Prune the Tree, Harvest the Fruit: the Cultivation of Artistic Space

I’m on a balcony overlooking a beautiful pool. A mockingbird is sitting in a tree nearby, crooning out the most beautiful song. There’s a soft Pacific breeze playing with my hair, and children are laughing and splashing in the pool below me. I can hear the rustle of nearby leaves like a lullaby. It’s overcast, and the sun is just barely touching my face, disappearing behind scudding clouds every now and then. I like it best when it’s cloudy like this, cool and breezy, quiet and a little moody.

I often come up here to write, to think, practice or just sit and meditate. It’s beautiful here, the true definition of west coast living. Around me, I can hear the beating heart of the city--cars on the freeway, planes, garden machinery humming, crows and sparrows arguing over who-knows-what…

Becoming more in tune with your artwork requires you to become more in tune with yourself, and with the world around you. The places I live and the people I meet often wander into my songs and stories in one way or another.

Most people wouldn’t see my neighborhood as a place for an artist, but surprisingly, there’s a lot of us living here. Actors, musicians, painters, dancers, models, photographers, all on our way up or down the mountain of artistic success. Most of us are somewhere in the middle; more than a few are a little jaded with the industry, but still in love with the process of creation.

I live in a unique neighborhood. It’s not uncommon to see horses walking around here from the nearby equestrian center. Squirrels, possums and raccoons sneak over from Griffith Park, and even a skunk or two shows up for an unexpected visit. It’s a place where neighbors know you by name, and drop in unannounced just to chat and bring you treats. They know my name at the local stores and restaurants; they doat on Kodak and know the latest in my life through the grapevine. My starbucks knows my favorite flavor of tea. My Jambajuice has my order ready for me when I walk in. It’s a place in the middle of a whirling cityscape, but somehow, it hovers just outside the big city rhythm, safe, comforting, paradisal in its simple friendly existence.

I’ve never lived in a small town before. In Arizona, neighbors mostly kept to themselves, moving in and out like gypsies. I knew a few of my neighbors, and I might get a smile here or there from clerks at the store who knew me, but for the most part, I stayed in my circle of friends and colleagues, and didn’t venture much outside of that, and neither did anyone else.

Stepping outside the normal boundaries of your life can be a huge asset to your creativity. Meeting people from all walks of life, brought together by circumstance is an opportunity we can’t afford to pass up. Change means growth, momentum, inner strength, breaking down resisting barriers, and opening our minds.

Ask yourself this question: When was the last time I opened my mind, and gave myself room to grow?

You might be very surprised by the answer.

Give yourself and your art room to grown,and a safe place to do the growing. It’s important to place ourselves mentally, physically and emotionally, in an area where growth isn’t something we intentionally do. It should happen naturally, like a tree.

We as humans, as artists, were given the blessings of growth, change and expression. If we bury those gifts, and let them stagnate in the rush of life--bills, worries, relationships--they’ll be like a seed beneath the snow, never able to emerge.

I love the book “The Secret Garden.” The garden lies dead and barren until Mary brushes away the ivy and finds the hidden door. She unlocks the door and begins tending the garden with loving care and attentiveness. Metaphorically speaking, the garden is your inner artist, your soul.

When was the lasttime you opened that hidden door, and snuck in to spend some quality time with yourself? You might have to do some serious pruning and weeding, and it might take a while to see sprouts poking their tiny heads out of the cold hard earth. But with enough love and care, any planted seed will grow.

Each of us requires different inner self-care. Whether you need beautiful colors around you, in your house or in nature, or you feel more at home with good music and lots of friends surrounding you, create that space for yourself. Actively go out and cultivate your garden this week. Find what makes you grow, opens you, allows you to receive the rain and sunlight, and reach for the Heavens and your utmost potential.

I love fragrances, warm familiar scents of flowers, fruits, and spices. I love unlocking my door, and walking into my house to find myself surrounded in the scents of vanilla, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, white tea, citrus, or lilies. I love feeling beautiful, so I take the extra time to wear clothing and jewelry that makes me feel peaceful, happy, and successful. Reading allows me to step out of my world and into another for a while, so I read at night before I go to bed. I love teas and inhaling the fragrant steam, so I always have the kettle on and a cup of tea near me.

Spiritually, I grow when I’m at church. I love being with Church family and nurturing my spirit in God’s love and truth. Nothing is more miraculous to me than serving in the temple and studying the gospel of Christ. Prayer is a daily part of my existence, at all times, and in all things.

Second only to God, is my need to create, heal, and inspire. I do this through my music and my writing and my Yoga. If I do not create, I stagnate, I hurt, I fail to move forward in my life.

What things do yu do to care for your own inner artist? How do you inspire yourself, invigorate your art, and create an artistic space that allows you to grow and produce fruit?

Artistic inspiration ambush: clean up your dirty mind!

Welcome back to your normally scheduled blog topic: The Artist’s Way... sort of. Can anything abou this blog be considered normal anyway??? Not when I’m at the keyboard… I haven’t blogged about the Artist’s Way for a while, so let’s get back to it!

Before diving in, I need to cover a few quick housekeeping items.

First, music biz Q&A part 2 is coming! Come visit on Friday for all the fun.

Second, I’ve had a ton of questions on crystal healing and Yoga, so starting next week, I’ll put up a whole new blog devoted to living yoga, crystals, holistic healing, herbs, and anything concerning mind, body or spirit. I’ll let you know the link.

Okay on to today’s blog, finding inspiration.

I don’t have a set formula for where or when artistic inspiration will strike me. I can be reading, watching TV, going through something in my life, joking with friends over dinner, hearing a talk at Church… All of these scenarios are full of ah-ha moments. Ah-ha moment: when the hand of inspiration reaches out and smacks you in the head and commands: “Make me! Create me! Give me life, a voice, a form.”

I’ve found artistic inspiration to be an equal-opportunity attacker with no compunctions or shame whatsoever. It invades my thoughts when I'm dead asleep, jerking me awake and plunging me into the midst of a new song before I even figure out where I am or what time it is. It steals my peace when I'm eating dinner or having a good phone conversation with a friend. "That would be a great lyric line!" pops out of my mouth at the most inopportune moments, followed by frenzied hunning and a mad dash for the nearest instrument. This is a familiar scene to all who know me--one they probably dread because it's usually followed by a long period of them being banished, and me hacking my way through the tangle of another tune or story.

But it likes to find me most often during my most private moments. Music walks right in while I'm stealing a moment of peace in the shower. I'm usually full of suds, enjoying a hot soak, and some solitude.. and the next thing I know there's this stranger sharing the shower with me, rocketing around inside my head going "Let me out! Let me out!"

"I didn't invite you in," would be my first response, but then again, that mental gate is standing wide open, even when I'm butt naked and dripping wet, running with a towel half-on for my digital recorder or a scrap of paper.

Anyone know if they've invented water-proof paper and pens yet? Not even the digital recorder can save me when the shower ambush occurs. Nasty, scandalous, dirty little sneaks, those ideas. And yet, so satisfying. :)

Whenever and wherever inspiration hits, it’s usually a head-on collision, an the only fatality is that of bordom. My pride might be injured, my mind might be pried open and lit up like Christmas, but you can bet that I feel better after I get it all out.

Keeping artistic inspiration locked up inside is, for me, like turning myself into a human volcano. Too many stifled ideas, and I promise you, Mt. St. Sassy will erupt and spew stuff everywhere with no regard for damages or bystanders. It’s far better to control the inspiration, direct and channel it, let it out all over paper instead of some poor friend’s unsuspecting ear.

I think it’s time we re-visit the Mental Neighborhood from a few months ago. Take a walk around your neighborhood and do inventory. Are there a few ideas you stuffed into hidey-holes, promising yourself you’d make time somewhere down the line to fix them up nd show them to the world. Is that a discarded idea I see being blown down the street like a piece of flotsome!

Grab a notebook and a pen (or a computer if you’re blind or a geek), and go clean up that internal neighborhood. Don’t litter by just dropping ideas all over the place, pick them up anddispose of them properly, onto a piece of paper, or nto a waiting instrument, piece of clay, canvas—whatever form you work in! The world likes new ideas, so throw yours out where they’ll have a chance to flourish!

Taking the Plunge: No media this week

And you're thinking... what as she, nuts?

No, just a procrastinator. In the Artist's way, Cameron directs you to spend one week without the influence or distraction of media of any kind... no books, TV, or anything else you use to distract yourself from your artwork. The goal is to use this time to focus on internal home improvement if you will. It's time you should spend getting to know yourself without the world outside tainting what you see in the mirror.

Okay,, so this is my--um--sixth or maybe eighth week of the Artist's Way, and she urges you to do this in the third or fourth week, but hey, I put out the warning before that me and time management around these sorts of things just don't make good bed fellows. So here I go, better late than never. No facebook or myspace for a week, no TV (I usually only watch it for news or documentaries anyway, but no means no.) No books (this will be by far the hardest for me. No internet browsing to catch up on the latest blog posts from friends or reading newsletters and articles. I will be checking emails and work-related things out of necessity, but that is it.

It's Springtime, and I have spring-cleaning goals for this medialess week, if that is a word, which it's not--but I'm claiming creative license. :-d

First goal: Spring clean and home improvement on the outside. I'll be re-decorating... on a budget. Much as I love snuggling with Kodak, it's getting hot, and the fur is driving me nuts. I know, I know, the dog rules the house and it's called "Fur-niture" for a reason, but, well, we need to compromise a little here. I allow myself one "splurge" per month in this Artist's Way journey. Last month, it was an IPod. This month, it will be a beautiful new ensemble for my bed--mint green, purple and gold with beautiful designs you can run your fingers over, and soft mint green sheets and embroidered pillows. And no dog fur!!! Kodak gets a new bed, too; and I'm actually going to put effort into making him sleep in it!

Hey, cut that out... I hear you snickering as you read this. I'll still spoil the Bear rotten, but he's going to have to find somewhere else to leave his fur, because I'm done sleeping with it! :-d

Right. We'll see how long this lasts. It better last until Kodak makes money of his own... dog claws and fur and nice coverlet for the bed do not go together well.

But I have wanted to decorate since I moved in, and I just have put it off to concentrate on other things, and because my money was going to other more pressing issues. I'm trusting my intuition that this is something I need to do; so I'm going to bribe friends to help me put pictures on the walls, and I'm going thrift shopping... combing through the second-hand Holly wood shops to find those one-of-a-kind treasures that will take this place from a house to a homemade masterpiece. Greens, purples, warm golden and blue tones, and the bathroom in purple, silver and lavender ... plus everything will have exquisite texture. A feast for the senses. I love making my home a place where you can smell good things when you walk in, see beauty, taste wonderful food, touch soft, unique fabrics and elegant artwork, and hear laughter, love, music and godliness. I do love color, even though I can't see it. It's hard to explain. I still have very vivid mental pictures of color, and love mixing and matching shades in my head.

My second goal for this week of no media is to give my internal neighborhood a good clean-up. Intense Yoga, and starting a ten day fasting cleanse will get my body back on track. I have appointments for acupuncture, crystal-therapy, and herbal consulting this week. I'll go spend time serving in the temple, and the only material I'll read this week aside from work-related things will be Scriptures. All that extra time I spend catching up on the news and browsing the internet will be much better spent in Scripture study, and doing Yoga.

i'll post this week and let you know how it's going, but I won't read comments or anything until next week... Who knows what will emerge along the way? I've attained the goals I started the Artist's Way with (a few very big ones), so now it's time to set the bar even higher, and keep moving forward. Hopefully this is the next big step.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

I recently started reading the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Do I
believe there is a magical or spiritual cure for writer's block, or
flat notes, or squeaky bowing, or butterfingers on the piano keys? No.
What about those few minutes during every musician's practice time when things are not going right? Nope, no quick fix for that, either. You can't make your music be perfect, or your writing be stellar without putting in tons of hard
work... but I do believe there are things we can each do to further our artistic endeavors that have nothing to do with the time we spend at the instrument, or at the potter's wheel, or in the dance studio. I think a lot of what we bring to our art starts in our heads. That's where art goes from being a spark of inspiration to being a masterpiece, right? So if you aren't in the right frame of mind, how can your creation take wing? The Artist's Way is supposed to help re-build your creativity, teach you tricks to replenish your inspiration well, and open your eyes to the state of the relationship between you and your art.

I'm covering a lot of ground in this first post, but it sets the stage for the rest of the play. Hang on tight, and here we go!

Side note: I haven't figured out the formatting on blogger yet, so just pretend the posts look pretty and cleaned up until I get smart. Thanks.


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Mental neighborhood


Sometimes my head can be a bad neighborhood, full of criticism, back-talk, bullies, and what-ifs. Those what-ifs are good guys if you befriend them, but if they sneak up on you in a bad alley... look out. They will shoot first and ask questions later, take you down without a moment's hesitation if they can. Perception can be art, or nightmare, depending on who pulls the trigger and how you react. Interpretation can be your lover, or your mortal foe, depending on how you employ him. Inspiration runs like hell when the Censor emerges cracking his hairy knuckles and flicking a switch-blade out of his jacket pocket. Motivation is a ragged vagabond beggar, beaten down and raped by necessity and reality one too many times to get up anymore. Necessity rules with an iron fist, and his mobsters don't let anyone get away with anything without his nod. Yeah, it's that bad in my head, some days.

And yet, through the bleak grime coating the upper-stories of tumble-down dream buildings, you can catch a glimpse of sunlight glinting off of ocean waves. Seabirds wheel in a tangy fresh breeze, and once in a while, a desperate idea makes a break for freedom from the poverty-stricken streets, and winds up dancing in the halls of success!

So, I think I'm going to try to rennovate this ghetto neighborhood, and turn it into a haven for all things creative and beautiful. I think I'll put in a park with winding streams, copses of oak, rowan, ashe and apple dotting the center lush green lawns. I need a rose garden set up like a Japanese garden, wild, with bridges over fish ponds, and some waterfalls cascading over boulders, sending rainbows of light and sound dancing through the morning sunshine. oh, and I cannot forget the quiet haven to read books and drink tea with the moon casting long shadow-fingers across the pages and a fireplace alight with merry flames warming my feet. There would be a classy elegant downtown to walk through with little one-of-a-kind stores and cafes, churchbells singing in the mid-morning. children squeal and laugh as they dip their toes in the river across the street. The river has weeping willows along one bank, and boats skim across the surface in a brisk breeze. You can smell savory scents wafting from the bakery and the cafes, or warm musk from the opening door of the nearby fragrance shop. Music plays all the time, all kinds, all styles. There are instruments everywhere for you to touch and play. They welcome you like lovers, drink you in, wrap themselves around your soul, and give it back to you in song, changed, whole, redeemed. Welcome to my world.

I have a lot of work to do to turn my current mental "neighborhood" into that paradise. But at least I can envision what I want the final result to look like, both metaphorically, and realistically. Time to get started!

Your journey is your own, but this is my story as it unfolds. I haven't finished the book; I have no idea what's ahead, but I'm going to do the exercises she has listed in there, and blog about it here so you can follow and watch as I unfold my wings.

I intend this blog to be self-standing, meaning that you don't have to have read the book to uhnderstand my rambling, but it might help you as I refer to her terminologies such as "Censor," or "morning pages."

I encourage you to explore yourself and your art, too. I'll try to give one exercise (of my own design since I don't think it's right to steal hers, you can read her book and pay the copyright for that), every time I blog here. There are tons of artist way blogs online, tons of ideas and outlets for creativity. This is strictly my experience with the journey. I have not read any of these other blogs, for the express reason that I want to know my own journey, not live someone else's, or let it influence mine right now. If one of the exercises here looks like something you've done before, it might be very similar, but it's up to you to make it your own, and no, I won't steal from other blog or book suggestions without showing you where I got it, or telling you how I learned it.

Do some soul-searching before you answer. You can share the answers with me by commenting on this blog if you wish, or you can keep them under lock and key. But I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Today's exercise: Journey from your head to your heart
What is the state of your mental "neighborhood right now?" Whether you're a writer, a painter, a potter, a musician, a dancer, make the neighborhood of your head come to life for you in the hands of your art. Explore at your leisure. If it's dangerous, go armed with a few necessary weapons to save yourself should you come to harm. Chocolate, an open window with a breeze, a pot of hot ginger herbal tea, and good music in the background ground me to reality no matter how far into the dark backstreets I venture. give yourself something pleasant to come home to when your journey is over. Once you've finished, consider what, if anything, you can and should change in that neighborhood. Express that, too, in your art of choice. Paint or draw it, dance it, play it, throw it on the wheel, describe it like I did here. Share it with people if you want to, or keep it hidden in a bottom drawer somewhere, but keep the two visions in your head, and see if you can't start constructing the changes.