101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life

I am delighted that I was invited to write a chapter on creativity for this tremendous life changing anthology. This book includes chapters by Zig Ziglar, Brain Tracy, Denis Waitley, Joe Vitale, and a host of other self-help experts for SelfGrowth.com. It is edited by David Rilan, who is committed to publishing the best self-growth secrets and advice he can gather together. For this special offer, David has packaged this new book with outstanding bonus offers too.

Reviewers say:

"It's like buying an entire bookstore for the price of just one book. This is the ultimate how-to-live manual."
---David Leonhardt

"The breadth of knowledge in this book is astounding. Every day I can pick up this book and within 10 minutes learn something new and make my day-- and my life-- even better."
---Jeff Griswold

This book is being offered now at the unbelievable price of $14.95 which includes all these amazing bonuses and resources that you can mine for years to come. The material is excellent to fuel your own creative intentions and give you lots of ideas to coach others as well. To order now at this special price, click here:

New E-Book by Gail

To help you to make major progress in your life this year, I just created a brand new e-book called Boost Your Creativity, Productivity, and Profits in 21 Steps.

This e-book is being offered for a short time only at this special introductory price of only $9.97

This e-book of 30 pages gives you insights and exercises to help you to define unique heartfelt personal success for you, set and achieve meaningful goals, select the right priorities, proactively manage your life and your career, leverage your joy of creating, overcome creative hazards, market yourself, choose solid partners and alliances, release limiting beliefs, and negotiate your best deal. In these 21 Steps, you can get a handle on your business/career and leverage your creative inspirations and best talents to catapult you to the next level of your potential, and enjoy your precious life in the process!

Reviewers say:

"Gail--once again you have put together a meaty and captivating program of wisdom and action steps for creative success. I am adopting this brilliant e-book as a constant companion for my transition to six figures. Thanks again for your commitment to offering solid, not whimsical, advice and direction."
Sarah, Owner, Fabulous Flowers

"Gail--what I love about this e-book is that it is compact yet potent and gives me all the tools I need to vision and achieve my goals for this year--and next. My company and I thank you."
Bob, architect in Seattle

"Gail--I have been waiting for you to publish a new book and this one e-book was worth the wait. I am inspired to finally tackle my procrastination and get my business plan in gear this year, start selling my illustrations to larger markets, and spend more time with my husband and kids. Now I know I can do it."
Toni, illustrator, wife, and mother

Treat yourself to coaching in an easy, e-book format today and move ahead in your life with support and great strategies for success.

I've had the luxury of spending most of the early summer working on Cape Cod, enjoying the quiet tranquility and the mellow pace of life. No parking meters, people have time to chat--and relish it, and my corner of Nauset Beach can be mine, except for sharing it with the nesting piping plovers. The wonder of technology has made this all possible.

Last week, I interviewed acclaimed oil painter Ann Hartley (Katherine Ann Hartley ) whose stunning still life paintings done in the tradition of the Dutch Masters sell for $5000-$15,000 plus. As I sat in her second floor studio, I was entranced by a just completed painting of roses in a pewter dish which slowly seeped into my soul and became one of my new favorites. Ann's studio is cozy and dark and she covers one window with cardboard to maximize her natural light from the north. She grew up in an old jailhouse which is now a restaurant and learned to love old bottles and bowls, and her collection of intriguing objects circles her studio and beckons her with new ideas for arrangements, adorned with natural fruits and flowers of the season.

While Ann loved to draw as a child, she left high school without a direction and lived for many years in the Southwest, Alaska, and other places, with waitressing as her main vocation. Then in her late twenties, she felt inspired to take one class in drawing in Arizona and then mentioned her artwork to an old restaurant contact, John Court, an accomplished artist, who offered her a house- sitting job in exchange for art lessons in the Azores and nurtured her talent. After a few months, John sent her to study with the famous David Leffel at the Art Student's League in NYC. Ann stayed and studied, still waitressed, and eventually got a studio in Union Square and her work began to sell. She gathered around her a strong community of artists and friends and her natural warmth networked her into both awesome apartment deals and gallery connections.

She feels fortunate that she had the chance to completely focus on developing her own still life painting style. She avoided looking at other people's work and didn't talk about what she did--she just kept learning. She got two great pieces of advice. Her mother told her to keep her ego out of her art to counter the fear of failure and another mentor advised her to "just listen" to accelerate her ability to learn. She never initially expected to make a living at her art, but she certainly has. Her focus has always been on beauty and the joy of creating it.

Now Ann paints four or five hours a day and has studio's on the Cape and in NYC, as well as enjoys being a wife and the mother of an energetic and joyful daughter. Ann has none of the hesitation or ambivalence that so many women struggle with around their creative work. When I asked her about this, Ann said that people make lots of excuses about not doing what they say they are going to do. "If you don't do it", she says, "nothing will happen".

Ann is absolutely committed to getting better and better with paint and her fascination with learning and mastery drive her inquiry and fascination. Each time she starts a painting, she ponders how to begin, what objects and light to put together as her set and what's compelling enough to keep it challenging and exciting for her. The process of learning new things fuels her and grounds her focus. If she does not paint for a while, she gets antsy and craves getting back to her work.

Her work seems to sell itself--she does not even have her own website--but she is represented by a number of prestigious galleries. She rides her bike seven miles daily to her studio and is always "looking" for the vision for her paintings, everywhere in her daily life. She says that often when she is in the least mood to paint, she actually gets the most done. When she is engaged with a painting she paints intensely--as often her natural objects--flowers, fruit, etc.--wilt quickly. Ann has started teaching at the Cape Museum of Art and mentoring other artists, which she enjoys as another adventure in learning. Her advice for aspiring artists is to "just learn to paint" and she raves about the Art Student's League in NYC as a place to study. I asked her about her most exciting sale and she lit up and says she always feels thrilled when she sells a painting and once sold three in one day! One of Ann's painting was just selected to be placed above the mantle in the new and very prestigious Oyster Harbor Club in Oysterville, MA and led quickly to two additional commissions.

For Ann, success right now is feeling happy and doing what she loves to do everyday and advancing her craft. Her goal is to continue to learn, always learn, to keep getting better at what she does. To see Ann's beautiful work under Katherine Ann Hartley, check out:

www.davidfindlaygalleries.com
www.kileycourtgallery.com
www.plymptoncollection.com
www.thehearlegallery.com

I share Ann's story with you to remind you of the power of focus on learning your "craft" and engaging with your work on a daily basis.

The Best of Cape Cod

My Cape Cod friend, Gillian Drake, has done it again and put together a collection of writing called World of Water, World of Sand: A Cape Cod Collection of Poetry, Fiction, and Memoir.

This collection represents the work of more than fifty writers who live on, write about, or are closely connected to Cape Cod and were winners of the Cape Cod Literary Press Poetry and Fiction Contest in 2005.
If you order this book, Gillian will waive the shipping costs for you, my newsletter audience. To receive your copy, send a check for $14.95 to:

Gillian Drake
Shank Painter Publishing Company
P.O. Box 720
North Eastham, MA 02651


A Charmed Life

On Saturday, July 15, I was a guest on my the radio show of one of my favorite colleagues: Victoria Moran with her new show A Charmed Life on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius 112. Her show airs every Saturday from 2-3 PM EST and we had a lovely time talking about creativity with each other and callers from around the country. Tune in regularly to hear Victoria and also check out Loud and Clear with Jennifer Louden on the same channel. Jennifer and I talked earlier this year about Living Fully with Positive Choices. How wonderful to have these wonderful resources available thanks to satellite radio!

www.charmedliferadio.com

A New Kind of Movie Club

The Movie Lover's Club: How to Start Your Own Film Group
A new book by esteemed and engaging writer Cathleen Rountree has just been released! The book includes tips for selecting movies and members, 250 movie suggestions, insider stories, and discussion questions and film summaries. Cathleen has been a film expert since childhood and her wisdom and depth of understanding of the significance of film is just amazing. One chapter in the book recomends movies on creativity. Cathleen is developing a comprehensive website with many new exciting offerings to emerge, so check back often for new additions.

http://www.themovieloversclub.com

I Love My Life Giveaway

Online business expert Kristie T is giving away 10,000 copies of the home business book, especially for Moms, I Love My Life to my Creative Success subscribers. It's a real paperback book that retails at $14.95, and she's giving it away for the cost of shipping only. If you are looking to start an online buisness, or take it to the next level, this book is for you. It comes with bonuses as well.

http://www.kristiet.com/lovelife/10000books.htm

Creatively yours,
Gail McMeekin
http://www.creativesuccess.com Copyright, 2006. CreativeSuccess, LLC.