Ria Sharon

pondering creativity, process, and making art

An Artist’s Sketch: Xanthe Berkeley

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Xanthe BerkeleyXanthe is a photographer, film-maker & visual story-teller. Filling the frame with bright colours, movement, sunshine and smiles; her work centres around family life and adventures.

A wide variety of projects keeps her photography and film business busy. From guiding and inspiring others, through her online film courses, to her own brand of relaxed session reportage – capturing everyday moments and cataloging these memories is her passion.

Xanthe is an Instagram fan – you’ll find her there daily – mooching around London capturing the colourful details, sharing snippets of family life, or exploring the outdoors with her love of camping, nature and good times around the campfire.

xanthe-berkeley

1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?

I love both photography & film making… It’s hard to choose between the two. Both give me the opportunity to document my life and tell those stories.

2. What are you working on right now? What’s on your camera/desk/easel or in your studio?

I’m fortunate to have various projects on the go at one time. Photographing portraits and making films as part of my online courses. I have a year long Time Capsules course which is bursting with creativity as people are making films each month. I’m so inspired by them. I’m loving making mini movies to share on Instagram – it’s a creative challenge to tell a story in just 15 seconds.

3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?

Get outside and shoot, be inspired by your surroundings.
Find a community either in real life or online, of people creating work that encourages & inspires you and support each other.

4. What’s one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?

That I don’t share all the work I create… Only the work I love. I think a lot of people compare themselves to other artists, but don’t consider that they’re only seeing the highlights, not the mistakes.

5. What advice would you give to your young artist self?

To do a lot of work. Keep creating and you’ll find your thing.

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An Artist’s Sketch: Sharon Derry

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alishaSharon Derry is a book and paper artist living and working in St. Louis, Missouri. She designs and handcrafts journals, albums, note cards and other high-end paper goods. Sharon often uses vintage ephemera in her work, including yellowing book pages, tattered sheet music, well-worn maps, dog-eared postcards, handed-down recipes…. Meticulous craftsmanship, attention to detail and original design are hallmarks of her art. Online, she sometimes goes by secretleaves. She can be found here, here and here.

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1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?

Paper, especially old paper. I do a lot with ledger pages, maps, sheet music, and lately, vintage wallpaper, especially from the thirties and forties. I also use other ephemera: Stamps, buttons, receipts, notions…all kinds of odd bits and pieces. I love these things because they have history and mystery. There’s an element of voyeurism too — a peek into past lives. Old things also have a patina of age that just is not reproducible digitally or manually. I’m not entirely sure what it is about old things that resonates with me. I’ve given it considerable thought, but haven’t completely nailed it down.

secretleaves2. What are you working on right now? What’s on your camera/desk/easel or in your studio?

I’m working on a couple of things: A wedding invitation suite for my niece, and some collage/prints on vintage wallpaper and maps. I’m also experimenting with creating patterns, which I’m really jazzed about. And I’m doing some large-scale prints using the online printing service Spoonflower. I’m using Spoonflower to print on paper right now, but I would love to experiment with printing wallpaper or fabric, which is what they specialize in.

secret-leaves3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?

For me, the important thing is to try to find large chunks of time. I’m not good at grabbing a moment here and a moment there to create. I find I need a few hours to really get going and accomplish anything. The first couple of hours are for playing. Experimenting with ideas and techniques and trying not to get caught up in creating masterpieces. Frankly, the first few things I make are usually crap. But that part of the process is so important for idea generation, happy accidents, etc. I’ve also started drawing again, although I’m not doing it with the frequency or regularity I would like.

4. What’s one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?

That’s a tough one. Maybe an appreciation of the level of detail and the craftsmanship? I’m very fussy and detail-oriented and it’s one of the things that sets my work apart from a lot of other folks working in similar mediums. Also the fact that I am using real, vintage materials rather than scans or digitally-produced ‘age.’ I mean, I do some of that too, but my real love are the pieces that truly are vintage — although even as I write this, I realize I’m shifting away from this a little bit. Finally, maybe the slight ‘offness’ of the subject matter: Things that other people might find repellent often show up in my work: insects, snakes, morbid anatomy, dead flowers…what I think of as strange beauty. That’s more than one thing, isn’t it? I’m not good at following directions.

5. What advice would you give to your young artist self?

Enjoy the process.
Be true to your self.
You have nothing to prove to anyone. Not even yourself.

secret-leaves

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An Artist’s Sketch: Alisha Katz Hastings-Kimball

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alishaAlisha is a ceramic artist who loves creating unique beautiful environments. She has a BA in art therapy and an MAT from the College of New Jersey. One fall evening she attended a pottery class with a friend. Unbeknownst to her, that evening she discovered one of her true passions was to create in clay. She is a wife and mother to two incredible children and one wonderful kitty. When she’s not getting her hands dirty with clay she also enjoys photography, painting, sewing and writing. She is always looking for ways to embrace creativity in the everyday moments of her life and is usually busy answering the knocking at her hearts door.

Songbird Studio

1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?

Over the years I have worked in many mediums but I’d say for about the last 14 years my medium of choice has been clay. I love creating beautiful, meaningful things that are also functional.

2. What are you working on right now? What’s on or in your camera/desk/easel/kiln/studio?

This year I started working in porcelain. It’s been exciting to make things that I previously made in earthenware clay in porcelain. Now that I feel settled in with the transfer, I am ready to start making some new work and evolve with this new material. I feel a knocking at my heart to create something new, different and soulful. It is still devolping right now.

3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?

Each weekday morning I get up an hour and a half earlier than the rest of my family so that I can have some quiet time to center myself before the day begins. I say prayers, meditate, then I do morning pages and affirmations. This is an absolutely essential part of my daily routine. {I have been doing this for more 15 years now, which is really crazy to think about. I didn’t realize it’s been that long until just now.} There have been a few times when I have let this practice go and the results have been disastrous. If I don’t keep up this practice regularly not only do I notice but my family and close friends notice as well. I have a much harder time finding my creative center and general happiness without this practice.

4. What is one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?

I create the things I do usually because it’s something (like my mindfulness mugs) that I needed or wanted in my own life and I hope that it will resonate with someone else out there. A part of my process that I don’t talk a lot about is how the other creative mediums I work in strongly influence and ignite my creative flame in ceramics. Sometimes I need to play and create with photography and paint before I can move on to create the next theme in my ceramics, which happens to be a place I am in now. A lot of my work and journey is about undoing the past and allowing myself to be fully, truly myself with no apologizes.

5. What advice would you give to your younger artist self?

Keep making, keep believing in yourself and have patience it will all come together in due time. Everything you do will take much longer then you ever expected but don’t give up because you will make it all happen.

For more about Alisha, visit her at Songbird Studio.

Songbird Studio

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Crazy Dog Lady

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dog-portraitsYes, it’s true. I’m one of those. I’m so crazy about dogs that I make dog portraits. You know that sense of peace that people report when they are in their bliss… that happens, when I’m drawing and painting puppy faces! And now that I reflect on this, it always has for as long as I can remember. The first portrait I ever did was an oil painting of my great aunt’s Llasa Apso. I was 9.

I’m so dog crazy that my kids know that if there’s a stray dog on the loose, I’m going to stop and try to coax it into the car and secretly hope that I get to keep it. There was that one time I almost “rescued” a scraggly and filthy three-legged shitzu… from it’s own front yard! (sheepish grin) but that’s a story for another post.

So if you’re crazy about your pups (dress them in crazy outfits on halloween, take them to puppy spas, throw them birthday parties), I won’t judge. I’m totally with you! And guess what, you’re not alone! I’ve made over a dozen of these dog portraits in the last week and have three more commissions to go!

Want one? Click here for details.

Mother’s Day Countdown and Instructions on Free Printable Mother’s Day Cards

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It’s officially LESS THAN A WEEK until Mother’s Day, friends but no worries, you still have time! I have three free printable Mother’s Day cards that you can download here. (Yes, that’s me and me and mums, in 1971 on the left and 2013 on the right.)

I’ve also put together a simple and easy step-by-step instructions on what to do with them once you’ve downloaded them! 😀

You’ll need:
1. a ruler
2. something to cut with like an exacto knife or scissors or box cutter
3. cutting board/mat

Instructions
1. Print the PDF at 100% on card stock.

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2. Trim along the dotted line using your cutting tool. You can get very precise and straight with a box cutter or exacto knife and scissors

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3. Once trimmed, score the fold of the card by run the dull edge of your cutter or scissors lightly along the edge of the printed art, which will make it easy to fold the card along that seam.

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Ta-da! Done!

What about an envelope?!

If I don’t have time to run out and buy a card, I don’t have time to get an envelope for it either!

I hear ya! No worries. You can make one!

Really?

Yes! Check out this ehow video. Don’t you love the interwebs?

p.s. Especially for all of my Titas and Lolas, I made the ones below (because I can). So feel free to download, seesters and kasins! ;P Labyu! (click the links to download)

Lola-Tita

An Artist’s Sketch: Mic Boekelmann

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micMic Boekelmann is a filipino-born modern portrait painter and art coach on a mission to highlight the unique stories of people. With a vibrant, warm and dynamic style, her art displays the beauty and inspiration she sees in the people she meets.

This love and excitement for connecting with individuals of different backgrounds were influenced by Mic’s childhood years growing up in the Philippines, Germany, Israel and the U.S. She believes there are more things that connect us than divide us. Her work creates opportunities for others to feel the same.

When Mic is not painting and hosting art workshops in her Princeton home studio, she enjoys exploring the world and checking out food joints with her swabian husband and two cool kids.

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1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?
Oil on canvas: The #1 thing I love about oil paints is that it is FORGIVING. It doesn’t dry right away and since I’m not a perfect painter, I need time to push the paint around to make corrections or to get a better feel for the composition.

2. What are you working on right now? What’s on or in your camera/desk/easel/kiln/studio?
Right now, I’m working on a family portrait and on Adam – inspired by the book of Genesis in the Old Testament.

3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?
The most valuable practice to my creative process is: setting goals and putting them on a month-at-a-glance calendar. My responsibilities as a mom can easily take over, so that my creative goals are pushed to the side. If the creative process is indeed important to me, I need to put this on the calendar and set time aside to invest in it.

4. What’s one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?
Although my art is figurative, I never want to make it look technical. It’s important for me to show how I feel about the person or the situation through vibrant colors and brush strokes.

5. What advice would you give to your young artist self?
Your art will bring joy to others. Don’t keep it to yourself.

For more about Mic, visit her website.

micb
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We are together, Nepal

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“We are together” — we say this every day in Hopeful World. Now is a time to turn those words into action. As you know, Nepal is suffering. I have dear friends there, both in Kathmandu and outside the city.

Jen, my dear friend and partner in Hopeful World (expert at getting funds and refugees across borders) posted this on the HW blog yesterday…

Subhash Ghimire and Sabi Gurung, dearest friends of myself and Hopeful World, are on the ground now, directing relief efforts to the remote regions where traditional and governmental aid cannot reach, specifically the villages in Gorkha, closer to the earthquake epicenter. I have been in contact with them almost nonstop via Viber since the quake, ready to do whatever they ask.

These two are no ordinary people. Subhash’s mother died when he was eight and he left his remote village when he won a nationwide contest to attend the British School in Kathmandu. No child had ever attended this school in the history of his village. Barely 18, he founded Sarswati Foundation, a Nepal-based non-profit in 2009 to support educational and health needs in his home district. Last year, he graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government while Sabi graduated from Boston University’s School of Public Health.

This is the latest update from Sabi from six hours ago…
We have food and basic items ready to be taken to Gorkha. Pilot and helicopter are both ready.

She is asking that we DO NOT STOP, for the sake of her village, her family and friends and by extension, mine and ours.

If you are inclined to support their efforts, we are putting money directly in their hands. You can donate here. We’ve raised $6K in the last 24 hours. It’s something… but the need is great. So for the next 7 days, 100% of the profits from my Etsy shop will go directly to our friends in Gorkha. I have over 100 items to choose from—inspirational sayings, unique party invitations and decorations. You’ll have a birthday party sometime this year, I’m guessing! 🙂

Please help by buying what you need in advance… or buy yourself or someone else a thoughtful gift (Mother’s Day, graduation, end-of-year teacher gifts). Your purchase will have a direct impact on the lives of my friends and their families.

sabi

Above is the gang at Hope House: Sabi on the left with Jen, Stephanie Calabrese (founder of Lens on Life) and Renu Bagaria (also in Kathmandu now).

We All Have Choices

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riasharon-brave
If you look at our Facebook friends, it seems that Becky and I have been circling each other for years. But finally (thanks to one of those mutual friends), we met for coffee, then a long lunch and the rest is herstory! Becky is the writer, speaker and dreamer of You Are Not Stuck. Like many of us, she is on a journey towards empowerment and consciously creating the life we dream of.

Over the years, I’ve been stuck in the wrong marriage, stuck in the wrong job, stuck in bad habits. I was not immune to feelings of powerlessness and going nowhere, even as the view from the outside told a much different story. So I said goodbye to relationships that didn’t nurture. I traded a high-stress career speaking for others for a life in yoga pants. And when I’m not teaching on the mat, I’m writing in my own voice and speaking my own truth. ~ Becky Vollmer

bv-bw-e1409747720523It’s my honor and delight to be working on a collection of art printables created in collaboration with Becky. Her truisms are featured on four new pieces in the etsy shop, including the one pictured above.

If you are feeling the need for some encouragement and motivation, head over and see what words speak to you.

ria

 

 

p.s. And if you’re looking for that perfect gift for the awesome women in your life this coming Mother’s Day, I have a collection of inspirational sayings (including Becky’s) that may be just the words someone needs to hear.

An Artist’s Sketch: Tracey Clark

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Print From photography to writing to teaching to collaborating, Tracey Clark has found a way to weave all of her passions together, both online and in real life. Author of Elevate the Everyday: A Photographic Guide to Picturing Motherhood, co-author of Expressive Photography: A Shutter Sisters Guide to Shooting From the Heart, founder of Shutter Sisters and co-founder of Our Collective, Tracey loves nothing more than to share with others the insights and inspirations she’s gathered along her creative life’s journey.

She’s a regular columnist at Digital Photo Magazine, a teacher for many photo-centric classes both online and off and her images and essays have been featured in numerous digital and printed publications. Tracey lives in a sunny So Cal coastal town with her husband and two daughters and emphatically believes that perspective—and love—changes everything.

Tracey-Clark-Workspace

1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?
Photography is definitely my favorite creative tool. Although I do love crafting and creating art in many different ways, photography offers such a unique kind of instant gratification. I was never very excited by what I created with other mediums, like painting or printmaking, because I had difficulty pulling things out of my head and getting them to translate on a canvas or on paper. But when I started shooting, I was (finally) loving the end result. I could see the glimmers of poignancy and beauty EVERYWHERE and I really enjoyed framing what I saw and creating art using what was right in front of me. And for me, seeing—the kinds of things that I like capturing in a photograph—is like breathing; involuntary and totally necessary.

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2. What are you working on right now? What’s on your camera/desk/easel or in your studio?
I don’t have any one specific creative project I’m working on but I almost never do. I’m a dabbler. A little here, a little there. Sometimes that habit of being busy with lots of project distracts me from focusing on one particular thing but most of the time, I thrive with a lot of creative projects on my plate. I’ve always been like that. Scrolling through the images on my DSLR (or my iPhone) there are shots of all kinds of things; mostly spring blossoms, my dogs, my kids, lovely bokeh and a few coffee mug shots.

3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?
Anything that gets me out of my head and into a more grounded, centered place is essential to my creative process and my life in general. Fresh air. Nature. Walking. Yoga (of which I don’t do enough of!). Writing in my gratitude journal. Setting intentions. Lighting candles. Puttering around the house. Even cleaning sometimes can be a respite when I’ve been working on my computer too much. Getting grounded and grateful not only makes it more satisfying to shoot, it is reflected in my work.

4. What’s one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?
I’ve realized I work well with “assignments”. It’s fun to have a project or prompt to shoot for. It helps get my creative juices flowing. Of course, it can’t be something I’m dreading, it needs to be something I’m super-excited about. But, truth be told, I have had some pretty amazing creative results (breakthroughs almost) when I’m pushed past my comfort zone (and sometimes I do dread that) so I try to remember that through resistance comes unexpected surprises and even blessings.

5. What advice would you give to your young artist self?
I would tell myself that I was right! I knew even when I was young that I would do *something* creative with my life, even though I had no idea what it would be at that time. Amazing how wise that was of me, way back then. I would give myself lots of kudos for all the creative work I was doing and I would give myself lots of hugs and high-fives. I would for sure tell myself to stop being so hard on myself and build self-care into my routines. I would also tell myself to listen to my mother. She always reminded me, when I was feeling down or out of sorts to “do my art”. Wise woman! I hope my kids can say the same thing about me when they’re adults.

For more about Tracey visit her blog or follow her on Instagram @traceyclark.

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Show Mom Some Love (Free Printable Mother’s Day Cards)

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riasharon-printable-mothers-day-cards-1
Download here

I’m determined not to let Mother’s Day sneak up on my AGAIN this year. Every year I struggle with wanting to make this holiday special for all the moms in my life without creating more work for them! Right? Like who’s planning and cooking brunch and buying the cards and gifts? A MOM!!!! ;P

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Download here

So… cheers to all of you who are honoring and being honored on May 10. My service to the world on this Mother’s Day is to make it easy for all of you to pay it forward… and not in some last-minute-run-to-Walgreens kinda way, either! (You should’ve seen that place on Valentine’s Day!)

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Download here

… I’m talkin’ totally unique, professionally designed, hand-drawn free Mother’s Day cards for you to download, print on card stock, ready to mail right now. For FREE! Click each of the images above to download.

What about a gift? I have a solution for that too… a fresh new collection of printable art and art prints in my Etsy shop just in time for Mother’s Day (see below).

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So there. Done. Now you can relax and enjoy YOUR Mother’s Day!
ria

 

p.s. If you want a heads up on the next free printable extravaganza (ex. Father’s Day), get on the list here! No spam, I promise.