CREATING IN 2008

wonderment2
pen and ink, neocolor2 and crayola crayons
© Sue O'Kieffe 2008



It is your responsibility to share your gifts with the world. Creativity is holy. ~Matthew Fox

Say hello to my first doodle and first creation of 2008 on this, the first Sacred Silly Saturday of the year. I ushered in the New Year with one humdinger of a cold, which left me feeling anything but creative, yet filled with lots of wonder. I think that's a good sign.

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.~ Rainer Maria Rilke

When the New Year comes around I prefer to think more in terms of intent than I do in resolve. At the end of 2006 I stated my intention as being open to what it took to become a self-sustaining artist. At the end of 2007, I find myself back in the work force full time. Not exactly what I expected a year ago, but it is a decision that feels right and good to me. I've never been a big fan of the concept of the starving artist. The question it raises for me, though, as Im sure it must for lots of other artists, is how does this fit in with those dreams of mine, of being an Artist in Business for Herself? How do I manage my time effectively and still have fun?

And right now I just don't know. I do suspect,though, that like much of life, it won't end up looking like what I thought ... or hoped .... it would.

Would any of you care to share your experience or insights with me?

HOLIDAY MANDALA 11

Japanese Winter - (Sacred Circle series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

I created this mandala sometime last fall when I was designing my holiday cards. The image didn't make the cut because it felt too much like some time in nature after winter solstice. On the North Coast of California ornamental cherry trees begin to bloom sometime in January, and the feelings that come up for me when I spot the first blooms are ones of wonder and awe. On Christmas Day I toured my neighborhood; the cherry trees have lots of buds. This image, I think, was created from a photograph of camelias. It's been so long I don't remember, and now I realize I need to create a better way of cataloging my work.

So what I am offering here are those feelings of hope as a gift for the New Year. I was going to write about my own intentions for 2008; but as we all know, life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. My hopes for the New Year's weekend had been to party with my tribe, create art, get out with my camera, say YES to life. What I did instead was sleep, sneeze, sniffle, cough, sleep, get up, nap, sleep. You get the idea.

I promised 12 mandalas for the holiday season and I will post the last one on Friday, which is 12th Night. Epiphany. The end of the season. Take down the tree and put away the decorations day. Epiphany. Im ready.

How about you?

Happy New Year. Im grateful to everyone I've met here in the past 11 months, for all you have offered of your lives, your art, your creativity. Have you chosen an adjective yet that embraces your intent for 2008?

Do tell.

HOLIDAY MANDALA 10

New Year's Eve Mandala - (Seasonal Circle series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007
source image - fiddlehead fern

Debi Cates' love of grasses inspired this particular mandala, taken from a photograph of an unfolding fiddlehead fern. I love spirals and fibonacci numbers and finding them appear in nature. I've talked about feeling contemplative and introspective the past few days. I've not only wanted to gather before me what I accomplished this past year, but feel into my intent for the coming year. I've had lots of different adjectives come up for me to describe my desire for 2008, but nothing really felt "right" to me, until I read Christine Kane's blog on the Resolution Revolution. If you do not already read Christine Kane's blog, I would heartily recommend adding her humor and wisdom to your blog reading list.

So below is my resume, if you will, of my life in 2007. I would love it if you would share some of your own highlights here, or on your own blog, or both!

2007 was a year of HEALING from the past and AFFIRMING the new
Recovered from major surgery
Launched a greeting card business
Participated in an Artists in Business focus group (ongoing thru March 2008)
Developed an art blog and a community of readers
Started posting Photoshop tutorials on my blog on a semi-regular basis
Was featured in four local art shows
Submitted a mandala to an art show for digital artists in Fresno, CA that had an international call for submissions and guaranteed acceptance
Established three local wholesale accounts for my greeting cards
Sold my holiday greeting cards to a highly desirable local retail gift shop (my big goal fulfilled for the year)
Gained greater confidence in my art's desirability
Began conversation with a manufacturer of home furnishings about licensing my art to her
Returned to the work force after a five year period of reinvention and transformation

WHEW!

Tomorrow I will post my intents for 2008. I will tell you right now it begins with having F U N!