Jamila Starwater – Page 3 – Creative Living

Creative Blocks + Solutions

“Magical Zebra” © Digital Collage by Jamila Tazewell – Available on 11:11

It is ironic that my favorite thing to do in the whole world — create stuff — is also something I avoid quite expertly. The resistance to jumping in to the creative flow is real! I have successfully avoided writing this blog post for over ~~a month~~ two months and have been thinking about it all day before finally making myself sit here as the summer light fades through the window. Sure it is writers block – but I also experience this same dance with everything I make. I love collaging so much that I have made an 11 year career out of it, yet I still feel like hiding out before almost every creative session. There is a fear that if I sit down this time, nothing will come, the magic won’t happen. The creative flow is something I can summon but not control. Real creativity is always a co-creation with the universe. When I am “in the flow” I am tapped into something greater than myself that is literally flowing through me. It is a sensitive, very meditative process. It is you showing up for You! A spark really happens when we just show up. So thats why you just have to start.

Just starting sounds easy enough. Deadlines are great for this but sometimes you don’t have that luxury. So what then? Here are some of the ways I go about opening up the inspiration flow. The first two suggestions are universal and the last three may be the most relevant to visual artists and specifically collage art.

1. Create the space

Depending on your location and resources, this can mean many things. But most important and first – turn off social media, email and your cell phone, and don’t turn them back on until you have logged some time with your art. Then figure out where your ‘power spot’ is in your studio, home or wherever you are. This is as simple as just realizing that you really like a certain chair next to a certain window – that you feel good there. Then figure out what you need to feel really solid and ready. If it is too dark where you are, get some more light. If its too messy, clean it up (within reason! Don’t delay your art making to chase after perfection!) This is about creating a space that supports your creativity, and it is not about being rigid. So figure it out to the best of your ability and do it fast! You have art to make and there is always room for more improvements later!

2. Sound

We have explored here how sound is a physical force that moves energy. Well it can also move you into the “zone” ! I have always been a lover of all kinds of music, but it is in the last 8 or so years that I have really started to understand how different music creates different energy states in the body and mind. This is a fun area to experiment in. Let what you are trying to express dictate what kind of music you play. For me it’s all about the mantra music these days. I love the pure high vibration of mantra – I feel like the intelligence that is carried in that sound current really opens up the flow in the most beautiful way. Just go with what works for you- what excites you – what music makes you feel alive? Play that.

3. List making

Ok so you have a space and you have some music. Now you have a lot of thoughts in your head to face. My solution is to make lists. I make a list of topics that inspire me and I also have my work / errands lists close by too. I write down the work related stuff as it comes in to my head, to be dealt with later. I love writing lists of what inspires me because I get to remind myself of all the elements I can then put in to my work.

4. Image gathering

Once I have my lists, I then go on imagery hunts. I look for old and obscure images as these are usually copyright free and I love them the most, so win win. My favorite places to look for imagery are thrift stores – old encyclopedias are the best – and the picture file sections of public libraries. Online I like to look at Wikipedia and The Commons section of Flickr. I like to search with words that are even remotely related to my topics of interest. I find that I get pulled down many rabbit holes but as long as I am finding images that excite me, it is worth the time. I save all the images in a folder I usually name for the season and year it is. Thats the best way I’ve found to remember where to find it later but if someone has a better way to organize imagery archives, please let me know!

5. Letting colors lead

Once I have a good amount of raw materials to work with I like to look at all of my inspiration in the folders at once. I then open those files that I am most excited about, and I start putting images and elements together that speak to each other. For me this means that the colors go well together and sometimes the meanings of the images do too. I very much let the colors lead me, especially in the beginning of creating a collage. At this point I am usually in the zone and the ideas are popping like popcorn. I love this part so much! I hate even stopping to eat when I am in the flow like this and I really love to eat …

So there you have it. I hope these suggestions help you to just. do. it. already. I am convinced that starting is the hardest part. So just go jump in, you’ll be so glad you did. HAVE FUN. Let me know how it goes.

“Magical Elephant 2” © Jamila Tazewell – Available on 11:11

DESIGN

Modern Fashion is a Control System

I grew up wanting to be a fashion designer. I love clothes. I love expressing myself with what I wear and I love seeing how others choose to show themselves to the world. What I don’t love is the group think that happens when certain styles are proclaimed to be “in fashion”. The mindless following of fashion trends is outdated. It’s time to think for ourselves.

When clothing is done right, it is one of the highest forms of self expression. People get a hit of who you are in a split second of seeing you and what you are wearing. Wearing certain cuts, colors and fabrics make us feel things. It’s a kind of art that everyone is invited to do, every day.

However, the fashion industry doesn’t want you to think for yourself. You are the best customer when you are following trends and feel the need to be “in style”. I used to read a lot of fashion magazines before I realized that instead of feeling inspired they made me feel inadequate. I will never have the body or face of a fashion model and that is fine, but it’s the clothes themselves which are often times so out of reach! Thousands of dollars on an outfit that is not a wedding dress or covered in gems?! For most people this is not a realistic budget. It’s boring and depressing to constantly lust after things that are not and will not ever be on your actual shopping list. No thank you. I prefer reality over fantasy, personally.

The fashion business is about making money and lots of it, and the old Piscean culture (still) at large is about control through conformity and caste systems (yes, caste systems in America too) . They work beautifully together. The fashion people tell you what you should be wearing, and our cultural program teaches us to judge each other based on what we are wearing. We keep ourselves in line this way, it’s like a self policing system embedded into the fabric of every day life. And by the way, I’m not saying it is wrong to judge based on clothes, it is actually helpful to do most of the time. It’s just interesting to step back and see how it all fits in to the big picture.

Imagine if clothing was only about keeping warm and individual self expression. No more ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ boring crap. Imagine a world where a human is taught from day one to think for themselves and honor their own creativity! I think it would make for much more interesting outfits, just for starters !

To go deeper into the subject, read about how clothing shapes our energy and about dressing the chakras. I look forward to writing a lot more on this subject – ‘the energetics of hair styles’ and ‘shoes as control devices, coming soon !

YOGA

What is Seva?

I have noticed a mis understanding of this word among those who even recognize it at all. Seva is a word you hear a lot if you go to yoga classes or have been to India. Sometimes a yoga studio will have people do work exchange and call it seva, which is misleading. The word seva means “selfless service”. Seva is not work exchange. Seva is not volunteering to then get something tangible in return, like “free” yoga classes. Pretending seva is some kind of work exchange is dull and uninspiring.

So what is “selfless service”? Why do seva if you don’t get anything in return? Well that’s the thing. Pure seva is supposedly selfless, but I have gotten so much in return for any seva I have done that on a certain level it seems like the most selfish act in the world.

The concept of seva in the west is basically the same as “volunteering”. Why do people volunteer? To help a cause or an organization they believe in. If you ask someone what they get from it, you would hear a lot of answers but a recurring theme would be that they feel like they are “making a difference” and that it is empowering on some deep level. So we are getting something pretty important from the exchange, it’s just not something overtly related to money or material goods. But what are we gaining exactly from this “selfless service”?

The answer I found that resonates is this: “Seva is an energy exchange with the energy field you are serving.” So whatever force/ lineage/ higher power you are serving, you are receiving blessings and energy from that source. It can be on a purely universal level as well – your beliefs don’t need a name for this to work. When you give without thought of the return, the universe has to take care of you. Yogi Bhajan said, “The law of the vacuum is that there is no vacuum”. When you give selflessly, you open up a space that has to be filled by the universe. That is also the reason why tithing works. What you give comes back to you multiplied.

One of the 5 sutras for the Aquarian age is “The other person is you”. Practicing seva is a really practical and empowering way to experience the truth of that. After all, they say what goes around, comes around. All in the fullness of time…

FOOD

Love in Food : Conscious Food Prep Matters

This is a Birthday Cake Jai Gopal made for me one year.

Food made with love tastes better and is better for you. I feel like this is the most obvious yet least acknowledged fact. We know it is true but we don’t know how it actually works, so it gets overlooked. “Love is the secret ingredient” is an anecdote we might see written in swirly letters on a new age cereal box or as a cute addition to a recipe write up. The irony is that it is so true. It is an open secret. We aren’t taught about this in a serious way and I feel like this is our loss. The intention with which food is prepared is just as important as where it comes from and what it is made of. Let’s explore why this is.

Quantum theory states that the act of observation affects the observed. I’m thinking of that as I try to find the best way to describe the relationship between the cook and the food. Obviously the cook is transforming the food by chopping, mixing, heating etc. but food contains more than its physical components- the vitamins, minerals, protein etc. The subtle energy we call prana that is running through every living thing is also something that is ideally in our food. I say ‘ideally’ because often prana is not in food anymore. Overly processed packaged foods don’t have prana. It is the prana in food that nourishes all of our other energy bodies (11 bodies total!) . Fresh foods in general have more prana than cooked, canned and processed foods. But the energy of the cook can add prana to ANY food by the consciousness that is given to the food preparation.

A cooks energy field as a whole has a tremendous influence on the pranic energy contained in the food they prepare. A human can have an aura that reaches 9 feet in every direction. So the food that is being handled by the cook is IN THEIR AURIC FIELD. The cook can add love to the food simply by thinking loving thoughts while preparing a dish. One can also use a mantra and chant it silently or out loud while preparing the food. Playing mantras in the kitchen also works. Practicing mindfulness by being aware of the breath and all the sensations while cooking can make the whole experience of food prep a meditation. If we enjoy the process of cooking chances are we are adding love without even realizing it! It isn’t complicated. Just the intention to add love works.

This subject makes me think about the awareness that restaurant workers bring to their jobs – and how , if you pay attention, you can taste and feel it! The fact is that many people that work in restaurants are underpaid and under-appreciated and that has a definite impact on the food they make. The vibe of a restaurant is just as important to me as the “fresh, local, organic” ingredients. I would rather eat something made with average ingredients prepared with devotion and love than something made with exceptional ingredients but prepared with anger and indifference. If you search your memory banks I am betting you can come up with an example or two of both scenarios!

So, moral of the story! Put love in the food you eat and prepare for others! Get intentional about it and see what happens. My guess is that you will enjoy it more and feel healthier after you eat it. It’s easy, free, powerful and delicious!

My next post on this subject is going to be about the power of “blessing” food before you eat it. Another simple practice that can transform food and your relationship to it.

DESIGN

An inspired interview with painter Jodi Fuchs

*Blessed B(e) 76″ x 138″ mixed media on canvas 2011 © Jodi Fuchs*

Jodi Fuchs is my favorite painter alive today. The energy and scale of her work (she paints BIG), the living colors, and the inspired motifs and patterns all resonate with me so much. Her work has a vibration that changes the room it’s in. Some day I will have a Jodi Fuchs original on my wall but until then I’m super stoked to have her work featured on my blog!

Jodi is also a super fun, down to earth, beautiful human being that I’m so lucky to call a friend. We got to know each other over the years in Harijiwan’s living room when he used to teach out of his home in those pre RAMA days of yore. Then maybe 4 years ago we teamed up and produced a holiday art/craft show at her pop up gallery in Santa Monica. It was so fun working with her and my cousin Ashley Wade (of Action Cookies fame!) on the event and we learned a lot .. but never again! Amiright ladies!? So much work you would not believe.. But anyhow, all that to say is we got to know each other pretty well through the experience and I just love her to bits! I’m super excited to share this interview I did with her recently. Hopefully you’ll be inspired by her work and words as much as I am.

Fierce 31″ x 62″ mixed media on canvas 2011

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1. There is so much I love about your work its hard to know where to begin! I guess I’ll start by asking about how you first got in to painting? Did you always want to be an artist?

Thanks so much for having me and for your kind words! I’ve always had a creative impulse even though I didn’t study art in school. My education was a never ending series of strange creative jobs– working for photographer’s hand-tinting photographs, as a production assistant on several tv shows, assisting graphic designers on rock star’s tour books, etc. I took some evening classes at Otis Parsons for graphic design but felt like the surface areas were too small for me. I like BIG. I then moved onto classes for faux finishing after working as a set painter on movies and got some great painting gigs. The first was working with a team of artists that marbleized an entire shopping mall in Vegas. That skill set lead to working on high end homes where I learned all about the decorative arts and enjoyed creating environments. The house was the canvas. Then after 20 years of physically challenging work, climbing ladders and painting ceilings, I decided to focus more fully on making my own paintings.

2. Did you go to art school and how did going/not going influence you as an artist?

No, I didn’t go to art school and in a way I’m glad. I learned all about color and color mixing while doing decorative painting and painting sets. I read tons of artist’s biographies and really resonated with the abstract expressionists in NY during the 40’s and 50’s. Sometimes I wish I had more formal training but I also think not going has freed me up to play the art “game” in a different way. I was always interested in the healing arts and studied massage, energy healing, feng shui and kundalini yoga. I think as an artist, “school” can be anything that captures your imagination.

3. I love how your work is so infused by your energy and inspired by your love of meditation and travel. Can you talk a little bit about what your process is when you are creating?

Ah, the great mystery of creating. I tend to follow my intuition and stay out of over conceptualizing my approach. Basically, when I’m faced with a blank canvas, I start with color, anything to get the white out. I’m into mark making and gestures and letting the energy of where I am that day lead the way. Traveling informs color choices and sometimes content as does the meditation. I’m often drawn to sacred imagery but really it comes down to energy. I just want to be a conduit for the creative energy force of the Universe. I think it’s infinite, always available and it’s really about how clear a channel I can be to let that come through me. I don’t paint if I’m in a bad or weird mood. I just do admin stuff instead. lol

4. You were recently in Hawaii and Bali for a while. Can you tell about some of the inspiration and insights you gained while there and how that has effected your work?

The feminine energy of both Hawaii and Bali were so healing to be in and as a painter, I think it’s really important to be in that feminine receptive state of mind. I swam a LOT, many times with wild dolphins which is my passion, and as a result, the work I did in Hawaii was very watery and fluid. I didn’t intend for that to happen but it did and that’s what I love about painting and traveling. It’s a new way to see the world and as an artist I’m creating new little worlds on the canvas so it’s really a perfect marriage.

5. Your prayer paintings are so powerful and fun — can you tell us about them and some of the experiences you have had creating them for yourself and others?!

One day I started making a painting by writing down my heart’s desires on the canvas. Then I filled in the loops of the letters and the negative spaces with color, pretty much obliterating what I’d scribbled, but I loved the result. Even though the words were indecipherable, I knew the energy was still there. I showed the piece to my art publisher and she went to press with it! The Secret Language of Prayers was the name of the piece. I loved that my prayers were now being broadcast to thousands! Talk about getting the word out! I decided to offer this service of creating custom prayer pieces for people and it’s been so rewarding. I’ve done memorial pieces, house blessings, health prayers and lots of marriage paintings where I weave the vows of the bride and groom together. I was even a live painter at a wedding once and wrote the vows on the canvas as the couple recited them. AND it was on a boat.

6. I love that you are doing design consultations for living and working environments now — canyou tell us about it and all the modalities you are weaving into the practice?

Well I’ve studied feng shui with several different teachers as well as Space Clearing techniques in Bali. I love color and I understand energy flow so it just felt like a great melding of all the skills I have to help people create supportive environments in their home or office. I’m offering color consultations, decorative painting, staging, feng shui cures and space clearing to begin with. Even rearranging pieces that you already have can be effective in “upping” the wattage of your space, as well as balancing the 5 elements with objects and color.

7. If you could paint on any surface in any location in any size – on the whole planet – where would you and why?!

I’d love to paint an elephant. Have you seen the decorated elephants of India? Amazing! I’ve ridden elephants a few times in Bali and I just adore them. Talk about a large canvas! It’s also pretty cool that elephants make paintings. I saw demonstrations of this at the park in Bali. The elephants were given paintbrushes loaded with paint and they used their trunks to create a piece. Mesmerizing. And pretty good abstract pieces!

8.What’s cooking for 2014? Let us know about upcoming shows/ travels/ projects ..

2014 for me is about creating a solid body of work as well expanding into products. I’d like to keep creating images for my 2 art publishers and also get my work into more galleries. I’m also applying for some grants so I can continue to travel and paint as well as looking into international artist residencies. San Miguel de Allende is on my radar. It’s a wonderful art town in Mexico and I’ve wanted to go there forever. I have my annual open studio at the Santa Monica Airport art walk coming up on Saturday March 15, 2014. I’m also looking into creating a line of tshirts and contemplating some products I can co-produce with some Balinese artisans. So, just a few things. I also started an art blog, finally, and am excited to write and share my work this way. I’d like to eventually create a book to inspire people to create!

Thank you so much Jodi!

Check out more of Jodi Fuchs’ work online at www.jodifuchs.com

Buy prints and original pieces on her etsy shop

Connect with Jodi Fuchs on twitter + facebook and her new blog The Painters POV

Heart Chambers 18″ x 18″ mixed media on panel

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above un captioned images from the top:

Jodi Fuchs in her Santa Monica studio

Living the Dream 12″ x 12″ mixed media

Prayer Painting : Kelly and Chad wedding ring inscriptions 48″ x 36″

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