The clean, colorful design caught my eye. Then I noticed the artistic creativity. Very nice! You could have some fun with these.
Turns out “it” is a good-looking new app from Martha Stewart (still very much the reigning Queen of Practical-Made-Clever). So if you have an iPhone or iPad, and you’re the crafty type, this could be right up your alley. 101 egg-dying ideas, with how-to’s.
And you have to admit, those are some mighty handsome easter eggs!
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.
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.
Polka Dots … because they’re happy.
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!
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.
Everybody’s Irish on March 17…
And everybody knows the Irish are lucky! So you might want to “go green” with a new tote and mug featuring Week 29 of “52 Weeks of Peace”… a cool way to help spread the message of peace and harness some celtic good luck!
(available through cafepress/saxtonboutique)
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!
© Patricia Saxton
Maybe because I’m in the thralls of illustrating another book, or maybe because of a letter I recently received from a Savannah College of Art student .. or maybe that combined with the Teen Arts Show I critiqued last night… or maybe, it’s just me and that thoughts of illustration are never far off and it seems a good time to say a few things.
So here we go.
Illustration is about illustrating. No kidding, you say. But unless you’re talking about technical illustration, or maybe medical illustration (although, to be fair, even within these more structured realms you’ll find varying degrees of expression) illustration is really about the illustrating of ideas.
It’s not about drawing or painting, tools, colors or style. These have a gigantic impact ~ but alone, they do not tell the story.
In the old days, to illustrate literally meant “to illuminate”. I like to think of illustrating as a creating a visual voice. So, while drawing may be the most common foundation, illustrations need to say something. Explain. Expound. Express. Something pertinent.
I spent countless hours of my youth drawing. Everything in sight. I knew I had “talent”, but didn’t think I was “creative”. Give me a toaster and I’d draw the best damn toaster you’d ever seen. But could I make the toaster clever? Could I make it intriguing, or would it just be a fine toaster? I had doubts.
Then one day the veil broke. Or maybe it was a dam. Either way, I passed through “ability” into a place where creativity flowed more freely.
It might work the other way around for some people, but however we get there, an illustrator needs to a.) think conceptually and b.) have command of their style(s) so that their work exhibits a steady, reliable quality.
A sense of design is also marvelously valuable (how will an illustration look on a page in relation to text and/or other elements?).
Being dependable and trustworthy is another handy trait, especially if one wants repeat work.
And then, you need to pack a sense of humor in your bag ~ not necessarily towards the art itself (unless meant to be funny), but towards the process… because things happen, people happen, emotions happen, mistakes happen. Half of life (if not more) is attitude.
Now for the show… Just a handful of some well-known (and fantastic) illustrators who’ve consistently made great work, paved the way, inspired others, touched lives and even earned a living doing so.
What would the world be without paint?! Whether you’re an artist or an appreciator, life without paint would be a lot less interesting. So … why not … paint something?!
Paint a wall. Paint a chair. Paint a picture. Paint a story. Paint a dream.
Not good with a brush? Here’s the really fun part ~ you don’t have to paint a thing. You can paint in your mind. Paint with your imagination. Slather on some color with sweeping mental brushstrokes. Dab the corners, glory in the details, add some highlights, make it as bold or as subtle as you want. Go ahead! Get messy. Paint from your heart and let those pigments passionately permeate your world. Paint your day a new color.
Problems might still be there when you’re done (unless you’ve managed to paint them away…!)… but you’ll probably come at them with a refreshed point of view. And if nothing else, you’ll have had a fun break.
