Putting it all together! (the Creative Process)

The final installment on our month long series focusing on  “the Creative Process”  featured in  weekly installments to help creative business owners-

As we approach the pinnacle the next stop through the creative process is- 

CONCEPTION:  By combining our identity, inspiration and vision, committing our intention, and creating a design, model, or outline to form our creative expression. Our idea’s are conceived and in this mix of idea’s and intentions a creative “baby” given life-it may be expressed in acting, or in a new song, new item in your merchandise line, or exploring a new creative genre, like painting, fashion design, or ??? your imagination is  limitless!

CONSUMPTION:  Once we have gone through all these steps to put our creative babies out into the world then what?  We want everyone to love our babies as much as we do!  We dream of the masses loving what we have created, and imagine thousands, even millions of copies of our “creative babies” to be in the hands and hearts of “our people”.

WHAT’S NEXT?  At the end of every cycle stop and review.  Every process and step in that process is filled with learning opportunities, keep what works, and don't repeat the same mistakes again,

 as artists we have a duty to ourselves to diligently work at evolving and improving our craft.

 Are their any steps in the creative process that you feel you need to clarify or develop further?  If you look at your creative pyramid, if you are not starting with a strong sense of identity and how you relate to your market, it will have a direct impact on everything you hope to build upon.

Let’s step away from the pyramids and charts and look at actual example of the creative process in work with a local  San Francisco bay area artist named

Nkechi  (pronounced N-Kay-Chee) an artist, having worked as a actor, singer/songwriter/ model, she is now exploring painting as part of her creative journey.  I sat down with Nkechi  after her audition for the X-Factor to discuss her evolution as a artist,  The journey of accepting herself as a creative, and what it was like going through the audition  for a Network Television show.

(TE)How did your background help you prepare for an open casting call event?

(N)-As an actor and model I am used to the “waiting” part of long auditions.

(TE)What was your inspiration for auditioning for the X Factor?

(N)My sister suggested it. And then I decided to highlight the obvious. I believe every individual is a unique creation of God, which I translate to mean we are all God’s X Factors in our own lives.

(TE)Do you set goals for yourself as a artist or as part of your creative business?

(N)Before this year, (2012) not so much. This year, very much so.

(TE)Was auditioning for a network television show one of your goals?

(N)Being on a network television show by 2015 is one of my goals.

(TE)How did your background help you prepare for an open casting call event?

(N)I am used to riding the feelings of anticipation that build up before an audition when you are really going for something with all you are.

(TE)Let’s take a look behind the scenes at you rehersing before your audition:http://youtu.be/qqthLzo0JbM

(TE)Were there any surprises during the audition process?(N)I was surprised to see how many fellow local bay area artists were there to go for it as well.  I love San Francisco as a (creative) community.

(TE)Can you tell us briefly the steps in this type of audition process?

(N)In a snapshot it is a cattle call. We were at the cow palace after all! But in a way you are “just a number” assigned to a seat and then you hope that your mini performance plus a big dose of providence enable you to stand out enough to get called back.

(TE)How much preparation did you do to prepare for your audition? A few days.

(N) I did as well as could be expected for someone like me.  An original artist developing my sound and figuring out how much I feel called to make music. I sang a medley of “Tonight” by fun and Amazing Grace.  After not making it to round 2 I did a little second guessing as to whether I should have gone for an original but I shook that off and made a decision on steps to take in approaching a future opportunity.

(TE)What would you have done differantly ?

(N)I would have gotten a coach familiar with X Factor for help to make sure I was presenting the truest expression of my artistic voice.

(TE) What did you learn from this process?

(N)I got inspired in a bigger way than before.  I learned that my purpose has always involved being an entertainer although I’ve doubted this for most of my life.

(TE)What advice would you give young singers attempting a big goal?  (N)-Pace yourself and enjoy the process.  Where you start as an artist may not be where you end up, but as long as you are expressing your true essence you will be a winner. "Pursue your art! Whatever it is. If you want to sing, then sing! If you want to paint, paint".

(TE) I have watched you fearlessly and enthusiastically explore a variety of creative genres, acting, singing, and writing. Have you always accepted yourself as a artist?

(N)I seem to have finally come to peace now with who I am and how I am made.  I am a beautiful child of God, and so are you. After much pain, life experience and a quasi identity crisis I have come accept God’s purpose for me in sharing his love through music and art. Music and art moves people and helps people get through life experiences they don’t have words for.  I appreciate this now and want to give back what I have been given.  I pray that my music will stir people in the way others’ music has moved me.  I am a work in progress, but knowing this now has added tremendous peace to my life.

(TE)  Nkechi, thanks for sharing your journey and evolution through the creative process as a artist!  We  wish you the best success going forward, and  sharing your inspiration with our readers!

###

Tamra Engle is a independent Business Strategist, Producer, Speaker and Blogger based in the S.F. bay area. She provides artist's and businesses  Artist Development, Performance Coaching, Production, Project Management, Process Improvement, and  Operations Development services via private consultations and assignments with a focus on  Lifestyle rebalancing,  to help you reach your objectives.

You can read more about services to help you and join her mailing list at: www.tamraengle.com  

You can  email Tamra at guitartam@gmail.com

Sign up now for your 1 month Master Class’s to help your Creative Business:

 http://www.squidoo.com/guitartam-master-classes

Spring Forward w/ your business

 The 1st quarter of the year is behind us.
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What projects have you completed?
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The Creative Process Pt 4

The Creative Process: is this  Month's topic featured in  weekly installments to help creative business owners-

 INTENT (#4)

How do you bring your creative vision into reality in a fresh inventive way?

They say “there is many a road paved with “good intention”. Before you get stuck on that road, you will want to ask yourself if you have the time, resources, and money, to realize your vision? 

If your missing these 3 key factors your creative process could potentially end right here.

What are you creating?  Have you created something like this before?

  Has ANYBODY created something like this before?
Do you have the time, resources or money to dedicate to this? 

If your writing a song, it could take you only  :45 minutes- just like quick Mick Jagger when he penned Brown Sugar⁽¹⁾ , or it may be 5 years⁽²⁾ the reported amount of time Leonard Cohen took to create the masterpiece “Hallelujah”. 

Creating art  for me, is like creating little babies, some of them come quick, and others take their time, you just can’t rush them being born- each one comes out when it’s darned good and ready!

Make a mental determination whether you have the time, resources, or financing to commit or not commit your “intention” to your creative endeavor.

DESIGN: (#5)    

This is where the rubber hits the road, the point in time where you combine your inspiration and identity with your vision, to create a draft, proto-type, or model of your creative composition.

The design phase is where thoughts, ideas, doodles, and plans converge to be arranged, tested and edited with the ultimate goal of mirroring what was imagined in the creators mind.

Can you think of examples where a design fell short of your expectations?

Apple a company not known for many  failed products has had a couple of missed opportunities, the Mac Newton (1993) which I believe was one of the 1^st PDA’s on the market, Priced higher than most computers at the time the $700 Newton drew barbs for it’s poor handwriting recognition. 

A more recent tech miss was Nintindo's Virtual Boy Anything but portable and easy to use. If you blinked you may have missed this one!

Enjoy this beautiful example of Intent, Vision, Inspiration, and Design  in Jeff Buckley’s interpretation of Cohen’s  ”Hallelujah”. 

Share a link to your recent realized design with readers in the comments below.

Tamra Engle is a independent business strategist, Producer, Speaker and Blogger based in the S.F. bay area. She assists artists and creative business’s via private consultations and project assignments with Artist development, Project management, Production and Lifestyle rebalancing,  to help develop your independent creative business.

You can read more about services to help you and join her mailing list at: www.tamraengle.com  

You can  email Tamra at guitartam@gmail.com

Sign up now for your 1 month Master Class’s to help your Creative Business:

Article References

⁽¹⁾ They started running down Brown Sugar the first night, but they didn't get a take. I watched Mick write the lyrics. It took him maybe forty-five minutes; it was disgusting. He wrote it down as fast as he could move his hand. I'd never seen anything like it. He had one of those yellow legal pads, and he'd write a verse a page, just write a verse and then turn the page, and when he had three pages filled, they started to cut it. It was amazing!

-        Jim Dickinson, in Keith Richards, Life (2010)

(2) http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/neilmccormick/6006529/Hallelujah_Leonard_Cohen_on_Hallelujah/

Jeff Buckley YouTube: http://youtu.be/y8AWFf7EAc4


Artist Master Class for your business: http://www.squidoo.com/guitartam-master-classes

Inspiration and Vision

The Creative Process-Inspiration and Vision 
pt 3 of Series

The Creative Process: is this  Month's topic featuring weekly installments to help creative business owners-

As we continue our steps through the creative process pyramid we being with the spark that starts it all:

INSPIRATION:  Refers to the "Stimulation of mind, body, or soul to create".

It’s literal meaning “breathed upon”  has spiritual origins of both Helenistic and Hebrew roots,  both sharing  the universal belief that a divine one breathed the inspiration upon us.

What inspires us to create? It varies by individual, ask 5 of your friends or colleges and I bet you'll get 5 different answers.  Some have found solace in a clear bubbling mountain stream, others in watching a sunrise or sunset. Perhaps hearing how a particular melody, verse or story is written alters how you hear music going forward.
Who among us hasn't felt of the joy or heartache from another human, or 4 legged friend.   

INSPRIATION VS PASSION:

Words often have “implied meanings” based upon our cultural mores.

 The word "Inspiration" has a playful connitation, it suggests   fleeting moment that a creative spark or moment occurs- A Divine Presence. You generally don’t think of a “inspiration” being a long lingering event.

Passion on the other hand suggests more of a burning, longer commitment... filled with strong emotional themes like love and rage. 


In creative endeavors this emotional fulfillment is a powerful force that when combined with your personal identity   is the  spark and burining flame of your creative process.

WHICH WAY NOW?

When inspiration hits you, it can be a sudden jolt, like walking around  seeing in dull grey's and suddenly seeing in vivid color. Much like taking dark glasses off when your outside in a beautiful bright sunny garden.
But what do you plan to do with this creative inspiration?


Vision:  is the destination  you are headed to, are you creating a  record label, or clothing line? or does your Vision incorporate other ideas?  Writing down a concise  statement about your overall creative direction of your business, doesn’t tell you how you’re going to get there, it is a blue print that sets the direction for your business planning.

When we find and follow our passion and combine it with our inspiration tied together with our vision, then magic really begins to happen.  Your spark and burning desire can spread, and catch others up in the wave of excitement.

PUTTING  IT TOGETHER:    

A beautiful recent example of combining  identity, Inspiration, and vision features a  astonishing 9 yr old entrepreneur  named Caine Monroy who lives in East LA.  
In this video Director Nirvan Mullick introduces us to Caine, who is armed  with his passion, inspiration, vision  and a few cardboard boxes, gives and gains  personal fulfillment by achieving his vision, and living his dream of “just getting 1 customer”.   Enjoy this video, If you have ever "dreamed" this will resonate with you, even inspire you.

CAINE'S ARCADE

I would love to read or see   how you have utilized your Inspiration and Passion to achieve your Vision in the comments below.

Interested in growing your business? Join our  MasterClass for Artist Business to maximize the success of your creative business http://www.squidoo.com/guitartam-master-classes

Tamra Engle is a independent business strategist, Producer, Speaker and Blogger based in the S.F. bay area. She assists artists and creative business’s via private consultation and project assignments with  Artist development, Project management, Production, Business Planning and Lifestyle Rebalancing,  to help you achieve your creative success.

You can read more about services to help you and join her mailing list at: www.tamraengle.com  email her at guitartam@gmail.com

Sign up now for your 1 month Master Class’s to help your Creative Business

Ref:  Video: Caines Arcade: Directed Nirvan Mullick.

CREATIVE PROCESS-Identity

THE CREATIVE PROCESS;    PT 2 of a monthly series dealing with the "Creative Process" to help independent artists careers.

When life is puffed into us, we are born artists, some of us enthusiastically embrace this fact, others may have their creative urges stuffed into a little corner and don’t ever go “play there”. I like to think they are the grumpy jerks that cut you off when your driving, individuals mad at the world.

There is a process that occurs when you, as a artist are giving birth to creativity.

The creative process is really a series of steps to achieve a creative outcome, whether that is a play, painting, sculpture, or song.

If you view the creative process as a pyramid,  over the next few posts we will review the 7 steps in the creative process starting now with the very foundation.

IDENTITY
who we are

A Personal Brand- is what you as a individual are putting out to the world. To have a successful creative career you need to have a clear understanding of your Identity or who YOU are, then, you can watch the magic that happens when you align your public brand, what people see, with your core values.

Your core values are the things in life that determine your tastes and thoughts, it is where social, political, and religious beliefs are held.  As children growing up, our parents and any religious experiences we have heavily influence our values and identity.   


Some values evolve as life experiences and influences take place, while other values stay fixed throughout our life these 5-10 fixed values are our core values.

It isn’t always what the artist says but the image they are conveying.  Think of your favorite artists of all time, pick 3 words to describe their style.  Your list is probably going to include artists who believe in the same kind of  things you do.

The 3 basic elements of a strong Brand Identity include:

Values:  knowing the core beliefs that are important to you, they are what drive your brand.

Difference: What makes you uniquely different from everyone else?

Marketability: In your field how marketable are you?  In the old Hollywood film days they used to refer to actors that transitioned from Vaudeville stage to screen as “triple threats” because they could sing, dance, and act.  It greatly increased the actors ability to work because they were so marketable, because of their versatility!   Today you may recognize them as the artists selling all the records who are the dancing, singing, “check out my new movie” artists.

What does a personal brand do for you?

Your Personal Brand is like putting your stamp on everything you do. It is your most valuable asset because it encompasses your intangible qualities and puts all that knowledge into a platform that helps guide your life and career, while presenting your uniqueness in a tangible,  marketable and valuable way. Your platform is your launching pad, roadmap and touchstone rolled into one.

It gives you:

·   A strong sense of self – you’ll know your story and be able to present it

·   The comfort of feeling centered on making career decisions.

·   A clear vision and sense of purpose.

·   Knowledge on what’s really important to you.

·   A CAN-DO attitude and mindset.

·   Clear focus.

·   Knowledge how to position yourself as an expert and in the best light possible.

·   The ability to put yourself at the top of the pile of increasing choices in the marketplace

More meaning in your career

Can you identify what your core values are? Or did you just identify a area you need to develop?

Tamra Engle is a independent business strategist based in the S.F. bay area. She assists artists and  business owners Private consultations and special assignments.
Her areas of specialty include:  creative development, project management, music producer, motivational speaking, and workshops to  help you develop your independent music  or creative business. You can read more about services to help you and join her mailing list at www.tamraengle.com  you can email her at guitartam@gmail.com

Happiness the Creative process Pt 1

April's Topic is "Happiness" and features weekly posts to help you through the creative process-

WHAT IS GOOD FOR US?

Knowing what and how much of something is “good for us” is an eternal challenge that we all face.  Often the “right choices” means that we will deny ourselves pleasure. Like not eating a 3^rd cookie.

Your mind is then faced with playing mediator to your “lesser” physiological self, and your “greater” moral self.  Some days, we have ALL had to have the 3^rd cookie!

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?

How much pleasure and its excesses are acceptable? 

 When it comes to pleasure, the debate has kept scholars, philosophers, and religious leaders busy for centuries.

The Great Matter - Artist unknown (3)

In 1534, King Henry VIII, a man not known to deny himself anything. Created his own Christian Church when he ordered the Church of England to succeed from Roman Catholic Church, Kicking off the reformation. 

Earlier, the Pope had refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon after not producing a male heir to the British throne. The annulment to allow the King to marry his mistress Anne Boleyn. 

This particular example of excess had a particularly high price for some of Henry's queen’s.

As artists we have found pleasure in the creation of art. Each of us, at one time or another could be found guilty of “losing our heads” in the pleasure of creating our own art.   

 

 Cookies, Kings and You?

What do Cookies and Kings have to do with us as artists?  We admit to enjoying things that make us feel good, and from time to time we have a holiday tossed our way,  and we "may" over indulge.  Our occasional discretion's make us feel better.... don't they?  Humans will go to extraordinary lengths to achieve "happiness"  

Let's take a look at happiness and artists creative process-

WHAT IS HAPPINESS?   

 Happiness has various definitions, because it is something that varies by individual,  for me it is the "quest for the appreciation of life" 

Psychologist Martin Seligman (2) summarized positive psychology's  findings:

Humans seem happiest when they have:

Pleasure: Beautiful view, Chocolate, yummy food, foot rubs, romantic liaisons.

Relationship: Knowing we are “part of”. The social engagement of interacting with others, even without the use of a portable electronic devices!

Accomplishment: Realizing a goal that you have established for yourself.

Participation:  Engaging in an activity or event that is challenging yet, enjoyable.

Purpose:  Knowing we are part of something much greater than ourselves.

*Can you think of  recent examples of your own happiness in each of these categories?

Create happiness: would you like to be part of a happiness project?  email me  a .jpg photograph of a image that makes YOU happy by Friday April 6th 2012.  My goal is to  to collect 100 images,  I will share your image in a special gift for weeks post.

Please include the following info in your email:

Email to: info@guitartam.com

Subject: Happiness Pic

Your Name: (if it isn't part of your email addy).

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tamra Engle is a independent music business strategist based in the S.F. bay area she is available for private & corporate consultations to help you develop your independent business,  produce your next demo. host a workshop or speak at your next event.

 You can read more about how she can help you,  when you join her mailing list at www.tamraengle.com  you can email her at guitartam@gmail.com

References and Credits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Seligman 

(3) http://www.flickr.com/photos/33317700@N07/3277702927/