This morning in our One Q Interview, I’m excited to introduce you to my soulsister, Jolie Guillebeau. Jolie is an artists living in Portland, Oregon, and has just kicked off a new project: 100 Painting in 100 Days. There’s something on the easel every day at Jolie’s place — and lucky you! You can buy her art work at ridiculously low prices. The painting from day one costs just $1. Day two, $2. You get the idea. I’ve already bought a beautiful still life of an egg, and I’m skulking around her mailing list waiting for other kitchen-related items to appear.

Jolie has taught me a lot about setting your vision and reaching a firm, clear goal. (That second part is problem for my monkey-mind). Today she talks to us about goal setting, and reaching for 100.

Q:   You and your hubs are like the queen and king of goal setting. What made you choose this ambitious goal of 100 paintings in 100 days? What are you hoping to learn about yourself and your creative process in the midst of this challenge?

Queen of goal setting? I’m not so sure.

Mostly it was about getting myself back in front of my easel. 2009 was a really hard year in a lot of ways for several reasons. We moved away from our community in Seattle to Portland (where I didn’t know anyone), and I lost my moorings for awhile. I had artsy friends in Seattle and worked at a museum, so I was getting regular feedback and always talking and thinking about my work with other people. Once we moved to Portland, I missed that and I found my well of creativity dried out pretty quickly. I floundered and my self-esteem plummeted.

It took me nearly a year to find roots here in Portland, and find some of that community again. By December, I had that support, and I was on my way again, but I hadn’t really picked up a paintbrush in months. So (of course) I set goals. We went away on our annual goal setting vacation, and I read (or re-read) a few books that inspired me: Making a Living Without a Job; Write It Down, Make It Happen; and  The Gift by Hafiz. Then I started making a plan.

On that trip, I decided my word for 2010 would be “Stretch.” And I tried to figure out what that meant for me. I’m pretty comfortable with my painting style, which was something I worked on in the past, but because of perfectionism I’m pretty slow. Which means that it generally takes me around 30-50 hours to get a painting to a point that I’m happy with it. At that rate, it’s pretty hard to sell a painting at a living wage. So I decided to stretch my perfectionist tendencies. Making 100 paintings in 100 days was the best way to do that for me.

Also, making a commitment like this puts me in front of my easel everyday. I have to paint now, people are watching. I don’t have time to let myself get stuck. And, for me, the more I paint, the better I feel about myself and the quieter The Gremlins get.

Want to hear more from Jolie Guillebeau? Join us at our on-line soulspa, Flock: soulcare with Magpie Girl.  Our 1Q interviews always turn into 3Q Interviews in the Flock. Jolie’s answering our questions about balancing “fast and dirty” work with quality work. She’s also helping us suss out healthier ways of thinking about how (and how much) we get paid for the work of our hands (and our hearts.) Come join us in the Flock!

As many of you know, I am in deep blog crush with Susannah Conway. Not only did I gain many riches from her magically popular Unravelling courses, but she also keeps me company here on the other side of the pond as we Twitter our day away. I think you two should meet!

But before I let Susannah introduce herself, let me pontificate a little about the bounty that comes from her talented eye.

A gift of Susannah’s photographylet’s the receiver:

-step back in time.
-bring back gentility.
-capture the pretty.
-sigh a little.

Susannah’s photos-and-journal Unravelling courses help you:

-see who you are from the toes up.
-cherish your favorite things.
-honor your connections.
-feel accomplished.

What treasured gifts from a dreamy lady! Friends, meet Susannah Conway…

Artist’s Statement

Susannah Conway is a photographer, writer and the creator of the Unravelling e-courses; she is also a Polaroid obsessive, an extroverted introvert and a fake blonde. She spent many years as a fashion editor and freelance journalist in London, and enjoyed attending fashion shows because she liked to watch the people in the audience. In 2005 her partner died from a sudden heart attack and her entire world crumbled. She returned to the south coast to heal in solitude, and over the years has rediscovered her true calling though her passion for photography and writing. She now shares her wisdom with people around the world via her blog, Ink on my fingers, and her e-courses, and is currently writing her first book. She is proud to call herself a ‘family of one’ and likes travelling to far-off lands. Her superpowers are absolute truth-telling and shining the light.  She remains a work-in-progress… always.

I feel a little hesitant to write about Rowena Murillo’s work, because I feel quite unsure about how to describe how it effects me. I’ve been thinking about this the last few days, and the only thing I can come up with is that Rowen is so in it. She doesn’t stand outside her work and create what she thinks will sell, or even what she thinks people might need. Instead she creates what is present. And you know what? It is exactly what people — at least what this person, needs.

I think part of it is that Rowena has a naturally perfected balance of  the show and the tell. She doesn’t  show us too little, making it impossible for us to get at the meaning. And she doesn’t tell it too us to straight, which would make us resistant to the obviousness of the message. Instead she gives us just enough direction to get us into the rabbit hole, and the pull of wonder takes us the rest of the way.

Speaking of rabbit holes, don’t miss what Rowena is doing on her blog right now — a new series of Flying Girls as an altered book, rooted firmly in the words of Miss Alice of Wonderland. And as you do your holiday shopping, please remember her well-stocked Etsy shop with affordable prints.

Someday I will have a datebook with page after page of Rowena’s goodness. Someday I will have a painting as large as my living room wall of  Flying Girl Swims, or Explore Undiscovered Lands. Someday we will share opposite sides of a second-hand table, painted red, and make wonders. But until that day, I think we all should say a little “hallelujah” for the way Rowena and her Flying Girls help us live in our own skin. Can I get an “Amen?”

Artist’s Statement: Rowena Murillo

 ”I almost never know what I am going to paint until I put the brush to the paper.  Or perhaps I have an idea of where to start, but the process of creating transforms the concept, the idea, and the artist.

Visions don’t come real. Accidents detour the plan. Unexpected happenings change the goal. Synchronicity picks the path.  But I keep going. I keep looking at what I have and seeing what I could have.  I am guided by the process. 

My philosophy on life is much the same– follow the serendipity and acknowledge the beauty, and through that, find meaning.”

Sometime Twitter yields real treasures. Such is the case of Naoko Stoop, a beautiful artist I discovered via a kind tweet. Naoko’s beautiful images transport me to magical world. Handcrafted scrapbooking goodness combined with fine draftsmanship make each image a delight to the eye. After viewing this slideshow of her work, I feel like I’ve been submerged in a warm bath.

Naoko has beautiful prints for sale on line, as well as perfect, understated hoilday greeting cards. You can find her at ther site Brown Paper Bag, or at her Etsy shop. And you can learn more about this clever artist in her statement below. Thank you Naoko, for bringing warmth and whimsy to our winter days!

Artist’s Statement: Naoko Stoop

Hello, I am Naoko Stoop, a self taught artist, based in Brooklyn NY. I love to read fairy tales from all over the world, and live in a magical world myself. 

Since I was little, I was fascinated with creating things on used paper: old books, newspapers, magazines, wrapping paper, letters and envelops.

My “Brown Paper Bag Collection” came from this fascination. I use recycled folded brown paperbags as my canvas. They have already had a sense of purpose in their previous forms. It is like detatching them from their old roles and combining with my mischievous drawings to create something new form something old. After a lot of experiments with paper and various inks, I have established a way to draw on used paper bags without losing the color and texture of the medium.

I also draw a little girl with a red knit cap. This series is playful and cheerful with colorful paint on wood panels.  She is not someone but she is everyone. She is a childhood image that everyone has in her or his mind. I am trying to create images that project the beauty in life.

Please visit Naoko Stoop at her website and her online shop. Tell her Magpie Girl sent you!  

Meet Rhiannon Connelly of Starry Blue Sky Photography,  maker of surreal images and dream like landscape.

Rhiannon and I met via Twitter (hers:mine). When I put out a call for photographers to guest post, she politely answered. When I saw her work, I eagerly said, “Yes, please!”  I am mesmerized at the way Rhiannon draws these images out of Polaroid photos—and at how she took  a sense of lack (no more Polaroid film) and turned it in to abundance (a 12 city project.) Anyone who has tried to shoot the major cities of Europe knows how hard it can be to capture the picturesque street scenes on digital, much less on old-school film cameras. And Rhiannon does it with true expertise. I hope you enjoy these images; the beautiful song Rhiannon chose by new-to-me artist Karine Polwart; and Rhiannon’s own intriguing story. Please let her know what you find intriguing about her work, and give her thanks for contributing a little bit of beauty in to our worlds today.

Artist Statement: Rhiannon Connelly:

My name is Rhiannon and I’m a portrait and fine art photographer from Scotland.

I started out photographing a broader range of subjects, including weddings, but over the last couple of years have been narrowing my focus mostly to these two areas.

With the portrait side I hope to play my part in documenting stages in the life of a family or individual. I had a great aunt who was a keen photographer  and  she really captured my childhood on film,  so  I appreciate how valuable this can be later  on. It is also a real thrill to have someone tell me that their portrait was the first time they ever had a photograph of themselves that they really liked. I am  constantly trying  to keep evolving as a photographer and  working towards creating a more individual style

On the fine art side for the last five years or so I’ve worked with Polaroid film and an old SX70 camera in a technique that I call “Polaroid Painting”. In a nutshell, the emulsion layer of one particular type of  Polaroid film does not set straight away, so for  a short period, this can be manipulated creating a dreamlike image that is half way between a photograph and a painting.

Sadly Polaroid discontinued this film a couple of years ago ( followed by the whole Polaroid  range). Rather than use my remaining supplies in drips and drabs I decided a year ago that I would use the film I had left in a more memorable way and the “12 City Project ” was born. More a whim than a fully formed plan, I decided to photograph 12 European cities over the space of a year, roughly one a month. And now here I am, about to complete the last city, Tallinn, at the start of September. Of course now people are asking what I’ll do with all these images – between 10 – 12 of each city. In a dream world I’d love to create some kind of small touring exhibiton and let it visit all the 12 cities. A slightly more achievable goal would be to compile them into some kind of  book.

The most recent development for me has been to use some of the Polaroids as the basis for digital collage and there is one example of this here. And once there is no Polaroid film left I would perhaps be able to translate this style to images shot digitally. ( There is one glimmer of hope on the horizon with the Impossible Project who are trying to develop a Polaroid type film)

Meet Vivienne McMaster, blogger, photographer, passionate soul. I first stumbled upon Vivienne a few years ago when she was embarking upon the 365 Days project with Flickr, which is a year’s worth of self portraits. (How brave is that? Seriously.) After watching her year unfold, I was definitely in love — both with Vivienne’s vivacious spirit, and with her clear, colour-drenched photography.

Now playing with several projects including an on-going self portrait series, arty TTY shots, adorable Holga images, and quirky polariods, Viv is doing the world a service by giving us a  a long cold swallow of beauty on a daily basis.  

Vivienne had to skip Soulsisters in order to take her sweet ten-year-old traveling companion to Folkfest. While I missed having her at the cabin, I feel like we are all the better for having her take in that world through the viewfinder. How she gets such goregous, lively shots in such a crowded, crazy venue is beyond me — but I’m sure glad she does.

We here at Magpie Girl are lucky enough to preview a sample package of Vivienne’s most recent, color saturated shots. I feel like each one holds a myriad of stories. What captures your fancy in these long cool draughts of lovely? (Click on thumbnail to get their full-sized goodness.) 

Vivienne was just robbed and lost her computer, among other treasures. So please support her work by commenting, raving, and purchasing prints. May your world be richer today because you saw it through Vivienne’s lens.  Cheers, Viv!

Artist’s Statement:I’m Vivienne, a portrait and fine art photographer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. My photographic interests are very widespread and I let myself follow the muse to wherever and whatever I’m drawn to photograph. That sometimes makes it hard to pinpoint one specific style or content, but does allow me to be on an endlessly developing and interesting photographic journey. 

In my portrait work I strive to help people feel seen, beautiful and playful. My fine art photography gets more whimsical as the months go by and explores both found and created scenarios. I have a great love for bokeh of all sorts, playing with depth of field and am drawn to bold colors, hands holding instruments, and seeing things from unique viewpoints. Presently I’m working on a self-portrait project based on movement, dance, and feeling authentic and centered in my own skin. This often involves lots of twirling, dancing, and being downright silly.

I work in both  film and digital and with a variety of vintage and toy cameras. I delve into self-studying photographic history, technique, and work on developing my own style as well as studying photography at a local college in Vancouver.  These images are some of my most recent work and more of my work can be found at  www.viviennemcmaster.com