Learn. Teach. Paint. Repeat.
And the benefits of doing so.
In this newsletter:
Praxis Work: Landing page
Praxis Reading: How to Win Friends and Influence People
Youth Group Teaching: Sometimes I wish my circle of control was bigger, part 2.
Art of the Week: WIP, Stained Glass Painting
What in the Work?: Beginnings of a massive mural
Praxis Work
Week two of Phase Two has gone in a flash, and this week has left me with some valuable insights and skills. Building a landing page for my t-shirt design shop was easier than I thought. However, I started with a program called ConvertKit, and even though I was warned about the learning curve, I plunged ahead into, unfortunately, failure. I could understand the idea of the way their page was set up, but I found it hard to navigate. So, regretting my hubris, I picked the program specifically listed as user-friendly and took my ideas from my last failed attempt to finish the project.
Overall, I think the design turned out well, but as this page is for a business that has generated zero profit or reviews, I was unable to use some of the advice presented in this week’s work. As far as incorporating reviews goes, I think the main idea behind this landing page, (to provide the value of ideas), gets through to the viewer. And if it’s doing that there’s not much I would change!
Praxis Reading
In How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: Honest and sincere appreciation goes a long way. People are very good at telling the difference between flattery and honest appreciation. One idea I’ve heard is that a compliment not verbalized is wasted. We know when we’re being sincere, and others can tell too.
To get others to want what we want for them, we must convince them that it is what they want. None of us can force someone else to do anything. Our actions, therefore, must be to show and create a want in them for this thing. This shouldn’t be to manipulate them, but to enable them to be better for themselves and those around them.
Anyone can create the environment to build lasting friendships or make a good impression on those around you. The six simple steps are, becoming genuinely interested in people, smiling, using the person’s name, active listening, using their interests as a middle ground, and making them feel important. All of these things can be used to manipulate, but your results will be terrible in the long run. They all depend on doing it out of a place of sincerity.
Youth Group Teaching
This week was a continuation of last as it regarded being proactive. To make the concepts more easily understood, we used a few simple short stories, that drive the point home. The kids’ favorite quote was from W. Mitchell, a man who was in two debilitating accidents, but powered through to become a sought-after speaker and millionaire. After the motorcycle accident that left 65% of his body covered in burns and a freak airplane accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, W. Mitchell encountered a young man who had also recently been paralyzed. This man was devastated that he would never be able to participate in his outdoor activities again, as he had been very active before. This was what Mitchell said to him; “You know something? Before all that happened to me, there were 10,000 things I could do. Now there are 9,000. I could choose to spend the rest of my life focusing on the 1,000 that I lost, but I choose to focus on the 9,000 that are left.”
The group felt that his resolve, even in the face of the intense struggles that very few of us will ever go through, was inspiring. Choosing to focus on the 9,000 is proactivity at its finest. What we can’t control can’t break us, but focusing on it can.
Art of the Week
This week I started another acrylic painting, but it is taking substantially longer than I expected. The sketch alone, on the canvas took me roughly four hours to complete, and a rough estimate would say that I’ve spent another fifteen hours on the painting process already, and I am nowhere near finishing. That being said, this is unlike anything that I’ve ever done in the past, and the pretty intense concentration required has contributed to the time taken.
That being said, here are a few pictures of the sketch and the painting progress.
If you want to see more artwork from me, including more photos of the art above, check out my Instagram page, Lucid Ace Art.
What in the Work?
A couple of months ago, I was contacted by an artist who has been involved in the art scene in the area for quite a few years. Her name is Cheryl Peterson Halsey and I previously met her during an artist-types meeting. She contacted me to ask for my help in creating a mural on the ceiling of the entryway in a guy’s house. On Thursday, we met with him and started to discuss his plans for space. It is a large arch, blocked off into fifteen two-foot squares.
The main theme that he wants to incorporate is wheat. In his words, wheat is a sign of humbleness, and it incorporates the ideas and purpose of the Great Plains. So over the next couple of days, Cheryl and I are coming up with different ideas for the final product. We’ll start painting next Wednesday, and will hopefully be finished in a couple of weeks.
That’s all for this week! Thank you all so much for reading!