Thursday, October 18, 2012

Did you know strong executives think like artists!


Did you know strong executives think like artists!

It’s true! The most successful people think like artists! They dream big, do not fear failure, create a picture of success, and color outside the lines. Regardless of what industry you are from, what your job title is or where your company is currently at in your success model, thinking like an artist is an important part of your success.
I am currently a hotel executive and I own a public art studio and gallery. My life appears to be the perfect balance of creativity and corporate living. What most people do not understand is that my whole life is centered around being an artist or at least thinking like one! People often question how I can live so easily in the art world and be so successful in the “business” world. Artists are not business people and business folks are not creative, right?  WRONG! The most successful business men and women are creative thinkers and adhere to the same ideals and understandings as artists.

Dream Big!

This is rule number one for successful people. Successful people are dreamers! They allow themselves to reach for the stars by setting large goals. They do not listen to others who tell them what they are reaching for is not achievable. In fact if you tell a dreamer they will never be able to reach their goal, they will laugh at you and push farther! Dreamers believe that anything is possible. Dreamers are the corporate successes of the world who did not listen to others who couldn’t share their vision.
So many of us grow up and forget how to dream. We have been conditioned to make goals that are achievable and safe. We are trained to not share ideas that are out of the norm. We grow stifled and afraid of sharing our dreams with one another due to fear of being ridiculed or made fun of. It is so sad to me that the older we get, the more we give our personal magic and power away.
Dreaming big does not mean making foolish choices, it means daring to choose something better and giving ourselves permission to achieve that which others may feel is unachievable. By daring to dream we honor our being, our originality. When we do this we can sculpt a life of passion and success!  

Do not fear failure!

When an artist is going to start a new project there is always a great inner burst of excitement and eagerness to tackle the mountain. There is a drive to express and create a vision. There is a hunger to see the vision complete and fulfilled. When was the last time you thought this way about a project that you were working on?
The reason that an artist has all of these great feelings about a new project is because they are passionate about what they are doing! They may have a lot of technical, visual and even financial hurdles but these are small obstacles to the artist. Most often to a business executive technical, visual and financial obstacles create a fear vibration which in turn dampers the whole project. When the executive create this fear vibration around a project they then in turn transpose this fear feeling to those who are working on the project and down the line the fear vibration travels.
When we as executives are starting a new project where we have dreamed big and now we may be looking at the more business factual side of things it is easy to become fearful that our ideas or designs will not work. Some discernment is needed here, yes… but fear is not.

The planning of a project is the passion point. This is the point where things will go towards excitement or towards fear of failure. So often great ideas are canned because we at the executive level cannot think creatively enough to find solutions to execute them. We are trained to be like blood hounds and seek out everything wrong with an idea before the idea is ever started. We call this behavior a lot of things such as being responsible, looking out for the best good of the company and so on. The truth is we have found “responsible” sounding words to give us permission to instantly approach things in negative or fear driven ways.
An artist will not start out looking for everything that is wrong with a project, nor will the artist initially search for every reason why it will not work. An artist will seek out every reason why the idea needs to work and everything that is right with the idea first!

By looking for what is right with something and being clear on why the idea needs to work, passion and excitement lead. By looking for what is wrong with an idea and all of the reasons why it cannot work, we are promoting negativity and fear based vibrations which are exactly the opposite of passion. It is important to be logical in our choices, but there is no harm in looking for all the good in something before we evaluate what is not desirable.  

Create a picture of success!

Artists are visionaries! As an artist I spend much of my time thinking and visioning inward. As an artist I tend to look outward and see patterns of how things fit or work together. As an artist I wear rose colored glasses as often as possible. As an executive, I do exactly the same thing! 

I spend a lot of my time before I begin a project defining what success is. Is success high sales, is the success higher morale, is the success training and understanding, time management, clear communication channels or an ease in operative procedures? Could success be learning or growing? First I answer what success I am seeking. Next I determine what defines that success? If I choose higher sales, I need to have a goal and a tactical plan made of many little goals to keep my success measureable. Measurable steps or bench marks are the steps to success and reaching our goals. As an artist with each project I take on, there is a vision of success and an understanding of what parameters define that success.
So often in the business world, there is no picture of success painted! Many times we determine what needs to be done to improve our positions and then we dream up an end result which we then explain to our teams. We express why we chose said direction A or B and how we arrived at C amount of result but there is no planned picture of success. For us to have a clear, focused success, we must have all of the little steps and flicks of brilliant color that makes the picture whole! We must set our teams up to succeed! We must develop plans filled with steps for them to walk upon. Artists understand that it is all of the little steps between start and finish that create a tapestry of beauty. When each color is put in proper order only then will the image be complete.  

Color outside of the lines!

Obstacles are simply part of the territory. We are all going to come across situations that will challenge us regardless if we are artists or executives. Artists are famous for creative solutions because of that whole Dream Big philosophy. When we get to a place where we are stuck it is important that we return to the top of the list and work our way back through the creative pipeline. In dreaming big, not fearing failure and creating our pictures of success we can rework our ideas in a way that the passion and excitement can be sustained. It is important that we are able to see the parameters that we have drawn and that we evaluate them next to the parameters which were impressed upon us by our superiors, the market, our business environments along the way.

So often we will set our parameters in a circle and then others through their needs will impose on our circle something that looks more like a jagged square. It is important that we are able to see the difference between the pictures so we are able to adjust! Artists are able to turn would be mistakes, or undesirable outcomes into “happy accidents” where once a rock sat, an artist in moments, can plant a tree! This is true for executives who have daily decisions to make where time management, staff development and supply and demand come into play.

I hope you enjoyed my quick notes on thinking like an artist. In the future I will be speaking more about this publicly; blogging and I will be building workshops around this idea. Let me know if you are interested in learning more about thinking like and Artist!  

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Creating Spirit Song~ Can art heal the viewer?

Spirit Song
Spirit Song is one of the few paintings that has made its way into my beloved personal collection. This painting was painted primarily with a pallet knife and oil paints and is 32x46 inches.
Spirit Song is a direct record of the start of my spiritual journey. 2011, was a huge year of spiritual growth and development for me personally, as it was for a large part of humanity. The earth had many changes in vibration and for many it was the beginning of a time of growth and personal development.  When I set out to paint this work I wanted to commemorate this special time in my life. I set out to create a piece that felt illuminated and soft and that would radiate love. I wanted it to have a high vibration and be a source of healing.
 This was the first time in my life that I thought about creating a piece of art that would actually have a purpose other than simply being something to simply add beauty to a space. Though up until this time I realized the marriage between art and emotion, I never crossed over to the elevated thought of emotion being a component of healing! For the first time I was setting out to create a piece of art that would have healing properties and that would reflect to the world outside of myself what my spirit was learning and feeling on the inside. This painting was to help others heal. How does one start to create a painting of healing?
I started simply. I had been studying the chakras at this time which are the energy centers of our body. We have 7 major energy centers in the human body. These energy centers are associated with different components of consciousness and color. The solar plexus is one of the main energy centers of the body and is associated with our feelings of belonging, knowing who we are what our place is in the universe. It is associated with the color yellow and the spiral. Because I wanted to create a painting that would help a viewer feel like they belonged and create a sense of calmness I started with a light yellow and ochre spiral type shape.
From the spiral I moved on to represent the heart which is associated with the color pink and is associated with our personal relationship with our self. With this in mind I started to add touches of pink. Burch trees are known as one of the seven sacred trees and are believed to have great healing properties and feminine energy so they were added as a natural burst of feminine healing properties.
The end result was a painting that I fell in love with. It is truly a special painting and a gift. I was amazed at the discovery of how powerful creating something with the intention of being healing couls be. Today I paint most of my works with a set intention and I continue to explore our ability to heal myself and others with creativity.
There is so much more to who we are than we know. We are so powerful and graceful and we have the ability to truly affect others in so many ways and on so many levels. I am grateful that I started this amazing journey and I am grateful to my guides who help me express my love and joy so clearly and freely.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Painting "Youth Remembers" The inspiration behind the art

Youth Remembers
Youth Remembers is a very special painting for me. It was inspired by a childhood memory of a farm I used to call home when I was a little girl. I spent many days playing in these fields and many, many evenings catching fireflies for bed time in mason jars. One of the perks to living on a 385 acre farm with only a handful of neighbors and no outsider traffic is the gift of freedom. We were allowed, after our chores were done that is, to run these fields in harmony with the wind. We flew kites, raced bikes, rode horses and tail gates and we lived as big and as open as the fields themselves were to a little girl of 8 years of age.  I remember lying in the tall grasses, braiding them together to make bracelets and belts in the summer time. I remember my mother and father cutting Christmas trees from raggy pines growing on that first hedge you see there which were tightly wrapped in honeysuckle and trumpet vine. This was one of the most magical times of my life and so I felt inspired to paint it to share with the world.
It is beautiful when our minds memory and the memory in our hearts are allowed to merge. 28 years have passed since I was a child playing in these fields and I have discovered that though the mind’s eye grows dim or blurs, the hearts memory becomes ever more strong and sure. It is likely as a girl I never noticed this field to look so beautiful and pink, nor did I likely take time from firefly hunting to actually enjoy the view to notice how many were actually around me….but my heart remembers.
Painting this piece was like a homecoming for me. This piece is in my private collection and will likely be with me the rest of the days of my life. It is a true reflection of my soul and it is a snapshot of my youth. I think that this is what I was truly in love with in this painting. When I look at this work it is like hugging my inner child, for a moment I am still lying in the tall grasses watching clouds roll by day dreaming...
I invite you to go back in your mind to a place in your mind where you felt complete freedom and joy. To a place where you were one with your spirit and your spirit was full. I then invite you to rediscover those feelings by creating something that represents that place with an open heart. It truly can be an amazing adventure to rediscover your youth.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Gratitude brings inspiration, not the weather!

Winter can be just as inspiring as any other season
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard others, even artists, groan on about how uninspired they are in the winter months. They then go on to talk about a lack of sun and energy which is responsible for their sluggish, unproductive habits. I was one of them up until about 5 years ago!
I want to share with you that being inspired is something that happens within us and not something that comes from the outside. Inspiration is a state of mind and of being.  Inspiration is not something that has to have specific temperatures, weather conditions and objects to occur. The only element that is needed to have inspiration is gratitude. If we are not feeling inspired, it is most likely because in some way we are not recognizing our blessings!
Here are some of the things that I am grateful for and drawing inspiration from this January afternoon.
The ability to feel the wind on my skin, my thick mane of hair, my mittens coat and scarf, my job which I have the day off from to spend time with my family which paid for the mittens coat and scarf, my boss who allows me to grow and who grows with me, my friends who are going to be reading this, my friends who will not read this, my cocker spaniel who is sleeping on my left foot right now, my little girl who is making a card for my husband for when he gets up from his midday nap…my beautiful husband who is comfortable and content enough to be sleeping on the couch, the teddy bear tucked behind my left shoulder which my little girl placed there to keep me company while I work, the blanket on my lap which was my grandmas blanket, I am thankful and inspired by my grandmother who owned this blanket and slept under it until the day she passed away, life, I am thankful for my life and health, my youth and my strength, I am thankful for my spiritual awakening and my ability to hear them, I am thankful to spirit for allowing me to be individual and still connected, I am thankful for the march of time and its pace guiding me forward…..
I could go on and on here, the point is, looking back through the list there are many paintings, poems, songs or stories that could be realized here….we didn’t even get into the beauty of snow, bark or nature but I do want to add that I am thankful for the fall of the leaves so that I can better see the owls and animals which are most often hidden in our wise old trees!
So get a piece of paper and start making a list of what you are thankful for right now at this moment…find true gratitude and then inspiration will come!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Everyone is Creative!

Remember the joy and excitement of being a young person and being given a new box of crayons? How about dancing, making up your own songs or writing poems? And who didn’t love spending the day in the forest building a fort or pretending you were cowboys and Indians?
Think back now, do you recall your last box of new crayons or the last fort you built? If you are like most of us those years and memories are faded to a collage of fond dream like visions. Our creative selves have given way to our need to mature and with the business of adulthood have become all but lost and forgotten. How can it be that most of us move from being art filled children into adults no longer in touch with the creative forces within?
As human beings we are hardwired to be creative.  Having a creative outlet is essential to our wellbeing. Truth is everyone is creative. True, not everyone chooses the path of a sculptor, painter, or dancer as a life career path but creativity is a life trait our species must express to thrive. Some say art (in all its forms) is an expression of the soul, others say that artistic outlets are vital for times when there are no words to express what we are feeling and many people believe that art is one of our strongest tools available to move beyond the ego and connect with our true selves.
There are innumerable articles written about the many benefits of having a creative outlet ranging from increasing early childhood development, cures for depression and mental illness to having physical healing properties. There is also the idea of creating art simply because it is fun. In the case of drawing or painting as an outlet it can feel really rewarding to transform a vision or feeling that has been on your mind or buried in your memory and bring it to light to share with the world or to simply release it from your heart.
Creativity can take many shapes. Look into your life today and see where your creativity is waiting to take shape. Spending an hour or two of creative time a week you could dramatically improve the relationship you have with yourself. When we are happy with self we are able to be happy with others. I thank god for my beautiful, messy, creative life and I wish the same for yours!