March 2005 Newsletter

"When the people tentatively come out of their cages, when the artists have been released from the stone, as people sit at the Soul Food banquet table and bask in the warmth of Soul Food's sun I know I have been a successful human being." — Heather Blakey

In This Issue

• March 2005 Journal
• What's New @ the CP
• Chronic Creativity by Angela Mack

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March 2005 Journal

by Chris Dunmire

Interviewis Reciprocatis
In last month's newsletter I shared the interview Heather Blakey from Soul Food Café had with me. What I didn't tell you was that before agreeing to her interview, I made her promise to allow me to interview her back. I was determined not to let her off too easy after she made me dig deep to answer questions about dreaming tracks and Boab trees.

I received more than my fair share of payback from Heather. In fact, embedded within our exchange was a seed of an idea for virtual monastery she went on to plant in her Soul Food Garden. That's what I like about Heather. She doesn't waste time when it comes to making her creative dreams real. Once an idea becomes a possibility, she implements it and immediately begins reaping what she sows. Besides that, her enthusiastic creative energy is infectious. Read the interview and see if you don't agree.

Plus: How Heather Blakey Made Me Famous

Chris Dunmire
Publisher, Creativity Portal

What's New @ the CP

Charting Your Soul's Voyage
By Anita Glenn
The essence of creative arts therapy is play. It makes no difference what medium you use — paints, paper, cloth, pen, clay, wood or metal.

5 Steps to Benefit from Your Creativity
By Nicholas Kabarow
The ability to exercise your creativity is even more important for you than you probably think.

How to Alter a Board Book
By Karen Hatzigeorgiou
Altered Board Books are a fun and easy way to get started into the art of creating altered books. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to alter a small children's board book to display two pictures inside.

How to Dye Wool with Onion Skins
By Linda Ferretti
This tutorial will show you how to use red onion skins to dye wool pieces for fiber art and rug hooking projects.

Sell Your Jewelry without Competition
By Rena Klingenberg
Selling your products at shows can be difficult when you have a lot of competition.

What's All This Talk about Digital?
By Bruce Price
First thing to know: digital is here for the long haul. It's big and will get bigger. And it's interesting, intrinsically interesting, even if you don't "digital" yourself. … For every tool we know in the real world — a ruler, a brush, a glob of paint — there's now a digital twin based on math and capable of infinite manipulation.

Poster, print or painting. Where are you going to put it?
By Michael Edwards
If you are redesigning or decorating a room, or house, care has to be taken where your piece of art is to be displayed. Even if you have bought a picture on impulse there are a few tips that will not only enhance the picture but its surroundings.

Three ways to put fresh spins on old marketing concepts
By Michele Pariza Wacek
Are you struggling to find a new twist on advertising or marketing campaigns? If you're a small business owner or a copywriter/coach/other creative professional, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Chronic Creativity by Angela Mack

Symptom #2: Problemplasty — The ability to reconstruct a problem
Another indicator of Chronic Creativity is the innate ability of the subject to perform the surgical procedure called the problemplasty on a regular basis. … Problems call for creative solutions. Problems are obstacle that must be hurdled over. We face them every day and come up with creative solutions without thinking too much about it.

Symptom #3: Idea-it is — The inflammation of an idea
Chronic Creativity requires taking an idea, however small, and "inflaming" it. As a person diagnosed with CC, I find that I am often faced with an idea. Then I add onto the idea. Next, I keep adding more ideas to my original idea little by little. The final realization is that my end product is bigger than my original seed thought. The idea has become inflamed.