Wednesday, December 22, 2010

My Creative Odyssey


When the lovely Jess from Epheriell Designs asked for people to take part in a blog hop of over 40 bloggers outlining our creative goals for 2011 I put my hand up right away. Following on from two wonderful inspiring posts yesterday by Messy Bessy and 74 Lime Lane, today I am blogging with Angela from The Artists’ House to share our dreams and plans for the coming year.

My mind is what the Buddhists refer to as a “Monkey Mind” or as I prefer to say my head is full of mad monkeys – what this means is: it NEVER stops! Plans, dreams, desires and schemes swirl around in a blur of colour and movement and it is exhausting. The upside: I always have a project to work on. The downside: I rarely finish them or ever start them. But 2011 will be different.
CREATE: I love making things and I always want to try everything there is out there. This is just not realistic so three things I really want to achieve in the creative department are:

  • THE FINE PRINT: I loved print making when I was at TAFE and I want to play around with it again. I would love to take a fabric printing course with Harvest Textiles. Also work on some lino cuts and gocco.

  • BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: I want to sketch, draw, doodle. I loved to draw when I was little but now I am somewhat scared of it. I am my own worst critic, never happy with the outcome. I am going to jump in the deep end and just do it. I plan to keep a sketch book where I will draw often to hon my skills.

  • GOURMET DELIGHTS: Cooking is a passion of mine. My Grandmother (Marny) taught me how to cook when I was little and it is something I have always enjoyed. Because of this I am a subscriber to Delicious and Masterchef magazines, which are both full of beautiful recipes but all I do is flick through them and put them in a pile. So in 2011 I WILL cook 2 recipes a week whether it be from one of these mags or my collection of Jamie Oliver cook books. Now I have access to so much fresh produce here in Gippsland Victoria and we even have our own veggie patch so it seems a shame not to take advantage of the situation.
  • SEW-SEW: I know that a lot of us taking part in this blog hop want to work on our sewing skills. I was given a sewing machine for my birthday last May and have only used it a couple of times but I want to learn to use it properly. I have also just taught myself counted cross stitch which I LOVE and I would like to work on making some original embroidery artworks to sell.

CITYKITTEN DESIGNS: There is so much I want to do with CityKitten which grew from the most unlikely of beginning’s. I could never imagine when my life and heart shattered into a thousand pieces in late 2009, that the snowball effect of absolute disaster would turn something that was a hobby into a little business.

At the moment it is still really a hobby but I want to take it more seriously. Because I am at home all day I have developed bad habits of just doing what I want, when I want but this cannot go on. I need a schedule and I need to be organised. I MUST work on my website (it has been under construction for months now!) and I want to blog more often and make more friends and connections in the online handmade community. I need to run my business like a business and keep accurate records, keep up-to date on Etsy and madeit.com and I also want to look at other outlets to sell my items.

Finally ME: I have some baggage, actually I have a Louis Vuitton Trunk and I need to let go. When you carry around all the yuck in your life it makes it hard to create beautiful things and it makes it hard to move forward. I need to be easier on myself instead of beating myself up when I make mistakes and I need to remember there really is a silver lining because that is what bought me CityKitten in the first place, so joy can come from heartbreak.

What are your Creative Goals for the coming year?

Be sure to visit Hickory Dickory and Scoutie Girl tomorrow to read about their dreams and aspirations for 2011.

Have a beautiful day!

11 comments:

  1. This is a great post! Thank you for sharing. I am with you - before my creativity became a business, I did a lot more doodling and drawing just for fun. Let's do more of that this year :-)

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  2. Oh Manda, big hugs for all the bad stuff, and I hope that 2011 is the year you can let go of that baggage and bloom into your future!

    You've been such a wonderful online presence in my life - I smile every time I see your lovely comments on my blog - so thank you for brightening my life with your presence, and bring on a new year of creativity and passion!

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  3. I am here to tell you to get that sewing machine out and PLAY with it. I got one for Christmas last year and it stayed in the box for months... now? It's my bestie! Don't be afraid of taking a class or learning from someone either, it was the best thing Ive done in awhile.

    Good Luck in 2011! I'm sure you will be happy with what you will accomplish!

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  4. I'm sure there are a lot of mad monkeys out there. Love that phrase.

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  5. Hi Manda! Monkey Mind, I haven't heard of that but, believe I have a head full of monkeys too! Sketching is a great way to open your mind and play, i somehow have lost my way also. I am envious of your garden, please put it to use with your Jamie Oliver cookbooks (love him) this year. You have so many wonderful things going on for 2011, I wish you the best of everything!

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  6. I, too, have a monkey mind (but I've never heard it put that way, either!) - there's never a dull moment in my brain it seems! So, I can totally relate to that.

    As for the sewing and the drawing, just do it! I had a drawing/painting professor who used to tell me that it sometimes takes 100 not so good paintings to have 1 good one. Basically, it's about the process of creating more than the result. And the best part of a sketchbook is that no one has to see the lower quality sketches unless you want to!

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  7. I love your line about how carrying around all the yuck hinders your efforts to make beautiful things. I completely agree with you on this - it's so important to find ways to let go of the old and progress into a space of appreciation and love in order to be open to the gifts of creativity. How do you plan to achieve this release?

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  8. Awesome post (yes...I know that I am dating myself with the use of awesome). Good luck with your plan and good luck with the craetive/personal release! :)

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  9. Manda, you are far too hard on yourself! Much better to have too many wonderful creative ideas, than none! What lovely ideas too. I always find that drawing sorts out the monkey mind and even wrote a blog about it, http://pittwaterspirit.com.au/vignettes/2010/05/if-in-doubt-doodle/.

    I look forward to watching what happens in the New Year and cant help but think that suitcase somehow holds all your creative ideas safely wrapped in it's silver lining. Life is, after all, our greatest source of inspiration. Wonderful post, thanks.

    :)Suzi (Vignettes de la vie)

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  10. Drawing and sewing, yes, those are on my list too ;) I think these are great goals. I wish you the best of luck in 2011.

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  11. Love your goals - best of luck with them! :)

    Getting rid of that baggage is incredibly uplifting.

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