Today on The Blank Canvas Blog Hop it’s Friday Frenzy! Meet my friend, artist, writer, publisher and coach Kiala Givehand. Check out her post and free giveaway here. Also participating in the frenzy is artist and writer Tori Deaux. You can find her post and free giveaway here. And last but not least, hang out once again with artist Karen Friedland who opened the blog hop. You can find her post here.
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
Today on The Blank Canvas Blog Hop meet my friend, artist Jenny Carthern. Check out her post and free giveaway at http://paintisthickerthanwater.blogspot.com/2014/09/theblankcanvasblohop.html
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
It’s Day 3 of The Blank Canvas Blog Hop! Sign up for my newsletter (in the form on the right) and leave a comment below. One lucky individual will receive a signed copy of an anthology, winner’s choice, containing my award-winning work. Subjects include dating, autism, new moms, pre-teens, and family. Good luck!
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Every writer faces it. The blank page. For most of us it’s often a puzzle where our inspiration comes from. Some days it’s there and some days it’s not. It’s maddening, mysterious, and also magical. So how do we court this ephemeral creature?
I know for me there is a definite ebb and flow to the creative process. Over the years, I’ve learned to trust that the fallow periods will end, just as the juicy periods of boundless creativity are also finite. Between these extremes there are long stretches of time that are neither. I am not filled with silence or overflowing with words. I simply am.
Through it all I strive to do one basic thing: keep my butt in the chair. I schedule regular writing time and honor it, just as I honor my other work commitments. I know from experience that my life doesn’t go right without a regular writing practice, so I must make time for this essential task. I would love to say I do this every day, but as a single mom it’s often not possible. Currently I strive to write on alternate days and have made peace with this fact.
Some days the words flow and others not so much. On those days I edit and revise previously written work. As a former editor, this comes easily to me. Sometimes editing leads to the writing of new material Sometimes it doesn’t. Whatever happens, I never beat myself up for not doing more. I remind myself it’s all progress towards the larger goal.
Blogging has kept my writing fairly consistent and provided some much needed structure and accountability. Several of my published pieces started as blog posts. Blogging also forces me to break subjects down into manageable chunks. While I may not have time to tackle a longer essay or chapter, it’s hard to make excuses about a 500-word post.
For the past few years, I’ve been content to work on my blog and other short pieces and let my memoir, tentatively titled My Guardian Angel Sings the Blues, lie fallow. I’d produced two draft manuscripts, but then I’d reached a point and didn’t know how to proceed. At first I tried to force the issue—without success. Then I simply let go.
Letting go is difficult and I tend to fight it. But I’ve learned over the course of my unplanned life that letting go it an essential skill. So I reluctantly let my memoir go and trusted that I would know when it was time to proceed.
I suspect now the real issue was that I wasn’t ready to write about a marriage that had recently ended. I could skirt around the edges, but I wasn’t willing or able to delve into the painful, messy truths. I was more interested in writing about my current life as a single mom to an autistic child than my former life as a married professional struggling with infertility.
Finally as my 50th birthday approached, I felt an overwhelming urge to tackle the project once again and finish. Last month I spent several weeks on the coast with my daughter and focused on the third draft. I managed to complete my first 100 pages. In December I plan to devote another week or two. My goal is to have the third draft completed before my 51st birthday next spring. I hope it’s the final draft, but even if it’s not, I’ll still be celebrating.
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Thanks for joining our blog hop! Be sure to visit the other artists’ blogs to learn about their process and win cool stuff. I will be posting links every day to the current stop, so you can always return to my website if you get lost.
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
Today on The Blank Canvas Blog Hop meet my friend, artist Lezette Markham. Check out her post and free giveaway at http://simplyartoc.com/2014/09/09/simplyartblankcanvasbloghop/
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
Today on The Blank Canvas Blog Hop meet my friend, artist Karen Friedland. Check out her post and free giveaway at http://
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
I’m excited to share that I’ve been asked to participate in The Blank Canvas Blog Hop. Two weeks of juicy creativity, free giveaways, and goodies!
The blog hop starts on Monday, September 8, 2014. Fifteen amazingly creative individuals will discuss their creative process, reveal what inspires their art, and share how they face the blank page or canvas. It’s going to be a fun and informative two weeks.
Here’s the lineup:
Monday, September 8, 2014: Karen Freidland
Tuedsay, September 9, 2014: Lezette Markham
Wednesday, September 10, 2014: Cynthia Patton (ME!)
Thursday, September 11, 2014: Jennyann Carthern
Friday, September 12, 2014: Kiala Givehand (filling in for Josie Webb)
Saturday, September 13, 2014: Jan Blount
Sunday, September 14, 2014: Effy Wild
Monday, September 15, 2014: Kiala Givehand
Tuesday, September 16, 2014: Dariana Cruz
Wednesday, September 16, 2014: Susan Miller
Thursday, September 17, 2014: Grace Howes
Friday, September 18, 2014: Tori Deaux
Saturday, September 19, 2014: Virginia Simpson-Magruder
Sunday, September 20, 2014: Martin Arkenstone
Monday, Sepetember 21, 2014: Nicole Piar
Each artist will offer a free giveaway on the day of their blog post. So make sure to visit each day and check them all out.
It’s going to be an exciting two weeks. Don’t miss it!
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
Recently a friend told me about a book she read. I don’t remember the title, but really, it could be any book. She loved it, and I said jokingly that I would add it to my pile. This “pile” used to be a physical stack (or often multiple stacks) beside my bed, but as my time for reading has diminished and the list of books I want to read has grown, the “pile” moved to my bookshelves. And when even that system began to tax the constraints of space and memory, I moved my ever-growing list online.
At first I simply kept a digital list. But then I discovered GoodReads. Slowly my “pile”—which by now might be more accurately described as a towering stack, or even more accurately, an unclimbable mountain—has begun to find its way there. The list is by no means exhaustive, either in terms of what I long to read or certainly in terms of what I’ve read in the past. But it’s a start.
GoodReads gives me a place to capture the titles my friends recommend, which is why I’m annoyed I didn’t write down the title my friend mentioned. Because let’s be honest, my memory is not what it once was. If I don’t record information the second I hear it, it vanishes beneath a torrent of other, more pressing—or simply more recent—information.
I wonder if this failure of memory is due more to age or our ever-growing reliance on tech gadgets. Because I’m fairly certain I could remember my friend Marilyn’s phone number if I absolutely had to. My memory isn’t failing, and it’s not like I didn’t have scads of phone numbers memorized when I was younger. But now that I have a cell phone, my ability to retain a single phone number, even one I use regularly, seems to have vanished. I know it’s a mere click or two away, so why bother?
If Marilyn had an email address would I remember that instead? Probably not, because now people text. It’s faster. Of course, a phone call can be fast too, and yet Marilyn is one of the few people I talk to on the phone—probably because she doesn’t text or email!
Like me, Marilyn reads old-fashioned paper books. We co-produce Storied Nights: An Evening of Spoken Word, so we spend a lot of time together reading various books and selecting material. Both of us refuse to switch to an eReader. Why? We like the smell and feel of traditional books. At least that’s what we say. Perhaps it’s nostalgia.
It’s not that I’m adverse to technology. I keep digital files of the material we use for Storied Nights plus make good use of an app called Trello to store and organize future programming ideas and material. Without it, I’m not sure how we could keep everything from devolving into total chaos. As it is, I have stacks of books scattered around the house, just like in the past….
And let’s not forget GoodReads, which helps me track and store my reading list—when I remember to use it. It all boils down to memory. I clearly need a system to help me remember my system….
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
Welcome to another Tuesday with TED. Today we have poetry critic Stephen Burt. He is a serious fan of science fiction, indie music, and women’s basketball, but what he’s known for is his highly influential poetry criticism. That list of passions, though, hints at Burt’s mission as a critic: he aims not only to describe new movements in the form, but also to champion under-the-radar writers whose work he admires.
Burt, a professor of English at Harvard University, is passionate about both the classics and the contemporary, and his poetry criticism bridges those two worlds. He is also a poet in his own right, with two full-length books under his belt, as well as a cross-dresser who mines his feminine persona in his work. “I am a literary critic and a writer of verse, a parent and husband and friend, before and after I am a guy in a skirt, or a guy in blue jeans, or a fictional girl,” he has written. His books include The Art of the Sonnet (with David Mikics); Close Calls With Nonsense: Reading New Poetry; and Parallel Play: Poems.
In this charming and funny talk, Burt takes us on a lyrical journey with some of his favorite poets, all the way down to a line break and back up to the human urge to imagine. Don’t miss this fascinating talk!
Did Burt’s talk change how you look at poetry? Do you agree with his statement that poems can help us deal with subjects like death? What did you think of his delivery?
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
As I described back in April (you can read the post here), I’m celebrating my 50th birthday with a year of activities, challenges, and FUN designed to honor this milestone. I’m calling it Cynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash, and so far it’s been pretty amazing.
Here’s what I did in August to mark this big and badass year:
Challenge—I wanted to spend the weekend in San Diego—alone! As a single mom, coordinating the logistics to pull something like this off is a huge challenge because unlike most single moms, I don’t have an ex-spouse to assist with childcare. But I haven’t had a night away from Katie in over four years, so it was definitely worth the hard work to pull it off.I’m five months into my yearlong birthday bash, and I’m loving the results. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
Welcome to another Tuesday with TED. Today we have artist Béatrice Coron, who creates intricate worlds, cities and countries, heavens and hells, with nothing more than scissors and paper.
Coron tells stories informed by life. After briefly studying art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Lyon, and Mandarin Chinese at the Université of Lyon III, Coron experienced life with a series of odd jobs. She has been, among others, a shepherdess, truck driver, factory worker, cleaning lady, and New York City tour guide. She has lived in France (her native country) , Egypt and Mexico for one year each, and China for two years. She moved to New York City in 1985, where she reinvented herself as an artist.
Coron cuts her characteristic silhouette designs in paper and Tyvek. She also creates works in stone, glass, metal, rubber, stained glass, and digital media. Her work has been purchased by major museum collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum, the Walker Art Center and The Getty. Her public art can be seen in subways, airports, and sports facilities.
Striding onstage in an incredible cape cut from Tyvek, she describes her creative process and the way her stories develop from snips and slices. You don’t want to miss this amazing and creative talk. Enjoy!
What did you think of Coron’s cape? I was inspired by the fact that she didn’t become an artist until she was 40! Then she survived eight years of rejection before receiving her first commission for a public art installation. In other words, it’s never too late for any of us!
Coron has developed a language of storytelling by papercutting multi-layered, inter-connected stories. She believes everybody has a story to tell, and more importantly, everyone must create a story to make sense of the world. Do you agree? How do you make sense of the world?
Until next time,
Cynthia Patton
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