Tiny Bird Song of the Month

Well, the birds are taking over. We have found a great need for Tiny Bird Songs. People are experiencing them in books and calendars. Glenn is writing daily to keep up with future needs. Lately, we have performed them live to small audiences around Texas. Among others: Lake Jackson Wednesday Review; Benini Foundation and Sculpture Ranch; Austin Poetry Society. Glowing receptions, tears and applause!!

The next pilot will be an internet Tiny Bird Song of the Month. It will be a free service to support reverence for nature and our wild birds. The full combination of artwork, narration and original music will be much like our stage production.

We're trying to get this on-line by May ... mental health month!! Please sign up at tinybirdsongs.com to receive regular meditation, peace, quiet and nature.

- Glenn and Cherie
AKA Duckie and the Grackle

Tiny Bird Songs - The Book

The Tiny Bird Songs book is finally officially out. To get a new book out of the gate isn't the easiest thing. The first showing was at the Tejas Art and Book Festival in May.

Even though many early readers have purchased, the official first book signing will be October 4th, 2007 at our annual Naked with Feathers event at the Historical Society Museum building, main room in Lake Jackson, Texas.

So Sumi!!! Great Workshop Results in Brazosport, Texas

As Orren Gaspard said, "So Sumi!" Cherie's recent Sumi painting workshop was a knockout success according to the participants. The exit poles said it all. "This was so exciting." "It's freed me up." "I'm going to use it in my art starting tomorrow." "This was the best workshop ever." "What fun!"

I guess Cherie's secret is the true artist's secret ... get centered, loosen up, get into flow, become spontaneous ... and have a great group of participants!


- Glenn Nelson McBride

Tiny Bird Songs Book-In-Progress

We're in the middle of Tiny Bird Songs. Actually the full title may become "Tiny Bird Songs - Naked with Feathers." Currently, we're seeking just the right publisher, although this book of poetry and fine art would fit several markets.

"Naked with Feathers" is the name of our semi-annual show of Cherie's art here at 51 Chervil Common. Maybe we're stretching the name to put it on a book! The original meaning was "new bird painting displayed without a frame." However, it also sounds a little like an innocent bird in the world!

If you'd like to see a manuscript of TBS, let us know.

The Crowded Hours

The best-performing artists learn they must create a very special, very sacred place - known as their art studio. It may be a painting studio, music studio, clay or sculpture studio. Mainly, it is an environment created to get control of the world, of time, of the day. It is a way to gain precious space during the Crowded Hours of Life.

James Gordon Gilkey is quoted in Dale Carnegie's Scrapbook (page 49):

What is the true picture of your life? Imagine that there is an hour glass on your desk. Connecting the bowl at the top with the bowl at the bottom is a tube so thin that only one grain of sand can pass through it at a time.
That is the true picture of your life, even on a super busy day, The Crowded Hours come to you always one moment at a time. That is the only way they can come. The day may bring many tasks, many problems, strains, but invariably they come in single file.

The art studio lines up events into a single file and gives peace during the Crowded Hours.

XTIMEMANAGEMENT XDALECARNEGIE XSTUDIOSPACE XSACREDSPACE XCONTROL XQUOTE

When School Isn't Enough

Thota Vaikuntham, a 62-year-old artist celebrated in India is a good example of the school-trained artist who knew he had to go further.

As he finished his program at the College of Fine Arts in Hyderabad, he and his fellow students realized it wasn't enough.

‘In art college we learnt many techniques but they were all western. We realised that there was not much creativity in emulating western techniques and one had to explore what our country had to offer. So I returned to my village and soon found my inspiration.’’

Such is the path of many artists world-wide. It's really found ... "back in the village." A new coffee-table book has just been released about his life ... Thota Vaikuntham—The Man and His Women. Good luck with the rest of your creative life, Thota!!

Don't Give Up On Creativity in Education!

Most artists think that support for creativity has really dropped in American education and training. Thank goodness, there's still some life out there.

Dr. Stephanie Clemons has written to her fellow educators in this month's International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning , reminding all of us that creativity in course development is possible and it has a very high payoff for all "learners" - including all of us new "distance learners."

Just think about how many artists stay involved in never-ending education, workshops, learning!

Encouraging Creativity in Online Courses by Stephanie A. Clemons.

Stephanie Clemons, Ph.D., FIDEC, ASID is an Associate Professor in the Department of Design and Merchandising at Colorado State University. Her doctorate is from the School of Education. She is a Past President and Fellow of the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) (www.idec.org) and currently serves on the Educational Training Area Council (ETAC) for the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) (www.asid.org), the leading professional organization for interior designers with more than 34,000 members. She has received numerous teaching awards, and has published extensively – both refereed and non-refereed articles. Her specialty areas relate to technology and education (both K-12 and higher education). Clemons has presented research both nationally and internationally (including in South Korea’s World Congress and at the South Africa IFI Conference) and has taught in higher education for over 20 years. Clemons has been teaching online courses for two years.

Reference: xlearning xdistancelearning xcreativity xeducation

Interviewing Brush Painters

BOOK WRITING PROJECT REPORT!

"Music and a Painting - Catching the Dream With Art & Music!" is the code name for our new book which we plan to release by summer, 2005.

This week, we are interviewing Oriental Brush Painters across the country. We want to hear first-hand about their methods for centering – for achieving peace, flow, focus and mood-state. See some of their work (Japanese Sumi) at: SilverDragonStudio.com.

Both of us know the great importance of getting into flow and proper mood-state. Cherie must have it for painting and I must have it for music composing.
Come back soon and hear what we’ve found from these professional painters and teachers … about flow. We’d like to hear from you also! Tell us your experiences with achieving flow, focus, and concentration. How do you get into proper state? ...

- Glenn and Cherie McBride
email: mcb@sbcGlobal.Net
YellowBirdStudio.com

By the way, Glenn typically writes management books! See some of them at: Shiftwork.Org.

Dreams and Juntas!!

Dreams and Juntas!!

Sunday's production of "It's a Wonderful Holiday," produced by Greg Essington and Will Hearn (see previous post) demonstrated the power of a closely knit group of peers ... working together to fulfill a dream.

A group of our college and high school kids planned, produced and promoted this production entirely by email and phone. And they were enrolled in schools scattered all over the country! The group - held together by the thinnest thread - pulled together on the basis of talents, energy and dreams and it worked.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN formed the earliest Junta in America in 1727. The tiny group eventually evolved into the first American lending library and the University of Pennsylvania.

The power of the Junta is greater than ever ... email, weblogs, cell phones and satellites!! Why don't all of us with dreams in art and music begin our own Junta?

Dreams Comin' Round Again

Last night, College students Will Hearn and Greg Essington amazed a packed audience at the CENTER FOR THE ARTS AND SCIENCES in Brazosport, Texas. Their production of "It’s a Wonderful Holiday" got the audience on their feet several times during the 2-hours of music, dance and comedy.

This pair of first-year college students have hit the first mark of their dream world in music and theater. Will it hold together for them? We certainly hope so. The dreams of the young are the dreams that haunt us throughout life. Maybe they fade, but peek-a-boo and like magic they're back! Especially if a mushy retirement settles into boredom. The dreams come 'round again if we haven't fulfilled them. Call it dharma - Call it destiny - Call it determination ...

That's why we see so many adults - boomers in art classes, pottery workshops and music courses around the country. It's those dreams comin' round again.

Good luck, Will and Greg. We hope you make it to the top of your dream on the first climb!

- Glenn
yellowbirdstudio.com

Keywords: dreams achievement life success youth