Introducing the Creative Oasis™ Book Club

If you’re like me, you’re often intrigued and excited to learn about a new book that sounds just wonderful. The kind of book that will inspire, teach, share great ideas and help you in some way on your creative journey.

So, of course, you buy the book. You may even read the first chapter or two. And then life comes along with its to-do lists, laundry piles and Downton Abbey re-runs and the next thing you know your new book has joined a growing pile of creativity books teetering in the corner that you promise yourself you’ll get around to reading someday. For me, odds are I’ll find another fabulous, life-changing book to purchase before I even make a dent in my current teetering pile.

That’s why I’m thrilled to announce the Creative Oasis™ Book Club. Several times a year, I’ll choose a book from my growing, teetering pile and share it in a teleclass format. (I’ll also share books that I’ve actually finished and just love so much that I want others to experience them too!) 

Each book club series will include permission slips and creative prompts to help us dive a bit deeper into the book. (Participants are responsible for securing their own copy of our chosen book.)We may also use exercises and activities found in our book if that applies. Our teleclass calls will be one hour long and depending on the length and type of book, we’ll meet once, twice or up to twelve weeks in a row. All calls will be recorded, so if you miss one, no worries. You can always go back and listen to the recordings.

The price of each book club series will vary accordingly, but to kick things off, our first Creative Oasis™ Book Club will be FREE! Click here to let me know you'll be joining us.

For our first teleclass, in the spirit of keeping things Kaizen and using small, gentle steps, I’ve chosen a short, fun and easy-to-read book, “Steal Like An Artist - 10 things nobody told you about being creative” by Austin Kleon. 

Although this book is less than 150 small pages (many filled with illustrations) it's so chock full of wisdom and inspiration I believe we'll want to spend two weeks soaking in all of its creative goodness.

Again, since this is the inaugural Creative Oasis™ Book Club teleclass, I'm offering it for FREE (a $50 value)! If you'd like to join me please register by clicking here and sending me a brief e-mail. 

The two calls for this book will take place Friday, April 12, 2013 from 11am to noon and Friday, April 19, 2013 from 11am to noon. (central time) Remember, all calls will be recorded, so if you miss a class, you can always go back and listen to the recording on your own time.

I'm so excited to finally be able to offer this series and look forward to sharing some excellent books with you all. I believe the Creative Oasis™ Book Club will provide a wonderful way for us to spark our own creativity, share our questions, insights and aha moments while enriching our lives with these fabulous books.

Until next time, all the best from 

my Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Creative Oasis Day Trippers™ Ride Again!

Do you ever marvel at the cornucopia of creative experiences available in our world? I know that right here in my hometown of Dallas, Texas there are more intriguing things happening on any given day than I could ever hope to experience.  A few years ago, feeling frustrated by my propensity to clip information about upcoming exhibits, shows and events I'd hoped to attend only to find the clipping at the bottom of a pile on my desk two days after it had closed, I created the Creative Oasis Day Trippers™.

Once a month (sometimes more if time allows) I send out an invitation for the Day Trippers to join me as we explore an art exhibit, lecture, music, culinary event or some other hands-on creative experience, class or workshop. Once you sign up, you receive a pre-trip creative prompt and usually we share some sort of experience during our time together. Then I'll send a follow up email for ideas of how to continue the creative thread on your own at home. This gives you the opportunity to not only get out and enjoy some fun and camaraderie with other creative spirits, but to explore the event in greater depth and use it as a jumping off point for your own creativity.

We have two wonderful outings scheduled for February and March. Check out all the details below and then drop me an email to register and join us for one or both.

The best way to keep up with where the Day Trippers are heading next and all my Creative Oasis offerings, is to sign up for my Creative Oasis Pages newsletter here.

FEBRUARY TRIP

What:

"Cosmic Telephone Party Line" 

Large scale portraits of outsider artists by Tim Kerr

When:

Saturday,  February 23, 2013

1 to 3pm

Where:

Webb Gallery

209 - 211 West Franklin

Waxahachie, Texas 75165

Cost:

$15 Creative Oasis Day Tripper Fee

Exhibit is free

Save your space by emailing me at creativeoasiscoach@me.com.

MARCH TRIP

http://artisticgatherings.com

What:

Pottery Painting Party

When:

Thursday,  March 14, 2013

1 to 3pm

Where:

Artistic Gatherings

Casa Linda Plaza

9440 Garland Rd., Suite 138

Dallas, Texas 75218

Cost:

$15 Creative Oasis Day Tripper Fee

plus the price of the pottery you paint (varies by piece)

Save your space by emailing me at creativeoasiscoach@me.com.

For now, Creative Oasis Day Trippers outings take place in and around the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex, but someday will wander further from home...perhaps the Hill Country...Round Top...Austin...Marfa...skies the limit I suppose. Where would you like to go for a creative get away with the Day Trippers? Put on your thinking cap, and I'll do the same. I'd love to hear your ideas.

Until we meet again, all the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Yay! My Video for Michael's CR8TIME Campaign is up!

CR8TIME™ page on Michael's website

If you're familiar with Creative Oasis Coaching™ then you know that helping people make the time and space for creative fulfillment in their busy lives is my passion. So imagine how thrilled I am to be part of the new CR8TIME™ movement, sponsored by creative companies like Michael's, Jo Ann's Fabric & Craft Stores and more.  

CR8TIME™ aims to help people find ways to explore and express their creativity no matter how busy their schedules. You can learn all about the CR8TIME™ movement by visiting their website at www.CRE8TIME.org. On Michael's website, you'll also find a CR8TIME™ page under their LookBook section that features a series of "Why I Create" videos. You can watch the video featuring me and some of my beautiful clients below. 

This video is a wonderful representation of my Creative Oasis™ classes and workshops and I have to thank all of the people who made it possible. The video was shot and edited by Sandy Abernethy and produced by Amy Lou Abernethy of Abernethy Media Professionals. The class was held in the beautiful, inspiring setting of Pigment School of the Arts run by Tori Pendergrass and a place that I am always delighted to share workshops. The lovely class members (have you ever seen such gorgeous smiles?) are all women who attend Creative Oasis™ events and never cease to inspire me every time we're together! 

I think this video does a great job of explaining what it is I do as a creativity coach, and I am so grateful to be able to finally share it with the world. I'd love to know what you think about it so please feel free to leave me a message below if you like and be sure to share it with any friends you think would enjoy it. 

This spring there's a lot happening with Creative Oasis™.  If you're interested in upcoming classes and workshops visit http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/classesandworkshops.html. Be sure to sign up for my Creative Oasis Pages™ newsletter here to learn about upcoming teleclasses, workshops, my new line of ebooks and Creative Oasis Day Trippers outings. 

Until next time, all the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,
Jill

Ready to Rev Up Your Creativity? An interview with Jill Badonsky, author of The Muse Is In: An Owner's Manual to Your Creativity

If like so many of us you need a little help revving up your creativity from time to time you'll want to check out the latest book by Jill Badonsky, The Muse Is In: An Owner's Manual to Your Creativity.

Jill Badonsky

Jill is the founder of Kaizen-Muse® Creativity Coaching and author of three books essential to any creative library including The Nine Modern Day Muses and a Bodyguard, The Awe-manac - A Daily Dose of Wonder and her brand new book, The Muse Is In: An Owner's Manual to Your Creativity. (She also happens to be my mentor, former creativity coach and friend.)

As I shared last week, there are at least five reasons (actually there are hundreds!) that I'm thrilled about the arrival of her new book.  Today I'm happy to share an interview I did with Jill about her latest gift to the global creative community. Hopefully it will give you some insight into her always inspiring, never boring, nine-times-out-of-ten hilarious take on our creative process, how to rev it up and keep it running smoothly. But first - check out one of her whimsical illustrations of a creative mind. Yep, that's right. She not only writes, she also fills her books with her own original artwork!

Creative Oasis (CO): Where do you come up with this stuff? I'm actually being serious. I have all of your books, am trained in the creative coaching method that you created and have been lucky enough to have you has my own creativity coach once upon a time. I am continually amazed at the stuff you come up with, as you say in this new book, to help get people's creativity working like "a well-oiled machine." Where do you come up with your unique ideas and methods for this?

Jill Badonsky (JB): I don’t know. Ideas are just THERE. I just assumed everyone has this accessory of ingenuity. I’m as perplexed about it as you are.

Maybe I’m wired into some plane of existence that feeds off-beat humor to willing and daffy recipients. Luckily I receive stuff that is actually useful as well. 

Part of it I think is valuing humor and novelty so much that I surround and expose myself to it constantly. That predisposes me to come up with stuff.  Thanks for the great compliment!

But, ya know, Jill, from my observations over the years I’ve noticed that YOU have a lot of creative ideas too, so there.

CO: What are one or two of your personal favorite tools that you use to when you feel stuck creatively?

JB:  Often I’m stuck because I’ve been working too hard so I simply need a break. Taking walks with small question and getting out of the house to a café helps.

Also free-associating. Just fluidly brainstorming usually taking something already in existence and thinking of what else it could be, what it sounds like, what about it is funny, or what else it could bring to mind. My first book I started with the nine muses, the second one with The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and this latest one I started with an owner’s manual for a car. Starting with a structure just makes it easier.

CO: What do you say to those people who swear up and down "I'm not creative!"?

JB: This question is one of the reasons I wrote the book. I feel strongly that everyone is creative, in all different ways.  But mostly I don’t say anything unless they ask for help because advice-giving doesn’t usually work. There are four pages that address this in the book. Here is part of one of them:

Some people think we are either born with creativity or we’re not.

Many people are indeed born with an innate talent.  When they cultivate that talent through many, many hours of practice, amazing works of art, literature, music, what-have-you are brought into existence.  But really, do you need to BE that person in order to discover the bliss, benefits, and rewards of creativity? No.

You can develop skill with practice, but the process is what makes life more wonderful.  Talented people are not necessarily happy;  the ones who are also happy, know how to create joy within themselves. 

Passion, curiosity, healing, need, problem-solving, angst, joy, amusement, reckless abandon - these are ALSO drives that result in creativity.  Everyone has the ability to be creative in these ways.  Everyone gets to be creative.

CO: I'm guilty of sometimes buying books on creativity (or other subjects) and then not reading them. Any tips for ways people who are intrigued by your books and buy them to actually make the time to read them? 

JB: Keep them in the bathroom.

CO: Thanks, Jill...for the interview...for the books...and, of course, for having the mind and heart that continue to generate creativity-instigating goodness for all of us!

Note the devilish creative twinkle in our eyes

Be sure to leave your questions and comments for Jill below. If we receive at least ten questions and/or comments she has generously offered to have a drawing for a free copy of her new book for one of you lucky readers to win. We'd love to hear from you!

Until next time, all the best from my creative oasis to yours,
Jill

5 Reasons I'm Thrilled About This New Book About Creativity

#1 – The Muse Is In: An Owner's Manual to Your Creativity is the third book to grace our planet by the out-of-this-world imagination of Jill Badonsky. (my mentor, friend, creativity coach, founder of Kaizen-Muse® Creativity Coaching and author) Her previous books include the life-transforming The Nine Modern Day Muses and a Body Guard and The Awe-manac - A Daily Dose of Wonder – essential reading for any creative type out there - but especially ones who need a reminder that creativity is important, who are plagued by inner critic voices in their heads, who are prone to procrastination or perfectionism or...wait a minute...that's 99% of creative types, isn't it? These books were written for us!

#2 – It's a user friendly owner's manual for your creativity! Like The Awe-manac, The Muse Is In is a book you don't have need to read from front to back. You can pick it up on any day of the year and digest a few creative nuggets of inspiration and encouragement. It's filled with interesting tidbits, thought-provoking quotes and fun creative prompts to set you on your way to enjoy your own creative process.

#3 – On the December 16th page (which happens to be my birthday), you'll find a quote about creativity there by yours truly, Jill Allison Bryan. How cool is that?

#4 – On the Thank You page, Jill was kind enough to include me and my fellow Master Kaizen-Muse® Creativity Coaches as well as lots of other really cool and special people who I am honored, surprised and tickled pink to be grouped with.

#5 – Next week, January 23rd, Jill has agreed to stop by here and share some tidbits about her fabulous new release - The Muse Is In: An Owner's Manual to Your Creativity. If ten or more of you leave your comments and questions for her here on my Creative Oasis blog, we'll do a drawing and one of you will win a copy of her new book. (she's cool that way)

I'm off to dive into the pages of what I can safely say is the only owner's manual in my life that I've ever actually looked forward to reading!

Hope to see you back here next week - January 23rd as Jill Badonsky's blog tour stops in for a visit.

Til then, all the best from my creative oasis to yours,
Jill

Creative Oasis Classes & Workshops – Ready to Live the Creative Life?

Craving Creative Fulfillment?

As the new year begins, Creative Oasis Coaching offers more ways than ever for you to learn and practice easy, effective ways to enjoy a creatively fulfilling life! These classes and workshops help you make the time and space for your creative passions – whatever they may be – even with your busy schedule!  They're also a great way to meet other interesting creative loving types who find it challenging to get to their creative interests as often as they'd like. (Sound familiar? You're not alone!)

Pre-registration is required for all classes and workshops. Space is limited to 8 people per session, so please register to reserve your space as soon as possible.

#1 – "PERMISSION TO BE CREATIVE 101" 
MINI-RETREAT

Sunday, January 27, 2013

10am – 3pm

$85 for CAC members

$115 for non-members

plus $10 materials fee 

(Please bring a sack lunch.)

Do you have a closet full of creative projects you haven't touched in ages? Do you long for the time to dive into creative endeavors – painting, writing, gardening, scrapbooking, dancing, singing –  in short, whatever energizes and delight you while adding joy to your life? This mini-retreat, set amongst the inspiring classrooms of the Creative Arts Center of Dallas, is another great introduction to Creative Oasis Coaching and share great ways for you to get back on track with your creative passions!

Location:

Creative Arts Center of Dallas

2360 Laughlin Dr.

Dallas, TX 75228

For more info or to register, please contact the Creative Arts Center by calling 214-320-1275 or visiting their website at http://www.creativeartscenter.org.

#2 – "LIVING THE CREATIVE LIFE" 
WORKSHOP          

Saturday, February 2, 2013

1:00 – 4:30pm

$99 

(includes creative supplies and handouts)

A great introduction to Creative Oasis Coaching. We'll explore fun and effective ways to make more time for creativity in your life. Writing, photography, cooking, painting, singing, gardening, scrap-booking…whatever your heart longs to do, you’ll be introduced to unique tools and techniques to help you easily enjoy the creative satisfaction you desire. 

Location:

Pigment School of the Arts

4605 West Lovers Lane

Dallas, TX  75209

For more info or to register, please email creativeoasiscoach@me.com.

#3 – "HOW TO LIVE A CREATIVE LIFE" 
6-WEEK CLASS

6-week course dedicated to weaving creativity into your busy life          

Thursdays – February 21 through April 4, 2013 (no class March 28th)

6:30 to 8pm

$275, plus $15 materials fee

                           

A more detailed exploration of and opportunity to practice creativity coaching methods designed to help you to experience more creative satisfaction. No matter what your interest – blogging, photography, cooking, writing, collage, watercolor, needlework, gardening ­– whatever creative expression you love, you’ll learn and practice innovative tools and techniques to help you enjoy the creative fulfillment you crave. 

Location:

Artistic Gatherings

9440 Garland Rd., # 138

Dallas, TX  75218

For more info or to register, please email creativeoasiscoach@me.com

Are you ready to stop making excuses and start making the time and space in your life for creative fulfillment? Then sign up today for the Creative Oasis Coaching class or workshop of your choice, and take the first small step to turning that dream into a reality.

Email me at creativeoasiscoach@me.com and reserve your space today!

All the best from my creative oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

Founder of Creative Oasis Coaching

Certified Master Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach

Singer/Songwriter

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Chinese Lantern Festival First Trip of the New Year

Join the Creative Oasis Day Trippers 

for our first trip of 2013.

Reserve your space by emailing creativeoasiscoach@me.com.

Where:

Chinese Lantern Festival 

Fair Park

1121 First Avenue

Dallas, TX 75210

 

When:

Thursday, January 3, 2012

6 pm

Cost:

$15 - Day Trippers fee

(payable by cash or check to Creative Oasis Coaching)

plus

$14.25 - Chinese Lantern Festival ticket

(you can purchase your ticket on-line or at the gate)

info@chineselanternfestival.com