The Glacier and the Fireweed

Majestic Alaska

A Humpbacks Tale

Hubbard Glacier

Perch of the Bald Eagle

I hope you enjoyed this small break in the action from the usual programming. If you would ever like to get in touch with me about photography or anything outdoors, please feel free.

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I believe creativity is just as intrinsic as eating, breathing, and procreating. When I hear people say, “Oh, I’m not creative.” I passionately reply, “Yes you are.” Creativity is innate, otherwise as a higher level species, we wouldn’t be here today. Creativity is the ability to continuously make decisions on the fly while in the moment. Whether I volley ideas back and forth with Andrew during a project, en route to the grocery store, or over a glass of wine, it’s a cerebral tickle that needs to be fed.

Curiosity

My natural curiosity leads me to open myself to other cultures. When I expose myself to a variety of experiences (academic, corporate USA, freelancing, galleries, museums, non-profits, travelling, volunteering), I try to remain objective, shaking off any preconceived ideas or influences in order to understand the authentic core.

4 Stages of Creativity Augmented by my personal philosophy:

Preparation/Investigation – Natural curiosity coupled with the importance of research aids in me this stage.
Design/Illustrate – Applying different perspectives (ant’s eye view, birds’ eye view, underwater, straight on), color, defining purpose, all provide me the fundamentals for exploring opportunities and solutions.
Incubation/Illumination – Walk away. Take a shower. Play a round of golf. Do something extremely different that exercises a different part of your brain. As soon as I shower, I realize that I’m more concerned about rinsing the soap out of my hair than I am about whether the color blue
I’ve chosen for my painting is the right shade. At this point, usually the ‘Aha’ moment hits
and I am able to return to adjust the design components to make a better product. Design and Incubation cycle back and forth until I have achieved a point of confidence in the solution.
Verification/Finalize – This is where the final stage of design and output happen for presentation.

Sharing Creative Process

Sharing allows me to dissolve the myth that creativity isn’t about alchemy “Creativity is a process” With every process there’s a if/then clause. Replacing the perceived alchemy of creativity with process doesnʼt seem so scary. The ability to reduce the process of creativity into bite-sized tasks takes the pressure off and allows me to check my ego at the door. Sharing makes good ideas better. I’ve learned not to fall in love with my own work or my own ideas. I have fallen madly, deeply, and passionately in love with the process of sharing. The pure act of sharing idea volley is electric to me. Kinetic. There are very few people with whom I am able to do this and constantly seek others who really dig the same act of back and forth.

Sharing the creative process, say, with something that I’m meeting on for the first time (tile ceramic class), I take the liberty of infusing my progress with ultimately raw perspective. I’ll unabashedly show you the shaky hand result that is the antithesis of my final work because I’m learning to work with a new material. I’m confident of my learning and know that my work will only get better, so I’m not filled with trepidation when revealing some of the most shocking and humorous results of my first attempts.

Physical Manifestation of Creativity & Sharing

It’s not uncommon for me to get physically excited about possibility; I start shouting out ideas like a Jeopardy contestant. Fellow students in my ceramics class witnessed this last Saturday. When I get stymied on a project, I get physically active. I dance in place to dislodge any idea wedgies hampering me.

Sharing is a natural part of who I am. I believe sharing is another word for complement. I say, “This is what I know, I think you should know it, too. Hear it, consider it, implement it if you want.”After years of learning my craft and all the supporting tasks as a entrepreneur, I feel confident in my ability because of the mistakes I’ve made. My ability to redesign my outlook if one solution doesn’t work makes me a better problem solver. This is why I’ve learned to develop at least 3 solutions to one challenge and continue to solve in the background while working if the first 3 don’t hit the mark. I want to share my knowledge because I want to see people succeed. The reason I continue to feed people w/tips, how-tos, and you-shoulds, is because I see that they’re about to learn it anyway (the hardway) and I just want to save them some steps, or they may be stymied by inertia caused by lack of resources. I know what works for me and what doesn’t and keeping a myriad of alternatives in my back pocket helps when life throws wildcards my way. Someone may not implement my methods or processes, but at least this gives them a
springboard from which to jump into their own pool of ideas. If that begins a discussion,
I’m all for it because then I can continue learning and generate more ideas that lurk in
the dark recesses which need to get out.

Paradigm Shift

On one of my first dates with Andrew, we went to a Staton McDonald-Wright exhibit. As
we were walking thru, allowing our eyes to absorb the melody of color, we overtly had
what I call, “A simultaneous paradigm shift.” We both stopped, straightened up,
abandoning our public flirting, and concurrently cood, “Wooooooow! I see it! What an
awesome composition of undulating and pulsating color and rhythm.”
Moving from physical manifestation to emotional manifestation is not uncommon for me.
If you ever see me in public, you may just see a creativity jig happen before your very
eyes.
Creativity Happens!

You can see Lisa “EC” Stewarts work on her website. Please leave comments here or feel free to get in direct contact with Lisa or myself if you have any thoughts or questions. Stay tuned or subscribe to the blog for Part 2

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Social Media + The Arts = A perfect fit. This topic could easily be a book. The ability for me to cover it in one blog post or even a series of blog posts is not really possible. Ok, so I tipped my hand here. Yup, I’m writing an e-book on integrating social media with the arts and creative endeavors. In fact, I have 90% of it done, but I am having a hard time wrapping up all of my thoughts and tying it all together. It will be done soon. That is a promise.

Sharing is Key, Sharing is fun.

How much fun s it to get involved in communities like twitter? I say it’s a hoot! For artists, twitter is a great place to share your creative process, but that not my point. Tonight, I asked some folks on twitter why they followed me and what do you know! I found a new friend. her name is Sarah and she can be found on twitter @NmymindCarolina She told me that she followed me because I am passionate about new media and the arts. She asked if any of my live presentations were on my blog:

I realized that this blog did not have any of the video embeds of any of my live speaking sessions. maybe it’s a bit of self-conscious (I hate hearing myself speak) but I decided this blog post would be a custom post for Sarah.

Session #1 – Podcamp Boston 3 at Harvard

Biggest Takeaway – Be Passionate and be Human!

Session #2 – Podcamp Toronto 3 at Ryerson University. (This session was done with Steve Saylor and Julianna Yau)

Biggest Takeaway – Be Passionate and be Human!

More Coming

If you spent the time to watch all of these videos, I applaud you and pity you. hahaha
There will be more coming on social media and the arts integration. Do you have any questions for me? Anything that I can cover? Let me know. It just might make the e-book.

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If you don’t have a chance to listen to the podcast before this evening I am going to be leading the charge on twitter to help support Tim. I am going to be gathering a bunch of friends and folks in the twitter community to live blog Tim’s Chuck appearance as one of the bad ass Fulcrum Agents! We will be meeting on twitter and using hashtag #ChuckTV. Be sure to tell your friends and lets show our support for Tim.

Enjoy the episode! I know I had fun chatting with another brilliant creative mind. Tomorrow, I will embed this post with the new episode of Chuck from Hulu.

Creatives & Community Podcast #2 – Tim Coyne Interview
Download:MP3

Links to Note:
Tim featured in iProng Magazine (PDF Download of the Magazine)

Thank you to John Meadows for the audio work on Podcast #2.

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Natasha Wescoat

So Natasha, here at keithburtis.com I will be talking about the way Art blends with social media. To start why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself, where you come from and what type of artist you are?

Well, I’m a mixed media artist as far as work goes. I stick my hands in
many forms of work – graphic, illustration, fine art, vector design. I
think since I was about 5, I dabbled in writing books, making handmade
magazines/newsletters, creating comics, drawing, cartoons, etc.

I lived in a small town, from a poor family, so I always had the
ambition to make my way in what ways were possible. And I was determined
to be an artist anyway I could.

At age 5 my obsession with Sunday comics made me determined to start my own
comic strip.

Since age 7 my goal was to become an animator for Walt Disney Animation
studios and become an Art Director.

By Age 9, I started designing my own comic strips and created my first
magazine.

At Age 12, I was creating and selling my illustrations for kids in my 6th
grade class, before getting caught by my teacher. Thankfully the Principal
of my school was on vacation for the week and he let me continue my
selling, complete with recruiting some kids to help me out. Kids in my
class even created a game called, “Can she make art out of sh*$#” and
would scribble onto a piece of paper and I would take the mess and turn it
into an awesome drawing.

By age 17, I was choreographing interpretive dances that I and some girls
performed, writing and acting in my own plays and skits, writing songs and
poetry – performing for audiences of about 300 in the midwest. I have
always created naturally. People would tell me how talented I was in all
of these things and I couldn’t believe them, because I wanted to do all of
that stuff and…did it whether it was good or not. It made me question
whether they were making up that it was good. I realized later it was
true.

Taking Cover in the Wind

Ok, so it has probably been almost two years since we have met. I first located you on justin.tv painting live for an audience. Tell us how you see some of these interactive tools helping artists.

Social media and the internet have really allowed us to create our own
success.

We can create a presence without the need for a huge financial investment
to get to that place. I started selling with $130. This bought new supplies and a
website. From there, I was able to reinvest through my sales and the rest
was simple research and networking with social media.

When it comes to connecting with our collectors, it’s more intimate. No
middle man. We can share our everyday lives through our blog, through
photos on Flickr, through our microblogging on Twitter.

We can partner with the wonderful sites online that offer artists royalty
options. Self-publishing gives us the chance to get products with our work
out there without the manufacturing woes of some entrepreneurs. If there’s
a will, there’s a way. The internet opens up HUGE possibilities without
the fuss of real estate, business loans, or waiting. Oh yeah, the huge
part – no waiting. You can go as far as you take it.

Another benefit is the ability to approach companies and others ourselves. I’ve been given a lot of opportunities simply because I found them or contacted them first. People are open to artists connecting with them and making the offer first. Despite what is the norm!

Silver Dreams

Natasha, I notice that you have many online brands that all seem to lead back to you as a person. Explain how you mange your many talents.

I manage my talents with lists. If I don’t, my obsessive nature will take
over and I will (and have) spend days on end just working on one thing. I
remember spending 3 days, 20 hours a day on one project and I felt
depressed and exhausted and wanted never to work ever again. Yeah, it’s
crazy but true.

I have to manage my excitement first and foremost with these things.
Having clear goals for each brand really helps me focus and remain as
patient as I can with each thing. Geez, I sound so Howard Hughes! Maybe I
AM!

“Utilizing to-do lists and brainstorming are a must. If I don’t have my ideas or goals in writing, it’s going to be chaotic and fruitless for business. “

Another thing I do is to decide which brand needs to be worked on or
expanded upon, and which ones I need to put on the shelf until a more
useful time comes into place for them. I try not to waste time on
something that’s not producing revenue for me at that moment, unless I
have free time to work with it.

Natasha, you are an avid blogger and media creator, what are your favorite web 2.0 applications and why?

My favorite applications are:

- Myspace: Keeps me connected with my 5-35 target audience. I like using
the bulletin board to announce new things going on. A free newsletter!

- LinkedIn: It give me the ability to send my resume to anyone at anytime
without having to do any extra work and I make great business connections
on there, which I hope will prove fruitful soon.

- Twitter: I’ve met so many great people and other artists on there.
Because of twitter, I’ve been able to work with people for projects and
gain inspiration for new ones. It’s a great place for announcing new
information and events at a lightning speed rate. I also have been using
it to bookmark news and info I want to investigate and read more of later,
using the Favorite tool.

- WordPress: great, easy to use interface with options that make it easy
to customize and professionalize my blogs! Plus, I can log in and work on
several blogs at once, unlike some sites.

- Tumblr. It’s like the twitter of blogging, where I can jot and add info
and content as well as brainstorm. I like to use it just for that. list
making and ideas.

- Utterli (formerly Utterz) – I mentioned in my article on Digi-Art
Statements that audio blogs or podcasts are useful for art statements and
other great things, but I mainly use this tool for ranting, thinking out
loud, and for announcements.

Natasha, can you give us any information on where we might find some of your art reproduced?

Though I’m currently working on expanding my licensed brands, You can find
my licensed art at the following places:

- Murals Your Way: http://www.muralsyourway.com

- Pure Country Tapestries : pretty much google Natasha Wescoat tapestries
and they are everywhere.

- Weatherprints outdoor art: http://www.openairdesigns.com

Natasha, sometimes I think people take for granted the hard work that goes into creating and marketing for a piece. Do you find yourself having to educate your customers?

Not so much as I used to. I think that with a certain price level, the
unappreciative customers dissapear. Don’t know why this is true, but it
is. I think when someone pays what the art is worth, they understand all
the hard work and magic that went into that piece, and they appreciate the
art for what it is. The ones that don’t either A: Don’t understand or are too
impatient or B: Aren’t really art collectors. But I have yet to
consider this over the next few years.

Finally, what are some of the coolest things you have done or that have happened to you online? Give us a story or couple of stories that might inspire our readers to take their online presence to the next level.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Because of Ebay, I was given the opportunity to work on Extreme Makeover
Home Edition! One of the main producers bought a piece for her home, and
she really liked what I did and wanted to have me participate. I would
have been able to do an on-site project, but due to other factors and
changes in their schedule, I did a job for one of the houses in another
state.

Another cool thing, is this Christmas, the movie Marley and Me will have
some of my art in the movie. I’ve already done art for a Lifetime movie
about a women who plays an artist. I have yet to see that one. She’s
pretending to paint some of my works in the movie! haha

I was able to connect with a rock star that I had been a major fan of
since I was a teenager. They now own one of my original art pieces and it
means as much to them as their music has meant to me. That’s truly
inspirational.

Contact Natasha (989) 414-2208
natashawescoat.com
natashasartcandy.com
SHOP AT: http://natashawescoat.etsy.com

Marley & Me – The movie Natasha’s art will appear in.

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Speaking at Niagara on the Lake Meetup

For the past two years I have been immersed in the interactive web space some of us call web 2.0. I have learned a lot of things and made many great friends. I have spoken on technology for arts organizations and brought my knowledge to Podcamps. This blog hopes to be an extension of my community and anyone that is looking to use new media tools as a way to help extend their reach. This can be for personal, for business or whatever reason you give yourself.

I invite you to feel free and open to discuss anything that you are passionate about! If your looking for a forum to blog I will gladly bring on the occasional guest post. Mainly, however this blog will revolve around the things I am passionate about! I hope you decide to subscribe, and join me in what hopes to be a journal of passion, success, and sharing.

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