OKC ZINE FEST at Brass Bell Studios

OKC Zine Fest  Saturday Sept 17th, 2016 1-5 pm

 In a time when media is a facade and even street art is fed to you on a homogenized plastic spoon , THIS event is the place to be! Here you will find OKC's underground and independent publishers and artists coming together for one day to share their musings, illustrations, fandom, and activism with you, the hungry public. Clint Williams and Brass Bell Studios are providing you with this opportunity you should not miss so please come out and show your support for true independent everything!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1052763484777519/

The creativity of self sufficient living...

I feel in life that the most important thing you can accomplish is a constant quest to live a self sufficient life. I of course don't mean this in reference to hiding yourself in the middle of nowhere and not being a part of society(although in some incidents that has its place too, i am not judging..) but more in literally being able to do things yourself and if you can't do them , build a sense of community and network of people where you can trade services. For example I can not sew and I brake any machine I touch, but I have other skills like I sell junk for a living and make art so I have a network of friends that can sew and when I have something they need or want I can trade for their services.
Building and developing a self sufficient life means you have to have a constant quest for knowledge and willingness to learn new skills and information. How and why creativity is important as a part of this should be obvious becuase it is a key problem solving skill and must be nurtured and encouraged to always keep that part of your brain working.
I could literally go on about this for hours standing on my soapbox which I know you don't want so I won't but what I will do is share a great book I have been reading which is just one in hundreds of great DIY books out there. The one I am currently reading is called Recipes for Disaster by crimethinc. workers' collective : www.crimethinc.com  and is available locally through Chris Provin.
The book is subtitle "an anarchist cookbook" but this isn't the one folks remember from way back where kids were making bombs and "cooking" up mayhem. This book tries to teach honest and peaceful ways to be self sufficient and encourages you to contantly plan, even when plans fail, plan some more and to not continue living a mundane life. It talks about building things from junk, getting involved with proactive groups like Food not Bombs, screenprinting, mental health and peaceful ways to protest( which of course many of these are still considered crimes by government so partake in those activities at your own risk). One of my favorite quotes from this book is taken right from the beginning..." You cannot make a revolution that distributes power equally except by learning firsthand how to exercise and share power-- and that exercising and sharing, on any scale, is in itself the ongoing, never concluding project of revolution. "
 I also love the quote on the very inside of the book "....to create, by any means necessary, a situation that goes beyond the point of no return. "

pics from Museum of Wonder

Museum of Wonder in Seale, Alabama

While I was traveling I had the privilage if getting to visit the home of the Museum of Wonder and art of Butch Anthony in Seale, Alabama. This place and artist have picked up some notice due to a big folk art festival they put on down there every spring called Doo-Nanny. Sadly I missed the Doo-Nanny by a couple weeks but was able to see some fun art and curiousities and meet an adorable pack of little dogs. Butch Anthony has been digging in dumps and creating re-art since he was 14 years old. He even found dinosaur bones while digging one day and Auburn University gave him a scholarship in exchange for housing the bones in their museum. While there he received his degree in zoology. You can few his work and find out more at www.butchanthony.com and www.doo-nanny.com . I am posting some pics on the blog on some of the fun things I got to see, including a "house of wonder" that Butch built when he was 14 from salvaged railroad wood.

Whoo sure has been a while....

Boy I sure got way behind on keeping up on this but computer failure, 2 weeks out of town, working 7 days a week, and well all the other excuses you usually hear(or even say yourself )
But hey I am back and have some fun stuff to share so..

just a quick reminder..

just wanted to give folks the heads up that I am not and do not claim to be a technical writer. I just have info I want to share and get out there. So to all the grammer freaks and writer who cringe at how i relay info, I apologize and appreciate you putting you OCD aside in order to just enjoy the info I like to share.
Thanks!

Second Century School of Thought Art:Design:Philosophy ...

I went to this really great meeting last night where designer Hugh Meade spoke on his philosophies on several things for the world but more specific Oklahoma. He has some really innovative and fascinating ideas and solutions on art, sustainability, city planning and creativity in general.He and one of the attendees, Paul had great book suggestions to further your mind on some of these topics such as: " Out of Our Minds; Learnings to be Creative" by Ken Robinson, " The Creative Brain ; The Science of Genius " by Nancy Andreasen, and " The Geography of Nowhere" by James Howard Kunstler . Hugh took an example from Nancy Andreasen's book where she discusses building "cradles of creativity" as a way to suggest that we as a state are perfectly capable of doing this and setting examples for the world. The State of Creativity campaign has attempted this is a sort of corporate way but Hugh suggested that it is up to us as creatives ourselves to really represent this and show the world what kind of innovative minds are here amongst the stockyards, dustbowls, country singers,trail of tears and bombings( which seem to be some of the only things folks know of OK outside of the statelines) There was no criticism of what the world already knows of Oklahoma, it was more to point out that, there is in fact ALOT more here. Hugh also brought up a more sustainable Oklahoma as one way to set the example for innovation and creativity and suggested that there is a perfect opportunity to build what he called "city without and electric bill" and that for us to get involved if this is a dream we also had. Oklahoma city is large in area but is still a sort of small town at heart and the city officials are alot more accessible than you would find in other towns. You can actually call them up and leave a message that they actually hear believe it or not!
The key points I got from the evening that I found the most useful to point out to others are these sort of quotes from Hugh: Remember the "usefullness of creative networking" and know that in Oklahoma there are a great amount of unexpected folks and businesses willing to open their doors to art and creativity( such as realtors and salons) , "what will we teach our future?" where he used the exapmle of how the Renaissance period teaches our kids about innovations in math, science,art, and design every day so what will we leave for those kids in the future, and the last point which is that we are perfectly capable of building a "cradle of creativity" where "creative people are bouncing around into each other" setting the example for innovation for the whole world and that other cities should do the same.
If any of this sounds like something you might be interested in being involved in or know more about then please befriend Hugh Meade on Facebook and join his Second Century School of Thought group on Facebook and consider attending the next "meeting of the minds" !

New Outlook...

So I have been thinking how forced it felt to come up with tips that seemed rather repetitive and it made be think that I wasn't being fair to my original idea for this blog by just doing the 365 daily tips.By doing that I was not giving myself time to give resources for everything else which is just as creative as specific tips. So no more #'s or specific day tips becuase everything I post on here I hope to be resourceful in many ways and they are are still connected to inspiring creativity and exercising your brain. Beside if you need a specific exercise, the Creativity Portal has great tips and great creativity coaches to get in touch with. I really want to share more local goodness, more bargain tips for supplies,more resources so there ya go. Don't fear the change becuase change is progress and I am not failing you on the year of inspiration becuase doing it this new way will just mean more than just the 365 days for you.

43

Pay homage to a favorite artist or writer, etc by incorporating a reference to his/her work into your own work.

Number 42

" Let a quote inspire you ". Do you have a favorite quote? scroll through our post if you need help finding a quote to inspire you, but if you have a fav from a book, a song, a poem, a friend, etc, then let it be your muse for the day.

Tips #41

Take a writing utensil and paper or any writing surface. Now draw a continuous line without lifted the writing utensil from the surface and continue that line all over the page until the space is full. Now take those lines and create things out of this, for example find faces or creatures in them and outline or color them in with other colors or shading.

Tip #40

With it being around Valentine's Day I thought I would try this exercise based off a definition I found for romance( the verb ):" to describe things that have happened in a way that makes them seem more important, interesting, etc than they really were. "
Try two things with this. One, take a mundane and boring experience you have had recently. Now "romanticise" how this experience might of been more interesting or important. Second, think of a time where you feel someone sort of embellished a story or experience they were telling. What do you think really happened.

Tip # 39

Find a quite place to be by yourself. Light music or sound is okay in the background. It does not matter if it is a bright lit or dark place but if you are up for it, try this in both kinds of lighting. Close your eyes and clear all thoughts from the outside world. Now focus on the light movement and such passing through you eyelids. What do you see? It might just seem black at first but if you pay attention and focus you can actually see color and shapes. What are these colors and shapes you see?

Tip #38

Creative prompt: If we were born in a world where the color of our skin was not something that seperated us and we could choose whatever color in the color wheel we wanted to be, what color would you choose for yourself? once you have the color in your head, picture yourself in that color and think about why you feel it suits you.Then think about the friends and family you are surrounded by and what colors you would choose for them to be.Also what do you think it would be like if our skin changed colors to our moods and emotions sort of like a mood ring?

Tip #37

" Conformity is inevitable when folks huddle together in rebellion" - Herbert Gold
Use this qoute to think about a time this has been true in your own life or that you have noticed in the world around you.Also think about a time when you feel you conformed to something that you rather wish you had gone your own way. Document these thoughts in some way in your journal, etc.

way behind but updates spread over next couple days..

Computer crash has put me over a week behind in posting but over the next couple days I will be getting us back up to date. I have decided that rather that putting the day of the year for the post i would just number them so that it isn't so confusing when I post multiple in one day, but you still get 365 for the year.
Okie, thanks for the love and keep creating!

February 5, 2010

Today's tip is brought to you from a website called Creativity Portal and is an article by creativity coach Dan Goodwin

Nourishing Now Wows
By Dan Goodwin
As creative artists we often think wistfully of how an idyllic creative life might be, without the problems we perceive as being present today. We say to ourselves: “One day, when I have (the time / enough ideas / the energy...) I will (write my book / return to painting / learn piano / etc).” By placing such idealistic conditions on our creative lives, in effect we drastically reduce the chance of us ever creating with what we have NOW.
This Creativity Cookie is called Nourishing Now Wows and will help you focus on putting to use all the skills and resources you have available to you right NOW, right here today, instead of putting creating off until a tomorrow that never seems to arrive.
Little Nibble:
The first step here is accepting that conditions will never be perfect for you to create. Write a list of all the things you think you need to have in place, and how they each need to be, for you to be as creative as you can be. Include every last detail you can think of, from having the right equipment, having time, having the right ideas to develop, having the sun shine 24 hours a day...
List everything you think of when you say “I’d be more creative if only I had _______________.”
Then, do the same for everything you have now that you feel stops you creating at your best. Write “I’d be more creative if only I didn’t have _______________.”
Big Bite:
You’ll now see from your two lists all that you perceive as limiting your creativity. Ask yourself honestly, how realistic is it that all of these conditions will EVER be perfectly in place for you to create?
The answer is they won’t.
When you see this truth, it actually gives you great liberation. You realise that because you’ve been waiting for an ideal set of circumstances that won’t ever come to you — or to ANY of us who create — you are now free to do the best you can with what you have. And what you have is a whole lot more than you give yourself credit for.
Focusing on all the shortcomings and “if onlys” is a sure way of overlooking all your creative abilities and the resources available to you right now. So it’s time to readjust that lens.
Write another list, this time beginning each line with: “I can start creating today because _______________.”
Your answers might be things like “I have enough materials”, “I’ve got a good idea I’ve been wanting to develop for a few months”, and “I enjoy creating so much.” List everything you can think of and you’ll soon begin to realise that the reasons why you CAN get creating right here and now are overwhelming.
You know the next step. Motivated by your new realisations, set a little time aside and go create!

February 4, 2010

At some point you must find quiet time. Hopefully you can use some part of every day to find this quiet time, but at least a few times a week, you must and it is essential. Silence from the outside world is where we can find peace and clarity. Do what you have to to find that time away from everything else. Take a walk, meditate, listen to music, whatever works for you to turn down the volume of the outside world.

Quote by Susan Ann Darley – creativity coach
“ Every artists, whether an actor, writer, musician, or visual artist, stands before a blank canvas waiting to be filled. Then, as if by magic, creative intention transforms a vacant stage, a blank page or tightly stretched canvas through colors sounds and images. The intangible becomes tangible. Vision is made concrete by an act of will. “