Loads of changes, new beginnings and the party never ends....

I have no idea where to start.  I've moved three times at least since the last posting.  Life had change exponentially and now I'm focused on pottery and ceramics.  I still have my manuscripts and paints etc but I simply don't have brain space for these things on a daily basis -

Somehow pottery affords me head space.  We knew?  So here I sit prepping for a firing.  I've learned a bit from some local pottery classes, learned extensively from research  on the net and at the library and after three years- my throwing is acceptable.  Experiments abound - my latest run is about 28 cups being used for throwing/finish practice - extended into glaze tests and glazing practice.

Recently I found a potters group on Periscope and I'm very excited.  I've been searching for a potters community with live people.  I'm on several online groups but you don't see them or hear their voices.  Mostly you don't get too chat - not that periscope is fantastic for this but I'm getting there.

I tried to upload the photos for the new firing but alas - I'm too rusty on blog-ville.

Come join me on Twitter and periscope.#pottersofperiscope. Or FB  I'm not the best social media princess - it's all a learning curve....every moment

Thursday Progress

Acrylic Underpainting - Melissa Mead 2012

This is a portion of something I'm in progress with....

Thursdays Progress

This is a sketch in Planning for a current project.  Pencil on Paper

Still some tweaking here and there and the fight with the hand (because I wasn't LOOKING).  I love posting here as I see mistakes more clearly.  I am really excited about seeing this in oils...

SARK TUESDAY: Willingness

On Forrestry Side of the Grabouw Country Club Dam 2012

SARK:  Willingness is the ability to move without proof.  Willingness is the cupcake for yet another FUNdraiser.

MMinP:  For this to make the most sense please read this... From Facebook:

Earth. We are one.

Sunday

There should have been a story about a professor - a mayonnaise jar, golfballs, pebbles, sand and beer.  My most FAVORITE part is that the golf balls represent your most important things like family AND YOUR PASSIONS.  Your passions aren't relegated to the pebbles or even down to the sand (these being those things that you must fit into your life like doing the grocery shopping and paying bills).  The other best thing is the reminder that there's always time for getting together with friends....

My personal story on this is that I am WILLING to keep moving forward with my art even though I have no proof it's going anywhere or that I'm creating anything...  I think about it everyday.  I make plans for it everyday in many ways.  I even get pencil to paper often.  At the moment I am willing to leave this "as is" while supporting my husband moving through his rehab and getting stronger everyday and before we know it life will be into another semblance of moving forward.  Then the paint will begin to flow again!

I'm no longer willing to do the cupcakes though....not even painted ones.

What are you willing to do for your creative dreams?

SARK TUESDAY: Surprises

Snail trails in a tidal pool: Melissa Mead Photograph 2012

SARK:  Creative dreams LOVE surprises!  We can become so accustomed to our routines that we forget about the JOY of surprises or the unexpected.  What new surprises can you arrange for?

MMinP:  I've had a few surprises in the past few weeks.  They've upset the holy cods waddle out of my routines.  The first surprise was my husband's accident.  He injured his knee while playing soccer and needed to have surgery to reconstruct the damaged ligament.  The next thing was a change to our homeschooling plans - meaning that some weeks I may only have two days to work instead of three.  AND of course there was the school break thrown in for good measure! That wasn't a surprise but it JOYOUSLY changed our routines.

I like surprises in my creative process - as in starting a painting/drawing with a solid idea and having it evolve to a totally unexpected completion.  I like that.  I like the surprises of meeting someone and finding they like stuff that I like.  Otherwise - I don't really like surprises.  I like to know what I'm eating, where I'm going and what I'll be doing next Tuesday.  My husband likes to offer me food thinking I'll taste it without asking.  I ALWAYS ask.  He eats things like tongue, kidneys, giblets etc. (no thanks :).  Don't get me wrong - I like change.  Change is good - surprises...well....they upset my gyroscope.

Please bear with me while I reset my gyroscope for the next quarter.  My husband should be back on track in the next few weeks.  I know I missed last week - my apologies - but really, between the sniffles and doctors appointments and the usual things in life, blogging was just not going to happen.  SURPRISE :D

Thursday Progress

Mixed Media Quilted Giraffe - Melissa Mead 2012

This quilted giraffe was a card for my mom.  She likes giraffes and she's a quilting fanatic.  She took part in:  Quilts That Helped Us Heal a 9/11 initiative.  I put the two loves together and tried for a painted version based on some ideas from the quilts she's made for my family.  Luckily she loved it.

SARK TUESDAY: Acknowledging

Z's creative dreaming moment.  Melissa Mead - Photograph 2012

SARK:  The process of living our creative dreams is AS important (or more) than the progress.  We often become overly focused on the outcomes and conclusions.  Acknowledging your process is a power-full way to support your creative dream-living; it gives weight and wonder to your work.

MMinP:  I asked for a card that would give me insight into balance.  As family life hits a high and creative has to swing low for the balance I am concerned about keeping up with my blog/painting/illustration/learning etc.

I don't know what I'm worried about though....we have found a great balance and already I have been given the time to work in my studio to make up for what was missed last week.  If I could make one positive, affirming statement to acknowledge my creative dream life it would be:  There is time for all that I make time for - I chose to make studio time and family time.

My creative dream is "in Progress"...it IS the combination of family and creative endeavors.  Or...Creative endeavors combine family..... hmmmm

What is your positive, affirming statement?  -Play with it....

Thursdays Progress

Pen sketch of Lily  Melissa Mead 2012

I made this little sketch of my collie dog while she slept on the floor near me.  I've always want to sketch my collie dogs.  There's a famous artist who painted his dog sleeping - its a very abstract oil painting - I loved it the moment I saw it.  I saw the painting several years ago I can't remember either where I saw it or the name of the artist...pity.

I really have been enjoying my creations - much of the angst I used to feel is mostly subsided and I can just get on with getting on - instead of procrastinating from fear! (as per the SARK TUESDAY: Procrastination),  Every time I see this little sketch I want to take my doggies out for a walk!  Maybe soon I will get her Momma sketched.....

SARK TUESDAY: Procrastination

Completion of Winter Sports, (best in sport medals):  Photograph by Melissa Mead 2012

SARK:  Many of us use time to procrastinate instead of experiencing completion.  The favorite word of procrastination is "LATER".  Shift to saying "NOW" more often.

MMinP:  Well now I think it's important to look at the story behind the procrastination.  Is it because you are actually trying to get too much done and it's your subconscious saying...whoa - give me a break.  Is it fear of completing a task that will get you closer to the dreams you dream?

This is close to my heart because as a mother of young children I always felt that I wasn't getting anything done and when I did have a moment I'd be so dazed and dumbfounded that I'd waste that time.  Was I wasting it?  I actually needed the break.  Now that my kids are a little older (still quite young though) I have more moments of time for me.  I find many opportunities to procrastinate.  And I indulge often.  What I miss most at the end of the day/week is that feeling of completion.

Perhaps, procrastination is a signal to self that we need to think a little deeper about what's important to accomplish and also take seriously our need for time out.  Time out is a time to create dreams and allow the dust to settle from our endeavors.  Completion makes new roads to the destination of our dreams.

Procrastination is only a bad thing when it's a habit that we forget we can actually change.  Balance is everything.

Thursday Progress

Illustration for IF: Suspend.  Mixed Media: Melissa Mead

Illustration Friday had the topic Suspend. This illustration is my very own from beginning to end.   Thank you Pia Drent for your help in refining the idea.

SARK TUESDAY: Celebrating Mistakes

MTO Forest Path Grabouw, South Africa

SARK:  From our "mistakes" comes some of our richest material for our creative dreams.  Every mistake is a teacher and can lead to new success....

MMinP:  What do you say about mistakes?  They are REQUIRED.  How does the quote go? "if you aren't making mistakes your aren't living" (If you know the owner of who said that please let me know?).  There is also the great quote:"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein

I remember asking my mom if she could make me a dress that I could see in my imagination.  I couldn't find a pattern for it even after ages of searching the catalogues (yes - the days before search engines - can you imagine!!).  She told me it couldn't be done.  I was really frustrated.  I had loads of these experiences throughout my life.  What I've learned is that ANYTHING can be done.  It's a matter of putting in the effort to find the way.  I think at that point in time my mom - to her credit - realized it was an adventure she wasn't willing to embark on being a working mother etc.

I would like to encourage you to explore Edna Fourie's gallery and story.  Amazing to say the least.  You can find it here.  I walked into this gallery and felt something so strong I can't explain.  There were two paintings so moving that I found myself in tears.  Both had a similar beginning - the canvases had been left in the attic where owls decided to roost.  They were soiled with owl poo.  What a mistake... ?? Ms Fourie saw something in the markings and decided to paint on them anyway.  I love this "mistake".

I think they should be called mini-searches.  Mistakes are more like moving searches in our steps forward up the mountain of realizing our dreams.

How are you feeling about your mistakes these days?

Thursdays Progress

Illustration: "Tall"  Melissa Mead 2012 Watercolour and gouache

This is my Illustration Friday from last week.  I barely finished it in time - I'm still not yet ready to start posting on the site but at least I can participate in my own way on my blog.  This is my first attempt at the Boabab tree.  I find it an awesome tree from so many respects.  It is truly a tree of life.  Lumbering below in the shady twilight the lonely bull elephant seeking a cool spot for the evening....both tall.

SARK Tuesday: Call or Reach out for Good Things

Experiments in Natural Pigments - photograph from homeschooling. Melissa Mead 2012

SARK:  We are surrounded by such goodness, and in times of fear or resistance, we can rapidly forget that our creative dream life exists to keep us nourished with goodness.

MMinP:  I think the most important thing to remember in each and every moment is that we can choose to stay where we are with what we have or we can choose something else.  It's easy enough to say/write.

I get to practice the act of calling or reaching out for Good Things daily as I balance my ever changing array of hats (woman, wife, mother, artist....).  I find that when I reach out for something positive and supportive it makes everything so much clearer.  Often we reach for that which will allow us to continue the drama or fear or resistance - hanging onto the truth of the fear.   Is that REALLY true?  Really?  Have I really not worked hard enough, organized properly, practiced enough etc?  Really?

Think about it now and the next time you are in a state of fear or resistance.  When there seems no way forward.  Where do you reach?  Does that which you reach out for pull you forward or dance you around and leave you where you are breathless and not much further?

You can always reach for Planet SARK's "marvelous message boards" or go for a walk (with or without another person).  Or you can distract yourself with all manner of useless garbage - usually leaving you in the same spot.

Sometimes I reach for the dance but I'm getting much better at moving forward.  I often talk to a friend get out into nature or start writing.  Sometimes it takes all of that plus a bit more.    How do you reach out?

20minutes Figure Exercise

This was a quick 20minute exercise in figure drawing (quickly becoming my favorite kind of exercise...you know versus physical exercise).

Exercise sketch from D. Michie's Photograph 2008.  Graphite on Paper - Melissa Mead 2012 NFS

I used D. Michie's gorgeous black and white as my "exercise" for today.  I'm working on a few things from proportion to shading to ....okay everything a usual.  I'm really happy with the energy of the lines and the proportions. - There's obviously more work that COULD be done but...for 20minutes I'm happy.

SARK TUESDAY: Transforming Fears

Family and Friends helping each other through a challenge.  Photo by Melissa Mead

SARK: FEARs have the ability to become so real that we can become paralyzed by them.  Creative dreams can quickly expand through transforming fear.  Describe a fear [you have about living your creative dream].  Expand [that fear till it becomes the worst possible outcome].  Call in the strongest part of you [to respond to that fear with practical reassurance].

MMIP:  Fear....hmmmm a toughie.  Sometimes we are held back by unseen/unconscious fears.  I think those are the hardest.   I'm working through a fear of missing what is coming to meet me.  I can feel a change coming...but what is it?  It sure is taking a long time to come - is it ever going to get here?  Will I be in the bath and miss it?  My biggest fear is looking so urgently to the future that I'm actually missing the now.

A short original poem:

F - futile
E - emotions
A - awaiting
R - redirection

I just made that up....I think it's well expressed however and shifts it from a big dark monster to something simpler.  Easier to find your courage through redirecting fearful emotions?

Are you also struggling with this enigmatic sense of expectation?  Are you afraid/excited/apathetic?

Well - if you are excited and expectant - check in Thursday for an update on what's been happening in the studio....

SARK Tuesday: Clock of Forgiveness

SARK:  This clock doesn't keep time, but gives it to you in the kindest measure.  You now realize that time is entirely your perception and there is always enough.

MMinP:  When I can relax and remember the clock of forgiveness...it works brilliantly.  When I need the space to just stop "should-ing" all over myself - the clock is there.  For example:  I should practice this art lesson or take that class, clean the kitchen, do the laundry, attend to the kids (who are happily playing their own self involved game!).  A deep breath in and long out breath followed by doing something I really WANT to do.  Like just sitting and scribbling or actually painting anything...  Suddenly it's as if the world stands still for the time it takes for me to have this pause.

Usually everyone survives without me.  Everything is still waiting to be done/accomplished.  I find setting my timer allows me to totally submerge into this timeless space.  I stop fretting about forgetting to get my children to sport or start dinner etc.  I completely fall into the doing of my task - fine tuning little profiles of babes, how to make a hand and fingers that look like little fingers.  My mind clears long enough to write a sentence or idea for the Picture Book challenge of 12x12.

When my time is up - I'm so happy.  Calm, relaxed.  Better than anything - I'm energized -  Whoopie!  Why don't I do this more?  I always wonder.  Then the long to-do list punctures the bliss.  Oh yes.  I must be productive-(do all those things people expect I should do).  WHY?

That's another post for another day....or maybe more than one post....

Use the clock of forgiveness - come back and share your experience.  I might start living on CoF time instead of GMT+2.  Maybe I'll get more accomplished!

SARK Tuesday

SARK: Courage to let loose the wonders inside. Our creative dreams expand brilliantly with this courage activated. Open your heart now to let loose the wonders inside you... MMInP: I drew this card today and immediately thought...Yeah Right. How many times does an artist let loose only to face a backlash of fear from others. Some folks recommend that you remember to let loose in safe company. This is a good idea. In some ways I think this is why so many of us blog. We know we have something to share... It's also a very good idea to remember those who have inspired you in your life journey. Remember how that person said or did something that gave you hope or even more? Well- what IF your courage to let loose your wonders were to inspire, give hope or other wonderful things to another person? What if it changed someone's life for the better just because you had the courage to let loose? What do you think the world might look like then? It's such a vulnerable place. Such a deeply human place. NOTE: this post is missing links and photos due to a failure in the hard drive of our computer. We are hoping for a full repair by next week -at which time this will be edited and linked!

Thursday Progress

Today's post is going to start with  a tiny book review!  The Wizard is a children's picture book written by Children's Poet Laureate Jack Prelutzsky and beautifully illustrated by the talented Brandon Dorman.

The Wizard is adapted from a story originally published in 1976.  Mr. Prelutsky's rhyme combined with Mr Dorman's illustrations make this story a real page turner as the book opens you are invited into a seemingly ordinary suburban cul-de-sac with one very odd house at the end.  The wizard stands at his window deciding what to do that day when he spies a bullfrog...  There is a lovely surprise ending and the duo of Prelutzsky and Dorman leave the young reader with curiosity instead of fear as you turn the pages to discover what evil deeds the wizard is up to.

I found Mr. Dorman's illustrations so perfect for practicing my Make Your Marks Make Your Splashes water colour sessions run by Mark G. Mitchell.  Here are two of my attempts to copy digital art with traditional media.  They are thumbnails of the larger version I'm working on.

The Wizard my version from Brandon Dorman's work NFS -this was a leaning purposes only exercise

The Bullfrog my version from Brandon Dorman's work. NFS - stricktly for learning purposes

I'm very pleased with these two.  There are some imperfections but it is about learning and improvement.  Let's see how the big picture works out...

I'd love to hear from you!

SARK Tuesday: YES and NO

Still Bay Rock Pools - Photo Melissa Mead

SARK:  With regard to your creative dreams, what would you like to say YES more often too?  What would you like to say NO to more often?

MMinP:  A friend of mine once told me the story about the big rocks and the little rocks.  (Hey.. - April Draft Idea!!)  Okay - back to YES/NO.  A few years ago I was struggling to "do it all".  So my friend gave me this story about how you've got big rocks (priorities) and little rocks (all the little stuff -like grocery shopping) and you have to put them all in a jar.  Now if you put in the little rocks first you can't fit in all the big ones.  But - if you put in all the  big rocks first, all the little ones will fit.  (This comes from a popular motivational speaker whom I do not know his name because my friend couldn't recall - please if you know leave it in the comments and I will edit this post!)

It's been a few years, like I said, but I still can't get all my rocks in even if I shake the heck out of my jar.   I've got a new policy this year.  I made a notebook of goals.  I broke the goals down into month size pieces.  I put the notebook away on a shelf I walk past a million times a day.  I look in it at the beginning/end of the month to check what's done what to push into the next month etc.  I sometimes check in the middle of the month to remind me what I can do in the small moments.

Doing this has really helped me prioritize and see just HOW full my jar is.   I think everybody wants a bigger jar or maybe we want less rocks.  Either way my goal book helps me say NO to more rocks and YES to what is important to me.  I'm the only one who can say "no" to more small rocks and "YES" to the rocks that rock my world!

How do you fit all your rocks in?   (mine fall out sometimes :D)

New Facebook Page

I have been working out HOW to incorporate all my new changes into my blog and social media.

Still Life with apples and arum lilies - Melissa Mead

Thus far I've decided to embrace the "in Progress" portion of my title and put everything onto this blog.  Also I've made a New Facebook Page for MMinP.
The blog will be a place where I put "regular" entries - ie: Tuesday Sark and Thursday Progress.  I will work on getting a Children's Writing and Illustration Day worked into the mix as well.

The MMinP Facebook page will be for more spontaneous things and also for bits and bobs that I don't know how to fit into the "blog box".

Please visit the new page - there are already a few things there.