The Case for Off-Line Creative: Textiles and Trampolines

This post is the second in a series written by Christina Crook. Christina Crook has been a regular contributor in the pages of UPPERCASE magazine and we're happy to welcome her to the blog this week with a special guest post series on the case for being creative offline. 

Samantha Cotterill:

Textile Design

 
After a five-year break from a painting career to have children, Samantha Cotterill (also known as mummysam,) returned to the art world as a self-taught fiber artist, creating one of a kind sculptures using all natural fibers. Today her energies are focused on creating a line of fabric designed exclusively for her Etsy shop.  

“My current work is quite digital, with this past year seeing a big move from fiber drawings and sculptures to digitally coloured illustrations and textile designs. Many of my illustrations are based on raising a child with spectrum, and the textile design are a fun and playful outlet to explore my love of colour and pattern.”

Samantha’s relationship with the Web is something she’s given a lot of thought. Online she’s found Validation, a space to Experiment and an opportunity to Avoid. She’s recently implemented a specialized tool to curb her wayward online ways...A trampoline.

Describe your relationship with the Web. I have a love/hate relationship with the Web, and will probably continue to do so for as long as I allow the internet to be around me. The types of relationships I have struck with the internet are quite diverse, with each one occupying my life at varying degrees. Validation, avoidance, dependence, healing, experimental, past-time, and survival are but a few examples of the types of relationships I can have with the Web. I look to the internet for validation when posting new work and waiting for feedback, and avoid it when the time spent creating is being squashed by the endless hours of searching and looking at meaningless things. I depend on the internet to keep me creatively connected to others and help my business grow, and experiment with it when posting new work that is unlike anything I have done before. 

What advice would you share with others regarding the interplay between the physical work of making and the online demands of the Internet? Make sure you are the devoting the time you need physically and emotionally to create a good body of work, and set up a structured routine that will eliminate any wasteful "let me just check this quickly" moments on the internet.

Do you try and restrict your time online? Why or why not? As a means of necessity, absolutely. While going on the internet can offer a wonderful source of inspiration, it's accessibility to all things creative can allow oneself to easily get lost in it and lose sight of how much physical work time is being neglected. I would mistakenly tell myself "just 20 more minutes and then I'll start work", and find myself still saying that 3 hours later.  It takes time for me to get into a good work rhythm, and if I spend much of that time browsing the internet, then another day will have gone by without any real work being accomplished.

Do you have a structured approach to your use of the Internet such as set times you check email, do updates, etc? This is something I have only just implemented, after noticing the amount of wasteful time that was being spent from jumping back and forth between my work and the Web. With the recent implementation of a daily schedule and clock that sits right in front of me, I am trying to bring back a balance that stops my ADD brain from wanting to quickly check something on the internet just 5 seconds after opening up Photoshop.

I have forced myself to only check e-mails two times a day, which has been much more difficult than I thought. I didn't realize how much I was going to my e-mail, and even worse yet, checking my flickr account to see how many new views I had since my last check 3 minutes prior.

With the suggestion of a trampoline from a friend of mine, I now go and jump madly for a few seconds when I start noticing my little fingers starting to twitch as the "need" to check things on the internet gets stronger. (I know it sounds silly, but it works. Trust me).

There is a set time where update are made, and another set time for any networking that needs to be done for the growth of my business.  I have even incorporated a set time for "free time", where I can spend some good guilt-free moments to have fun and just tinker about...

Up Next: Tugboats & Woodcuts

The Case for Off-Line Creative by Christina Crook

Christina Crook has been a regular contributor in the pages of UPPERCASE magazine and we're happy to welcome her to the blog this week with a special guest post series on the case for being creative offline. Christina recently unplugged from the internet for 31 days, typing a daily letter rather than posting to her blog, surfing the net or turning to the computer for distraction, entertainment and affirmation.

Please join us every morning this week as Christina introduces us to other creatives and their off-line habits.

Christina's documentation of her off-line experiment, Letters from a Luddite: What I Learned in 31 Days Off-line, is available through Blurb. 

Space to Create:

The Case for the Off-line Creative

by Christina Crook

In January, after half a year’s consideration, I stepped off-line for an entire month. The time was filled with a flurry of inspiration. Books were read. Projects were completed. The cobwebs were swept from the inner recesses of my busy head. I chronicled the project with a letter a day, sharing the thoughts, ‘aha’s, and frustrations of my off-line existence.

We are little gods on the Internet, often presenting only the best of ourselves online. That’s what makes the Work-In-Progress-Society such a unusual and refreshing affair. Here makers from across the world celebrate their unfinishedness and champion one another on to completeness.

We all need space, physically and mentally, to create. A desk. A corner. For the lucky ones: bright, airy studios where we can set our hands to work. Increasingly though, our space is mediated, and often cluttered, by the online space of the Internet.

I thought would be interesting to consider the on- and off-line habits of a few members of the UPPERCASE Work-in-Progress Society, uncovering our counterparts' web habits in order to discover how we each can carve out the space we need to create.

Up Next: Textiles and Trampolines

Guest Post: Wrapping it up

Sarah's site has more information about this and other topics on inspiring and honoring your creativity. Her treasure trove of resources is worth the click.

She concludes:

"Starting a creative journey or daily creative ritual can be difficult at first. Like anything it requires discipline and consistency. Finding a friend or family member to join you can help and seeking out a group of like-minded creatives can also make the experience a beautiful one.

Just remember to always follow your heart and beautiful things will happen."

Guest Post: Appointments with creativity

Sarah writes:

"Now that you have defined some areas of interest, you need to schedule them into your daily calendar. If it helps, get a calendar that speaks to your creativity or mark an existing calendar in a way that it excites you when you look at it. You will be more likely to take the time if you are excited when you see it and it will give you something to look forward to each day.

Specifying the exact time is up to you. I actually started my own creative practice on Wednesdays with a project by Keri Smith called 100 Ideas. I began by picking one idea a day and allowed 10 minutes of time to create. When 10 minutes was up, I would leave it and move on to other activities. I then moved to my camera and began a creative journey that is as much a part of me today as it was when I began 3 years ago.

My own creative journey has now developed into a course called 100 Wednesdays, that I most recently taught to University of Georgia Fashion and Interiors Students as part of a creative course they were taking.

Some additional resources to see other creatives using daily practice in their own journeys are Marisa Anne of Creative Thursday and The Artists Way by Julia Cameron."

Up next: Wrapping it up

Guest Post: What do you like to do?

Part of the fun of designing a creative ritual for yourself is determining what you like to do. Sarah has a passion for photography, color, art, good design, embroidery, painting, and writing. She shares her method for creating a visual inspiration board below.

"A great way of defining your interests is with a visual inspiration board. Gather the following items:

• your favourite magazines
• glue sticks
• scissors
• 8-1/2 x 11 board (illustration board, poster board, it does not have to be fancy)
• anything else that inspires you

Schedule a time to start looking through the magazines. When you find items of interest, cut them out and set them aside. If you find words that speak to you, cut those out as well.

Once you have gathered all your inspiration, organize the pieces on the board in a way that speaks to you and glue them on. You now have a starting point for your own creative journey. Place it somewhere that you will see it every day."

Up next: Appointments with creativity

Guest Post: Defining Ritual

When did you last take a moment for yourself & your creativity?

Sarah has found that as a creative entrepreneur she asks herself this at least weekly.

"Whether you work for yourself, for someone else or are just trying to find time to explore your creative side it is such a gratifying and fulfilling experience to allow creativity into your life. But how do you find that time when your busy life takes hold?

Like anything else, it has to become part of your daily or weekly routine. I have read many books, followed many blogs and asked many other artists this same question about finding the time and everyone has mentioned this idea of ritual. If you have a consistent exercise program, religious practice or the like you will find that it is much like those practices and can become an integral part of them as well.

Ritual is, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, “a series of actions or type of behaviour regularly and invariably followed by someone”

Sounds easy enough, right? Not so easy if you cannot define a time in your day to create. However, with a little guidance, you can start NOW on a small creative journey of your own."

Up Next: What do you like to do?

Guest Post: Introducing Sarah

The daily grind, be it 9-to-5 or, as it often is for many, far longer that that, can make it hard to find the time for creativity. When Sarah G. Stevenson offered to share her thoughts on allowing time for creativity, we jumped at the chance.

Sarah is often found hidden behind her camera or otherwise indulging her muse. But, that hasn’t always been the case. In the past, she led interior design projects for some of the top interior design and architecture firms in Chicago.

"Like many artists just starting out, I craved a challenging and collaborative environment, where my creativity would blossom. Just like so many of you, I found the reality to be a bit more complicated."

In one project she was in charge of a staff of 20 and managing over 1 million square feet of office space redesign, furniture redesign, construction, and move coordination of more than 3,000 employees.

"Did I work on creative projects? Yes. I also worked long hours, often 90 or 100 hours in a week. I moved up very quickly, but I never had the space for my own creativity and art exploration. Does that sound familiar? As artists, we gravitate towards creatively challenging work environments, only to find they drain our energy. That’s why I now dedicate my work to helping artists and creative people in all fields carve out space in their day. I help you allow time for your own creative explorations — no matter how many hours a week you work."

Up Next: Defining ritual

Guest Post: The Right Pen

_{Pens to Improve Your Handwriting
by Lily Kim, JetPens} 

Hasn’t it been everyone’s dream at some point to have beautiful handwriting, to have the gorgeous cursive font or print worthy enough to adorn the most elegant of correspondences or perhaps even wedding invitations?

Interestingly enough, the structure and form of your handwriting has a lot to do with the writing instrument you use. You may think that you are a lost cause for good penmanship, but the reality could just be that you haven’t found the right pen.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that handwriting can differ significantly depending on the type of pen used. Slippery ballpoint pens tend to exacerbate my messy handwriting, fine point gel pens lend a little more traction, slows down my writing and gives it better readability. Whether you’re a young child just embarking into the world of handwriting or a seasoned professional who has given up on a signature style, these "tips" could be just right for you.

First, what type of pen leads to what type of writing? If your font is very readable but you’d like to give it more form, I would recommend bold, inky pens. Such pens have broad tips that make lines smoother. The broad lines help cover subtle imperfections and give your handwriting more of a flow and room for flair.

My recommendations for a bold pen are anything above 0.7 mm. Some top picks are:

Uni-ball Signo Broad UM-153 Gel Ink PensPilot Envelope Address Writing Gel Ink Pens

If, on the other hand, your writing weakness is legibility (i.e. readers confuse your writing w/ a doctor’s medical prescription), then what you need is a pen that gives you cleaner and more defined lines. Rather than bold pens, you probably should go for a finer point that helps make your letters more distinct (is that an “a” or a “d”?).

My recommendations for a fine point pen are anything below a 0.7 mm tip. Top picks are:

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink PensZebra Sarasa Gel Ink PensStaedtler Triplus Fineliner Marker Pens

Lastly, if you are fairly satisfied with your penmanship but desire a few additional trimmings to your writing flair, I recommend giving italic or calligraphy pens a try.

My my top picks for “finishing stroke” pens, with calligraphy courtesy Josh Scruggs, are:

Pilot Plumix Fountain PensSailor DE Brush Stroke Style Calligraphy Fountain Pens Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pens

Overall, a nice pen can be great motivation for improving penmanship. With a suitable pen in hand, you may find yourself always ready and eager to write down notes, giving yourself more opportunities to improve your writing ability. We at JetPens.com hope it will be “love... at first write”.