Release Day 2026

Social-media eschewing, California girl Christine Harrington is our February #CMugshot. For her breakfast taco, only one ingredient need apply - bacon. And she earns it by doing business development for Storyland, a fabricator of 3D pieces for retail stores and advertising and architectural agencies. You might find Christine seeking inspiration during her morning walks around Town Lake.

Where’s a place you’d stop on a free afternoon in Austin?

Elizabeth Street Cafe to get a Vietnamese Coffee with a ham and Gruyere croissant.

In the spirit of February’s ethical theme, what’s a rule you love to break, and why?

I go the wrong way in the parking garage at Trader Joe’s because it’s way shorter. 

Connect with Christine!

CreativeMornings Profile

(photo of Christine by Manny Pandya)

Photos from this month’s talk on Ethics by Manny Pandya are up on our Flickr! 

Thanks to speaker Chris Kocek, Founder of Gallant Branding, and sponsors Filter, Fighting Monk, and Cuvée Coffee. Also, thanks to Dropbox for hosting.

February’s global theme ETHICS will be discussed by Chris Kocek. 

Hosted at Dropbox. Details on date and registration here. 

And don’t forget to thank our partners for this month: Filter, Fighting Monk and Cuvée Coffee.

When his day begins, Russell doesn’t mess around with bits in his breakfast tacos. Only full strips of crisp juicy bacon hanging out both sides will do. World, meet Austin art director and educator, Russell Toynes, our January #CMugshot. When he’s not educating and art directing, Russell loves a solid session of video gaming at Pinballz, then settling down with a Mighty Fine burger.

What’s the one thing you’ve been inspired by lately?

Color.

When it comes to language, what feeling or thought do you find it hardest to put into words or convey to another person? Why do you think this happens?

True appreciation. We say “Thank you” but I feel like that comes across as obligatory and doesn’t express what I’m really feeling. I am so very appreciative for what I have and what people have done for me that language just can’t convey my feelings and emotions without a plethora of words (and probably making both of us uncomfortable).

Do you have another way of communicating this feeling or thought that seems to work better?

Hugs. (When appropriate of course.)

Connect with Russell!

Creative Mornings Profile | Twitter | Instagram

(Photo of Russell by Steve Moakley)

Photos from our January #CMlanguage event with Lee Godbold are up on Flickr! A pleasure to have the wonderful Steve Moakley capture for us again. 

A big thanks to Freestyle Language Center, Vitamin T, and Cuvee Coffee for making this month’s event happen, and a special thanks to the folks at Texas School for the Deaf for hosting. 

Recent CreativeMornings/Austin speaker Aralyn Hughes stars in Love In the Sixties. 

The documentary will be screened at the Vortex, Feb 24, 2016 at 7:30.  

You can meet and chat with Aralyn Hughes and Amparo Garcia Crow, Director and mother of Shakey Graves who’s music is in the film. There will be a Q&A following the film.  

LOVE IN THE SIXTIES is about how one small town woman from Oklahoma, who came of age in the 1960s (and who now is in her sixties) is taking on some serious baby boomer questions about love, sex and death with an adventurous and outrageous “artistic” curiosity to find herself —even at the cost of “ruining her reputation.”

Aralyn is now known as “Queen of Weird in Austin.“ For thirty-five years, she was a successful businesswoman, a lobbyist at the Texas State Capitol, the director of the first abortion clinic in Austin and a member of virtually “every board and commission in town.” Local theatre audiences became acquainted with Aralyn when she acted in the Big State Production of In the West, one of the longest running theatre productions in  Austin that the Austin Chronicle cited as “the little monologue show that changed the face of Austin theatre “ Soon after, she evolved into a “Queen of Weird”persona when her visual art turned her otherwise suburban home into the iconic “Keep Austin Weird" house. Most recently, Aralyn published KID ME NOT: An Anthology of Women of the Sixties, now in their Sixties, which was recently the winner of a 2015 Texas Association of Authors award.  Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love wrote the forward. 

Learn more at aralyn.com. And watch her amazing #CMATX talk here.  

January’s global theme LANGUAGE will be discussed by Lee Godbold.

Hosted at The Texas School for the Deaf. Details on date and registration here.

And don’t forget to thank our partners for this month: Freestyle Language Center, Vitamin T and Cuvée Coffee.

Is 2016 the year you learn UI design? Our friends at The Iron Yard, the largest code school in the country, are giving our #CMATX community one scholarship worth $1000 to their February User Interface Design course! Live at the intersection of design and code in this 12-week immersive curriculum.

To apply, fill out the form and tell us why you are interested in learning User Interface Design.

Deadline: February 5, 2016, at 11:59 p.m.

Apply Now

Was it good for you?

In order for us to rock 2016, we need to know what you liked and didn’t like in 2015. Will you give us a few minutes of your time and fill out our year-end survey?

We recognize that it’s a busy time of the year. We hope that if you need a minute or two away from your crazy relatives and the alcohol-and-sugar-fueled holiday madness, you’ll let us know what you think.

Click Here to Take the Survey

All of us at CreativeMornings/Austin wish you and your family a wonderful holiday and happy new year. Thanks y’all for making our #CMATX family the best li’l community in Texas!

Say hello to our December #CMugshot, Anna Berman!  Anna coordinates operations and bookkeeping for a small start-up company. Working from home frees her of a daily commute, yet requires impeccable time management.  When breakfast consists of tacos, Anna goes for the bacon, egg and cheese classic, with the occasional avocado embellishment.  On a free afternoon in town, you might find her communing with the locals at Once Over Coffee or Halcyon.

What’s one thing you’ve been inspired by lately?

PEOPLE! I long to hear about life from anyone. I can enjoy a cup of coffee with a stranger just as much as people I know and love. I have also been inspired by community. My neighbors have become some of my best friends and it is amazing how this city attracts so many different people with open minds and open hearts. 

In the spirit of December’s theme, what activity makes you feel time has slowed down?  What activity makes you feel like the time flew by?  What do you think the difference is?

I am an in the moment type of person. For me time is directly related to my emotions. Time slows down when I am comfortable and relaxed and seems to speed up when I am curious, inspired or simply over caffeinated. I believe the difference is my state of mind. 

Connect with Anna!

CreativeMornings Profile | Instagram

(Photo of Anna by Manny Pandya)