What's a maven?
A maven is an expert in a specific field. Wikipedia defines it thus:"A maven is a trusted expert in a particular field who seeks to pass knowledge on to others. The word 'maven' comes from Hebrew, via Yiddish, and means 'one who understands,' based on an accumulation of knowledge."
I like that definition, so that's the one I'll use here. I know a ton of stuff about living a creative life and doing the things that make your soul sing, and I want to help other people figure out ways to do those things, too.
And why me?
What you mean is: what makes me an expert? Besides living the creative life myself, what it is is: twenty years of working in the fields of creativity and mixed media art, talking to lots and lots of people, writing dozens--if not hundreds--of articles, figuring things out, doing interviews and podcasts, teaching, making and selling art, and sharing what I've learned in the process. Scroll down for more specific information, like book titles and stuff.
Am I a coach?
What is it exactly that I do, then?
I help creative people figure out what they want to do and how to do it. I didn't set out to do this, but people keep asking me to help them. They ask for advice, they want to know if I'll mentor them, they want how-to's and tutorials and suggestions. And while I love helping people and would love to do this for everyone who asks, I can't. Not for free. There aren't enough hours in the day, and if I'm going to do something right, I've got to make the time to do it right. I thought about this, and this is how I can make it work: treat it like a job, rather than a favor.
A few examples, please~~
Here are three from conversations I've had in the past, just to give you some ideas of what we're talking about:
~~An artist who wants to move to The Next Level asks me about how to do that, about whether to quit the day job now or stick it out, about what to do first and what can wait. How can you find time in an already-busy life for the things that make your soul sing?
~~Another artist has been given a chance to speak publicly about her work. She's never done this before and wants to know how to prepare so she can relax and enjoy the experience and how she might want to structure her talk. I've done this many times with a wide variety of audiences and can offer lots of suggestions from one end of the spectrum (very formal) to the other (very loose).
~~Another has a project that's going really well and wants to talk about the possibilities for sharing it with a wider audience via publications and shows. Where to start? What to consider? How to go about proposing this? (The project has since been shown nationally and has been published as a book. I don't claim I made this happen, not at all. I like to think our conversation helped, though.)
Been there, done that.
The reason I'm qualified to do this is simple: because I've done it. Not all of it--I'm sure there are creative things I've never even thought about doing. Song-writing. Gourmet cooking. Script-writing. But what I have done is figure out how to do what I love to do and make a living at it. I've been writing for publication, steadily, since 1991. Here, let me just list it for you so you can see what I've done and see if those are the kinds of experiences that you think would enable me to help you make your own path:
~~I've written dozens of magazine articles for a lot of publications--many Stampington titles (including Art Doll Quarterly, Art Journaling, Art Quilt Studio, Belle Armoire, Belle Armoire Jewelry, Somerset Studio, a (former) column for Altered Couture, and some one-time pieces for Legacy), Rubberstampmadness (my very first writing gig, one that lasted many years. I'm still friends with my first editor, Roberta Sperling), Cat Fancy, and Personal Journaling.
~~I've taught workshops. A lot of workshops, from animal-related classes back in my former life as an employee and public speaker for the department of animal control to mixed media workshops around my home state of Texas and at large national art retreats like Artfest and Art Unraveled.
~~I've made and sold my work: collage, assemblage, art dolls, art quilts, jewelry, handmade books, artwear. It's been in galleries around the country and has been featured in magazines.
~~I set up and stocked my own Etsy shop for several years.
~~I make iMovies and have a YouTube channel.
~~I do regular podcasts as Notes from the Voodoo Lounge. I taught myself how to do this from scratch and have done podcasts with dozens of fabulous artists.
~~I blog, both here at The Voodoo Cafe and at CreateMixedMedia.com
~~I've done public speaking in a variety of settings, from doing press conferences about rabies when I worked for animal control to an Authors at Google gig where we went to the Santa Monica offices and talked for an hour about my third book. You can watch it here.
~~I maintain my own blog and website. They're not showy, but they get the job done.
~~I help edit a website for my publisher, F&W, parent of North Light Books.
~~I've altered almost everything in my closet.
So those are my creds. I can help you do stuff because I've done stuff.
And, oh, yeah: I know how to live a creative life and make this stuff fun.
What I don't do
I won't do it for you. I don't design websites. Although I do write some things on commission, that's a whole separate gig. I won't introduce you to my editors or to Famous People I've interviewed or podcasted (I'm still trying to figure out if "podcast" is a transitive verb, but let's just go with it here, shall we?). That would be like, um, peddling influence. You know: you pay me, I'll put in a good word with A Famous Editor. Nope. My job here is to help you figure out what you want to do and how you can do it, not for me to do it for you. The way you'll feel good about it is if you figure out how to do it yourself, with some guidance and suggestions and encouragement from someone who's been there.
The nitty gritty?
You figure out what you want help with. (Yeah, I ended that sentence with a preposition. But at least I know I did it, right?) You make a list--whatever you need to do to get the stage where you know where you need help. You send me an email and let me know what you need. Then you'll click on one of those buttons down there, and then we set up a time to talk. I generally do this between 2-5 pm Central time on weekdays, but if those hours absolutely will not work for you, we can figure out another time that works for both of us. Why am I doing this only a few hours a week? Because it's not my main job--I'm still doing all that other stuff up there, and this has to fit into whatever time's available. You know how that goes; you're busy, too.
$50 for 1/2 hour
$90 for full hour
Anything else?
Nope, I think that's it. I'm really looking forward to being able to help people realize their creative dreams--that's my dream, and everything I'm doing--the articles, the blog posts, the movies, the podcasts--are all about sharing my passion and inspiring other people. It's my purpose in life, and this is my chance to implement it in a concrete way~~XO
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