Challenge Yourself – Self-Care Creativity – November 2016 Creativity Challenge

Everything isn’t for everybody.

Let’s start there.

There are a number of challenges that go around the internet. Prompts are all over the place if you take a few moments to look. However, that doesn’t mean that any of them are right for you. Even NaNoWriMo isn’t for every novelist. Daily writing can be difficult. Word counts can be hard to reach. Living your everyday life may make it difficult to work on your art every day.

But how do you get good at something if you don’t work at it?

You have to find a way to create every day.

If limits aren’t your thing, don’t focus on them.

Simply be creative.

Heck, we are a day late starting this challenge but we are still going to do it!

Creativity is a form of self-care. It can feed your soul.

Our challenge to you this month is to practice daily self-care through exercising your creativity. Feed your creative soul and watch the positive effects on other areas of your life.

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Creativity Sundays: Brunch with Valerie Rich

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Our table is set with mimosas, steak, eggs, fried potatoes, fresh fruit, and homemade biscuits. We have some soul music playing in the background. 

Valerie Rich is a visual artist and author. Her work has been featured in two galleries. She has words everywhere. Words in her art. Words that are actual art. Words for inspiration. 

 

What is on your table for brunch?

On my table for brunch is a three-panel mixed media collage piece: Words Have Power

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Describe yourself.

I am known as Val. I am an author and Artist. I am a soft spoken compassionate person. My passion and purpose are to inspire others through art and other creative processes. I am married and mother of three.

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What is your creative mission?

My creative passion is to create beautiful things that make people smile and to encourage them be creative. Art frees the mind and warms the soul.

 

What is your primary form of creative expression?

My primary form of expression is acrylic painting and mixed media.

 

When did you first discover your love or passion for this form?

I discovered my Love of art in 2012.

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What are your secondary forms of creative expression?

I love everything creative sewing, crochet, knitting…

 

How did you discover these?

I was always crafty growing up we learned a lot in girl scouts. I  discovered art by joining a year-long art journal class and it grew from there.

 

Have you had any formal training?

I do not have any formal training. I have taken some online classes and workshops.

 

Do you think formal training is necessary?

Passion creates its self you just need a desire to create something.

 

How do you deal with creative blocks?

When I have a creative block, I just step away go do something else.  

Check out art videos

Pin things to Pinterest

Start something new and come back to that.

 

Tell us a little about your creative process.

My process- I am very visual everything has the potential to be a piece of art . Pretty much my art just happens.

 

Tell us about one of your projects.

Ladies are in most of my pieces I have a series of girls (Be Passionate Be Brave) also ladies with head wraps and my first Lady, Lady Love series of four paintings.

 

 

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What motivates you? How do you stay motivated?

Art is my form of therapy. My last counselor told me I didn’t need to be there. She said go find a hobby, join a group or something. I started Lifebook 2012 (an art journal project) and have been doing art ever since.

 

Describe your creative space. What type of environment works best for you?

I have my own space at home. It is like a mini gallery of my work people love to come and create here. I encourage art  session  by appointment.

 

How do you practice self-care and self-love as a creative?

I practice self-care bu quiet time in the studio… sometimes all day.

 

What words of inspiration do you have for new or struggling creatives?

Art can be a great place to release your pain, fears and free yourself from worries for the moment.

 

What is your favorite food?

Steak

 

What is your favorite quote?

“The strongest action for a woman is to love herself, be herself and shine amongst those who never believed she could.” -Unknown

 

 

Where can people find you and your work? (social media links and event information)

www.Artxscape.com

https://www.facebook.com/Painted-Imagery

https://www.facebook.com/Visual-Inspirations

Instagram: Valyrich

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Creativity Sundays: Brunch with Eliza David

Creativity Sundays

 

The table is set and we are sitting down with author/blogger Eliza David.

Join us for some insight into her creative mind.

 

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What is on your table for brunch?

Shrimp & Grits, Bacon, and bottomless black coffee.

 

Describe yourself.

Witty, pretty, well-read, and well-fed.

 

What is your creative mission?

To create carefree diverse female characters who are best at making love and raising hell.

 

What is your primary form of creative expression?

Romance/erotic writing, although I also write for feminist and parenting blogs. I’m so diverse.

 

When did you first discover your love or passion for this form?

My first love story (fan fiction about select members of the music groups Boyz II Men and Jodeci) was written with a friend when I was fourteen.  Though it was very sexual in content, I was still a virgin.  When my mother found it and put me on punishment, I knew that what I wrote was damn good and promised myself that I’d write a romance novel one day. 21 years later, I released The Cougarette (which is free on Amazon – shameless plug!).

 

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What are your secondary forms of creative expression?

Blogging, but I do a lot of reading.

 

How did you discover these?

Blogging became a natural extension of my novel writing.  At first, the blog was established to be a marketing tool for my books.  Now, it becoming something more.  I love using my space to give my fellow indie authors some love.

 

Have you had any formal training?

Besides education and lots of boyfriends, nope.

 

Do you think formal training is necessary?

Not at all. Writing is organic. I think everyone has a writer inside of them.  What is necessary is reading.  If you don’t read, you can’t write…at least, not well.

 

How do you deal with creative blocks?

A nap can work wonders.  When I can’t do that, reading has been helpful.  

 

Tell us a little about your creative process.  

When I come up with an idea, I immediately begin plotting it.  I sit with that plot structure for a few days, rereading it to see if I’m attached to it.  If I am, I start writing.  The irony is, I rarely stick to the plot I construct.  That’s when writing gets fun.

 

Tell us about one of your projects.  

My current project is the first book of a spinoff from The Cougarette series.  It’s based on the best friend of The Cougarette – a fortysomething white lesbian who is also a divorcee with a child. It’s called Savage and will be out in September.

 

What motivates you? How do you stay motivated?

My family, the works of Alice Walker & James Baldwin, my readers – all of that motivate motivates me to keep pushing the pen.  

 

Describe your creative space. What type of environment works best for you?

My creative space is wherever I can make it – my office/guest room, my lunch hour, the wee hours of the morning on my couch. Because I work full time and have small children, I have to grab my writing time when and where I can.

 

How do you practice self-care and self-love as a creative?

Good question. It’s something I need to implement more.  Although I shower daily (LOL!), one thing I never miss out on is my weekend bath.  Just me and a mineral soak – no electronics, books, or Kindle. I’m thankful that my family allows me that moment to unwind alone.

 

What words of inspiration do you have for new or struggling creatives?

Keep writing. Keep reading. Keep sharing your thoughts.  Someone out there needs to read your story – write for that person.

 

What is your favorite word?

Serendipity. The search for one thing and finding another defines my life and my writing.

 

What is your favorite quote?

“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” –Toni Morrison

 

Do you use music/playlists to help inspire you? What songs and artists in particular?

Cannot write without my playlists!  My current playlist for Savage includes songs by Joan Jett, The Runaways, Grace Jones, Heart, and Tina Turner.

 

Where can people find you and your work?

Blog: www.elizadavidwrites.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/elizadwrites

Twitter: www.twitter.com/elizadwrites

Instagram: www.instagram.com/writegirlproblems

Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/ElizaDavid

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Hello April! Time to Get Creative!

Hello April!

Happy National Poetry Month!

Let’s take these next 30 days to develop a habit of daily creativity.

This set of prompts is a list of single words or short phrases designed to allow you to take them wherever they want to go. Use whatever form of creativity that suits you. Examples include a poem a day, essay, 100 words of a short story, 1000 words of a novel, a photo a day, song lyrics, music, journal entry, drawing, painting, or whatever suits your fancy.

You simply need to get creative!

Enjoy!!!

April 2016 Writing Prompts

Inspiring Words Creativity Prompts: Day 23

Use these three words to inspire your creation today. Write a story, poem, essay, section of a novel, or song. Paint or draw a picture. Use your camera to capture the words in a unique way.

I have used the Oxford Dictionary website to pick unique words & phobias. Feel free to think outside of the box with these definitions.

Just simply create!

presenteeism: the compulsion to spend longer at work than is required or to continue working despite illness

epistolophobia: fear of correspondence

tidings: news, information

Inspiring Words Creativity Prompts: Day 22

Use these three words to inspire your creation today. Write a story, poem, essay, section of a novel, or song. Paint or draw a picture. Use your camera to capture the words in a unique way.

I have used the Oxford Dictionary website to pick unique words & phobias. Feel free to think outside of the box with these definitions.

Just simply create!

limn: represent in painting or words

clinophobia: fear of bed

amphibology: a phrase or sentence that is grammatically ambiguous
(She sees more of her children than her husband.)

Inspiring Words Creativity Prompts: Day 21

Use these three words to inspire your creation today. Write a story, poem, essay, section of a novel, or song. Paint or draw a picture. Use your camera to capture the words in a unique way.

I have used the Oxford Dictionary website to pick unique words & phobias. Feel free to think outside of the box with these definitions.

Just simply create!

mollitious: luxurious or sensuous

gephyrophobia: fear of bridges

lambent: softly glowing or flickering

Inspiring Words Creativity Prompts: Day 20

Use these three words to inspire your creation today. Write a story, poem, essay, section of a novel, or song. Paint or draw a picture. Use your camera to capture the words in a unique way.

I have used the Oxford Dictionary website to pick unique words & phobias. Feel free to think outside of the box with these definitions.

Just simply create!

fuscous: dark and somber in color

phobophobia: fear of fear

muliebrity: womanliness