karenika

Art Journaling – Fabriano Roma Set 7

Here are the pages I did during November:

The full text reads: Give and Love with All your Heart.

And here’s the next page:

The full text reads: Fill your life with color.

And here’s the next page:

I dislike this page but I love the thought on it.

The full text reads: We are all connected, You are an essential part of the whole.

And here’s the next page:

The full text reads: Don’t waste your minutes, life waits for no one.

And here’s the next page:

The full text reads: Life is short: laugh often.

Well here we go. More coming next week.

I am creating multiple art journaling pages a week for now. You can read more about this project here. This set uses the Fabriano Roma papers.

Putting in the Time

Towards the end of 1999, I spent six months in Tokyo for work. I lived in a corporate apartment in Roppongi and walked to work each day. Every weekday I started my day with an hour-long Japanese class. By the time I came back from Tokyo, I could speak Japanese relatively well. I even took some proficiency tests. (Nothing too amazing, mind you, but just enough to get by.)

I was twenty-five.

There are several areas where people seem to think that you either have an inherent ability or you don’t. Learning languages is one of them. So are most artistic abilities. Computers, too. People often tell me that they’re just not built that way. They’re not “good” at languages or good at drawing or technical stuff. Etc.

What they really mean is: I’m too lazy to put in the work.

(I know it’s harsh. I’m sorry if I made some of you mad. Bear with me.)

The things is, yes I am good with languages maybe. I had the good fortune of growing up in a multi-lingual household. I also was required to learn languages at school. My life was surrounded by people who cared and valued language-learning skills. So they prioritized it and so did I. Maybe the early infusion helped and maybe it didn’t. But here’s the real truth about what I did to learn Japanese so late in my life.

I studied.

For hours and hours and hours.

And hours.

I spent hours memorizing the alphabets. The way to write those difficult Kanji letters. All those foreign words that meant nothing to me. I worked and worked and worked to remember them. You can make up a million reasons why it was possible for me to learn this difficult language but I know it would have never happened without all that hard work. And maybe if you didn’t study languages a lot like I had, you would need more hours than I did but the trick to making it work wasn’t my wealth of knowledge. It was mostly hard work.

The one major area my past experience did help me was in showing me that I could do it. I’d managed to learn six languages before I learned Japanese. I had proof that I could do this. Even if none of the languages correlated to Japanese in any way, I’d proven to myself that I was capable of putting the work in and getting results.

So I’ll admit that the past results gave me some confidence but the rest was all hard work. And without the hard work I would have never ever learned it.

Because of this, when people tell me “oh you’re clearly good at languages, I just don’t have that skill,” I get mad. It discounts the hundreds of hours I put in to make it work. It writes it all off with “you’re good at this.”

Same goes for art. In everything I’ve tried to do in the last few years whether it be scrapping, drawing, art journaling, painting, or photography, I’ve learned that what sets the successful people apart is the AMOUNT and KIND of WORK they put in. Maybe it’s less painful for them because they feel passionate but it’s still hours and hours and hours of practice. Same for writing. Same for programming. People only get good by working hard. (The exceptions here are super-rare. Rare enough to not be statistically significant.)

Two things happened this week to remind me of how much hard work it takes to achieve things: One, Jake sent me this video today which reminded me that the athletes work so much more than we do to keep their body in shape. They work. Because to them it’s not about losing a few pounds. It’s about getting to do their passion. So they do what it takes.

And the other one was during my I Heart Drawing class. This class is on drawing fashion figures and I am really struggling. My girls look funny. My lines don’t flow. Things just never work out the way I wish they did. When I whined about it, here’s what the amazing Jane said:

“Of course you need to practice Karenika, we all do. Of course your drawing isn’t exactly as you want it – you are learning. You are meant to be making mistakes remember?! Can I flick a switch and just transmit what I know after years and years of joyful practice?”

See what she says “YEARS AND YEARS OF JOYFUL PRACTICE.” The fact is, the frustration causes me to practice less which, of course, means I don’t improve. She’s been doing this for years. She’s been doing it diligently, joyfully and putting in her hours.

And I haven’t.

So it’s no surprise that I am not “good at this.”

As upsetting as it might be to acknowledge, I’ve come to accept that the only thing standing between me and the thing I want to learn (master, be good at, whatever.) is my willingness to practice.

To put in the time.

The Savor Project – Week 1

Ok here we go. Try two. This the real week one of the project since it’s based on the first week of the new year. Life I did with the November Book I picked some photos from the week that had stories I wanted to tell. I printed them on my little polaroid printer (see link all the way in the bottom for details on my printer.) and then I made my four pages.

Let me show you the spread and then I’ll explain the setup:

This old PL album I have is setup so it has 4 4×6 pockets on each side and 4 3×4 pockets along the bottom on each side. I set things up so that I created my “page” on a 6×8 setup and cut it in the middle to create two 4×6’s and put them in the album as if they are 2ups. So there are two stories on each side of the binder. So the full spread has the four stories I hope to capture each week.

And along the bottom I print 3×4 photos of my art from that week. The sketches, art journal pages, collage pages, etc.

Let’s get into a bit more detail. Here’s the left side:

The first story all the way on the left is about how creative David is with his legos and how he takes ideas from other places and incorporates them into his creations. The one next to it is from our little venture out on New Year’s Day where we went to watch the ducks and birds and planes. Along the bottom you see some of my sketches and an art journal page. I know the art journal page is actually vertical and so, put sideways but I am ok with that.

Here’s the right side:

The first story is about how Nathaniel, David and I spent time playing with markers and stamps and how much fun it was to create alongside them. The second one is about Nathaniel and how mischievous he is when he knows I am trying to take his photo and how much he exudes joy no matter what.

And along the bottom are more art journaling pages and sketches from that week.

So there we go. I love the fact that this book will end up holding not just all of our wonderful stories from the year but also a collection of the art I create throughout the year.

Since this project is story-based and not time specific, there might be some weeks where I have more than 4 stories and other weeks where I have less. I am totally ok with that. I plan to flow with it. Some stories might spill to the following week and some spreads might wait until I have more stories. I am not too worried either since there are so many stories to tell all the time.

For me, the biggest loss in using this format is the flipping and extra layers I was able to add to the book. So I might experiment with that throughout the year. I might have some stories that take up the whole 4 4x6s and some that are just single (instead of the 2-up) but overall I think the 2up is the most consistent setup I will use since it seems to be the most flexible one for me. Let’s see how it works out.

On the upside, not only will this binder accomodate the full year of stories and allow me to also put my art in there but it also means everything is in a page protector so the kids can look through it without worrying about anything falling apart. Which is a big bonus.

There we go. I hope you like my new setup as much as I do and I hope hope hope it continues to work for me.

Happy Savoring.

The Savor Project was supposed to be a weekly project for 2012. You can read about my setup here.

A Book a Week – Holiday Reading

I’ve been meaning to talk about holiday reading for a while now. During the holiday season, I tend to read a lot of books. Generally they are either reflection-based or art-related. I tend to save them and then savor them during the holidays. Here are the ones I read this holiday season.

Most of the reading this time around was art books I’d been saving. I did read two (actually three but the other one I will write about separately) books that were more on the reflective side. Two of them were by Sark: Transformation Soup and Eat Mangoes Naked I read her last year during the holidays and I’d liked her so I bought a few more of her books and saved them. I did enjoy both of these and if Sark is your cup of tea, I think you would, too.

Then I read a bunch of art books. I’d been saving How to Make a Journal of Your Life for months. A little book on how awesome it is to keep journals. It covers journaling, sketching, taking photos, and collecting ephemera. It’s small, a quick read, and quite wonderful.

Since I wanted to keep art journals, I’d bought both The Decorated Page and Artist’s Journal Workshop for this purpose. I will admit that I didn’t read them for too long. But I loved both of these. Especially the latter. I loved loved loved that book.

Excellent examples of sketching, drawing, art journaling. Really worthwhile.

And since I was interested in sketching, you knew I was going to have to read at least one Danny Gregory, right? Creative License is one of the best books on sketching ever. Inspirational, lovely to look at, practical and just way too enticing not to read.

If you’re interested in sketching or into sketching, you must not miss Danny Gregory. He’s exceptional. I am confident every one of his books must be amazing.

I also bought 30-minute sketching because I read about it in Junelle’s blog. (Or I think I did.) This is a small book. quick to read and covers mostly watercolors. It’s wonderful. Don’t let its size fool you, there’s A LOT of information in this little book.

And specifically on watercolors I read Keeping a Watercolor Sketchbook. Another incredible book. Brenda’s an amazing artist. Oh to have that talent. This book is in detail, and I’ll be honest, I am still reading it. I just want to savor every page of it and make sure I learn as much as I can from it.

And there we go. Those are some of the books I read during the holidays. Every one of them was awesome. And getting to savor them during the holidays is an extra luxury. Have you read any good art books lately?

The Bare Essentials

When I was in the sixth grade, I tried to change schools. This new school had an entrance exam and was supposed to accept only one transfer, so I studied pretty much all year for this one exam.

On the day of the exam, I woke up with a fever. A high fever.

I remember that I was so sick I could barely hold my head up during the exam. So much so that the monitor came over and told me I had to sit straight (she thought I was trying to cheat, I assume.) I normally tend to finish exams well under the required time cause I go way way fast. And then I review my answers, change a bunch of stuff around, and that’s it.

This time, I had to go very slowly because my attention span wasn’t being cooperative. I took my time with each question and went super-slowly. I finished just about on time.

Since I was so sick, both my mom and I assumed that was it. A year of preparation for one terrible day was such a bad ratio and, alas, I had been unlucky and that was that.

But, of course, that’s not how the story ends.

I got into the school. In the end, they decided to take two people in and I was number two. The girl who was number one (it was a girls’ school) got into another school and chose to go there instead. So I would have ended up getting in even if they only took one person.

Over the years, I’ve thought about that exam a lot. How being sick is what might have led me to getting in. The transfer to that school likely changed the course of my life. I am not sure I would have ended up here in the United States without it (though maybe I would have since I was very personally driven to end up here no matter what.) More than anything, that day was a reminder to me that sometimes when I don’t know how to do it, the universe has a way of slowing me down.

I’ve been quite sick for the last two days. I seem to have come down with a nasty cold and have constant headaches and cannot do much without a lot of effort. Thankfully, this came at the tail end of a long weekend where I was quite productive but still, it sucks to be sick.

And even though I hate what it does to my schedule and my attention span, I’ve also learned to respect and pay attention to what it does to my life. Two significant things: One is that it makes me appreciate being healthy so much. I am lucky enough to be relatively healthy and I don’t really think too much about it. Until I don’t have it anymore. And when I am sick, I can’t even remember what healthy felt like. It seems endless. It is a good reminder to cheer for each day that I am not in pain.

Secondly. being sick gets things down to the bare essentials. The only things that get done are what really really needs to get done. Everything else goes by the wayside. And the world doesn’t end because of it. I find these days to be a good reminder of what is essential. What matters more to me than anything else.

What can’t I let go of no matter what? What is important for my soul regardless of how my body feels?

The bare essentials.

It’s a good reminder to have. Because we often get caught up in all that has to get done. Chores, todo lists, obligations, even personal todo list. Blogs that have to be caught up on. Messages to return. Etc. etc. But in the end most of those things can wait. Some can even wait forever.

The sickness takes away the sense of urgency. It forces you to slow down. It forces you to reconsider what must get done. It forces you to think more carefully.

It forces you to let go.

It’s unfortunate that the universe has to force me to take a break every now and then but, alas, I’ll take a message from the universe no matter what shape it comes in. (Well….maybe not always but that’s another conversation for another time.)

Daily Sketching – Week 41

Here are the sketches from last week:

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Still enjoying these watercolors so for now working on that as well as the handwriting. I was supposed to do only four a week but I am loving these so much I just don’t want to skip a day.

Daily Sketching is a weekly project for 2012. You can see a detailed post on my steps here.

Year-Long Classes – Month One

I am taking two year-long classes at Big Picture Classes this year. I am pretty sure you must have heard of both. Even though these are not amazing, I still thought it would be fun to post my progress each month. If for no other reason than to record things.

One is One Little Word with Ali Edwards. I took this class last year, too. But even though I watched all the videos and kept up with the class, I didn’t do any of the work (well I did the first month only.) As it worked out, I got the Pink Paislee binder she used last year so I decided I would do the assignments as well this year. (Of course, she’s changed format since then but I am still doing them in my Pink Paislee binder anyway.)

Here are my OLW pages so far:

the opening page:

and a photo of me on the back. this was the only photo I had that had just me so I decided to go with it:

and here’s the assignment for january:

and there we go. If you’re not taking this class but do pick a word for the year, I highly recommend the class. It’s a wonderful way to keep your word close to your soul and mind all year long.

The second class I am taking is Cathy’s Move More Eat Well. For me, this class is to do the most important part of the health work I started last year: maintaining. It’s hard to lose weight and eat well, true, but it’s much much harder to maintain it for the rest of your life. And I hope to never have to gain my weight back or lose the exercise routine or start eating badly again. But I know it can all happen if I don’t pay attention. So the class is here to make sure I continue to pay attention.

Here are my assignments so far.

Opening page:

back of opening page. all this was hard work for me, for some reason. and, yes, I used the same photo.

and here’s the page for January:

And here we go. That’s where we are now. I will post a February update once we get there.

Are you taking either of these classes? Do you like them?

David’s BoGM – Week 2

Here are two more spreads from our book:

The left side of this spread is a drawing David made (I should have photographed it, too!) and the right side is a little art project we did at the Children’s Discovery Museum.

And the next spread:

The left side has two items in this case. David has some spy teams at school and he wanted a special code they could communicate in so Jake downloaded and laminated this one for him. (I can’t remember what it is but it’s some kind of code.) On the bottom is the sticker from the Exploratorium from when he and Jake went to meet Jake’s friend Geoff and his son. David got to look through a microscope there which he thought was awesome. The right side is our ticket of the Train of Lights we took during Christmastime at Niles, CA. David loves that train and the yummy cookies he eats when we takes it.

There we go. That’s all for this week. More coming soon.

David’s Book of Good Memories is a bi-weekly project for 2012 with my seven-year-old son David. You can read more about it here.

Weekly Diary – January 14 2012

This was a crazy week. I had five appointments on top of my crazy work and assignments for CHA. But it all worked out. I dyed my roots, got my teeth cleaned, went to book club, etc. etc. I still managed to get all my CHA work done and did a lot of work at work, too. Jake helped out a lot so I could run around like crazy and get stuff done and I am grateful for that. The kids were doing great, too. David had a full week at school and is loving his afterschool lego class and his swimming class. He seems to be doing great socially too and I am very proud of him for being a kind boy. Nathaniel’s loving being back at school, too. He decided (or David told him) one of the lego man is “bad guy” so we call him that, now. And he’ll occasionally shoot the bad guy and bad guy will be dead. They both like shooting each other and playing dead (especially the falling to the ground part.) He’s also working on going to the bathroom, now. He likes to sit there for a long time but today we actually made progress which was great. All in all, quite a busy but lovely week for us.

Anyhow, here are some highlights from last week:

Nathaniel’s been really enjoying playing with legos lately. Building things and making noises. I love how he smiles when he knows I’m taking a photo.

David watching Harry Potter.

Nathaniel “driving” his creation.

And, of course, wanting to watch the movie with David.

I can never have enough of those eyes.

even when he makes the faces.

little boy posing for me.

and this is what he looks like most of the time.

i told him no blankie in the photo. he smiled.

he’s been loving the binoculars too.

even when he uses them the wrong way.

I love this photo. He loves being able to put his hands in his pockets.

he thinks it’s so super fun.

And I especially love when they conspire and play together.

more of my blue-eyed boy.

Nathaniel still loves getting inside this box.

more playing together. Legos are just the best toys ever.

and some fun family photos. a lot of laughter.

So very very grateful for my family.

and here we go. Another wonderful week gone. Here’s to a great week next week!

Weekly Diary is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.

Journey into Collage – Week 2

Here’s the next page in my book:

And this one was really meant to be homework for my I Heart Drawing class. It was to practice drawing hands. I did my journaling inside her dress. All of her is painted except for the balloons which are from Pink Paislee tissue paper.

even less collage-y. ugh. i know.

Journey into Collage is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.

Clearing the Noise

I watch a lot of TV. A lot. And I’ll be honest, each time I read about how to increase your productivity you need to turn off the TV, I scoff a little. I’ve been watching a lot of TV since I was about 15 and I often can’t do work without it on. Well, in the name of 100% honesty, I will say that most of the time I am not actually watching the TV since I really use it for the noise. I am often processing photos, doing art, or some other recurring task at the same time. When I was in high school and college, I couldn’t do my homework unless the TV was on. And I dare someone to tell me that I am not productive. TV is not the problem. At least not for me.

Alas, this is not a post about TV and whether it will kill your productivity or not.

While I am not very selective about my subject matter and watch just about anything that’s on the air between 8-11, I do make one exception: reality TV. I don’t watch any reality TV. None at all.

When this genre first came to be popular, I watched a few of the shows but it didn’t take me long to realize that they were more focused on humiliation and drama than just about anything else. And I just couldn’t take it. I couldn’t watch people’s worst sides being exposed again and again. Seeing them cry, be made fun of, or just outright humiliated was too much for me. I decided early on to give the whole genre up and have never looked back. (disclaimer: I am sure there are some truly good ones so please don’t take this as a judgement if you do indeed watch them, it’s just my personal opinion.)

After I wrote yesterday’s message, Ann commented: And as another of my friends says when other people’s chaos seems so urgent, “don’t just do something, sit there!” It’s amazing how often crazy-making people will move on to the next person on their emergency list if they don’t get an immediate drama-gratification from me. Of course, that means I don’t get to be their hero; instead I have to be my own hero. That’s substantially harder.

I’m not one of those people who slows down to watch when I see an accident on the road (unless they need help of course). I don’t try to get involved in other people’s drama. While I do also get curious sometimes, I try to stay out of gossip and negative talk. I’ve always tried to be good about this. Sometimes I failed and other times I was more successful.

But for 2012, I decided to make a more drastic change.

I’ve basically wiped out as much of the sarcasm, drama, and gossip out of my life as possible. I just decided that reading sites with negativity or sarcasm was adding to my overall discontented feeling. I’ve stopped reading super-depressing books. I’d already stopped watching the news a long time ago. I just feel like these were taking away from my life and not enhancing it in anyway. Maybe it’s because when I get into it, I am really involved, I deeply care and it ends up becoming a big part of my life. I’ve even been known to care and worry more than the original person.

So now I give it up.

This doesn’t mean a friend cannot come to me with a genuine grief or worry. Of course I am here for that. I am here to support everyone I love and care about. But I am no longer getting involved with the needless drama or gossip. In my life or online. I am trying to move away from people who favor drama and sarcasm. I am trying to focus more on positive and on the real people. I made a point to go through my RSS reader and cleared out a lot of blogs. I took my reading list and eliminated several titles.

I don’t know what it is about the spiral of drama that sucks people in but I just know it puts me in a bad place where I don’t like to be and it takes me away from being the best version of myself. So I’ve chosen to clear the noise around me.

And Ann’s right, of course, it’s hard being my own hero. But it also is so much more satisfying. And so much more worthwhile.