Today: Some new books, continuing to consider our stories and reassessing our dreams.
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What if you left the shoulds behind in favour of what comes easily? That’s exactly what Oto Kano did when she decided to become an artist. Step by step, she moved from a life full of shoulds to one that worked with her bipolar instead of against it. In this episode, Oto shares how she made the transition from feeling guilty about doing what she loved to truly owning her gifts.
Oto Kano is a Japanese-British abstract painter and jewellery designer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her work focuses on encapsulating chance encounter of colours, and her bipolar. She paints the energy she sees in her mind during depression and mania. She moved away from her university lecturing job teaching computer science to becoming an artist at 36, in order to follow a creative life that worked with her bipolar, not against.
A Little Note Regarding the Audio: Despite an unexpected power outtage, I managed to get this week’s episode to you. I record the extro on the fly so it sounds a little rougher than usual. I hope the message gets to you all the same!
Website: Oto Kano
Facebook: Oto Kano
Instagram: @otokano_art
Whether this is the first episode that you’ve listened to or we’ve been hanging out for years, I am so glad that you’re here. I love knowing that we’re hanging out in your studio, folding your laundry or that we’re hanging out while you’re walking your dog or going to work. Wherever you are and however you listen, I want you to know, I cherish you. And if you cherish this show, if it has been a blessing to your creative life, please spread the magic! Take a moment to leave a positive rating or review on iTunes. Share the podcast with your friends! You really can make a difference by shining a light on the show so that it can be found by other creative hearts just like you.
Today: Now here’s something new! Because the power was going to go off in the studio, I decided to dive in and do a YouTube Live for the first time. I’m glad I got in some wonderful show and tell!
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Today: This weekend I actually took some time to do some reading and it’s left me thinking about the impact of our hypotheses on our lives. I hope you’ll think about it too.
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A couple of years ago, I braved registering for a collage course at the Toronto School of Art, facing my creative desires and working through my fears and negative experiences with this kind of an environment. I learned a lot about collage, about myself and about the stories I had about art school. This summer I am returning for a second class: paper-cutting and collage. I feel free, inspired and at home. It helps that I’m working with the same teacher. Let me share with you a little of what I’m learning.
The first exercise we did was adding collage materials to abandoned paintings. Our focus was the face. It is admittedly a rather unnerving experience to cut the face down into component parts. (I talked about this a bit on stART.) It had me thinking about the nature of collage, the messages of deconstruction that are inherent in using this art form.
Then we created another portrait, this time using the offcuts, making use of negative space. It was magical to see characters come to life as we built them up from scraps that might have been left behind, papers that would normally have been be put into recycling.
Next we created geometric collages. I made this one based on the Three-Part Harmony Quilt taught by Anna Maria Horner on Creativebug. I loved its strategy of creating with a tonal palette of lights, mids and darks. I completed two collages, one with the darks being predominant and this one, where the lights are.
Our next assignment was paper weaving. We chose two images, making slits in one and strips out of the other and then brought them together with weaving. This process takes patience and a bit of dexterity but it is fascinating to discover what emerges when the piece is complete. I experimented with a gradual expanding of both the width of the strips and the the amount of space between them. I wondered if this would create a sense of growing expansion.
My favourite unofficial activity during class is scanning the room for found art. You won’t believe what this piece is. Take a moment and see if you can guess…. It’s the art school sink after a good cleaning and scrubbing.
Some beautiful boards tucked away for student use.
And my favourite: the well-used tabletop.
Today: Today I am excited about the start of Journal Club! Plus I’m thinking about learning spirals, the power of intentional perspectives and facing that creative moment when you have no idea what you’re going to do next.
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There’s power in starting small. In this episode. filmmaker and educator Zach Wolfson encourages us to start small with video and use what we already have. He explains why it’s more important to be human than to be perfect and also shares the video challenge that made all the difference to his own performances! I hope you’ll take it on as creative homework!
Zach is the founder/CEO of Infusion5 and helps bloggers, makers and creative entrepreneurs start small with making great videos that matter to their audiences online. He is based in Denver, CO with his wife Katie, their cat and two dogs.
To get you started on video, Zach has created a Quick Start Guide to 10 Tech Tools to Create and Publish Videos for Your Blog and Online Courses. Access for Creative Living with Jamie listeners here.
Website: Infusion5
Show: Start Small with Video
Show: Movies for Makers
Show: Beyond the Gallery
Twitter: @zwfilm
Instagram: @zwfilm
Whether this is the first episode that you’ve listened to or we’ve been hanging out for years, I am so glad that you’re here. I love knowing that we’re hanging out in your studio, folding your laundry or that we’re hanging out while you’re walking your dog or going to work. Wherever you are and however you listen, I want you to know, I cherish you. And if you cherish this show, if it has been a blessing to your creative life, please spread the magic! Take a moment to leave a positive rating or review on iTunes. Share the podcast with your friends! You really can make a difference by shining a light on the show so that it can be found by other creative hearts just like you.
