What is creativity and where do you find it?

It is important to create with  (or without) the crayons...I’ve been struggling with this very experience over the summer.  Creativity seems to seep out of me when I am going through an ordinary day. Free roaming creativity can interfere with my painting and drawing.

Wait just one minute...What is creativity, anyway?

There are many definitions...

To create is to “bring something into existence” or “to produce with imaginative skill” as defined in Merriam -Webster Dictionary. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly defines creativity as "any act, idea or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one" (p.27). Creativity can be described as" thinking outside the box". You effectively exhibit creativity  when you manage to transform a mistake into an opportunity!

So let me ask you , shave you ever created something that never existed before?" Do you imagine things before you make them?

I can just hear your answer now...a child, a party, a dinner, an experience, a cookie, a vacation, an outfit,  a hairdo  all have the capacity to be be the result of a creative imagination.

I have spent the summer, dear friends, struggling to refocus on building and then digging into my daily images. Weaving in time to nurture my relationships with friends and family, I was able to find numerous opportunities to create and view art and my surroundings.

And so, I sketched and painted, with- and also without, my art supplies! Creating meals with fabulous fresh summer vegetables from the garden, mending clothes that I love, changing plans and having an even better time because I was open to the change, venturing to visit places off the beaten path are just a few of the  ways of inviting creativity into your life.

Ways to transform life are unlimited.

When you transform and think outside the box you are utilizing your creative skills.

That is so important.

It is why I keep writing this blog.

A life altering thought...

Oh yes, you can be an artist in whatever material or subject matter that you work with.

I would love to hear about ways that you are creative in your life...

Can art change the world? You decide!

This is an incredible modeling of how life and art intersect to make something greater...transformation!It is worth every minute of watching and listening.

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

Now that you've watched it, how can your work change the world?

How an image can change your life journey

Once you are able to imagine something, you can be very close to achieving it.I’m getting ready to go out to the studio, but I thought I would write this down first. You see, I think you could benefit from my experiences with inspiration!  I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have procrastinated going to that blank paper, because I didn’t know exactly how a piece would turn out.

And that is  the process exactly. It is unnerving, facing a blank white paper. The experience leaves you feeling like you are at the edge of a cliff. There are no guarantees.  You may not create a “successful” product!  Look at your art as a verb instead of a noun; as a process instead of a destination. When I can allow myself that perspective, I realize my greatest creative leaps!

To image or holding an image in my imagination expedites creative thinking. When I allow myself to hold an image in my mind and to value its presence, I have a fluid medium with vast potential to work with !

Once you are able to imagine something, you can be very close to achieving it!

You must be flexible...for it may not happen in the manner that you imagine.

You must be persistent...for it may not happen in the time frame you envision.

You must believe in your vision.

That is why I challenge myself to remember daily images and moments in my drawing journal. So I decide to target 5 images of my day, dawn light to the evening sky.  Sometimes I remember things more accurately than others.  Since I am a visual artist, I create a visual journal. I also write in a multidisciplinary attempt to get closer to the truth of my observations. You could use other methods of capturing  invisible images in action, through music, movement, recording or organizing a written plan. I give myself permission to document my imagery without judgement. Then I reference it for my work.

Expanding this creative process into your daily life would allow you to imagine opportunities in your life that create what you imagine. Every unexpected turn is an opportunity to transform a part of your life in a way that you never imagined before. Imagining it is the first and most important step in creating change.

A website worth taking time to look at, woolgathering by Elizabeth Perry explores  and shares creating in her sketchbook. In the category of life being transformed by imagination, take a look at the article about Vik Muniz. His work begins as a photographer but "Mr. Muniz has ambitions beyond the art world — something to do with alchemical transformation, not just of garbage into art, and art into cash, but also of people’s lives."

How have you transformed your art, your life in unexpected ways? Did you image or envision something before you made the changes?  Do you have trouble holding onto what you envision?

Life happens... what about those plans?

I've been struggling with that lately!!!As you probably know, I have been following that voice inside of me insisting that I make marks on paper and canvas... paint and draw!

I also have been able to articulate the process of creating and how to incorporate it more seamlessly into life, in this blog and in my teaching!

It has taken a lifetime to realize that vision. It hasn't happened in the way I imagined it, but that is the way life is.The challenge is to transform what life gives me into the art that I live everyday.

So, when I look at this beautiful photo of sunlight breaking through the shadows, it helps me to understand the value of shadows and movement not only as I look down the road, but also in my life path.

Interfering events and  exhaustion have inhibited my blogging recently.

So I rested.

Now I find myself sorting, organizing, redesigning. When I find myself having to slow down physically , I make lots of little piles for reading, writing, planning  and sketching. This is great for my creativity, although it wreaks havoc with my dear husband's sense of order. So I have now begun to take a look at my blog to see how I can help my subscribers to better discover or rediscover that innate creative gift that we all have. I've been reading lots of relevant books and searching through blogs that explore making things from different perspectives.I've been going to art shows and working in my journal. I will be sharing some of this in future posts!

Being creative in life and art requires balance,inspiration and some down time  The reward is transformation of our thoughts, sprits and bodies. Have you found that to be true for you?

Tell me, what inspires you when things aren't going the way you planned? Do you have any quick and fun remedies?  ( I like a pistachio gelato break, but can't have it often!) I look forward to hearing from you in the comments.

Now, off to my studio I go!

[tweetmeme source="bethvw"only_single=false]

Nurture your creative spark

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it,                                        bearing within him the image of a cathedral.

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Keep your creative energy flowing:

~Think of every mistake or roadblock as a way of discovering something new

~Live in the now moment--be present

~Be grateful for what you have.

~Believe in and trust in yourself

~Break bread joyfully with friends & family

~Keep your physical body in good shape

~Make time to get a good night's sleep regularly

~Make time for contemplation

~Share what you have from your abundance.

I love this statement about the importance of being creative!

“It IS about engagement. You don't need to suffer, you need to live.You don't need to lose, you need to be open to risk.You need to feel what it's like to stick your neck out and be judged.You need to dance with uncertainty. You need to pursue passion with breathless zest.You need to sit in a moment, alone in a sunwashed field and let every sense flood.It's not about suffering. It's about being present.It's about connecting to what's real and what's not.It's about allowing yourself to feel.Be it from the back of a station wagon in the deep South or a pied-à-terre on Park Ave. It's about being real.”by Jonathan Fields

Just for fun, check out the Creative Exercises by Benoit Phillippe on his blog My French Easel. Check out the post Meditation and Creativity by Mark McGuiness at Lateral Impulse. He includes links to three other articles about developing creativity

I'd love to hear how you support that creative impulse of yours!

Create each day...really.

A snow day in the north east!

A gift that I didn’t expect.

I look at this day as if I were painting.

Time itself is the medium.

I can imagine what I want to make of the day ... and then transform it into what I have imagined!  Just like creating a painting.

That’s why I named my blog Make art. Transform life.

Because that is the way I create.

I wake up each morning with gratitude for the gift of another day. I can plan what I want to do but what happens during that day is not in my control.

How I perceive what happens determines the richness of the day and shapes what I do with my experiences.

Just like making a drawing:

Surface: Time is  the canvas.

Material: People and events are the paint.

Applicator: My perception is the brush in my hand, interpreting what I come across each day.

Product: My actions or inactions transform each day.

So today, I image that I will make some drawings and paintings and write about the process of creating and investigate how it transforms us.

I will post my work later on in the day. What are you doing if you are snowed in today? I love to hear about how you view your options on days suddenly gifted to you, through cancellations or change in plans.

Be sure to read an inspiring  post this morning, on the Art of Great Things by Jeffrey Tang. It gives much food for thought.

Coincidently,two pieces of my artwork are being shown on the current post Live Like You Were Dying on the Religion Network, by the wonderful Lisa Bowman. Be sure to check them out!

Share|

Life as Art

Drawing and  painting  has always been  an insightful and energy producing adventure in my life.  The process of creating it is as fruitful as the product!  I  have come to realize that all creating uses the same skills as making artwork..... including shaping my life! Using the process of creating can give  a template  to transform your life.

So what is "art" anyway?  According to Eric Booth, in the  extraordinarily insightful book  the everyday work of art

"At he birth of the word"art" it was a verb that meant "to put things together." It was not a product but a process. If we can reclaim that view of art_ as a way of looking at and doing things, as a series of experiences and experiments_ all of us gain a fresh grasp on the proven practical ways to construct the quality of our lives."

So let's look at the definitions of both work and art to divine the process!

According to the Visual Thesaurus the verb "to work" is to 

"exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity; apply through; think through"

and defines"art"   as

"the products of human creativity; works of art collectively; the creation of beautiful or significant things; a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation"

Michael Kimmelman, art critic for the NY Times and author  of the book, "The Accidental Masterpiece; On the Art of Life and Vice Versa"  clearly articulates the process of art making in our daily lives! He integrates stories of artists in his book, demonstrating how their way of working  can easily be applied to our lives.

"...art provides us with clues about how to live our own lives more fully... creating, collecting, and even just appreciating art can make living a daily masterpiece."

 I have come across blogs that are created with the attitude of an artist.   "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin is one.  Her journey into the ways of attaining happiness share depth and  balance. I always leave her site with at least one new perception. It is definitely worth checking out!

Art as language

Hearing Thomas Beale speak about his work at the Long Island Craft Guild last night reminded me how important it is to honor that small still voice inside of yourself. He saw something in his mind's eye...a shape, and finally didn't ignore it anymore, searching until he found a way to give it voice. His work is now reflecting that initiative. It evokes the concepts of patience, light and transformation.Sometimes I will observe clothes drying on the line and see the complexity and fragility of our lives. I paint the ability to be moved by the wind and still remain whole. I encounter the utilitarian and ordinary only to realize the constant movement of light and shadow as it transmutes this moment and us in time. Suddenly, observing an image clarifies elusive concepts for me.

Has that ever happened to you?