Weird Holidays? Draw Happy Little Winter Trees

Hello!

As we lean into the darkest time of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere, creating space, physically or mentally, to rest can feed our souls. 

In this especially weird year, it might feel better to begin looking forward as soon each day will get a little longer. Stay tuned for one more ConverSketch newsletter before the end of the year with a template to help guide a vision board for 2021.

For now, here’s one way to draw some Happy Little Winter Trees – have fun, play, and root down to cultivate presence with a tree doodle. 

Wishing you a warm, joyful, and safe holiday season. I am SO APPRECIATIVE that you’re a part of my life and I’m looking forward to celebrating and co-creating safely together in 2021!

Cheers, 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Denver Housing Authority: Designing and guiding a three-part series for a team to fortify their connections after months working virtually and to explore ways to help each other and participants in a very complex system.

Virtual Facilitation Workshop for the Earth Leadership Program: Equipping researchers with best practices for virtual meeting platforms, how to design an engaging online process, and tips and tricks to plan for a successful convening in a remote world. 

Southwest Beef Knowledge Network: How can ranchers raise healthy cows in a way that supports the environment and can be adapted to a changing climate? This network shared best practices in ranching and education around their findings, a rare and delightful combination (get the beef pun?).

Painting: After many months not feeling extra creativity beyond ConverSketching, recently I picked up my paintbrushes and dove into an acrylic painting project. Rivers and Canyons are special places for me, so this painting will happily hang in our home.

A Freelancer’s Favorites: Illustrated Tips for Working From Home

First of all, I want to say the last two weeks have been surreal, and we all deserve a deep breath.

I’ve been delighted by the intentional way people are being good to each other and despite massive shifts and challenges, I am holding the energy that we will come through COVID better than we were before.

As I’ve been hearing stories of the challenges of shifting to working from home, I wanted to share a few of the tips I’ve learned from other entrepreneurs, as well as through trial and error over the past 6 years of owning my business and working out of a home office.

Without further ado — I give you: llustrated Tips for Working From Home!

Click through on each to see the different tips!

If you need a daily dose of uplifting stories, I love @Upworthy on Instagram. And of course for mellow snippets of the garden, chickens, and bees, come on over to my feed too!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

At Home! I hope you are too :) Even though live events have been cancelled for the next few weeks, I’m always impressed with how my clients adapt and innovate on the fly, and I’ve been live digital graphic recording for a few projects on Zoom.

Phoenix, AZ At the third annual ShapingEDU Unconference. This group in particular is on the cutting edge of technology and learning, and there’s no other group I’d rather adjust on the fly with. We went from a hybrid in-person and remote meeting on the first day to fully remote on the second — more on that in the next newsletter!

If you’re finding yourself on more video calls than ever before and need a way to keep participants focused and anchoring participants to a common story (theirs!), let’s explore how to leverage digital graphic recording or remote facilitation for you!

Looks Like Your Vision is 2020!

Happy New Year!

It’s officially 2020, the start of a new decade (!), which means it’s a phenomenally powerful time to reflect, appreciate, and take a moment to think intentionally about what you want to create in your life.

One of my goals for 2020 (which has been on my mind for a while) is creating videos for my newsletters. Today, I’m delighted to share my 2020 Vision Board with you via video — to see it and hear my tips on manifesting for a new year, click below to watch the video!

As mentioned in the video, here are a couple of other fantastic resources for intentional visioning for a new year:

My personal favorite way to focus my energy is to create a Vision Board for the upcoming year. Because 2020 is the start of a new decade, I made this one more expansive and focused on long-term ideas. They are fun to look at and can sometimes last a long time – here’s my board from 2016 which has been an anchor for the past 5 years! Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect, just go for it!

The 2020’s vision board I briefly shared in the video.

A few key questions can help focus thoughts and align synapses for new patterns. So, I’ve taken last year’s Vision for a New Year template and given it a little update love for us for this year:

Please download and fill this out on paper or in your favorite drawing app!

Marie Forleo has created a 3-part Decade in Review series to help you look back to leap ahead. It’s excellent, and has brought new perspective to my annual reflection.

Brandy Agerbeck’s Draw in Your New Year. All of Brandy’s online courses and videos are thoughtful, authentic, and brimming with value. I am especially keen on the exercise she shares to draw the year as a cycle to think creatively and strategically ahead!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place. Here’s to a New Year filled with joy, abundance, and creativity!

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

At home taking some time off to recharge and reflect before heading to DC in a few days. I’ve been planning ways to continue to improve the services I offer to my amazing clients, and I’m excited to get cracking!

A note on 2020 fee structure changes: This year my rates will reflect travel time when working out of state and internationally. As before, all rates are communicated and approved by clients through the contracting process.

Warm Wishes from ConverSketch

Many of us are wrapping up loose ends (and presents!) this time of year in the states, getting ready for holidays. The same is happening here at ConverSketch – one major thing I’m working on is reflecting and planning for the new year.

However, that’s for my next newsletter, because I haven’t put the finishing touches on some custom tools to help you do some visualizing too. Can’t wait? Here’s what we did last year.

This week as things have started to wind down, (also partially thanks to a wicked cold, partially because of a deadline to get a commission painting done before the holidays) I’ve had some time to pick up my paints again.

And I remembered how much joy it brings me to play with water and pigment, and create my interpretation of the dazzling beauty of the natural world.

So, this week here’s a little painting I did for a friend. And a little reminder to take a deep belly breath (go ahead, do it now), and take a moment for you to do something that brings you joy during the holidays. Because that joy will shine to everyone around you, and is a gift in itself!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

New Jersey: With a new team as they co-created a shared mission, vision, and priorities for the next year. Although I can’t share content, here’s a snapshot of the visual agenda I created to set the tone for the day.

Las Vegas: With a group of data center industry leaders examining trends and sharing ideas. Again, I can’t share most content, but I can share this engaging presentation on social media.

In the Studio: Working on an illustration with the CIO at University of Pittsburgh to share his strategic vision with the rest of the Pitt community!

Tales from New Jersey Part 2: What I Decided to Step Into and How It Went

Have you ever shared something that seemed like second nature to you, but when you shared it, people were delighted and learned something new?

Last month I got to surround myself and learn from others in my professional field at the International Forum of Visual Practitioners (IFVP) conference. Here’s part two of my reflections from the event on where the field is headed and where I’m showing up.

For the first time, I presented a breakout workshop during the conference. At IFVP, I’ve always seen myself as a newbie, even though I’ve been a graphic recorder and facilitator for more than 8 years. I love teaching and facilitating, and I thought it was about time I offered something from my perspective back to my community. The topic? Email marketing that feels authentic AND builds your business.

Stepping into my expertise felt GREAT. People had a blast and applied what they learned. I may have flossed (the dance move, not the dental hygiene…At least not during my workshop). Sharing things that seemed obvious to me were revelations for my audience, and it was a treat to get to share more of my quirks and winning humor with my captive audience ;).

So I encourage you to consider: How might you stepping into ownership of your knowledge? How are you giving back to your community? Whether it’s volunteering or simply offering smiles to strangers, you can have an impact far greater than you know!

Want your meetings to have a greater impact? Let’s talk about how visuals can elevate engagement, understanding, and action at your event!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers,

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

CU Boulder: Teaching a short-course on basics of visual communication and graphic recording for the Master of the Environment summer program. These students got it right away and immediately jumped in with two feet to re-design infographics on agriculture in Boulder County.

Albuquerque, New Mexico: Back with the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force to support a Summit on Maternity and Infant Care for professionals across the state. A favorite session and graphic recording chart was on Mindfulness Meditation as a tool for self care. Namaste!

Aspen, Colorado: For the 10th annual Tech Policy Institute Aspen Forum! I learned about and scribed everything from “tech-lash” to cryptocurrency regulation to AI and machine learning and the role policy plays

How do You Paint what Makes A Community Unique?

You’ve probably seen some cryptic emails from me over the past few weeks about a surprise project I was working on. I’m delighted now to share it with you all, along with a special behind-the-scenes look at what went into the design.

On August 2nd, to the sweet sounds of the Hazel Miller Band, the 100th Piano About Town was officially unveiled as a part of our community! And yep, you guessed it, I was the lucky artist to get to paint it!

The typical piano process includes a request for proposals from artists sketched out, which are then reviewed and selected for painting outside where passers by can watch the piano unfolding and sometimes even play while it’s being painted.

For the 100th Piano, the Bohemian Foundation wanted to do something a little different and include voices across the community. Enter: a graphic facilitator to conduct and capture focus groups to gather ideas for the piano content.

I listened to people answering the question “What makes Fort Collins unique?”: from seniors to second graders at summer camp to young professionals to those who represent diverse groups at university to musicians. I listened, captured, asked questions, and scribed each group’s conversations.

Then, I took all the charts and began looking for themes. What places did each group bring up? What characteristics make our community special? Then, I sketched out a concept design to gather feedback and refine before painting the piano itself.

This was, to me, the most challenging part of the whole process. How do you distill over five hours of stories, memories, and connections into a single illustration? That’s where the scribe training of listening for themes, distillation and synthesis really shone in this process. It was important to me to make sure all the ideas were included, that key words emerged throughout the imagery, and most of all, that when anyone from the community looks at the piano, they see themselves somewhere in it.

The painting took place inside so it would be a fun, beautiful surprise when it was unveiled at a free concert series last week. Over 12 days, the landscape, people, and stories emerged!

Want to tickle the ivories and see it for yourself? The 100th Piano will be in Old Town Square for a couple more weeks, then will live in the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery for the winter.

For more musings on pianos and creativity, check out this post.

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, Karina

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

On My Way to New York, New York! This week is the first of three meetings between multiple academic groups and the Mayor of NYC to create models and plans for storm water management and sea level rise in the City of New York. Stay tuned, or check out my Instagram profile and story for real-time videos and pictures.

In the Studio: Working on the third Wildfire Risk Management Science Team illustrated video. This third video focuses on challenges of fires that cross management boundaries, and mapping tools the Team uses to make recommendations for safer and more effective fire management.

Happy Summer from ConverSketch

While I’ve touted the power of consistency in previous posts, the fact of the matter is…it’s summer. Between graphic recording jobs, we took a week and explored San Francisco and the Northern California coast on the way to a stunning wedding of dear friends on the Smith River.

And, as I mentioned in my last dispatch, this summer I've had the honor of working on a surprise project which will be unveiled on Thursday, August 2nd in Old Town Square, Fort Collins at 7 pm. The Hazel Miller Band will be playing a Thursday Night Live concert in the Square, so if you're in NoCo, come on down, listen to some great music, and check out what I've been up to!

That big ol’ surprise project isn’t quite done, so…that’s my cue to leave you with this short, sweet update email. Now go enjoy some summer time!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, Karina

Picasso Made Me Do It

I love this quote by Picasso because at first you think he’s being totally shady, then you realize…as Austin Kleon put it “Nothing is completely original. All creative work builds on what came before.”

I completely subscribe to this way of thinking, although it took a bit of getting used to and more than one "harumph, I'm totally original...". As a graphic recorder, I am always looking at others’ work to see how they approach an idea or what cool title someone else has come up with. As a dabbler with watercolors, I bow down to the people who came up with Pinterest and peruse it for inspiration or watercolor tricks all the time.

However, there are some key differences to good stealing and bad stealing. Mr. Kleon once again nails it:

So, the next time you’re feeling like throwing the computer out a window because that little cursor is just blinking merrily away on a blank document, or that canvas seems to be saying “What, it’s after Memorial Day, white is totally in,” you can take a deep breath, smile to yourself, and know you’ve got the Creative Genius of the thousands of years of humanity behind you. All you’ve got to do is tap into it, snag something interesting, then transform it to make it your own.

I'm also really good at stealing!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, Karina

Let's talk about your next event that could use a touch of visual storytelling.

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

“Your work is exceptional, your focus and your desire to push to get to a truly great end product is impressive and it’s exactly what we needed.”

— Stephen Skrenta, Owner of Acabonac Farms

I’m happy to share the video I created for Acabonac Farms’ Pasture-Finished Beef company based on Long Island, New York. Their cattle live their entire lives on grass pastures that have actually historically been cattle ranches for over 350 years! Who knew cows thought the Hamptons are the place to be? Click on the image above to watch the video!

My Top 3 Tips to Rock Your Work Day in 2016

Hey there!
 
I don't know about you, but I'm feeling rejuvenated and energized for 2016. Yes, it seems like everyone is posting online about how kickass 2016 is going to be, how excited they are and what big plans they have in store for us.

You may be thinking along the lines of "Yes! I've been planning and 2016 is going to be spectacular for me too!" Or, you might find yourself wondering "How is everybody so brilliant and productive around the holidays? What will 2016 hold for me?"

If you feel like you're asking those questions, here's a post I wrote about the benefits and tips for creating a Vision Board. (Pssst! Just because it's not January 1 doesn't mean it's too late!)

To be honest, toward the end of 2015 I had a difficult time staying motivated and focusing on important work from day to day. The beginning of a new year is an intuitive time to look back on the year, learn, visualize and plan for success, so I decided to take a hard look at what I was doing (or not doing) and how to shift my daily practices to better reflect the love I have for my work. 

So here for you, lovely readers/doodlers, are the fruits of my self-reflection and observation: The 3 top tips that have helped me refocus and rock the first couple of weeks in 2016.

3) Your Daily Top 3. Each evening, I take a few minutes to write down my top 3 projects or to-do's for the next day somewhere I can see it clearly. This tip is from Marie Forleo (if you haven't checked out her weekly business Q&A videos I recommend it). Taking time at the end of the day to prioritize and organize helps me jump right in instead of flopping around the next morning trying to decide what to do when. I've tried this in my phone, on my computer, and on a note-pad on my desk, but for me, I've found that writing it on the corner of my Ridiculously Enormous Graphic Recorder-Sized Whiteboard is most helpful because I can see them all day and cross them the heck off when I get them done! It's the little things, right?

2) 15 Minute Bites. Sometimes the hardest part of a project is starting it, and Ariana Friedlander of Rosabella Consulting shared this tip with me to overcome that barrier. I like to set a timer for 15 minutes and tell myself to just focus on the task at hand for that long. It's such a short chunk of time I can ward off the typical procrastination techniques...I can wait 15 minutes to get a snack, or check my email after I've done 15 minutes of work on a project...hold on, my timer just went off...

And my #1 Tip for staying focused and rocking on the daily is...

1) Start Analog. For me, this means not turning my computer on first thing, but sitting down with a pencil or paintbrush and doing some sketches or painting (for at least 15 minutes!). I find that once I get going, even if it's just for a short time, my momentum from that carries me deeper into the art or inspires me to move on to the next thing on my list. That feeling of having completed something, even if it's just a small sketch, is incredibly powerful in setting a productive tone for the day instead of getting sucked into the wormhole that email can become. 


(Hint: click on the image below to see the larger version)

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There you have it! I hope these tips help you kick some ass and inspire those around you to crush their days too. With your powers combined, anything is possible! 

Do you have any tips or tricks to share that help you rock and roll on the daily? Share in the comments below so others can benefit from your wisdom. 

If you liked this tip, please sign up for my emails and if you'd like, I'd be so grateful if you shared it with your friends!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

 
Cheers, Karina










Now that you're crushing your work day, click to get in touch about your next meeting or event that could use a touch of graphic recording magic.

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

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Here's a behind-the-scenes look at my set-up for filming explainer videos. This one is for Creek Consulting describing deliberative facilitation and how it can help your organization. Check my YouTube channel later this month for the finished video!