Outfoxing Your Reluctant Artist – 2

July 5, 2009July 5, 2009 / still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Kerry Blue Profile Stalled? Change your venue!

I prefer the word stalled to blocked, because sooner or later we always get going, and blocked is so …. well, final. One of the things I have found to work when I am feeling stalled is so simple it sounds like the obvious – do what you’re doing someplace else. If you normally draw in your studio, but the space now seems as arid as the desert, take your sketchpad and your materials someplace else. Try the kitchen table, the back porch, the patio, the park, a favorite restaurant or someplace further away.

If it’s writing, and you, as many of us do, write at the computer, but it’s staring back at you with all the blank stare it can muster, shut it off. Grab a notebook and your old-fashioned pen or pencil and go elsewhere. If in the house isn’t far away enough, go further, maybe even for a drive or a subway ride to some other part of town. Sit in a gallery or the library; go eat someplace with fabu food. Hang out with your friend’s dog or cat. You get the idea.

When we have associated our art with a particular location, that very same location can seem the antipathy of inspiration when we have something really BIG to do or are looking at a looming deadline or want to get back to something we started a while ago. Perhaps you haven’t spent time in your creative space recently. So jump start your project somewhere else and you may just find your self rolling along in no time. Works for me; hopefully, for you, too.

NJ SCBWI June Conference – A Few Thoughts

June 10, 2009June 10, 2009 / still a dreamer / 5 Comments

ChildReading The June 2009 Conference was, once again, spectacular. There was an amazing group of agents, editors, illustrators, authors, and art directors waiting to critique, guide, challenge and enlighten the 240 participants. And there was plenty of talent on the attendee side as well. Both new and familiar faces were present to submit manuscripts and illustrations, in hopes of landing that book deal or finding the perfect match in an agent or editor. And it happened or is in the works already for some of the folks who were there!

This year, I attended Saturday only, but it was no different than Friday in that critiques, first page sessions, and talks were scheduled all day long. At the same time, items were available for bids in 2 separate auctions; participating illustrators’ work was on view; and the Book Fair was open for perusing. As we rushed from one activity to the next, up and down the stairs in Stuart Hall, it couldn’t have felt more like being back in college and trying to figure out where our next class was. It was familiar, crowded, and wacky, and more than one of us – way more, actually – were periodically to be seen standing stock still trying to figure out what we were supposed to be doing next.

Everyone, by the end of Saturday, is totally wiped out. But in a good way. If you want to be published in children’s books and are not attending conferences, you need to consider it – you’ll be amazed at the jolt of inspiration you’ll get.

It had been my thought when I started this to offer a few tips about attending a conference such as this, but I suspect they’ve all been written up somewhere online. Or maybe a few would help. Here’s the most important ones overall I can think of …

Reduce your stress – The activity is non-stop, so it behooves attendees to minimize stress, and I suggest doing this by being totally prepared ahead of time – right down to what you will wear, directions, being all packed up and ready to go the night before. Be prepared by being somewhat familiar with the editors and agents who will be attending – come already having researched at least some of the author or agent’s web sites, their bios, what kind of books they’re doing, etc., (that is, if you didn’t do all this before you sent in your application!) When you have minimized your stress, you will also be much more able to hear your critiques.
Have the right attitude – being optimistic is the best way to go. Every editor’s and agent’s view on your work will be a little different, and it is important to be open to all comments. The faculty are present to offer their input with the best of intentions in helping you further your work. Be prepared for both praise and criticism and for things you do and don’t want to hear. Listen carefully, ask questions, and let what is said sink in, as you will be revisiting their suggestions later. And later again. Stay positive.
Follow-Up – Once home, write thank-you notes or letters to the faculty that you met with. Review the critiques you received and make additional notes while everything is fresh in your mind. Bring your experiences back to your writers’ groups, (you do belong to a writers’ group, right?), and share what you’ve learned with one another. This is another way to keep your critiques fresh in your mind, and to go over the feedback with the people who know you and your work the best. Plus, it’s a great way to figure who you may or may not want to meet with in the future, who may be most open to your particular style of work.
More follow-up – get down to the re-writes, the edits, the next dummy or illustration revisions. Get ready to submit to those faculty members who expressed an interest or openness in seeing your work again. But don’t wait too long – the next conference will be here before you know it!!

If you want to get the most from your writing, join SCBWI, and find where your local SCBWI is and join them, too. (New Jerseyans, you’re here.) Get in the know about the big field of children’s books. Search out a children’s book writers’ (and/or illustrators’) group nearest you. The support, encouragement and shared information is invaluable.

Kathy Temean Exhibits in PA

May 31, 2009 / still a dreamer / 5 Comments

Kathy Temean is an outstanding illustrator whose work is being featured the entire month of June in a one-woman show at the Newtown Public Library in Newtown Square, PA.

KTemean-GirlsInSurf-w

While you can view Kathy’s work online at her web site, seeing the color and texture of her work in person, as is so with any artist, demonstrates the real depth of her talent. The illustration above, Girls in Surf, is just one of many images that are on view during June. Kathy’s illustrations appear in children’s books, on book covers and in web sites she builds under Temean Consulting, and have a unique quality which brings a richness and vibrancy to each image. Worth a look!

To see Kathy’s work on exhibit, visit the Newtown Public Library – 201 Bishop Hollow Road – Newtown Square, PA. Phone: (610) 353-1022. For you online art exhibit visitors, check out Kathy’s web site.

Try and Relax!

August 17, 2007August 21, 2014 / still a dreamer

Have you ever noticed the positions your animals get into? They make it look as if they invented the word `relax’. They stretch out, especially in the heat, so every potential draft will ease slowly over their languid bodies. They make it look so damn easy.
Now you might think that this is a comment on my own inability to relax, which is far from the truth. In fact, it brings to mind an experience of many moons ago when my then-husband came home to find me lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling or into space. He asked what was I doing?
I said “nothing.”
With an incredulous look on his face, he said, “What do you mean, nothing?”
“I mean nothing. I’m doing nothing. As in, nothing.” Seemed pretty clear to me.
“How could you just be doing nothing,” he asked. “You have to be doing something!”
Now THIS was a man who had a hard time relaxing!
I tried to search for what it was I was doing, and all I came up with was … in trying to satisfy the question … “I guess I’m daydreaming .. or just thinking.”
And then, with the same confused face, he asked, “How can you just lie there and do nothing?”
Well, I thought I had just come up with an answer as to what I was doing, but I let that go, and said, “Here, just lie down, and kind of stare into space and let your mind relax. You know, just drift around a bit.”
He lay down and for all intents and purposes, assumed the position one would take if they were to relax. He looked up at the ceiling.
Then he looked at me.
“I don’t know how you can just do nothing. I can’t do nothing.”
I don’t really remember what happened after that, except that he wasn’t next to me anymore. Probably feeling guilty for now having the audacity to have actually spent a few moments of my life doing nothing, I’m sure I joined him and made it my business to start doing something.
But I think the animals still have the right idea. They have learned the fine art of doing nothing, of just being in the moment. They stretch out … close their eyes … take a deep breath and they’re off into dreamland or wherever animals go when they close their eyes. We have such a lot to learn from them … and this is one of their best lessons.
It’s the weekend – try and relax!