Coloring Printables for your Creative Practice

I got such a lovely response from our last post on building a creative practice around your work, that I’ve made coloring page printables with the illustrations. These printables are 5x7 - easy to frame for your workspace. You could also make into cards and send to a friend! Do that! It would be so nice! (High res pdf available down at the bottom of the post.) Work hard, but remember to be kind to yourself this week! 

I wanted to share what some of my favorite practitioners say about practicing. 

“To be a successful freelancer, one doesn't need to be motivated, one needs to be well disciplined in their approach to work.”
MOLLY JACQUES / WHY MOTIVATION IS A LUXURY

This post speaks to me on so many levels. People often assume it takes a ton of motivation to work from home. But really, it just takes a ton of discipline. You're not born with the ability to focus. Discipline is like a muscle. You build it over time through practice. Molly also gives some awesome strategies for doing this. Read her post here.   

“YOU MUST LOVE THE PROCESS OF CREATING AND NOT JUST THE END RESULT AND ESPECIALLY NOT THE AFFIRMATION.”
JENNY LEE / DON'T WAIT FOR PERMISSION

I am a serious affirmation seeker (middle child, right here!), so this post from Jenny Lee of Daddy Sang Bass really spoke to me. An artist/writer/creative can feel an immense pressure to do what's popular, especially now that we all carry popularity meters in the form of phones. But Jenny points out that you can't do your work for likes, you have to do it because you can't stand the thought of not doing it. #wisdom. Don't wait for permission to do what you love. Go read and look at her beautiful letters. 

“I usually start by making lots of drawings and collages whenever I have an idea. These are such immediate processes that I often work really quickly without worrying about the outcome. I like that idea of being able to think through the hand.”
Herbert Green / Happiness is Handmade

Okay, how cool is this lady? Rachael Cocker chose Herbert Green as her brand name / alias. I love it! I love the idea of thinking through the hand. Her work is so lovely and uniquely hers. I think that's a product of working through an idea without expectation. She recently launched her site, which you can view here. Her interview on Daily Metal is here and where I found the above quote!

Last week was such a big and beautiful, hectic week for us! We had the opportunity to screen print an amazing poster designed by Nimble for Roswell Restaurant Week! You can see the process and all the magic behind screen printing on our newly launched Instagram channel @madanddusty. We also took a much needed field trip to Fernbank Museum with our little nephew. (Baby stegosaurus photo coming soon!) We hosted a big family gathering - nothing caught fire and the dog didn't bite any children. YAY! All in all, a good week for the Beaulieu's.

Have a good week! 
Mads

(Download the high res PDF here.)

How to Build a Practice Around Your Creative Work

2016, Here we go! Dustin and I have had some amazing time for reflection on what we want to do with our business in 2016. One thing we want to do this year is hone our personal style and eventually update our brand to match. I’m working on building a practice around how I create. The only way to hone a personal style is to create relentlessly.

Let me tell you about a designer’s dilemma. Starting a project, brainstorming, building mood boards on Pinterest - super fun. The edits, revisions, tweaking, and translating feedback - not always super fun. When you get down to it, the work that pays your bills and feeds your family, is not always what your creative mind wants to do. How to sidestep this dilemma? I take my mind to the playground. Every morning before work I spend 2 hours drawing, reading, dreaming, and writing. This is the hour that I build my creative practice and release any creative energy or tension. Then I shower and get ready for work. I find I am much more focused and disciplined with myself after my practice hour.

We all know a good relationship takes work. You have to look at your work and understand that it takes relationship.

How do you build a good relationship? You show up, a lot. How do you build a good relationship with your work? You practice. You show up even when we don’t feel like it and create things just for the sake of creating things. Over time, you will build strength, clarity and focus. Practice makes a professional.

(There are so many yoga parallels in this post, I just can’t even.)

Tips on Building your Creative Practice

ONE: 

You can’t treat your creative practice as a performance. Ever sat down to create and thought, “I can't wait to post this to Instagram?!” Just having that thought cross your mind takes you to an entirely different place. I don’t know about you, but I can't make anything wonderful in that place. It's the place where I start stressing out about shit that doesn’t really matter. I repeat, it’s a practice, not a performance.

TWO: 

Have intentions, but not goals for this time. So my intention is to write a blog post per week and illustrate a little every day. But one morning last week, I wasn’t feeling it. I read Rumi poems instead. Listen to yourself and give your mind what it needs.

THREE: 

Practice with frequency and keep showing up. Try to practice when you have the most energy. I’m a morning person, so I do first thing from 6-8 am. Do this everyday. 

FOUR: 

Use mental cues to teach your brain what this time is all about. I always start with coffee, chill music and my journal. It’s my little warm up. Experiment and find what works for you.

FIVE: 

Stick to your end time. Unfortunately I can’t let myself dream all day. At the end of my practice, I review my calendar for the day and get ready to do billable work. Sticking to your start and end time will help you build boundaries around your work. It will also help you build strength at setting boundaries in other areas of your life. Cheers to that.

Let's make 2016 the year that we constantly showed up for ourselves. Yeah? 

Hugs!
Mads

Side note: Should I make coloring pages / screen graphics from these illustrations? Leave a comment below if you'd want one!

Update 1/19: Coloring pages available here!