Maya Beiser(s) and her cello(s)

Maya Beiser(s) and her cello(s)

::Art Made of Storms::

TED talks-

Nathalie Miebach: Art made of storms

::Béatrice Coron: Stories Cut From Paper::

Béatrice Coron: Stories cut from paper

On the creative process and narrating stories out of cut paper.

::BeLoose Graphic Workshop::

Here is an incredible site for those that need more guidance in drawing:

BeLoose Graphic Workshop

"BeLoose is a workshop where the experience will definitely change people's lives and increase their confidence beyond their expectation."

Join today for excellent tips on how to help develop your already existing skills in drawing, learn new techniques, and if possible sign up for an upcoming workshop coming to a place near you. 

Shakira to work on Obama education board

Shakira to work on Obama education board

::The Fallen Woman::

Revile women never fall!

Nobody knows how much weight the overwhelmed,
and endured many struggles in life,
Until they finally fell!

Who has not seen women out of breath
zealously cling to virtue
and withstand the harsh wind of vice
with a calm attitude?

Drop of water hanging from a branch
the wind stirs and shakes;
Pearl the calyx of the flower sheds,
and that is mud to fall!

But you can still drop pilgrim
regain its lost purity,
and emerge from the dust, crystalline,
and before the light shine.

Let love women fall
let the dust of their vital heat,
because all regained new life
with light and love.

 

— Victor Hugo 

*(translated) 

::La Mujer Caida::

¡Nunca insultéis a la mujer caída!
Nadie sabe qué peso la agobió,
ni cuántas luchas soportó en la vida,
¡hasta que al fin cayó!

¿Quién no ha visto mujeres sin aliento
asirse con afán a la virtud,
y resistir del vicio el duro viento
con serena actitud?

Gota de agua pendiente de una rama
que el viento agita y hace estremecer;
¡perla que el cáliz de la flor derrama,
y que es lodo al caer!

Pero aún puede la gota peregrina
su perdida pureza recobrar,
y resurgir del polvo, cristalina,
y ante la luz brillar.

Dejad amar a la mujer caída,
dejad al polvo su vital calor,
porque todo recobra nueva vida
con la luz y el amor.

     
— Victor Hugo

Manual Photography Cheat Sheet

livinginthestills.tumblr.com →
 © Miguel Yatco Photography

Notes:

Exposure

- The light meter is different from the exposure setting.

- Keeping your light meter at “0” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the perfect setting. Just don’t stray too far from the “0”. Adjust to your liking.

- Positive numbers on your exposure setting will make your photos brighter.

- Negative numbers make your photos darker. 

Aperture

- Small numbers (like f/1.4) have larger openings, which let in more light.

- Big numbers (like f/16) have smaller openings, which let in less light.

Shutter Speed

- Seeing 100, 250, 320, etc. on your viewfinder means “1/(number seen)”, like “1/100”.

- Try not to use 1/60 or less when handheld, that’s when you use a tripod or look for something steady.

- Using longer exposure (slow shutter speed) will let in more light.

- Using shorter exposure (fast shutter speed) will let in less light.

ISO

- ISO is the sensitivity of your camera to light

- Lower numbers are less sensitive to light, which give smoother photos.

- Higher numbers are very sensitive to light, which give very grainy and noisy photos.

::Obstacles for Creativity::

“I think the biggest obstacle for people with their creativity is that they feel they have to sit down and create this finished, polished product. Especially nowadays, it’s so easy to have a library of two thousand CDs, books and records. So many things. We’re used to having all of these finished works of art in our life that seem to arise out of nothing. I think that so much of the creative process is a fragmentary one, and then it’s about just allowing your intuition to put it together for you. It’s funny how you create something and you think you’re going in a million different directions, and then the thing you end up with is the thing that you wanted to create your whole life, but you’re just as surprised by it as anybody else.”

—	Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel

Tips for Juicing Up Your Creativity

Summarized from an article with quotes from Erin Lee Gafill

1. Take a risk.
Being prepared to take a risk is a big part of doing something creative. Painting a blank canvas red is one way. No drawing skills required. No expectation. No stress. It will serve, later, as the underpainting of your “real” painting.

2. Give yourself an assignment.
Settling in to do the assignment is a way of tricking yourself into working on getting to work without actually realizing you are now, actually, working.

3. Start a ritual.
I light a candle as a way of stating that now I am working on this (painting) and not that (you name it). Carving out this period of time doesn’t  always mean I put paint on canvas or that if I do it adds up to much of anything; but it does mean that I have set aside the the time and don’t allow myself the other usual distractions. Sometimes it is only at the end of this self-appointed time that the idea begins to gel.

::Discount Just for You::

Here is a code for a digital scrapbooking software

My Memories Suite v.2 *( STMMMS47860 )

copy and paste this code for your software and product discount when you are ready to purchase *(code provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the My Memories.com store - $20 value)

::Software Giveaway Contest::

• Visit this website, MyMemories Digital Scrapbooking Software
• Choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout.
• Comment below and name your favorite one
• Tell me why you would like to receive your own MyMemories Suite.  

 

* I will post examples of the different uses that MyMemories Suite can have, from the creative forms this digital scrap-booking software has, to the many ways you can go on into creating a new project, having fun and being creative*

::How to Feel Miserable as An Artist::

::She Believed::

::Woman —John Lennon::

" 'Woman' came about because, one sunny afternoon in bermuda, it suddenly hit me what women do for us. Not just what my Yoko does for me, although I was thinking in those personal terms... but any truth is universal. What dawned on me was everything I was taking for granted. Women really are the other half of the sky, as I whisper at the beginning of the song. It's a 'we' or it ain't anything."
—John Lennon

::How To Be Creative::

http://www.slideshare.net/anuradhay_2004/605how-to-be-creative

 

View more presentations from Anuradha Y

::Creativity and Inspiration::

1. Creativity is an exploration, and inspiration is the discoveries we make through it.

2. The moment we really need courage is when it is the tough and discreet option  
     while cowardice is the easy and visible one.

3. There are no failures, only the wrong reactions to missed outputs.

4. Giving up is easy at first and increasingly difficult to live with, persistence is hard
    at first and increasingly easy to live by.

5. Persistence is effort made habit.

6. Take the time to bring out the best in everything so all you have to lose
     can only be worse.

7. Inspiration is the effort to look further, lack of it is the habit not to.

8. Leadership is living inspiration, art is living and spreading it, to be an artist
    one must be a leader.

9. Inspiration is simply looking at stars the way they deserve it.

10. Inspiration can happen night and day, at times looking with our eyes closed,
      at times it is dreaming with our eyes opened.

11. Without courage, there is no inspiration, inspiration is the courage to cross the  
      ocean to see the next shore.

12. Inspiration is the voice that starts speaking to our heart when we have the   
      courage to only do what is right.

13. Inspiration is falling in love with ideas.

14. You can only inspire others to do the things you truly aspire for.

15. Giving your smile to someone who needs it: this is where giving inspiration starts.

16. Doing the impossible can either be seen as an absurdity or as an inspiration.

17. Don’t regret your experiences, because they are everything we lived and they
      are the alternative to nothing else.

18. Success is a gift to the open mind.

19. The lessons to our success are the journey to our destination.

20. Embracing everyone truly is believing in serendipity, which is their reason
      for being there.

21. Inspiration is not what triggers action, commitment is and inspiration
      is their reward.

22. Intuition is a combination of the thousand paths we dreamt of.

23. Love as if you’ll leave tomorrow, commit as if you’ll be there forever.

24. Inspiration comes little by little, but if we believe every step, it can take us far
      beyond where we thought we could go.

 
From Olivier Bassil

::The Uncomfortable Truth::

 

Nneka - The Uncomfortable Truth

.::CHANGE::.

CHANGE
Joy Denalane feat Lupe Fiasco

Step by step day by day
Said it won't be long, it won't be long
Step by step come what may
I feel it coming on strong
Step by step day by day
We gonna overcome
Step by step come what may
As long as we are one

.::10 Rules for Brilliant Women::.

1. Make a pact. No one else is going to build the life you want for you. No one else will even be able to completely understand it. The most amazing souls will show up to cheer you on along the way, but this is your game. Make a pact to be in it with yourself for the long haul, as your own supportive friend at every step along the way.

2. Imagine it. What does a knock-the-ball-out-of-the-park life look like for you? What is the career that seems so incredible you think it’s almost criminal to have it? What is the dream you don’t allow yourself to even consider because it seems too unrealistic, frivolous, or insane? Start envisioning it. That’s the beginning of having it.

3. Gasp. Start doing things that make you gasp and get the adrenalin flowing. Ask yourself, “What’s the gasp-level action here?” Your fears and a tough inner critic will chatter in your head. That’s normal, and just fine. When you hear that repetitive, irrational, mean inner critic, name it for what it is, and remember, it’s just a fearful liar, trying to protect you from any real or seeming risks. Go for the gasps and learn how false your inner critic’s narrative really is, and how conquerable your fears.

4. Get a thick skin. If you take risks, sometimes you’ll get a standing ovation, and sometimes, people will throw tomatoes. Can you think of any leader or innovator whom you admire who doesn’t have enthusiastic fans and harsh critics? Get used to wins and losses, praise and pans, getting a call back and being ignored. Work on letting go of needing to be liked and needing to be universally known as “a nice person.”

5. Be an arrogant idiot. Of course I know you won’t, because you never could. But please, just be a little more of an arrogant idiot. You know those guys around the office who share their opinions without thinking, who rally everyone around their big, (often unformed) ideas? Be more like them. Even if just a bit. You can afford to move a few inches in that direction.

6. Question the voice that says “I’m not ready yet.” I know, I know. Because you are so brilliant and have such high standards, you see every way that you could be more qualified. You notice every part of your idea that is not perfected yet. While you are waiting to be ready, gathering more experience, sitting on your ideas, our friends referenced in rule five are being anointed industry visionaries, getting raises, and seeing their ideas come to life in the world. They are no more ready than you, and perhaps less. Jump in the sandbox now, and start playing full out. Find out just how ready you are.

7. Don’t wait for your Oscar. Don’t wait to be praised, anointed, or validated. Don’t wait for someone to give you permission to lead. Don’t wait for someone to invite you to share your voice. No one is going to discover you. (Well, actually, they will, but paradoxically, only after you’ve started boldly and consistently stepping into leadership, sharing your voice, and doing things that scare the hell out of you.)

8. Filter advice. Most brilliant women are humble and open to guidance. We want to gather feedback and advice. Fine, but recognize that some people won’t understand what you are up to (often because you are saying something new and ahead of your time). Some people will find you to be not their cup of tea. Some will feel threatened. Some people will want to do with your idea only what is interesting or helpful to them. So interpret feedback carefully. Test advice and evaluate the results, rather than following it wholesale.

9. Recover and restore. If you start doing the things that make you gasp, doing what you don’t quite feel ready to do, and being more of an arrogant idiot, you are going to be stretching out of our comfort zone–a lot. Regularly do things that feel safe, cozy, and restorative. Vent to friends when you need to. Acknowledge the steps you’ve taken. Watch your tank to see how much risk-taking juice you have available to you. When it’s running low, stop, recover and restore.

10. Let other women know they are brilliant. Let them know what kind of brilliance you see, and why it’s so special. Call them into greater leadership and action. Let them know that they are ready. Watch out for that subtle, probably unconscious thought, “because I had to struggle and suffer on my way up…they should have to too.” Watch out for thinking this will “take” too much time – when the truth is it always has huge, often unexpected returns.

Clear a path by walking it, boldly.