be particularly beautiful and meaningful. Costume and play both allow us to bloom and there is no better place for this to happen than in the studio.

What are you going to be?

Tomorrow: Writing Prompts! Truly, far more fun that it sounds--I promise!

Until then--
Merry Making and Many Blissings!~*