What I learned about creating from my nieces

Oh hey, I forgot that Ms. Starry Art had a blog that one time (10 years ago).  Anyways, I have been meditating on my creativity today and feel it would be good to write about my creative process again (because nothing busts through a creative block like writing about creativity, right?)

Since college I have, on a regular basis, gone through a period of creativity followed by doing other things important to living life, then feeling bad about not creating (which does not help), and finally having an emo process around it, blah blah blah. I have learned I have to admit I'm not where I want to be, feel sad about it, and move on by CREATING. Something, anything. A blog post on my blog from 10 years ago. Sure.

Two weeks ago I was at my sister Maria's housewarming party at their new home in Western NC (in a super-cute town where if I were smart I'd buy a house and start hoarding survivalist supplies -- you know, planning for the future). Anyway. Aunt Cindy sent my 5-year-old niece a very sweet housewarming gift - a bath bomb making kit. (Bath bombs are things you put in a bath to make it smell good. This one involved a starfish mould, a plastic mermaid and glitter. Does Aunt Cindy get 5-year-old girls or WHAT?)

After the housewarming, I was lucky enough to get to make the bath bombs with two five-year-old nieces (one from a nearby city was spending the night). Side note: as you can see in the photo, the girls' ensembles for the party included a tiara, a mermaid dress and a sequin dress, and tons of jewelry. Because PARTY.

The bath bombs involved mixing, measuring, pouring, choosing a color -- pink and purple of course -- adding coconut oil, and more mixing. I read the directions and the girls took turns pouring and mixing. The most fun part seemed to be squishing the mixture into the starfish mould and hiding the plastic mermaid in it. We didn't exaaaaactly follow the directions - one person was upset that she didn't get to pour in the water, so we poured in more so it was fair. So it goes sometimes on group projects.

As instructed, we left it to sit on the bathroom counter to dry out for 20 minutes, and went to do another craft (they discovered a typewriter Maria just got - they loved typing nonsense, and laughed with delight when Maria read it out loud to them). Then we went in the bathroom to find that the bath bomb had gooshed out of the mould onto the counter and was basically a gooey pink blob. "Uh oh," I thought to myself, "They are going to be upset about this."

NOPE.

The girls were completely unfazed and hopped in the tub, where Maria poured in the gooey mess. They were excited to play with the starfish and mermaid, and the bath bomb / goo did still turn the bath pink and sparkly as promised.

So yeah, after all these years of creating, I KNOW that it's process versus product. Focus on the enjoying the process and the final result will take care of itself. But it's easy to get focused on the outcome of a creative project I'm working on then get discouraged.

Part of what's going on right now is that I'm learning filmmaking. YAY, right? Of course I know that learning a new skill / art / craft is hard and I feel like a failure sometimes. Will I ever actually learn to use my new camera or just keep faking it? Will video editing get any easier? I don't know. But what if I just bath bomb it: dig my hands in and mix away, enjoying the sparkles, not worrying about the end result.

I want to experience the JOY of creating again. Even if it's a sticky, gooey mess that oozes all over, it's still learning, and and maybe somewhere in it there is a hidden mermaid, if I just relax and enjoy.

Thanks, nieces!

Cat T. Jones Comics

Last year I did some comics about moving to NC, being single, etc. It was really fun to do something different. Here they are several of them...

Interview Zine - Issue 1 - Vietnam

I just completed the first issue of my new zine devoted to interviews! I intend to publish 2 - 3 issues per year and donate the proceeds to a related charity. 

The first issue of Interview features excepts from an interview I did with my father about his experiences in Vietnam. He was a career Army officer in the Military Police Corps and served two tours in 1965 - 66 and 1970 - 71. He experienced Vietnam both towards the beginning and the end of U.S. involvement there, and has an interesting perspective. 

I conducted the interview in 1991 while taking a college class in Literature of the Vietnam War. We had to interview someone who had experienced Vietnam in some way and write a paper. (I got an A by the way!) 

Last year I found the paper while cleaning out my closet in "my room" in my parents' house in Raleigh, NC. Eighteen years later, my father's insights were still very relevant and thoughtful and I decided to create a zine to share some of his experience with a wider audience. 

The process of re-transcribing the tapes and working with my Dad to edit the interview took over a year. I often work by myself on creative projects, so this was a good opportunity to collaborate with someone else. Dad was very cooperative and open to working on this. He and my Mom and I looked through about 5 carousels of his slides from Vietnam and selected a few of the best to include in the zine. He gave me the 1963 U.S. Army map of Saigon to use for the cover. He also did some additional research - including calling a Vietnamese restaurant in Los Angeles to ask them how to spell Ba Muoi Ba, a Vietnamese beer! 

It took longer than I thought to re-transcribe the tapes. Though I originally wanted to transcribe the entire 2 hour interview, I decided to focus on the areas that were most relevant and interesting to a wider audience. I listened to the tapes several times through and made notes to decide what to transcribe.

It was really something to listen again to a little bit of my life from that long ago. I interviewed him in my parents' kitchen in Raleigh, and throughout the interview Willie the beagle was barking and coming in and out, the phone rang and my Mom answered it, and my brother was laughing at something on tv in the background. It was sweet and a little sad to hear all those simple things from a time that is no more - the little things I take for granted that make up part of a life. I am really glad I kept those tapes!

During and after the transcription process, Dad and I discussed what parts to keep and what to omit. I left the interview in its original order, with one exception -- I moved the information about what he did over there to the beginning to help orient readers and give them a context. I kept the language in its original form too, and hope it gives a sense of the spoken words. I cut most of my commentary to focus on his words. 

I wanted to get the zine complete and copies to my Dad for his birthday this year - and made it thanks to Fedex next day service! The zine is FREE to veterans and active duty military personnel - please let me know and email me your address! I am also selling the zines on my website - www.msstarryart.com, for $5 plus shipping.  The proceeds will go to anysoldier.com, a great organization that offers support to military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

I hope this zine honors my father and his experience, and others who have served in combat. I also hope it gives those of us who haven't experienced war some understanding of that experience. 

Peace, Debbie West

WWBFD - Part 7: I'M DONE!!!

Tuesday, December 2nd - I have to get WWFBD bound today, because tomorrow I have an appointment to get it trimmed. I really like collating things, to be honest, (from all those years doing proposals at work I guess). I set out the pages, sort them in piles of good, really good, and not good, match the darkness of the pages with the covers, and get them assembled and folded. I gave myself the gift of a long arm stapler a few years ago - and it's nice to put it to good use! It takes a while, but I really have to get it done - another 1 AM night on this project! Geez. 

Wednesday, December 3rd - I bike over to some letterpress printer friends' studio who have a fantastic old-school cutter - it's a huge and beautiful piece of early 20th century equipment. So, Keegan sets it up for me, and I trim them up - the books are looking really good!! Yea!! Thank you SO MUCH Katy and Keegan!!! 

Then I come home, finish the special stamp on the back page, do a quality control check to make sure all the pages are there in each, sign and number them (it's an edition of 50 with 3 artist proofs), and put them in bags... 

Is this it? Am I really, really, DONE? It's been 9 months I've been working on this project (off and on), and I really, really AM DONE!!! I can't quite believe it yet. It seemed almost impossible 2 weeks ago too! What a great experience - I have learned so much and really enjoyed it! 

I could NOT have done this without Carye Bye keeping me inspired, Dan Miller introducing me to Bigfoot, Dylan Williams encouraging me to do the project, and do it my way, and telling me that my drawing was good. Elizabeth Nelson being willing to camp at the base of Mount St. Helens and tell scary stories to "toughen me up"! Justin Hocking and the rest of the staff and volunteers at the IPRC, and Katy Meegan and Keegan Wenkman without whom it would have uneven edges! 

This book is dedicated to all who walk in the wild, known and unknown. And just for the record - I have a biologist coworker who encountered "something very unusual" in Idaho about 15 years ago near the Bitterroot Mountains while doing a strand inventory in the middle of the wilderness... so there you go, folks! 

I believe in the mystery, and hope we always have enough wilderness to harbor plenty of Bigfoots. 

P.S. There are 6 other entries about this project - scroll down to November entries to see them all. And go to my website - www.msstarryart.com - to see more and purchase your very own copy! 

WWBFD - Part 6: The Thing About Typos

Sunday, November 30th, afternoon. The book pages have been on the heat vent at home since I got home from the Thanksgiving Day printing feast at 1 AM Friday morning. I have been afraid to look at them, because, what if...

Yep, "what if" happened. I have a typo and a few other things I don't like on the text page - so after saying "SHIT" a few times -- which definitely helps solve any problem -- I head back to the IPRC. Luckily I left my form (the type set up to print) intact, so I don't have to spend hours resetting the type. That would not have happened! 

I fix the mistake (the word "account" which is not usually spelled "accuont" to my knowledge) and move the first sentence around - which I like a lot better in the last paragraph. I slap it back on the press and print about 100 more, as fast as I can. I have to also reprint the last page too, which is short and luckily was also intact. It goes pretty well (and I am not being to fussy about it being perfect anyway to be honest). Except for fixing the typo which would have really bugged me. I DID proofread it Thursday night, but it was about 10:45 pm I think, so what did I expect? 

As I am doing this, I swear to myself, NEXT TIME I WILL PRINT THE TEXT EARLIER AND NOT SET IT AND PRINT IT AT THE SAME TIME, LATE AT NIGHT. 

Still, all things considered - I learned from this, and I like the text better now, so hey. I redistribute the type back into the drawer where it's stored - which goes about 20 times faster than setting it originally. Maybe because now I have memorized where most of the letters go, which makes me feel good. Still more to do to finish the book, but now it really, really is all printed.

WWBFD - Part 5: My Thanksgiving Day Feast of Printing!

Yep, it was a long day, but I am done with the printing. Woo hooo!! At 9:30 am I start carving the 3 blocks I have left. I am blessed by the stars and they carve well and I like how they look. I have never carved 3 blocks at once, and somehow I do it in less than 2 hours. This is amazing. The hardest part is little girl in "Make New Friends." (Little Debbie? Could be.) So of course I do that block last . That's usually how I do it - easy first to build up my nerve or something.

I'm at the IPRC at noon, and print two of the 3 blocks before I leave for Thanksgiving dinner. I call my parents in NC while I am printing and talk on speaker phone. I know they won't mind, as they are gearing up for a 3 day craft show they do every Thanksgiving weekend. I helped them last year - it was CRAZY! It's nice knowing they are doing their craft thing too today - even though they are thousands of miles away, I feel connected by that. 

I am extra grateful to have someplace fun to go today. And it's a nice bike ride there on the Springwater corridor trail and through Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. It's nice to see the trees and the river, and wouldn't it be great if I see a Bigfoot as I am biking down the trail? 

Dinner is great, good company and food, and I don't have to do the cooking or cleaning - the perfect holiday meal!  (I did make a pumpkin pie this morning while carving the blocks.) After a few hours I am back on the trail, biking back quickly through the Refuge in the dark. It's peaceful and foggy, perfect. (Note to worriers - I weighed the safety factor of biking quickly through the woods to the bike path, versus trying to cross Powell Blvd at 17th. The woods feel  WAY safer.) 

I'm back at the IPRC at 6, and print the last block image in a half hour. Then the fun begins - I finish setting the type, which is harder because I change my mind about a few things I set the other day. Darn revisions! But it's better now. And I am still figuring out what I am actually trying to say. What does Bigfoot mean to us as a species? What do the stories about bigfoot tell us? I stop and do yoga, meditate, eat a piece of leftover pumpkin pie, and think about it. What is the highest possibility of Bigfoot? Then I know - to help us evolve as a species. 

The text is shorter than what I originally wrote (THANK GOD) and fits on one page. Fine with me. It's the most text I have printed at once and it takes a while to get it to print right - switching out letters that are damaged (hell type), and packing in spacing so it fits in the press without letters falling out. The actual printing is easy once everything is set up and ready to go. I print 110 of the text pages, whew! 

Around 10:30 I set the type for the last page - about the project, and the special thanks. Thank goodness it's a lot shorter, as I am getting tired and hopefully am not misspelling anyone's name. It sets up to print pretty easily, and I print them, finishing at 12:15 am. Woo Hooo!!!! I clean up and go home - biking in the quiet, misty night. It was a long day, but I'm SOOO glad it's printed!! I get home at 1:11 am. 

I am still not done yet - I have to let it dry, then fold, staple and trim it. But I'm close - and VERY grateful for that!! I will finish it up in a few days - believe it or not, this is actually not the only creative project I want to do this weekend! I have craft shows the next 2 weeks, so it's a little crazy... just like my Mom taught me! 

So Happy Thanksgiving! And thanks for your supportive comments and emails! It helped today knowing people were rooting for me!!  

WWBFD - Part 4: As of Now

November 19th - I go to the IPRC after work and print the title page. I already set some of the type for it, and set and add the dedication today. I print 110. The Title is 24 point sized Univers 65 typeface (I love it!), the dedication is Spartan Heavy 14 point, and the copyright text is 12 point Spartan Heavy Italic. 2.25 hours. 

November 21st - After the DIY Braintrust group (a creative group I facilitate once a month at the IPRC) I stay and write the text. I wrote down every idea I had last week, and now I hone it into more of what I actually want to say. It takes 2 hours, but I am very close. I know it will change when I start setting the type. It's about 150 words, and the most handset type I have ever set before at once is about 5 lines of copyright/info text on the back of my cards.  Hah! 

Seriously, I don't know how it will go - will I run out of type and have to print it in pieces? Will it be a total pain to print? (With these worn out old letters, they don't print evenly and you have to adjust it and it can be annoying and very time consuming.) Then when it's done I have to redistribute all of it back into the type drawer... What the hell - learning edge! 

November 23rd - I go at 2 pm to the IPRC, work my volunteer shift in the printroom from 5 - 8, and keep working until 9. I print the next 2 blocks - yahoo! They print well and it's much quicker to do more than one because the press is already set up. I like the designs pretty well. One is drawn from a picture of a farm in Tillamook, Oregon (sort of, I was looking at it for inspiration anyway). The other is from a photo of my neighbor picking blueberries. (I don't think I will tell her she was a model for Bigfoot!) 2 hours. 

I start setting the type, and get about halfway through. As I expected, I am cutting out a lot of unnecessary words and thoughts - it's a lot different picking out every single letter versus blathering on the computer. (Yeah, like now!) 1.5 hours. 

November 26th - After work I draw up the final 3 blocks, and am happy with the images - finally. One in particular I wasn't sure how it would work out. But you know what, drawing the blocks for the inside images hasn't felt so intimidating - maybe redrawing all of the sketches was good for me. (I don't want to EVER lose a sketchbook again though - that sucked.) 

One has Mount St. Helens in it, one has Mount Hood (and the first guy I dated after I got divorced who was a JERK! Oh well - it was the perfect image to use.) And one has my tent and "camp Bigfoot" Elizabeth and I stayed in this summer. I have tried to put the Sasquatches in a variety of landscapes, and I like that they are in all different settings, based on actual places in the Northwest. Tomorrow I carve and print, and finish setting the type, and start printing that. And oh yeah, somehow make a pie and go to Thanksgiving at Paula's. Right.