Creative Courage Soul Sisters: Part II

More shining light from these Creative Courage Soul Sisters today! I'm thrilled that these inspiring women will be sharing their exclusive interviews with us in my Creative Courage e-course, which starts this Monday, January 9th :)

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Kelly Lynn Jones is an artist and curator living in Oakland, California. She received her MFA in May 2010 from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Kelly has shown her work all over the US and in the UK.

Kelly created Little Paper Planes in 2004. After graduating from art school, Jones wanted to create an online platform where she and her friends could sell the pieces they were making to help support their individual art careers. LPP was one of the first online stores offering artist editions.

She has spoken on several panels including the Hello Etsy Summit in San Francisco and she has also given lectures in classes at Parsons The New School, NYC, San Francisco State University and the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

Kelly told me she couldn't pinpoint only one creative dream for this year. "I want to just be constantly making work and spend as much time in the studio.  I am working on a one-off clothing line so hopefully I can get that launched in the next month of so.  Art is a way of life and I just try to live it everyday." 

Mati Rose McDonough went back to art school when she was just shy of 30 years old to study painting and illustration at the California College of the Arts. Now at 35, Mati has had over a dozen art shows, taught painting classes around the world, and created illustrations for many top clients. One of her elephant paintings was recently reproduced on a giant Pier 1 billboard on Times Square in NYC!

Mati's book Daring Adventures in Paint will debut in 2012 with Quarry books and she has also illustrated 2 children's books. She is happily represented by the illustrious Lilla Rogers Studio. 

One of Mati's favorite illustration projects was designing a line of t-shirts for Patagonia 

while she visited an olive farm near Florence, Italy.

Mati is inspired by beauty, truth, lies, urban animals perched up in trees, bits of eavesdropped conversation, young imaginations, faded signs, the ocean, patchwork quilts, ornate iron work, ice cream carts and stories of longing. 

Mati's creative dreams for 2012: "To flourish creatively - paint heaps and prosper."

Belinda Kemp, aka Gretchen Mist, is a visual artist living in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and 2 young children. Her mixed media work explores the emotions connected to imagined/remembered landscapes, shared experiences and thought processes. 

Influences on her artwork include; romantic ideals (road trips + life by the ocean + large open spaces) and the shapes, patterns, and colors found in plants and gardens.

Belinda writes, "I've always had a love of art + design, magazines and creating/making things. I feel odd if I don't have some type of design/project on the go or at least brewing in my mind. Although I am drawn mostly to abstract art, I also love decorative and illustrative work. "

Belinda's creative dream for 2012: "I want to fill a sketch book {or many sketch books!} with daily drawings and/or watercolour paintings and see where this takes me by the end of the year."

Amy Ng is the founder and editor of Pikaland, a blog dedicated to art and illustration since 2007.Amy constantly finds new inspirations from artists and illustrators, and she created Pikaland as a place where she could gather them all together. She hopes that Pikaland is a platform that will be able help promote the many artists and illustrators she features.

Amy is based in Malaysia, and she was an editor at a regional architecture and design magazine before realizing that her first love was illustration. She's now happy to be working as a full time blogger, editor, and illustrator.

Amy's latest creation is Camp Pikaland, a collaborative effort in bringing together the best of art, craft, illustration and small-business based online classes to people all over the world.

One of Amy's creative dreams for 2012: "For Pikaland to do more for fellow artists and illustrators in 2012 through various projects and collaborations; as well as dedicating more time to pursue personal projects!"

photo credit: In Her Image

Kate Swoboda is a life coach, speaker, and writer. On her Your Courageous Life website (full of resources), she sounds the call to revolutionize your life from within, through practicing courage.

Since 2006, Kate has worked with coaching clients from around the world, and she completed her counseling/coaching training with the Interchange Counseling Institute after receiving university degrees in Sociology and English.

Kate created The Courageous Living Guide and The Coaching Blueprint, a resource for coaches.

Some of Kate's loves include essential oils, Pema Chodron, tattoos, spending the afternoon thumbing through home decorating books, running road races, hanging out at libraries, lattes from Peet’s, connecting with friends, and that delicious moment of unwrapping and cracking open a brand-new hardcover ruled Moleskine notebook.

Two of Kate's fun creative dreams include: "shadowing Annie Liebovitz on a photo shoot and spending a year traveling."

Amelia Critchlow is an artist, writer and creator of the experimental art e-course and gift grants. She lives and works in London, UK with her two children. She recently authored an e-book called How to Make Money to Do What You Love.

Amelia graduated from Wimbledon School of Art in 2007 with a BA Honours Degree in Fine Art. Since then she has participated in group and solo exhibitions and fairs and is currently studying for an MA in Fine Art.

She also teaches, runs workshops, and undertakes funded projects within her community. Her work is currently represented by ArtDog Gallery, South London.

Amelia's intention is "to start a quiet revolution changing the world into a creative playground where people carve a life they want to live."  She invites you to join the journey: "discover your passion, live creatively, and experiment artistically - we are all artists of our own lives!"

Amelia's creative dream for 2012 is: "to finish my art MA the best I possibly can with it leading to all sorts of amazing art adventures :)"

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I can't wait to start sharing all of these inspiring interviews with you in Creative Courage next week. If you're curious to find out what it's all about, I'd like to invite you to come over and join us here.

Who would you like to see me interview for future sessions of Creative Courage?

Hope you are having a great week!

xoxo

Stephanie

belinda kemp : artists who blog

Belinda's blog: www.gretchenmist.blogspot.com
Belinda's shop: www.gretchenmist.etsy.com

Why did you decide to start a blog?

Initially I resisted the idea – i had no understanding of the blogging world and how blogging could work for me. But it finally clicked when i met some vibrant and lovely bloggers/etsy sellers at a local etsy catchup who's advice was loud and clear: start a blog!



How did you come up with the name of your blog?

my blog and shop name is a variation on the name we had chosen for a baby girl - misty gretchen! {we have 2 boys}. misty is a childhood nick name that my husband's mother had for him when he was little and gretchen was my idea – i thought it sounded good and strong next to sweet misty!



How has blogging affected your work as an artist/designer?

blogging has helped my confidence enormously. to have people see my work and leave generous comments has been very encouraging. reading blogs provides endless inspiration and helpful information that keeps my mind ticking over when i'm not working. my blog also helps me to keep momentum and focus – its a work in progress and a place for me to keep track of my work and ideas. it also allows me to take a step back from my work and potentially see a bigger picture. the other big thing is that it has forced me to chase after that part of my brain that i like to use for writing {it had been pretty flooded out by the sleep loss and domestic life that goes with having little kids}. writing used to be a more natural part of my life a long time ago and now it's slowly coming back with a new purpose!



What are your favorite artist/designer blogs? Why?

there are so many great design and art blogs that i follow, it's hard to single them out . . . designsponge was my first blog love - it's just so stylish! designformankind – i like how erin let's her posts almost speak for themselves and she curates with a great sense of humour.

i recently discovered notpaper – short sweet interviews with collage artists.
tangledskystudio, artmind-etcetera + jessgonacha - are daily reads and lovely people



Do you have any advice for artists/designers who are starting a blog?

i don't feel qualified to give advice at this stage but i think real is good! i also love to see work in early stages!

What has been the most positive and inspirational aspect of having a blog for you?

like many others here have said, the connections and frienships that it helps to make. my blog allows me to feel connected to a world of amazing artists/designers/makers in a way that just hasn't been possible before. the inspiration and support that comes from this sense of connection is the icing on the cake which is being home raising kids and working from home.



What do you find the most difficult/most rewarding part of having a creative profession?

the most difficult thing for me is to switch off and relax. the need to create is a big part of who i am and to be able to see myself as having a future as an independent artist keeps me going. feedback from people who have bought my work is pretty heart-warming too.



Other than your blog, what has been the most effective way for you to promote your art/design?

having one of my collages featured in a storque article recently has been been really positive. i've also had my work featured on a few blogs, which i am grateful for. contributing work to the latest pikaland package has has also helped.



How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

i'm pretty sure i can't at this stage! i'm trying hard to make time for the life stuff that happens outside of family and art time but i'm also pretty happy to be living a simple and focused life for now.



What are your main goals for 2009?

to keep up with my work and ideas, to keep my shop full {and fresh} and to beautify my blog!

Thanks Belinda!