Staying in the Flow

When we're making art, we're in a change process. The paint or yarn or beads we work with change in front of us as we make a brushstroke, throw the shuttle and beat the weft, or thread on a new bead. Everything shifts from moment to moment.

This play is a big part of the wonderful energy we feel when we make art. Often we like the progression. Sometimes we don't. What happens with you when things are not looking the way you want them to? When that green you just used somehow throws the balance off in the work you're doing.

Part of your response will depend on how well you manage your inner critic. The critic loves pinches in the artistic process, and will seize them and become merciless with it's yammering. When this has happened to me, I have tended to freeze. The part of my brain that registers fear or anxiety gets triggered, and often in the past I have had to stop working.

This part of the brain is called the amygdala. It is responsible for fight, flight and freeze responses. It's quite useful at times, but not when making art. When this part of the brain gets activated, our decision-making becomes compromised. We actually temporarily LOSE IQ points, making solutions to that glob of green impossible to find.

There is a way to short-circuit this fear or anxiety response, and dive back into the creative flow. It is simply to breathe, 5 seconds in - deep into the belly; 5 seconds out - releasing fully. Breathe deeply and slowly for 5 minutes or more. Your body will start to relax, and you will become centered. You might focus for a moment on how much you enjoy making art. From this place, your thoughtful and reflective brain areas will start to work again.

You will have dissipated the energy of the inner critic and possibilities will begin to appear. You can take a nice refreshing stretch and move right back into the rhythms of weaving, beading or painting. You can come up with a cool way to integrate that gob of green.

How will you remember to do this next time the critic strikes? Practice.

Make it a point to practice slow deep breathing several times throughout the day - when you get up, when you sit down at your computer, when you come to a red light, before you start making art. Remembering to take a deep breathing break when you need the clarity becomes much easier when you make it a habit throughout your day.

How about trying it right now?

Play and Art-making

How much do you play as you make art? What separation exists, if any, between playing and "serious" art making?

I am going to be focusing on the topic of play this year. I know that I want to play more in my artmaking. I feel a distinction, rightly or not, between "serious" topics that demand focus and intention, versus the times I pick up my body tattoo pens or other playthings and have no expectations.

I hope my exploration leads me to discover how I can integrate these two approaches that seem so different, or whether there is indeed a schizm between art for fun and art for purpose, message or meaning.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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What is Your Treasure?

Two years ago construction of a new house was begun on the lot next to ours. I spent two full evenings digging up cactus plants that would have been scraped away and moving them to my front yard. Now each May they bloom prolificly and their fuschia blossoms fill me with joy.

What can you do now, however challenging, that will give you hours of delight later?



We had to remove this nest from the outside grate of our fireplace. Oh, the tenderness of a nest and small speckled eggs! What is your treasure?

Coaching Change

I am always fascinated with the similar patterns that are created by the movement of wind and water on sand, stone, and materials in water. I snapped these photos this week in Rocky Mountain National Park's Fall River in the Endovalley picnic area.


Energy, whether wind, water, or human, causes incremental change - one wave upon another. Then there is a tiny shift, and the pattern continues, reinforced and guided by the previous step.

This is one way the process of change occurs in our lives. Oh, we long for the dramatic, the single moment of enlightenment, being struck blind and undergoing a total conversion. This happens in nature also, witness the hurricane, the earthquake and the horrific upheaval that is left in its wake. Thankfully this type of change occurs less often.


Coaching focuses on change of the incremental variety. This change has the potential to become a lasting pattern of behavior. It is gentle to the spirit and creates its own momentum, making the process flow along with less effort, and almost no destruction.


After a season, one can notice that a new behavior, regular walking, or painting for a time each evening, has become part of the fabric of one's life. All it took to establish was a small amount of energy, applied regularly, over a season of time.

Who Are You Anyway?

This is an important question for artists. The Myers Briggs personality types can provide useful information. For example, do you like to see the big picture? Or perhaps you prefer to take things one step at a time, and only need to know the next couple of steps.

Whether you have difficulties starting a piece of artwork, or more difficulty knowing when it's finished, can be based in your personality type.

Personality types tend to stay constant over one's life. One can choose to act outside of type, such as performers who are introverted in everyday life, but use extraversion when they're on stage. But we never really change our type. I know this, I thought I wanted to be an extrovert for years. It didn't happen.

It is most liberating to accept one's type, and understand your strengths. We are so much more effective and happy when we are playing to our strengths. I tried this at a party recently. Instead of forcing myself to be outgoing, I sat and had a deep conversation with one person. It was very satisfying to both of us. I enjoyed that so much I'm actually looking forward to my next party!

An introverted artist might enjoy writing a blog or posting photos of his or her work, while an extraverted artist would likely thrive on teaching others and giving demonstrations.

As an artist, a detail person (the sensory type) would love working on the meticulous small steps of stitching or bead embroidery. This would drive a big picture person (intuitive type) nuts! When you have unfinished projects, it may be that once you get to the part that requires attention to detail, you lose interest. You may want to look for types of artwork that can be finished quickly, such as paper casting or randomly painting warp yarns and then quickly weaving them off.

On the other hand, the detail oriented person may have trouble finishing a project, because it can always be tinkered with a bit more. Knowing this about yourself allows you to celebrate your love of detail and give yourself a deadline for stopping work on a particular project.

You can take a quick personality type test online here. Click on Jung Typology Career Indicator Test and you can learn which of 16 types you are. Then a google search on your type will let you learn about your type. We're all something, and when we make the most of who we are, we bring our unique gifts into the world.

Honoring Creative Ideas

What is your relationship with your creativity? The images, the materials, the subjects that come to you asking to be made visible? Are you able to cherish them, nurture them and be grateful? Even when you don't understand them?

I am just starting to be receptive to those ideas that come to me and seem bizarre. I used to question them, oftentimes so much so that they never came to fruition. Try as I might, I am just not cut out for conventional work. I admire it, but what comes to me is something else.

This is a gut "doll" I made. I wasn't very pleased with her until I was looking for an image to express my sorrow over the potential extinction of so many species. Then she was perfect.

Another strange idea that came to me during a tapestry class I took at Penland School of Arts and Crafts was to make a bowl using Cheerios™ as beads. I did, and it actually sold in the auction at the end of the session. This is a later vessel, using MultiGrain Cheerios™. I love the rough texture of Cheerios™ and the weight and flexibility of the vessel.I went on to use the MultiGrain Cheerios™ in a beadweaving project. This piece is called "Demeter Celebrating Grain." The colors are the natural color of the cereal. I admit that I questioned all of these pieces. They are all made of materials that cannot be made permanent without destroying their best characteristics. I have since made dolls stuffed with rocks and had other non-traditional ideas that I have not tried. Does this sound familiar?

A year ago, I had another desire come to me and I just finished a sample. I am beginning to accept that, for me, this is art. I have tried to weave and quilt and print fabrics but these quirky things keep coming along and making me oddly joyful as I start to embrace and celebrate them.

What is whispering to you? When you follow the tugs, I bet you'll find yourself grinning inside.