Here’s the truth of the matter. The only thing standing between you and what you want now is…..YOU.

And I have come up with a way to help you get out of your own way.

Artist ASAP - Artist Success Action Program was designed to give you the push, and then provide you with the tools and support to get you going on that art dream you have. This isn’t just any program. This is an “I’ve lived it” and it works plan.

Basically, I have boiled down my 12-year career and my lifelong journey to be a successful artist into what I believe are the 8 essential steps necessary to create Artist Success. Like it says on the pancake box, just add water, or in this case – your art & creativity.

This 10-week program includes 2 Q&A calls AND A BONUS OF A 1/2 HOUR PRIVATE ONE-ON-ONE COACHING CALL WITH ME! for only an incredibly low investment in yourself.

In ASAP you will discover my proven practices and techniques for:

finding time
finding your voice/style
creating focus
overcoming perfectionism
building confidence
curing ‘bright shiny object’ syndrome
creating mental and physical space
setting goals
overcoming fear
self-motivation
getting rid of your big “but”
putting yourself out there
creating courage
finding your audience
giving yourself permission
making money with your art
creating balance
and more…

ASAP is for you if:

You know your vision and what you need to do but are lacking the confidence to get it done.

You know what you want but aren’t clear on the steps to take to get there.

You need a cure for your bright-shiny object syndrome.

You want to know how to attract more visibility and sales consistently and in the quickest way possible.

You wish someone could show you some simple steps to take to get things done.

You wish you knew exactly where to focus your efforts.

You want to know how to market yourself without sacrificing your integrity, credibility and artistic sensibility.

You don’t know how to tell if something is an opportunity or a distraction.

ASAP start September 13, in just 6 weeks. *Right now you can register for the early-bird price that will be in effect through Monday, August 15th. I believe in rewarding those who take quick action towards their goals.

So what are you waiting for? Join a growing motivated group of artists who are committed to their success. Spots are limited so I can give you the attention you deserve. Don’t get left behind. I know this is important to you. Go check it out now and get moving toward your dream.

PS. Remember, the price goes up on Monday August 15th!

PPS. Do you have a friend that might be interested? Please share this with them and get moving TOGETHER! Artist ASAP

Ive put together a FREE event designed to give you all the answers and info you need to take your art dreams to the next level. And you don’t even have to leave home to attend. The Artist SEEK televent starts Tuesday July 19th. SEEK is 12 juicy, no-holds-barred, expert interviews that you can listen to online on on your phone.

What I did was gather together trusted industry experts that could (and would) give you answers and insight on all the things you’ve been worried or wondering about like:

• the many ways to make money with your art
• how to submit your art to your favorite magazine
• writing a book proposal
• getting free publicity
• what to blog about to attract and keep readers wanting more
• how to teach an online class
• are you ready to teach at a big event
• the 3 things all successful artists do
• how to get motivated to get into the studio
• do I need an art degree to succeed
• why blogging is your most essential task
• the most important thing you need to do to make your art stand out

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.There’s so much more.

Curious? Get all your questions answered here. And while you’re there, please spread the word. Sharing what we know – it’s one of the keys to success.

Up close and personal with the koalas in Australia

Let’s see if I remember how to do this. I’ve been so busy over at Artist Success that I have woefully neglected this blog. I apologize. I am full of good intentions but well….you understand. Your life is probably as busy as my own. Somehow the things we have to do expand into whatever time we allow them to, don’t they.

I’ve plenty to share so I’ll make it easy on both of us and create a list:

1. Today (June 29) I am a guest on Mark Lipinski’s Creative Mojo online radio show. Knowing Mark, it will be very entertaining so I hope you will stop by. It’s at about 3:30 EST. It will be nice to be the interviewee for a change. You can always listen to the podcast replay available at your convenience.

2. On Friday, July 1 (yikes), I am the featured artist over at quilter and dyer, Frieda Anderson‘s blog. We’re talking inspiration boards and you can catch a glimpse of mine and get my thoughts on inspiration and visual language.

3. Next Tuesday, July 5th at 5 PM  registration opens for my very first FREE Televent – Artist Success SEEK Series. SEEK stands for Solutions, Experience, Expertise, Knowledge and I have gathered together 10 industry experts  in the art/quilt/craft world who will share insider info and maybe a few secrets with us. For more info and details, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter (up top there in the right corner) so you’ll be the very first to get the info on registration. Remember, it’s FREE!

4. I spent a glorious week in Australia, teaching at the Brisbane Textile Show thanks to the fabulous Cecile Whatman of Unique Stitching. The event was wonderful as were my students. I taught 3 classes and gave three lectures on the show floor on using TAP and Lutradur in your work. Cecile sold out of TAP and my new book (more later) the very first day. Popular stuff here and there! Besides all the beautiful wool, fetl, quilts, crafts, fiber, eye candy and more, I met some amazingly talented women:

Sue Dennis & I after class

Sue Dennis is an award winning Australian quilter. She’s as lovely as her work. Check out her blog, a visual delight, as she’s doing a lot of traveling and creating in Mongolia.

Fooling around with Jane and a fish-eye lens

The super talented and charming Jane Davenport. Watch out for her, she’s got a lot going on and the
energy to get it all done. She was off to Paris after the Brisbane event to meet with Sennelier – the pastel people. I understand she’s off to Portugal now. See, I told you she has a lot of energy. Buzz on over to her blog too. Lots more eye candy there.

It's finally here!

5. My new book, Create with Transfer Artist Paper: Use TAP to Transfer Any Image onto Fabric, Paper, Wood, Glass, Metal, Clay & More! is out!!!!!!!!!!!! It arrived right before I left for NC and then I turned around in a day and flew to Australia, so I haven’t had time to do any promoting or blogging (my bad) except, well, now. I don’t even have it in my shop yet – but hopefully by the time you read this it will be there. For all you TAP fans out there – this book is chock full of new ideas, tips and tricks to working with TAP.  I’ve got one lonely review on Amazon, but it’s a 5-Star. I hope you will add your (honest) 2¢ (pretty please.)

6. Check out my latest column, “Don’t Just Think…Do” in  The Good Coach over at Jenny Doh’s Crescendoh site.

Kerry & Erik on moving day in their new apartment.

7. I’ve saved the best news for last. My daughter moved into her first apartment last weekend (that’s sad but good), but you know what that means don’t you? I HAVE A ROOM OF MY OWN! A studio/office. No more working in my bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ll be documenting the creation of my studio when I return from our annual family beach vacation in 10 days, so stayed tuned. In the meantime, enjoy some other photos from my very fun and full month of June.

Kangaroos....waiting

Mama and baby joey.

A charming AU fire hydrant. Looks like a jumbo pencil to me.

My Artist at Work booth at the Brisbane textile Show.

My Dad celebrating his 90th Birthday with his great-granddaughters

A beautiful but quite odd bird at the koala preserve.

Jean's First Quilt

I lost my friend,  my first teacher and my creative mentor last week. An amazingly creative and inspiring woman, Jean Ray Laury died March 2, 2011, just 3 weeks shy of her 83rd birthday. I have sung Jean’s praises many times over the years. She was my first quilting teacher, with her 1970 book, Quilts and Coverlets: A Contemporary Approach. Jean was my first mentor, guiding me on how to combine family andmy creative passions with her book, The Creative Woman’s Getting-It-All-Together at Home Handbook. It was my bible back in the late 70s. And I can’t forget the doll making book, Doll Making: A Creative Approach, my first dollmaking handbook.

In 1993 she wrote my other bible, Imagery on Fabric. We were living parallel lives lives, with Jean unknowingly leading the way for me, separated by 3000 miles and 24 years. I talked to her just last year to gather some anecdotes and info on photo transfers for a lecture I was giving. Yes, over the years our paths got closer and closer until they eventually crossed in a most amazing way for me – Jean showed up for a class I taught for the Fresno Fiber Art Guild (Jean was one of the founding members back in 1972.) I was teaching my idol, my teacher! I was a little dumbstruck and over the top honored.

Sandy Sapienza, Lesley Riley, Jean Ray Laury, Christine Adams

On the suggestion of another dear friend, Christine Adams, we invited Jean to participate in the Women of Influence  collaboration that was subsequently profiled in Quilting Arts  (Summer 2004) and Cloth Paper Scissors (Premier issue) magazines. Jean arranged for the project to be shown at the Fresno Art Museum which led to another west coast trip that culminated with dinner at Jean’s, a home that centered around her studio. Jean walked the talk. She was the creative woman who got it all together at home and then some.

Jean with 2 of the 5 panels

Jean made her first quilt in 1956 as part of her Masters degree at Stanford. She was a key figure in the renaissance of quilting nationwide the during 1970s and 1980s. Her work has been exhibited in the U.S.and overseas, including the International Quilt Festival, Houston installation in 1999 called “America’s 100 Best Quilts of the 20th Century”. Her brilliance and lifelong love of learning and teaching inspired me, hell, it still inspires me. Her most recent fiber project took 2-1/2 years to complete – five 9-foot long banners for the new San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust headquarters which opened in 2009. When I talked with her last year, she was busy with her latest passion, writing a novel. I know Jean was creating up to the very end. Still setting an example. Thank you, Jean, for showing me the way. Her memory will live on in all the creative lives she taught, touched and inspired.

My Granddaughters

When you get to a certain age, the word sweetheart takes on a whole new meaning.  Don’t get me wrong, my husband of 40 years is still #1 in my book. Always has been, always will be. But when I think of the word sweetheart, it’s these faces that come to mind.

We gathered together last night to celebrate the February birthdays. My sister, my son, my daughter and granddaughter. Today, Valentine’s day is actually my sister’s birthday, so this days held special meaning long before the family grew and grew. Now my sweethearts number in the double digits.

But you know what? No matter how many sweethearts you have or don’t have (remember the I Hate Valentine’s Day party in the movie Valentine’s Day?) there’s always one sweetheart that will never leave your side – and that’s YOU. Always remember that above all, you must love yourself. “We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.”  ~Roderick Thorp.

So that’s it. I just wanted to share my sweethearts with you and perhaps make you smile today. Happy Valentines Day. Give yourself a big hug from me. xox

CONCORD, CA, (February 1, 2011) The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) announced

Lesley Riley’s TAP® Transfer Artist Paper
as winner of the 2011 Winter Innovations Showcase.

 A panel of celebrity judges including Deborah Norville (Premier Yarn & Inside Edition), Candy Spelling (CHA Craft Ambassador), Craig Nakano (The Los Angeles Times), Terri O (Super Simple With Terri O TV), Julie McGuffee (Scrapbook Memories TV), and Jenny Barnett-Rohrs
(CraftTestDummies.com) selected TAP as the “Overall Best Innovation.”

According to CHA, “The coveted award represents the industry’s most prestigious recognition for product innovation.”

The award was presented last night during the Annual Business Meeting of the 2011 CHA Winter Convention & Trade Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California. C&T’s Lisa Fulmer (right) and Letty Perez (left) were on hand to accept the award.Lesley Riley’s  TAP® Transfer Artist Paper is a premium-quality transfer paper for artists, quilters, and crafters. With TAP, you can transfer inkjet-printed images to virtually any surface with the heat of an iron. From fabric to paper, wood, glass, metal, and more, there are very few surfaces that can’t be “TAPPED.”

I wasn’t there to jump for joy, squeal or cry from happiness, but I think Letty and certainly Lisa did it for me. It was an honor just to be included in the Top 20 products. i had no idea TAP would ever win.

If I were to give an acceptance speech I would say something along these lines:

“The lessons learned from my TAP journey are many:  believe in yourself, think outside the box, take a risk, have faith, do the unexpected, accept an opportunity when it comes a knockin, and  above all, the lesson my parents always told me – that I can do anything I set my mind to. I have always lived by that and each day that passes I know with even more certainty that they were right.

And I would be remiss in not acknowledging all of you who supported me when TAP was a little cottage business operated out of my office/studio/bedroom. Thank you to all of my customers both past, present and future for helping turn TAP into an award winning product.

It’s not like I haven’t been doing anything. Since I last wrote in (gulp) October, I have:

• Completed my next book, Create with Transfer Artist Paper due out this May
• Launched my new coaching website,
  Artist Success
• Launched a new survey with a groovy prize for those who respond by February 15th.
• Completed and started another course towards my creativity coaching certification
• Hosted 8  shows on Art & Soul Radio, interviewing such greats as Claudine Hellmuth, Judy Coates Perez and other amazing artists
• Become a Contributing Editor for the Creative Insights blog on the BRAND NEW Create Mixed Media site by F&W Media
• Become the guest coach for the month of February for The Good Coach column over at CRESCENDOh.com 
• Had TAP selected as one of the Top 20 Most Innovative products at CHA
• Had an article reprint in Stampington’s Artist Cafe
• Was a guest on Jeremiah Greer’s internet radio show talking about The Art of Creativity
• Created a piece for Amy Power’s next project at Inspire Co. blog
• Read over a dozen books on creativity and building a business, plus a few for fun. My fav is Mary Randolph Carter’s Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of A Misspent Life. It’s my new bible. I also really liked Patti Digh’s Creative Is a Verb: If You’re Alive, You’re Creative and plan to have her as a guest on my radio show soon.

Hmmm, am I forgetting something or is that enough? Am I forgiven for my absence? There are no idle hands (or minds) here. And sadly, I never feel like I’m doing enough. But making a list like this is a good exercise. Now I know that I have been productive. I think a pat on the back is in order. (pat, pat)

I want let you in on something in case you don’t already know. I have been communicating, just not here. If you are so inclined, you can get my every-other-Wednesday newsletter where I share news, cool links to creative people, places and things and articles that will hopefully inspire you to create. How to get it? Visit ArtistSuccess.com and sign up. Easy-Peasy. 

Request the free download of the 5 Keys to Artist Success and you will automatically get on my email list for the newsletter. The download is my gift to you for signing up. I also blog there a lot more often than I do here. Not as chatty though, because it’s more focused on your success as an artist. That blog’s for you. This one is for me. Get it?

So, was it worth the wait? I’d love to know if you’re still out there reading. Drop me a line if you have the time.

What do you think? Let’s talk.

Mindful by Mary Oliver    

Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less

kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle

in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for -
to look, to listen,

to lose myself
inside this soft world -
to instruct myself
over and over

in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant -
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help

but grow wise
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light

of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?

Red Dora by K.C. Willis

BIG, Reall Cool ANNOUNCEMENT

I am also very excited to tell you that after years of talking about it, we are ever so happy to announce a first ever, maybe once in a life time opportunity to take a class with the two world leaders in fabric collage - KC Willis and me! Lesley Riley. Check out all the dates and details www.studioretreats.ning.com. Hurry, because I know this one will fill FAST. I will be updating my website with the rest of my 2011 schedule when I return from a week of teaching and lecturing in Houston at Quilt Market & Festival. If you’re going to be there, please stop me to say hello! For the first time ever, I’ll be spending more time out of the classroom than in – and no booth either.

I belong to the Book-a-Day Club. It’s another, but  not-so-secret secret (see post below). I admit it only when someone else fesses up to being a book junkie. What can I say? I’m a visual person. Visual and tactile. I’ve got to hold it in my hands.

Most times (practically all), it’s a book I have purchased from Amazon. I belong to their Prime club so I can get my books in 2 days for free shipping. Well, not free, because I pay to be in the program, but you better believe me, I come out WAY ahead.

But this one, Handmade Books, was a surprise. It was my contributor copy from Lark. I seem to remember submitting my Lutradur book for their 500 series, as in 500 Handmade Books. What finally arrived, years later, was this petite tome, about 5 x 5 inches. And I’m in really good company: Dayle Doroshow, Gerri Newfrey, Robert Dancik to name a few. No instructions but a wealth of ideas and visual delights. And a great visual and tactile experience. A very intimate book.

The other yummy books that have arrived on my doorstep of late are:
Creative Illustration Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists: Seeing, Sketching, Storytelling, and Using Found Materials by the amazing Katherine Dunn

Four-Word Self-Help: Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives and Creative Is a Verb: If You’re Alive, You’re Creative by the amazing Patti Digh. I highly recommend them all, especially the last one. I wanted to go meet Patti face-to-face when she was here last week for a book-signing, but alas, I had no voice and was coughing up a storm. Not the best time to go to a book signing. My loss. Maybe you can meet her in your town – she’s headed everywhere. Check out her schedule here.