Fur In The Paint

Well, Okay. I can’t make you thin, but Paul McKenna claims he can. It is all about reprogramming the way you think about food, through simple techniques. I must admit, I find the whole concept fascinating. And while I have been experimenting with week one’s plan, which is to eat consciously, I have not followed all the rules for it.

Week 2 Emotional Eating
The premise is that most overweight people eat to satisfy some emotional need, whether it be boredom, loneliness, or sadness. (I tend to over eat when really happy. Go figure.)

So the next time you have a craving for food, that is not hunger based, you can try this technique. It involves tapping pressure points on the body, while doing left brain and right brain activity. It rewires the brain, so to speak, to alleviate the desire to eat.

Tap under the eye several times, followed by the collar bone, then under the eye again. Tap inside, side of wrist, then back of wrist.

While tapping back of wrist, close your eyes, then open them. Look down and to the right, followed by down and to the left. Roll eyes 360 degrees to the right, and then to the left. Keep tapping. Hum a tune. Count to 5 then hum a tune again. Tap under the eye and back to the collar bone.

Assess you desire for food. The number of taps isn’t crucial, nor is the order of things correct. It is the activity itself which works.

Week 3 Busting Your Cravings
If you have a weakness for some favorite unhealthy food, this visualization technique might help. The premise for this is, the body doesn’t differentiate between a vivid fabricated image and a real experience.

So picture in your head your most disliked food. The thing that starts a gag reflex at the thought of it. (for me its peas, When I was a child I actually vomited during lunch when my mom forced me to eat peas. It was the last time she did it, though.)

Close your eyes and visualize eating them. Do the action of sticking your fork into the plate lifting it to your mouth, then chew. At the same time squeeze your left thumb and index finger together. Continue squeezing your fingers together until the exercise ends. Now add to this, whatever manner of revolting stuff you wish. He suggested hair clippings from a barbershop, spittoon juice or worms. Continue to put your fork in and eat. Then add your desired food, say chocolate for instance. When you are completely grossed out, you may stop. Asses your craving. The next time you have a craving for this food, simply press together your left hand thumb and index finger. Your visualized experience will remind the body of the disgusted feelings you experienced during the exercise.

The good thing about this, is you can do the same thing for energy or happiness. Visualize a wonderful experience you had, remember and feel the feelings. Draw upon many memories if you wish. While doing this, squeeze your right hand thumb and index finger together. Next time you need a boost or an emotional pick me up just squeeze those same fingers together. Cool!
For more information on Paul Mckenna or his program visit http://tlc.com/thin

See my post on weeks 4 and 5 of I Can Make You Thin

And speaking of magazines . . .

Notice anything familiar about the latest issue of Apples ‘n Oats spring 2008 issue?

Here’s a tiny hint . . . the horse painting

Yup! you guessed it. Carol Eilers the editor/publisher, has once again generously put one of my paintings on the cover of A&O. Thank you Carol. It looks great. I am especially lovin’ the red.

The Definition of Irony
So I went and got the mail, as I do every day. And to my surprise, (and delight) a hefty envelope had been sent to me by an artist friend. Inside was a large magazine called Artful Blogging, Visually inspiring online journals by Somerset Studio. I had been talking with my art group about blogging, as it is still a relatively new experience for me, and one of them had sent it to me. (I got the best friends, especially since the cover price was $14.95.)

It doesn’t really strike me as a how-to kinda mag (though it does have a couple articles in the back about blogging etiquette and how to get started.) It is more like a glimpse into hundreds of creative blogs, that I might never had discovered on my own. It is a quarterly mag that is chocked full of gorgeous imagery (Ooh. . .eye candy) that is accompanied by nice little tid-bits of writing. Rather inspiring to see so much creativity out there.

Kinda strange though. I mean really, how weird is it to have a magazine about blogs? But then, I guess I am blogging about a magazine, so the circle of life is complete.

The First Step Is Admitting You Have A Problem
As I previously mentioned, I just recently submitted my article for the newest issue of Apples ‘N Oats magazine. After each submission, Carol Eilers the editor/publisher sends me a note saying that she added a few more commas or a semicolon. (Note: This last time she didn’t comment on my punctuation. But I think that has more to do with her just going ahead and making the necessary changes, as opposed to my writing abilities.) Now I don’t think it is her job to proof read everything I write to make sure it is grammatically correct. (Oh, wait … maybe it is?) But as a responsible artist/writer I have decided to seek help and improve my writing skills.

Oddly enough, we had this book, When Good People Write Bad Sentences; 12 steps to Better Writing Habits, by Robert W. Harris, in one of our bookshelves. (View the Table of Contents.) I am not sure where it came from or why it appeared (some form of karmic intervention perhaps?) but I immediately sat down and began to read. It has been a long time since I had grammar in school and I have gotten sloppy over the years.

It is written in a tongue-in-cheek style of a addiction intervention. By offering a 12 step program for self improvement by breaking “The Habit” of bad writing. At first I found this a clever way to make the mind numbing subject of diction, grammar, and style, actually a little entertaining. About half way through though, the amusement factor got a little stale.

Denial
It appears that I resemble one of his examples of a bad writing addict, by thinking that adhering too closely to the standard rules of writing, were going to interfere with my creativity, self expression and ability to communicate in my own voice.

Idealistically, I have always thought, as an artist that I am a visual person. I shouldn’t have to write about my work, because my work should speak for itself. This my friends is denial. Truth is, not only is it important to write clearly for my Apples ‘N Oats articles and this blog. But also for all of the artistic submissions and business dealings that I do every day. Often I think, “eh, artists are supposed to be quirky. I can get away with it.” I have finally decided that I need to improve my writing skills, if I really want to compete with the big dogs. (Sometimes, it’s hard being a grown-up.)

The Judgment
The most beneficial idea I got from this book was more applicable to marketing than writing. It deals with the importance of promoting benefits over features. The book explained that while listing features is good, it is the benefits that people respond to.

For example:
A feature might be inexpensive
while a benefit might be affordable

A feature, answers the question “what is it?” A benefit answers the question “What does it mean to me?” This seems to me to be a powerful tidbit of information that will be useful in my marketing efforts.

The book was an easy read. Though, I feel that far to much time and wordage was spent on the addiction angle. While I still don’t have a good grasp of dangling participles or splitting infinitives. In the end, I got the information on the areas I most needed help in. How to use of commas, semicolons, and dashes properly. That is, I think I now have a grasp on how to use them properly. I wrote most of this post before finishing the book. We’ll have to see just how much has soaked in and gets utilized in my future writings.

It was worth the read. I learned some important things. Other things didn’t really stick. Maybe I should read it again. Or maybe, I really do need to crack open a grade school grammar book that spells it all out for me, in a simple to understand format, as if I am a slow-witted child. “Hmm … Nah! I am an artist I can get away with it.” (As they say: D’nile, ain’t just a river.)

I just finished reading How To Profit from the Art Print Market; Creating Cash Flow From Original Art; Practical Advice for Visual Artists, by Barney Davey. (A bit of a mouthful really.) View the Table of Contents.

Mr. Davey was a salesman for Decor magazine and its trade show Decor Expo for 15 years. Much of what he says is geared toward using those avenues of promotion. He suggests that to launch yourself in this way would require an investment of at least $100,000. I would think that for the average artist, (myself included) this is an unrealistic plan of action. However, once you get past that, the book is pretty good.

I gleaned more than one good idea from it. Like, when at an art show and you have someone who is really on the fence about purchasing, and they say those three little words made classic by Arney, “I’ll be back.” You discreetly slip them a postcard that offers something special upon their return (i.e. A free box of greeting cards, a free mini print or a 10% discount.) Since I am not the hard sell type, this strikes me as a great alternative to being more aggressive or appearing desperate (Like … by falling to my knees, clutching their pant legs and begging.)

Also, I particularly enjoyed reading about the strategies used by some of the current top selling print artists like Moss, Wyland, Doolittle and Kinkade. For instance for over 15 years, P. Buckley Moss made no less than 100 appearances for one-woman shows at her dealer galleries, per year. Wow, now thats commitment.

Though, I can’t say that this is a must read for every artist. I do think this book could be a valuable resource. It is crammed with website urls on nearly every aspect of the art business. This book is a great starting point to explore the various avenues for furthering your artistic business goals.

I am dragging a bit this morning. I’ve had my usual jolt of caffeine courtesy of diet coke. Ah… sweet nectar. Still not 100% yet. I went to bed last night at a moderately reasonable hour. But still I tossed and turned and couldn’t quite pass out. I usually try to squeeze as much out of everyday as possible. And so sometimes when the day is done I rehash How I could have sqeezed just a little bit more out of it. Now, thats not to say I don’t take any me time. I try to walk 2 miles everyday and I enjoy a hot (as in scalding my butt pink for 20 minutes after its over, hot) bath. So I lay awake last night wondering how I’ll manage to get it all done and make it all work. I tried to do some relaxation techniques with moderate success. Anywho, somewhere in the wee hours I faded off.

WARNING! The following paragraph contains muttering and whining. Please move on to the next entry if you don’t want to have the seeds of a crusty attitude implanted.

I recently finished reading The Secret by Byron someone ( think his name was Byron?). Some of my artsy friend had been talking about it and got my curiosity up. The jist of it is visualize what you want, Send that thought energy out into the universe and it will manifest itself unto you. The catch is you have to Believe that it will work, for it to work. Your cancer will be cured if you believe it enough. You will become rich beyond your wildest dreams…just believe. I follow some practices of visualization but it is the Believing that I struggle with. Making small things happen like a cup of coffee or a parking space easy enough. That I will be healed of being a diabetic. Hmm… can’t quite muster the blind faith. And yes, I think in many ways it really is just a spin off of religion. Both require faith and a certain amount of ritual. And if things don’t work out the way you want, well then there is no one to blame but yourself. You just didn’t believe it enough. Try harder.

Apologies. I really do employ visualization techniques for my personal life as well as business. And I believe they are successful in most cases or I wouldn’t continue to do them. There was just something about the book that smacked of a marketing ploy on the desperate. Probably just my mood and tomorrow I will be extolling the virtues of it. Fickle woman that I am.