I read that high-powered executives try to limit the number of trivial decisions they have to make each day, so that they can save their mental energy for the important decisions. They have a rack of identical suits, they have tightly scheduled routines, they let someone else order lunch. There is actual science behind this. … read more Decision fatigue
Category: Improvisation
The Adventure Girl Cookbook: Improvising a Life. Recipes, ideas and stories about creativity, mindfulness and improvisation as a major ingredient in art, food, work, life
Copying a master
Art students are always told to study the masters, and to copy them. Coming from a journalism background, I was at first taken aback by this approach – it seemed at worst a kind of plagiarism, and at best an exercise that would stifle originality. But once I tried it a few times, I realized that it … read more Copying a master
It’s show time
Play time is over. Tomorrow is Oktoberfest, an annual event in my community that draws hundreds of visitors who drink beer and spend money. The artist’s group has a booth, and I will be selling my fused glass. I’ve got 20 necklace pendants and 26 holiday ornaments and 5 tabletop sculptures. I’ve spent eight hours … read more It’s show time
Cross-cultural greetings
Art classes were half empty this week because it’s Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. I was oblivious to how many of my classmates are Jewish until these two days. This being Atlanta, I don’t think much about it; I’ve lived most of my adult life in big, multicultural cities. The lower attendance was a … read more Cross-cultural greetings
Coiled and trapped
The rattlesnake was coiled in a large Ziploc bag, the kind that you can pump the air out of. Someone had stuffed a gray sock into its mouth. It was barely alive. I didn’t want to kill the snake. It was fairly small, and I felt it was best to take it to a place away from me … read more Coiled and trapped
Making room for art
About a year ago, I took a few drawing classes that made me very unhappy. The teachers offered little in the way of actual instruction. There were no learning objectives set out, no clear progression of skills outlined for us. We drew the model and the instructor made random comments and remarks that were intended … read more Making room for art
Hot notes
He threw a note out, and I caught it and rode it. I was up the hill where it was hot and sunny but close enough so those cats could chill me. The green flowed all the way down to the stage, I was high enough to surf the rhythm. The crowd was spread out like … read more Hot notes
Kandinsky on materialism
Feeling deprived of spirit and art, I started the morning by re-reading Wassily Kandinsky’s “Concerning the Spiritual in Art.” That got my day going right. One of the quotes I highlighted: Our minds, which are even now only just awakening after years of materialism, are infected with the despair of unbelief, of lack of purpose and … read more Kandinsky on materialism
Unwrapped
Once I got a mud wrap at a spa. Two people slathered a slippery brown mud mixed with herbs all over my body, and then wrapped me in cellophane. After that, they swaddled me in a cotton sheet. I figured that was for pure aesthetics rather than any therapeutic reason, because who could relax when … read more Unwrapped
Lofty ideas
My new office is uplifting. Today I was up lifting boxes of files. And down carrying empty boxes. I’ve claimed the loft in our rental house for my office – and what an office it is. A skylight illuminates the room and frames blue sky with the highest tips of leafy branches. To my right, a … read more Lofty ideas