March 28, 2011 In art, communication, design By Patricia Saxton

A Plethora of P's / #14: "Pause"

Stop. Take a breath. Take three breaths. Nice and deep. The world will still be spinning, so go ahead. Pause.

I know I’m not alone feeling like the “on” button gets stuck sometimes. It’s “one thing after another”. Go here, do this, get that, call there. Sit, stand, walk, talk, think, plan. Wash, clean, fix, organize. Take out the trash. Make more.

Well, this is just a reminder that to pause is good. This isn’t news, but something true enough, and worth repeating.

So do it ~ take a break! Pause to stretch, take a walk, look out a window, smell a blade of grass. Pause to watch the clouds roll by. Pause to feel your pulse. Pause to find a brighter thought.

Pauses soften life. And they’re more efficient and rejuvenating than they get credit for. They help keep things from colliding – things like conversations and ideas. Pausing between meals avoids the discomforts of gluttony. And of course there’s the wise advice of counting to ten before letting your temper loose. Pausing is smart AND good.

So pause the laundry, the tv, the radio, the news, the internet, the email. Pause the to-do’s and have-to’s. Just a pause… a breath, a moment to collect, to reconnect and just be.

Be still.

Then you can hit the “play” button again.

 

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March 26, 2011 In appreciation, business By Patricia Saxton

"Please Like Me"

It’s the new phrase everyone’s using on Facebook, and every time I hear it I can’t help but think of Sally Fields, accepting her Oscar in 1985 and girlishly exclaiming, “You like me, you really like me!”

It’s something everyone wants. From hoping you don’t get chosen last for the 2nd grade baseball team, to full-fledged grown-up-dom hoping for a fist full of friends you can count on … I guess it’s just human nature to want to be liked.

But now it’s taken on new meaning. In addition to the classic human desire, there’s now the business desire to rack up “likes” on your Facebook Page.

It’s not so much about ego though ~ it’s about getting noticed in the sea of stuff vying for everyone’s attention. It’s about visibility. Those search engines like “likes”. So with more “likes”, the search engines take note and help remove the cloak of invisibility by sharing more fervently. And while surprisingly easy to do (and completely painless, I might add), it can go some distance for helping out the little guy (or gal). It’s a kind of marketing currency, except it’s free.

So let me go ahead and unabashedly ask ~ if you’re already part of Facebook, and you like my work, please go over to my new FB Artist Page and “like” me. I’d be grateful! I might even feel like Sally Fields.

And please remember that everyone wants to be liked. So, this isn’t just about me (although, now that I think of it … have you gone and “liked” my page yet? 8) … ).  Seriously, if you want to show your support for someone out here in cyberspace – an artist, a musician, a small business, and sure, even the big ones… take the two seconds to hit the like button. It’s a vote of confidence that they’ll appreciate!


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March 25, 2011 In words and language By Patricia Saxton

OMG! Oxford English Dictionary Gets Hip

Although it’s probably not cool to say “hip”, you know what I mean. And the Oxford English Dictionary is, apparently, now the hippest bona fide dictionary around. They’ve given themselves a literary up-do by adding the graphic symbol ♥. Yes, they did.

The ♥ symbol will go beside the word “heart”, listed as a verb meaning ‘to love’. How ’bout that. The ♥ symbol will be a WORD!  Of course, I’m wondering how this will affect my scrabble game… but never mind that… because that’s not all they’ve done.

They’ve also added:

OMG: expressing astonishment, excitement, embarrassment, etc.: ‘oh my God!’ (just in case you were living under a rock and didn’t actually know…)

Dotbomb: an internet company which has become bankrupt or ceased to operate; a failed or unsuccessful dotcom (alrighty then …)

Ego-surfing: the practice of searching on the Internet for mentions of one’s own name or the name of one’s business, website, etc. (I’ve never done this… but if I do, I’ll know what to call it.)

LOL: (please tell me you know this one.) (hint: it’s not “Little Old Lady”.)

Muffin top: a roll of flesh which hangs visibly over a person’s (especially a woman’s) tight-fitting waistband (seriously?)

Scrunchy: a wrinkled appearance (and I thought it was a hair tie thingy.)

Singledom: single people (how clever?)

Storming: great, excellent, marvelous (right on.)

Tasty: violent, good at fighting (this is not appetizing.)

Wags: wives and girlfriends of professional football players

Yuck factor: a feeling of horror, revulsion, or disgust generated by an idea, action or situation (okay, but wouldn’t this be more like Valley Girl speak?)

This is all so, like, I dunno, like, okay, so like … okay OMG, like I don’t know whether I should be ROFL, LMAO or SMDH.

Or maybe I’ll just pretend it never happened. “Whatever.”

If you want to read more about this titillating detour from respectable linguistics, here’s a great article by Christian Tappe from the Washington Examiner.  As Mr. Tappe says, “The Oxford English Dictionary’s new entries are all like totally bloggable.”   ……. ♥

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March 23, 2011 In appreciation, art, illustration, inspiration By Patricia Saxton

Lessons from Daffodils

It snowed last night. We’d all hoped it wouldn’t, and that spring might have been here to stay. It’s March though, so not a huge surprise.

But what about the daffodils? They were almost full grown, and while I knew they’d “weather the storm”, I still felt kinda sorry for them.

And in the same breath, I felt admiration. They’ve got looks, delicacy and toughness all wrapped up. We could learn a lesson or two from the daffodil.

Maybe it would be to rest in winter, allowing our roots to replenish.  And after the cold weary days have dragged on… and on …, be the first to send out hope, defiantly and boldly sprouting up in February’s first light.

And maybe then, ignoring naysayers who suggest “it’s too soon, nobody else is growing yet”, or “don’t you know something bad could happen?”, or “silly daffodil, such a dreamer” … we stand by our conviction. We encourage others. We grow taller. We bask with confidence.

And when the inevitable happens ~ (but is it inevitable? they say it is, so it must be) ~ when the inevitable bad thing showers down upon us (the one we were warned about) ~ we cover our heads, huddle together, look inward and brave it out, the strength from our nourished roots holding us tight. Knowing this will pass. Knowing we’ll stand again, straight and tall. And knowing, that bending in the breeze, we’ll bloom, and share our blossoms with all who pass by.

Some may never notice our brilliance ~ (and we all have some) ~ but a few will notice, and will be the better for it. Perhaps that’s all we can ask for, and perhaps that’s good enough.

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March 17, 2011 In art, branding, creativity, design, graphic design By Patricia Saxton

What's St. Patrick's Day Without Beer?

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing, except to say that it doesn’t have to be green to qualify. (in fact, yea … it’s better if it’s not.)

And so, to honor the day, the Irish, those who want to be Irish, and all who enjoy a good guzzling of design, I’ve pulled together some cool beer bottles to show. Labels are a great canvas for design creativity, and all of these fit the bill.

Feast your eyes on these ~ and have a safe and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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March 13, 2011 In art, creativity, design, inspiration By Patricia Saxton

A Plethora of P's / #12: "Prayer"

I had another “P” word ready for this week, but sometimes plans change. Things out of our control send us in another direction.

We’ve all been watching, living in, or at least are aware of what seems a world gone mad. It’s as though strife and wars and natural disasters have gone into warp speed. If you focus on it, it’s a bit terrifying. But we also have distractions… our lives to live, kids’ lunches to pack, dogs to walk, clothes to wash, deadlines that still need meeting … and while places like the Middle East and Japan and Haiti may visit our homes via satellite, it’s impossible, and not particularly useful, to remain in suspended disillusionment and grief.

At the same time, it’s kind of hard to write about say, typefaces, when you know that an hour north people’s homes are flooded, and an ocean away people are fighting for their lives.

And I can sit here and feel bad that there’s nothing I can do for those in need, a world away, facing unbelievable hardships. Maybe even feel guilty that I’ve just enjoyed a healthy meal and know that I’ll sleep in my own bed tonight. I can think that whatever I’m doing, even in writing this, is completely meaningless in light of catastrophic events. But these thoughts … don’t serve a purpose either.

I’m not a doctor or a diplomat, a scientist or a farmer. I don’t have wealth to send to those in need. But I can acknowledge. I can care. I can send up prayer.

I’ve never doubted that a higher power existed. I see and feel evidence of spirit everyday; not always in ways that can be described in factual detail…. and I suppose that has something to do with “faith”. Sometimes it’s a leap, and sometimes a simple step, a shift in thought. But 2 things are clear to me: prayer can be very powerful, and the world we live in sure needs a big dose.

I  wouldn’t pretend to prescribe how to pray, or to whom or what… but I feel that it can be a wish, a thought or an all out religious cantation. It can be drumming, chanting, song, dance. It can be meditation, or painting. However it occurs, and for however long (or briefly) it lasts, you feel it in your bones; your heart expands. At its most effective, it penetrates time and the mundane and becomes a state of consciousness in which you connect to divine energy… and there lies its power ~ accessible, I personally believe, to all who are willing to go there with good intentions.

Prayer is love, wrapped in hope; hope wrapped in love. It works in mysterious ways, and while it needn’t be reserved “for emergency only”, there are a lot of devastated people in the world right now in need of our prayers.

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March 7, 2011 In art, creativity, design, illustration, imagination, inspiration, words and language By Patricia Saxton

A Plethora of P's / #11: "Practical"

Measuring, cutting, hammering, nailing. Planning each step. Following through. Useful logic. …There’s a rhythm, and a rhyme, in being practical.

Sure, sometimes we want to throw caution to the wind and go full throttle on instinct, or feel the thrill of standing on the edge. We need to dream dreams. And everyone should dance in the rain at least a few times in life.

But when it gets right down to the nuts and bolts of living, it wouldn’t be very practical to, oh, let’s say, wash the dishes while jumping on a pogo-stick, or fix a hole in the roof with scotch tape. A book doesn’t get written just by thinking about it; food doesn’t cook itself… etc!

So three cheers to the predictable, marvelous dullness of being practical. Three cheers for methods to madness, for light bulbs with proper wattage, and sensible shoes in a bramble patch.

Applause for practical thinking ~ a practically perfect tool!

 

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