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Artspiration

Get busy doing

You cannot spend the day in deliberation. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Of course the artist thinks things through. Sometimes we debate every mark before making it. Question, examine, weight the options. Explore potential new avenues. At a certain point, this virtue (like all others) can become a vice. Sometimes we have to stop researching new […]

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Artspiration

100 Years from Now

What action can you take today that will contribute to something you will be proud of in 10 years?~ James Clear In last week’s email I mentioned the importance of timing, of remembering that both projects and stages of life have a cycle they have to move through. I ran across the quote above recently, […]

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Artspiration

You’re not done yet

If I’m writing my book … that means on some level I believe in a future where this book could exist.~ R. O. Kwon I’ve got a friend who’s going through a rough patch – all their family moved away, it looks like their job is being downsized, they’re struggling financially, and the future is […]

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Artspiration

Everything and nothing

Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”~ from Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel, The Sun Also Rises. All at once, it seems. Isn’t it funny how my days seem to go? My todo list feels empty of time-sensitive items, until they suddenly appear all at once. I’m busy all day long, yet when I think […]

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Artspiration

Right-Sized

Sometimes a good solution will look like minimalism, sometimes it will look like maximalism, and sometimes it will be elsewhere within the spectrum of possibilities.~ Steve Pavlina I have inherited and collected quite a few tools. My garage has a rack of nothing but pliers. I often think there are too many and that I […]

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Artspiration

Choose your challenge

Strangely, life gets harder when you try to make it easy.Exercising might be hard, but never moving makes life harder.Uncomfortable conversations are hard, but avoiding every conflict is harder. Mastering your craft is hard, but having no skills is harder.Easy has a cost.~ James Clear There’s a (poor) joke about what it’s like to be […]

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Artspiration

Accept and embrace

Life is more fun if you play games. ~ Roald Dahl I was recently chatting with a customer in the store about playing with art supplies. He picks up materials to play with during breaks at work and during down-time at home. His co-workers comment on the fact that there is “room for improvement.” He […]

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Artspiration

What is your goal?

The goal of adulthood is to let go of the other possible existences and to make the best of the one. A successful adult is one who understands that it doesn’t matter which life you ultimately pick, only that you live it well.~ Chris Ballas In last week’s email, I mentioned that I have a […]

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Artspiration

How comfortable are you?

It’s only an adventure if you’re uncomfortable.~ Ashley French-Holt While I college, I purchased a motorcycle as transportation – and have kept it ever since. There are years when I ride more, and others when I ride less. With the recent warmer weather (and mechanical problems on my vehicle), I have been commuting on the […]

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Artspiration

What’s in your head?

When you’re starting off as a young writer, you look at all the stuff that’s gone before and the stuff that’s influenced you, and you reach the ladle of your imagination into this bubbling stew pot of all of this stuff, and you pour it out. And that’s where you start from.As time goes on, […]