Author: Adam

I posted recently about the side of the bag that says “YOU CAN’T PLAN FOR SCREEN MAGIC” — I love that side of the bag.  And I love this other side of the bag just as much.

Layers and layers added to layers and layers… transformed over time and through process, to become something beautiful.  Not to mention: it’s a much needed balance to the loudness of the other half of the bag.   Featured on this side (shown above) is a part of the original painting that has a lot of physical layers.  Paper on top of paper, with some worn burlap(?) that is painted and more paint on top of that.  Cheryl recently said:

“I have been thinking in terms of additive and subtractive methods. I find that I am much more comfortable adding to than subtracting from.”

I love the fact that this side of the bag shines a light on her exceptional ability to create art by adding.

On the short page I posted about Badass Backpacks, one of the things I chose to call out are the 6 key ingredients that we’ve used as a guide for our creative process.  Some of you have seen me draw some version of this:

I’ve started (slowly) to post a few bits here and there about each of these pieces (here and here for example).  Today was a day when all of the ingredients came together.  Cheryl Hicks got her bag!  Bag #4 has a home — she posted some photos and a beautiful thank you on her blog…  it absolutely made me smile ear to ear!  I got notification from Cheryl at almost the exact moment that I was standing in front of the UPS store — shipping off bag #5.  A special gift.  And I was reflecting on all of this (standing at the package drop off)… and the bag, the Artist, the theme, the story, the chance to give a gift, a Tribe of Athenians sending messages of encouragement and excitement… and a picture of Cheryl with her bag.  Those ingredients came together magically today which was a neat feeling to carry all day long.

The 6 ingredients still deserve some more explanation.  Which they’ll get via some attention on this blog very soon.  There is a story to tell.  But first, I’m going to sit with and enjoy the final moments of this special Tuesday just a moment longer.  Another BFD session in the books.  I’m so grateful to see so many people in this small, pre-nascent tribe beginning to buzz with excitement!  Thank you everyone who was a part of smiling with me today…  Tomorrow, there’s work to be done.  🙂

I travelled to Athens, TX this weekend.  Athens is where I grew up and it’s where my family lives.  And as I mentioned in my post about Cheryl Hicks – it’s where Gallery 211 is.  My journeyed mind and legs (tired from all that driving :-)) are whew… exhausted.  But I wanted to get a post up before I head to get some rest for a long week ahead.

I had a chance to talk with family (my parents as well my brother and his wife) about Badass Backpacks this weekend.  It’s an awesome feeling to see them so excited about these bags and about this project!  Their questions gave me a stark reminder that I need to get some important posts up on this blog:  I need to give some details on where this whole thing is coming from.  The most beautiful questions were:  “Who did you work with to get this thing done?  And what about that thing?”  Some of the most important details come down to collaboration and contribution from very specific people.  And then those people become part of the story.

It’s interesting to reflect on where you’ve come from.  My weekend journey to Athens gave me some road time to do just that.  🙂

Meredith, that site that I talked about is called Maker’s Row.  They’re pretty badass… and I’ll look forward to writing more about them as well as some other amazing folks soon.  Til then… time for rest.  Was good to see you this weekend Athens.

Quick back story on Bag #5.  The First 100 are one-hundred hand-signed bags (signed by Cheryl Hicks).  I wrote earlier about bags 1-4.  Bag #5 is a stepping stone in our QA process.  There were a few minor tweaks to make — and those tweaks have been made.  Bag 5 is looking sharp.

Spent quite a bit of time preparing some tags for our first short run tonight.  I’m really liking how they’re looking… here’s a quick photo:

Driving home tonight from a last minute “close out the weekend” grocery store run I heard an interview of an author on NPR.  Didn’t hear enough to catch her name but I did catch one of her sound bites where she talked about her “best work… ya know the really scary stuff, the most creative work I manage to do” — I don’t remember the exact wording but this unknown source said something to the effect of “I know I’m doing my best work when I lose control over it”.  The way she spoke about this reminded me of “You can’t plan for screen magic”.

I often find that it is specifically my desire to control what I am creating that silences the work.  I push the work inside.  And I delay and I procrastinate because I convince myself that I will be able to control this thing I need to create… and since I can’t control it now, I’ll just wait until another time, when “I feel like it” or rather wait until another time when I might be able to control it.

I’m working a lot lately on blasting past that knee-jerk reaction to shut it down — and to just let my work be.  Sometimes this is a matter of giving way to working with the contribution of others, and other times it’s a matter of getting out of my own way.  Either way, it’s easier said than done.  But it’s worth remembering, and it’s worth doing:    do the work – stop worrying about control.

I was having an insanely busy day today at Blackbaud.  Calendar stacked back to back to back.  And then during a quick pause in my day, I flipped through my email and smiled when I saw an email from our fabric cutter.  All of the solid fabrics are finally cut and ready to go for the First 100!  This is a huge deal.  And yet, in the moment when it happened – or rather in the moment when I got the message about it being completed – you probably couldn’t have seen the BIGNESS of just how huge a milestone this actually was.  All of those phone calls, all of those emails, all of those searches on Maker’s Row, and then more phone calls, and then finally finding Cut-Form, and then more emails, and then more work, and then shipping fabric, and then more revisions, and then more phone calls, and then all of the sudden — it’s shipping.  This milestone, one that we have worked on for a long time, just like that: done.  I’ve had the joy of watching lots of these milestones be achieved.  And for me they often happen at a time when I can’t drop everything and throw a little party.

3-minute Milestone

1. I receive an email, or a package, or a message (depends on the milestone).  I open it, I read (or see) that something’s complete.  I take one min or so to read the full email, sift through the package, check the message.
2. I smile.  Often I find myself in strange locations when these kinds of milestones appear.  Sometimes I’ll close my eyes, and just breathe.  Sometimes I jump out of my skin, scream at the top of my lungs, and pump one fist raised in the air above me.  Success!  1 min.
3. Write a quick follow up email.  About 1 minute.

And then yes.  Sometimes it’s hard, but I have to keep moving with my day, or whatever task it is that I’m immersed in at the time.  3 minute milestones.  They have become a fuel for me and our progress in Badass Backpacks.  It’s really just the same as any other day or any other moment, except there’s something magical about progress like this.

Of magic doors there is this, you do not see them, even as you are passing through. – Anais Nin

I wrote recently about all of the hand cutting I did with the printed fabric for the First 100.  The pros at Cut-Form are taking care of the cutting for all of the solid fabrics — and they’ve been sending me some photos as the various fabrics make their way across the cutting table.  The cutting of the solid fabrics is getting wrapped up currently, but I’ll be looking forward to making a trip up to visit them for some more fabric cutting soon — I can’t wait to see this contraption in action.  🙂  Huge thanks to Ryan and his team at Cut-Form!  While I’ll be sad to leave the bulk cutting by hand behind (I really will)… it’s a huge relief to know there are people who can handle this task: like a pro.

I love these shots from the photo shoot I did today.  This random dog helped me highlight the next part of this bag:  The side of the bag that features the part of Cheryl’s painting with “YOU CAN’T PLAN FOR SCREEN MAGIC”.  This is one of the most beautiful parts of putting yourself inside.  You never know when those magical little moments will present themselves.  Let them come.  It can be really fun when they do.

The top of Sincerity Inside has a lid that covers the top opening and buckles down on the front of the bag.  The outside of the lid has a single gear.  And the inside of the lid is where Cheryl signed the First 100.  It turned out beautifully.  I love the lid.  🙂