Wild at Heart

I want to cry. I'm just bursting with emotion and it requires release. But don't worry, these tears are not those of sadness, but more of a sense of overwhelm that comes from experiencing the joy of untold beauty. All I have been doing to kindle this outburst of passion  is simply immerse myself in beautiful art on Pinterest.

There's so much inspiration out there that it fills my heart, fuels my desires and creates a longing to dive into a vat of paint then roll about over canvas. To squirt, smudge, tweak. To add detail, texture and crazy, wildly abandoned lines.

Art does something to me. How can the placement of line and colour on paper bring out such emotion? Perhaps it is because we see something of the soul of the artist. We are given a free pass into their imagination and this triggers a response in our own and forges a connection, an awakening.

Sometimes this makes me feel inadequate, a small dot in the pontilism of great art; but I try to just let it lift me on an inspiration thermal until the metaphors all become too much!

I just paused in writing this to read Kelly Rae Roberts story that she is sharing as part of the Hello Soul. Hello Business course. Reading of her realisation that Art would be her future and then seeing the fairy tale unfold just goes to prove that magic does happen to all of us if we just push ourselves out there and do a bit of personal wand-waving to make it happen.

I have known for but a short time that art resides in my soul. I often wonder how could I have left it dormant for so long? But then, maybe I just wasn't ready to embrace it. I know that it will always be a part of me and that creativity will be how I earn my living. I might not be making money as an artist but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

I have already alluded to some exciting news regarding an upcoming creative venture (you can sign up to be in on the news first at the top of my blog). Although I'm not quite ready to share all the details, I am a worker bee in the background preparing to unleash something for the creative soul in the next month or so. I am getting very excited and itching to tell you, but I want to wait until I am properly organised and decisions have been made. My branding is being created as we speak and thoughts of this project fill my every waking hour.

This week I am guest hosting on The Butterfly Effect. Weeks ago I determined on theme of Wild at Heart and I created this painting as a base from which I added more digital work. Today she feels particularly appropriate as I bare my soul to art and let the seeds in my heart take root and begin to grow.

The heart is more than life-giving pumping organ. It houses the portal to our soul from where our every emotion is wont to try and escape.

How wild is your heart?

Layers

My life right now is a series of layers. I'm an onion, although that sounds a bit tearful and smelly. Perhaps I'm a layer cake? Yes, I like that - much sweeter!

If you looked at my office desk now you would see some serious evidence of layering. What you get is a cross section of everything going on in my brain. I am having some seriously exciting business ideas as a result of taking Hello Soul. Hello Business with Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth Nicholls and around 300 inspiring women (interesting how we are all female!). I have paper scribbled with ideas and calculations, marketing plans, to do lists. It's mind mapping gone wild.

My diary is underneath my sketchbook and the log book from my new car. My diary has rather a long list of items that need ticking off for today. Strictly speaking writing a blog post should not be top of the agenda... but it is Saturday... and I so wanted to enter The Butterfly Challenge's Layers week. I am such a layer lover when it comes to paint. More on this in a moment.... Back to the desk...

So, there are at three paintings, a book of love poetry, a rose that is crying out to be sketched, a memory stick with items that require downloading, a pile of unopened letters (they looked boring), a cuddly snowman, post it notes, pens, a card from Amy, wireless headphones and assorted notebooks (plus a thin layer of dust).

The floor is covered in paper. There are notes stuck to the walls and piles of filing dotted around. It is complete and utter ORGANISED chaos! Honest!

Back to this painting. I rather love it I have to confess. It began life as some random red and brown scrapings and corrugated cardboard prints made using up palette paint. The brighter bands of colour were added with a brayer then a few splatterings and scatterings of this and that to add more interest.

Right, blog post done. Back to the mind mapping and business planning! I'm very excited!!! Watch this space...

Celebrating the (W)right brain

Image from Mercedes Benz advertisement

I have a confession to make. I am completely smitten by a business book! Dan Pink's Whole New Mind has somewhat lodged itself in my own. I am a right-brainer and to be told that we're on the cusp of a revolution where we're set to take over the world was most gratifying. OK, slight exaggeration, but I'm just showing my passion! This was completely vindicated today when I took a Strength Finder test (more on this later).

Mr Pink reveals "that the future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: designers, inventors, teachers, storytellers - creative and empathetic 'right-brain' thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn't".

He theorises that in an age dominated by abundance and cheaper labour and manufacturing in Asia, we need to be differentiating ourselves to guarantee success. It's not about being a great number cruncher anymore. You need to be number cruncher that discerns patterns, can see the whole picture, empathise underlying causes and be willing to stand out and be different.

Dan Pink doesn't dismiss the left brain at all, his theory is that for too long we have neglected half of our brain power and that getting the two working together - being master of both - will be the traits needed for success in this new age.

His book hinges on six much neglected senses that will guide the lives of us 21st Century citizens obsessed with information, technology, logic and focus. It is time for Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning to make their resurgence. It's all there inside us - we just need to let it live again.


 As my career has rattled along through the years I have increasingly found myself hanging out with an edge of eccentricity. Ask me to complete a detailed project plan and you'll watch the light die in my eyes. Encourage me to think outside of the box, to blend humour with financial forecasts, to strategise with story and you'll have me in the palm of your hand. I don't do normal, conventional. I think "What if...?" and explore hidden pathways, open portals and adventure! My right brain needs a free leash!

Right brainers see possibility in discovering that 2012 is apparently 'the year of enchantment', I'm already wondering what spells I might weave to reach my lofty goals.

As we enter Week 3 of the Hello Soul. Hello Business course, we are exploring the 'what's' of our entrepreneurial craft. On Monday evening I stayed up way past my bedtime mind mapping some incredibly exciting opportunities to develop my creative business. I am incredibly excited by the opportunities I've discovered.
 
I am also blown away by the wonderful sharing community of ... you guessed it... right-brainers taking this course. We are all there to help and support each other see our dreams take shape. Our destiny awaits!
 
Today I came across this series of advertisements by Mercedes. It reads...
 
I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearing. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feet. I am movement. Vivid colours. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be.
 
Interesting coming from such a technology driven company. The times they are indeed a-changing...
 

A strange letter...

Dear Lisa

I know that you are a very busy girl these days and doing your best to fill every tiny crevice of your left brain with new information which then gets sifted and sorted by the right into some intriguing output.

However, this does not mean that I will sit idly by and be IGNORED! That's right. This is your blog writing in a desperate attempt to attract your attention. It's been days since you looked at me and frankly that will never do. After all, who do you think was responsible for putting you where you are now? Who helped stoke the fire and light the creative touchpaper? Who unlocked the treasure chest of your creativity and left you with the key?

That's right. It was me. I took you on a journey of discovery where you not only found yourself, but also a tribe of creatives that have influenced your very soul. Without me, you wouldn't have kept painting, taken e-courses, opened an Etsy shop, sold your work, whisked yourself away on an art retreat or met some of the most amazing people in your life right now. Without me, you wouldn't even be taking this Hello Soul. Hello Business course that is consuming your free moments.

So, this is a plea to remind you that I am still here. Right, rant over, I think you should go and paint something Chinese ready for the postcard challenge this week, then we can meet back here and you can tell me all about it.

Warm regards (nagging is for your own good).

Your Blog
xx

Quiet introspection

It has been a week of hard work and downtime thinking and reflection. I have not stopped and my body is complaining and urging me to both do some exercise (far too much time spent sitting in front of a computer!) and get some rest.

However, I am far too tired for the former and excited for the latter! This combination of emotion might result in a somewhat strange post, but let's just get on with it and see what happens.

Day job in the past couple of weeks has involved everything from changing tattoos on a man's head using PhotoShop to directing commercials and watching men dance along to Olivia Newton John...  I do love what I do!

Come evening, I have been partaking in my new favourite hobby - learning! I am so excited to be taking the Hello Soul. Hello Business course with Beth Nicholls and Kelly Rae Roberts. This week has been about introspection, discovering why we do what we want to do. Taking the time to reflect so we can build the right foundations for our creative businesses.

I was forced to delve deep into my passion for creativity. Why I have I chosen to take this path? What are my motivations? Well, I love to bring interest to the ordinary; colour and fun to the every day. If I can make people smile and take them on a journey of understanding that gives them pleasure and touches their heart and soul, then I'm getting that warm feeling inside of me.

Today was the culmination of weeks of hard work involving a huge team of talented people at Rackspace - one of the companies I have pleasure to work with. We put on an event to set the stage for 2012. Yes, there was PowerPoint involved... but also a theatre, cross dressing, ice cream, stunt doubles, pyrotechnics, drumming, camp performance, wigs, medal ceremonies, singing, a chariot and even an Olympic torch.

I need to transition this post into talking about art now, but am struggling to find a suitable link sentence... so let's just get on with it...

Last night I felt the urge to express through art a little of how I was feeling and this 'self portrait' was the result (I'm not blonde, nor do I have long hair... or indeed actually look like this....). Instead it just felt like me looking in. Quiet introspection. I just ripped a page out of an old book and played with my pastels and pencils. This evening, when I scanned the image in I was rather intrigued to spot a message hidden in the words... A moment of serendipity if you like...

Look closely and you'll spot...

... my name (Lisa. I have no idea who Eleanor is... maybe my Muse?) and then see how it talks about guts and instincts... just seconds after I'd listened to the course audio and heard Kelly Rae share how she believes that her intuition is her most valuable business tool! Serendipity?

(Also sharing this piece with my friends at Paint Party Friday).

Slightly bursting

So, who would have thought it? I reach my 40s and suddenly learning becomes the new going out. It's becoming a total addiction - and doesn't require trying to find a taxi home at 2am. If I don't learn something new every hour then life is being wasted.

I used to read fiction to help me relax and get to sleep at night. Now I read business books and get so pumped up with inspiration and ideas that I can't then nod off. In fact, I'm constantly leaping up to jot down ideas and plot.

Having been self-employed for over two years now, I find it hard to imagine working for one employer again. I might not run a large enterprise and currently take the role of everything from CEO to cleaning lady, but it's mine... all mine.... [rubbing hands in slightly sinister fashion].

I finally feel a little more in charge of my own destiny, and more importantly, am loving the work I am performing for my clients. I take a huge amount of pride in what I deliver. It really and truly matters to me in a way that 'work' never quite did in the past. I work with my clients to increase their levels of employee engagement and it seems to be rubbing off on myself. I am very motivated by what I do! I am both leader and member of my own little tribe here and it feels a very comfortable and stimulating place to be.

Next week sees the start of what promises to be a very special e-course that ticks my creative boxes. Hello Soul. Hello Business by my heroines Beth Nichols and Kelly Rae Roberts will reach into the soul of what we as entrepreneurs are trying to achieve. It's right-directed thinking. It's 21st Century. It's about creating a future of which we will all be proud.

(Image was also created from something I learned this week... I have also signed up for Kim Klassen's Beyond Layers year long inspiration and PhotoShop tips - which included a place on her skinny mini PS course. Now, I thought I was beyond beginner stage... but you keep learning... This piece was created using one of her textures and a photo of my own.