Creative Cafe Members Introductions

[Jill]

It has occured to me that we have nowhere in particular on Creative Cafe for members to introduce themselves to the group and so I hope you will all be able to do that here now.

Just to start things off I am Jill and I live in Brighton in the UK. I started Creative Cafe with a small group of volunteer friends and some donations in 2007 and we opened the site in November. I have a mental health disability and we have made a point of saying 'Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality' but not in pushing disability issues on this site. Mainly I'd like to show that although a high per cent of our members do have disabilities we can hold our own when it comes to creativity in this world. I think this shows up each week in each new Spotlight Slideshow where it is impossible to tell the difference between the photos contributed by members who are disabled and those who are not unless we are featuring a particular member who addresses the subject. To test this have a look at the Spotlight slideshow and see if you can guess which photos are the work of those with disabilities and which are not?
I enjoy being a volunteer organiser for Creative Cafe even though I have found that there is a lot more work behind the scenes to be done than I imagined there would be.

Apart from Creative Cafe my interests include reading, patchwork, music,suduko puzzles, drinking a lot of coffee and playing with Dickens the cat!

Update February 2011

I have now got a serious physical disability in the form of COPD which makes breathing difficult and is very tiring as well as the mental health disability. In the last year we have seen a lot of attacks on disabled people here in the UK in the form of being called names and having our disability benefits threatened. I have therefore become a lot more politically active and joined protest groups to try and protect the best interests of disabled people. I believe that in order that our saying "Don't Let Disability Mean Inequality" has a chance to become reality we disabled people need proper benefits and services which put us on an equal playing field.

 

Bye for Now

Jill

 

[Creativity By Ann Rose]

Hello!, I am Sarah, My sister stacey and I sell jewelry and other homemade crafts! we are always looking for new ideas and friends to share them with!

[Chanda]

Hi. I'm Chanda. I live in New Mexico. I doodle..draw..whatever you want to call it. :-) I am working on building up my portfolio with CURRENT drawings..Have been away from it for far too long.

[Jill]

Hi Chanda

Welcome and I've only just realised you live in New Mexico. We have a member called Karen who lives there as well. I haven't heard from Karen for a while so will write her a comment and let her know you have joined us on Creative Cafe. Good luck with your drawing. Bye for Now Jill

[Miranda Strickland]

Hello i'm Miranda i'm from Vacaville California (east of San Francisco) I paint alot and i'm saving up for a HD camera to take photos of my art work. I also us Art Rage software and i've made a series of digital art inspired by the media. I also dabble in photography and i'm a poet. I suffer from social anxiety, migraines, and PTSD as a result I'm extremely socially awkward and don't leave the house much, and since I work from home I reall have no reason to, i'm hoping joining this group will encourage me to get out more so I can take photos and post them. I'm also hoping to meet new people.

[Jill]

Hi Miranda

Thanks for writing your introduction. You are another of our inspiring members who do not let having mental health problems prevent you from being creative. It would be great if you could be inspired to get out to do more photography although I know it must be difficult. I hope you will get to know other members on Creative Cafe as well. We have quite a few who live around your area I think. You can do a members search and sometimes the areas are tagged which might help. Bye for Now Jill

[Cynthia Hanna]

Hi!  I'm Cynthia and I'm currently living in Hillsboro, Oregon - about 20 miles west of Portland and midway between the mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

I'll be 54 this March and have two adult children and one grandchild.  I was a single mom for all but the first year of my daughter's life, and raised them without the benefit of help from their father.

I have multiple, non-visible disabilities (a congenital foot defect that wasn't diagnosed for 38 years!), disintegrating discs in my lower spine, arthritis and severe hearing loss.  I also have chronic PTSD and panic/anxiety disorder, as well as fibromyalgia.  Not having had medical or prescription coverage for more than two years, I manage all of my conditions via diet, supplements, using stress reduction techniques and life balance - and creativity.

I created my first collage about 18 months ago.  I also trained as a creativity coach and was certified last year.  I started a Facebook page in late October (CreativeARTitudes) and am hoping to find the finances to start a website and/or hosted blog and begin to create an online income via coaching, online workshops and products.

I love collage and am now experimenting with mixed media, art journaling and creating my own embellishments.  Creativity, for me as well as many of you, has been a very healing process in so many ways!

I'd love for you to visit my page here (and my FB page as well - you don't have to be a FB member to visit!  The link is www.facebook.com/CreativeARTitudes) and say "Hello!" and will always respond :)