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!!!