Summer Fun & Garden Creativity

How to Paint a Basket Full of Pansies
By Ernestina Gallina
Learn step by step how to paint a basket full of pansies on the smooth surface of a stone. A creative rock painting project that will delight flower and garden lovers!

Creative Inspiration: Strawberry Pictures
By Cynthia Staples
In her book Fruitflesh, Gayle Brandeis writes, “A strawberry changed my life.” That strawberry was given to her as part of a high school class assignment. She goes on to write about learning to pay deep attention to life in the way she had learned to pay deep attention to the strawberry. I read those words long ago but now I more fully understand them.

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New Creative Inspiration

Interview with Creativity Enthusiast Chris Dunmire
By Molly Anderson-Childers
In addition to managing the Creativity Portal Web site, Chris spends her days teaching art workshops for kids, coaching creative souls in need of support, and freelance graphic designing for a select handful of clients. Learn more about Chris' work, projects, and thoughts on creativity in this exclusive Creative Careers in the Arts interview.

Mistakes
By Maria Mikhailas
Perhaps our idea of what a mistake is … is mistaken! Perhaps a mistake is the only way that our creative psyche can birth something radically fresh outside our narrow box of acceptable material. Perhaps a mistake is some new idea that otherwise we would have censored long before it reached our awareness.

Cultivate a Zen Garden
By Chris Dunmire
Are you creatively blocked, stressed, or stuck? Then try Zen gardening! The ancient Japanese discipline of Zen (Sanskrit for meditation) is not just reserved for Buddhist monks trying to reach a state of spiritual enlightenment, but is also a transformational tool for creatives of all kinds to use to quiet their minds and allow inspiration to flow forth.

How to Make Your Own Desktop Zen Garden for Less than $10
By Chris Dunmire
Cultivating a Zen garden is a meditative, relaxing, and stress-relieving activity, perfect for calming down or centering yourself after a busy day. This nurturing gift to yourself takes only minutes a day, rejuvenates your mind, and enhances your creative life.

Give Me a Quote
By Jill Badonsky
One of the philosophies of the program, Body Blissmas (and a Happy New Rear) is that if we tense and release our butts while watching TV we our butts will get better without moving. You can tense and relax your butt right now as you are reading this (go ahead.. tense 2,3.4 relax, and again 2,3…) and you are actually on your way to a happy new rear while just sitting here reading avoiding doing something more creative.… Ah, creative thought reframes things so nicely, so neatly, sometimes a bit flimsily.