Kris Krüg

#Repost @ethos.lab
・・・
Join us this Friday as we celebrate the end of Black Futures Month. This will be a night of music, games and spotlighting outstanding youth about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Featuring Musical Guests:

D.O. GIBSON

MAMA RUDE GYAL

NDIDI CASCADE

NANYA

AWLYVER

KIA KADIRI

QWISS

CARISSA

This event will take place online in our virtual worlds called atlanthos and sushi land!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLqmbVdhGSZ/?igshid=1tnaq6n27ieod

We are thrilled to welcome Anthonia Ogundele as our March 5th speaker.

Anthonia Ogundele, planner, resilience professional, and founder of Ethọ́s Lab.

Ogundele has a passion for cities and engaging communities and was a member of the Northeast False Creek Stewardship Committee, igniting the launch of the Hogan’s Alley Land Trust, and later the Hogan’s Alley Society. In 2016, she turned a storefront facing closet on Carrall Street into the Cheeky Proletariat: an accessible and inclusive space that fosters free expression of all People. Inspired by her teenage daughter, Anthonia founded the Ethọ́s Lab, a non-profit social enterprise that leverages culture as a vehicle to access STEM exploration. Youth ages 13-18 have access to emerging technologies and a vibrant community of innovators. Ethos Lab advocates for access to the tools and Skills youth members need to create the future they want through their collaborative online platform and physical space.

Q&A

How do you define creativity and apply it in your life and career?
Creativity is authentic self-expression. It has actually taken a while for me to accept my creativity…and call it creativity. In life, we are often told to move in particular kinds of ways or have particular life paths. But truly it’s about the uniqueness of who you are and your own uniqueness that you bring to the world around you. And so when it comes to me creativity is about the world telling me to make a left when my heart tells me to take a right. My career has been my left-hand lane, but only until recently did I say, time to unleash my creativity, time to make a right. So I made the decision to step out of formal employment and dive into entrepreneurialism, which allows me to fully live in my creative ability or more into my authentic self.

Where do you find your best creative inspiration or energy?
I get my inspiration from music, faith, and people. When I listen to music it gives me energy up and my creative juices begin to flow. I believe life consists of intricate patterns that can be remixed, broken, enhanced, and amplified. When I think about what I do around creative interventions I ALWAYS think about how J DILLA makes his beats. He always started in the offbeat so I try and live my life in a similar rhythm. Also, I am a Christian and my faith energizes me and connects me with the world around me—nature, people, and my spirit. Finally, Humans inspire me—I am surrounded by so many inspirational people.

What’s one piece of creative advice or a tip you wish you’d known as a young person?
Don’t be afraid to be creative. Your uniqueness and self-expression is needed and valued and undoubtedly is your superpower.

Who (living or dead) would you most enjoy hearing speak at CreativeMornings?
Maya Angelou

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
I once received a call from a friend in the middle of my workday at lunch who asked if I wanted to fly to Chicago on Obama’s election night. I left my desk, went to the airport, and celebrated his win in Chicago. The next day I was back at work.

What fact about you would surprise people?
I have Federal top-secret security clearance.

What keeps you awake at night?
The Metaverse—ensuring Black people exist in the future.

What has been one of your biggest Aha! moments in life?
That cities are intentionally designed. That policy is intentionally designed. That all things we create as humans are intentionally designed—which means that they are on the table for creative disruption.

#Repost @chairman_ting with @make_repost
・・・
Exactly 7 years ago, I gave my first @creativemorningsvancouver talk where I also did a live drawing session instead of using slides. Well, on Friday I’ll be returning to the stage (online) as a Creative Mornings Alumni for an event called ‘Divergent’. A wonderful topic that many like myself, would welcome to hear how things have diverged since the pandemic hit.

This time, instead of a talk, I’ll be returning to draw live (streaming via Zoom) for all three speakers Rachel McKinley, @darrylcondon and @jun0k.
I always get giddy when I get to freestyle draw and improvise as the unknown excites me. Big ups to my studio mate and good friend @hubertkang for helping me set up with all his fancy video equipment for the best visual fidelity (No pressure Hubert!) an illustrator can get at our studio. Also big thanks to @rick_etkin for his video tech wisdom!

Very honoured to be back and thank you for the invite @creativemorningsvancouver @markbusse 🙏

There will also be a live musical performance by Craig Addy, a Musician, Pianist, Composer & Improviser.

Hope to virtually see you all there this Friday. The event is free to register.

#CreativeMornings #livedrawing #improvisation #illustration #talk #vancouver
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK0PRUSBwZB/?igshid=vs9w8u9p2ta5

Join us Feb 5 for our next online event.

We are bringing back not one, two, or even three, but FIVE previous CMVan speakers to address the global theme ‘divergent’.

Rachel McKinley addressed the CreativeMornings community in 2018 with her compelling talk Craft (chocolate) and Creativity.

Born and raised in small town Manitoba, Rachel has enjoyed careers as a competitive ice dancer, social support worker, and paramedic, as well as obtaining degrees in microbiology and English literature at the University of Manitoba. It was during he second degree that she fell in love with the alchemy of chocolate, and abandoned her path towards medical school for a career in the kitchen. After starting with studies online, she went on to train in chocolate in Montreal, Minneapolis, New York, Paris, Florence and Pisa, and opened her business in Vancouver, CocoaNymph Chocolates & Confections, which she owned and operated for 10 years. More interested in inventing new chocolates than running a business, she pursued a career in product development. She is now an instructor at Ecole Chocolat, the head chocolatier at Purdys Chocolatier, and a freelance product developer for multiple companies in the US. She also went on to study drawing and painting at Emily Carr and is an obsessive scupltor, maker of fine food and embroidered goods, and is working on her first novel.

Darryl Condon last stood on the CreativeMornings stage way back in 2012 where he shared his talk Moving Beyond Sustainability & Building Community With Inclusive Spaces.

Darryl Condon is interested in design that acts as a catalyst for positive social change. As Managing Principal at Vancouver based HCMA Architecture + Design, his leadership has led to highly innovative public spaces including community centres, pools, recreation facilities, fire halls and libraries across Canada. After 30 years of creating these dynamic, engaging and effective spaces, Darryl is seeking to break away from preconceptions of conventional practice at every scale, to maximize the impact and potential of projects and collaborations. These efforts are focused on transforming his firm to provide creative solutions to an increasingly wider range of challenges facing our communities. Darryl is a registered Architect and a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He is a Past-President of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia, a frequent speaker internationally and has been an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Juno Kim last visited CMVan in 2019 when he shared his talk The Flow of a Creative Path.

Juno Kim is well known for being a conscious chef whose unique approach to food has garnered him awards, accolades, and a reputation as one of the best caterers and food stylists in Vancouver. After many years in this role, Kim began looking towards the future with an evolving mindset. These days Juno describes himself as a student of life, explorer of the mind and consciousness. As an entrepreneur, consultant, and freelance creative, Kim focuses on projects that inspire holistic well-being and loving-kindness.

🎶 This month we are honoured to feature a live music performance by Musician, Pianist, Composer & Improviser Craig Addy.🎵

Addy is the creator of the unique Under the Piano, a vibrational music Sound Spa for Body Mind & Soul, and was a CMVan speaker in January 2017 where he shared his talk The Mystery of Improvising.

Returning to create live visuals of the presentations is past presenter Carson Ting, who inspired us with his 2014 talk Being a Creative Rebel.

Carson Ting is an award-winning art director that has worked in the advertising business for over two decades. He began his career in Toronto after earning a Bachelor of Design degree from the Ontario College of Art and Design and has worked on brands such as Nike Jordan, Lexus, and Sony.

We are so excited to welcome Denise Williams as our January speaker. Come join us next month!

Bio
At the intersection of Indigenous sovereignty, technological advancement and a rapidly expanding technology and innovation economy, Denise has the privilege of working with Indigenous peoples, governments, academics, technology futurists and social change makers to map an ecosystem that will result in fair and equitable access to the tools and education required to lead digital transformation in the 21st century. Denise leads a theory of change that aims to ensure Indigenous peoples are leading in Canada’s technology and innovation sector and in building new connected economies. Her purpose is to create space for Indigenous peoples to access the knowledge they carry from their ancestors and bring back community, balance and humanity to the design, integration and evolution of digital technologies and online spaces. The legacy of which is meant to advance Truth and Reconciliation both in physical and virtual worlds.

With a passion for contributing and volunteering in initiatives and organizations that influence real change and the advancement of Truth and Reconciliation, Denise proudly serves as a governor with the Urban Native Youth Association, MakeWay, Vancouver Foundation, Hollyhock Learning Institute, Innovate BC and Simon Fraser University as the Chair of university relations, and where she earned her MBA in 2015. Denise is as advisor on innovation to the Governor General of Canada, a member of Status of Women Canada’s Indigenous Women’s Circle, BC’s Indigenous Business and Investment Council, and a mentor with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

Denise has been awarded Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40 in 2018, Motherboards Human of Year in 2017, BC’s Most Influential Women STEM Stars in 2017, and Women in Technology’s Community Champion in 2016.

#CMVan is excited to present local singer/songwriter David Ward to kick off our last event of the year. Check out David’s smooth soul stylings at www.davidwardmusic.com.

Or hear him live on Friday! (link to register in profile)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CITsQI4h0TF/?igshid=1ovneuvyb5q5w

We are so thrilled to present next month’s exiting speaker Amanda Lewis. Join us online.

Bio

Amanda Lewis helps writers build their body of work. She is currently Editorial Director at Page Two, a publishing house in Vancouver that collaborates with individuals and organizations around the world to produce quality non-fiction and children’s books. Previously, she was Editor and Associate Managing Editor at the Knopf Random Canada Publishing Group at Penguin Random House Canada in Toronto for eight years. She has worked with authors including Naomi Klein, Gary Barwin, John Vaillant, Michael Bungay Stanier, and Kate Harris, and edited posthumous collections by Jane Jacobs and Carol Shields. Amanda is also co-founder and Literary Director of The Reading Line, a unique literary festival on two wheels. A writer herself, Amanda is currently working on her debut book, a memoir about searching for the largest trees in British Columbia. Born in Dublin, Ireland, Amanda now lives in the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. You can learn more at amandalewis.org

Q&A

How do you define creativity and apply it in your life and career?

I believe that life is inherently creative, and our task is to maintain flow and openness. I work in a creative field—publishing—so I am constantly coming up with fresh ideas and innovative systems, in tandem with our team at Page Two and our authors. Lately I’ve been focusing my creative energies on simplifying my life and work. Early in the pandemic, I listened to a talk by writer Elizabeth Gilbert, who said she sometimes asks herself, “How would this look if it were easier?” That creative problem-solving usually presents a cleaner narrative and less stress overall.

Where do you find your best creative inspiration or energy?

In routine. I find that my best ideas come when my day is organized, and my mind is free to wander between the tasks and appointments.

What’s one piece of creative advice or a tip you wish you’d known as a young person?

To coin a phrase: Just do it. The creative energy that inspires you is often the energy that will help you finish a task, regardless of whether you identify as a “starter” or a “finisher.” There’s a principle in coaching that the first problem that’s identified is often not the real problem, but when it comes to creative thinking, I believe “First thought, best thought.” Don’t overthink it, just get it done.

Who (living or dead) would you most enjoy hearing speak at CreativeMornings?

The late Oliver Sacks is my go-to inspiration for balancing personal creative work alongside a day job—in his case, as a busy neurologist who was devoted to his patients. I admire him for his work ethic as much as his commitment to personal pursuits (like studying ferns) and physical fitness (he swam every day, frequently in the ocean). He was a true eccentric, in the best possible sense, and I think we’d be treated to a wide-ranging, illuminating conversation and a Q&A delivered with kindness and curiosity.

What did you learn from your most memorable creative failure?

That it was worth trying. And even if I don’t use the material in that form, I can repurpose the idea or material elsewhere. I learn and figure out what I’m trying to say through doing it, especially when it comes to writing. Some people outline first, but I draft and then organize the material. As Joan Didion said, “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”

What’s your one guilty creative indulgence?

No such thing. I don’t apply guilt to something that gives me pleasure.

What are you reading these days?

A stack of library books, by authors including Samantha Irby, Jonathan Safran Foer, Richard Feynman, Sheri Fink, Jerry Saltz, Roger Deakin…I always read a bunch of books at once. Plus the books I’m currently editing, which are mostly business and self-help.

What fact about you would surprise people?

I have a near-complete collection of my orthodontic appliances and dental models.

How would you describe what you do in a single sentence to a stranger?

I help writers figure out what they’re saying, and then help them say it in the clearest and most engaging way possible.

What’s the most recent thing you learned (big or small)?

How to use a rotary sander. Not complicated. 

If I could open a door and go anywhere where would that be?

My recurring dream is opening doors to empty rooms. I always wake up feeling spacious and free. I hope I always have that dream.

What myths about creativity would you like to set straight? 

That only certain people are creative, that it’s innate, and that you need to go to art school or get an MFA to be creative. Bullshit.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?

Anne Collins, publisher at Penguin Random House Canada. She taught me to work hard and dig deeper and demand more of authors, while also being kind and sending them a gift when they need a boost, oftentimes a bottle of booze.

What are you proudest of in your life?

Rising to the rank of Editorial Director and working in publishing for 12 years, when it’s notoriously hard to land and keep an editing job.

If you could interview anyone living or dead, but not a celebrity, who would it be and why?

My paternal grandmother. I’d ask for her secrets in maintaining a home and stretching a budget. I adore homemaking. 

If you could do anything now, what would you do?

Deliver my Creative Mornings talk early so I don’t obsess over it.

Where was the last place you travelled?

Since we’re in a pandemic, not very far! I was fortunate to go to Japan in December 2019 to hike the Kumano Kodo, a UNESCO world heritage site. I can’t wait to return to Japan to complete more pilgrimage routes. These days, I stay close to home in East Vancouver, or visit my family on Vancouver Island and Gabriola Island. I feel most comfortable when near the ocean; inland, I go a little squirrely.

What music are you listening to these days?

Let’s see, my 10 most recent downloads are:

1. Jeff Russo, Fargo series soundtrack (I love the drums in “Wrench and Numbers”)
2. A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Forest Bathing (their most recent album, one of my fave bands) 
3. Idris Muhammad, Power of Soul (the Beastie Boys sample his song “Loran’s Dance”)
4. Simon and Garfukenl, Essentials (what can I say? Classic, perfect for moody PNW fall)
5. Van Morrison, Essentials (high kicks and bell bottoms, baby!)
6. Lenny Kravitz, “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” (Let’s! Clean! The! House!)
7. Midlife, Automatic (my friend Kate recommended this album and I’ve been meaning to listen to it when I exercise…next time I exercise)
8. Easy Star All-Stars, Dub Side of the Moon (they do excellent reggae/ska/dub covers of classic albums; I adore their covers of Radiohead songs)
9. Toots and the Maytals, Essentials (RIP Toots!)
10. Gordon Hempton, “The Ocean Is a Drum” (sound tracker Hempton recorded the sound of waves rolling in off the Pacific, using a mic in a naturally hollowed Sitka spruce log on the shore, which has excellent resonance) 

Where is your favourite place to escape?

In my mind, to a favourite rock on Hornby Island, BC.

What practises, rituals, or habits contribute to your creative work?

Meditation, keeping a schedule outside my work hours, Pomodoros (20-minute work bursts), exercise commitments/challenges, long walks, coffee and dark chocolate every morning, starting work early in the morning and not getting dressed until I have to.

When you get stuck creatively, what is the first thing you do to get unstuck?

Take a walk and then give myself 20 minutes to work on a task, just riffing on paper. Or chat with friends about the blocks. Creative blocks are building blocks.

If you had fifteen extra minutes each day, what would you do with them?

Procrastinate.

What has been one of your biggest Aha! moments in life?

If we start from a grounded place and take deeper breaths, we’ll go further.

What object would you put in a time capsule that best represents who you are today?

Dark chocolate wouldn’t survive the time capsule, so I’d say my yellow kettle, since I use it several times a day for coffee and tea.

What is the one movie or book every creative must see/read?

Two films: Beautiful Losers and Cameraperson.

OPPORTUNITY ALERT!

CMVan is looking for a our next presenting partner to support our Dec event.

Email vancouver@creativemornings.com if you or your organization wants to help us with our mission to build connections and capacity of Vancouver’s creative community! (at Vancouver - Unceeded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territory)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHbmHVqBU1d/?igshid=h9k2c1w8w9ec

For a check-in at today’s event we asked the community to share a few words about what was on their hearts and minds, in particular around this month’s global theme ‘radical’.

The words in the centre were the most common. XOXO (at Vancouver - Unceeded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territory)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHQu9WMBqOA/?igshid=iltlpyk4ltma

If you signed up for today’s event and are wondering where the Zoom link is, double check your email in case our message got flagged as junk or spam. Message us if you have difficulty joining us! (at Vancouver - Unceeded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territory)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHQS6xPh_6S/?igshid=10fwfbcnuwgei