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Hello All,

For this weeks project, I have made a simple piece of art using an old canvas and some eggshells. You can find all the details and the video tutorial below. But first, we are in week 9 (chapter 9) of The Artist Way book review. For those of you just joining us, it is a book about how to be more creative. This weeks chapter title is “Recovering a sense of Compassion.”

If you read my post last week you know we had some trouble with our dogs which was scary and disheartening. I had also misplaced my copy of The Artist Way and had to totally wing my re-cap of chapter eight. This week, we (the humans) are on the mend both physically and mentally. The dogs have managed the week without further incident and I found my copy of The Artist Way on my messy desk of all places.

Yesterday we had 70-degree weather but today we are bracing ourselves for another blizzard which means we will all be stuck in the house. I am hoping the pups won’t suffer too much cabin fever and act up again. Fingers crossed and heart hopeful.

In this weeks chapter of The Artist Way, the author Julia Cameron talks about being compassionate with ourselves in order to support our creativity. One way that we are not compassionate with ourselves, she contends, is by using the wrong name for things. In her example, she argues that often times when we are afraid to start a project or ask for someone’s help or advise we tend to call ourselves lazy instead of afraid. I think her point is a good one. As long as we are dodging doing something but not acknowledging the real reason for not doing it, it is difficult to ever move forward.

I suspect that in my case at least nine times out of ten I don’t do something based on a fear I have toward doing it. I am also certain that at least a few times I have called my lack of progress laziness. So the next time I call myself lazy I will try to remember to ask myself am I really being lazy or am I afraid?

In some ways, it seems that it would be easier to act if you believed you were being lazy rather than if you had to admit you were afraid. It is hard to do things we are afraid of doing. Taking action when you are scared is not easy. Still, I think it is a step in the right direction to be clear with ourselves as to why we are avoiding doing something that we need to do. We need to be honest with ourselves. Are we just being lazy or are we actually afraid of something?

In her book, Julia offers some exercises and tasks to help combat the fears we might face. One of her questions is to ask yourself what you have to gain by not doing whatever it is_________paint, sculpt, write, etc. I can’t speak for others but I know in my case there is always some fear of criticism. It is worth asking ourselves why we are not reaching our creative and other goals if we truly want to move forward toward them but we also need to be giving ourselves honest answers.

If you find yourself fearful of moving toward a goal you have set for yourself here is another resource that you might find helpful and inspiring. Ruth Soukup’s Do It Scared Podcast.

And now I suppose we should get on with today project.

It started out looking like this.

I picked up this canvas at the thrift store and made it my own with some broken eggshells, leftover house paint, and glue.

You can see the whole tutorial in the video below.

Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to here your thoughts either about today’s project or The Artist Way re-cap.

Happy Upcycling and Creating,

You can catch up on the previous chapters of The Artist Way in the links below.

Week One – Recovering a sense of Safety – (With upcycled pie tins made into a twisted valentine tree)

Week Two – Recovering a sense of Identity – (With upcycled found objects candlesticks)

Week Three – Recovering a sense of Power – (With my trashy St Patrick’s Day House Tour)

Week Four – Recovering a sense of Integrity – (With St Patrick’s Day Plastic Bag Bouquet)

Week Five – Recovering a sense of Possibility – (With St Patrick’s Day Mantel Display Part 1)

Week Six – Recovering a sense of Abundance – (With St Patrick’s Day Mantel Nick Nack Crafts Part 2)

Week Seven – Recovering a sense of Connection – (With Easter Bunny Garland and Paper Mache Eggs)

Week Eight – Recovering a sense of Strength – (With Upcycled Easter Basket and Plastic Bag Chicks)

Advertising Disclosure: Upcycle Design Lab may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website.