Hi everyone. Hi. Thank you so much for for being with us here today and for listening to my story for about the next 20 minutes. So I grew up in a family of artists. My mom and dad were weavers and that's actually me underneath the loom and then my mom, this is definitely in the early eighties. You can, you can tell for sure. And my grandparents were illustrators. One of my favorite places growing up was in my grandmother's studio. She was a prolific children's book illustrator and drew over a 1000 titles during her 55-year career. My grandmother had an immense impact on my visual aesthetic as well as my work ethic and attitude. By it. I only recently realized this. Most people know me as an illustrator and an educator. Currently, my desk is piled high with pens and paper, and I spend my days happily drawing and teaching. But up until eight years ago, actually really hated drawing, hated it. So when I was a kid, again, I grew up in a family of Illustrators. I didn't want to draw it all. I was pretty lazy, loved watching tons a TV and couldn't wait for my next trip to the mall. My mom tried to teach me how to weave and I was like, No, I'm too busy. So basically to sum it up, I was kind of a jerky kid. But somewhere along the way after a failed attempt at being a broadcast journalism major and a very mediocre English major. I stumbled upon graphic design. This way of working really clicked with me. So my first graphic design job was laying out catalogs for a gift company and Omaha, Nebraska. I was also working as their sales representative and would spend a lot of my time traveling to trade shows and Merchandise Mart gets all over the United States. Here I observed hyper consumption on display, and this is where my fascination with consumer culture really was born. I filled notebooks with ideas, but they were messy and without order. I knew I had to make work about the strange and compelling consumption-driven world around me. But I wasn't sure where to start. I was observing some really kind of amazing consumer spectacles at that point. So this is the late 90s, early 2000s, and beanie babies are really popular. And you remember Beanie Babies. I witnessed a fist fight between two adult men trying to get their fall order of Beanie Babies in on time. Okay. I did the same trade shows target as Monica Lewinsky. When she had handbags, it was after the whole Clinton thing and she was like now I'm going to be a handbag designer. And so I basically followed that route too. And again, it was this. Sane world of consumer culture. And again, I knew I had to make work about it, but I wasn't sure where to start. And that feeling of not knowing where to start made me feel horrible. Okay. I felt stock. I didn't know how to begin at all. And so as I was researching and looking at different artists, I came across the artist, I'd reshape. And in the early 1960s address Shay had several photo projects going on at once. 34 parking lots, some LA apartments, and 26 gasoline stations to name just a few. So for this book projects, he developed a series of rules and in an art news interview and 980 to Russia, I said it became rules that I knew I had to follow. Then it was just a matter of being a good little art soldier and finishing it. And so after reading those words, it clicked with me. What if I created rules for myself to follow and carry out in order to execute all of these fragmented ideas I was having. What S harness the power of repetition and accumulation to document my everyday experiences with consumer culture. What if I became a good little aren't soldier TO? So for the last ten years or so, I've been making objects and developing projects that talk about our wants and needs and how we use and engage with our stuff. Lots of stuff, along with obsessing over the things that we buy or give or steal. I make work about personal consumption, celebration, joy, privacy, guilt, so much guilds and the every day. And of course, it's all about access. The thing that I have loved from doing all of these projects over the last ten years or so, is really focusing on the community of the shared experiences that come out of these everyday objects. But all of my projects, they rely on a system of rules. Okay? This system of rules gives the order to the initial chaos of ideas. These rules help me structure my workflow. They keep me moving and making when I don't think I can move or make anymore. And so for every project, I create a system of rules to follow, execute, and repeat. Because you know, what's really, really terrifying. A blank piece of paper is what's really terrifying this paper. So terrified when I was drawing it, I could make it blank actually, to fill it with lions that was that terrifying. And again, like the chasm creative death for me and for most people as being told, Oh, you know, you can do anything you want to do. And that's 0. And also, as a teacher, that's the worst kind of assignment to give to a student. To be like, I'll just do whatever, it's, just be creative. That's the worst phrase that you can tell anyone who's trying to figure out how to be creative is just be like, oh, just have fun with it. It's horrible. So. Initially what looks like freedom, it becomes crippling. Okay, So starting with a system of rules makes this blank sheet of paper weigh less. Scary. Rules are good, they're good because constraints, it yields creation. So before I drew, I photographed, I documented Target shoppers, thrift stores, yard sales. You know what you're trying to think of earlier, yard sales. All of these photo projects lead to a bigger project called Obsessive Consumption. So with Obsessive Consumption, I photographed everything I purchased for over two years. I archived and uploaded to a pre blog era website for all to see. This site also shared more than just my purchases. I gathered stories about viewers favorite objects. I have published interviews of people talking about their collections. And I created a bizarre little community with the catalyst being my consumption. It was weird and I knew it was weird, but I also knew that I was going in the right direction. I didn't know if it was, you know, where it was going, but I decided to follow it. So earlier I mentioned that I was an illustrator, okay, right now, I love drawing. I do it every day. But however, that part of me would not exist if I had not enlisted in the process of rule-based making, I most certainly would not have called myself an illustrator a few years ago. So let me explain a little bit about this. I started drawing when I was 26. Probably. I had just started my first big girl job as a professor at a university. I was also $24 thousand in credit card debt. Really cool. And I was absolutely terrified. I felt like I was a complete fake because I had just spent two years showcasing. Look at everything that I've been purchasing. Let's talk about the stories behind or objects all the while I'm accumulating more and more and more credit card debt and they didn't want to tell anybody about it at all. Shame is a very powerful thing. And so these machine-generated credit card statements would show up every single month. They were haunting me. They were taunting me. They were reminding me that I was a failure, that I was a coward because I wouldn't talk about it. I wouldn't talk about it. But something had to be done. So I created a system of rules. And rule number 1 was to have extreme exit over credit card debt and feel totally helpless and stupid. Check that was really easy to complete. Sometimes you need to start lists with something that you're already doing. So you can just cross it off for you now it's like I'm on the way. One, number two was that I was going to draw all my credit card statements every single month and sell they were paid off. Okay, so remember Jain at the time? Drawing at that time was my least favorite way of working. And remember how I said that I felt like I was a terrible illustrator when I was a kid without feeling had not changed. But that, that was, that was the point. Like I wanted to pick a way of working that I felt really uncomfortable with. I wanted to challenge myself in a way that would push myself to actually complete this project. This project was not supposed to be fine. Okay. Rule number three was to make myself accountable by uploading the credit card statements to the Internet. Because if this were just something that I was going to do in a sketchbook, I would have like probably quit this after the first credit card statement. But I am aware I'm very motivated by like, I'll tell people that I'm doing something and by God, I will finish it. But if it's just me, I'm fine with letting myself down, you know, but like other people, even if they don't care, I'm like No, I can't let them down and they're like, What were you doing again anyway, that's my own erotic system that kind of works in the back of my head. So anyway, so there's more and then there's more rules was to share my story, respond to e-mails from people who are also having frustrating credit card experiences. I became this credit card mishap confessional outlet for people that I did it now and people that I didn't know, my office hours at school stopped being about advising. And I would receive a stream of students that would knock on my door and they come in, how are you doing? Bobby never had a student named Bobby before. I don't know where that came from, but as I said it and they're like, Can we close the door? And I'm like, okay, this is strange and be like, do you have to pay off your credit cards every month? I'm like, Oh, sit down. Let's talk about this. And then like other questions, very simple questions, What's APR made? And so it really became a lot of credit advising for my college students TO, and I find those conversations that I have with my students about money, really rewarding, really rewarding because it's tough to talk about this stuff. Very tough to talk about this stuff. Rule five for me was to slowly pay off my debt. And I did. So in February 27th, 2010, six years after I started this project, I became debt-free. When I started my credit card project. Again, I hated my drawing. I hated joins so much. I actually considered a form of punishment. Dry. My credit card statements was the equivalent to writing, I will not be stupid with money over and over and over again on a chalkboard. So this project wasn't fun. But again, that wasn't the points. But however, as this project progressed and my debt went down, I actually started to take pleasure in making repetitive lines, drawing type, and focusing on the subject at hand. Two years into my credit card project, I wanted to draw something else in addition to my frustrating and credit card statements. So I made a new set of rules and my daily purchase drawing project was born. Again. I started small. I drew one black and white line drawing of something that I purchased every day. The drawings were simple and of everyday objects. This process made me incredibly aware of how much passive consumption occurs in our daily lives and how little attention we pay to everyday items. And I kept with it and I drew, and I drew and I drew in 2922 daily joins later I can safely say that I love to draw and that I don't feel like opposer by calling myself an illustrator. My early drawings or not. However, sometimes drawing with my hands felt like I was drawing with my feeds. However, I kept going and I kept sharing. My style, remained kind of wonky, but it became a confident walk. My hands stopped feeling like feet. I was documenting my life through my stuff and I became hooked. I started other rule-based projects because one set of rules is simply not enough. And I honestly feel that these rules are for anyone. They can work. They can work in this way if they want you. This doesn't just go for artists. This structure can work for somebody who loves numbers. These rules can work for somebody who loves to run. This is for people who love to cook, who are losing weight or who read a lot. These rules are for everybody. You just need curiosity and a bit of discipline. These rule-based projects allow you to work and small and manageable scope. You pick out what you like and combine it with your unique point of view. You are giving yourself tiny assignments. Each assignment gives you a chance to practice your thing. And as you complete each assignment, work starts to accumulate. As you complete each assignment, you start to feel more confident in your technique. As you complete each assignment, you'll learn more about your subject matter. What's not to love. It's all about scope, repetition, and discipline. So if you have an underused camera, take a snapshot of your kids every day in the same location. If you go on hikes, assign yourself the task of sketching one tree or one vista or one leaf. You love food. Keep a food diary. Are you obsessed with music? Make monthly playlist, and share with friends. You don't have to be an artist. That isn't what this is about. Making is what you make of it. This is about documenting an aspect of your life through accumulation of repetition. We all liked to tell stories, and we all like to listen to stories. As author Joan Didion said, we tell ourselves stories in order to live. Also, if you share your projects with others. They will hold you accountable and be delighted at the same time hack, they might just join in with you. So let me show you a little bit what I'm talking about. For the last 30 years, photojournalists Diego Goldberg has taken a photo of everyone and his family every year. On June 17th. He is an accomplished photo journalist. But the project he's most well-known for is something that anyone should be able to do. He says, sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. My mother-in-law, Kathleen, loves books. I recently discovered that she has been keeping notebooks with simple one or two line entries of every book that she has ever read for the last 30 years. That simple act of documentation, repetition, and accumulation has manifested into a tremendous creative archive. That archive tells a story of a life through books. Carry van der yacht. She has a project that's called ugly face Wednesday. And it has simple goals. She dedicated a year to making 50 to absurd phrases. She's also a PSU grad. I just want to point this out. Is ugly face says everyone can make an ugly phase. Okay, so let's on Earth, that kind of fancy camera that you purchased that you don't really use that often. Start using that. All of these projects explore a variety of concepts and mediums, but they all have a few things in common. A dedication to simplicity, a distinctive point of view, and a pretty cut and dry rule system. And they also have a bit of discipline. Those are art soldiers, say they're okay on a pink background. So again, so whatever you wanted to create a system of rules for yourself to follow and carry out. So first, keep it simple, keep it simple, simple, simple. And then remember, the beauty is in the details. Is this going to happen once a day, once a week, once a month, once a year? Are you going to organize it onto a spreadsheet? Do you need to set R0 and sinners? Are you going to write, are you going to draw? You're going to collect, what are you gonna do? Sit down and work out the details. Because again, beauty is in those details. And also this is so important. I tell my students this all the time too, we learn through making, not just sitting there and thinking that and talking yourself out of projects we learn through making. So again, the first project might fail, and that's okay, it's okay to fail. I have a pile of really bad ideas that have failed. It's okay. And it might take several attempts before one project really clicks with DO. Again, we learned to making you build upon those failures and you create something better from something that you've failed from. And then you've gotta kinda commit to the crazy, okay, so don't give up after a day or two or three, or eight or even 12, The first couple weeks of anything feels awkward. It's okay to feel uncomfortable not knowing where you are going. You have to commit to the crazy. And you've gotta repeat. You've gotta repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. Okay, So becoming an illustrator was a very pleasant surprise. I never thought I would share the same profession as my grandmother. And now I draw every single day in my own studio at her drawing table. I got here by creating my own rule systems and constraints. And now I challenge you to find your own rule system and to commit to your crazy. So thank you very much.