creativity

Where Do Butterflies Go at Night? – 2nd Edition

/ still a dreamer / 5 Comments

It’s here! ”Where Do Butterflies Go at Night?” – 2nd Edition is now available. While newly designed and formatted, the book still has the same heartwarming story with the lush and magical illustrations of Stella Maris Mongodi.

Why a 2nd Edition? Due to “Butterflies” first publisher unfortunately closing their doors, my beautiful picture book would disappear or … I could save it. I wanted kids to be able to still read of a child’s rich imagination as to where butterflies went at night, and also how they could help them. I decided to purchase the illustrations and acquired permission to use them to self-publish my book.

The challenge? The dimensions of the original book are not offered by POD publishers. This meant a new size and gave me the opportunity to do a re-design. As a graphic designer and an artist, myself, I was able to re-create “Butterflies” in this gorgeous, new book.

Please consider welcoming “Where Do Butterflies Go at Night?” – 2nd Edition into your home and share the magic with a child, available on Amazon.

The Importance of Showing Up

/ still a dreamer / 6 Comments

There are many reasons why we, as artists, don’t do our work, whatever our individual expression is. In the end, it all comes down to fear. I don’t think I need to go into any detail. You know what your own apprehensions are about bringing your beautiful creations to light, or even revealing them to yourself.

But waiting for “the right time” can end up being never. I remember many years ago, analyzing all the reasons why I procrastinated about certain things (most likely my art), and then the comment was, “Sometimes you have to just apply your butt to the chair and just do it.” Point well taken.

So get your tired, unkempt, pajama-clad (if applicable), unfocused, resistant self to wherever you have to be to create and show up for yourself. For your creative self. As unready as you are, get there, and allow something to happen. You’ll be OK. I’ll be pushing myself to do the same.

Meet you at the desk.

On Being Vulnerable

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

There are still many outdated ideas running around that to be vulnerable is to be weak, and in this country, at least, especially if you’re a male. The truth of the matter is that to let our guard down and let someone in, or to truly open up to our own creativity and inner light … to be vulnerable … takes courage. That’s not weak — it’s brave.

And it takes trust, trust that we won’t be hurt, that we won’t fail, that we won’t find ourselves incapable of meeting the task at hand, whatever it might be.

As a visual artist, I find being vulnerable extremely challenging. As a writer, I am somewhow able to put my heart and soul into words, whether writing for myself, or as I did for over three decades, writing fundraising appeals for literally thousands of abused and neglected animals. I had only to look at their pain, and the words flowed. And our donors could feel what these animals suffered through my words, and helped support their healing and care.

Art? That takes digging deeper. I find myself in a daily dance of desire and resistance. What do you — what do we — find so frightening about pulling forth our art, in whatever form, from the depths of our being? Of laying it out in front of no one’s eyes but our own?

Being vulnerable, even to ourselves, can be a challenge. Finding the beautiful light within and letting it shine brilliantly is so important. The world needs us.

Let Your Creativity Be A Light

/ still a dreamer / 8 Comments

If you are a creative person, I’m sure you are periodically met with the awe and wonder of others who are genuinely admiring of your talent. Me, too. What these wonderful and complimentary people are generally unaware of are the challenges that come along with having our gifts.

Earlier today, I watched a new song/video from someone I greatly admire, and was marveling at how easy he makes it look. But I also know that’s not his whole story any more than it is when I share my artwork or my writing.

As an artist, there seems to be a natural desire to please an audience, but I also know that that’s not where it’s at. It’s about telling our truth, about letting our truth, and the reality of our experience, travel out into the world and resonate with the people who need and want to hear it.

In an environment where we are meticulously measured in likes, comments, shares, algorithms, and endless online assessments, we have to be braver than ever. We have to unlock, untie, unfold our truest meanings, love them for however paltry and confused they may sometimes seem, and share them anyway. The world needs us. I believe that.

Be strong. Be a light.

An Inspiring Guide for All Who Create

/ still a dreamer / 7 Comments

Above are the two books I’m reading now, one, the memoir of a transracial adoptee, the other, a kind of guide to the act and nature of creativity. Both are excellent, but here I am going to focus on the second book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin.

Here we are in a familiar spot on my back porch. I’m sitting with my coffee, ceiling fan going, hoping to enjoy the fresh air until the heat gets too much. And reading The Creative Act. Rubin has been a well-known and highly successful music producer and record executive most of his life. He wanted to take his experiences and write a book to help artists. He said, “I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be.”

And he wrote a phenomenal book, taking complex philosophical principles of how the artist exists and creates in this world , and makes them accessible and digestible to the reader. No easy feat. His thoughts on the various aspects of creativity are broken down into 1-1/2 to 2’1/2 page chapters, making it very easy to read in small bites and reflect on.

He addresses the artist in us all, looking at ultimately, how we live in the world being so critical to our creativity, and thoughts about how we can all be on our own road to bringing what is within us to light.

I feel I cannot truly do this book justice in the space of a blog, so I encourage you to read the in-depth description of this book on goodreads or the extensive reviews on Amazon. This is not a self-help book, but more of an illumination of the creative process that we artists engage in with insights guiding us to deeper exploration and understanding.

Thanks to a blogging friend, Kitty, at The Daily Round who suggested this to me; she knows my creative heart and soul. If you’d like to explore the deeper and very real issues of what it means to be a creative of any kind brought to you in a new and inspiring way, The Creative Act: A Way of Being may be just what you need.

p.s. Think you’ve already seen the photo Immediately above? You’ve seen the early hydrangea blooms (left) in a previous post, but what you didn’t see are all the smaller, bright ones in the sun. They are all the new blooms that grew in spite of the deer having eaten nearly all the hydrangeas, leaving only barren stems. Those little guys are the beauty and persistence of nature.