I Started A New Page On Facebook EverySlaughterHouseACenterOfHealing

An idea came to me while doing yoga at the Body Actualized Center in Bushwick Brooklyn. They are housed in a building that once was a slaughterhouse in the 1920's. Slaughterhouses used to have tile walls because it made it easy to clean up the blood. Those tile walls are still there. When I look at them, I think how ironic it is that where there once was probably a lot of blood shed and suffering for the animals, now is a center of healing and creativity. It felt amazing to realize the profound "karmic balancing" in this one location. I then had the thought "Why not EVERY slaughterhouse? Why couldn't every slaughterhouse eventually be "re-purposed" into a center for healing. And of course, the answer is "There is no reason why not!" There is a quote (someone please tell me who said it if you know) that one should have a mission in life that is so big, there is no chance you will see it completed in your lifetime. This may be that big an idea. Although, I also hold the possibility in mind that I could see it happen in my own lifetime. I have wanted to do more for the animals who are so horribly abused everywhere around the world. I wanted it to be something that came directly from who I am and how I experience the world. I don't know how this will shape up, but sharing the idea is a great start. The image above is called "Cow Hugs." I don't know the artist's name. If you do, please contact me or leave a comment and I will credit the artist.

Come Draw With Me In Central Park!!

I am conducting a drawing tour this Sunday in Central Park at the Bethesda Fountain, which is located directly in the center of the park. On the tour I will be using a lot of the ideas I teach as an artist's coach and speaker to help the attendees enhance their creativity and deepen their experience of a place. Come join us! There are only 6 spots left! For more info and to register, click here!! A little bit about the Fountain: Bethesda Terrace was constructed in 1859-64. The fountain sculpture was designed by Emma Stebbins in 1868 who was the first woman to receive a public commission for a major work of art in New York City. The bronze, eight-foot statue depicts a female winged angel held up by four four-foot cherubs representing Temperance, Purity, Health, and Peace. The statue is also called the "Angel of the Waters", and celebrated the opening of the Croton Aqueduct in 1842, which provided the city with a dependable water supply for the first time. NYC history is so rich and varied. When I visit a place, I love to take in all the meaning of the things that happened in certain spots. I am looking forward to this drawing adventure and I hope you will join me! Click here to register! Here's to your creativity!

Creativity, Taking Risks and Fennec Foxes

This animal is called a fennec fox. And this drawing was part of a talk I gave to artists twice this week. The talk was entitled "Enhancing Creative Power For Artists and Solo Creatives." One of the points of the talk was about the need to be willing to take risks, to maybe even look ridiculous. Case in point: For literally eons, Mother Nature hasn't seemed to worry about looking ridiculous at all when she designed the many incredible, yet real, creatures on this planet. In fact, she seems to throw caution to the wind. Mother Nature seems to believe that, like trying on clothes at the store, you just can't really tell till it's on. So elephant noses, hippopotamus heads and fennec fox ears demonstrate that you just never know. I did this drawing of a fennec fox for my talk, so that the little critter could be a symbol - the poster child, if you will - for taking risks and letting the results stand on their own. Here's to you and your creative experiments. Take risks, climb further out on that limb and give that crazy idea, whatever it is, a go.

Looking Inward. . . Creative Introspection

I once worked as an Assistant Art Director for a magazine that did interviews around the country. When the reporter came back from doing the interview, we would discuss which photos to use. Once, a conversation between a writer and myself revolved around deciding which direction we should face a portrait photo on the published page. Should the person face left? Right? We were going back and forth about it and he joked, "Why don't we have him look down?" Pretty funny statement for the dry material we were dealing with. To which I replied, "Why don't we have him look inward?" Ever the unwilling mystic, these kinds of statements would slip out of my mouth at times.

Up to about a hundred years ago, people were very, very busy growing their own food, protecting their homes from wild predators and making their own clothes and furniture to think about much else. That kind of focus then was applied to our jobs in the factory and office as culture shifted in that direction. Up until relatively recently in human history, there were usually just a few, isolated individuals who seemed, by some stroke of fate or luck to be able to not have to worry about the daily grind and could indulge in creative and quiet observations about human potential and higher concepts. They were assigned the societal role of "creative type." Yet they were simply doing what we all, always, have had the potential to do, if there had been any energy at the end of the day.

Often, "looking inward" involves prayer or meditation, for which people have traditionally had leaders that taught them how to do those things; what to think about, what the mantra was, who the ultimate hero in the story was, what your focus should be etc etc.

Clearly this is changing. We live in a beautiful new world which is becoming more so everyday, where each person can be their own "guru/priest/teacher/healer" going on their own inner journey to find their spiritual and creative gifts. This is fantastic. Still, it doesn't mean that we don't need teachers or guides. Taking that journey and looking inward has, like it always has had, a lot of ins, outs, ups and downs. It can be good to have a guide or teacher, or more than one at varying times in life.

But one of the most important things to remember when seeking a guide is that the seeking begins within you.

The questions start with you.

The answers will ultimately be found within you.

You may think that looking within yourself is too "simple," or too "close" for it to be significant on a journey as epic as your own life. In truth, inside is where the most promising treasures are waiting for you to discover them, as your true life journey unfolds.