As I’ve recovered, I’ve found a few other sources of inspiration and self-care:

• 750words.com: this website offers a space to write morning pages, as inspired by Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way. I’ve written morning pages in the past in a journal, but I’ve enjoyed sorting out my thoughts and day online in mornings, especially as I manage my tasks and to-dos on my computer with Things.

• Yogamazing video podcast: I wake up early (typically 5am) and love to start my day stretching in front of the wood stove. I recently discovered this great quality video podcast by Chaz Rough and enjoying following the series on my iPod Touch. (He’s a bit chatty at times, but otherwise wonderful). At least a dozen of the 20-30min videos are available for free in the iTunes Store.

The following videos also wonderful: Ira Glass-whom-I-adore talking about improving craftsmanship and Srikumar Rao on “investing in the process” and not the outcome.

Both these videos made me reflect on what my brushmaker friend in Japan once told me, “Before you can think of becoming a master you must make at least 10,000 pieces.” (Read related blog post)

On the note of being productive with my art, here’s a Bird of the Day card- the Northern Pygmy Owl! I just saw one today by our barn, a fierce, tiny, grumpy/incredibly cute looking bird that was being scolded by two Say’s Phoebes.

What steps do you follow to re-center and re-focus?

My first step was deciding what information I needed to record in the forms. The screen shot below illustrates the form I built for my artwork.

Bento allows me to make calculations between several of the fields, so I’ve included my stock (quantity – quantity sold), as well as adding up my materials cost and calculating my profit. I also can link to my customers in my address book and add supporting documents including invoices and scans of the images. Keep in mind that data fields are easy to create, customize, and move around. You can create whatever layout may best suit your needs.

Bento 3 added the feature of thumbnail grid view, which as a visual person I love. I can easily scroll through my images. This search function also works well for finding items and there’s an additional spread sheet view. The data can easily be exported to programs such as Numbers or Excel for backing up.

Here’s my address book form. It’s fairly basic, but note that it links to works purchased with room for additional notes for how I may have met someone. That’s the overview! Let me know if you have any questions and I’d love to hear how you organize your businesss and inventory.

Ah, and for something a little different, here are some bird studies from the week (with a thank you to Dean Bandes and Kelsang Jorlam for the suggestions). Let me know if there’s one you’d like to see!

Nowadays, my time is stretched between my painting, teaching, correspondence, applications, and general business up-keep. While considering new habits for my routine, I’ve come across two inspiring blogs: Daily Routines (how creative-types organize their day) and Zen Habits (simple productivity). 

My current ideal day:

5am: wake-up and exercise (running or heading out for an early swim) followed by a leisurely breakfast where I plan my most important tasks of the day. 

7am – 10am: Art making. I warm up with a bird study and continue on with my other projects. I often work on multiple pieces at once so I’m occupied while my washes dry.

10am: Email check and correspondence

11:30am: Lunch followed by nap! A 30 minute nap can be so refreshing. 

1am – 5pm: Misc. work, email check at 4pm, and I try to end my day with empty inboxes. 

Evenings are for fun! I enjoy reading, movies from the library, and there’s nothing like a hot bath on a winter’s night.

Birds of the past week- I’m enjoying waterbirds! 

With the move and new year, I’ve been cleaning my office and studio and re-establishing my productive patterns and routines that I depend on to complete my projects. I want to share a few of my favorite resources and tools that I find particularly helpful. Twyla Tharp’s book, The Creative Habit, helps me reflect on my creative process and the importance of practice. Getting things Done, by David Allen, has inspired me to organize my studio and office and think about the flow of task and ideas from my inbox to realization and completion. Complementing that, is the new “Things” task management program. Finally, some specific routines that I love are waking up early (ideally before 6am), exercising daily (helps me sleep), and having a creative moment first thing in the morning. For me, these are currently my “bird of the day” cards which give me the opportunity to learn some thing new and play with my paints. I’ve included a couple of my latest below.

C: Concentration     P: Preparation     R: Rest

I think this applies in various degrees to how I work during the cycle of days, months, and years. During periods of concentration, I am either in the field paintings or focused in my studio, working productively. During periods of preparation, I’m doing things like applying for opportunities, organizing my finances, and updating my website. And finally, with rest, I try to kick-back and relax. It’s sometimes easier said than done!

Lately I’ve been in an overall period of preparation and I’m allowing myself recognize that I’ve been working, but not completing as many finished paintings as I’d like to. There have been big changes in my home/studio environment, and I’ve been adapting to them. My brother and his partner moved to Singapore (we’d been living all together for 2 years) earlier this month, I reorganized my studio/office into a much more workable space (I love having more work surfaces!), and my boyfriend and I have been making plans for our future this fall when we will have to move. Meanwhile, though, I have been exploring mediums, making studies, and developing plans for future exhibitions. I’m delighted to announce that I have two scheduled for this Fall: Mithun Architecture firm will exhibit of my North Cascades field and studio work this November 14 through January and I will also show work (T.B.A.) at the lovely Laurelhurst Community Center. Deadlines are useful tools and with these plans made, I feel myself ready to shift gears into a period of concentration for painting. I’m excited about the material I have and am also starting an advanced watercolor painting class at Gage Academy with Tom Hoffman which will give me support and inspiration from other artists.

After looking back on my mixed media/conté crayon pieces, I’ve decided to complete a series and look for a fun venue to exhibit them in. Today I finished another and now have a total of eight with more in progress.

Have a great weekend! I’m off to Orcas Island tomorrow for the wedding of a dear friend.

I’ve reorganized my indoor studio and it’s quite exciting. A few days ago I looked at my set-up with a critical eye and realized that my computer/office space dominated the room. It made art-making more challenging with finding materials and keeping everything neat. Now everything is much better with my office tucked in a corner and my studio utilizing the wide open area. I have lots of surfaces to work on, some of which fold (I have an Ikea Norden folding table which a convenient space saver), as well as some new furniture from my housemate who has just moved to Singapore. One is a small 4 drawer cabinet that I’ve put on wheels that I will use as a taboret, an additional tabletop, and I just purchased a used drafting table on craigslist. I’m ready to paint! On the organizing note, I also made myself a new sketchbook that I’m delighted with. I took an old 3 ring binder and cut out the spine to customize. I covered two pieces of scrap mat board with some Canson Mi-Teinte paper I had in my studio and used book binding tape to attach them to the spine. The result is a sketchbook/notebook that I can customize the contents of with interesting papers (I bought a heavy duty hole punch today as well). As much as I love hard bound and spiral bound sketchbooks, too many of them only end up 1/3 full… now I can can use the extra sheets in my new binder. I think it’s a great solution.