What’s been stopping me lately…

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It’s Wednesday and today I check in via email with my creativity coach, Jill Badonsky. Just give her a sense of what movement or non movement I am making in the direction of what we talked about last week.

What Jill and I talked about last week is that people are asking about purchasing my art work. Specifically two of my friends by the name of Megan, one of whom just moved into a new apartment and would love a piece to decorate her place, and my friend and acupuncturist Stacy who has a birthday coming up and would like to see what’s available for a gift to herself, and my dentist – Dr. Thomas Blake – who is redecorating his office. These are only recent requests!

If you are in anyway a proponent for my success you will cringe and perhaps shudder when you hear my of late standard reply;

“ummmm…..cool. Ok, well, my website is not up to date – I’m re-doing it, I don’t have an organized inventory of what’s available, I don’t have a display venue, uhhhh…I don’t have any brochures….” That’s the outer voice.

The inner voice, which until lately was whispering so quietly I couldn’t hear it, was saying;

“I’m scared. I’m scared to make sales. I’m afraid to show my work to others.”

I was not really aware of how deep these inner feelings ran until I mentioned to Jill that the simple display portfolio I had created for the grant proposal I had just written might be a really easy way to showcase my work to people who are asking.

When I say simple, I mean a Word Document with a few images .jpg of my paintings dropped into it. Really that simple.

I also realized something huge about how I have been handling this little inner voice of fear. I had not been handling it. I have succumbed to the creative killer called: PERFECTIONISM!!!

Holy shit, I never realized how much I use perfectionism to stop myself moving forward in my creative projects and in the business of bringing my art into the world and selling it.

Straight out of the * KMZ Coaching Manual, here I am described:

Negative feelings, thoughts, and beliefs that may be associated with perfectionism:

  • Fear of failure
  • Fear of making mistakes
  • Fear of disapproval
  • All-none-thinking
  • Overemphasis on “shoulds”
  • Believing that other are easily successful.

After reading this, I went into minor ego-gets-obliterated shock.

“Oh-my-God that’s me”

No wonder all my work is sitting in my back storage area of my studio. No wonder I don’t have a brochure that’s let alone a “good enough” never mind a really nice one. No wonder there are about 10 completed paintings in my studio I have not had photographed because I was waiting to make them a little more perfect. No wonder I am what feels like eternally (note the all-or -nothing thinking) paused in the creation process of the new website. No wonder I have not made any art sales in a while! It’s all starting to make sense.

So…my commitment to myself, to you, to Jill is to put together a not so perfect inelegant “brochure” of all the beautiful and vivacious work that has been hiding in my studio for much too long and cannot wait to be hanging on your wall by next Wednesday May 7th.

(Setting manageable obtainable deadlines also tends to kill perfectionism – cause oh shitttt I gotta get it done!!!!)

If you’d like to see my new work, please email me your full name and Email with “pls send new work brochure” To deb@debchaney.com.


*KMZ Kaizen Muse Coaching Program founded by Jill Badonsky, re-printed -------with -ummmm----permission? From Jill?------

Creative Procrastination

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Today's intention was to edit the grant application I'm working on. I knew I had to do a little something, in particular because today is my coaching check in day. Whereby I email my coach what I've done since last week.

So what had I done? Not much. In an effort to report some progress, I made a few edits then I sidesteped away from the computer into my studio and made this piece of art on my current art career FOCUS, as discussed in my blog about being In Creative Process.

Anyways, sometimes its fun to procrastinate and make art about what I was "supposed" to be doing. Here's to enjoying the moment, making art, and relishing not doing what I set out to.

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us. "
- Joseph Campbell

In Creative Process

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Currently I am receiving creative coaching from Jill Badonsky, creative coach and founder of the kaizen muse creativity coaching program. My intentions are five fold to receive support during the creation process of the following;

  1. Editing/revising my 2008 fine art marketing plan
  2. Reading and applying ‘Attracting Perfect Customers’ to the marketing plan
  3. Inventory of all my art work
  4. Pricing the different bodies of work
  5. Creating a new website

What I am learning in this process is that creating anything is an organic process that evolves on its own time and, really has very little to do with ‘me’. ‘Me’ being the ego. The ‘me’ wants to schedule, force, create on demand, finish it by the deadline and have it all done – yesterday – and perfectly, of course.

The concept of "having it all done" is an illusion with anything we are creating. Everything is evolving, changing, growing at it’s own pace. Nothing is permanent. All this creations are projections and illusions of myself and where I am at now.

I’m realizing that I need to step back and let this creative force work through ‘me’. That my job here is to be present, set my intentions, and come from a place of love and trust in the process of being with my dreams as they manifest. This isn’t about ‘me’ doing, more about ‘me’ letting the doing happen. Watching, observing, and participating with awareness and love.

Something we talk about in creative process are side trips that we sometimes make when we’ve set out to do one thing, and end up doing another. The list above is in, what I had decided was priority order. I’d discussed this with Jill and we’d decided I’d finish up the revision of my marketing plan first. Enter side trip number one.

Turns out the information that I’d gathered and researched to write the marketing plan fits perfectly into a grant application I’d had filed away and was interested in applying to. Now finishing that grant application has become the #1 of 6 items we’re working on in this coaching.

I remain in creative process and learning to let go and trust the flow of things.

Artist Statement

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After taking Alyson Stanfield's 'Promote your Art' online class and purchasing her book The Relatively Pain-Free Artist Statement , I have been working on my artist statement. It's been a work in progress for several months now and I thought I'd share with you the current up to date version.

Here are the main points I used to keep me focused while I put it together. Truthfully I didn't just sit down and write it all at once. I kept notes in my journal over time and it came together piece by piece over the months. Anyways, here are the basics:

Notes on writing an Artist statement

  1. It's about you current direction of art work
  2. Written in first person, I…
  3. Helps define a body of work.
  4. Explains your painting style and subjects or themes.
  5. Tells a bit about your approach or philosophy

April 2008 Deb Chaney - Artist Statement

I create large contemporary abstract paintings rich in texture with many layers which may include mixed media, acrylics, liquid metals, iridescent powders, earth elements such as sand, and paper collage. Using the ancient principles of Feng Shui, each painting is created with the intention to contribute balance and vitality to your living spaces and may be used to enhance a specific area of your life.

My creative process involves listening to the piece in progress and allowing it to guide me to its next step. Sometimes I am adding layer upon layer and removing parts of each layer. I have no exact plan as to what the finished piece will become. I let each layer guide me and trust the finished image will emerge. I paint with large sky flow brushes, palette knives, sea sponges, sturdy workshop rags, and even my fingers and sleeves. In mid process I have often thought I would eat the paint if that was what the painting required. The process of creating paintings challenges, invigorates and inspires me. Often what motivates me to jump out of bed in the morning is a thought as to I what next layer I need to add – or take away - on a piece I am currently working on. I practice daily, relish the process, and am grateful to live and work in passion.

Transfer Technique

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We had a very successful Saturday workshop the first Saturday in March! Thank you Patty for driving all the way up from Santa Monica! I taught layering using acrylics, basic abstract composition, collage, incorporating words into the painting and principles that support creativity.

After the workshop I realized that we didn’t get time to finish our transfer techniques so here it is from the top…

Transfer technique is a great way to incorporate an imperfect photographic or other image into your abstract piece to add intrigue.

Step 1. Choose a photocopy of an image you like. Using a palette knife, apply Golden soft gel gloss to the image. Next glue this face down onto your painting substrate. (I’m using Frederix primed canvas pad in this demo) Remember to put the soft gel on the image – not the back. Using a phonebook helps with mess, just flip the page for a fresh working surface.









Step 2. It may enhance the image to further flatten it by placing a piece of paper towel over it and using a brayer. Let it dry overnight.










Step 3. Peel back as much as you can dry (sometimes it peels off nicely leaving the image behind)







Step 4. Using a water spritzer soak the paper image glued to your painting substrate entirely.










Step 5. Let the water soak in for a few minutes or so then peal away the paper pulp with a spoon. The image is revealed underneath.











Step 6. You can paint over the transfer using liquid acrylic transparent colours. In this demo I am using Quinacradone Nicko Azo Gold. You may also want to create further transparency by adding Gloss Medium to the paint.

Tea for two with Intention

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Buddha says that through our thoughts and then our words and our deeds we create our worlds. I see this as truth in my life.

A habit I’ve had for a while when I pour the hot water to brew myself a cup of tea is to say silently “may I be well, may I be happy, may I be free” and infuse these thoughts into my warm drink.

I probably collected this idea from reading The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto and David A. Thayne and watching What the Bleep where I learned the (huge) impact of words on water and how it can shape its chemical structure.

Sometimes I write love, peace, or joy and other positive and powerful words on my water bottle.

Anyways, the other day my daughter Ruthie Firefly (4 ½) requested I make her special blueberry tea. It’s Trader Joe’s green tea with natural blueberry essence and I make it with honey and milk. She loves it.

When I pour the water to brew her tea I say to her tea “may you be well, may you be happy, may you go to bed on time”

May we all be conscious that our thoughts and words create in this world.

May my child go to bed on time so I can go and paint!

Creating with Intention

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Currently I am in process of re-vamping my website. The process is much like painting – working in layers, adding, removing, re-working it. I am learning a lot and getting clear about my art and its message in the process. Hopefully the designers are not going too insane with the re-takes and adjustments I have been posting on the project site!

My art is about bringing balance and vitality to its owner’s living and working spaces. Currently I'm placing the following words on the homepage:

"Contemporary Abstract Art Created with the Intention to add Vitality and Balance into your work and living spaces."

I’d like to say this more cohesively on the home page. The “living and working spaces” feels heavy. The sentence seems long and bulky to me. How do I say that more succinctly I wonder?

I'd love your thoughts on refining this phrase. Thank you.
In process...

Creating art for ourselves

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I had a wonderful little lunch date with my friend and fellow artist Gina last week. Gina is a pottery maker extraordinaire whom I met last year at a local fair where she was selling her work.

Over sushi, seaweed salad, and green tea we talked about many different art, health, personal growth and spiritually related topics. What stayed with me the most was our conversation about creating art for ourselves.

For a while now the two of us have been completely disinterested in producing with the intention of selling but rather more inspired to make things for ourselves. Gina was telling me how she hadn’t been at her pottery kiln for weeks now (or was it months?) and had no interest in continuing to sell her work at fairs and other venues. I could totally relate.

When I was participating weekly at the Santa Barbara Art Walk I found those entire days displaying and selling my work absolutely exhausting and draining.

After describing her disinterest in making any pottery lately she then alluded to a small piece she did make for her house. How she went to her studio and made it immediately with joy. It was possible for her to delight in the making of this small piece for herself.

I can so relate to this! It’s as though at a deep level we need to fill our own cups first and give ourselves permission to create for ourselves first before putting our work into the world whether just to show it or sell it. I went home after our talk and thought about that second painting I’d like to create for my bathroom.

Bathrooms are generally in terms of Feng Shui where a lot of our energy is drained away from our home – literally energy down the drain. To slow down the drain we can decorate with light and uplifting colors and art.

Up until now I’d put two temporary paintings in our bathroom – both with lots of blue – the worst colors for the bathroom which encourage more water and hence drainage! So I decided to make some art for myself that was uplifting and bright using layers of bright oranges, yellows, golds and whites. They turned out beautifully and completely uplift the energy in the bathroom.

When I get a new digital camera (the last one broke) I will post a photo of these two new pieces.

Here’s to making art for ourselves first! Thank you Gina.

Meditation and Painting

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Lately I’ve been meditating a lot. For the New Year I set a goal to meditate each morning and evening before and after sleep. Then, last week, my husband and I joined an eight week vipassana meditation class. And finally, at the Kenpo Karate school I joined in January, we meditate before and after all lessons and group classes. So this meditation thing has been on my mind…

I think the reason I love meditation is because it’s a time where I don’t have to do anything. Everything stops, including my mind (hopefully) – that’s the goal anyhow. No more dishes, to do lists, worries, goals, thoughts. Nothing matters except focusing on the moment and my body. It’s a given time for silence, rest, and just being instead of doing! It’s like a mini vacation without having to go anywhere.

It’s funny because my mind frets quite a bit the day before the two hour class on Thursday nights. Am I going to be able to sit still? Will I get bored? Why am I doing this again? I’ve already relaxed today and I’ve got so much to do so can’t we just skip this class? Ah the voices…

Then we get to the meditation class and I sit and I start to really enjoy the process of listening to my breathe and observing my thoughts and then letting them go. I really get into it. I feel very relaxed and peaceful.

Then the fear and the voices come right back up. Of course. This is normal the teacher tells us.

This process of meditation is so much like painting.

Sometimes I fret so much before getting to the studio. Will the paintings work out? Do I want to sell them? Why am I doing this? What if they all flop? What about the housework? I don’t feel like painting today….

If I chose to listen and follow the thoughts I might never paint, or meditate for that matter.

My husband knows when I have not been painting. I get seriously bitchy. “ Do you need some studio time?” He asks me, not gingerly, almost pushing me out of thee house towards my studio. Lack of creative time starts to show, not in a good way.

Then I get to the studio and I let myself know that five minutes is enough and we’re just here to have fun. No obligation. Just look around, turn on the stereo. Relax. And then a painting catches my eye and I think of the next layer I’d like to add to it and I reach for a brush and some water and then I look up at the clock and it’s been two hours.

Meditation and painting are very similar birds if you ask me. You hear the voices telling you “don’t do it! Stop! Let’s not!, listen to this…and on and on… etc” and you acknowledge them, maybe even visualize then bubble up away and pop into oblivion, and then carry on.

Do you want to paint Tuesday nights?

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I’ve had a lot of inquiries with regards to the week long Lana Grow March 2008 Energizing and Experimental watermedia workshop here in Santa Barbara, however many of you work during the day and are looking for something in the evenings…

Tuesday evening was a specific request. So….

I am teaching a Tuesday evening abstract painting class with a focus painting techniques, play and experimentation, and principles that support creativity.

You will learn:

  • Basic abstract painting – color and composition
  • Layering liquid acrylics
  • Using mixed media to create depth and texture – gels, mediums, molding paste, others
  • Embedding objects and adding cool stuff to your paintings
  • Incorporating words and images into paintings
  • Preparing and using collage papers in your painting
  • Split ink technique

Each class will have a theme to support and deepen your creativity and nurturing yourself in art.

The class will be 8 weeks, Tuesday nights, beginning February 12th from 6-8 pm. This would be February 12, 19th, 26th, March 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th and April 1st ( no fooling!).

There is room for four students only, currently with possibly only two spaces left, and will be held at Deb’s home studio ‘Heaven on Earth’ in Santa Barbara. The cost is $249. You will receive a detailed class curriculum and materials list upon registration. Students are responsible for painting equipment and supplies. Visa and Mastercard as well as personal checks are accepted.

To register call or email Deb Chaney (805) 403-9870 deb@debchaney.com

Overcoming Overwhelm - Deb's Top 10 stress busters

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After taking on a lot of goals this year, and with corporate and personal taxes coming up (I do the book keeping for our family business), and with my new schedule of driving my daughter to and from school, karate, and making dinners, lunches and breakfasts, plus my husband’s Saturday family clean the house dates (not very romantic but kind of fun and much better than doing all the cleaning by myself) - overwhelm has momentarily crept in and taken a hold of my sanity.

Lucky for me I get in the studio first thing – even if it’s just for 10 minutes. But when I leave my magic “heaven on earth” studio space, life creeps in…..


Then I remembered this list I created a while back…. Ok, you read on, I’m going out for a walk.

Oh and John Michael, if you're reading, for goodness sakes, don't do all of these at once - you're likely to get overwhelmed. Just pick one!!!

Here’s my top 10 list of getting past overwhelm:

  1. Get out of the house/office/studio! Take a break, breathe (funny how we often forget to fully do this!) and drink some water. Change the scenery.
  2. Get into your body and out of your head – often feeling arises because we are thinking about all the things we have to do. We are totally in our heads. Get out of overwhelm by getting into your body. Try:
    Deep Breathing
    Walking
    Do yoga, QiGong
    Swimming
    Stretching
  3. Play some music and dance! If you have are-bounder or trampoline jumping is a great way to release tension.
  4. Delegate some of the things on your to- do list.
  5. Re-evaluate – do you really need to do everything on this list?
  6. Increase your tolerance for mess and disorder -The house does not need to be in perfect order for you to do 10 minutes of your painting project. Just go do it anyways! Dishes be dammed!
  7. Try a Natural Remedy such as Rescue remedy or Bach Flower essences can help shift us energetically to get us out of the frantic state.
  8. Use Eric Maisels’ CENTERing sequence - it's an excellent way to bring you back to the present moment and out of overwhelm.

    Breathe in while saying the first part and breathe out while saying the second part.

    (I am completely) (stopping)
    (I expect) ( nothing)
    *(I am joyfully) (writing this article about overwhelm) [*note this is your current work]
    (I trust) (my resources)
    (I embrace) (this moment)
    (I return) (with strength)

    (I have obtained)(Permission to quote this from Eric Maisel)

    This concept comes from Coaching the Artist Within, Eric Maisel, pHD
  9. Ask yourself better questions. Sometimes overwhelm is a state of mind because we are asking ourselves questions that encourage the negative state of overwhelm. We could ask ourselves better questions such as;

    How can I simplify things here?
    What could I eliminate from my to do list right now?
    What is the purpose of all my busy ness?
    What is my desired outcome for all these things I am trying to get done here? (Because may I don’t need to do them all to achieve the desried outcome)
    How could I make this process more fun?
    How could I nurture myself in this process?
  10. Re-frame it. Jill Badonsky, author of the 9 Modern Day Muses and founder of Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching encourages us to re-phrase our to-do's in playful and positive phrases such as “I get to… (write this blog )…!”

Just pick the one that seems easy and the most fun.

Two hours or ten minutes?

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I've been setting my alarm for 5 am every morning for the last for weeks in order to get in some painting before starting the morning (the goal). No kidding. Hey, I know of another artist who gets up this early regualrly to paint, can’t I? Apparently not.

Funny thing is for the last two weeks every morning the alarm goes off and I bury down deeper in the blankets and procrastinate and then finally get up to leave about ten minutes maybe half hour if - I’m lucky - for painting. Every day those weeks I didn’t get up and then all day long I basically mentally beat myself with a stick. Why couldn't I get up earlier? Why was I wasting those precious morning hours sleeping?

In an effort to motivate myself, I even wrote a list of reasons why I could get up do this.

  • Nobody would bother me this early
  • Two hours of uninterrupted painting time!!!
  • For the great habit I would form

    (I lost the rest of the list)

When that didn’t work I decide to allocate the first bit of the studio solely for doing fun explorative pieces on canvas pad – not touching the larger Pure Abstraction body of work which is my goal for this year.

This was a fun idea but it didn’t get me up at 5 am and yesterday I ended up playing all morning and not getting to any of my “serious” pieces. Hmmmm...

Maybe I need to call Nancy and ask how she does it!!!

Oh dear.

This morning the alarm didn't go off. I heard our neighbor’s car as he left for work and it seemed to be getting light out. Usually it’s dark when the alarm goes off. So I got out of bed, curious to see what time it was. 6:30 am!! But instead of the usual panic I tidied some things around the house, made my daughter’s lunch and then headed to the studio for the 10 minutes before seven when I wake her up and start the process of getting her ready for school.

And, honestly, it was the best 10 minutes ever!

Maybe ten minutes is enough. Less is more. I keep saying that to my friend Meg who is craving to get back into her creativity…”Just a few minutes in the morning is enough.” Yet here I was being a hypocrite and aiming high for two hours!!!

Cheers to ten minutes of painting time in the morning!