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Embracing New Wings to Help Stay in Midair
by Marney Makridakis
I stumbled upon an amazing passage the other day that I want to share with you, in Annie Dillard's The Writing Life:
Every morning you climb several flights of stairs, enter your study, open the French doors and slide your desk and chair out into the middle of the air. The desk and chair float thirty feet from the ground, between the crowns of maple trees...You can see clear to the river from here in winter. You pour yourself a cup of coffee.
Birds fly under your chair. In spring, when the leaves open in the maples' crowns, your view stops in the treetops just beyond the desk; yellow warblers hiss and whisper on the high twigs, and catch flies. Get to work. Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keeps you and your desk in midair.
Isn't that beautiful?
If you relate to Dillard's words, you know that keeping your desk in midair is hard work. It's rewarding, yes -- but painstaking, tiring, and lonely. My question is -- why must you turn the gears all by yourself? Can someone else help by turning a cog or two?
In the Artellagram News below, you'll read that we've launched The Artella Daily Muse, our new online daily newspaper. This project has been in the works for about six months and, when you sign up for your free two-day subscription to the newspaper (see your instructions below), you'll see the amount of teamwork that has been involved. Truly, this launch would not be possible without the "spinners" who have been working hard to make it happen: Managing Editor Kim Hopkins and Features Editor Allison Harding are at the Daily Muse helm, and I am indebted to them for the countless hours, and devoted passion, they have put into this project. In addition, we are blessed with extremely talented Section Editors who have worked very hard and will continue to make your newspaper happen every day: Lani Gerity, Barbara Miller, Debra Schanilec, and Kristina Winnett.
Karen Leary has been extremely helpful in implementing our new personalized Membership password system. Deb Silva's creative research has been essential and impeccable. And Zura Ledbetter has expertly handled a colorful myriad of Daily Muse work for months on end with amazing grace. I am also thankful to several others who stepped in to lend a hand throughout the newspaper's creation stages: Michael Bolton, Beth Burke, Bill Charlebois, Beth Curran, Fred Hintze, and Richard Hintze. Bobby Miller was instrumental in training our wonderful helpers.
And this isn't even mentioning all of the many contributors whose writing and art is featured in the paper!
So you see...it takes a lot of spinners to make this newspaper happen. Sometimes it is difficult to remember that we need help to launch our creative dreams -- that we can't do it all ourselves. Asking for support is not just about growing as a business -- it's also about growing as a person. I've certainly learned this during the four years since I began Artella.
Today's QuotzCrystal™ Quote is a favorite of mine: "We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another." I hope you will print it out and place it somewhere to help you remember that when you need to "keep the desk in midair", you don't have to rely only on your own single wing. Allow yourself to grow a little bit more and ask for help. You'll fly higher and wider on the wings of the embrace.
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 Looking for an easy background for your collages or mixed-media art? Look no further than today's newspaper. Newspapers are great backgrounds because all the text lends interest, and the thin paper is easy to manipulate by tearing, painting, crumpling, wetting, and treating with other methods
Click the image to see the example in full size!
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Have you ever thought of writing articles for newspapers or magazines, but you are not sure how to get started? Here are "RTella's 5 R's For Writing R-Ticles"- Read the publication. If you're familiar with the publication, you'll know who you're writing for. Ideally, you'll have seen an actual copy of the magazine or newspaper to which you are submitting. If a hard copy isn't available, most publications have Web sites so you can check out the different sections, features, and the overall style of content that is included.
- Research the submission guidelines. Every publication is different, in terms of what how they want to receive your submission. The bible of submission information is The Writers Market, avaialable both as a book and as an online service. But you can also go directly to a publication's Web site to find their submission information, and more often than not, it is more thorough and updated than what is in The Writer's Market, anyway.
- Really have an interest in what you are writing about. You don't have to be writing about your #1 passion, but you should have some kind of interest in the topic at hand. It will show in your pitch, and in your final written article. Better yet, take the topic and put an angle on it that taps in to your specific interests and ideas.
- Rise to the occasion. If you query an editor and he or she likes your topic and assigns the story to you, you absolutely must follow through with the original plan. Never change your concept without talking to the editor first.
- Realize that it takes a while to get started. It can take a while to establish yourself as a writer. Don't give up! Keep grabbing as many writing opportunities as you can, because the more writing you can do, and the more you can get published, the better. Writing for publications that do not pay does pay off in the long run, because you can develop both your resume and a clip file, which is basically your portfolio of your published works. And contacts and exposure are everything in this business, and you never know how a small gig can lead to a big one.
By the way, we are eager for submissions to The Artella Daily Muse! When you sign up for your Free Two-Day Subscription, you'll see links throughout the newspaper to information about our submission guidelines. We'd love to see you in the Artella Daily Muse!
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Have you checked the Artella News Blog recently? There's a "BlogJog" special that is included with each and every post! Go see what you can get free in the "BlogJog" special, right now..
- The Artella Daily Muse is Here! Happy Birthday, Artella! Just in time for Artella's fourth birthday, we are thrilled to launch The Artella Daily Muse…the Only Daily Creativity Newspaper in the Universe! The Daily Muse is where you'll find the latest creative news, trends, art projects and how-to's, activities, and free resources every single day. See TODAY'S Front Page here! Or…better yet…sign up for a Free Two-Day Subscription to the Artella Daily News, here!!
The Daily Muse is all part of our brand new line of Membership Programs, which make it easy to choose a Membership type that is right for you. For example, a full Artella Membership includes not only a subscription to the NEW Artella Daily Muse, but also access to literally thousands of free, valuable resources in our pioneering Members' Magic Mansion. The NEW Artella Studio Membership also includes a monthly Collage Art Kit, an unbeatable value for collage and digital artists.
And right now, when you sign up for any Membership, you also get two Holiday Shopping Coupons worth up to 35% off any item on the Artella Web site, PLUS overflowing packages of sign-up goodies worth up to over $50 in Artella products!
So…to get started, sign up for your Free Two-Day Subscription, and support Artella by telling your friends about the Artella Daily Muse. We're on a crusade to make creativity daily!
- Artella Has Paper Doll Fever…Have You Caught It?Paper Doll ABCs: Paper Doll Ideas, Inventions, and Techniques for Artists has taken the current trend in paper doll arts and turned it upside down, bringing you inventions that you've never seen before! SARK said, "Brilliant and adorable and perfect...it made my cheeks hurt from smiling." And be sure to check out our Artellabet Paper Doll Alphabets, too!
- No more "Starving Artists"! Who knew that stopping "starving artist" syndrome could be THIS much fun? We've made a prosperity program that's just for creative people. Intrigued? Be sure to take a look at The NEW Wealthcare Program.
- Artella Celebrates Halloween! Come see our new Halloween eCards! It's free to send our eCards to our your friends to celebrate Halloween…or any other occasion. The new Halloween collection of eCards and postage stamps includes original designs by Deb Silva and a card with a picture of ME trick-or-treating as a little girl. Can you guess which one I am?
- See the Swaps! Deb has posted cards from the most recent ATC "color swaps" in Artella Swap Land! Be sure to take a look at Artella Swap Land to enjoy these beautiful ATCs!
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This Quotz Crystal™ is a high-resolution JPEG, suitable for printing. Print it out to remind you to reach out to others this week!
If the image doesn't show up below, go to http://www.artellaland.com/quotz8.jpg to see it.
Cooperatively, copilotly yours,
Marney
Artella Founder & Publisher
Artella PO Box 78 Johnson NY 10933
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