Happy Halloween! and New Art in November

Happy Halloween! 

UpCycled Artsy Crafts at SheilaLynnK Art Studio 

Coming soon...

November is Art Every Day Month hosted by Leah Piken Kolidas at Creative Every Day. 

Subscribing patrons will get the most art as I join #aedm again this year. 

But, a few of the posts will be free here on my blog and in my public activity feed on patreon.

It's free to Follow. 

Just scroll down to find the "Follow" button below the Rewards options when you go to the link to become a patron. 

 Art Every Day Month doesn't always mean an end "product" to sell. 

For me, it is inspiration to acknowledge a diverse assortment of Things that require my Creative Energy while I am surviving the Stuff. 

While you are waiting, feel free to browse more FreeArt4U in my prior Art Every Day activities here:

aedm 2015

aedm2016

aedm2017

aedm2018

aedm2019 

Art Journal Entry 4Patrons - Re-Calling Creative Spirit

Excerpt from a Bloggy Post for Patrons only

"Other than a few brief visits, my Creative Spirit has been on sabbatical since before the COVID lock downs began. Though I've made several sporadic attempts to push the return of creative energy to meet professional obligations, I've mostly been attempting to Greenlight my own feelings and state of Being as I embrace Solitude during some big shifts in my personal life. Tired of the effort to persuade others to want what I have to offer, doing mundane tasks ("chopping wood and carrying water" as Lindsay Pera calls it) became more of a comfort than indulging the infinite pressure to create Things that will please or entice other people. 

So, quick as Elvis on a hot and sweaty night, Creative Spirit left the building. 

While she has been out, I have continued to explore..."

Read more when you Unlock this Art Journal entry with a small sketchy doodle inspired by the movement and colors of Staghorn Sumac in Autumn. 

Calling in and nourishing space for Creative Spirit and why it left; a Bloggy Art journal entry for patrons only.

Creative Blocks and Selfie-Ish Portrait Series

'VOICES CARRY"
"Speaking up for myself will sometimes break my heart. But, I have to do it anyway."

~ A writing in progress patrons preview post now unlocked to the public.
Click HERE for the first draft of my this-is-sort-of-a-poem, "Voices Carry" and to find out more about how personal "vocal" blocks can impact the creative process.

This post also includes a link to unlock, "Creative Origins," in a bloggy post about the sacral chakra and candid photos from playing around with the Selfie-ish Portrait series idea in 2020.  

Image | "Throat Chakra"
meme version from my 2020 Selfie-ish portrait series.
(No affiliation to or appropriations of 1985's "Voices Carry" by 'Til Tuesday.  )

FOURTEEN Years; Coping Tools for Helpers and Survivors

 

Coping Tools for Helpers and Survivors

So much gratitude for where I am now and the supportive people who have been here for this journey! 

Fourteen years ago today, with inadequate information about the risks involved; I consented to spinal anesthesia for a "routine" knee arthroscopy to repair a torn meniscus, a minor injury that occurred while playing basketball with my students. Spinal adhesive arachnoiditis was the eventual result.

In honor of the weight of all that I have learned & experienced and the New Paths I have discovered in the years since this preventable permanent injury; I am sharing this link to bits and pieces of my story that helped me define,  "How to Help an Arachnoiditis Survivor" (from a 2015 post at the Art For Arachnoiditis Project website I created for fellow survivors.)

...Some of these coping tools are likely useful for care providers and survivors of other injuries and chronic conditions, too. 

I hope these discoveries are helpful to others.

As always, please consult your trusted practitioner prior to making any changes to your treatment plan. 

Image Credit: The above digital collage is from the "Arachnoiditis In Real Life" digital photo series of survivors that was displayed in the first public exhibit of the Art For Arachnoiditis project to promote awareness and prevention. You can browse that collection here. 

Browse all four years of the project here.

Solitude Empowers; a Few Pandemic Revelations

The difference between solitude and isolation has been on my mind frequently since the pandemic alerts first began. In many ways, the 2007 injury and subsequent search for wellness forced me to face these distinctions long before the rest of the world was confronting them on such a grand scale. Oddly, shortly after I was medically able to "return to life IN the community"... the "community" was forced to go home. Again, I found myself surrounded by a great deal of space between myself and others.

Over time, I have gained an appreciation for the value of solitude. But, it wasn't until recently that I realized how empowering that appreciation can actually be.

Self-awareness helps us adjust and adapt to our surroundings. Being authentic often means making difficult choices about who, when, what, where, and how we spend our energy and time.

Instead of the conditioned impulse to stifle ourselves in order to "belong"... Knowing how our authentic actions impact others has the power to inform when we choose to act and how we prepare ourselves for the consequences of those actions.

Each of us is a work in progress.

We learn to assess who is "ready" and who is not.

We learn to accept that some may never be "ready"...

We choose if/when/how to share space with them.

The appreciation for the value of solitude (not to be confused with isolation), empowers us to make these difficult choices. We are able to independently pursue that which makes us authentically ourselves without the fear of "exclusion" or marginalization.

There is true liberty to be found in knowing that we are able to be "okay" regardless of the perceptions and opinions of others. This Knowing enables us to be more authentic in the nature in which we choose to show up in community and more selective about when and how we choose to do that.

 

Keeping an Open Mind to Connect with Community

 

To stay connected with friends and family and support the Allegany Arts Association and the Belfast Organization For Artists while we safely social distance in the winter months ahead, I have decided to re-open my page.

After almost four weeks being fb-free, it was brought to my attention that if my goal is to provide equitable access to local creative things, I must meet our community where they are.

Many local creators have turned to this social media tool to stay connected to each other and share their work with the public during these strange times. As the risks of in-person social contact continue, it is my hope that we will use this tool to share and celebrate our creative resilience.

However, for the most timely response; it is still best to contact me at my studio. My most-current posts about local activities and my art can still be found here on my patreon.

Subscribing patrons unlock the most art but anyone can "follow" for free and find lots of existing content in my public activity feed.

October 2020 SheilaLynnK Art Studio Updates

 As the safety of my patrons, visitors, and family are of utmost concern the studio is temporarily closed until further notice.

The most current studio updates can now be found on my patreon page. 

In need of something to inspire me to start drawing again, referencing the official #Inktober prompts, I am taking the leap into Inktober for the first time. 

Though I am not as consistent with the posts as I would like to be, my subscribing patrons are currently receiving extra rewards in the form of inky sketches based on the official daily prompts from the Inktober 2020 project. Unlock those here.

During these shifting times, I am uncertain what other changes will be taking place in the studio. For now, I am observing safety practices and doing the best I can to create while maintaining this "holding pattern" that keeps us wondering what will happen next. 

More thoughts about that can be found here: 
October 2020 SheilaLynnK Art Studio E-News

My website has become the web home for my portfolio and other PreCovid19 Projects

Though most purchasing options are currently unavailable,
Feel free to contact the studio to find out if there are any remaining options to purchase items shown on my website.

Watch Last Year's Welcome Video
Keeping Art Accessible to All Members of Our Rural Community
We believe Culture is a Human Right. #RightToBelong
Cultural Policy of Belonging

By visiting:
sheilalynnkart.com,
sheilalynnkart.blogspot.com,
and its project pages:
artforarachnoiditis.org
and belfastorganizationforartists.blogspot.com
you hereby accept the terms of and practices detailed in our
ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY.

If you would like to make a Tax-deductible contribution to support Charitable Art Projects at SheilaLynnK Art Studio you can find out more about that HERE.

By the end of the year I will be closing my facebook account. Get quarterly updates and studio news in your email when you Subscribe to the Studio Newsletter.