The Creative Coaching Carnival

Marney Makridakis from Artella gave a web presentation last night called "The Creative Coaching Carnival." She was using carnival attractions as metaphors for the different styles of coaching people may use while using the ARTbundance method. ARTbundance stresses the use of art as a means to help people deal with their issues of any kind. We were directed throughout the presentation to draw three carnival attractions - first a ferris wheel, second a carnival midway, and finally a merry-go-round. Since we had to draw quickly, it was like drawing as a kid again. Afterwards, I scanned my three pictures and combined them into one in Photoshop. It was so much fun!

Marney Makridakis' New Book - Hop, Skip, Jump

    

I have the privilege to be reading Marney's new book Hop, Skip, Jump. I have to be honest. I haven't finished it yet. The book is so inspiring and so full of "playful" ideas, that I have to stop every couple of pages and create something. It's everything you would expect from the author of Creating Time. Marney shows us the way to accomplish our goals using "play" in order to be productive and "manifest whatever you desire." It is a book about hope, a way to turn any dreaded task into a joyful experience where play leads the way forward to success. Every person who wants to live a creatively abundant and fulfilling life needs to read this book! You will discover if your personal style is "hop," "skip" or "jump." Once you understand what each of these styles mean, Marney leads you on a creative journey to learn how to add the other styles and their strengths so you can "playfully manifest a meaningful life." Don't miss this wonderful new book!

Below are a couple of examples of digital art I've created so far. The first two are from just the introduction:

 

You will find out what "soul and whale" refer to by reading the introduction.

Readers are encouraged to pick their own two words, and I chose the first two that jumped into my head. That's what Hop, Skip, Jump is all about. Learning to be successful through play!

 

I'll leave you with one more. I created this for Chapter 6. The chapter is titled "Got Confidence?"

If you have confidence, then you "can" succeed in doing anything you want.

 

Any time I begin doubting myself, I'll look at my "can can" and know that I can do it.

I hope you will order your copy of Marney's wonderful book right away! Your creative self will thank you for it! If you want a little more information about the book, then take the free Hop, Skip, Jump quiz and find out which one describes you. Just click the link below.

Free Hop, Skip, Jump Quiz

Hop, Skip or Jump?

I'm reading Marney K. Makridakis new book Hop, Skip, Jump. I love it! How can you have more fun and get more done? Take this quiz to find our your productivity style: http://artellaland.com/play.html

I took the quiz, and I tied even with "hop" and "skip." Now I have to finish reading the book to find out what that means! I've even created two digital collages after only reading the introduction. Here's one of them:  (you'll need to read the introduction to find out what it means)

"Creating Time" Art Workshop

Well this is exciting! I'm on the "Creating Time" Facebook page. "Creating Time" is the new book written by Marney Makridakis. Two of my digital collages are published in the book. (Yep, I've already written that here before.) Marney stopped in Ann Arbor last Saturday (May 26, 2012) during her promotional tour to give a four hour art workshop based on the book. I've known Marney for 10 years through Artellaland. Artellaland is an online community for artists and writers. Last Saturday was the first time we actually met in person, though. It was a fun break from what is going on with my parents!

Marney talked about the difference between the Greek words used for time - kronos verses kairos. Then she had us create a piece of art that represented what kairos time meant to us.  The goal was to create something that would act as a kairos muse to us later on. Below is the picture Marney took of me holding up my mixed media painting.

The workshop was extra exciting, because I got to see two people I know, but haven't seen in quite some time. One is Katherine Willson who just finished her term as the President of AAWA - Ann Arbor Women Artists (and a few good men). I met Katherine while working for the Rec and Ed Department of Ann Arbor Public Schools. She teaches several mixed media art classes for the department.

http://www.annarborwomenartists.org/

 A former co-worker also was at the workshop. Her name is Terry Odell. She took an early retirement several years before I did. Terry now gets to use her time taking photos. It was the first time Terry ever created a mixed media piece, so she was very excited about the workshop.

http://terryodellphotography.com/index.html

Thank you, Marney, for coming to Ann Arbor and for sharing your pictures! Creating art with friends is definitely a fun and healing experience.

Marney's Live Time Event Two

Since I love creating digital art, I opened up Photoshop while listening to Marney's live Time Event Two and took notes that way. It was a fascinating event!

Conquering Time

I guess this is serendipity. Mr. Whiskers just came out with a new digital scrapbooking kit called "Steampunk: The London Adventure." First, I love steampunk. Second, steampunk is always full of watches and anything dealing with time. It's just "in time" for the upcoming release of Marney Makridakis new book "Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life." I hope you read the post about it below. I am extra excited about it, because not only do I have several interview answers in the book, but one of my digital collages is also published. Yay! I hope you don't get tired of me talking about it. If you would like to check out the book for yourself, though, I put a Amazon box in the right column that will take you right to it.


If you would like to see everything in Mr. Whiskers' steampunk kit, you can find it here: http://www.deviantscrap.com/shop/product.php?productid=19731&cat=&page=

Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life

This is exciting! The cover is out for the new book written by Marney Makridakis. She is the founder of Artella. Some of you may have seen the magazine Artella - "the waltz of words, art and spirit" that was published for several years. Marney was the creator of that magazine. Her new book Creating Time is going to be available in April of next year. I can't wait to read it!

This is especially exciting for me, because one of my digital collages is being featured in the book. I could post the picture, but that would spoil all the fun. Everyone has to wait until April. Well, you'll also have to buy the book.  :O)