About a year ago, I published an article about my first customized planner.  With the new year, I designed an updated version with a few improvements to the layout of the pages.  Originally I kept my monthly calendar and monthly goal sheets in the front of the planner, followed by a series of different logs (i.e. Health/Fitness, Home Maintenance, etc.).  After all of these various sections I listed my weekly goal sheets.  While I like the idea of keeping the monthly pages nicely organized together, I found that I didn’t utilize the monthly goals sheets after a couple of months. I never even looked at the home maintenance section, and the health/fitness section design wasn’t used as much either.  While in theory it sounded like a great layout, I found out in that practice that I needed to revamp the layout.

For this year’s  improved design, I’ve merged the various documents so that most everything flows throughout the year together.  For example, here’s how a standard month of documents flow:

• Monthly Calendar (2 pages): When it comes to printing calendar pages, I use Dynamic Template v2.05 software designed by the folks over at DIY Planner.  It’s completely free to download.  In addition to printing monthly calendars this software is flexible, having settings that can be modified to print daily, weekly, and even yearly pages.  Simply select your paper size, choose the calendar type, and tweak the settings to come up with your own printable set of calendars that perfectly fit your planner and your lifestyle.
• Monthly Goals:  A template I designed to help stay focused on health, creative, relationship, financial, and spiritual goals as well as ideas, notes, errands, projects, and home maintenance tasks all on one page.

• Goal Refocus template:  While searching for various tools and templates, I came across the Goal Refocus template created by Daryl Furuyama who shares experiences in what works in life at WhiteHat BlackBox.  It’s a great template to track your progress on five goals over the course of a month on one page.  Since I created my planner at the beginning of the year, I’m finding this template is very useful in tracking how much progress I’m making when it comes to two of my health goals: taking vitamins daily and making exercise a priority.  As Daryl recommends, you fill in the circle completely if you made a lot of progress on the goal (for example a full 30 minute to hour workout) as compared to some progress (such as fitting in just 10 minutes of stretching when I’m super busy with other priorities).  The template is also great since there is space to jot down a quick note by each day and a full side of the page can be dedicated to brainstorming notes to help you stay focused on what’s important.
• 4-5 Weekly Goal pages:  A template I designed to that is very similar to the monthly goals sheet.

Now I still have some sections that I keep separate in the back:

• Project Meeting template: Another great template found via DIY Planner that was created from a user using their form widget software.  While you can tell that the original designer of the template created it mind for the office since there are spots to log the conference room and conference call information, I use for tracking meeting notes for my various projects outside of work.   I particularly liked this meeting template more than other ones I have seen since the layout makes a good use of space to track important details on just one page.  Some of the features include spots to keep track of the meeting agenda as well as a graph area for notes.  About the only drawback is that there wasn’t a spot to track follow-up items.  However, I find myself tracking the action items in the meeting notes section.
• Ideas: basically alternating blank and lined pages for brainstorming on various ideas/projects
• Web Design
• Wish List
• Prayers/Affirmations

In a future post, I’ll share the monthly and weekly goal templates I designed, but in the interim if you looking for templates for your planner, I highly recommend DIY Planner since they include a wide range templates created both their core team of designers as well as contributions from guest designers.  You can also use their free DIY Planner Widget Kit software to design your own templates.

MAGNUM OPUS, a Square One Creative Event, will take place between 7pm and midnight on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at The RITZ Ybor in Tampa, Florida.

MAGNUM OPUS will revolve around the ecological themes of creation and self-preservation.  It will feature selections from my Goddess series and new themed artwork by Christopher Michael Zenger, Gary Randall, Gina Rathbun, J.Alfonso, Jason Moriarty, Jedd Lancaster, Jeff Cinco, Julia Ozimek, Kat Wilson, Katy Alderman, KLAAREN, Linda Alexander, Mary Martinez, Matt Moore, Melia, Melissa Fair, Nelani Palomino, Robert Wegmann, Rory O’Neil and Warren Gibson to debut at the event.

Over 80 local artists will be on display with all artwork available for purchase by the general public.

Show times for the MAGNUM OPUS stage shows will take place from 8pm to 9pm and 10pm to 9pm and will feature original performances by Bella Danza (Artistic Director: Maria Capitano Pardo), Enigma Dance Kru, Kinetic Dance Group, HEMISPHERE Dance, a Wear To The Tear Fashion Show (with the Bentley Salon), Disco Dolls, Anye Cole and Jeremy Gloff. Jeremy Gloff will hold an album release party and performance for his upcoming 16th studio album, 21st Century Love Songs, in the side Royal Room from 9pm to 10pm.

MAGNUM OPUS will be open to the general public of all ages. Guests are encouraged to wear the colors green and white to the event. There will be an optional $1.00 donation at the doors of the event to help benefit Dalmation Rescue of Tampa Bay. Reserved Seats for $5.00 each and V.I.P. Tables for $10.00 each will be made available for purchase by visiting Square One’s Magnum Opus event info page.

Raleigh Michigan Studios - Artist Model of Planned Development

In a recent article published by the New York Times, a tax incentive that was approved by the govenor, Jennifer M. Granholm, in April 2008 is beginning to have some results in Michigan.  The tax incentive provides a 40 percent tax credit or cash rebate for studios on their business tax returns.  There is also a 25 percent infrastructure credit, which is applied against expenditures on construction of a studio and its contents.  The article highlights a couple recent purchases of auto plants by film executives including:

Linden Nelson, 49, chief executive of Nelson Ventures, a private investment company, has started Michigan Motion Picture Studios, doing business as Raleigh Michigan Studios, for $75.8 million…After looking at about 100 abandoned buildings, including an airplane hangar, the Pontiac Silverdome (the former home of the Detroit Lions football team) and vacant auto plants, Mr. Nelson and his partners chose a location within a former General Motors complex in Pontiac….The three-story, 369,000-square-foot building was built in 1999 for $55 million, and 3,000 G.M. truck and bus engineers once worked there. Raleigh’s goal is for a similar number of people to be employed at a range of film industry jobs.

As a former resident of Michigan, it is uplifting to hear that this approved bill is having a positive impact so far.  Even excluding the recent collapse of the auto industry, Michigan’s primary means of business in manufacturing has been in decline the past thirty years.  More tax incentives such as these will need to continue to be passed to help bring additional types of business to the state and help reduce the unemployment rate that was 15% as of July.

Michigan is a beautiful state with some of the nation’s best produce, universities, and landscapes that change with each season.  While it’s a great place to visit, there is definitely a need to create more jobs so visitors can become full time residents.  It will be interesting to see what films come out of the state.  Possibly they might even create a film festival to help bring more tourism into the state.

My current series of works are inspired by various goddesses.  With each goddess, I’m researching their mythology and symbolism.  Then I’m devising a list of photo shoot ideas to explore with local models and a talented team that includes my husband, Brian, who photographs the shoot.

For this most recent Asian Goddess shoot, we had the  talented and beautiful local runway model, Mai Dang. She brought a full suitcase of various traditional Asian outfits.  Prior to the shoot, I had a brainstorming session with our hair/make-up artist,  Georgette Khaziran of Verdecia Salon, who came up with a complete list of hair styles and make-up combinations that would complement each goddess.

We also had our two friends, Michael and George, on site that provided tech support.  In addition, George was able to put his martial arts training to work by demonstrating marital art poses and forms for the model during the weapon shots that ranged from holding swords of all sizes and lengths to daggers and even an axe!

For my first Asian goddess painting I decided to paint Amaterasu, who is known in Japanese mythology as a sun goddess and the most important Shinto deity.  Her full name is Amaterasu-o-mi-kami (天照大神) which means “glorious goddess who shines in the heavens.”

In this soft pastel painting, I illustrated some of her symbols including the rising sun disc, which is also shown on the Japanese Flag. The sword or blade represents might and honor.  I also incorporated Japanese Kanji characters which, when translated into English, reads as “The Goddess of Sun”.

The goddess Amaterasu called out to me because of her diverse character.  As a sun goddess, she oversees the Japanese fields of rice.  She was also known as an accomplished weaver of stunning satins, silks, and brocades.  And for those of you interested in reading more about the myths written about Amaterasu, you can find more information at Goddess Gift, a site dedicated to “celebrate, to nurture, and to share understandings of the goddess in every woman.”

Her inner strength is part of her beauty, and thus, I thought it appropriate to include this work in this week’s theme at Illustration Friday, “Strong”.

The Progress Energy Art Gallery (PEAG) in historic downtown New Port Richey, Florida invites you to submit your artwork for our upcoming October exhibit on “Gods and Goddesses”.  Deadline for submissions is Sunday, August 16th.

To be eligible, artists must be a Florida resident.  All artwork must be clean, in good shape, properly framed and wired, and ready to hang.

The opening reception will be held on Friday, October 2nd, from 6 – 9 pm, and the exhibit will run for two months.

To be considered for this exhibit, interested artists should submit five .jpg images that feature “Gods and Goddesses” directly to the Artist Coordinator of your medium, which is listed below.  When submitting for this exhibit, please include the following information in your email:

Email Subject: Artist Submission – Gods and Goddesses

In the Body of the e-mail, please include the following information:

• Contact information: Name, email address, phone number, address, website, etc.
• Artwork Attachment Submission Details: JPEG File Name, artwork title, size, medium, year, and other pertinent info about the work sent.
• Artist resume
• Artist statement
• Short biography
• 5 .JPG Attachments: Largest dimension 1000 pixels, and no less than 600 pixels. Additionally, file size should not be larger than 250kb per file.

Artwork will be selected by our 2009-2010 PEAG Gallery Advisory Committee which includes:

Acrylic: Erica Urbanovich [e_urbanovitch@hotmail.com]

Giclee Printing:  Ron Urbanovich [nonakedwalls@gmail.com]

Mixed Media: Michelle Collins [artbymichelle@gmail.com]

Pastel:  Natalie Roberts [natalie@surrealmuse.com]

Photography:  Paula Showen [paula.showen@gmail.com]

Oil:  Matthew Ellord [mattellrod@verizon.net]

Sculpture: Sergio  Flores [mascusdegrotesque@gmail.com]

Watercolor: Jo Baughman [mjpaugh1@verizon.net]

Freya is a Norse maiden goddess of love, beauty, fertility, war, wealth, divination and magic.   Traditionally, she is captured in warrior poses with a Viking helmet  and her sword.  Other folklore imagery illustrates Freya in her cloak of bird wings.

For this soft pastel painting, I’ve captured her transformational fairy powers with dragonfly wings that create the wave effect of  northern lights when in flight.

To see more fairy inspired creations, check out this week’s Created Byhand Challenge.

UPDATE:

Here is a photogtaph of the work in progress and the photographic reference Natalie was using to create Freya.  She said it was about 80% done at this point.  -Brian

Nyx, Goddess of Night, is a soft pastel painting that I created today in my studio and submitted for Illustration Friday’s theme, Hollow:

“If night leaves anything undone in the working of destruction, day follows to accomplish it.” (Sophocles, Oedipus the King 196)

Night can leaving you feeling hollow in your soul, but you can transform it.  Listen to the muse.  Let her speak through your creations.

Nyx is a powerful goddess of the night whose dark light falls from the stars, and who influences not only the world of mankind but also the gods.  She inspires artists to create and the muses have been known to sing her praises.

Nyx is my fifth goddess soft pastel painting in my most recent series.  She is born out of Chaos and her offspring include Aether (atmosphere), Hemera (day), Momus (blame), Ponos (toil), Moros (fate), the twins Thanatos (death) and Hypnos (sleep), the Oneiroi (tribe of dreams), the Hesperides, the Keres and Fates, Nemesis, Apate (deception), Philotes (friendship), Geras (age), and strife. An interesting list indeed.

Here I have painted her as a young maiden, full of hope as she ponders worlds unknown.

Thanks go out to the model, Jessika Napua Akana, who posed for this painting, Georgette Khaziran, the hair and make-up artist, and my husband, Brian, who shot the reference photograph.

The Progress Energy Art Gallery (PEAG) in historic downtown New Port Richey, Florida invites you to submit your artwork for our upcoming August exhibit on “Florida History” that will also feature artwork created in honor of New Port Richey.

To be eligible, artwork must illustrate Florida’s architectural, natural or cultural heritage.  Additionally, artists must be a Florida resident.  All artwork must be clean, in good shape, properly framed and wired, and ready to hang.

The opening reception will be held on Friday, August 7^th, from 6 – 9 pm, and the exhibit will run for two months.

To be considered for this exhibit, interested artists should submit five .jpg images that feature “Florida History” to submissions@nprgallery.com or directly to the Artist Coordinator of your medium, which is listed below.  When submitting for this exhibit, please include the following information in your email:

Email Subject: Artist Submission – Florida History Exhibit [Your Medium]

In the Body of the e-mail, please include the following information:

• Contact information: Name, email address, phone, website, etc.
• Artwork Attachment Submission Details: JPG File Name, artwork title, size, medium, year, and other pertinent info about the work sent.
• Artist resume
• Artist statement
• Short biography
• Attachments: Five .jpg files representing your work. (File attachment requirements: Largest dimension 1000 pixels, and no less than 600 pixels. Additionally, file size should not be larger than 250kb per file as larger files will be rejected by the server.)

Artwork will be selected by our 2009-2010 PEAG Gallery Advisory Committee that includes:

Ralph Annan – Acrylic

Jo Baughman – Watercolor

Michelle Collins – Mixed Media [artbymichelle@gmail.com]

Sergio  Flores – Sculpture

Matthew Ellord – Oil

Natalie Roberts – Pastel [natalie@surrealmuse.com]

Paula Showen – Photography [paula.showen@gmail.com]

Ron Urbanovich – Giclee Printing

A couple weeks ago, we went to go check out XZanthia’s Naked Foam Party at the Riverboat Resort.  It was my first time to check out a nudist resort, and I felt very comfortable.  The resort has a great energy to it, very warm and inviting.  We had such a great time that we decided to go check it out again this past Friday, June 12th, for the Naked Foam Party [Part Deux].  When we arrived, the festivities were in full swing with the Unit Shifters performing live on stage.  Known for being an extremely high-energy rock band, the Unit Shifters specialize in Psychedelic Grunge Rock.  Their style is similar to Beck and the White Stripes.

The entertainment at the resort wasn’t limited to just music that night.  Twisted Trystan also amazed us with his extreme sideshow performance art ranging from glass walking to fire breathing and even laying on a bed of nails!  Assisted by the lovely Kristen, Trystan started off his show by ripping a phone book with his bare hands.  Then he moved onto his glass walking routine, which did make me turn my head a couple times.  But even if I wasn’t watching, the mic was place in the glass so you could hear the shards of glass crunch and grind against his every move.  And if walking on the glass wasn’t feat enough, Trystan had his amazing assistant, Kristen, step directly upon his face as it laid in the glass.   Ouch!

This master of masochism didn’t limit his performance at just glass walking, he also laid upon a bed of nails and swallowed not one, but two swords!  Yes, this definitely wasn’t your average sideshow performance.   My favorite part of Trystan’s performance was the fire breathing.  It was simply beautiful to watch, and Brian was able to get quite a number of great shots as illustrated in the slideshow below.

Other festivities that night included the filming of a naked body painting music video.  It involved ten or so individuals completely naked under a black light with a bunch of body paint.  While it was quite an interesting performance, the owners of the resort requested no outside cameras so it was definitely an event that you had to be there to see it.

We also came across an artist that was painting bikinis directly on interested models.  One of the models even mentioned that she was able to carry on conversations with people at the party that didn’t realize that the bikini was painted on.

As the evening progressed, DJ Robert Vanwest got the groove going on with a mix of industrial, electro, and synthpop that was accompanied by the lovely go-go dancers, Zoe Vanwest and Caila.  Zoe even would occasionally take a break from dancing and put on her DJ hat to spice it up a bit.

Overall, it was another amazing event, and we can’t wait for X-Bash, which is scheduled for July 17, 18, and the 19th at the Riverboat resort.  This is XZanthia’s 9th year to hold X-Bash, which will feature 7 bands, 6 djs, Pool, Hot tub, Spoken Word, Foam Party, Camping, Huge Art show and Vendors, Fire show, Belly and Go Go Dancers and Much More!!!  Check out the X-Bash page on XZanthia’s site for more information and how to RSVP.

I started this pastel sketch last Friday at Nola Cafe while listening to all the entertainment for the night, and just had a few finishing touches that I did on Sunday at home with my pastel pencil.  So next time, I’m taking my traveling pastel bag so I have all the essential supplies to finish a piece:

• Soft Pastels: I prefer the cheap ones made by Loew Cornell
• Soft Pastel pencils: black ones are a must!
• Fan Brush: helps brush away unwanted pastel dust (also good for correcting mistakes)
• Sketchbooks: always bring more than one for anyone that wants to sketch with me
• Canvas Rug: a huge piece of canvas with durable hard black plastic on the other side so I can sketch anywhere and clean up is a snap!
• Baby Wipes: makes clean up easy and eliminates the need to go to the restroom to watch my hands
• Fixative Spray: it’s what binds all the pastel dust together so it can be enjoyed for years to come

Now the inspiration for this piece came from this month’s theme, Dream, over on Creative Everyday, and Arty Girlz’s weekly challenge, Butterflies.  Both of which, always have great art challenges.  So go be inspired with the New Moon and create something…