Real Estate cow

09/08/19
60x42 mixed media on canvas

Lifebook04 Stick them Figures with Mandy van Goeije

01/26/17
varied size, line drawing on paper

Shrink to Fit In

11/01/15
9x15 art journal page

Shrink to Fit In

Nice Kitties Don't Get the Corner Office

05/05/15
11x15 collage on paper

Nice Kitties Don't Get the Corner Office

Day 324 Phase 1 - Project Meltdown

Day 324 Phase 1 - Project Meltdown  

324:365

08/20/13

Louise Hay affirmation:   “I AM at peace.”

Inspiration exercise from 365 Daily Creativity Journal:  Make something that wouldn’t normally melt seem like it has.  

Media:  Blueprint, Rorschach-like ink blot on tissue paper,  Magazine photos, Greeting card, Mod Podge

Time:  45M

Comments:  Today was the kind of day where stress levels were high and many different psychologies revealed themselves in the workplace that usually wouldn't.  We're in the first stages of a large project that will involve many different people moving offices, so I've got several more weeks of meltdowns to witness as we work our way to the final result.  Yippee for me.   

In today's collage, I'm the polar bear dreaming of Christmas, instead of getting caught up in the drama around me.  "I AM at peace" will likely be my daily mantra for a while. 

Day 162 Time the learning curve

Day 162 Time the learning curve

162:365

03/11/13

Louise Hay affirmation:   “There are people out there who are always looking for my services.  I am always in demand and can pick and choose what I want to do.”

Inspiration exercise from 365 Daily Creativity Journal:   Create a trap. 

Time to learn

Media:  Scrapbook paper, Magazine photos, Mod Podge

Time:  45M

Comments:  Toured the headquarters of a  major manufacturer of office furniture (Steelcase) today and learned about new concepts in office design and their research into how the nature of work is changing.  They've renovated their own space to "live" in the design ideas they are selling to their corporate clients.  

While most of the ideas I saw were refreshing, contemporary, new and inventive, I couldn't help wondering how large companies who can afford to apply the ideas full-scale are going to learn and respond quickly enough for the ideas we were seeing to be relevant in time to make a difference in today's ever-changing markets.  

Wholesale change to a traditional, cubicle-based work environment is a major real estate decision for a stable company in a mature or maturing industry.  It seems to take a long time for the right people to learn that new ways of working exist and understand ins and outs of what that means, to decide to pursue a physical change as corporate strategy, and then to secure funding, get buy-in from the people that will be most impacted, design at the facility level, and finally buy new furniture and implement new ideas in real work settings.  

My experience has been that many companies find it so complex and scary to make the leap to radical change that they simply decide to do nothing for another year.  It comes down to the classic battle between change vs. inertia, and time becomes a trap where creative and forward-thinking ideas get stuck. 

As far as today's affirmation goes, seems there will be a place for designers who can articulate the issues and possible solutions, and help companies navigate their way through the process of physical change. 

Link for more info:  

http://www.steelcase.com/en/Pages/Homepage.aspx

Day 117 Happy hour

117:365

01/25/13

Day 117 Happy hour 

Louise Hay affirmation:   “I see the resistance patterns within me only as something else to release.  They have no power over me.  I am the Power in my world.”

 

Inspiration exercise from 365 Daily Creativity Journal:   Go out of your way.  Travel somewhere you wouldn’t normally go today specifically to create something inspired by that location.

Media:  Magazine photos, Postcard, Vellum, Matte medium, Glue stick

Time:  55M

Comments:  My out of the way detour today was to go to happy hour with some commercial designer friends after work.  Conversation centered around work projects and coworker personalities.  Always enjoyable, and a fun time to get together with other designers.   

Amazing to hear how gender in the workplace can still be an issue regardless of where we work... even after all the years since women entered the workforce in the US.  For me, resistance patterns that turn learning, sharing, networking and encouraging one another into gossip or grousing about work or the state of the world were in my conscious awareness as we talked.  It's too easy to slide to a negative and cynical place at times. "They have no power over me!"  

On the drive home from Dallas, I thought about how each of us has been working in the field long enough to lead our own design consultancies, but still choose to work in corporate or design firm environments.  Old resistances around fear of the unknown in starting a design venture on my own, without the safety net of a steady paycheck, came up again.