Light in Darkness

Since the middle of October, I start my Wednesday workday with a Morning Meeting. I spend about a half hour in the woods with my Canon Rebel Xti photographing what I see. Rain, fog & gray clouds have joined me on all but one morning. Today I stalled in the truck longer than normal. The gray days have become draining.

Life can become pretty draining too. From the outside it looks like all potential for joy & color have been lost. Much like the minutes before I force myself out of the truck with camera in hand. Then you dig in. You start connecting with your environment. You start building relationships. And suddenly a beautiful story starts to form. Color screams from the grayness. Joy over pours from your soul.

I found vibrant color and an overabundant amount of joy during my Morning Meeting today. Not only in he photos I was taking, but in the promise of Christmas. The promise that Jesus will put His light into my gray & dull life everyday. 

"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." John 12:46

May your Christmas weekend be filled with light, joy & color!

See today's entire Morning Meeting here.

Trust

"If your justifications are peppered with words and phrases like "should," "makes sense," "is the responsible thing to do," and "I can't back out now," this is a sign that you are fooling yourself. A quick test is to listen to your answer to the question "How do I really feel?" Trust the answer." - Pamela Slim, Escape from Cubicle Nation

Last week I pruned my part-time position at Horizon Hobby out of my life. Horizon Hobby had been more than flexible with my new schedule as a Mommy Freelancer. Letting me work from home & come in for needed meetings when I had childcare. I was working on a thought provoking & challenging project with a great team of people. I had even held onto my favorite benefit: a membership to the Fitness Center.

September 30th approached. The day that upper management had set as a reevaluation date in May when I attempted to quit. I began questioning if staying on with Horizon Hobby was the best thing for myself & Jessie Marie Studio. Throughout August the answer was it "is the responsible thing to do."

New opportunities began to present themselves.

I was asked to redesign a cover for Storybuilders. A great fit for my talents. I accepted. The client loved what I created. She can't wait to work on a larger project with me.

The redesigned back cover, spine & front cover. Completed last Wednesday.

Connections in Maine started to present themselves to promote Adventures with Ranger Roy: Acadia National Park in the place we see as our book’s natural home. Someone had to follow up.

First Prospective Vendor Packages sent to Portland, Maine today.

USPS + JMS

I was asked to create an installation piece for 40North's SIGHTSPECIFIC - a rotating series of storefront exhibitions in the downtown Champaign area. I was challenged with creating a piece to be shown in the ticketing window of the Art Theater. An idea was gaining traction in my head. Time was needed to create.

Photo of Chad Knutson pulling...

his six month old daughter, Janet from last Friday.

Jill & Clara Knutson enjoying the same afternoon bike ride.

My time is limited as a Mommy Freelancer. I have between 20 & 25 hours a week dedicated to Jessie Marie Studio. Half that time is spent attending to any administrative work, business planning, brainstorming, emailing, social networking & photography fun. The other half is dedicated to my client's projects & building the Adventures with Ranger Roy empire.

A choice had to be made. I had to deliberately pick which client's projects I was going to focus on. It seemed between August & September God created a clear path of new opportunities. The path didn't "make sense" - or bring in a consistent paycheck. But I had to trust Him.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test & approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing & perfect will." Romans 12:2

Mountains & Music

View of the Continental Divide from our 5 mile hike

Inside Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Summer slides by faster when time is spent doing things you love. And no summer would be complete without this Midwestern girl heading out to the mountains & taking in a live show (or two).  It's even better when both can happen at the same time.

On July 9th the Avett Brothers were scheduled to play at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. A must go to venue outside of Denver, Colorado. The weekend road trip from Champaign, Illinois turned into an adventure to remember. Creative encouragement, teamwork & laughter filled our newly formed traveling team of four: Jarrod, Jessie, Leslie & Roger. We couldn't have planned a more perfect trip if we wanted to.

Did you have a trip of a lifetime this summer? Tell us about it.

Fabulous Traveling Team of Four: Jarrod, Leslie, Jessie & Roger

--ADDITION: Video sent by Jarrod showing a trip of a lifetime this summer. Enjoy! --


Almost There - The Muir Project from The Muir Project on Vimeo.


During the summer of 2011, a group of multimedia artists spent 25 days hiking the 219 mile long John Muir Trail. The intent was to capture their experience on the trail and bring it back to the general public in the form of a gallery exhibit including photographs, video installations and hands-on displays that allow visitors to truly get a feeling for the beauty and majesty of the trail without the burning lungs and blisters. Alongside the exhibit will be a feature length documentary chronicling their adventures on the trail.

This is the first glimpse into their epic journey, accompanied by the single, ALMOST THERE by Opus Orange.

themuirproject.com

Finding Balance

A post of the letter from the Jessie Marie Studio Winter 2011 Newsletter sent on February 17, 2011.

“Life is like riding a bicycle to keep your balance you must keep moving.” -Albert Einstein

There are seasons of life where moving forward is the best course of action. A busy season at work, a new baby in the house or surviving a Midwestern winter. Jessie Marie Studio just exited its annual busy season.

For the past four years I've worked with the Denver Transportation Club to create a printed program, & other marketing collateral for their annual conference, Operation Stimulus. This project coincides with the holidays and Cadence’s birthday. Because of this timing, a magical balancing act has to take place. I don’t bathe in pixie dust nightly. Instead I made a plan, called on support & saw an end.

Make a Plan: Is there a relationship or project in need of your attention & energy? Recognizing where your focus needs to be makes it much easier to prioritize your time.

From previous years I knew the energy Operation Stimulus was going to take. I mentally prepared for the late nights, anticipated project challenges & stocked up on tea.

Call on Support: Do you know someone who will check up on you? Contact them. Tell them about that relationship or project. Talk to them weekly, better yet daily, to keep yourself accountable.

Jarrod is the reason projects like this one always end successfully. He didn’t only support me by checking in, he also did all the laundry, cooking AND dishes!

The End: Locate an end date when there will be time to celebrate. Or at least come up for air.

The end of my busy season is marked by Fat Camp. This year a girlfriend shared this great idea: Mini-celebrations. While working on her Spanish dissertation she feels the end will never come. To feel like she is finishing something she has a mini-celebration whenever she finishes food from her kitchen. A bag of chips emptied. Clapping & cheering! Last piece of spinach salad down the hatch. Hooting & hollering!

Balance is a tricky thing. Even with the best plan, the most dedicated supporters & the celebration of a lifetime planned, things can go array. You can try to take control of life by force. Or, may I suggest, take off the training wheels & enjoy the ride.

Here’s to finishing a mug of hot chocolate!
Jessie Marie 

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Restructuring Habits

A post of the letter from the Jessie Marie Studio Fall 2010 Newsletter sent on November 9, 2010

 

"Because how we spend our days is, of course,
how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard

 

Pull out your checkbook. Take a look at the transactions from the last three months. Do you see well thought out purchases or unnecessary ones? Now, pull out your calendar. Look at how you have been spending your time. Have you been filling it with family & friends, working late or working out?

Your spending habits of money & time can either help or hinder you from achieving your dreams. Say you want to run a marathon. You can’t just show up on race day. You would die. Okay, not die, but those 26.2 miles would suck. You need to register for the event, buy a good pair of shoes & schedule time to train. In other words, you will need to restructure your current habits.

Reach. Reach. Kick. Kick. With the help of a floating device Cadence can swim. This feat was made possible by restructuring our family’s habits six months ago. We paid for the lessons, bought new swimsuits, and committed to heading to the swimming pool once or twice a week. Not only has Cadence gained beginning swimming skills, we have built relationships with other parents & their little swimmers. And now, Thursday night swimming lessons are a weekly habit.

I challenge you to restructure a habit or two over the next three months. You will probably not squeal with glee like Cadence does when she enters the pool when you first start. We adults are adverse to change & all. But, by the next time you hear from me that new habit will be a sign of you making your dreams come true.

Happy Dream Making!
Jessie Marie

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Challenger: Christine Bougie

Christine's new album, Aloha Supreme

Christine Bougie, a very talented full-time musician from Toronto, Ontario, & I share a love for bettering ourselves creatively. Christine took the Challenge from my last newsletter & answered the following questions back on February 17th about Restructuring Habits:

Did you restructure any habits over the last three months?
Tell us about your successes (or set backs).

About restructuring habits:
I've radically restructured my days since the beginning of the new year. Here's what I committed to:

• no internet before noon
• first thing of the day is guitar practice
• working in 45 minute intervals (with timer and with breaks). starting with practicing guitar, then composing, then either more practice (drums or lap steel) or prep for gigs.
• overall goal of finishing one new song a week over 12 weeks (I'm in the 4th week now)

It's been a great productive period for me over the past 7 weeks, and at the same time I've been very "in the moment."

Balance is something I've come to understand through creating structure.  I've found that when I start off my day with important but non-urgent things, the rest of the day feels
much more open. I end up feeling free to be spontaneous, which is a nice surprise. 

Thanks for sharing, Christine!

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Retreats at the Lake House

Make Art Retreat: November 13th - 15th

The Make Art Retreat brought Jessie Marie Studio's beliefs to life: creativity, harmony & relationships. Five women participated including myself. None of these women had met each other before, but all knew me. Therefore, most of them have heard about one another which helped in people bringing certain questions for certain people. ie. one women used to work at a camera shop so my other girlfriend brought her camera with questions since she is starting up a side business of taking wedding/family photos. All had projects that they were working on that they needed guidance, brainstorming &/or an outside view. We were able to talk art, make art & eat awesome vegetarian food during the weekend. We made these portabella muschroom sandwiches on focaccia bread that were AMAZING! 

I personally worked on my Acadia Children's book & was able to get another illustration done over the two days. I think it is the best one to date. Each women critiqued what I had already completed as well - which was nice. We kept the following loose schedule:

Loose Schedule of Make Art Retreat

Saturday, November 13th - weather forecast: RAIN/44º high

Jessie & Leslie arrive mid-afternoon

Unpack. Set up studios if need be.

Between 6PM & 8PM Dinner

Chit Chat. Make Art.

Sunday, November 14th - weather forecast: PARTLY SUNNY/42º

Early Morning - (if awake) Leisurely Breakfast

Morning - Take in Art. Chit Chat.

11AMish Pack Lunches & head over to Calumet County Park for a hike/nature photo shoot (weather permitting)

Afternoon - Make Art. Chit Chat.

Between 6PM & 8PM Dinner

Chit Chat. Relax.

Monday, November 15th

Clean up. Gather our Art.

Return Home.

The hike got axed since it was sleeting all day Sunday. All in all I really hope to make this a yearly or bi-yearly event. It was refreshing in a geeky art kind of way :)

Fat Camp 2011: January 28th - 30th

The Four Blonde Crew enjoying their fond due.

A group of four of us from high school get together annually at what we fondly call Fat Camp. It is a time of eating good food, catching up & maybe even going for a winter hike or doing an exercise dvd inside. We met much farther south this year at my parent's cabin on Lake Winneabago rather than in Upper Michigan. There was a comment that it wasn't remote enough since we had internet & cell phone reception. The best take away from the weekend: when grumpy put on some high heels & make up. You are sure to feel better.

And for you foodies out there a review of the menu.

MENU
Friday Night
A pot of Italian vegetable soup will be on the stove for you to enjoy when you arrive. Along with a side salad & bread. Matched with a Merlot.

Saturday Breakfast
A light breakfast of fruit, chocolate chip bagels, tea & juice

Saturday Lunch
Leftovers from Friday night.

Saturday Dinner
Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches with Tomato & Basil Tortellini Soup. (Check out Whole Food Recipe App for this one!)

Sunday Breakfast
Brunch style. Omlets, toast, sausage & fruit.

Snack Ideas
Snickers Bar Fondue with wine as afternoon or late night snack. Matched with a Muscat (white dessert wine).

baked chips and / or whole grain goldfish
cheese & sausage tray with a local brew.

ACTIVITIES
Bring winter gear if we want to go out. Bring workout gear if we want to stay in. Bring only pajamas if you just want to sit on the couch all weekend!

Create: Line

Over the next eight to ten weeks Jessie Marie Studio is going to present the following Elements of Design: Line, Form, Value, Space, Balance, Shape, Color and Texture here on Cause to Gleam.  These Elements are the basic building blocks of art & design.

During this series you will have a chance to interact with the Elements of Design through short exercises. If you decide to participate please pass along your work & it will posted with the Element it represents. Enjoy & have fun!

Line

Line is the continuous movement of a point along a surface, such as by a pencil or brush on paper or canvas. The edges of shapes and forms also create lines, such as the edge of your computer screen. Line is the most basic of the elements of design. It creates the shapes and forms you see on a two-dimensional surface. Every line has length, thickness, and direction. There are curve, horizontal, vertical, diagonal, zigzag, wavy, parallel, dash, and dotted lines. When you use these different kinds of line you can create different feelings on the paper. Dark, thick lines can convey intensity whereas light thin lines can convey a tenderness to the viewer.

Watch the professionals at the typefoundry House Industries represent the element of line is a variety of ways in the below video:

Interact with Line

Collect a couple objects from your kitchen, such as a whisk, a couple bowls & an apple. Arrange them on your table. Create 3 to 5 sketches of your still life. Challenge yourself to have some of the images be the outline of the objects while others show inner detail. Try to represent different feelings of the objects through your line quality.

{Day 25: I made this amazing Creamy Quinoa Primavera for dinner last night & wanted to share!}

Kinetic Typography

Enjoy this fun kinetic typography video of Jonathan Coulton's song Shop Vac my friend Dave told me about tonight. Good stuff.

Mail Call

I always love getting my cardboard wrapped Communications Arts in the mail. Opening it up is like opening a Christmas present. And this one was extra special: Communication Arts First Typography Annual! Oh the eye-candy to enjoy. I've attached three of my favs after my first flip through:

1. Advertising Series: Wisconsin Cheese

Check out the calligrapher, Holly Dickens & the advertising agency, Shine Advertising Co. for this project.

2. New Font: Carrosserie Fat 

Check out the entire typeface here on myfonts.com.

3. Packaging: Honey & Mackie's Ice Cream Shop

Check out all of the packaging & the story about the shop here on thedieline.com.

***
Hmmmm anyone know why my links are showing up in different colors? Or are they fine for you?

{Day 4: The most delicious salad for lunch: lettuce, shredded 4 cheese, tomatoes, green peppers, pecans, croutons, raspberry vinaigrette dressing.}

May 5, 2010: Make Art Day

Make Art Day Rules
1. no email
2. no facebook
3. be in my studio by 8:30AM with tea in hand

FOCUS PROJECT: acadia illustrations

i completed the 5th illustration for our book by lunch!

all the illustrations together

i headed out into the sunshine at 11:30AM to meet jarrod for lunch.
indian food for the first time. mmmmmm.

after lunch i headed back to washington street & had a photo shoot with the afternoon light.



after uploading the photos & doing some visual research for my next illustration i decided i had hit a creative wall. so, i went out for a four mile run. it was nice to not have to force my mind to be creative in the afternoon when it doesn't want to be. after the run i was able to make progress on the sixth illustration. i hope this first make art day isn't my last! it was very refreshing.

Date Weekend

Aunt Sara took on the challenge of staying with Cadence for an entire weekend to give Jarrod & I some time away. We appreciated her kindness & the time away immensely! Jarrod found a great resort for us to stay at, Eaglewood Resort & Spa. I did protest at first about staying there since I'm not really a fan of their brand typeface. I really should not have, the food was great & the atmosphere was elegant.

On Saturday, after getting out of bed at 10AM & eating a relaxed breakfast, we found a city park to run our scheduled eight mile run for our upcoming 1/2 marathon. It was fun to run in the snow & together. We have had to run all of our runs separate since one of us has to stay home with Cadence. After the run, we visited IKEA (Jarrod had never been there!) and then filled our tummies up at the Melting Pot in Schaumburg.

Thanks again, Sara!