Cheating the Muse - Letter K

Hey there, creative friend!

It's the weekend, so we can make a bit more time to be creative. Today, I am pulling a linguistic trick (LOL!) and using the letter K in my native Afrikaans. In Afrikaans, creativity is spelled 'kreatiwiteit'.

It even sounds much the same in both languages. 😄

Being creative is often associated with art or writing books, but it is so much more. A friend mentioned that since learning to draw, she has started to view the world through different eyes. She has also come to view problems and potential solutions differently. And that is the creative mindset.

While I believe anyone can learn how to draw, a creative job is not for everyone, but a creative mindset is.

Have a fantastic, creative weekend.

Until Monday!

💜 Linzé

PS: I am still participating in the 100day project challenge. Why not pop around tomorrow to see what I have been up to this past week.

Cheating the Muse - Letter J

Hey there, creative friend!

If you have visited my blog a time or two, you will know how much I am in favour of journaling. The benefits outweigh any negatives, etc. etc. But today, I am not going to talk about journaling, as I usually do.

Nope, today I am enthusiastic about art journaling and junk journaling. These are not about words but paint, paper, glue, metal, wood, fabrics, thread, string, plastic, ribbons, lace, practically everything except words.

I have made a few, making at least one more, and having hours of fun with no pressure. Art journaling has nothing to sell, no intention of showing it to anyone else. It's a safe space to explore any style, medium, and expression.

Because there is no pressure, you can be as messy as you want. Draw or paint or glue whatever you want because no one has to see it. Creative block?

Why worry about it? There is nothing to produce. No one to judge. So, what is holding you back?

Go! Paint something.

Until tomorrow!

💜 Linzé

Cheating the Muse - Letter I

Hey there, creative friend!

You might have heard the expression that the muse needs to find you working. Professionals get stuck in, while amateurs wait for inspiration to strike.

Inspiration does happen, often at the most inconvenient time or place. However, professionals just getting the job done have much more merit than you might think.

You can also seek inspiration to help if you need it. Today, I am sharing inspiration for writers. And no, this is not me, but people who do this for a living and can be of much better help.

I got this document in my inbox because I subscribe to the website, and you can too. It is not your usual advice, so why not check it out? It could just be the inspiration you need to keep writing.

Happy writing!

💜 Linzé

Cheating the Muse - Letter H

Hey creative friend!

Have you ever asked for help? Or have someone ask you to help them? Of course, you have. Everyone does because we cannot do everything we want to get done. The same applies to our creative endeavours.

Three weeks ago I had a problem. The book I am currently busy with is getting long, and I was stuck between three options for the ending. I liked all three options, so it was nearly impossible to choose. I asked a friend. She is a fantastic writer, editor and the perfect person to ask what would work best.

To be honest, while I explained the three options, I just knew which one would be the best. Did she agree? Yes and no. Because of the length of the story, a long, drawn-out ending would frustrate the reader. However, the story also has a second book, which makes one of the endings seem like a bad idea. So, in the end, the choice was pretty obvious, but I just needed someone to help me think through the process.

Feedback for a story or a piece of art does not require a friend but a knowledgeable friend who can give you the right feedback to help the project be better.

Do you have someone you can turn to for constructive feedback?

Thank you for visiting my blog today.

Until tomorrow!

💜 Linzé

Cheating the Muse - Letter G

Hey there, creative!

Today, we are getting practical. And it has worked for me many times in the past. It is my go-to for #the100dayproject when things are not working out, and I don't have the time or the energy to do a "project". So, I go small.

In some instances, small is time. Five minutes tops. Other times, it is literally a paragraph in the manuscript I am writing.

Or the tiniest sketchbook I have, where drawing anything bigger than half a credit card is physically impossible. Yup, I have really tiny sketchbooks for just that reason.

I also have tiny palettes but for a completely different reason. LOL!

Until tomorrow!

💜Linzé

Cheating the Muse - Letter F

Hey there, creative friend!

Today, I want to talk about Fear. That thing is a creative killer. It manifests itself in various forms. No matter what form it takes, it just feels like you are banging your head against the same wall over and over, and still, nothing changes.

It starts with that voice inside our heads that tells us all kinds of lies. Lies that we believe, despite the evidence that it is lying.

Lies like: you are not good enough. Or you will never amount to anything. Or you don't have the talent to be a writer, artist, or creative in any way.

All those lies are driven by fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of other people's opinions. Fear of failure.

Well, I have only one thing to say to fear...fuck off!

If we let fear in, it has won. What does it matter what others think? And will the world end if that painting is a mess instead of the perfection we envisaged?

Perfection is for people driven by fear. Fear to do anything unless it is perfect. No one is perfect, so nothing we do can be perfect. But it can be damn good if you just do it. Doing nothing achieves nothing.

But here is the kicker: practice is the only way to kick Fear in its pants and do that thing you want no matter what the outcome is. Because you can always repaint it. Edit that story to make it better. Or learn a new skill to do that thing you have always wanted.

Give Fear the finger, and just do it!

Until tomorrow! 😃

💜Linzé

The 100 day project Week 6 (Day 36 to Day 42)

Hey there creative friend!

With the A-to-Z blog challenge underway, I suddenly found myself in trouble: I forgot the date! Ouch. The A-to-Z blog posts are featuring every day of the week, and Saturdays, whereas this summary of my 100 day challenge projects, are posted on Sundays.

There is not a blog conflict, but my brain has clearly needed a reboot to make sure time for both challenges are put on my daily schedule. Now they have, so here is to smooth sailing during April. I hope! 😉

Until next week!

💜 Linzé

Day 36

Finishing the Artkula photo challenge project for March is a good way to start the new week. It's an oil pastel painting on Canson Sand Grain A4 paper. I did the tiny details with a black Polychromos pencil.

Time: 3 hours

Total time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Day 37

Transcribing handwritten words again. Many more to go.

Time: 2 hours

Day 38

Origami pocket for junk journal. Left is the pocket, right I put some ephemera in so you can see the pockets.

I was working and had a YouTube video playing as background noise. Then this came up. I grabbed a sheet of paper, and voila! I learned something new, and it's something for my junk journal. Win-win 😄

Time: 3 minutes

Day 39

I did the gouache paint a few days ago and didn't check the time. Today I was too tired to paint, so I pulled out a Faber-Castell PITT brush pen to draw the connecting stems for the abstract flowers.

Time: 5 minutes

Day 40

Another session with my big project. Lots of erasing because I made a mistake where I drew the outlines on the right bottom, but it's fixed now. Still a WIP as I am sure you can see.

Time: 3 hours

Total time: 13 hours

Day 41

And the words continue to come. 😄 I keep track of the number of words that I write and so far this year I have 46k on my spreadsheet. Not bad for just over 3 months.

Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Day 42

Almost forgot that I still have some of these flowers left on my list. So here is the next one. Ink on an old dictionary page.

Time: 15 minutes