Creative Arts Archives - Page 2 of 3 - GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

Blogalicious 2014 – Adding to My Creative Tribe

November 10, 2014 By Elaine Gray

Sometimes the thing that pops into your life unexpectedly is the one thing that you soon realize had been missing. This was the case with my attendance at the Blogalicious 2014 Conference in San Antonio, Texas this past weekend.

This conference had not been on my radar. I heard about it a couple of years ago and made a note but did not pursue it. Then this past July, 2014, I was in San Jose at the BlogHer conference and I met the Co-Founder and Chief Curator, Stacey Ferguson, along with several other bloggers who were past attendees of Blogalicious. In discussions with them I discovered that the 2014 conference city was in my backyard in San Antonio. So, this past week, I packed up my bags and headed west to The Alamo City along with my good friend and fellow writer/blogger, Anne Boyd, of Am I Vintage Yet (www.amivintageyet.com)

We arrived and the first thing we noticed was that the pace ramped up quickly. My first impression was this conference was not for the faint at heart. If you were afraid to dream and think BIG then you were in the wrong place. There were so many progressive speakers from the blogging world who were sharing their knowledge and energy in helping attendees identify their needs and a path to progress their blog/brand. I walked away from that conference with so much homework and so many ideas for my blog site. I made some new connections with brilliant, smart, positive, and beautiful women from all over the country. Also, I acquired some great blog topics to post so I will be sharing some great information with you over the next few weeks.

It wasn’t all work at the conference. We did have some fun. We had a private film screening of the movie “Beyond the Lights” presented by Relativity Media at the AMC Rivercenter Theatre. The movie is a wonderful love story and you should plan to see it. After the movie, we had a Q&A session with writer and director Gina Prince-Bythewood. During the conference days, we also had the opportunity to chat with producer, writer, director Issa Rae (www.issarae.com) and actor Lamann Rucker (www.lamannrucker.com). One evening we relaxed with a really funny comedienne, Aida Rodriguez (www.funnyaida.com), who gave me some good belly laughs and I thank her for that because I really needed it. Plus, the sponsors treated us really good with hospitality suites and events that involved food and cocktails.

Overall, it was a fabulous high-energy conference and Blogalicious is now definitely on my path to success.

Communing with My Creative “Tribe” at BlogHer ‘14

July 30, 2014 By Elaine Gray

This past weekend I communed with my blogging sister-girlfriends at BlogHer ’14 in San Jose, California a.k.a Silicon Valley. This was the second time I attended this conference and I was excited about reconnecting with and meeting new female bloggers.

It is really hard to describe the feeling to be a part of this creative “tribe” of women. The networking, sharing and bonding is truly unique and dispels the myth that women are competitive with one another. We strategize on improving our writing craft and monetizing our blogs. We celebrate our ability and freedom to lift our written voices to inform and engage others. We honor those who are blazing trails in this arena. We applaud dynamic women that are making a difference in our society through medicine, business, government and the arts.

There were many great women that shared with us throughout the conference and, just to give you an idea, here are the names of four of them:

Arianna Huffington – Chair, President, Editor-in-Chief of Huffington Post Media Group
Richelle Parham – Chief Marketing Officer of eBay North America
Kerry Washington – Emmy nominated Actress and star of the hit TV show “Scandal”
Demetria Lucas – Author of “A Belle in Brooklyn” and known as the “Black Carrie Bradshaw”. She interviewed Kerry Washington at BlogHer ’14.

At the end of the conference, McDonald’s threw us a party and Rev. Run of Run DMC was our DJ. It was a blast!

I am already looking forward to next year!

Here are some pictures:

Making History – Creative Coolness – Heidi Clark

March 26, 2014 By Elaine Gray

Here is another “creative cool” woman in my inner circle who has just recently reacquainted herself with her artistic self after allowing her gift to remain dormant while in the midst of single-parenting. Now, that her daughter is off to college and she is an “empty nester”, Heidi is now full-throttled into her art and I can attest to the calming change it has brought to her life. Heidi and I are co-workers that became friends. We are highly technical information technologists who build the infrastructure for very complex computing environments and we are also creative beings who find “balance” in our lives by embracing our artistic life.

Here are Heidi’s words about her artistic journey:

It’s funny I never really considered myself an artist but as I started thinking about how to reply for this post I realized that is exactly what I am.

I am an artist whose medium is glass. My abilities include;

1. fuse (or melt) glass

2. create mosaics from glass

3. create panels from glass

I took my first course in my early 20’s. Between college work and having a child the inspiration was always there but the finances were not so I would attend glass exhibits. I remember very vividly walking through a Dale Chihuly exhibit in Connecticut and thinking I was a mermaid. I actually sat down in the middle of the exhibit with my four year old daughter in awe at his creations. I knew I would be working with glass at some point in my life.

When Shannon (my daughter) started going away to summer camps, I started slowly learning about how to work with glass more. In 2006 I took a different class while Shannon was back north for the summer. I enjoyed seeing the glass panels come to life. Then I veered off of working with initially designed patterns and started doing my own thing (making earring holders, etc.). Then I learned about fused glass which gave me internally different directions (jewelry, bowls, plates, vases – endless opportunities).

My latest technique is Verre Eglomise which is a combination of painting, sand blasting, and fusing glass.

Working with glass brings me into a different world. I sometimes dubbed this world “my no screen world”— no cell phone, computer or TV. I create with my hands and mind. When I am in my “glass zone”, nothing bothers me. I don’t feel bogged down from the pressures of society. I am happy. Being creative is freeing or dare I say liberating. I look at life differently. I enjoy designing something special for friends and family. I give a piece of my heart with every creation.

I have started to form a business plan and will begin to sell hopefully in 2015. I will do a one day exhibit in October of 2014. My business will be called Raise Your Glass – Unique Glass Creations by Noreen as my first name is Noreen. I would like to retire and do artistic glass shows around the country. I think this would be a great way to see this country and become more inspired.

Here are pictures of some of Heidi’s “practice” pieces:

Making History – Creative Coolness AND Doing Her Own Thing – Shannon Johnson

March 25, 2014 By Elaine Gray

Here is another dynamic woman that was in close proximity to me for more than 5 minutes several years ago and we bonded over a shared passion – writing – when we met in a beginning fiction writing class. Since that time Shannon has written and published her book “Found in Black Texiana”, contemporary poetry, stories and notes for women with Texas and Louisiana roots (http://www.yourtexiana.com). Shannon has also started her own business so she is delivering a double whammy to this blog post – “creative coolness” and “doing her own thing”. Here is her information about her endeavors:

“Creative Coolness”

Please describe your creative art form.

I originally struggled with defining a genre for my book. My original love is poetry and I would describe my art form in this book as a poetry memoir. All of the recipes and stories in the book are based on my Louisiana heritage yet the poetry throughout addresses all facets of life and ties it all together.

How/when did you decide to embrace your artistic gift?

When I look back at my life, I enjoyed writing from the time I was a pre-teen, but I never realized what “it” was back then. It wasn’t until I was in my late twenties that I realized how writing allowed me to find myself. A self that had always been there all along but was not awakened until I reached a valley in my life. The power of the written word can be a healer for the writer and writing truly healed me.

What are some of the positive, unexpected experiences you have encountered as a result of pursuing your artistic life?

Unimaginable inner joy and peace—priceless!

What is your favorite thing about your artistic life?

Meeting and talking to fellow writers and artists. The passion to create and be creative is a necessity when someone is an author, painter or musician. It’s so enjoyable being able to share ideas and learn from other creative people.

“Doing Her Own Thing”

Please describe your business.

College Nannies and Tutors (CNT) is the nation’s most complete resource for customized nanny, professional babysitting and tutoring services. We provide role models from cradle to college. We offer a complete set of customized tutoring solutions for college bound students including homework help, study skills, college prep, ACT and SAT test prep services. We also offer full-service childcare services including nanny placement (Summer, Full-Time, Part-Time and After School), on-call nannies and professional babysitting.

What motivated you to “do your own thing” and start your own business?

I had been in the Information Technology field for 20 years and I really enjoyed being an IT Project Manager. But I found myself wanting to do more to help others, wanting to write more and wanting to be more in touch with my community. My original thought was to be a full-time writer and provide free workshops to children in the community to encourage writing. It was a great thought but the only problem was we still needed to pay bills and it wasn’t the right time in our lives for me to sit on a grassy knoll and write/teach all day long. The other thing is I had always been a working mother for most of my career. I intimately understood the challenges of finding good childcare that gave a mother peace of mind and also understood the time it took to prepare your child for college.

Once I made the decision that I could no longer stay in the standard corporate world, I found a for-profit opportunity that allowed me to help working mothers, connect with children/students, give me the inspiration to continue to write and allow us to pay our bills! That was College Nannies & Tutors.

Is your business a result of a formal education or self-taught genius?

I’d say a bit of both. I had to learn on my own how to prepare my daughter for the SAT and ACT and how to find the best childcare. I learned a lot from the corporate world about marketing, human resources, project management, etc. I also had to go through formal training for months with the corporate franchise office to own this business.

What is the one thing you enjoy about your type of business?

Being able to make a family happy by helping them out when they have a need. I love being able to give a family some quality time back—whether it’s providing a sitter for a husband and wife to reconnect or providing a tutor to lessen the tension between parents and children.

What would you say encouraging to other women who may have a business idea but are reluctant to pursue it?

Plan, Pray, Prepare then Push through your fears. I still wake up in the middle of the night every now and then and think “what in the world am I doing—why did I leave my job?” But once I remember that I prayed on it, received support from my husband and family and prepared extensively, my fears are quieted and I lean on faith.

Here are the websites to give more information about Shannon’s endeavors:

http://www.yourtexiana.com

http://www.collegenanniesandtutors.com

Making History – Creative Coolness – Judy Brooks

March 24, 2014 By Elaine Gray

Sometimes it is just amazing how and where creativity will show up. With this next creative cool woman in my inner circle, Judy Brooks, I watched it appear and grow through our long and close friendship. Now, I can’t tell you how long we’ve known each other because then you would guess our ages but suffice it to say we both have experienced several “evolutions of womanhood” since we first met in our workplace and were young single Moms.

Creativity comes natural to Judy. She does fabulous event planning for her personal parties, beautiful floral arrangements and her home is transformed to everything Christmas during the holidays with her elaborate village displays with pieces she has collected over the years. Today, I want to showcase her creativity with food – in particular cakes, cupcakes, and cookies. Judy can take an idea and create an edible, custom decorating theme. Here are her words about her creativity:

Describe your creative art form.

I enjoy creating decorative baked goods, i.e., cakes, cupcakes and cookies. My preference is the decorative cookies with cupcakes a close second.

How/when did you decide to embrace your artistic gift?

I left full-time employment over 10 years ago. I had worked since I was 18 years old, so the thought of not having a daily routine or schedule was a bit scary. I have always loved design and decorating, and I became interested in the baking side of it. So, the next natural step was to begin baking and decorating classes before I left my job. In fact, my first test subjects were the lab staff that I managed.

Once I took the first class I was hooked. Before long I had advanced to creating flowers, using fondant, creating tiered cakes, and perfecting the baked good itself. It was fun, and at the time thought it would be a fun way to generate income.

Positive/negative unexpected experiences encountered as a result of pursuing an artistic life.

There is an upside to cake or bakery art as well as a downside. I have learned that in running your own business you will work much longer and harder than you will work for an employer. The payoff is the satisfaction of doing what you are passionate about. Output and marketing are key in the bakery business.

I might say that the downside of this same business is that it will consume your entire life, especially in the beginning. What once took several days to do, now can be done in a matter of hours with proper planning. Weekends are peak time for weddings, parties, etc. and deliveries will almost always include setup as well. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it just depends on what success looks like from your perspective.

For me, success is not in the income generated, but in producing what my clientele want, while remaining flexible enough to pursue other interests. Sharing the art of cookie decorating, baking a themed cake for a party or sending a cookie bouquet is a great way to go. I love creating and sharing my art with others, especially children. We sometimes host kids parties here at the ranch and love to incorporate a horse-themed cookie decorating component. The kids can take their finished product with them to remember the event. Cookie projects are very popular and a lot of fun for kids parties. It is a great way to combine this art form with my love of horses.

Favorite thing about the artistic life.

Decorating baked goods is an ever evolving art form. You are only limited by your imagination. From the cookie bouquet to the cupcake tree or the tiered cake, I am always excited about the finished product. The icing on the cake is that the client is even more excited about it.

Here are some pictures of Judy’s creative delectable delights:

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