Exploring the creativity of the #CreativeLife (Part 3 of 4)

5 ways to start owning up to your creative side

Do you find it easy to own up to being a teacher, or doctor, or engineer? Then find it near impossible to tell people that you are a writer, an artist, or sculptor. Why is having a creative life such a difficult thing to put out there?

Here are 5 ways to rethink your creative life

Keyring with a tiny
illuminated letter L

1. We grow up being told that a creative life is not good enough, we have to study or do something real. Since I only started my creative life as an adult, I was thankfully spared this problem, but studying engineering was definitely not something that most people of my parent's generation considered for a woman. So perhaps I was pushing back already in preparation for the life I am now living.

2. We live in a society of instant gratification. A creative outlet requires dedication, learning, time, and practice. Lots and lots and lots of practice. Which makes the instant “getting it right” not an option, no matter how many hacks, or short cuts, or secret tricks you look for. Skill comes with time, there is nothing instant about it. Without the hacks, people often give up quickly to move on to the next big thing.

3. We compare ourselves to others, thank you social media! There are hundreds (probably thousands) of YouTube, IGTV, Pinterest, and who knows how many other channels of people sharing their own creative projects. Whether it be art or other projects, what you see online is the result of other people's sweat and suffering to gain the skills they can now rightly share with the world. 

Then we pop along and compare our efforts with them, only to decide that we are worthless at watercolour painting, and go try something else, or worse give up entirely. But the internet is also useful, you might say. You would be right, but comparing yourself as a beginner to someone who has been painting for years is simply a waste of energy. If you want to use the internet as a resource to learn, then choose to follow people who are good teachers. Practice what you learn. Every day. And then step up to learn something new. Practice some more. Before you know it your skills have improved.

4. Don't throw away your “failures”. There is a channel I follow where the host says that the medium is just paper and if you don't like the result you can just throw it away. I don't agree.

Keyring with "live inspired"
words and dragonflies
stamped image

I had the first pastel drawing I made framed. It is still hanging in my workshop. The reason I keep it is to see how far I have come in my journey as an artist. If you want to compare yourself to someone, compare your present skills with your past skills, and then appreciate how much you have grown.

I am not saying you have to keep every single drawing, but to have the “failures” on hand can be a huge motivation to keep practising.

5. I am an artist! It took years before I was ready to own up to being a writer. Even after my first book was published, it was difficult to get those words out. After seven years of learning and practising drawing and painting, I am now teaching others to draw and paint as well. They asked, and I decided to say yes because to teach means that I continue to learn and improve my own skills.

Saying the words out loud, even to yourself in the mirror, makes a difference to the way you can live your life. I live a creative life because I choose to do the work. I choose to practice. I choose to teach. And I choose to accept commissions because I am an artist.

Take that step today, because you have a story to write, a story to paint, a story to sculpt, a story to collage. Take the leap, because you are an artist, you deserve to live the creative life you want.

This video is a good place to help you get started.

Stay healthy, and live creatively until Monday!

●︙● Linzé 🇿🇦💜

The #CreativeLife 2021 - review of week 6

An interesting week at the lab where I had to tell a client his product failed (but the fix is on its way so holding thumbs it will pass the test this week) - not fun, but part of the job.

Also, have an interesting situation for the next product where I have to do the same test, but a completely different configuration. Have I mentioned that my professional life is not dull? LOL! I know like a million times, but it is still true though.

The #inktober52 prompt due this week is a drawing of my favourite insect, the dragonfly. I did a dragonfly last year in my Stoic journal where I drew and painted the wings on watercolour paper. I then cut them out, added a gloss layer over them and then glued them into my journal. Looks really cool, so I thought to do something similar. Instead of painting, I did the wings with black ink on tracing paper, cut them out and then glued them to the drawn body on the page of my sketchbook. Check it out on Instagram if you like dragonflies too.

I also made a keyring since I need it for a set of keys I want to keep separate from my already heavy load of keys. It has a tiny piece of art paper inside with an illuminated letter L on one side and some stamping on the other. The next moment I have an order to make 30 more. Gulp! But I look forward to creating more tiny pieces of art, so keep an eye out for that very soon.

But it's time to do some planning for this week (including making those key rings) so I am off and I will see you again soon!

Stay healthy, and live creatively until Thursday!

●︙● Linzé  🇿🇦💜

Exploring the creativity of the #CreativeLife (Part 2 of 4)

 This week we are looking at one aspect of creativity that many people (sometimes) forget about: learning.

I love learning new things, and perhaps you do too. But many people associate learning with school where tests and exams are necessary evils. Like most of us, I didn't like those so much, although gaining the knowledge or the skills were still worth the effort.

The same goes for any creative activity. Even engineers have to think outside the box and that is creativity too.

So what have you learned recently? Maybe you don't even realise that you learned something new or improved a skill that you already possess. Learning to draw or paint is a skill that I didn't have a child. Yes, I have been doing it for about seven years now, but I had to learn to draw and paint.

The more I practice the better my skills get for sure, but the practice also has an added benefit: inspiration. Yes, I know you are thinking that inspiration is for amateurs and there is some truth to it. But improvement comes with practice, learning, and practising some more. And the more you do, the better you see the things around you that can inspire you to challenge yourself to learn more.

Portraits have always been the one thing that scared me so this year I am learning and practising and learning and practising some more. I do not want to become a professional portrait artist, but becoming more skilled at drawing people will help me become a better artist.

If you want to learn to draw but have always been too afraid to try, check out this video, it just might inspire you to pick up a pencil. Be warned, you may never want to put it down again! 😉

Stay healthy, learn something new, and live creatively until Monday!

●︙● Linzé  🇿🇦💖

The #CreativeLife 2021 - review of week 5

 I am sure you are familiar with the expression “it never rains when it pours”, and that is what we have been building up to at the lab since the start of the year. Assessing equipment from various clients to provide them with quotations for the tests that they require for both local and export markets.

It has become a predictable game for us: slow starts and then suddenly almost everyone submits the work at the same time and we are overwhelmed. It is what the rest of this month looks like on my work schedule. Since we have been working nearly all through 2020, it is necessary to also take time to properly plan downtime. Being overwhelmed causes anxiety (at least for me) that can be avoided with a well thought out schedule.

Creativity is not just about art or writing for me, because of this often unpredictability of my work. Of course, planning may seem to be something we do everyday, but thinking about the test schedule instead of jumping in can help to get things done without the anxiety that comes from too much to do, and to little time to get it done.

Getting things done is also satisfying when an ink and watercolour painting now sits in my portfolio, instead of on my drawing board. Not my best work I think, but not finishing it was worse than a few mistakes here and there that I do better on with the next project. Learning is part of creativity, otherwise we stagnate.

Other than mentioning that my monthly newsletter also comes out today, I can report that I am also working on a junk journal of sorts. Stay tuned to see what those pages look when it is done. And it will not be vintage alone, I can promise you that! 😅

Stay healthy, and live creatively until Thursday!

●︙● Linzé 🇿🇦💜

PS: I drew a gryphon for inktober52 this week. I also have a book with a gryphon as the main character. Follow the links if you are curious. 

Exploring the creativity of the #CreativeLife (Part 1 of 4)

 This month we are going explore creativity a bit more. What is creativity and how does it work. We are also going to explore some things that many people do not consider to be a creative activity but when you understand the fundamental idea, you might change your mind too (as I did).

Today we are looking at how creativity is defined by multiple sources.

CREATIVE: “Creating, able to create, inventive, imaginative, showing imagination as well as routine skill.” (Oxford Concise Dictionary, 1983)

CREATIVE: “Involving the use of skill and the imagination to produce something new or a work or art; having the skill and ability to produce something new, especially a work of art.” (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 2015)

CREATIVITY: “Creativity is an action, not a feeling.” (The Practice, Seth Godin, 2020)

Commit yourself to do the work instead of waiting for some feeling to tell you that its time to create. (paraphrased from The Practice)

CREATIVITY: “Creativity, ..., is a process by which a symbolic domain in the culture is changed.” (Creativity, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 2013 ed)

Note: a symbolic domain is described as music, physics, art, etc.

Our daily supply of attention is limited and we need to decided how much of this limited resource we are going to spend on the creative process. Because it is a learning process. We need to learn the fundamentals before we can create something new.

🎻 A musician learns musical notation, instrument skills, understand the genre, then create.

📚 A writer learns what makes for good storytelling, style, grammar, plot, dialogue and so on, and then creates the manuscript.

🎨 The artist learns to draw, how to use the tools, studies styles and techniques, and mediums and then creates. (paraphrased with a few extra examples.)

That's a real mouthful, but next time we will leave the academics behind and explore creativity from a practical perspective.

Stay healthy, and live creatively until Monday!

●︙● Linzé 🇿🇦💜

PS: Newsletter out next Monday.

The #CreativeLife 2021- review of week 4

The week started off all guns blazing or is it all radars scanning? LOL! I am busy testing a golf ball tracking radar, and after carrying it around for a bit on Friday, I can attest to the fact that it is heavy. Good exercise! 😂

   We had our tag challenge due this week and I am happy with how mine turned out. I used a serviette, textured paste with a stencil, and then painted it with gold acrylics to add some accents. The challenge for February is going to be fun too. I created the tag challenge because the tags are small and small projects are less intimidating.

My January tag

   With more work coming in soon, I had to spend some time helping to work out a few quotations for a company that manufacturers a huge range of products. Will be fun to get those products in the lab soon.

   If you read the news recently you will have seen that South Africa was hit by a tropical storm that hit land in Mozambique to the east of us. Where I live we have only been receiving loads of rain, although the parts of the country directly bordering Mozambique have been hit hard by floods and high winds. If you are a praying person, please think of the people who were hit by this disaster on top of the current pandemic.

  

   I promised to keep these posts short, so I am stopping here, for now. In February we are going explore creativity a bit more, so remember to subscribe to be notified when the post is live.

   I am also going to add a link or two from people or websites that you might like to follow if you are a crafter, artist, or creative person who likes to learn new things like I do.

In the meantime you can check out this course about Becoming Creative on Udemy.com (I get no financial benefits if you decide to purchase this course, I just liked it.)

Stay healthy, and live creatively until Thursday!

●︙● Linzé 🇿🇦💜

Eating the elephant - one bite at a time: achieving big goals in the #CreativeLife

 You have probably heard this saying about eating an elephant many times before it is especially true for our topic today. We set big goals for ourselves then procrastinate in working at them.  Maybe they are too overwhelming, or scary, or seem unachievable. But they don't have to be.

Big goals or goals that take time are necessary to challenge ourselves to grow as human beings. Without these challenges, we stagnate as humans. The same goes for creativity. If you don't continue to learn and push outside your comfort zone, you will never become a better artist, writer, sculptor, or poet. Or engineer for that matter.

But these big goals are scary, and they can cause us to become paralyzed in our journey towards achieving them. Although I have been drawing and painting actively for seven years, portraits scare me. And one medium in particular: coloured pencil portraits. I have done ink, graphite, and watercolour portraits without (too much) fear. But something about coloured pencil portraits twists my stomach into knots. So I decided it was time to tackle this goal this year. (There is a deadline attached to this goal, in case you are wondering.)

Since I have some experience in drawing other subjects with coloured pencils (in fact I love them), I had an inkling of where to start. So I made a todo list if you like.

The bitesize steps

Caran D'Ache Luminance pencils on
PrimeArt 265gsm paper

Last week I did step 1 - swatching the set of coloured pencils I want to use. It may sound like a trivial activity, but knowing what the medium looks like on paper, is an important step. But also for me, it helps me to get a feel for the medium. Unlike paints, a dry medium like coloured pencils has direct feedback to your hand from the paper.

Step 2 (planned for the next few days) is to choose the colours and practice with them (applications and blending) on the actual paper I want to draw the portrait. This step is also necessary since I have different types of pencils, each interacting differently with the various paper surfaces.

There are a few more steps in this process to learn to draw a portrait in coloured pencil. My journey towards that big goal is not the same as yours, even if we have the same goal. I suggest that you take a few minutes and plan the steps to achieve that goal, because, in the end, you are going to be ecstatic when you achieve it.

Remember to stay healthy, and live creatively until Monday!

●︙● Linzé  🇿🇦💜

Book feature: TAKAKUSH by Raine Reiter

“A fantastic tale that weaves a spell of ancient mysticism and modern charm." --Tim Marquitz, Author of the Demon Squad series, The Enemy of My Enemy series, and more.

When Professor Elena Lukas returns to her cozy Pacific Northwest hometown with a broken heart, she’s plunged back into the fate she tried to escape. Like her mother and grandmother before her, Elena must now dedicate her life to a powerful ancient Lithuanian goddess. Although she is prepared to live as a priestess hiding in a contemporary tourist town, she arrives to find that a series of so-called animal attacks have terrorized her forest.With the help of a handsome detective from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Elena uses her expertise in invasive and endangered species to identify that these are no normal animal attacks. The woods are stalked by a dark, mystical creature bent on ravaging the area in an attempt to quell its insatiable hunger. When her little sister goes missing, Elena realizes that the beast can only be vanquished if she is brave enough to face it in-person, embrace her identity as a high priestess, and expose her powers to the man she is growing feelings for.Raine Reiter weaves together an empowered, female-centered narrative with rich descriptions of nature and an ever-present sense of mystery. Her vivid, flowing prose takes readers of dark fantasy into a world that looks and feels real, while still evoking the enticing paranormal creativity shared by authors such as Richelle Mead and Kat Richardson.

Book Links:

Goodreads * Amazon.in * Amazon.com

The World of Takakush – Genus Magica Book One

Takakush, the dark contemporary fantasy is the story of Elena Lukas and her family of powerful hereditary priestesses. All four human women manifest a powerful Goddess and practice the old ways of pagan Lithuania. The great powers they possess come with costs.

Mina Lukas, the family matriarch, is the priestess of Zemyna, the Lithuanian Earth Goddess, representing birth, rebirth and renewal. She became a consecrated servant to the deity in her twenties. A world traveler, Mina speaks many languages. Her major gift is healing.

The proprietor of the Swan House Inn and Retreat in the Pacific Northwest, Mina pays bills, raises her teenage daughter, an emerging fire goddess, and cares for her aging mother, Regana, priestess to the goddess of the occult, fate and death.

The goddess gifted Regana with great powers, including transformation and prophecy. She seldom leaves her bedroom, preferring to wander the “Penumbra”, a magical dimension where she is young, powerful and vital. No-one knows the human woman’s actual age, but she appears to be well over one hundred. The old woman’s mental capacity is declining as her individuality merges with her goddess.

Fifteen-year-old Gabby Lukas is a postulate of Gabija, the Lithuanian goddess of the fire. Gabija’s gifted her novitiate with pyrokinesis, the ability to start fires at will. This dangerous gift is emerging and will take practice to control. Goddess Gabija’s nature is assertive, volatile and fiery. She has a temper. Gabby Lukas shares these traits.

Professor Elena Lukas believes she turned her back on her destiny until her fiance cancels their wedding. Broken-hearted, Elena retreats home to her eccentric family. At her birth, her family dedicated her to the Lithuanian Forest Goddess Mediena, but she hadn’t committed to the bond. Elena must decide if she will serve as a priestess and avatar, sealing her powers. Or turn her back and live a normal life. The goddess gifted Elena with a spiritual connection to nature and a raven familiar.

When Elena discovers a series of so-called animal attacks terrorizing her forest. With the help of a handsome detective from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Elena uses her expertise in invasive and endangered species to identify that these are no normal animal attacks. The woods are stalked by a dark, mystical creature bent on ravaging the area to quell its insatiable hunger. 

Author Raine Reiter weaves together an empowered, female-centered narrative with rich descriptions of nature and an ever-present sense of mystery. Her vivid, flowing prose takes readers of dark fantasy into a world that looks and feels real, while still evoking the enticing paranormal creativity shared by authors such as Richelle Mead and Kat Richardson.

Raine Reiter weaves together an empowered, female-centered narrative with rich descriptions of nature and an ever-present sense of mystery. Her vivid, flowing prose takes readers of dark fantasy into a world that looks and feels real, while still evoking the enticing paranormal creativity shared by authors such as Richelle Mead and Kat Richardson.

A fifth generation Washingtonian, Raine lives in the gloomy Pacific Northwest and wanders the rainforest with her silly spaniel, Luke.

Raine Reiter on the Web:
Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Goodreads * Amazon

Giveaway:

1st Prize - $10 Amazon Gift Card

2nd Prize - Paperback Copy of Takakush & a T-shirt

3rd Prize - An eBook Copy of Takakush

Entry Rules:
Enter your answers to the following questions in the Rafflecopter below:

Where did the Lukas family originally come from?

• Zimbabwe
• Jupiter
• Lithuania
• Antarctica

What is our hero, Elena Lukas’ occupation?

• Butcher
• Baker
• Candlestick Maker
• College Professor

 The novel Takakush takes place in what region of the US?

• The Pacific Northwest
• The South
• The Midwest
• The Northeast

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The #CreativeLife 2021- review of week 3

The week started off okay, with work to do and the prospect of a few hours of drawing and painting. I finished the preliminary inking of the bridge painting, and we started adding watercolours on Thursday evening. But on Friday morning things went downhill really fast.

I woke up exhausted. Not that unusual for someone struggling with hypoglycaemia. But what was unusual was that having a good breakfast (low GI cereal, nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, coconut shavings, blackberries and blueberries, mixed with almond milk) had no impact because an hour later I was still feeling crap.

I decided to have coffee and two tiny hotdogs, (these mini rolls are from our local supermarket) spread with vegan butter, peanut butter, and a squish of syrup). Again an hour later, still really tired. Trust me, I was getting worried.

By now, I had tried to write the report of the tests I had done on Wednesday and Thursday, but I couldn't concentrate. Report writing is tedious, but there were still calculations to be done, so I had to concentrate to ensure that I didn't make mistakes. I gave up and decided to work on a simple drawing where I had already done the pencil outline. It helped me to relax, and with no expectations about finishing it, it turned out really well.

Lunch was stir-fried veggies and leftover jasmine rice that I heated up again. I added two eggs for some protein. I was trying to cheat my taste buds into thinking that it was a Chinese takeaway meal. It didn't taste too bad, I have to say.

It was a difficult day, but eventually, my body recovered and I felt okay after dinner. Lots of calories for sure, but the scale did not punish me too much on Saturday morning.

The planning for this week:

1. Finish that report will be my priority and then plan the tests on the next job as soon as I have all the samples and paperwork.

2. Since I usually finish the drawing for the Inktober52 prompt on Sundays, I have to do that as well. The deadline is Thursday, so enough time to get it done. I have found a reference image, I just have to do the drawing. I finished the outline yesterday.

3. For our art session on Thursday evening, I want to finish the bridge painting, but I will see how far everyone's progressed, to not work too fast.

Take care, stay healthy, and live creatively until Thursday!

●︙● Linzé  🇿🇦💜

Track your progress, the one thing that helps the #CreativeLife

 Even though I don't use a bullet journal, I do keep track of my progress on my goals and the challenges that I take part in. My preferred method is using a spreadsheet. I use OpenOffice, but you can use any application you like or a bullet journal. The important thing is to track your progress.

Of course, not every day is a successful day, and then the progress you have made so far helps to remind yourself of what you have accomplished so far.

The year is still young, but tracking your progress will help you to keep going. My spreadsheet is set up with graphs that provide immediate visual feedback when I update it.

Like many of you, I need to lose weight, but as you undoubtedly know, it is not easy. At my age, it is more challenging. But I have made progress, and the most important thing is that the weight I have lost in 2020 is still “lost”.

Yes, I did not achieve the goal I set for myself, and some days it is difficult to say no to my favourite snacks. The important thing is not to give up, and that downward moving graph helps me to not give up.

What do I track?

My weight-loss is but one goal. I also plan for 6 hours doing art or craft every week. Exercise and meditation time is also on my spreadsheet. So are the Inktober weekly prompts, and the posts for this blog.

By putting my progress out there, in a graph, helps me to keep to my goals, and often exceeding them.

Have a look at your progress so far in 2021, and consider tracking your goals to help keep you motivated.

Stay healthy, and live creatively until Monday!

●︙● Linzé  🇿🇦✑💜

The #CreativeLife 2021- review of week 2

Welcome back to my blog and the review of week 2 of 2021.

What I planned for last week:

Work: Finish the tests on a device used in vehicles.

Art and craft: 6 hours

What I did last week:

Work: A few things went wrong on the vehicle device, and the client wanted the units back to upgrade them before I can finish the tests. The next samples are only coming this week for tests, so I did not have much else to do except answer a few emails and help with some technical questions.

Art/craft: With more hours to myself, I spent about 18 hours drawing and painting. One of the coffee-dyed papers was made into an envelope for a page in my personal journal.

Envelope made from coffee-dyed paper
stamped with VersaMagic ink

I also worked on the #inktober52 prompt due this week, so check out my Instagram for the drawing.

My art group and I are working on an ink and wash painting of a bridge. I will post a picture when it's done. It will take about another 2 weeks because I don't work ahead since my friends are learning new techniques and I support their art journey as best I can.

A few thoughts about the second week

Despite having more time to play in my workshop, I have to confess to procrastinating and watching YouTube videos for a day or so. In my defence, I also attended an online art class in watercolour painting.

I also went shopping at my favourite art store, since I needed a new sketchbook it is a favourite and they don't seem to get new stock from the supplier these days. Maybe Covid, or maybe something else. I did find a larger size than what I wanted, but that's okay, I can always cut it into smaller pieces.

If you are an artist or crafter, you will understand when I say that while I got my sketchbook in the second aisle of the store, I spent over an hour there just browsing and seeing what other new stuff they have. Yeah, I can never resist any art, craft or stationary shop.

This week there will be more work and less time to play, but I have to start earning my paycheck, LOL!

On a more personal note: I lost a cousin to Covid-19 this past week. We were not close at all, but it was still not good news. This virus definitely made an impact in many areas of my life as I am sure it did yours.

So please stay healthy, and live creatively until Thursday!

●︙● Linzé 🇿🇦💜

Planning the practical side of the #CreativeLife

 If you are expecting a post about my bullet journal and how I spend hours every month drawing and colouring many lovely pages, I am going to disappoint you. Bullet journaling in that style is not my style.

I use a plain diary/planner with a week to a view. They change every year since I don't prefer a specific brand or style. This year I am using one from my local Typo store. I divided every weekday with a pencil line into three columns.

The left-hand column is for tasks like writing this blog post, and my inktober prompt for the week. The right-hand column is for the work I do at the lab. The middle column is for chores, the odometer readings for the days that I go to the lab (I keep a logbook for tax purposes), and other tasks required for my own business.

Linzé's planner for 2021

I keep it simple; the decoration you see are just stickers from my huge collection suitable for planners.

Here you see my next week's planner. I cannot show a week with actual detail because I use the names of the companies I work with.

Of course, there is a list of things that have to be done this year, like renewing my car's licence, but those I only schedule in the month when it has to be done.

But if you like a bullet journal and enjoy setting it up with more details and designs, then you may want to check out these YouTubers - TorrynMarie and JashiiCorrin. Both ladies design a bullet setup for every month, although with very different styles.

Stay healthy, and live creatively until Monday!

●︙● Linzé