It takes a village

The saying goes...it takes a village to raise a child...I think I knew that instinctively when I moved to an intentional community 20 years ago...our community isn't founded on religious beliefs or common dogma...we are diverse in many ways. Our community is based on love for our families and respect for others...at least that is my take on it after all these years. This community is 37 years old and many of our children have chosen to come back here after exploring the wide world to raise their children. The wheel of life keeps on turning...we cook for our neighbors when they are sick...and yes, dying...and we dance wildly and celebrate at our weddings and holiday celebrations...thanks to our friend Ruthie some of us dressed up in "Where the Wild Things Are" costumes and danced to Sly's "I Want to Take You Higher" at our New Years celebration...I have the video to prove it....and our love spills over to our neighbors across the street. There is a home teeming with children...I would be hard pressed to tell you how many. And my loving community gives so much to these children...love and clothes and friendship. One of the older girls, Johnnie Mae, wanted to take guitar lessons. Our phone tree lit up...before you know it a young couple donated a lovely guitar...another neighbor volunteered to pay for lessons...no need for that...another neighbor volunteered to teach Johnnie Mae guitar. The former 3rd Hip Chic, Julie, spends countless hours volunteering at one of the children's schools...takes flocks of kids to the pool...makes their holidays special..my partner turns into a child herself when we have the kids over...she does science projects with them and takes them on scooter rides..I love that I chose to live in community...I love that we choose to do what people did in small towns so long ago...look after one another...we are actually on our best behavior when there is the biggest need...but in the craziness of modern life...that in itself is amazing...a shout out to all my beautiful neighbors..the ones going to Haiti to help, the one helping hurt and homeless animals, the ones fighting to save our environment, the ones adding on to our community building and repairing our boardwalks, the ones loving our children, the ones holding the hands of our sick and dying...it takes a village and I'm blessed to live in an awesome one!!!!

What is beyond this disorganization?????

My reoccurring theme for personal growth and happiness lies in the practice of simplicity…dare I call it my current “issue”..no…how about growth opportunity….as the decades unfold there has become a poignancy…almost an urgency…to live life fully….to the edges and depths…to peal away the superfluous…to get to the heart of the matter…in love, in communication, in right livelihood and right relationships…I remember a cosmic moment around my 40th birthday. I wrote on my studio wall, “what is beyond this disorganization,” and I knew in that moment those words were a key to happiness and personal and professional success. More than a decade and a half later I am getting to the place where disorganization screams louder, demanding vigilance for it to be overcome or at least tamed (not an easy task for a wild woman).

I recently took Kelly Rae’s class, Flying Lessons: Tips & Tricks to Help Your Creative Business Soar. The class is” creative buz thriving fuel on steroids” and totally exploded my mind and continues to push me into all new places…Kelly is generous beyond belief…a brilliant and beautiful woman sharing her wisdom and gifts. I wish I’d “met” Kelly when I was a fledgling business woman and yet there were still volumes to learn from her richly designed course. What I have learned is helping me so much to prioritize my creative business and stay true to my creative spirit.

The day Kelly’s class finished, on a whim I signed up for Home with Claudine Hellmuth. Claudine is sweet, angelic and all around precious. The introduction of her cat, Stanley, won me over. I didn’t look at the curriculum before I signed up...the decision was intuition lead….as was Kelly’s class now that I think about it. If I had read the curriculum what I’m learning wouldn’t have been listed in the syllabus. In addition to the great techniques presented, I am learning simplicity from Claudine. She operates joyfully and efficiently in one small room. She has her modest collection of scrapbook papers zip-locked bagged and arranged by color. Claudine buys books of scrapbook paper one reason being they are cheaper than individual sheets. She says maybe they aren’t the prettiest…but they work. I thirst for this simplicity. In sprawling spaces I have a tendency to collect and collect. I think many of us artists are actually junk collectors and hoarder…lol… (come on...admit not wanting to use that last piece of your favorite scrapbook paper). My homework from Claudine’s class is to use what I have…to remember that more is MORE…more to spend money on, more to organize, more to confuse my mind and give me so many creative choices I design a million lines of product and only produce seven…o.k….I need to go back to Kelly’s class and remember to rejoice in what is already accomplished and take time to smell the roses.

W H O are these 3 Hip Chics???

The face of 3 Hip Chics has changed...but before I get into that...a little herstory...I founded my art biz, Gypsy In Me, 27 years ago on Maui, Hawaii...selling hand painted tee shirts. Fast forward a decade and a half and Wild Woman Gallery was born in Cedar Key, Florida, with business partners and dear friends, Alba and Teresa. We grew to four locations...when we decided we were too spread out over the state we downsized to simply life...but Wild Women have a way of always changing...always creating something new...so in October, 2007, I took on two business partners, Lora and Julie to share the work load of producing wild women plaques and tiles and we became 3 Hip Chics...( I just love to name businesses so I keep growing them!!!)...Julie recently decided she was still hip...and we certainly agree...but life is taking her in another direction so she left our partnership...(but not our lives..we are all having dinner tonight)...so how do two hip chics keep the name 3 Hip Chics...enter our dog, Nena...she can never take the place of Julie but she is certainly an adorable place holder in our photo ops....and she holds a huge place in our hearts

Six pages in Somerset Studio!!!! and the infinite organizing power of the universe

It was over a year ago at a Tony Robbins seminar that I wrote a list of goals and then mailed them to myself...I still haven't opened them but my most important "art" goal was to get published in Somerset Studios. When I saw a call for submissions of artwork inspired by fashion it spoke to me. I had just done a photo shoot at Railroad Square Art Park with two super beautifully creative friends...I am in love with photo collage these days and incorporated the photos taken that day with many collage techniques creating seven pieces for submission. As soon as Somerset got my package I received an email from Christen, the Editor-in-Chief, asking me to write an article to go with my artwork....talk about doing the happy dance!!!!! Yesterday the yummy July/August issue hit the book stores. Putting focused energy into achieving this goal has created an amazing few months....in the article I suggested artists read books by Kelly Rae Roberts and Claudine Hellmuth for creative inspiration. Little did I know at that time Kelly Rae would be offering her first class in growing your creative buz...and Claudine did an interview with Kelly for the class...(no...I wasn't sucking up to the teachers...my article was already written and mailed...LOL...!!!). This class has been totally amazing and moved me to create a facebook business page... www.facebook.com/3hipchics and this blog. I have been invited to submit more work to Somerset (can you see me doing the happy dance again) and I am shopping an idea for a book on photo collage...I believe in the infinite organizing power of the universe...I put a little focused energy out into the world to create my goal...and the infinite organizing power of the universe took care of the rest!!!