Since The Creative Entrepreneur is a visual process, it was critical to have just the right imagery to convey the information in the best possible way. Easier said than done.
I am ever grateful to all of the contributors who opened up their journals so we could have a look inside their way of working with the material. The imagery in The Creative Entrepreneur is not "artwork" per se (even though you may well find it artistic, beautiufl, etc). The images were created as an exploration of each contributors dance with the journal exercises. This is highly personal (being a journal and all) so we are all incredibly blessed with their generosity of spirit. As a big bonus, you're not stuck looking at just my journal pages.
If you ever have the chance to see their work, buy their work, take one of their classes or otherwise experience their magnificence—do it! Inspiration, motivation and untold good fortune awaits those who do. You'll find links to the contributors' websites, blogs and/or online shops.
It's worth mentioning that my deadline for artwork was happening right in the middle of last year's holiday season, not a good time to be doing heavy lifting for someone else's book. Thanks, everyone, for all you did to be a part of The Creative Entrepreneur. I owe you!
 | Leav Bolender Leav is a wild woman, art teacher, painter and jewelry designer living in the desert Southwest. Her jewelry is actually more like wearable sculpture, composed of semi-precious gems, found objects and artifacts from nature. In Leav's words: I am re-emerging on to the art scene after a return to teaching in the public schools. Currently I am exploring whatever presents itself for the day, such as metal and mixed media in the form of jewelry. While walking my dogs and exploring the neighborhoods in Southeast Denver I search for discarded objects that are calling out to be made desirable again. It pains me to see what Americans throw away, only to consume more and more, eventually to be discarded again. I describe myself as a born again Dumpster Diva (much to my husband's chagrin) and I love to recycle and transform old objects into new by cutting, pasting, reworking, and fitting the image into a whole. I delight in breaking the rules with my work by stepping outside the traditional use of a material or technique. The process of creating something interesting appeals to me more than the outcome, and when someone purchases a piece of my work, they then share my experience of bringing it back to life again. I love the surprise I feel when another appreciates what I assemble. I grew up in the Southwest and was raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. After traveling the world in my early twenties, and truly waking up to how materially abundant and spiritually impoverished we are in the United States, I began my struggle with my true mission in life. I turned to teaching, which felt noble and purposeful to me, but after 14 years grew weary of the modern (?) changes I saw affecting teachers and children. I have lived in Colorado since 1980, at which time I turned to the wilderness for my learning by guiding Rites of Passage and teaching for Colorado Outward Bound School. I even dipped my toe in Social Work for 10 years before returning to teaching one more time. Each career led me closer and closer to creating art full time, .my one last assignment in life. All of my professions have been a work of art for me and those I work with. I now realize that my childhood exposure to the Hopi and Navajo cultures taught me that life is my art. My work has been exhibited at galleries in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Virginia and Idaho. At this time I create in my home studio in Denver, and live with my husband, step-sons, and too many dogs and cats.
Visit Leav's website: leavbolender.com Top of Page |  | Andrew Borloz Andrew has been playing with paper and paints since childhood. Formal education: B.S. in industrial design and M.A. in computer science. Trained in a wide variety of disciplines: architecture, designing, drawing, modelmaking, culinary, origami, photography, papermaking, weaving, printing, color theory, book arts, gardening, journaling, calligraphy, collage, rubber stamping, and altered books.
Professional experience includes designing exhibits for National Park Service, NASA, Smithsonian Institution, Federal Aviation Administration, and Ideal Toy, Co. Did product design for Minolta, Sony, & Technicon (medical equipment company). Done technical illustrations for a book on sound control (John Wiley & Sons).
Taught origami as a volunteer for over 10 years - at conventions in USA (NYC, San Francisco, San Diego); Bologna, Italy; Tokyo, Japan. Former managing editor of OrigamiUSA's Annual Collections. Past outdoor adventures include dog sledding, winter camping, rappelling, mountain biking, kayaking, scuba diving, canoeing, and desert hiking.
Now developing curriculum, courses, & workshops for origami, paper arts, & special effects techniques. Always eager to learn, create, discover, & share new techniques & tricks every day - a real technique freak!
Visit Andrew's Blog Top of Page |  | Barbara C. Bourassa
Barbara C. Bourassa is a craft designer, photographer, writer, and editor living in North Andover, Massachusetts.
Her professional credentials include writing and editing positions with several magazines, including Handcraft Illustrated, Cook's Illustrated, N magazine, and Natural Health.
Barbara is the author of Beyond Scrapbooks: Using Your Scrapbook Supplies to Make Beautiful Cards, Gifts, Books, Journals, Home Decorations and More! published by Quarry Books. Top of Page |  | Traci Bunkers Traci is one of the most prolific and talented artists I know. Her sheer output just astonishes me. Traci generously road-tested many of the exercises in the book and provided valuable feedback, pep talks and art supply surprises in the mail while I worked.
If you like the various alphabet stamps shown in many of the examples, most likely they have come from Traci’s studio. Personally, I am obsessed with alphabet stamp sets, and Traci produces the best available. I came up with a new term for my alphabet stamp obsession while trying to choose from too many good choices—alphaholic. p.s. dont’ try to choose. Just get them all. You’ll be very glad you did. “Hi! I'm a self-employed artist with a small business called Bonkers Handmade Originals. I do a lot of different things-- I dye spinning fibers and yarns, create "Tub Legs " Artzine, design knit/crochet ware for yarn companies & magazines, have a small line of art rubber stamps, am a visual journaler, book maker, and photographer--mainly toy cameras and pinholes.
My favorite cameras are polaroids and my jamcam. But I have quite a collection of different cameras and am enamored with which ever one I'm using at the time. My newest fun is making buttons, magnets and pocket mirrors.
I also travel around teaching workshops in spinning, knitting, dyeing, photography, visual journaling, book arts, and mixed-media. Making art is just as important to me as breathing. I am happiest when I am making things.”
Visit Tracy's website: bonkersfiber.com Tracy's blog Tracy's Etsy Shop Top of Page |  | Lori Cheung For over 30 years (that’s 210 dog years) Lori has committed her life to serving animals, children, education, humanitarian, and environmental causes. She volunteers on the Development Committee of the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society, the Advisory Committee of Vet SOS (providing care for pets of homeless persons), and serves on the Board of Directors of the Esther Collins Memorial Children's Foundation for Literacy. She loves photographing the media campaigns for major fundraising gala events, including the Humane Society’s Mozart for Mutts and Meows, SPCA’s Bark and Whine Ball, PAWS’ Petchitecture, and the W Hotel’s Yappy Hour cocktail parties. Lori is the recipient of the Heart and Soul Award from PAWS for extraordinary volunteerism. Lori loves photographing children and families, professionals, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, non-profits, and businesses creating a treasured journey of their legacy. Lori envisions her art to inspire world peace and joy. Lori's portraits transcend language barriers and celebrate life. Lori recently returned from photo shoots in London. Her clients include winners of the Olympic Games, Academy Award, Grammy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award. Her portraits have been displayed in the White House and are archived at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library. Lori's style is candid, playful, and exuberant. An everyday moment transforms into an extraordinary one when viewed through Lori’s “third eye,” her camera lens. Using intention and intuition, Lori’s portraits illuminate souls, capture magic, and reveal inner sparkle. She specializes in portrait sessions at beaches, parks, homes, vineyards, yachts, country estates, and iconic landmarks. Lori's portraits were aired on Discovery Channel's Animal Planet and published by Time Warner Books, Simon & Schuster, Random House and others. Lori's art is featured in Cats 24/7: Extraordinary Photographs of Wonderful Cats by Chronicle Books, for which her work was selected by top judges from over 50,000 entries. Her work is in Puppy Power, Tails of Devotion, How to Meditate with Your Dog, Yiddish for Dog and Cat Lovers, Promise of the Wolves, and other books. Her art is in the premier magazines BARK, Modern Dog, WAG, The Woofer Times, Pet Style Magazine, Bay Woof, and Fetch and in the stylish game, DogSmarts, distributed by Chronicle Books. Lori has two websites. Check 'em out: thepetphotographer.com theportraitphotographer.com Top of Page |  | Annie Danberg In Annie's words: I am lifelong artist who facilitates classes and workshops that serve to nurture the creative spirit and inspire the imagination of people of all artistic ability. Throughout my life, art making has been a rich source of comfort, insight and growth. It is my experience that the creative process can carry ones self into deep, wide and astonishingly wild territory where the heart can be found and life informed by the voice of the soul. Annie's website: artdance.com Top of Page |  | Ruth Fiege Ruth Fiege is an Acrylic painter, Collage/Assemblage artist, and has an addiction to creating sketchbooks/visual journals. She currently teaches drawing and painting to teenagers in the Cherry Creek School District just outside of Denver, CO. Ruth has been an art teacher since 1985, except for a few years off for taking care of her now almost grown-up son, Ben. She also had a year off to go to cooking school, and one year as a waitress when she couldn’t find a teaching job since everyone was cutting art from their budgets. She graduated with a BA in Art Education from High Point University. Her work can be found in many private collections and in several publications. Although she now lives in Colorado, Ruth was raised in the DC area and New Jersey. She has also lived in lots of other places including London, Iceland, Japan, California, Texas, Maryland, Iowa, and Missouri. She also has a house in Taos, New Mexico. The experience of different places and cultures has had a huge influence on her work. An avid collector, she fills her life with old stuff and junk. She also accumulates Madonna and religious art, tin buildings, numbers, doll dressers, and vintage signs. She believes in “the weirder the better”. She is known to pick up stuff anywhere, including trash bins and dumpsters. In her spare time, she can be found with the three greatest men in the world, John (her husband and best friend), Ben (her 14 year-old son), and Vinny (her slightly hyper lab mix). She is an avid, but not particularly talented gardener. She kills half of what she plants, but won’t give up. At the end of this year, Ruth plans to leave teaching while things are still fabulous and she is not crabby. Her plan is to pursue being an artist full-time, and hopefully open a gallery with some other area artists. Top of Page |  | Jennie Hinchcliff Jennie Hinchcliff does many things for a living, and many more for fun. Her obsession for sending things through the mail predates her obsession with Japan. She credits both mum and grandmother for instructing her in the ways of penmanship, origami folding and basic pamphlet stitching (as well as other handskills of the textile trade). Jennie is a book arts instructor at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Her artists' books can be seen in the collections at UCLA, Franklin Furnace/MoMA in NYC, and the University of Oklahoma.
She produces the mail art themed 'zine "Red Letter Day" and spends far too much money on postage stamps. In the service of PodPost, Jennie also teaches classes on mail art and faux postage. She smiles every time she hears the creak of her mailbox hinges.
Visit the PodPost website: podpodpost.com Top of Page |  | Tracie Lyn Huscamp Tracie Lyn Huskamp holds a B.F.A. in Graphic Design with an emphasis in Fine Art. She works as a freelance Artist/Workshop Instructor/Product Designer/Illustrator.
Her passion for mixed media and collage fuels the fires of her creative spirit, and continues to lead her on a wondrous journey of artistic and self-discovery. Always striving for the perfect balance and integration of elements and processes in every piece, Tracie enjoys making art that is thoughtful, intricate, and beautiful.
Tracie’s mixed media work has received both regional and national recognition. Her art has appeared on the cover of Somerset Studios, along with feature articles in Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine, Stampington’s Artful Blogger, Stampington’s Life Images, and Quilting Arts Gifts Issue Special Publications.
She has contributed to a number of artist’s books such as 1000 Artist Journal Pages by Dawn Sokol, True Vision by L.K. Ludwig, and The Creative Entrepreneur by Lisa Sonora Beam.
Visit Traci's Blog Top of Page |  | Jennifer Joanou Jennifer is a mother of three who paints and writes out of a room of her own in Pasadena, CA. She took the plunge and decided to rent a studio space, thinking it an incredible indulgence for a mom. What if nothing happens in there except me staring at the walls, she wondered aloud.
I told her it was an incredible message she was sending to her children, especially her daughters, that even busy moms need time and space to do their own thing. Well, judging by the sheer volume of examples in The Creative Entrepreneur with Jennifer’s name on them, I’m guessing she’s doing way more than just staring at the walls in her studio. Jennifer took the Creative Entrepreneur workshop and then made it her project, for a period of time, to go through the exercises and really steep herelf in the material. The result is a Creative Entrepreneur journal the size of a small suitcase (she calls it her Toolbox) filled to the brim with visual explorations of her creative business ideas, including her primary business of being an artistic mom. Jennifer’s treatment of Martha Graham’s quote at the end of the book was done with a bunch of Traci Bunker’s alphabet stamps. By the way, I wholeheartedly endorse renting studio space, especially for staring at the walls for as long as you need. It’s good medicine. Top of Page |  | Lindey Lambert Before launching her own company, Lindey Lambert began her career 15 years ago in the feature film marketing department in Universal Studios. Since then she has worked steadily with Fortune 500 corporations such as Fox, ABC/Disney and Mattel.
She has always had a knack for marketing, a gift for positioning and a talent for both the written word and images. Her passion is developing a brand and watching it grow.
In her spare time she is a mixed-media artist whose work is being prominently featured in two separate upcoming books. She believes in giving back to the community and is currently working with the Carol Parks Art Foundation, which is founded on the principal of sharing, caring and ‘doing good works’, and has a commendation from the City of Los Angeles for her creation and participation in “Operation Homefront,” a collection effort for personal comfort items for the soldiers in Iraq.
Visit Lindey's website: lindeylambert.com Top of Page |  | Stephanie Lee
One-Line Bio A wife, mother and artist living in and loving life's daily adventures. A Longer Bio.... The contours of my heart trace back through history even though my feet have never walked the roads of time other then the short segment I inhabit. A modern day expeditioner, I practice my own version of archeology, scanning the terrain for intriguing bits and pieces that present themselves - or that are hiding but don't easily escape my grasp. My love of music, words and creative expression (not exclusive to making art) is the morning song bird at my window saying, "Wake up and get moving! The world won't wait for you to decide you are brilliant. Get up and work anyway!" I travel with dear companions who tolerate and encourage my skewed perception of beauty in a world where originality is subjective. I venture out daily with my cock-eyed optimism in tow and no particular destination in mind. The only objective being to meet myself somewhere along the path, to grab a friend or two to travel along side me, to look under what I might otherwise walk right past, to bite into a tomato and feast letting the juices run down my arms. And always...always, always, always, I must indulge in a good laugh whenever possible.
Stephanie's website: stephanieleestudios.com Stephanie's blog Goodies for sale at Stephanie's etsy shop Top of Page |  | Pamela J. Lemme Pam is the founder of Good Witch Arts where she designs jewelry and mixed media art assemblages and paintings. She is also a registered nurse (so many artists are also healers of some stripe) which was a great comfort to me down in Mexico where you never know what might ail you and what you might take for it. I can’t remember if she was there or not when I decided to eat the whole roasted jalapeno that was apparently supposed to be garnish on my plate at the streetside taco stand. This act did cause a minor medical emergency, (at least to me). Remedy for eating something way too spicy: gargle with a vinegar/water solution. This did not really help the burning fire in my stomach, lesson learned. Top of Page |  | LK Ludwig I am intimidated by and rather in awe of LK Ludwig. There. I just said it out loud. But intimidated in a good way. I just admire her artwork, her stories, her high energy, her generosity, her bravery, tremendously. I became a fan of her work when I first saw her journals in the book, Making Journals By Hand. If you are not aware already, she has this rockstar-like status as an artist/teacher/author.
LK is the author of True Vision: Authentic Art Journaling and Mixed-Media Nature Journals, published by Quarry Books, and we share the same editor, Mary Ann Hall.
In the Fall of 2007 took a nature journal workshop with LK at Carol Park’s Studio and was too overwhelmed with happiness that I couldn’t really say that much to her. That was about when Mary Ann Hall (our editor) asked LK to contribute something to The Creative Entrepreneur. Oh my God. I was thrilled, yet terribly anxious. It's weird when you get an email from a rock star, no?
Since then, I've had the pleasure of her company at another visit to CP's studio, and most recently, at our book signing for Quarry at the Art & Soul Retreat in Portland. I took way too many photos of her, and I hope she will eventually forgive me.
LK works predominantly with mixed media artist books and photography with a strong inclination toward creating personal intimate works. Her artwork has been featured widely in books, magazines, and galleries and is held in private collections.
Check out LK's blog Buy something wonderful at LK's Etsy shop Top of Page |  | Loretta Benedetto Marvel Top of Page |  | Paule Merlin Paule is a mixed-media artist from France, with paper being her medium of choice. She loves making books, not only for their structure but also as a means to showcase her works: collages combining rubber stamps, paints and ephemera, visual journaling pages, altered photographs and transfers (as she also ventures into the realm of alternative photographic processes).
In Paule's words:
"I'm a software engineer working in the Silicon Valley with a strong desire for another type of creativity.
In my spare time, I enjoy making books and mixed-media journaling and collages. I'm also interested in Polaroid transfers and and alternative photo processes. I recently got into digital photography and it's opening a new world for me" Top of Page |  | Julia Nyman In Julia's words: I received my BA in Art at San Francisco State in 1989. What’s your best option with an Art degree? Work retail!
I ended up as the manager of a small San Francisco neighborhood gift shop and found that I enjoyed the work so much; it led to an obsessive desire to open my own shop. After many years of irritating friends with my obsessing – I was finally told to either shut up or go for it. Thus I finally opened apartment A, a small retail storefront in Mill Valley.
Part gift shop, part art gallery, part workshop space and 100% “community center”, apartment A was not just my business, it was my creative outlet.
Owning my own business was the most difficult and rewarding experience I have ever encountered. An amazing journey where I discovered the parallel between creating a business and an art piece – each can take on it’s own life and direction as you work on it and both reflect your unique point of view. Something you don’t learn in small business classes!
{heart}, julia Top of Page |  | Carol C. Parks If you find The Creative Entrepreneur useful or helpful in anyway, a debt of gratitude is owed to Ms. Parks. I am tempted to add a title after her name, like The Magnificent, or Her Majesty. I secretly think of her as my fairy godmother.
Carol was instrumental in coaxing, prodding, and cheering this book out of me. Forgive me for yet more analogies to the birth process (especially if you have actually given birth to a human and therefore know way more than I do) but CP was the midwife to my creative process with this book. If I could have done it without her, it certainly would not have been as much fun.
If you ever want a genuine magic kingdom, fairy-tale type of experience, then go down to her studio in North Hollywood and take a class with one of the many artist's she invites over to teach. Personally, I can't think of many better ways to spend a weekend...so I get down there myself as often as possible. Maybe I'll see you there sometime.
Visit Carol's website: carolparks.com
Check out Carol's blog
Top of Page |  | Darcy Ritzau
Darcy Ritzau is a mixed-media artist and keeper of the most magnificent visual journals. Besides being adept with paper, collage and paint, Darcy sews, knits, and constructs jewelry. Her studio is one of my favorite places to just be, i.e., to stare at the walls. Not that there is any blank space.
Darcy's multi-media talents all come together in her whimsical cigar box purses, which incorporate sewing, jewelry construction, collage and painting into uniquely differnet art you can tote around.
Speaking of totes, Darcy also creates gorgeous, intricately patterned, bursting with color, fabric totes. Now, if she would just let me get her website up...you'll be able to see her magic for yourself.
Darcy is also a rare bird: a letter writer/card sender. In the elecronic age, it's remarkable and always thrilling to get something wonderful via snail mail. Top of Page |  | Ellen Rooney Top of Page |  | Bee Shay Bee has been a folk artist and oil painter for almost 30 years and a mixed media artist for a little over 12 years. She has taught American Folk Arts nationally since 1986 and mixed media workshops since 1996. Trained in art at Flagler College as well as being awarded The Barnes Museum School Scholarship for two years during her secondary schooling in the suburbs of Philadelphia. As an adult she has apprenticed under members of the HSEAD (Historical Society of Early American Decoration). For nearly 10 years she was actively involved in SALI, which is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to teaching and furthering of traditional American Folk Arts. Working on both the local level; she served on her local Philadelphia board at all levels and traveling instructor, as well as on the national level, where she served on the national board as National Education Chairman for 3 years and National Convention Chairman for 2 years. Bee is the mother of 3 grown children and is currently residing on Nantucket with her husband and two yellow labs although she maintains her teaching studio (Heart To Hand) in Pennsylvania. She is currently teaching nationally and selling her work locally as well as at national shows. Bee was the recipient of Best of Show during the summer of 2006 at the Cleveland Center for Book Arts in Ohio. Her work has been published in Somerset Studio and appears in several Rockport books. Bee is also quite fond of...bees. Besides all of the arty stuff, we have that in common, too!
Visit Bee's blog
Top of Page |  | Lindsey Shelley Lindsey came all the way from Alaska to Mexico to work with me at The Creative Entrepreneur workshop. She even got her husband to come with her to support her in her efforts to forge some new creative business ideas. Lindsey is a painter and writer and mom whose work is infused with her love of nature and the wilderness. A native Alaskan, she and her family exploring the wild landscapes of Northern California. Top of Page |  | Carolee Gilligan Wheeler Carolee Gilligan Wheeler is a scribbler, a dabbler, and a babbler. Her father was a postal worker for many years and has always kept her generously supplied with stamps. In high school, she had such a variety of odd pen-pals addressing her by such a variety of monikers that the letter carrier asked if the Gilligans had a foreign exchange student living with them. By day, Carolee works at repairing and housing damaged books for the Stanford University Libraries. She cannot see a damaged book without wanting to give it a little help. In her quiet moments she makes scrap-tastic journals under the name superdilettante, shoots way too many rolls of film, collects string, and always overestimates the amount of postage a letter needs (just in case). She knows her letter carrier by name. In Carolee’s words: “I'm Carolee. I am a dabbler, a librarian, and an incurable trash-picker and paper-hoarder. I put some books together and take others apart, often for money. I have been employed variously as a title messenger, a photo lab assistant, a professional picture-framer, and a conservation technician. I know how to write backwards, how to frame a golf ball, and how to fix your loosey-goosey library books. I like gin martinis, black licorice, potato chips, and sake ochazuke. I have a virulent hatred of the scent of Red Bull-type energy drinks. I own five capes and I wear them. I might be taller than you. Usually I enjoy talking about myself in the third person.” Visit the PodPost website: podpodpost.com Visit Carolee's personal site: superdilettante.com Top of Page | | You'll also find our contributors in these great books: |
