Tired at staring at a blank page waiting for inspiration?  Nothing coming out that remotely is creative?   Take a break, and if it at all possible go to some beautiful natural spot, whether it be local gardens, a lake, a beach, hill or mountain. Walk and feed your artist spirit and soul on the sights and sounds of nature.

Watch the ants carry small green leaves over a black patch of dirt. Look at the water gathered in the recess of a leaf, feel the moss on a rock or the rough touch of the bark of a tree.

Nature is so full of sounds, smells and sights to rejoice in, so full of beauty to inspire the artist in you. If you only relax and sink into being in this marvelous universe of endless potential, the ideas begin to flow once again.

Stand still. Take it all in. Let a minute seem like an hour by being so present.  Then walk and let the rhythm of your walking bring with it a new flow and rhythm of creative ideas.

Return then to your desk or easel. Now fill your pages or canvas with the beauty you have witnessed, or take some idea that came to you on your walk and begin writing.

Working too hard at being creative doesn’t work. Take a break in nature and see what comes forth!

Needing a way to help more your imagination flow and to see more clearly how a performance or other arts project will work out. Story boarding works really well not just for the film industry, where it first was developed. It can be adapted for theatre, for novel writing stories, plays and even for designing a creative website to market your art work or productions.

Story boarding, first developed by Walt Disney, is used in the film industry to pre- visualize the scenes of a movie by showing a layout of events as it will be seen through the eyes of a camera. Others have adapted it for different media, such as the design phase of web sites and other interactive projects.

A number of puppetry artists I know use it when designing their shows. I found it very useful when I was working on writing and staging my play “The Sorrowkeeper.”  Since I was adapting it from a short story I had written earlier, it allowed me to translate the story to the stage and visualize the scenes.

Not only did I do drawings of the scenes, I also added words to my story board to convey the atmosphere, and the sounds and the music I  wanted.

In the performance we were integrating ritual, dance, theatre, live music, masks and puppets. Many of the actors had to play multiple roles. Story boarding really helped me see how the different elements of the production would weave together, to visualize the rhythm of the play, and to plan scenes that would work.

So if you are planning a creative project, consider how you might adapt story boarding to the media you are working with, and use it to both plan your production and stimulate your imagination.

Do you know that there are deeps wells of creativity within you?  Are you often or sometimes stumped trying to access them?  Funnily enough, turning outwards and observing the works of other artists, can be one of the best ways to increase your own creativity.

I know our culture is obsessed with art work being innovative and original.  You may fear that studying others’ creative work will limit your own creativity and originality.

Quite the contrary!  The more you can expose yourself to the work of other artists, and the more you can absorb these works deep into your bones, the better for your artistic and creative growth.

It doesn’t mean you copy them. Although even doing that can be very helpful.  That’s how all the old masters learned how to paint.  And even though it’s gone out of fashion to do this in art schools, I think a good case could be made to bring back some of those ways of learning art.

Learning the foundations of your art by modeling the works of others, can teach you all kinds of things that it might take years to learn on your own. It can increase your sensitivity as to the nature of your art form and the possibilities within it.

By learning and reciting the poetry of your favorite poets whether they be T.S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath, Rilke, Rumi or some other muse, you absorb deep within you their rhythms and their images. By doing this your own creativity can be kindled, your sense of rhythm attuned, their images sparking in you more images.

Be less afraid of being unoriginal: anything you do will be different from what another does even if you draw exactly the same rose, or sing exactly the same song, or dance the same dance.

You can not only model other artist but use their ideas as a springboard for learning more about your own particular creative voice, or to get ideas for artist projects.

Just look at what they are doing that appeals to you. What don’t you like? This will help inform you about what you want to create.

As well, when you have a special project on your mind, you will be more perceptive than normal, more naturally curious about what they are doing. You may find an idea that you can adapt and use for your work, whether it’s the material they use, a theme they are treating, or the way they handle the medium.

Perhaps a painting by Georgia O’Keefe might inspire you to zero in and magnify part of a flower. Or you could adapt that idea by magnifying a part of the human body such as somebody’s lips and make it fill the whole canvas. Or you might like the colours and hues of a particular painting and use them in a weaving you are doing or a glaze for a ceramic piece.

Or you could take this passage from T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land:

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

What powerful images even just title evokes!  Does this passage startle you with it’s depiction of spring as the cruelest month?

You could write another poem on  based on your experience of being in a very empty desolate, emotional waste land. You could create a dance on that theme, or  a sculpture of found objects, or a collage of “Memory and Desire” or a photograph of a land laid to waste by war, or drought.

The possibilities are endless.

Take a piece of paper out now, and take two minutes to jot down some ideas of what different art works or projects that you could do on the theme of waste land. And then turn it around and write down some notes on what you could create based on the opposite theme “land of milk and honey.”

There’s an old stereotype about women loving shopping. I certainly don’t fit in to this one, and one of my least favourite activities is having to go look for clothes or furniture, particularly in big shopping centres or malls.

I do however love going to local markets, and looking at stores with beautiful crafts, and have a real weakness for bookstores.

And today I had a delightful time  with my husband, in an outdoor market, where they sold hundreds of different plants. We were only planning to pick up a couple of plants for our new garden, but ended up filling the car with pink and red geraniums for our balcony, vines for our small patio backgarden, a jasmine plant whose sweet smell was to die for, and different tropical plants and bushes whose names escape me.

We left with our pockets empty of all change, and plans to come back another day.

We’ve already put some of them hanging on our balcony, and they look so lovely. Tomorrow we go out to plant others in our garden, which still is in it’s beginning state.

My vision is to have a tiny tropical jungle here soon, our little garden overflowing with lush, colourful plants and trees, and a sweet landing place for butterflies. And perhaps even a tiny pond with a few fish and turtles!

If any of you get a chance to visit Xalapa, you might want to spend a night or two at the Hotel Limon. It’s in a great location, just up the hill from the Palacio Municipal, and the cathedral, and less than five minutes walk to the city’s main library and central square,with a wonderful lookout where you can see the city for miles around, surrounded by neighbouring mountains.

Within walking distance are art galleries, Xalapa’s main market, shops and restaurants of every description, and some lovely areas for strolling.

We stayed at Hotel Limon when we first came to Xalapa, before renting a house here.  Hotel Limon served as our base, for getting to know the city. a The first night we stayed in a huge, beautiful  room at the front  of the hotel, which had gorgeous tiling. However, there was too much noise from the street, so we moved to a smaller room which nevertheless was still quite lovely.

Some of the single rooms at the hotel are tiny, however if you get a room for two or three people, they are more spacious and it’s well worth the few extra dollars. The rooms surround a long narrow inner courtyard, which again has lovely tile work.

You can get a single room for $16, and a double room for $20 per night. For the quality, cleanliness and location it’s hard to beat the price of Hotel Limon.

I love Mexico and Mexican culture. One of the things I love most is the Mexican’s use of colour.

They love  bright colours, and use them liberally in decorating their houses.

In Xalapa, Veracruz,  the vibrant colours of the houses  bring  to life even the poorest neighbourhoods.  Bright oranges, sunshine yellow, cobalt blues, turquoise, pea greens- even the dull standard block homes built for government workers are transformed by each owner’s sense of colours.

These dazzling displays of unabashed, definitely not shy pastels,  warm my eyes,  and inspire my artist’s soul.

I  think I am going to be a little less serious with this blogging thing, and listen less to the voices of how it should be.
Damn it, I’d like to have some fun, rant a little and stop trying to be so damn practical.

So in the next few days, I am going to drop all my rules, and do what I do in my art, which is step out on the ledge and jump.

Hey, okay so it might not be so great, and I might break some literary bones, but
on the other hand it  will be more fun and adrenalin producing.

And yeah I love adrenalin rushes! Yippee!

And maybe it will be a breath of fresh air, and bring me something new.
And hell if it doesn’t work I could always  go back to the trusted and true.
Gosh that does sound a boring thing to do!
So watch as I play, and throw the rules out.
Yes and I may be a little self indulgent and not speak to you.
But then try another day, and maybe something will spout
My god I am sounding like Dr. Seuss
Oh dear, oh dear, what I have let loose!

Okay so I have been blogging everyday since beginning the challenge. But tonight I am a little stretched for ideas, and my kid is hungry and wanting supper.

I keep intending to do these at the beginning of the day, when I am fresh.  Things haven’t quite worked out that way. Last night I even published something I was intending to just keep as a draft. There was a ton of spelling mistakes and I hadn’t even finished.

Today I came in and cleaned up the copy, but felt a little sheepish.

You see I would have liked to have more time to prepare for this challenge, but I didn’t.  We’ve just moved into a new house in April, and it there’s been just a huge amountof work involved.  We still have tons to do.

So today I am wondering whether I was crazy to sign up. And I am looking for all sorts of excuses to let it go.

But I know I just got to keep on. Because I will have a chance later this week to get back in stride, and I know that I really can do with getting into a regular habit of blogging. Yes, and I know there’s nothing like public accountability to keep me going.

Well got to get supper. I’ll be back tomorrow!

Particularly if you are a mother like me, you are always looking for recipes that kids will like, that are actually healthy. This is one of our family favourites and is fun and easy to do.

Whole wheat bread

Four Eggs- beaten

A few tablespoons of milk

Ground Flax Seed  (1/2 cup)

Ground Cinnamon (1/2 tsp)

Toppings can be any of these or in combination: Yogourt, Cream, Maple Syrup, Butter, Honey, Fruit (strawberries and raspberries are really yummy

Mix flax with beaten eggs, milk and ground cinnamon. Dip in the bread  slices and soak for a minute or two. Take out and fry in oil of your choice.

I use olive or coconut oil usually.

Okay, I am not a chef. The ingredients amounts are really rough guesses, because I made up the recipe, and I very rarely do it exactly the same.

But really its hard to fail with this one.

There’s nothing like being on the road, and getting a bad case of the runs. It can happen in the most inconvenient places where there’s not a washroom in sight. Worse still it can completely bring your good times on holiday to a screeching halt. But I’ve found a cure that’s worked for me and my family, and it doesn’t involve taking drugs. Now I don’t worry about getting sick this way.

It’s not always been this way.  I have had countless cases of the runs in my travels in Asia, in the Caribbean and across Latin America. One particularly bad family experience, has engraved itself in my mind.  When my son Tonatiuh was one and a half years old, we traveled throughout Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, visiting my husband’s family in Mexico, and then going on to see the pyramids, and sacred sites of these countries.

While in Acapulco, my son was hit by Moctezuma’s revenge. We tried all kinds of natural remedies, and when these didn’t work, prescription drugs. These didn’t have the desired effect either, and it took three days in hospital getting intravenous, before he was on the road to recovery. You can imagine how stressed out and worried I was as a mother.

But since I’ve discovered this natural remedy, I’ve never worried again.  First of all, it doesn’t involve avoiding all street food, or ice or the local tap water although you may want to be careful about these. Personally I love sampling local fare, eating at markets, and at street stalls. I do use bottled water, or boil my water, in Mexico and other places where the tap water is not safe to drink. But that’s about all.

The remedy I’ve discovered is organic oreganol oil.  It has lots of other uses too, and can be used when you get a cold or flu, with varying success. But whenever any of our family members has a case of Moctezuma’s revenge, taking a drop under the tongue every hour until the symptoms disappear, seems to work marvelously.  Usually a  drop or two will be enough.

Occasionally if I am eating somewhere, where I am suspicious of the food, I will take a drop along with my meal, but mostly not.  It’s a very strong oil and it can also kill off stomach bacteria of the good kind, so don’t go overboard. More is not better in this case.

Good quality organic oreganol oil is not cheap, but well worth investing in, both in saved doctor’s and drug fees, and in ensuring that you are able to relax and have a wonderful holiday.

A few words of caution, if for any reason your symptoms don’t go away within a few hours, or get worse; visit and get the advise of a doctor, or health professional. I’ve not found any natural remedies that work all of the time, in all situations, and I’m certainly not going to risk my family’s health or mine, by being too doctrinaire about anything. Neither should you!

So get a small bottle of oreganol oil for your next trip. Hopefully you won’t need it. But if you do, you’ll be glad you discovered a remedy for Moctezuma’s revenge.