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Happy New Year!Welcome to our new Artellagram! We've combined some old favorite features from the "Articulation"newsletter with fun and inspiring new elements that we hope will make your creative hearts happy this year.
IMPORTANT - Please take a moment and create a new contact in your email address book for Artellagram@artellawordsandart.com, so that our new name isn't held up by your ISP!
Enjoy your Artellagram!
Hidden Treasure in Capital Letters:
Why Acronyms Are Cheaper Than Therapy
It all started when I emailed my brilliant friend Susan (www.planetsark.com), telling her about some urgency-filled plight that I was in, in which I used "ASAP" several times in the one email. She wrote back with a new definition for ASAP: "All Surrender and Pray". It seemed to instantly make the situation better. And now, "ASAP" no longer means anything but "all surrender and pray" – and every time I say it or see it, it makes me smile.
Not too much later, I found myself overwhelmed by post-holiday Things to Do. Have you been experiencing January List Madness, too? Lists, Lists, and more Lists. So I asked the ever-wise Susan if she had an acronym for LIST, and she did:
Learning Instead of Segmenting Time.
My Mom, whom I’m visiting right now, gave me Let Intuition Show Truth.
And I realized, while looking at small stuff that "has" to be done: Life Inventory Supercedes This.
So that's how it began. Since then I've continued to use this acronym therapy and have made some great discoveries, such as:
- While reading a very thoughtful-provoking book called Boundary Issues, by Jane Adams, and feeling self-judgement creep up, I made "BOUNDARY" a declaration to: Begin Over; Understanding Not Doubting And Reprimanding Yourself.
- When I found out that Artella 9 would be arriving from the printer a bit later than I had originally planned, "LATE" became a realization that Life Accepts Time Eventually.
- And when we really needed to upload some new pages to the Web site but our Web server was very inconveniently down, I got a lesson in gratitude when I turned "SERVER" into She Exits Rushingly, Very Exhausted: Rest.
I really think there's something to this. The simple act of taking a word that feels heavy, and then creatively searching within it to find a new meaning accomplishes a few things.
First, the very fact that you given yourself this challenge sends a clear message to your subconscious that you mean business about this re-framing stuff, and you're using Creativity – your strongest, most powerfully passionate sword -- to make it happen.
Second, once you come up with an acronym that gives new meaning to the old, heavy word, the new definition is easy to remember. "Life Accepts Time Eventually" is really easy to remember whenever I get worried about running late. It's a lot easier to remember than a long, psycho-babbling explanation.
Third, it’s fun! Learning to play with our idiosyncrasies – indeed, to make art from them and with them – is perhaps the most profound psychological work we can do.
Every problem has a gift for you in its hands
-Richard Bach
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We've looked around and discovered that creative people need to be LAUGHING more...a LOT more!So we're out to change the artistic world...one giggle at a time!
The Top 10 Signs You Work Too Much
10. You wonder where the day went...at 9:00a.m.
9. Your To Do List is bigger than your address book.
8. The last 5 books you read had either the words time, stress, or deadline in the title.
7. Well Ok, they were really audio books, but you've got to do SOMETHING while you're driving.
6. The only movies you've seen this year saw were on airplanes.
5. The last time you didn't work during a meal was Thanksgiving.
4. Prison inmates get more conjugal visits with their spouses than you do.
3. For her 3rd birthday, you bought your daughter her very own day-planner.
2. You now wear a wireless headset all day to disguise the fact you talk to yourself constantly.
1. Even telemarketers have put you on their do-not-call list for free vacations.
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Forward this Top 10 list to your to your artsy friends by clicking here!
If any of these strike a chord, you need to have some FUN! Come to the Teleworkshops for Grown-Up Kids that I'm leading with Jill Badonsky! Keep reading for details!
Got CraftWit? Submit YOUR humor for writers and artists to craft-wit@artellawordsandart.com. If we publish it here,you get $10.00 Artella Gold!
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Have you ever thought about turning a "To-Do" list into art? I'd like share my new trick for making To Do lists more fun, and perhaps opening up some new artistic avenues in the process. Why have "To Do Lists" when you can make "To Doodle Art"? Here's something to try for an interesting art project:
Here’s how you make "To Doodle Art": Find a piece of existing art and write out your to-do list directly on the piece, using the artwork to inspire the way you write it. For example, I used a strong silhouette by Matisse and used the shape to create an artful To Doodle List inside the shapes. See my To-Doodle Art, Here. This is a very simple example, and obviously, the possibilities are endless in terms of how you could utilize your words to become elements in the composition of To Doodle Art. You could have different areas of the composition stand for different areas of your life.
On the flip side, to switch things around, you could actually start with a plain list on a piece of paper, and use that as your blank canvas on which to create art…an Altered To-Do List!If you create a piece of "To Doodle Art", or an Altered To-Do List, we'd love to see it! Send them to us at editor@artellawordsandart.com!
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No doubt you remember writing acrostics in grade school. But using a word to define the first letter of each line of a poem isn’t just for little kids – it can also yield beautiful, sophisticated results. I’d like to share this poem by Jill Badonsky. Notice how many different conventions that Jill plays with. She uses the acrostic as a structure but doesn’t confine her.
Journey Backwards in Time
by Jill Badonsky
Jellyroll
On sleds
Under rainbows.
Returning to places free,
Never fettered, never far, never hesitating and even
Eager to relive the freedom of being
Young.
Believe.
Act and it will happen.
Create.
Kartwheel.
Waggle.
Answer loudly.
Radiate
Dancing
Shimmers.
Imagining
Not once but
Three times what
It
Might be like to return to the
Everything that a child knows, which an adult might have forgotten.
Your challenge: Select a short sentence (like Jill's "Journey Backwards in Time") and use it in an acrostic structure. Play with the form to be as loose or rigid as you like.
If you've never read Jill's absolutely amazing, jellyrolling book, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard), you can get it in The Shoppes of Artella, here. Read the Artellagram News below to get information about Jill and my NEW series of teleclasses, the Children’s Menu Sub-Kid-Tion Series! And…be sure to visit Jill’s Web site, http://www.themuseisin.com, to read about her Creativity Coaching Trainings and other in-person workshops.
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 Now it's easier than ever to get Artella news several times a week in the Artella News Blog. And what's more…with almost every post, there's a BlogJog "sneaky" Special hidden in the post, which is a sale or freebie that's listed exclusively in the blog, and only for a few days. So check the Artella blog for full, hot-off-the-creative-presses Artella News! Right now, there's a 40% off sale that is PERFECT timing for the new year! Be sure to check it out!
Quick Artellagram Links to our current hot items: - Introducing TEN "Jill~con~Marney" Classes! Jill Badonsky and I are presenting not one, not two, but TEN teleclasses on our favorite topic - grown-up KIDS! Our Brand New Children's Menu Sub-Kid-Tion Series kicks offon Wednesday, January 25, with a fantastic class called DreamBoard Workshop, which is all about creating blueprints and purple-prints for your dreams using a process that really works.You can enroll in the DreamBoard Workshop for just $15, or sign up for the whole series of classes for great savings and extra goodies. Get all of the info,read comments from folks who have worked with us, and sign up today and get your Artella Kid Pack for Grown-Ups as a free bonus! We can't wait to play with you!
- THE JOURNEY is on its JOURNEY! Things are VERY exciting in ArtellaLand, as we await the arrival of Artella 9, The Journey: Destination & Imagination. We are expecting it to arrive from our Canadian printer next week, and to be shipped off to YOU, dear readers, beginning the week of January 23.This issue has more inclusions than EVER so please be patient while all of the ANGELIC ARTELLA ELVES work to lovingly prepare them.
There are FAR too many wonderful features in this issue to list here, but just to give you an idea...here are a few highlights:
- Now 25% Bigger! 40 full-size, full-color pages!
- Work by 52 artists and writers and "inside look" interviews with all of them!
- Brand New How-To Articles in polymer clay and bookmaking!
- An entire package of beautifully-crafted papers and other surprises, handmade and shipped from Nepal!
- Pages of full-color clip art for you to use!
- A ribbon-adored piece of art from SARK, created JUST for this issue!
- More rare and eclectic ephemera than ever...on almost every page!
- And as always, every single inch is "the waltz of words, art, and spirit"...NO advertising!
Whenever we talk about this issue, people assume that our price has gone up, but in fact, both our our single issue and our subscription prices are still the same!.Order a single copy of THE JOURNEY here...or you can subscribe and save 50% off the cover price! I hope you'll join me and the 52 talented contributors whose work waltzes in this issue. It's simply our most dazzling issue yet. Come travel along!
- Artella hits the road! And speaking of "traveling along"...In early February, Tony and I are embarking on a road trip adventure to take the new issue of Artella to as many groovy places as possible while we take a very scenic route home from Dallas back to New York. We'll be hitting New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Pensylvania. So, if any of you Artella fans out there know of an art store, bookstore, art gallery, new age store, etc., in your area to which you think we should drop by and introduce Artella, please write and let us know. In fact, if there are any cool places you think we might simply want to visit during our travels, send forth any ideas! Also, if you would you like to organize a workshop, speaking engagement, or Artella event while I'm in town, let me know about it as soon as you can and I will let you know if I can work it in. Write me at Editor@ArtellaWordsAndArt.com with your ideas - I'd love to hear them.
- It's a New Year...Time to Create and Submit! Got those pens, keyboards, paintbrushes, cameras, and sculpting hands ready? We Want Your Words And Art! Take a look at these opportunities:
- We excitedly announce the Artella's new Creative TWISTS! (T.W.I.S.T. is, yes, another acronym! Go see what it means!) The first TWIST is the "Artella Mae Altoid Doll Challenge", which is due February 23. Get all the infoon how to submit YOUR Altoid Doll at www.artellawordsandart.com/creative-twists.html.
- We've re-opened two themes for Artella Magazine...but only for a short time! You can see the new deadlines for "Body and Soul" and "Through the Looking Glass" by going to www.artellawordsandart.com/submit.html. Don't let the chance to get published pass you by!
- Our "Projects Seeking Partners List" is newly updated and ready for action! If you're interested in illustrating a writer's submission with your art, or interpreting an artist's art with your writing, go to www.artellawordsandart.com/submit.html to get the instructions on how to get the "Projects Seeking Partners List!" Happy collaborating!
- And ATTENTION POETS...the Quarterly Poetic Idol Competition deadline is Tuesday, January 31. In addition to our ongoing free PassionPoetry Contests, our Poetic Idol Competition awards wonderful prize packages, including up to $150. Get information about our Poetry Contests, and sign up up for the free PassionPoetry Newsletter, at www.artellawordsandart.com/poetry-portal.html.
- News From the Shoppes of Artella: Our two new Featured Artists include Dana Barbieri, whose whimsical cards and home decorations are sure to delight, and Donna McGuigan, who offers Angel Therapy, Soul Mission Astrology, and an eBook for healers. And look for our new VALENTINE SHOPPE, opening in The Shoppes of Artella on January 15th!
- Thank You, Mystery Muses! Artella's 4th Annual Mystery Muse Exchange was a wonderful success. Thank you to EVERYONE who participated, and a special thank you to Fred, who organized the project.You can read and post "Musings" about the Mystery Muse Exchange, right here!!
- Honoring our contributors! And finally, with another year coming to its conclusion, I want to follow an annual Articulation tradition and thank all of the writers and artists who contributed to issues of Artella this past year: Aggie Smith, Al Harris, Al McKittrick, Alicia Forest, Amy Harrison, Ann McGovern,, Anne Mayer Hesse, Annie Hesse, Arthiss Kliever, Austen Waters, Barbara Abramson, Barbara Burtchett, Barbara Hintze Miller, Barbara Miller, Bradley Harding, Chelsea Taugher-Dias, Christi Miller, Christina T. Lopez, Christine, cj Madigan, Damon Smith, MFA, Dan Gremminger, David Linnig, Dawn Richerson, Deana David, Deb Silva, Deborah Boschert, Denise Mihalik, Diane Moran, Elizabeth Diane Welch, Eugenia Toledo-Keyser, Frances Norton Honich, Fred Acerri, Fredrick Zydek, Fulvia Luciano, Gail Ellspermann, Gwynn Calvetti, H. Olson, Holly Hildebrand, Hope Wallace, J. Royster-Hills, Jackie Garbarino, Janet Ghio, Jenny Dryw, Jenny Ryan, Jessica Wesolek, Jill Badonsky, Jo Ann Alderman Baker, Joanie San Chirico, Judy Perez, Karen Hatzigeorgiou, Karen J. Hatzigeorgiou, Karen Kuklinski, Karen Kuklinski, Karen M. Jones, Karyn Gartel, Kay Rippy, Keith Wigdor, Kim Barr, Kim Frantz, Kim Paton, Kirsti A. Dyer, Kurt M. Jones, Kylea Taylor, Lani A. Gerity, Lea Cioci, Linda Berith DeChow, Linda Sky Parker, Lisa Albinger, Liz Walker, Lori Barker, Lori Minick, Lyse, Marilyn Scott-Waters, Mary Beth, Mary Rowin, Melissa Chapin, Mendy Douglass, Ms Linda Lamore, Naomi Sandweiss, Paul Lagasse, Rachel Kitterman, Renee Rogers, Rhonda Jury, Richard Hammer, Robert Genn, Sabrina Matthews, Sarah Anderson, Sarah Fishburn, SARK, Sarojni Mehta-Lissak, Scott M., Sudha Suri, Sue Berry, Sue Thomson, Sukey Pratt, Tami-Lu Barry, Tammy Vitale, Tara Douglas-Smith, Terri St. Cloud, Tom Hendricks, Vicky L. Ring, Violette Clark, William Charlebois, Yuri Fujino, and Zura Ledbetter. Thanks so much for lending your talents to our publication this year!
Have a wonderful week!
~adventuringly yours,
Marney
Artella Founder & Publisher
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