This week, I’ve been pretty bummed out about my personal space and surroundings. Everything seems uninspired and colorless. Those little touches that you made to your dorm room in the beginning of the year, are probably mocking you at this point. Everything is lame and outdated, crummy and blecht, icky and gooey.

Well hopefully not that last one. If there’s something icky and gooey going on in your room, you better be working for an A on a biology project. Unless it’s your roommate’s mess and you’re in a mess cleaning cold war with that person. I totally feel you on that one. Messy roommates… well, they’re just the worst. The… Worst. Who am I kidding? I was always on the messy roommate side of that cold war. It’s just too fun to watch you neat freaks squirm.

Anywho, why not end the war by making your dorm room a little bit cooler and cozier this week. It will help your entire semester run more smoothly on the roommate front. It will help bolster your creativity if you take the time and effort to personalize your digs. Here are some things I found on Apartment Therapy.

DIY

Mirrors will make your dorm room look bigger, but who wants a room full of plain mirrors. This isn’t the victorian era, mirrors aren’t the show stoppers they used to be. So get creative with it. Here are a few DIY Mirror options for your viewing pleasure via Apartment Therapy.

You can use rope to frame a circular mirror if you’re going for a lasso themed thing.

You could frost your favorite silhouette onto any shaped mirror. This seems like a fun project. You could do simple circles in different shapes that look like bubbles.

Orrrr… How about making a sunburst mirror using shims? If you want something more colorful, you could paint the shims in whatever hues you think would say “inner peace” to your cranky roomie.

Hidden Gem

If you don’t have a roommie to make peace with, or you live at home with your parents while you attend one of the best online colleges, then do something for yourself this week.

Take some leftover or sale wallpaper, and line your drawers for a colorful pop. It won’t take but a few minutes of your time and is one of those little details that can bring a little joy to your day when you’re feeling uninspired.

“I always paint drunk. Now that I don’t do opiates or pain killers anymore, I always paint and drink.” -an artist I talked to once

I know that that sounds like really awful and shoddy advice. But is it? A ton of artists are notorious drinkers. As far as writers are concerned Hemmingway, Poe, Hunter Thompson, Tennessee Williams, Oscar Wilde, Jack Karoac, William Faulkner, and Charles Bukowski all fall under the drink and create tent.

What about musicians? Dean Martin, Courtney Love, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, the entire band of Led Zepplin, Marvin Gaye, Elton John, Ozzy Osborne, and Janis Joplin are all notable drunken creators.

How about artists? Well, Van Gough, Jackson Pollock… okay, now we’re too drunk to make lists.

Now, I’m not saying that this is the desirable state. Booze can cause all sorts of problems. Those problems range from harmless to out of control, namely, panty dropping, beer goggles, and crappy list making skills.

But it seems like there is a correlation between artists and booze, does it not? Even though those two may not go hand in hand, they at least go head to head every now and again.

“I would like to drink my desert.” -that same artist

Okay, so now that we’ve gotten this far in this post about booze and artists, I’ll admit that the inspiration for this post about booze and art came from several over dinner tonight. I’ve got a little buzz and it made me wonder about the connection between drinking and art.

This isn’t art. This is a blog. But I kinda wanted to to a little experiment. I wanted to see what it was like to be aware of the connection and set my brain free whilst I got my drink on.

So, here I will write a drunken poem:

It’s a haiku, yes.

Drunk haikus are the best.

I drink. I write. Yes.

So what do you think? Do I deserve a haiku Pulitzer for that alcohol inspired poem? 

It seems almost sacrilegious to give up one of art’s greatest companions. No, I’m not giving up booze, drugs, cigarettes or nudity. I’ve already crossed a few of those off the list and am well on my way to being kicked out of the art world. If I keep up with nudity, can I stay? I promise, I look like a muse when I’m naked.

Now that I’ve whored myself out in order to continue to consider myself an artist, I can finally kick the coffee. That’s right. It’s good. And it kinda sucks. Well, not really. As you can see, I have really strong feelings about this. In one hand, coffee has always helped me create. It’s been my friend, lover and crutch. I saw it as a romantic thing. Coffee and art on Sunday mornings make the entire week worth living.

On the other hand, I’m kinda sick of being dependent on stuff. It’s annoying that I have to head to the coffee shop and spend at least three bucks to get my fix every single day. Otherwise, you get struck with those insurmountable caffeine headaches. I never really noticed them in the past, because I never skipped my daily dose of caffeine. But when I was told that I wouldn’t be able to ingest caffeine for the month of March, I figured, why not just kick it now? No big deal. It’ll save me some cash. It’ll help me kick the jitters (not good for drawing straight lines). I won’t be kept up all night wondering why, oh why, on gods green earth, did I drink a cup of coffee at 8 p.m.

It’s been three days without coffee, and I won’t lie to you and say that the last few days have been easy. I was cripplingly tired on Weds. I fell asleep in the middle of the day for several hours. I tried to apply for some easy scholarships, but that was a no go as well. Thursday I was struck with the craziest headaches that made me want to take a drill to my brain. But today, I woke up filled with natural energy after (gasp!) eight hours of sleep. When I got up, I was flooded with all of this inspiration. My day has really been flowing smoothly and filled with creative energy.

Do you make art without coffee? Are you trying to kick the habit?

A friend of mine once said that comic books were the most amazing populist art. How else could a person buy at least fifty pieces of art for a couple of bucks? It really made me appreciate how awesome comic books truly are, but it also took me out of the writer’s mindset to realize that comic books are mostly art (gasp!). Only a writer could miss something that’s so obvious. I can hear the resounding “DUH!” coming through the screen even as I write this.

Personally, when I think of comic books, I think of Superman and Spiderman. That style of comic book art never really seemed very “artsy” to me. Now I think that’s a pretty poor attitude when it comes to comic books. Not only do those styles have their own artistic merit, they’re not the only graphic styles in the world of comic books.

It seems that the older I get, the more serious and beautiful the art in comic books  gets. When I picked up Habibi by Craig Thompson, I was taken aback by how intricate every single page was. The artwork was exotic and delicate. It made every page seem as ornate as the Taj Mahal and it made every image so captivating that I’m not sure I’ll ever make it through the entire thing.

Watchmen was one of the first graphic novels (the grownup term for comic books) I had ever read, and looking over it again to notice the artwork seemed to make it a much more intricate story. The first time I read it, I must have taken the images at face value, like they were just there to serve the story. I realize this time that the images are the story. The color palette in Watchmen set this beautiful tone and cohesiveness.

This image from Black Hole by Charles Burnes is a great example of how artful comic books are. This comic is pure black and white genius. The images completely make the story. They’re so grotesque and unsettling that you can’t help but become engrossed in the artful and uncomfortable nature of the story.

What are your favorite artsy comic books?

Here in Chicago, the snow is piling up. The fluffy mounds make the cold finally seem worth it. It feels like it’s time to come out of hibernation and the inspiration seems to pile up with every inch of white that blankets the city. It seems right to spend a Friday evening indoors, browsing through my favorite art blogs, plucking around on a ukulele I just found, writing and eating Thai food until I burst.

As for Saturday, well that’s reserved for a day indoors with the fake fireplace playing on your TV, dubstep bumping while you scroll through your favorite art blogs, drink tea and create to your little heart’s content. Or I suppose you could reserve it for another day with the ukulele (those things may or may not be made out of heroin). There’s something that’s really calming and inspirational about the first big snow of winter.

Winter seems to slow us all down. Since we’re not running around, we seem to have more time to focus and to create. It can be a time to rest and hibernate, or it can be a time to withdraw and become motivated to make, build, write, photograph or whatever your medium is.

Last night, I came across some great winter inspirationals while I was sifting through some blogs I dig. Hopefully they’re as moving to you as they were to me last night. They prompted me to learn two songs on the uke and write two more. That’s right. The artsy student is now officially a musician… Watch out Jimmy Hendrix. It seems that your Ukulele counterpart has finally arrived.

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival 

This is a photograph from the Big Picture covering the Ice and Snow Festival. The shots are beautiful and I think this serves as a reminder that there’s no such thing as a ridiculous dream. One day, back in the 60′s a dude dreamed up an entire village made out of ice, snow and colorful lights. That dude’s dream came true.

Tweet by Brian Cook

I’m not sure this qualfies as an inspirational, but I loved this print by Brian Cook.

Polaboy

Yeah, I was saving the best for last. As soon as I have a crazy surplus of money (super soon), I’m going to invest in a Poloroid camera. Then when I have a crazy crazy surplus of money (when I’m ballin’ with my software engineer salary), I’m going to send away my favorite shot to Polaboy and have them make me one of these amazing LED back lit, custom, giant Polaroids.

I just realized that I went off my inspirational topic. Oh well, maybe I’ll be able to stick with my theme next week.

What inspirationals have you found this week?

The Letter Writer... This guy knows how to work it.

Whether you’re a visual artist, novelist, playwright, or musician, this question is relevant to your creative process, isn’t it? What I mean is that the creative process isn’t necessarily over when you’re done with your work of art, piece of music, novel, etc. There’s one more step that takes just as much creative thinking as the actual creation part, if not more. You have to get people to see/read/listen to your creative work.

That’s what I’d like to discuss today. I’d like to take a moment to talk about ways to market your creative work. It’s one of those things that’s constantly changing as people are finding new and more accessible outlets for sharing and selling their artwork.

As a writer, I know that sharing work on sites like Twitter and Tumblr is a great way to tap into viral success, but most of the time that seems like a crap shoot. You can use twitter for years before someone important retweets you or follows you, and even that might not lead to anything tangible. As a art, education, wellness and vegan blog writer, I know that YouTube videos and Facebook fanpages can help market your “blog brand” but again, these outlets can take a lot of effort with little to no return. You can put it all out there, but how do you get people to read your stuff?

Musicians can take advantage of the internet in unfathomable ways. With sites like My [____] (almost as bad of a name change as SyFy) and Soundcloud, you have a whole new way to share music. But how do you get people to listen to it?

Artists benefit from art direct selling websites like Artweb, you can sell your art without having to give the middle man a huge chunk of commission. Again, you can put it out there, but how do you get people to buy it?

I guess putting it out there might be all you can do. Perhaps if it’s good enough, and people love it, you’ll eventually make a living creating. Maybe not.

I’d love to hear from you on this one… How do you market your art? Do you think marketing is an important part of being a successful artist?

You’ve got a deadline for a creative project that’s coming up in a few short days, hours, or minutes. Hopefully it’s not minutes, otherwise you definitely have a procrastination problem. Why would you be reading a blog if you’ve only got a few minutes to finish something? Oh, that’s right. Because you’re trying to get inspired and I’m supposed to be telling you how to do that. Sorry.

So you might have been staring at the same blank canvas, page for weeks or you might have written or created something that amounts to virtual crap (I didn’t mean digital poop, but something that’s completely useless). So now the time has come to get some creative work onto the page, to think creatively and come up with something genius.

How do you do that? How did you figure out how to become an artist? There are no absolutes, but there are three simple things you can do to get you creatively motivated in a hurry.

Change Your Space

Sometimes, getting creative is as simple as changing the place that you’re in. I’m not saying that you have to pack up and head down to a Starbucks or new art studio, but try moving around a little bit and getting right back to it. Change rooms or just change the space you occupy in the room you’re in and give it another go. If that doesn’t work…

Take a Shower

Again, this stuff isn’t brain surgery. It’s just about wiping the slate clean and getting a new perspective. Do that literally. Hop in the shower. Do your thang. Take a cold rinse. When you get out of the shower, towel off, tie your hair back and get to it. No primping folks. This isn’t an excuse to put fake eyelashes on. Get right back to your work space. If you don’t have time for a quick shower…

Run and Shake

Getting physical is a good way to quickly get your mind on the task at hand. Run in place as fast as you can for two minutes, then jog at a medium pace for three minutes. Next, shake every limb of your body, one at a time, like you’re doing the hokey pokey. Now get back on the ball.

How do you get inspired in a hurry.

Like most of you, I’m wasting years of my life surfing the internet. Like you guys, I too sit down at the computer to “check something” and find myself there four hours later. Sometimes this sudden realization sucks. Sometimes I weigh out all of the things that I could have gotten accomplished instead of keeping my eyes glued to the new boob tube. Sometimes I think, “I just want to click. I can’t stop clicking. Why do they make it so easy to click? Why can’t I find the bottom of this thing? When will it end? Sh*t. I have an internet addiction.” And then I give in and continue to click anyway.

Other times, I think, I’ve seen so many cool things these last four hours, that my eyes could explode out of my head and I want to go make stuff, write stuff and do stuff, because I’m craaaazy inspired (and a little crazy).

I have that one friend on Facebook that actually posts amazing creative stuff from artists and funny folks all over the interwebs. I consider him my internet filter for cool art stuff. He’s a fantastic artist in Chicago, so he’s got a good eye for amaaaazing things (today has been one of those internet days. Can you tell?) Here’s some stuff from a link he posted this week that shows some of Eric Drooker’s illustrations:

Loverly.

Irony?

But stalking isn’t the only way I get my art and design inspiration on. I also get it from my Google reader, where it comes pre-packaged in bite sized muse morsels. British designer Patrick Smith created these graphically pleasing posters to get us talking about an uncomfortable subject, mental disorders. They’re fantastic.

And last but not least, I get my inspiration from http://realworld.com… I mean the real world (yeah, that was a stretch. I’m sleepy). Today, I got to walk the same confusing hallways that Tina Fey, Chris Farley and John Belushi walked down when I went for orientation at The Second City. It was generally the most inspiring moment of my year.

So what did you find inspirational this week?

Buenas! I just got back from Central America a few days ago, and I’m fresh from checking out the local flavor in Panama City. I just wanted to check in and show you some amazing street art and handmade art from the Kuna people of Panama.

Traveling is such a great way to get exposed to new art. One way to get a feel for a culture’s creative side is to wander around and check out the street art. The street art in Panama City is great and I wanted to stop in and share some of it with you.

I spent my time out in Casco Viejo, which is a beautiful little part of old Panama. You can see the big city skyline on the other side of the bay plus it’s this beautiful little delapedated area that’s being heavily restored. I was told that the city was destroyed in the 1600′s by the pirate, Captain Morgan when he ravaged Panama City in a spiced rum, drunken stupor. I recently found out that this isn’t really accurate. Most of the coastal towns were burnt down by the Spanish themselves to keep them from the pirates. Interesting stuff, huh?

What’s even more fascinating is that Casco lies in a state of internal dichotomy. On one of the narrow brick roads, you’ll see fancy sushi restaurants next to hollowed out ruins, next to a heaping piles of garbage. If you close your eyes, you can even smell how the opposites play at each other. In one inhalation, you can capture the scent of the humid sea, hot grease, expensive perfume, the dust of hammered brick, and said heaping pile of garbage.

Here are some images that I captured around town…

This is Mola made by the Kuna people in Panama. It's beautiful stuff.

I honestly loved Casco Viejo and would highly recommend a trip to Panama City and a stay at Luna’s Castle especially if you get a break from your online classes and you can truly enjoy the break. But enough about my trip… Do you have any street art to share?