Christine Ann Webb The Inner Voice of A Mixed Media Artist

sur·vive to survive -Verb

1. Of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive.
2. Of an object or concept, to continue to exist.
3. To live longer than.
4. To live past a life-threatening event.

live[ liv ] verb

1. to have life: to be alive
2. lead particular type of existence: to spend your life in a particular way
3. to fully enjoy life: to enjoy life to the fullest, to really know how to live
4. experience something: to experience or go through something living a dream

Surviving and living seem like they mean the same thing but think about it.

To Survive is to be in existence - heart beating, lungs breathing, to physically be alive.

To Live is to be passionate about and enjoy life for all it has to offer.

Re-Read the definitions above….

I want to share a story of a friend of mine that really drives this point home.

My friend was diagnosed with uterine cancer 2 years ago.

She went through surgery, chemo and just found out she is officially in remission.  Yeah!

Was it an easy road to recovery?  No

Cancer treatment is not easy anyway you look at it, but she ended up with some side effects.   The main side effect that limits her is that she cannot feel her feet and has to use a cane.

When she was at her doctor’s visit recently, she was telling the doctor about what aliments she is encountering now.

After listening to my friend for a bit, the doctor finally said “I understand your frustration but I want you to know that if you did not come to us when you did, you would be dead!”

Then the light bulb went on in my friend’s head and she said “So what you are saying is quit my bitching and be glad that I am alive!”

My friend survived cancer.  She has recovered as best she can.  She had the realization that she is alive and now it is the time to live

She then shares with me a story of living life…..

A few weeks ago when we had a lovely warm spring day, My friend decided to take in some sun by Horsetooth Reservoir.

She remembered this place she used to go where there was a perfect rock to recline on.  This place was down a steep path.

Now remember, my friend cannot feel her feet and has to use a cane.  Along with that, my friend is not a small person.

So she proceeds down the path at her own pace with people asking if she needed help.

She said, “No, Thank You.” and proceeds on her journey.

It was a difficult descent but she was determined and arrived at that perfect rock to soak up some sun!  What a fabulous reward for her efforts.

She told me “Christine, I have a choice.  I can choose to let this limit me or I can choose to live life.  I choose to live life!”

What a great attitude!  We all have a choice in life….

Recently, I read about the Event + Reaction = Outcome Formula.

We will all have events that happen in our lives.   These events can be as simple as a traffic jam or as big as a health issue.

We have a choice on how we react to these events.  Our reaction will then determine the outcome in our lives.

My reaction to my divorce was to learn, grow and heal and become a better person!  I chose this reaction because my parents went through a divorce when I was in the 6th grade.

And my mom’s reaction was the complete opposite.  I saw her unhappiness, anger and depression.  I did not want to choose that path for myself.

As I told my mom recently, “You carried my cross for me so I could learn to handle this better, Thank you Mom.”

So open your minds and make the choice to live life fully instead of just surviving.

I close with the Lyrics from this song,

Sung by Matthew West called “The Motions”

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
“What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?”

No regrets, not this time
I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I’m finally feeling something
‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

‘Cause I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
“What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?”

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way (’cause I don’t wanna go through the motions)
take me all the way (I know I’m finally feeling something real)
take me all the way

Take Care,

Christine

Don’t just go through the motions in life, Embrace, Enjoy and Feel Life for all it has to offer!

And this does mean the good with the bad experiences.

The troubled times are necessary in order for us to rise above, grow to a better place and a better life!

humble[huhm-buhl, uhm-] adjective, -

1. not proud or arrogant; modest: to be humble although successful.
2. having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.: In the presence of so many world-famous writers I felt very humble.
3. low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc.; lowly: of humble origin; a humble home.
4. courteously respectful: In my humble opinion you are wrong.

grat·i·tude(grt-td, -tyd) n.
1. The state of being grateful; thankfulness.
2. a feeling of thankful appreciation for favors or benefits received; thankfulness

Humble Gratitude is a true deep emotion that comes from the heart.   I say emotion because you can surely feel it when you have a moment of humble gratitude.

Why did I put the word humble in front of gratitude, you ask?  Why just not plain old, gratitude?

The word humble has a sincerity about it.  Read the definition again…

The definition states  “be not proud or arrogant.”

Ok, I had a self discovery this week about the type of people that rub me the wrong way.

I am not saying that this type of person will not be part of my life or that I will try and avoid them, it is just a personal observation.

I have a hard time with people who “talk themselves up”.    As artists, business people, musicans, or whatever it is that we do, We do have to do a little self promotion.

Keep the word “humble” in our mind, It is important.   If we talk about our physical accomplishments all the time, What are we hiding?  …….

We are hiding our hearts and who we are!

People want to know who we are!   And if they don’t want to know who we are then those are people who just won’t get it anyway, so no big loss!

When you are showing your artwork and someone comments about it, be humble.

Say “Thank you!”  Create a story behind the piece, a positive story

AND NEVER talk about the stuggles and trials that happened along the way of creating the piece.

AND NEVER say “I don’t like this one because……

Listen to the person observing your work.   At some point stop talking and listen…  You never know what inspiration for another piece of art that you will get from them!

Ok, I feel I just went off on a tangent, so I am reeling myself back in!

My point is to notice all the things in life, no matter how big or small, that we can be grateful for.

At the end of each day,  remember each of these moments with gratitude. 

And be thankful for the ability to recognize these moments!

To take it one step further……..

Write down your grateful moments! 

I find that we all tend to forget things.  I know big surprise!

What a wonderful thing to be able to re-live these moments of gratitude by reading them in your journal the next day, next week or even years later.

We need to remember all the good stuff in life, embrace it and let it fill our hearts!

Take Care,

Christine

di·rec·tion

 (d-rkshn, d-)n.

Noun

1. the course or line along which a person or thing moves, points, or lies

2. management or guidance

direction - something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action

The other day, I was on my morning walk.  It was a windy day and in the sky there was a bird flying into the wind.

I know you have seen this…

A bird flapping his wings with all he has but he just remains suspended in air, going nowhere.

He keeps trying, flapping his wings even harder.  Still going nowhere and he only gets fatigued.

If he only knew that with the slightest change of direction, he can start his journey with a little more ease.

And with a completely new course, his journey will be easier or even effortless.   With the help of the uplifting wind under his wings, he will be able to glide onto his new course.

We can learn from the bird's struggle with the wind as we enter into the New Year!

2008 for me, was to look at all aspects of my life and fine tune, streamline.  I looked at what was important to me and the kids, what was taking my energy away and made adjustments for a better balance.  

This was a slight change of direction for me.   A better course, but still struggling with the wind.

2009, I will look for the uplifting winds to give me direction with greater ease on my journey!

I ask you all to reflect on areas in your life that may be hard, taking away your energy or are no longer in line with your values in life…..

Step back to see if a change of direction is needed!

Happy New Year!

Take Care,
Christine

nug·get

(ngt)

Look beyond the narrow sight of what is immediately presented to us!

We meet so many people everyday.  Not necessarily a formal introduction.

You may be standing in the same line at the coffee house.   Or the clerk for that matter.  Or introduced by a mutual friend.  Everyday these opportunities are in abundance.

We have the choice at these encounters to engage them beyond the simple pleasantries,that is if even we reach out that much to complete strangers.

Sometimes, a simple joke to provide comic relief to the cashier who sees person after person.  To just asking more about the person who you were just introduced to.  Or sometimes it is as simple as saying a sincere “Thank you so much, have a wonderful day!” when someone holds the door for you, merges the right of way in the aisle at grocery store, or those who wait on you at stores, restaurants, or wherever.

I try to look beyond what is presented in front of me as I meet people throughout the day.  At my shop, I meet many people.  After greeting them, I take that extra step to engage the person.

What does that mean?  Engage the person?

n·gage (n-gj)

It would be so easy to just say, “Hi, Welcome to The Artists’ Nook, give them the “blah, blah” about what we do here, let them look around then say Goodbye as they leave.

When I take that extra time to engage them, by asking something about them, I get sooo much in return.

Today was an extra busy day.  The leaves are changing here in Colorado and it is probably one of the last weekends to see the colors.  Along with a wonderfully warm fall day and a little craft show in the Grange across the street, there has been groups of people in throughout the day non-stop.
(Thank, God for saving as draft so I could start this post as the moment hit me and save for later to finish my thoughts)

At one point, I had a few groups of people in the store.  I gave my spiel.  Some looked around for a bit and went on their way.   There was this couple in with their elderly mother.  They looked around at the weird found objects, bottle caps, electronic resistors and other oddities I have.  Then they got to my antique typewriter, I have sitting around just waiting for the day (and I do mean day, cuz that is how long it takes to rip apart one of those suckers) I will disassemble it for an art project.

“My mother here used to type on one of these years back” the gentleman said about his mother who was with them.  

Will I ever see them again? Would they ever come take a workshop, or buy my goods?  Probably not, but that does not matter.  I love people!

I decided to engage them, even though this busy day of Welcome, blah, blahs could easily overtake my desire to care.  By the way those are the moments when you need to engage even more!

I talked to the lady about how much stronger people’s fingers were back then using manual typewriters.  She went on to tell me should could type 120 wpm on one of these and she can remember when they got their first electric typewriter.  She remembered the dates, but I don’t.

I asked her how did that feel the first time typing on an electric typewriter?  She told me, like it was yesterday, “It was weird, I felt out of control, I had to lighten up my touch.”

We went on to talk some more about how she did shorthand.  I mentioned that we collage artists would love to find old shorthand books to add to our collages.

I then picked up a book I just got from artist Christine Mason Miller called “Ordinary Sparkling Moments” which is her life insights written over her collage art.

I showed the lady the old ephemera that was sprinkled throughout the book’s artwork.  She just loved it, and reminisced about past memories.   For me, Truly a moment worth cherishing!

This would never have happened if I just said, “Good bye, Have a nice day!”

Take Care,

Christine

Ok, I not going to start from the very beginning of my life.  So, stop rolling your eyes!

I am going to talk about my journey as a mixed media artist to this point in my life.  Recapping the moments that brought me to where I am at today!

I was not necessarily creative from the beginning.  My mom was always doing some craft, sewing or something creative.  So I guess you could say that I was surrounded by creativity.

I remember my first introduction to rubber stamping at a home party.  I was intrigued.  I like the fact that you did not have to draw to get an image on paper.  But the cutesy stuff did not resonate with me.

But knowing there must be more.  I started looking a magazines and found one that was WOW, now this I like.   Collage, and projects with more than just stamps and ink filled the pages.   This was for me!

Fast forward a bit, In July 2000, I decided to open my own rubber stamp store as the cool one in our town closed that Spring.

My friend, Christi Wich’s owned a store Timeless Creations.  Timeless Creations was a shop that had crafter’s handmade items for sale on consignment.

I started my store The Artists’ Nook in the basement of this cool store in this wonderful old house built in 1925.   A great beginning!   

I was able to have central checkout through Timeless Creations.  I could come in on weekends to teach workshops, stock or whatever needed to be done.  I was able to work around my family’s schedule.

I would create projects for workshops I was teaching.  I was just beginning my discovery to the Altered Art, Collage world I now live in.

I traveled every couple years to take workshops from these fabulous mixed media artists.  But it was difficult to travel with 4 small boys at home.  My husband would have to take time off work so I could go. 

I decided to invite these artists to come to me, to teach at The Artists’ Nook.

That is how it all started!  Over the past 8 years, The Artists’ Nook store moved to several location finally finding it’s current location in a country retreat setting just minutes from Fort Collins.    Now, The Artists’ Nook is finally home, in a place where creativity is inspired by it’s surroundings.

Ok, enough about the store!   What about me as an artist?

Well, I have always created to come up with a workshop to teach, while taking a workshop but never just played!   A few times, I have played but not to the extent that I would like to.

Just a suggestion, if you want to open an art store so you can create more art, DON’T!

I have been vowing for years to create more, to discover my own art style.   But years go by and……..

So I am the expert at procrastination!

I am the expert for putting myself last!

I am the expert for but after this……

NO MORE!

I will create art every week!