7 posts tagged “creativity”
Originally published at file under "Miscellanea". You can comment here or there.
(Note: This post is part of a series I am doing on my progress through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way with a cadre of creative ladies. More info about this venture can be found in an earlier post and all of my related posts are under
one category.)
As I'm reading through each chapter, I take little notes in my composition book. Reviewing those notes as I do my weekly check-in, it's interesting to see what I find worth jotting down and how if plays out during my week, if at all. This week, my first note is from page 61 of my book:
Anger is a map. Anger shows us what our boundaries are.
I know I initially jotted this down because my mum talked a lot about the value of knowing your own boundaries, but in retrospect, this should have been a red flag: The whole first section of week three is about anger. While I am grateful for everything I've experienced and explored this week, I wasn't comfortable sharing a lot of it publicly nor would all of it had made sense without an extensive personal history.
What was most interesting during this process was revisiting emotional and explosive moments in this heightened creative state brought about by having my own studio, hanging my art on a gallery wall, and going through The Artist's Way with my cluster. While we often attribute creative endeavors and accomplishments a kind of head-in-the-clouds quality, I found that those things were instead quite grounding as I did this week's tasks and exercises. I started thinking less about the specifics of my life in some instances and more about the underlying themes--moments of bliss in hours of darkness and how to take that joy and do something productive with it, what is secret versus what is shown--and ways to interpret those experiences creatively. In discussing my house sculpture at the gallery opening, I realized these were some of the things I was thinking through, but I would like to do so in a way that retains its personal resonance while being more universal. Exploring the themes rather than directly mining personal history.
Some of week three's exercises/tasks follow, but I'll try to share more of week four's work:
Detective work, an exercise
- The best movie I ever saw as a kid was either The Last Unicorn or The Neverending Story. The former probably gave me unnaturally mature ideas about the nature of regret and life experience, the latter's special effects probably don't hold up today, but really transported me to a different place back in the '80s.
- If I could lighten up a little, I'd let myself take Polka or Bollywood dancing classes.
- If it didn't sound so crazy, I'd make a book out of a suitcase. Oh, wait, I am going to do that crazy thing!
Five childhood accomplishments
- I consistently had high grades and test scores and held my own in honors/advanced courses.
- I won a state-level writer's award and was invited to a young writer's conference when I was around 12 years old.
- When my family raised and bred sporting dogs, I was responsible for the complete training of two dogs (though I assisted with others) and got points on each--one in confirmation showing, the other in hunting trials.
- Attending two pre-college summer programs--McMurray College in Illinois the summer before 8th grade, Washington + Lee in Virginia the summer before my senior year of high school--was a huge honor and really helped me visualize myself as a college student and meet some great people.
- Putting on a school play my senior year of high school; though the school had a drama club we had never, in the time I attended the school, had a school play, which I thought was ridiculous. (Having just spent too much time on said high school's terrible web site, I can't tell if the play is still ongoing.)
Week-end check-in
Artist's Date: First, I spent half an hour on a local nature
trail, just taking photos (forthcoming!) and exploring the various colors and
patterns in Florida's greenery. I came back quite inspired, even accounting for
the heat and skeeters. That same night, I also pulled out a book a friend gifted
me and taught myself a simple pamphlet stitch binding, making three small books.
I feel this is the first week I've been 100% successful at the artist's date and
honestly appreciated the time to myself, with my own ideas.
Originally published at file under "Miscellanea". You can comment here or there.
(Note: This post is part of a series I am doing on my progress through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way with a cadre of creative ladies. More info about this venture can be found in an earlier post and all of my related posts are under one category.)
Week two considers other barriers to our creative recovery, both from others (folks Julia Cameron calls crazymakers and poisonous playmates) and from within (the skeptical voice in my head that says, "You're not an artist!").
I've done a couple of this week's tasks, which I'll share here:
Life Pie
This is a great visual exercise--not just for those using The Artist's Way, but anyone--to make you consider and own up where the imbalance in your life can be found. To play along at home, simply draw a circle, divide it into the six pieces below, and make a dot in each "pie"--closer to the outer rim signifies greater fulfillment, closer to the center reveals displeasure in that area.
No matter what your final pie looks like, there will be some areas where you have achieved greater satisfaction than others. Give yourself a pat on the back--but also pay attention to the areas where you could be happier. In my Artist's Way journal, I'm keeping a running list of the things I can do to improve my happiness in the areas of friendship, exercise, and romance/adventure.
Di and Cassidy have already completed their "20 things I like" lists, so I ought to also join in. The following is an alphabetized list of activities I enjoy doing, followed by the last time I had the pleasure of said activity:
- being pampered (Aug 07)
- brewing beer (2 years)
- camping/hiking (March 08)
- chatting w/ girlfriends late into the night (Nov 07)
- cooking for friends (March 08)
- embroidery (Nov 07)
- enjoying thunderstorms (currently)
- going to the movies w/ husband (couple of months)
- making my own clothes (Sept 07)
- meeting new people (this week)
- reading (today)
- seeing live music/theater (2 years)
- sex (today)
- shopping thrift stores/estate sales (Feb 08)
- spending time w/ brother & husband outside of house (this month)
- staying in bed with husband (this week)
- traveling somewhere new (5 years)
- visiting galleries/museums (Nov 07)
- volunteering w/ Habitat for Humanity (2 years)
- walking the dog (yesterday)
What surprised me in doing this was the disparity--so many things I had done in the last month or so (approx 40%)...and then things I haven't done in two years or longer (45%, italicized). Any of the things in italics which can be done for little cost are now officially on my to-do list. Others--travel and homebrew, for example--need to wait on other things, but this has certainly put them on my radar screen. (Note: I specifically didn't mention my artmaking activities, one, because they are many and I could have used slots 1-10 just on that; and two, because they are obviously a priority for me else I wouldn't be reading this book, maintaining this blog, etc!)
On that note, I'll close with some advice from Ira Glass of This American Life about being creative and enduring that has definitely helped me squelch my Inner Censor and Skeptic as of late:
The thing I would just say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting, creative work--they went through a phase of years where they had really good taste, and they could tell what they were making wasn't as good as what they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short. [...] The thing I would say to you is everybody goes through that. The most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work.
That tidbit comes from the video below, which is part of a series of four clips; I recommend you watch them all and soak up the inspiration and compassion for what it means to be driven to create:
Originally published at file under "Miscellanea". You can comment here or there.
(Note: This post is part of a series I am doing on my progress through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way with a cadre of creative ladies. More info about this venture can be found in
an earlier post
and all of my related posts are under
one category.)
This first week focuses on the monsters and champions of our creativity and was difficult because I didn't really have anyone, let a lone a list of people, to point the finger at for squashing or attempting to stifle my creativity. Didn't that mean I got to slack and take the week off? Not even slightly! Instead, I had to wrap my head around the idea that I am often my worst critic/enemy/saboteur--but also that some part of me keeps the faith and takes any safe opportunity to whisper, "Go ahead! Try! Do!"
Similarly, even friends who intend to be supportive have made me feel like my interests or the things I make are silly or goofy. Instead of deliberate sabotage, I think what I am seeing instead is how much we lack a vocabulary and a means to support people's creativity. I thought about this a lot Saturday as I watched and encouraged many young children color and draw at the gallery's table during a local festival, where I was a volunteer. I never said, "Is that a turtle?" to have a child then say in a discouraged or confused tone, "No, it's a hat!" Instead, I said to the kids, "Do you like how that is looking?" or "I really like how you are using many different colors." I looked at the things they were coloring, but focused more on how the activity made them feel and less on judging their output.
It's hard then, to feel safe in your creativity if even you and those who mean to be supportive can thwart or diminish your efforts. There's risk in creativity, and we each need not only champions and records of their words (recollecting and writing these were two of this week's tasks), but also a reservoir of bravery to do the work and to share it with others. Some of my bravery as of late comes from this cluster; from remembering those people who, intentionally or not, have inspired me; from knowing that we generally let the little voice in our heads get away with much more negativity than positivity and only consciousness can correct this; and from being open to the experience of synchronicity, just making myself available for opportunities.
Week One Check-in
1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages and how was the experience?
I did six out of seven days this week and am sooo frustrated I blanked on doing them Sunday morning. I really love doing the morning pages and am a bit embarrassed I didn't start doing them again sooner, with or without the rest of the book and its tasks. They're just a great way to pour out the contents of your brain. My favorite thing about them as a tool is that on the days you think you have nothing to write about, mid-way down page three, there's almost always this epiphany that could knock your socks off!
2. Did you do your artist date this week? What did you do? How did it feel?
I did a few things this week that, cobbled together, I'm calling my artist date. Because of a kinda panic situation at work, I had to walk six miles roundtrip to a local shopping plaza. While the events surrounding this hike were not of my choosing, I enjoyed how aware I felt of little things as I walked a long--everything from really noticing the different shapes of leaves of trees to finding funky objects on the ground. Also, I got to finally stop and look in at this large flock of birds living behind our bookstore. The next day, as I noted above, I volunteered at my local art gallery and helped run their table at a street festival. While not a solo event, I was introduced several times as an artist and encouraged a gaggle of children to be creative. Even prior to joining the gallery, I had intended to volunteer there (shadow artist intentions, anyone?), and it felt really good to finally get around to doing this. Finally, tonight I spent some time in the studio trying out a new technique and really just playing with paint with no expectations.
All of these activities were little adventures and really made me feel good about myself.
3. Other odds & ends
- I made a copy of the Basic Principles and have them hanging on my bathroom mirror, an easy reminder to read them daily. You can download a PDF of the principles in this format, too.
- I added the following paragraph at the end of my Artist's Way contract: "I also commit to respecting and encouraging the creativity and experiences of Christiane, Di, and Cassidy. I will be generous and supportive of them throughout this work."
- None of Julia Cameron's descriptions of the Censor--those nasty thoughts attempting to stifle and diminish our creativity--really worked for me. Know what I see in my head when I think of my Censor? Either of these two guys:
They both perfectly encapsulate the kind of mockery I feel best describes my Censor's modus operandi!
Week two details will be forthcoming later today.
Some technical snafus have delayed the day-in-the-life pictures, but I plan to post mine after the holiday weekend. :)
Originally published at file under "Miscellanea". You can comment here or there.
Like an invisible zipline, sometimes fate drags you to where you need to be.
Last night, as we were considering a movie night on the couch, I recommended taking the dog for a walk.
As we concluded our walk, my husband suggested going out for a drink.
When we got downtown, I peeked into an art gallery, saw it was open, and said we should stop in.
If you can see where this is going, you are far wiser than I!
Once inside the Progress Energy Gallery, we were greeted by Michelle Astuto Collins and Sergio Vitorio Flores and informed a silent auction was ongoing and would end that night at 9:45pm. Much chatting and perusing followed, and we left having bid on two items. My husband and I went for drinks across the street, a conversation about football and a delicious crab cake later, we were back in the gallery and were going home with one of Sergio's masks and I had won a artist membership to the gallery.
Artist members get advance notice of shows, discounts on gallery fees and purchases, and a link from their site.
Obviously, I need to get in gear: updating my arty site, uploading photos, and completing both the 3-D house piece I've been puttering on and the two canvases I've begun. I knew, of course, in the back of my head, I wanted to do these things, but I let them get piled under my regular job, paying taxes, washing the dog, feeding the kid, and dozens of other large and small tasks. Now, fate has given me a reason to put artmaking back on the front burner of my life, a subtle conspiring of events that has set me right, saying: You need to put your energy here.
Originally published at file under "Miscellanea". You can comment here or there.
Do you make things? Any sort of things? Do you take or draw pictures, write poems, knit, sew, bake, direct your friends in avant-garde flicks or fold origami? Then join Thing-a-day with me and commit to making one thing every day for the month of February.
Put your trepidations aside; it's the shortest month of year and you can do it!
Visit the web site and learn the details, but definitely comment below if you've joined up so I can follow your progress. I've registered under "miscellanea" on the site and will be cross-posting my creations on my miscellaneaarts.com blog.
I plan to draw a one-inch square per day and make other stuff, yet to be determined. I usually make ATCs, cards, cigar box purses and also do some sewing and embroidery. I've also been recently introduced to inchies and 4x4 via the various challenges I've been keeping up with. Not only will the process be motivating, but Thing-a-day seems like the perfect thing to kickstart my new crafting blog. Wish me luck!
I <3 me some random motivation, so I have joined and committed to the Craft Challenge group. This month there are several "missions," but I've already been quite successful:
Spend at least 15 mins a day satisfying that craft urge in your belly. Lucky me, I usually get more like three hours to do this. But, because of the challenge, I'm making sure I do it every day. Thus far, I've worked on my handmade paper, a donation jar for my husband's Habitat for Humanity affiliate, and decorating the binders I use to store magazine articles and my ATCs. Bonus: My husband just interrupted this post to have me help him make a card for his parents.
Visit 1 craft show. This weekend, I volunteered at the Gasparilla Arts Festival for 5.5 hours and then visited Tampa's Crafting Out Loud, a regularly scheduled craft fair featuring indie/urban crafters. Saw some friendly faces, neat photo frames made out of hard cover books, some fun handpainted boxes and jewelery displays, enjoyed a cuppa chai and a cute green felt rattle by melimade for a friend's newborn. (Which nicely works into another craft challenge...
Purchase something from a fellow crafter. Thanks, melimade!
Open that Etsy shop you "keep meaning to open." I actually signed up for Etsy, but now am having second thoughts about a business name for myself. More on that in a follow-up post.
Finish a UFO (unfinished object). My likely candidates for this are three needlepoint works, all for female friends who've been so good to me during this stressful time.
So, I'm well on my way, and the first week of March is barely over. Me thinks I may have to ask teach for extra credit. ;)
PS - Photos to follow. My camera isn't around the house right now, but I should have photos up mid-week of some of my work, plus my craft area.
