Artful Tourist Tenants of Creativity



Background from Designer Digitals, image from Deviant Scrap.

 By releasing the cumbersome burden of my old web site I am inspired to create new projects and pages. Today I took an extra hour of my Thursday morning scheduled renewal time (yes, I schedule renewal) to create imagery for my Tenants of Creativity. These nine tenants represent my personal philosophy of creativity. I made an art journal page in May that I've wanted to express digitally for weeks. I'm so refreshed by this process.




The art journal spread that inspired the Tenants of Creativity


Explore your own tenants of creativity the next time you visit your studio space or consider an Artful Tourist workshop to guide you in this process.

Look for individual tenants of creativity to be posted on the Artful Tourist Facebook page in the coming days. You are welcome to tag them or print them for your personal use and inspiration.

Launched Renewed Web Site today------- www.NAChattin.com

This is so exciting for me--I've redesigned my web site to reflect my current focus and priorities. Check it out at http://www.nachattin.com

The journals, the artful spirit, and the recycled projects are now prominently featured on the home page and the site.

Now that the basics are published I will go back in and flush out more of the topics and links. I've been working on this for almost a month and I just couldn't keep it under wraps any longer.

Release and Receive
In my personal life and career, I have been practicing this affirmation for almost two years now. I simplified my studio and my goals. The whole process is cathartic and so nourishing. Last month I realized that my efforts to apply this to my whole life means I must also fine tune and scale down the web site. Before I started this process I'm not even sure I realized how the old site was weighing me down. Ah, the glory of simplicity.

Consulting & Teaching
After three years of "amateur status" I am available again as a professional artist, instructor, and consultant. Check out the HIRE ME page on the site as well as the Artful Spirit section for new programs and ideas that are more aligned with my current life goals. You will see even more information in the weeks to come. Thank you so much for your support and interest over the last ten years with my web site--I'm looking forward to bringing you wonderful new ideas and projects.

New Flight Plan

This is how it happens-----------------
I almost started a new blog this week. These ideas kept going through my head about art, crafting, and scrapbooking. Information overload, product influence, artist dates, mail art, insider art and outsider art, onward ad nauseam.

I’ve been doing a bunch of online research for my articles on digital scrapping and just to jump start my own work. I keep changing my mind about wanting to submit for publication and join design teams or just continue working on my own path. I’ve been frustrated by seeing a lot of the same things over and over and by the product driven nature of the paper crafting industry.

During this process, I read several posts on Scrap Smack blog http://scrapsmack.blogspot.com/ about some of these same topics. The author manages a message board too and she doesn’t mince words when it comes to her opinions. I respect anyone who feels strongly about a topic whether or not I agree with them.

The posts on her blog brought me to question the current trends in paper crafting. I also started going back to how I became so passionate about all this.

Crossroads--------------------
This week I feel like I’m at a crossroads. I am weary and travel worn from visiting too many destinations and not staying long enough at any of them.

My goal is to get back to doing things in a way that makes me happy. I will continue on this colorful, creative journey that has led me to so many wonderful people and places, yet I will also get back to doing it without as much influence from the retailers or the artists who are acclaimed as trend setters by corporate owned magazines and web sites.

Let me guess, many of you think I’ve always been a bit quirky anyway, and you’re right. However, in my own mind, I had become too critical and too quick to compare myself to others.


The Flight Plan------------
>This revelation has just formed in my unquiet mind and I’m sure I will think of more additions to this new flight plan, however, here are my ideas so far:

>I will create with two priorities in mind—my loved ones and my own artistic journey.

>By June 09 I will inventory and arrange my studio for optimum creative operations.

>Effective immediately, I am hereby gleefully putting myself on a $15.00 per month “austerity plan” for supplies and tools. That should be enough for adhesives, cutting blades, and those fun little deals that are too good to pass up.

>By June ’09 I will cheerfully reduce my inventory by either usage or gift to 50% of its current size. It makes no difference whether I could “do something” with it at ‘some point” or not…I just don’t want the clutter anymore.

>I will rejoice in the art as well as nurturing the community of cherished art friends that have enhanced my world as a result of this continuing journey.

>Instead of creating a new blog, I will add additional posts to this blog labeled destination heartfelt art to share my revelations, roadblocks, and projects.

Being (creatively) Kind to Yourself

Figuring it Out
One of my greatest “ah-ha” moments was when I accepted (and subsequently incorporated into my life) the phrase, “Being Kind to Yourself Makes You Strong.”
I was studying “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron at the time learning about creativity. The whole AW course was begun in response to my diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. I was feeling helpless, critical, and angry.

My first reaction to the being kind premise was that it sounded very selfish and self-indulgent. I had a vision of myself in fluffy high heel shoes and a lounging gown eating bon-bons. After all, I was heavily influenced by generations of hard-working, long sacrificing women who believed idle hands were the devil’s playground. Something wasn’t worth doing unless it was worth doing for the benefit of someone else.

Insert Light Bulb on Top of Head
What I finally grasped was that being kind to yourself doesn’t mean being selfish, it means nurturing yourself which ultimately benefits you and those around you. When you can give fully of yourself because you have been kind to your body and soul—everyone does benefit.

There are scads of ways to be kind to yourself. Simple, yet hard to achieve at times, activities such as exercising, taking in proper nutrients, resting, going for a walk, reading a meditation, and, of course, creating for creativity’s sake. Create something you will enjoy without regard for other’s opinions or tastes.

Doing projects like my art journal, pages of words and images created for myself, inspires me to create more traditional projects for others. Handmade gifts for the holidays are a staple in my life. They allow me to do more than I could if just buying things in the store.

When I create a gift for others though, I do give thought to the recipient’s tastes and décor since I want to communicate love in ways they understand. By allowing my self free reign in my journals and scrapbooks, I can better create for others as gifts.

Try a Project Just for Yourself
This year Sir Henry and I made handmade calendars for our generation and parents along with customized potato chip cans for nieces and nephews. I’ve created a web page with instructions and more photos of both projects:

Hybrid Calendars - http://www.nachattin.com/articledigitalcalendar.html
Digital Snack Can Covers - http://www.nachattin.com/articlepringle.html

We couldn’t show these projects before Christmas because we understand we have a few blog readers in the family (love you). So here are the projects now with the encouragement to creative souls to try them for YOURSELF and enjoy the freedom of no-restraint art to start your year off right.

Getting Everything Done

About those holiday cards
The time has come to admit holiday card defeat. We really wanted to send a card this year with a wedding photo on it. I created two designs plus package tags (as shown-click to enlarge) and up until about 10 minutes ago I believed they would happen.

In the spirit of positive thinking, I won’t call it defeat any longer. I got it out in that first paragraph for dramatic purposes, and now, I’m calling it a tactical retreat to fortify the troops. There’s always a New Year Card or even a Valentine’s Day card. All these options are a few mouse clicks away.

Photo Greeting Cards for all Seasons
I’m no stranger to alternate holiday cards. Everyone else is just as caught up as we are and getting cards every day…the “afterwards” ones often seem more thoughtful and give more time for reflection too.

I updated the photo greeting card feature page on my web site to include the digital holiday cards and other ideas. http://www.nachattin.com/articlephotocards.html Check it out if you are considering the alternate holiday card yourself…smile.

Time to be kind
Now is the Time to focus on what we have done and over come this month.. Now is the Time to relish in the wonder of the season. Now is the Time to share the love with others and with ourselves.

One of the most important lesions I took from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron is that being kind to myself makes me strong. Being strong makes me a better wife, friend, family member, teacher, artist, and everything else. Trying to do everything you want to do isn’t always the best course of action. Today I will do fewer things, do them better, and nurture the kindness.