Hannah Albert: Inspired

ArtaWhirl 2011@ Casket Arts in NE Minneapolis

Please join us in studio 418 for ArtaWhirl, marking my first full year of art-making in the Twin Cities' historic Casket Arts Building. This NE Minneapolis open studio event is the largest in the United States!

days and hours open:

Friday May 20th         5:00pm - 10:00pm

Saturday May 21st    12:00pm - 8:00pm

Sunday May 22nd     12:00pm - 5:00pm

 

The Casket Arts Building is located several blocks north of Broadway between Madison and Jefferson, at 681 17th Ave NE. Parking is free on-street or in one of the lots around the building.

 

Rachel Rolseth's beautiful new paintings feature portraits based on phases of the moon; see some of her work here.

My latest work features larger mixed media paintings I call dreamscapes and many brand new small collages influenced by Japanese wood block prints (see below.)

Both of us will offer orignal art under $100 and prints for $20 and up.

Special guest Tessa Anttila will offer hand-crafted aromatic body butters and salves to be available in limited quantities.

Snacks and beverages will be accompanied by guest-curated music tracks for this unique event.

                

             ~~~FEAST YOUR SENSES~~~

 

mixed media on panel, 8"x8", Hannah Albert

 

  mixed media on panel, 8"x 8", Hannah Albert

 

 
mixed media on panel, 8"x 8", Hannah Albert

Make your plans now for this once-a-year event - not to be missed! The Casket Arts Building is a historic landmark, and I'm so excited for the opportunity to open this beautiful studio space to you.

giving up the story

Just as the map is not the territory,

the story of your life

is not your life. 

ink study, summer 2010

map making

You could say that an artist is like a map maker. Every artist presents his or her attitudes, opinions, and perception about the world within and at large - describing a particular territory. Conceptual, visionary, topical, or emotive, they're all autobiographical; how can anyone be removed from his or her own perspective?

Looking back over the years of images, like a photo album they tell a story. Like magenta shag carpet reminds me of my room at the age of 9, seeing a high-school drawing of my mom's car in the snow brings back a flood of travel memories. I've created my own meme of prayers, heartbreaks, discoveries, and victories within the objects I've made. 

The power of making images lies in the ability to constantly create The New. Like a new wardrobe, a new haircut, a new house...though better because it comes from within. Because I make them myself I have the satisfaction of being my own boss, critic, and curator.  I show myself that I am the creator of my world. Still, these objects are fragments of the totality of my meme; there's simply no way to dream, activate, or observe it all. They are only parts of what I've seen, where I've been.

 

a leap into the unknown, guided by self-knowledge

we love a good story

For most of the last 12 years (when not making art) I've made my living listening to people's stories, as a Homeopath. Stories animate our lives, filling in the cracks of boredom and adding texture to quiet space. They make us laugh, they make us cry. They help us make sense of things that we'd otherwise prefer to light on fire. The stories we tell are little i.d. flashcards that remind us where we came from and how we got to now.

A Homeopath is fascinated by the individuality of The Story, as if the patient is being interviewed for a broadway musical about him/herself. I love being a witness, a documentarian, and helping people grow beyond the limitations of their minds. As a Homeopath, I need to perceive exactly how uniquely each person is asking for help. A moment comes when the "crack in the cosmic egg" sends up a tiny poof of smoke. If I blink, I miss it:  the magic moment when life's potential to turn on a dime flashes in front of my eyes. That moment is what I live for - in my work, and in my art-making.

Have you ever been listened to so well that you learned something surprising about yourself? Felt safe enough to tell your secrets, only to realize your story was only part of the truth?

I've been told a true healer holds up the mirror, shows you the beauty within, brings you closer to yourself....and shines light on the shadows of your story. Then you get to choose what to do with the information. As it turns out, nobody can rewrite the story except you. It's not that the embers of the fire have no value, but freshly chopped wood, arranged just so, are what puts the heat out. Sometimes you outgrow your story and have to send it up in flames.

I invite you to sneak outside your comfort zone, stack fresh logs on the fire, and pray with your heart open. You just might crack yourself wide open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My next Art retreat, Stoking the Fire, will incorporate visualization, art-making, writing, and music. The date is October 30th from 9:30- 3:00 and I expect this to fill up quickly so please email to enroll. 

.

Mission Blue & the Water Paintings Project

Researching where to make the most global impact with regards to conservation - and most connected to my vision for the Water Paintings project - I've come across Mission Blue. Listen to it's founder Sylvia Earle discuss how intimately connected our lives are with 97% of the water on the planet - our oceans. She brings the big picture home to us. 

My Water Paintings project involves the creation of images intended as healing meditations. While painting them, I focus on the life force of creatures affected by polluted waters. We are just one of those creatures - and our bodies contain 60% water. We are part of that life cycle that needs water to survive, yet also creates the pollution of that source.

The start of this project was inspired by my desire as an artist to take action in response to the Gulf oil spill. Upon launching this series of paintings, affordable quality prints will become available for purchase and 25 % of the profit from the sale of those prints will be donated to Mission Blue for at least the rest of 2010. After this year I will continue to donate some percentage to Mission Blue from this painting series as an ongoing project. Follow me here or on Twitter (Mantra Art) to stay connected with this project.

These paintings will use a combination of media that are both water and oil-based. Water and oils do not mix, yet they find ways to live together on the canvas as they must in our bodies and the ocean.

Many of you know that I have 10 year's experience as a Naturopathic physician and Homeopath that motivates and informs my art. When we focus on healing ourselves, we naturally begin to make choices that more positively impact the global sustainability of life. Each one of us has the power to make choices that protect, sustain, and enliven others. Actions follow thought. Thought provokes language. Let us be mindful of what we are creating in our own bodies, our relationships with others, and ultimately our global community. We can no longer afford to think inside the box.  

 

 

details from works in progress

"Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all. Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”

Kahlil Gibran

If you are inspired by the Water Paintings project please share this. I'm also in search for other artists that want to collaborate for a water-themed exhibit.

Get inspired to uplevel your life

It's all about using your imagination.

I started this blog because people tell me I inspire them:

I inspire people with chronic health issues to become aware of how their limiting beliefs manifest as dis-ease in their bodies, and what to do about it.  

I inspire others because I survived cancer and it's treatment -- at the same time that I created a new Naturopathic medical practice in a city where people didn't know me. 

I inspire some with my art; I'm told it's unique and contains beauty, passion, and mystery. In my creativity workshops I inspire the discovery of hidden treasures long forgotten.

Beyond these, I inspire you to think about how you think, and to look at how you see. I help you see there is life beyond the cage called your mind. We all have our own pretty cages that make us feel sexy and secure, but ultimately keep us dulled down and unempowered.

What can you do today that uplifts your soul, expands your beauty, and unleashes your most powerful gifts?

Unlocking the cage

At the end of last year, I left my primary care Naturopathic medical practice after the best financial year of my life. I'd sold more art than the previous 16 years just by opening to the idea that I could. I also became an internationally-published author on the subject of homeopathy for mental health. (What recession?)

Although I love doing healing work one on one, there was a voice in my head that kept telling me to paint. It had been 17 years since I'd really given myself permission to make art, front burner. So when I moved to Minneapolis I decided on three things for my business plan.

1. simplify everything

2. make art with the intention and faith of earning a good living

3. trust the path to appear without a strict plan; be strong by being vulnerable

Synchronicity happens

I'm sure my family and friends thought I'd gone off the deep end. Again. But I knew I had to follow some deeper wisdom I could no longer ignore. And then synchronicity kicked into full gear. I heard Chris Guillebeau was creating an Empire Building Kit, and after the great results I had with his Guide to Art and Money, said yes for some guidance for my non-plan Plan.

What's happened since then

I was commissioned by a friend to make her the largest-yet painting, and sold another large painting. I found a gorgeous studio on short notice, showed my art at the largest open studio event in the U.S., sold a bunch of work, made several month's rent, and received two requests for interviews. I created 32 new pieces of art and published 28 inspired blogposts. And thanks to my readers - YOU - quadrupled readership. 

If you’re interested, the Empire Builder Kit is re-launching for a third time today, June 16th 2010 at 9am PST. (Email me your questions -- I'll be available 11-6 MST.) The premise of the EBK is that it's possible to make at least $50K in one year doing something you love, on your own, from anywhere. The case studies include people that are making much more, some of whom never went to college. I like receiving a brief daily instructional email for 365 days, breaking it down into reasonable bites. I'm also an affiliate because I'm living proof of what's possible.

What this means for you

That you should give up your day job to become an artist? Well, only you can answer that. The bigger question is... are you excited to get up in the morning to do that thing you love? Something meaningful that fills your cup? Where you get to express your joie de vivre in your own unique way? That brings you luscious feedback and appreciation because of how powerfully you're impacting lives around you?

If not -- why? Make a list of your reasons for staying with a job or work that isn't giving you back at least 10x what you're putting in. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes about commitment. I think committing to your vision is the scariest, yet most powerful one to make.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

Goethe & other authors

My request: if this article inspired you in some way, please take 10 seconds to retweet it or share it however you'd like. Your support allows more people to hear about my work - I thank you for that.

peace and chaos in the creative life

I've often said in recent years that making art is the one place in my life that I most easily let go of the paddle and let the current take me. Making things often puts me into a meditative state where I can let go of my mind and no problems exist.

Eckhardt Tolle calls this state the "power of now." Rumi says "Soul serves as a cup for the juice that leaves the intellect in ruins. That candle came and consumed me, about whose flame the universe flutters in total confusion." 

There is a long-standing myth that artists can only create significant, beautiful art if they're emotional, angry, neurotic cases. (You can replace the word artist with any kind of creative person, and art can represent whatever is meaningful to you.) When I was younger I identified with the myth, believing it fed my creative process - and my art reflected that inner (self-created) torment.

It is true that I have gone through a rather large amount of upheaval in my life. But I have yet to meet someone who hasn't experienced some kind of major suffering in his/her life, and I'm constantly amazed at what human beings have the capacity to rise above. What I have learned over time is how to accept uncertainty and trust chaos; and how to allow my emotions to guide me in life and art.

There is a science (system dynamics) that explores the idea that when one thing in a system changes everything has to eventually adapt. So chaos is the appearance of things before they have finished rearranging themselves. You can apply this to shifts in relationships, physical illnesses, moving to a new city, starting a new career, the list goes on... We could say creativity is learning to flow with change in any circumstance, both inside and out. Creating peace then becomes a practice of finding what works most effectively to melt away conflict, self-doubt, hesitation, or overwhelm.  

My art is becoming an expression of that surrendered state, where I get out of the way and something bigger takes the reins. I set the tone with a series of steps that don't necessarily go in any particular order.

1. ritually brewing my favorite oolong tea in a special pot

2. listening to music (i.e. electronic) to induce a trance-like state

3. dancing and/ or doing yoga to music

4. chanting a song or mantra

5. going for a walk while focusing on birdsong, the sun on my skin, and my breath

6. remembering that breathing happens without any effort

The formal aspect of making a painting begins with stitching a random scribble onto the canvas with a sewing machine. After stretching and priming the canvas, I wait for an image to emerge from the abstract shapes. I allow the structure to emerge from chaos, a technique borrowed from surrealist painters. 

What have you learned about finding peace and dealing with uncertainty in your creative life? I welcome your comments.