The Artist's Eyes by Jenn Lee

When I first started a serious interest in art, I was always going through tons and tons of paper, canvas’s, pencils, paints and supplies. I always had boxes of past artwork stored here and stored there. As the years have gone by and multiple hassles with moving around, I have either given away or tossed many art pieces. This is why I love my tablet PC….

In today’s day and age, we are all about technology and gadgets. I had purchased a ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC awhile back, for it’s portability and tablet technology. Much like a Wacom digital tablet, it utilizes a full screen touch point ability for use with a stylus. There are several reasons I believe that this is a great asset to an artist like myself.

One reason I believe it’s a great asset is because I am primarily an ECO friendly artist. I try to keep my imprint on the environment as little as possible with my use of non toxic materials, recycling and reuse of materials. With using a tablet/touch pad PC, I have the ability to draw, paint or sketch out ideas all digitally. With this technology I do not have to use any paper, paint or other materials. It not only reduces my material usage, it but frees up a huge amount of office storage space as well.

Another reason I think it’s a great asset is its portability. As a business woman, I need to have a portable portfolio. Having the convenience of being able to carry my portfolio with me is great. As well, when I am quoting a commission, being able to sketch out ideas on location or digitally sign contracts on the tablet PC, increases productivity.

Recently I decided to add switching my OS (Operating System) as well. Mind you I know Microsoft is popular, and standard on any PC purchase besides a Mac, but we are not limited to it. This laptop came with XP Tablet version installed. Though it was nice to power it up and go, it was not as speedy as I would like, plus XP is a retiring OS, which means I will have to switch it out in the near future. Knowing this, the newer Microsoft OS’s will not run efficiently on this laptops specs. With those things in consideration as well as input from my good friend Jason of Webfoo, and his knowledge and passion for Linux, I decided to try running Linux on it.

Linux is an Open Source operating system. The impressiveness of the Linux community building/creating a completely free OS is amazing of itself, as well the amount of people in the community that donate so much time and energy adding to, fixing issues and developing of their own free will and time spent.

With the successful installation of Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 on my little tablet PC, I immediately noticed a more than significant increase in speed. This alone was a moment of pride and excitement. Pride because I consider myself a complete beginner in working with Linux and excitement that it installed and was configurable without a hitch.

Not only was I able to install the operating system, the free applications available are amazing. I hear a lot of people talk about the amount of applications they can get on their iPhones and iPads with Apple, but at a cost. Again I reiterate, the free resources available in the Linux community is astounding.

If you consider getting a tablet PC, Ubuntu is definitely something to do a little research on. GIMP is like Photoshop. It has many brushes, actions and tools just like Photoshop, but without any of the cost. It has a wonderful application called MyPaint that definitely competes with Adobe Illustrator as well. From my standpoint, MyPaint has the full range of capabilities you have with drawing or painting on a canvas that mimics real life. Did I mention these too are free? Some things to think about…in this artist’s eyes.

As I sat here drinking my coffee this morning I thought about the recent weeks and how they impacted my life both professionally and personally. There were good points and not so good points in both. Glancing over at my photo wall, I looked at the smiling faces of my family and noticed one picture that stood out to me right at this moment. It was a photo of one of my children at walking age. Why did this particular photo stand out to me? It stood out because it made me think of a baby’s first steps.

Do you have children? If not, I am sure you have seen nieces or nephews, cousins or friends children, taking their first steps towards learning to walk. When a child is learning to walk, you see them stand up, grabbing hold of the nearest object to stabilize them and wobble a little as they get their bearings. They timidly lift their foot as they prepare to take their first step. The first step is always the hardest. Being a mother of four I have watched this process quite a few times. They take a step and either fall on their bottoms or wobble forward to the next step. Nine times out of ten they will fall repeatedly before mastering walking.

Have you ever noticed how they never stop trying? They will fall down numerous times yet still get right back up and try again. Their drive and desire is very strong. Rarely does frustration end with them quitting, even if they take a rest here and there. Toddlers will keep trying to move forward regardless of the amount of times they fall. Each tiny little baby step is still a step in the right direction.

This process made me think about my life both professionally and personally. In the face of struggles and frustrations in either our personal or professional lives, we are not much different than a baby learning how to walk. We all take small steps to better ourselves daily. Each tiny step we make is still a step.

Personally, I have been struggling through a child having health issues, it is very frustrating not being able to just put a band-aid on the boo-boo and give them a kiss and hug to make it all better. Each day dealing with doctors and appointments are my baby steps. Some days are like a baby falling down, as I run into a brick wall with diagnosis’s or cost of prescriptions. It is difficult at times to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s there…baby steps.

It works the same way with your professional life. You work daily, struggle through deadlines, tasks, appointments or job duties. Each accomplishment is a baby step. At times you run into a snag or issue that you struggle with…like a baby falling down. The key is to remember to get right back up and tackle that step…every baby step is still a step…in this artist’s eyes.

Spring is here! Spring is here! Spring into action with your creativity! With each new year and each new spring season everyone gets spring fever. Out with the winter dull drums and in with the wash of new things. A sudden surge of motivation abounds with a renewed vigor.

The sun is shining and the weather is warming up. When it comes to our personal lives, spring is spring cleaning, spring yard work, springing into action outdoor adventures and enjoying the outdoors.  This new springing into action does not have to be limited to our personal lives and freshening up our homes, it can be applied to our businesses as well.

With spring motivation, clearing out the old can be cleaning out the home office. I know for me, over the winter items seemed to sneak into my workspace from around the house. A cluttered workspace creates a less creative mind. This is a good time to go through the clutter and straighten up a bit. Putting away unused supplies, clearing space on your work station and going through old paperwork can remove negative energy by taking away unnecessary distractions and organizing the space that you need are all good ways to spring into new creative flow.

Sometimes taking a second look at the way your home office/studio is set up can inspire new thoughts about how your work area worked for you and how it could better work for you. A good flow in your workspace can create a better flow in your work attitude and abilities. Having a window behind you may have been a negative impact on your space, where as repositioning your workspace to face a window may create a new attitude or level of creativity.With your back to a window you shadow your workspace, which can be a negative, where if you are facing it, you are bringing the sunshine in to you. Open the window and feel the cool breezes of spring, let it blow away anxieties and stresses and clear your mind to focus on your work and goals.

Maybe it’s time to think about your walls? Do you have dark colors in your home office/studio? What about colors that are less than soothing or busy and distracting? A fresh coat of paint to brighten up your space in a color that doesn’t distract but rather inspires or reduces anxieties is a quick and easy change. In addition look at the items that decorate your walls. You want decorations that don’t distract you, rather decorations that inspire you.

When working from home, it can be nice to take it outside. A change of atmosphere can also create a great inspiration or renewed vigor with your work. I plan on taking my laptop and easel outside and getting creative on my backyard deck. The open air, sunshine, sounds and smells of spring are very invigorating. Who wants to be stuck inside a stuffy room when it’s so beautiful outside? If it’s available to you, it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of…enjoy the privileges of working from home.

With these small spring changes, you can totally renew your workspace. Spring brings new life in all different ways from the birth of new life of animals, plants and flowers. Why not your workspace? Spring into action!

When working from home in an home office it is sometimes difficult to create a perfect harmony between work and family life. Where do you draw the line between the two? It is very important that the two don’t bleed into each other. Creating this definition between work and personal life is an art.

As an artist, I have a downstairs studio in my home where I spend many hours working on several projects at a time. It sits facing the afternoon sun so I get a lot of light. It’s important to have a lot of light so as to keep the afternoon lack of motivation from sneaking in.  Everything is also organized and in it’s place so I don’t waste time and energy searching endlessly for things I need. As the saying goes, an organized space equals a clear mind, thus a more creative mind.

At the same time John and I have our office/den downstairs as well. I find at times it’s hard to keep the two areas separated. As I sit here right now, I have my easel, roll around paint storage cabinet and other misc. project related supplies spread around my computer desk area. How can I be keeping my personal time separate from my work time, you may be thinking right about now. Well it’s easy really, with a little will power and self determination.

If you are working a 9 to 5 for Mr. Big Business, you have a defined schedule right? You wake up, have your coffee and maybe peruse the newspaper or internet a little before you get ready. You take your shower and get all spiffed up for the day in your work attire, right? Then it’s off to commute to work, punch in the old time clock and get to work. You have your breaks, your lunch hour and then at 5, commute home.

Working from home can work with this same routine. You wake up and go through the same routines, the only difference being you don’t have the commute. That’s right, you still need to have a routine. Your subconscious often does not kick in it’s a work schedule unless you go through the routines. Go ahead and drink that coffee, enjoy your newspaper or internet surfing till your coffee is done. Then get ready for your day just as if you were meeting with someone. I don’t mean you have to dress up in a suit and tie or dress, but get dressed, do your hair and other hygiene related routines, but get dressed, don’t stay in your pajamas!

Going through the routines will kick start your brain into work mode. Make sure to take your breaks, eat lunch and quit when it’s time to quit. Separation between work and personal time will keep you from getting frustrated with too much work and not enough free time. Burning out on your work will start chipping away at your creative energy as well as affect your family by you taking away from their time.

Believe it or not, there is such thing as harmony working from home and your personal life. Creating a separate work space in your home and a schedule can create artistic harmony….in this artist’s eyes.

When John and I were house hunting, we found this house. Overall we knew this house would need quite a bit of TLC due to it’s wild paint colors and general disrepair, but it would definitely fit our large family needs.  When I first saw this room I turned to John with eyes twinkling and said, “This would make the perfect art studio!” We ended up getting the house and moved in last October, but boy has it been an adventure getting to where we are now.

Here we are the to the second month of 2010, and I am just now getting to where I can focus on getting the art studio organized so I can work in it vs. spread out across the downstairs living room!

Every time I turned around I was squeezing between boxes, stepping over things stacked in the middle of the floor or moving Johns stuff to get to my supplies. Let me tell you, it was a literal obstacle course getting to what I needed.

The most important part of an office or studio is organization. To have organization, you have to have storage. Going with my ECO art theme as with my art, I chose to do so in my studio as well.

John was able to bring me boxes from his work. The boxes that cases of copy paper come in from Office Depot, make great storage containers. They are smaller in size than moving boxes and have easy to get into lids. Labeling the front facing side of the boxes allows you to know what is in them so you don’t have to pull down and dig through each container to find what you are looking for.

Another ECO friendly item I used in the art room came in the form of an old door. I sat an old door  top of a drafting table that had seen much better days as well as being too small for my needs. After adding a few screws to attach the door to the drafting table, I now had a nice large workspace and it didn’t cost a dime.

What else does every good office or studio need? Cork boards or message boards to tack up things like items you need to see daily, important papers, notes, inspiration or ideas. I found some old sheets that we didn’t need anymore and I still had a stack of moving boxes stacked in the garage, so I made several ECO friendly message boards. You take a moving box flattened, a couple strips of duct tape to hold the box together, then wrap the fabric around the board, leaving a 3-4″ overhang of fabric to attach to the backside of the board. With the overhang fabric you can use hot glue, heavy duty staples or more duct tape to secure the edges. The result? Another cost free project!

Lastly, since it is a west facing room, I had a nice wall of natural light coming from the window and back door leading out to our deck, but I still needed good lighting for the evening hours that I spend in there, so I had to think of lighting. Now this caused me some extra thought because I still wanted to think ECO friendly. I decided to go with LED lighting. An LED light will last approximately 50,000 hours vs. 1000 hours with a standard incandescent bulb as well as use approximately 20% of the electricity vs. an incandescent. The savings over time on your energy bill will show for itself.

There is a feeling of satisfaction and renewed creative energy when you finally get organized. You can focus on your creativity vs. always hunting and searching for what tools or materials you need. You will find your creativity increase quite a bit without the physical and mental clutter around from the environment around you as well as feel much happier and content.

I hope some of my ideas help you in your own situation. Whether it be a home office, craft room or studio, organizing your space and optimizing it to fit your needs will create a better work environment….in this artist’s eyes.