Yes, it is the middle of May (Shiiiit, how did we get here??) Nonetheless, I committed to myself at the beginning of 2013 that I would keep record of what this year entailed, since last year is such a blur. A beautiful, ohmygoodnesslifeisgood blur, but a blur nonetheless. So here I am, mostly for myself, but also to give you a little peek into my life!
In the Personal Life:
- It’s utter craziness that I did not touch an art supply for the entire first three months of the year. In March I started something I’m calling my “Treasure Book.” I’ve been collecting little treasures for about five years. Not a huge collection, because I’m picky. It started in Switzerland, where I found a fancy vintage postcards that I couldn’t let slip by. Then I began keeping bits of ephemera: vintage lace, scraps of colored papers I love, buttons or stamps. And for five years, I’ve collected them and carried them around in a box and moved them across the ocean and never had ANY idea what I was doing this for. At the end of March and on into April, I suddenly felt compelled to put these treasures into a compilation. I decided to use a vintage photo album, and inspired by a book I saw at Christine Mason Miller’s house, I created a “lookbook” of my treasures. Interestingly, despite the extremely gratification I felt in making it, in making art, I spent a lot of quiet time internally processing what it takes to make a piece of art, or an album of your favorite scraps of paper, just to do it. Like, with no real purpose. The purpose, in fact, is incredibly deep: for sheer pleasure. But that is something that I think a lot of us struggle with when we set out to create. Perhaps the mark of a true “artist,” if there is one at all, is that s/he can create without justifying, explaining and creates for the feeling it gives alone.
I spent a significantly long week or so with a very sick kiddo. He got the flu, which dehydrated him, which led us to the ER where he discovered that drinking his beverages out of a syringe is the.most.fun! Do you remember being a kid and figuring out that you could trap the soda in the straw with your finger, and then wanting to drink the entire drink that way? Yeah, me too. Thankfully after just a good dose of anti-nausea medicine, Liam was back in action. And then momma promptly crumbled into a heap when she realized she had three healthy kids to take care of for an entire weekend alone!
In the Biz Realm:
- I saw my first magazine article + photos published nationally, in Somerset Life. Just last week I actually went and saw the magazine in person (they’d sent a copy to my home already) and it was SUCH a cool feeling!
- I designed an Empowering Art Workshop and then met with one of the coordinators at Austin’s Safe Place (Domestic Violence Shelter) to discuss facilitating these workshops for their victims. She and I clicked on so many levels, shared our own stories and both of us shed a tear during our simple hour meeting. Love that.
- Worked out an entire Site Map + Branding thesis for my first website. Worked with the awesome designer and started on my first ever logo!
- Organized all of the 100 Inspirational Decks for the current swap. Mixed them all up, packaged, labeled and sent them back out into the world!
- Started the “From Trauma to Truth” campaign and coordinated the first 4 entries that have come in
- Began an intensive online course called Fearless Launching
- Had a juicy hour long conversation with a most favorite person and worked out a bunch of math/numbers and details for our retreat next April!! This carried me around in a cloud for a good few days afterwards!
- Wrote my contributor Bio for True North, made a list of magazine article pitches for May, emptied my inbox (holla!) and compiled list of guest posts contributions for the next month!
- Worked with various clients on progressing their small creative business endeavors
