It is past noon and I am supposed to be writing a paper on an interview that I conducted last week with one of our nursing leaders. I have all the reading and research done - I just need to write it. Why is it that when I have something due - such as 1700 word paper - I am consumed with creative ideas. Here are a few that my mind has been tossing around. After the show last night, I looked at the one very big - not quite finished basket - and came up with a copper background and then I want to paint a white shell and a blueberry. Maybe throw another marble in it to keep it working with my theme. 

Also, I really, really need to do some colored pencil drawings of my fruit series. I think they will sell and would have a quicker tun around time. My inspiration is the color wheel and I want to do a fruit for each of the colors of the color wheel - on a square. I want to work with mason board and oils, too. 

Back to last night, I loved seeing the young people at the beginning stages of their art journey. I love their abandon. That inspires me so much . . . and on the flip side of the spectrum, I had a women at least a generation older than me speak to me about my baskets and artwork. I could tell she is an art connoisseur and I really value her opinion. Is it because she had such style and grace? Why is it that children and older people that appreciate my art make me the happiest? Is it because they have less filters than people my age? Why am I so cautious with my art? With myself?

Maybe this exposure will get me out of my shell . . . I need to find a more public space to create. Or will I ever learn to create when I am alone and in peace?

What an extraordinary day today! My first art show at the Accnet Gallery and I received such great response. I need to really create more. Maybe smaller, less ambitious pieces to get started! I would love to do some smaller pieces using the ampersand art boards & Genesis paints. I know that basic landscapes would be great, too - smooth & realistic in nature. Rody & Kira were so great! I know I want to work with them again and soon. Karen Lewinski & Mary Ann from the Shore Pine Decorative painters came. I was so surprised and happy to see them. Susan & Sharon from worked stopped, too! Susan Gramham and her son - so nice of her! I really enjoyed talking about process, especially around the baskets. Steve was really glad that I did the show. He pushed me at just the right time. What was great was the variety of ages. Christine Loper's twin brother also had his very cool bright beach art in the show. She is such a cool girl!

In today's NY Times there is yet again another article on online courses. This method of learning - which references flipping the classroom - is the wave of education. I finally voiced to my team yesterday my education challenges as we roll out these huge projects (PowerChart Maternity & PowerChart Ambulatory). 

Only two more to go! I started another U of Phoenix classes last night on nursing leadership. This instructor requires all of our assignments to be handed in one day earlier. Essentially, rendering Monday's free from assignments. Good grief - the courses are jammed packed as it is. I can't wait until I am finished with school!

I think I can pull off my practicum this summer . . . I just need to refocus and get it done. If I am allowed to post the training videos to Screener with an encrypted account, then I should be able to share how to navigate our EMR with ease - especially if the students will only be taught how to navigate results and use the resource materials we provide.Providing the links as part of my journal entry should be evidence enough of what I have developed as a method of blended e-learning.

It was a quiet weekend - I slept decent and recharged. I plowed through a pile of magazines and finished reading Steve Jobs. What a brilliant jerk! What a study in ying and yang. My creativity would have suffered at his tantrums. That book is probably the last hard bound book I will ever read. I found myself wanting to look up words and did not bother with the hassle of booting up my computer. I much prefer reading an electronic book any day. I can look up words I do not know, highlight interesting passages, and book mark items for easy reference later. I love ebooks!! My iPad gives me so much more than just reading a book. Steve Jobs was right that schools need to ditch the paper texts and go digital!

I signed up for Lynda.com and discovered that their online training is excellent. I do not need the exercise files as I move along without referencing them any way. Right now I am learning about video editing using Adobe Premiere and it is pulling together so much as I have moved along this path for the last couple years. I have been thinking about videoing the maternity floor showing how everyone is shuffling papers around and then compare it to going to computer. There should be a significant difference in how the unit looks and feels - decreasing the chaotic look.

Wow - 2 months have gone by and have they been crazy busy. Especially the last couple - I am on the roller coaster for implementing the new Cerner solution called PowerChart maternity. The maternal child health department (MCH) will be going to the EMR in the beginning of October. My current busy work for this project is to compare what we have already built in our system with the new maternity content Cerner offers. This involves searching a huge data base and highlighting line items in different colors so that the analysts can build the content in our computer domains. 

The week of training for this project in Kansas City was very intense because I attended my sister's wedding in Dallas the weekend before. Getting up at 0400 is not my idea of a picnic! But everyone was in the same boat. 

In the creative realm, I have continued to learn so many new things related to using the graphic arts capability of PowerPoint. I purchased a program called Camtasia Studio which is fantastic for editing video. This software is so much easier to use than Adobe. I am getting down a pretty good process for formatting simple 2-4 minute job aides. Now I just need to find the time to complete my web pages for the staff to use for job aides.  


Last month I found a graphic artist, John McWade, who publishes an online and paper magazine called Before and After. He shares his design principles just like Bob Ross did on TV for painters. He is the Bob Ross of the print world! His videos are minimalist and project a clear purpose. I want to be like him when I grow up!