Jumping back on the horse!

In less than twenty-four hours I will begin a new course aimed at assisting me with finding my voice for this site.  Reflection of You comes from the creative vision of Kim Klassen and Xanthe Berkeley two awesome visionaries who work at sharing their craft with the masses.

I'm very familiar with Kim, but I have only lurked from time to time on Xanthe's site. What I found really intriguing about Xanthe is her willingness to open her life to the world through Creating Time Capsules. When you drop by the page you are offered a glimpse into 'A Day in the Life' - and that to me is a testament to her willingness to help others grow.

I can't imagine offering so many complete strangers a glimpse into my day, but who knows maybe I'll learn to shed a layer of my mask in this new course.

While I know that Kim has taken Xanthe's course I have not seen her film, but through the written word she has opened her heart and soul to many on her site - and wow does she do it in such an unassuming way! The stories are very real, full of passion but not intimate details.

Oh wow, hold on I just had an 'aha' moment! As a writer I know that it is often hard to write about your life while in the throes of it, but if I look at it from a creative perspective maybe it will be a little easier. Uhmm...not sure, but we'll see over the next several weeks.

In preparation for tomorrow, I'm posting a photo from my Beyond Layers class, albeit late, but as the title says 'I'm jumping back on the horse'!

What's your Six Word Memoir

Let's continue the creative journey by writing Six Word Memoirs. Can you tell your story in six words? Well I never thought I could, and what I have attempted is by no means perfect, but for a first blush I'd say it's not too bad.

This exercise is also compliments of Kim Klassen and Beyond Layers. Kim recently came across the Six Word Memoir in I believe the latest edition of O Magazine. I, however, read about this form of memoir in a writing magazine - I believe Writer's Digest and I just glimpsed at the story, thinking I couldn't possibly do that! Again with the negative energy and fear leading the way.

Well no longer. This is the year of FOCUS and The Year of Possibilities. So when the prompt came on Monday I pondered it a little and in between cooking dinner I wrote out a few:

Giving to a fault; reassessing this.

Tired. Determined. Perplexed seeker.

Walking through Life. Yearning to Live.

After creating those I came to the conclusion that a Six Word Memoir captures a moment in time. I was convinced of this tonight when I wrote the following after a lovely conversation with my 10-year-old niece:

Bubbling. Overjoyed and Loving that Girl!

So now it's your turn, capture a moment in your life in six words!

For more on Six Word Memoirs check out Smith Magazine, the creative minds behind this form. You can find them here.

My Creative Story

As I peel back the layers and expose my creativity in Kim Klassen's Beyond Layers class one of the challenges or prompts is to tell my creative story. This was our first prompt last week, but it has taken me almost a week to conceptualize this story and sit here to share it with you.

I hope you'll grab a nice cup of your favorite beverage and take this journey with me.

As a youngster I did my fair share of coloring, but I was not one prone to start an art project - give me a book and I would be lost for hours. One of my favorite photos of me as a child is of me lying on the floor with my legs bent at the knee with a book in front of me. At first glance you see a child reading, but if you inspect that photo closely you will find I have fallen asleep!

Now my Mom was one to have you involved in several activities and having studied Early Childhood Education she also had many projects for us that included painting and creating. I eagerly joined in, but I can't say I was pleased with the outcome so I concluded art was not for me.

Early on I did have fascination with cameras and even had a Kodak Instamatic that I used to capture early memories. This would be the closest I came to being creative - or so that's what I thought at the time. I'm not sure if it was my efforts to emulate my Dad or an early notion of recording history, but photography planted itself in my life and has since become a fixture. By the time I was about 13 or 14 my parents gave me my first and only 35mm Nikon FG that I still own and use from time to time today.

As a voracious reader it would naturally follow that I would love the written word and follow some sort of literary path. My path was not literary, but journalistic. I'm not sure when, but I was fascinated with the news and newspapers specifically. So I took all the English classes offered in school including AP and studied journalism in college. While seeking out English classes I avoided Art classes if at all possible. Unfortunately, I came up during a time when Art and Music were still a part of the curriculum so I really didn't have a choice. I toiled through the assignments and my Mom even displayed my art.

Creative - not me. As a journalist with a weekly newspaper I used my camera to help tell my stories, and to document family events and my travels. I never looked at this as being creative. Over the years I learned how to do page layout and design at the newspaper, which I used later to create computer generated cards and invitations - creative, not me.

I didn't take to crafts either. My Mom and sister loved crafts from needle point to sewing and finally knitting - not me. When my Mom took up knitting she and my sister tried to get me to join but my response was "I have two left thumbs." I did give it a half-heart try, but to no avail. Then a few years later my sister announced she was pregnant with her first child and I decided I would try knitting again. I knit a cute, but imperfect blanket for my niece and I was hooked. Creative - not me.

About a year later when I was planning my wedding I created the invitations and a friend of my Dad's - a tenured Art Professor and Artist received the invitation and was so impressed he framed my "artwork" and gave it to me. Creative - maybe I am.

My framed "Art" Wedding Invitation

Since that time I have taken up card making, I knit regularly and I have created wedding invitations for a few people. I have also taken up photography again. Today I still struggle with the designation of "Creative" but I'm working on accepting the "Creative" in me with Beyond Layers and renewed confidence.

Wrist Warmers I knit for a friend.

As I close I want to give a shout out to my "Cyber" friends! Over the past year I have met many women who have offered a wealth of advice for free, but more importantly have given me and many others the confidence needed to continue honing our skills. Also, the many participants in e-classes who have offered their kind words when viewing my work - it gives me hope and inspiration! The ladies I speak of include but are not limited to Shutter Sisters, Karen "Chookooloonks" Walrond, Kim Klassen, Kat Sloma, and Big Picture Classes.

365/66 Photo Challenge Check-In

Winter has finally come to the "north coast" so I spent a relaxing day with my laptop. No need to venture out into the blustery cold - been there done that (maybe tomorrow).

Started the day of relax with Ali Edwards and a video chat for One Little Word. What in inspiring way to start the day. The group offered up tips for a successful year and some great humor too! During an exchange about apps for the Iphone one respondent said "I'd give up my right arm for my Iphone", now if that's not an endorsement I haven't heard any!

After the chat I was supposed to get moving on my word and a number of other projects, but I got stuck working on the post processing of some photos. Oh, I did stop and take a few shots, but after that it was the laptop all day.

Between playing with photos and "Words With Friends" I can say it was an enjoyable day.

These are the highlights:

Fresh popped - OPD-13-JAN 13 2012

Inspired by OLW chat and preparation for Beyond Layers  with Kim Klassen

OPD-14-JAN 14 2012

Inspired by this week's Picture Inspiration and the chill outside!

2012 365 Photo Challenge - Day 7

Fresh Bay Leaves with textures courtesy of Kim Klassen.

Another take on the Bay Leaves

Finding My Path & Texture Tuesday

You might wonder when reading the title to this post what do the two have to do with one another, so I'll explain.
On Monday I began participating in Karen Walrond's Chookooloonks Path Finder a five-week self-guided study program on creating your own beautifully different life, and part of the study program involves journaling - something I do fairly consistently, but not in the same manner Karen encourages.
Yesterday's prompt involved writing a "Love List", and one of the things that I love is to learn new things. Recently I said to a friend that I might want to work in academia, partly because I love the aura found on college campuses.
While reflecting on my love list I happened about Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday post and started playing around with some of her textures. Now I won't say I have learned all there is to know, or even a great deal but I have learned how to use the textures and this photo is the result.

Photo compliments of Kim Klassen's textures.

To create this look I used Kim Klassen's kkportrait with color burn and an opacity of 62% along with her sweettart texture with vivid light and an opacity of 31%. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome!

Below is the original photo, and I really love it, but it is really more dramatic with the textures. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Before

Thanks for stopping by! I'm off to work on the "why" associated with my "Love List" - so much fun!