Wednesday, March 13, 2019

The Great Migration

Sounds like there should be a pretty bird or butterfly picture here, but it's just my blog that is migrating. Please visit www.NancyMellem.com and you'll be on my WordPress site.

I don't think there are any plans afoot to get rid of Blogger, so these old posts will hang around for a bit.

Thanks for visiting.

Friday, February 22, 2019

Creative Mornings at the Milwaukee Art Museum

The Creative Mornings theme today was "Symmetry," and what better place to have this conversation than the Calatrava?


The Creative Morning program started at 8:30 this morning...long before the MAM was due to open and spread its wings for the day. Coming out the top story of the parking garage from the museum on Lincoln Memorial Drive, I was able to cross over what I consider to be part of the "spine" of the structure.


The event started with coffee and muffins with a view. Tables were set around to rest a cuppa while you introduced yourself to other creatives. I enjoyed conversations with Nancy, Sandy and Toni...close friends attending together. Sandy is a seasoned Creative Mornings attendee, and Nancy and Toni were enjoying their first venture into the event.



Before the presentation, our host for the event, Paul Oemig (above), asked us to engage with a stranger in our vicinity for one minute to explore our "____" = "_____" name tag topics. I had a nice conversation with Nick who is an experiential designer focussed on cutting out the social media clutter in pursuit of deeper interactions. Creative Mornings was just the spot for Nick. He talked about his desire to find locations for events where people can have shared experiences. I told him about Kenosha's Creative Space, and he already knew Francisco Loyola. It's a small wonderful world.


Whitney's presentation was a treat. Her career has not yet spanned a decade, but she discovered early on the jangly dissatisfaction of a work/life imbalance. She talked about the process of determining her goals and rebuilding her career to attain that balance (symmetry) for herself.

She's put together a freelance illustration and design business that allows her to take the time to do work that is more pleasing to her and to her clients. Time, play, and the power of saying no were all necessary in remaking her career.

I wish I'd had such a clear vision of my own career from such an early part of it.


As a wonderful surprise, the MAM invited all attendees of this Creative Mornings event to view the Bouguereau & America exhibit. As it happens, I had the time, and the exhibit was terrific.

When I left, the sun was shining, the clouds had cleared out, and the wings were spread.


Until next time....

Thanks for stopping by!