Creative Courage Soul Sisters : Part II

Lisa Sonora Beam is an American painter and writer currently living in Oaxaca City, Mexico. She is the author of The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real. Lisa leads Creative Entrepreneur workshops all over the world where she strives to help others bring their creative gifts into the world through meaningful work.

Heather Braun-Dahl is a painter and ceramic artist working in Vancouver, Canada. She studied at the Emily Carr Institut of Art and Design, and combines her many talents in her Dahlhaus art studio. See more of Heather's beautiful work here and on her Dahlhaus blog.

Eleanor Mayrhofer started creating printable stationery, paper goods and invitations while working at her full-time day job. Within a couple of years, her e.m.papers business took off and she was able to quit her job to work creatively full time! (See her recent Etsy Quit Your Day Job interview here.) e.m.papers products have been featured in popular magazines such as Martha Stewart Weddings and BRIDES + design blogs like Apartment Therapy and Design Milk. 

Susan Schwake is an art instructor in her own art school where she has created her own curriculum. Her vision to teach and share art on her own terms has grown into artstream studios, which includes a contemporary gallery, an adjunct teaching staff of three, workshops and retreats most every day of the year, and their own full media design firm. Susan is also the author of the popular new book Art Lab for Kids and a writer for Illustration Friday and Illustration Friday Kids.

Candy Glendening is a textile artist and creator of Candied Fabrics. She was featured in Dyeing to Stitch, a DVD filmed on the set of Quilting Arts TV, and she has written about quilting and dyeing fabrics arts for a variety of major textile arts magazines. Candy also leads online dyeing classes here.

Patricia Zapata is a graphic designer, crafter and the author of Home, Paper, Scissors: Decorative Accessories for the Home. Examples of her artwork are found on her portfolio site and in her A Little Hut online shop. Her work has been featured in many online publications such as Design Sponge, Apartment Therapy, Decor8, Poppytalk, and Bloesem among others. Patricia has published tutorials on the Craft magazine and site and was a guest crafter on HGTV’s That’s Clever.

I'm delighted to have this group of talented, creative women joining us for the fall session of my Creative Courage ecourse to share their secrets on how they've accomplished their ambitious goals.

We'll be starting in September and spaces are filling quickly. I hope you will join us too! Get more information about our course here.

Have a lovely weekend!

xoxo

Stephanie

Creative Courage Fall Session Now Open!

 

Hi lovelies! I'm delighted to open registration today for our next session of Creative Courage! 

Our Fall Session will run from September 24, 2012 - November 2nd, 2012. I'd love for you to join us! Be sure to sign up today to get your Early Bird Discount.

Creative Courage is an international e-course for women around the world, and I've designed it as a practical guide to help you start making your creative goals real.

As always, I've invited 12 expert guests to join us for brand new, fresh, and exclusive Creative Courage interviews.

I'm thrilled with the amazing group of women who will be joining us! 

Here is a peek at our Fall Session Creative Courage featured interview list:

Alena Hennessy - internationally known artist, designer, illustrator, and author of the gorgeous, new book Cultivating Your Creative Life: Exercises, Activities, and Inspiration for finding Balance, Beauty, and Success as an Artist

Victoria Smith - design expert, photographer, writer, and editor of sfgirlbybay, one of the West Coast's leading design blogs, contributor to many major art and design magazines

Lisa Sonora Beam - mixed media artist, writer, workshop leader, adventurer, and author of The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real

Alicia Paulson - crafter, writer, photographer, multi-talent and author of Stitched in Time, Embroidery Companion, and creator of the lush, beautiful Posie gets cozy

Christine Mason Miller - artist, illustrator, seeker, explorer, and author of several books including Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World and Ordinary Sparkling Moments

Heather Moore - illustrator and designer from Cape Town, South Africa, creator of the design label Skinny laMinx, owner of the Skinny laMinx store & studio and extremely successful Skinny laMinx online shop

Arounna Khounnoraj - cofounder of bookhou, a multidisciplinary design studio based in Toronto, that emphasizes natural handmade materials, editor of the poetic bookhou at home online journal

Patricia Zapata - designer, illustrator, creator of A Little Hut and Zapata Design boutiques, author of Home, Paper, Scissors: Decorative Paper Accessories for the Home, guest on HGTV's That's Clever

Eleanor Mayrhofer - owner of e.m.papers, designer of unique, printable stationery, paper goods, and invitations, featured in Apartment Therapy, Martha Stewart Weddings, and BRIDES magazine

Heather Braun-Dahl - painter and ceramic artist based in Vancouver, creator of Dahlhaus and the Dahlhaus art shop, featured in InStyle, style at home, and House and Home magazines

Candy Glendening - textile artist and creator of Candied Fabrics, featured in Dyeing to Stitch, a DVD filmed on the set of Quilting Arts TV, prolific art quilter, designer, and author

Susan Schwake - artist, illustrator, owner and artistic director of artstream studios, a contemporary gallery and workshop space, author of the popular new book Art Lab for Kids

These powerful ladies from around the world will share their secrets with us on how they have published books, built online businesses, created workshops and e-courses, opened stores/galleries, been featured for incredible press opportunities, and are now thriving as successful artists, authors, crafters, photographers, and designers.

Creative Courage is 6 weeks of fun, color, inspiration, tools, and resources to kick start your creative life!

Our topics include:

• clarifying and believing in your creative dreams 

• pushing through your fears and developing your self-confidence

• fresh ideas on how to earn more money with your art and creative skills

• building an online presence to grow your career as an artist

• making connections and finding press opportunities to spread the word about your work

• creating artwork without inhibition and how to avoid getting stuck

• nurturing your body and soul to increase your creativity

• avoiding burnout and promoting balance in your life

• finding positive support for your work and building a community 

• connecting and collaborating with others to energize your creative business

• developing helpful strategies for time management for busy women

• and much more! 

I've added new, bonus material for this session as well:

• tips for using certain colors in your home and studio areas to activate your creativity

• my behind the scenes adventure tales from my 12 Countries in 12 Months European tour

• an expanded bibliography and resource list for continued learning

• brand new exercises to boost your personal courage and creative spirit

I'll be sharing my experiences as an artist, published illustrator, working mom, and American expat living in Germany. I'll also tell you how my family and I do our best to juggle it all and make our lives more creative, interesting, and rewarding.

You'll be able to connect with like-minded women in our private Creative Courage Facebook and Flickr groups. This supportive, community spirit is one of the very best parts of Creative Courage!

When you sign up for Creative Courage, you will receive:

• inspirational, visually inspiring daily posts (Monday - Friday) on a private website to encourage, support, and help you start turning your creative dreams into reality

• a weekly video featuring my personal tips for each week's topic

• colorful PDF worksheets to download, use, and keep forever

• fun, helpful activities to help clarify your thoughts and strengthen your self-confidence

• abundant resources with links so that you can explore each topic in depth

• exclusive, in-depth interviews with an amazing group of 12 of today's top creative experts

• access to a community of international, like-minded, supportive creative explorers who share your wish of living a richer, fuller, more colorful and joyful life

For more detailed information about the course and to read what previous participants have to say, please visit my Creative Courage information page here.

I encourage you to register for the Creative Courage e-course, open your mind and heart, and start listening to your deepest, truest wishes for your life. 

I'd love for you to take part in the Creative Courage e-course! Get six weeks of fun, color, encouragement, inspiration, love, access to a supportive community, plus 12 exclusive expert interviews for only $99.

Our Fall Session will run from September 24th - November 2nd, 2012.

To sign up for Creative Courage, simply click on the Add To Cart button below to secure a space and complete your registration. You'll be redirected to PayPal to complete your payment, and then you'll receive a welcome and confirmation email from me.

Thanks so much for your interest, and I look forward to beginning our next session of Creative Courage in September with you! 

xoxo

Stephanie

heather braun-dahl : artists who blog

Heather's website: www.dahlhausart.com
Heather's blog: www.dahlhausart.blogspot.com
Heather's shop: www.dahlhausart.bigcartel.com

Why did you decide to start a blog?

I decided to start a blog as a way to document my own journey while also giving people the opportunity to get to know me in an uninvasive and yet authentic way, no matter where they were from. I really enjoy writing and taking photos of my inspiration and my work and decided that a blog would be a good format for me to put that together. I wasn't as concerned with having a huge readership, just wanting a bit of company along for the ride, especially during the times when I'm more isolated between the studio and at home.



How did you come up with the name of your blog?

Dahlhaus art is the official name I launched my website with around 2 years ago. I came up with the name because as both a ceramic artist and a painter I needed a way to link my work together under one roof, so to speak. An interest in the Bauhaus movement in art, design and architecture along with the root function of both painting and ceramics being for the home made a play-on-words that worked well with my last name too. It just made sense to use the same name for my blog.



How has blogging affected your work as an artist/designer?

Sometimes I catch myself with a running commentary going on in my head while I think of things to blog about during the day. Silly, I know, but I guess having a blog has made me more aware of my process while also giving me permission to present it to the world way before I ever would have before I had a blog. Process is always important and I've always felt that it was in the process that a lot of interesting bits happen in art. Often your audience just sees the final result and never the process and they miss out the in between stuff.



What are your favorite artist/designer blogs? Why?

I pop by the Sycamore Street Press and Lovely Design blog daily, more because I feel some sense of connection with who they are and what they post about than anything. I get a kick out of Whitney Smith's blog (this artists life) where she rants about the ins and outs of the studio potter's life- I can totally relate to some of it. I love seeing inspirational images of great blogs like design*sponge and Poppytalk, but also love reading smaller blogs by other designers and makers on occasion, just to see what they are up to and how they are managing to balance their lives.



Do you have any advice for artists/designers who are starting a blog?

I'm sure this has all been said before, but be yourself, try to blog about what you know- what concerns you and your work. Be consistent and blog every couple of days at least. If you aren't great at writing, take pretty pictures, blog about other artists and highlight your successes and blog about your failures. Other artists will be sure to come by and check out your work if you are consistent in this. Broadening your community should be what having a blog is about at the get go, the sales will follow after time!



What has been the most positive and inspirational aspect of having a blog for you?

I would have to say just seeing where I've come from this past year and where I'm going. I now have a record of past goals turning into reality on my blog, and when I'm feeling particularily frustrated or low, I've been able to look back on the year and celebrate the big and little things that came my way.



What do you find the most difficult/most rewarding part of having a creative profession?

Well off the top, I would have to say the most difficult thing is the lack of consistent income and sales compared with the high cost of running and keeping up a creative profession. To sell what a person makes actually costs a lot of money, whether it be the costs of online shops, the costs of materials and space to make what you sell, the costs of doing art and craft shows, or the 50% cut the galleries take, it all adds up! In other words, there's not a lot left over for a pay check at the end of the day and this can be really discouraging some times.

The most rewarding part of a creative profession would be to be approached by someone who owns your work and have them tell you they use my mug or bowl every day, that it doesn't even get to the dishwasher and that they fight with other family members over who gets to use their mug. I also really appreciate hearing from people that they've never seen work like mine around- that they've seen a lot of pottery out there, but none like mine, and that it's really lovely. Yay, that's what I was going for!


Other than your blog, what has been the most effective way for you to promote your art/design?

Online the most effective way for me to promote my work are on other blogs- be it to be on some design blogs or online markets. I was able to be on Poppytalk Handmade a few times and have seen a difference in my online exposure. Articles and interviews also help, I'm sure ads on prominent blogs would make a difference but my advertising budget is pretty low still. I send out emails to my contacts quarterly, telling them about up-coming shows and sales, and just meeting people face to face at exhibits and shows, or out and about lays the groundwork for up-coming sales.

How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

Having kids has forced me not to become a complete studio recluse, at the same time, I find my stress level with having time to maintain a healthy studio practice and business a lot higher because of the balancing act that I'm on. I can't do it all, and sometimes I realize I'm trying too hard to do too many things and something's got to give. This year I've specifically stepped back from painting to focus on ceramics, but maybe in a couple of years it will switch. My kids are in Kindergarten and grade 2 this year, so next year when they are both in school for full 5-6 hour days, my balancing act will change once again.



What would you like to accomplish by the end of 2009?

Outside of some financial goals that I have (completely pay off my Visa bill and pay myself a decent paycheque every month), I am working towards a magazine feature, and some of my work being published. I just got the news that my work will be part of a large contemporary ceramics book that will come out next year sometime and that's been great news for me! I've been deliberately getting professional photos done of my work every 6 months or so, with books and publishing in mind, so I'm excited about keeping at this.

I would like to finish some paintings this year that I've started, but we'll see if I get some time in to do that. I have a number of shows lined up for the season and have high hopes of being ultra prepared with lots of stock for the winter rush, so that is pretty foremost in my mind!



Thanks Heather! Best of luck in all of your upcoming endeavors :)