How Your Daily Life Can Inspire Creative Vision
Journal October 2019 @Musée D’ Orsay ©beth vendryes williams
I discovered that in my life.
Here I sit, with my laptop on a crisp autumn Saturday morning watching the sun warm the trees as the leaves begin to turn. It is a glorious moment to savor and drink in the fresh air! My thoughts go to the blessings of being creative.
Every day, I practice the process of making art out of my life.
Do you want to know why?
I discovered this way of working while I was teaching art to 600 students a week over 20 years.
As you can well imagine, not all of them cared about painting and drawing. But every student loved discovering a new experience, recognizing beauty, making a difference by making a mark that could be seen, and communicate with others.
So, I focused on reading about the creative process in tandem with raising our three sons, painting & drawing. Through that research of writings by scientists, researchers, dancers, yogis, philosophers, and writers, I learned more about the process of creating, no matter what the materials.
I began to observe the ways I used my creativity in my daily life. Imagination is needed in every part of the day, which extends way beyond merely making a product marketed as art. In fact, the process of creative thinking can result in making your life itself into a work of art!
My biggest challenge was finding time and space to work.
Check back with me next Thursday to find out what I did!
opportunities for quiet time of reflection, lurk in the intersections of your day
Have you ever felt the world rushing around you...
so quickly that there is barely have time to stop and breathe and have a moment of time with your thoughts and feelings? Do you want to look at life by placing events and media notifications in perspective as you review your unique inner voice?
That is what motivated me
as I began my search for time-tested, effective ways of encouraging personal quietness as a daily practice. And yes, yoga and meditation are traditions that create space for inner quiet. I have long noticed the natural pauses that occur at specific intervals of the day, and it made me think of an ancient practice in the church, based on hours of the day. The liturgy of the hours is still practiced daily, by many priests as well as people who meditate. From my contemporary perspective, I am making art that identifies activities and appropriate moments in the day that could remind me (and you!) to pause and leave room for inner reflection.
To convey a deeper understanding of this inner space,
I am working with elements of color shape, form and perspective to communicate the reflective moments. This process has naturally developed into a combination of watercolor, collage with both remnants from recycled paper and clothing. The series has become a layered work, which coincidentally represents the layers of information that bombard us throughout the day.! I am very excited to share these pieces with you!
You may See this new work at Autentico Restaurant, in two weeks! If you haven’t done so already, subscribe, so I can send you an invitation to the artsy and delicious opening at Autentico!
Discover the creativity within you...
Waking up each day has always been a gift and an adventure for me! I find joy in the possibilities of the minutes and hours I have been given. Although each day brings with it changes and detours, the most amazing journeys that I never imagined reveal themselves.Like magic, I can change the day by changing my perspective. What was a deficit before can become an opportunity.
Being an artist, and practicing daily with pencils and paint has given me to the skills and courage to create with the material available to me each day. It can be as simple as finding something in a refrigerator or pantry that previously appeared uninspiring a moment before.Or it can be the incredible journey of creating a painting or discovering a solution to a problem that will change life for the better for many people.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9-SYa_82TI]
Creativity expert, Sir Ken Robinson recently spoke at a Zeitgeist Conference about the far reaching importance of creativity on education and on our future.
Time is like rushing water
People who have faith in life are like swimmers
who entrust themselves to a rushing river.
They neither abandon themselves to its current, nor try to resist it.
Rather, they adjust their every movement to the watercourse,
use it with purpose and skill,
and enjoy the adventure.