Flap your arms...jump around a lot!

"Look, I don't want to wax philosophic,

but I will say

that if you're alive you've got to flap your arms and leg,

you've got to jump around a lot,

for life is the very opposite of death,

and therefore you must at least think

noisy and colorfully,

or you're not alive."

Mel Brooks (1926-       )American film writer, actor, director, produce

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No time to be creative?

If only I had enough time. Do you ever find yourself saying that to yourself?That is what I said when the three boys were little, and part of me didn’t want that time to end.

I painted pictures with them in between making Halloween costumes and cookies, parties and putting bandaids on knees.

We read books a together and we were  a happy audience when they put on plays for us!

When they were in elementary school and middle school, I took my sketchpad to games, although sometimes I didn’t get it open.

I always carried pencils, a  favorite pen and my crayons in my bottomless pocketbook. Many times I watched the game and improved my visual memory by drawing from what I remembered later.

I worked at my job, teaching art. We made pizzas and cakes from scratch, loaves of bread, read books and had family discussions about the state of rest f the world.

Yes, and I dragged them to art museums, plays and music lessons of all kinds.

I am still teaching art to 580 students every week, and loving it!.When I teach, it nurtures my art and when I do my art it makes me a better teacher. I am always looking for time to make more of my own work.

And now it is the summer.

All the time in the world to paint, right?

Wrong. Sometimes I get creative block. Everyone gets it once in a while.

So, I  attempt to make dealing with  this issue a creative project! I enlist my  sense of humor, compassion and an assortment of creative thinking skills. If i am not up for that, I sometimes take a nap. (Try it. It works.)

Every time I get stuck procrastinating with the fear of making a mark on the white paper, I use diversionary tactics!

• Outsmart my left brain  and allow room for the intangible creative side. Let’s not take this too seriously, after all, “playing” is one of the 13 creative thinking tools.
• Integrate and balance other life areas. Make sure to exercise, eat right, read, leave time for spiritual, relationships and taking care of money and job. Limit times and set the alarm.
• Watch how others do it.  I watch my son compose, sing play and mix music when he has a day off or after work, if he’s not too tired. if he is he sleeps.
• Read . Many artists are very generous about sharing their methods of getting time to create.
• Allow myself to do the laundry or vacuum...with a time limit!
• Drink a glass of water.
• Take the dogs for a walk. Good thinking time.
• Put myself in the studio or place that is inspiring, with all of my supplies around me, look at my journals and I can’t help but make something.
• Don’t judge. Just keep exploring.
• Oh yes, and work daily for a self determined consistent amount of time. Stop in the middle of the best part! This was one of Hemingway’s secrets. Your mind will keep working on creative ideas  until you return the next day.

I was intrigued by the post on Write to Done guest post “How to Write When You’re Scared Spitless” by the  Jean-Berg-Sarauer.

There is also a very interesting article about another way to increase creativity called The Cure for Creative Blocks? Leave Your Desk. RT(via @the99percent) that is totally awesome!

What do you do when you are stuck and need a new idea?

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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!

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My attitude towards drawing is not necessarily about drawing.

It's about making the best kind of image I can make,

it's about talking as clearly as I can.

Jim Dine

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Thinking tool 2: Create an image in your mind, then go!

Expanding the power of visual images is thrilling to me.

Imagine, just holding an image in your mind's eye is the way to solve a problem, create a new situation or invent something new! Do you find it difficult to believe that visualizing something is the beginning of making it real? Are you tempted to think that was the magic of a child's world?

Think again. Just one example...Years ago I developed an image in my mind of an art studio that I wanted to work in. It is getting its finish coat of paint now! Where your thoughts are is where your physical efforts will eventually go.  Creating a picture in your mind is one of the most powerful ways to envision an idea across all disciplines.

To increase your own ability to image:

1. Acknowledge and recognize images in your mind and how you use them.
2. Collect images in your mind on a regular basis and in response to other stimuli. See if you can expand the image into other areas of sensual stimuli.. can you smell the flowers that you are imaging? What does it feel like to have a studio that is my own space?
3. Make art in whatever medium you like.Write, draw, sing, bake. Pay attention to your visual images when you process scientific and mathematical concepts.

This  is the way to make your ideas really happen!

In my own experience,  when I make an image in my mind's eye many times it seems to happen of its own volition. Now understand that I am not just imagining it once. It is a consistent envisioning that develops as I think about it. It also may not happen in the time frame that is what I desire at the time. I have been constantly surprised when something I really wanted to accomplish even years  years ago, is suddenly appearing in my life. Like the studio.

Hey, I wonder if I've just given myself the recipe for developing a concept in my work? To review it daily in my mind...allow it to change with my inner imaging and influences from experiences, reading and contemplation....just put pencil, crayon and paint to paper or canvas and let it become visible!

I'd love to know ...have ever imaged something and then had it happen to you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

See Zen Habits for a very useful guide to creativity and  a study the Number 1 habit of creative people.For those of you that like to nap (I am definitely a fan!), this is the perfect guide for effortless imaging at Michael Nobbs, the blog: drawing inspiration.

Also read Steven Pressfield's writings about creativity an other thoughts at his website, and this post  there about Jonathan Fields and the creative process.

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Allow sleep to transform you!

May the sun bring you new energy by day,

may the moon softly restore you by night,

may the rain wash away your worries,

may the breeze blow new strength into your being.

Apache Blessing

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How to increase your observation skill in 6 steps

I know I am not the only one whose thoughts are someplace else while I am doing a task. Isn't multitasking how to  get more things done? I sit down to draw the landscape as we drove through the farmland upstate New York, from memory!  I try to recall all of the details of the look on my brother's face when we were speaking of the death of a beloved aunt and the ongoing difficulties in the lives of her surviving siblings.

Yes, I could take a photograph, but I feel the need to remind and retrain my mind to observe very carefully. I want to use, but not be dependent upon, a technical device, like a camera or computer to BE my memory.

I am using the example of painting and drawing because that is what I do, and it is so hands on that it is easy to understand. It is also a combination of physical and mental multitasking.  But there are many ways and reasons to practice and improve observation skills. No matter what you do for a living good observation skills are an important part of doing good work, don't you think? Here is how!

• Begin by choosing one thing a day to remember: a conversation, a scene, a book or article that you read, a recipe, etc.

• Be present in the now moment. Relax and allow yourself to use your senses to take in all of the unique qualities of what you feel, see and hear.

• After observing the event or scene reflect on what you would like to remember about it. Make connections between what you already know and this new memory.

• Write it down or draw it, preferably in a portable journal without judgement of yourself. Just put it down!

• Be grateful for the gift of experiencing the moment.

Observe and record in a visual, written or auditory way, daily and it will become a habit that will increase your confidence in your powers of observation and visualization!

Let me know how this works for you. I know that if I make a concerted effort to image a detailed memory, I can gradually expand it to two or even three a day. I just need to articulate it in words or a visual to reinforce it.

This is a great way to gather material and ideas for making things and for making things happen.!

Simplifying your focus is eloquently explored by Michael Nobbs /The Blog: Drawing Inspiration. I am inspired by his simple and honest posts.

Here is an other concept about doing two things at once from Ali Hale in Productive Flourishing, by combining a mental task with a physical task.

Notice a little something every day!

“Set yourself to practice drawing,

drawing only a little each day.

so that you may not come to lose your taste for it,

or get tired of it...

Do not fail, as you go on,

to draw something everyday,

for no matter how little it is,

it will be well worthwhile,

and it will do you a world of good.”

Cennino Cennini,

Il Libro Della Art, c. 1435

Boost your creativity with 13 thinking tools

[picapp align="none" wrap="false" link="term=tools&iid=5065648" src="a/6/3/b/Open_toolbox_closeup_3aa9.jpg?adImageId=12838263&imageId=5065648" width="337" height="506" /]Have you ever heard people say that you just can’t learn to be creative, you have to be born that way?

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I have. All of my life as an artist, many people have insisted that “you either have it or you don’t”. I am always trying to see things in a more plastic and flexible way. I know I have continued to improve my creative flexibility by implementing different strategies of thinking.

I take time away by myself to just be, I take a moment to stop and really pay attention to my surroundings, I will investigate a news incident that I am particularly interested in, collect inspiring quotes, bake some cookies, spend 2 hours dedicated to drawing, go to art shows, really stop and listen to the sounds around me, and most importantly, listen to my own inner voice! Reading books by other artists and experts in  education and intellectual development has given me new tactics and reinforced my time tested belief. I believe that we all have the capacity to think creatively and to find the artist inside. One of the most helpful books was written by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein, who wrote Sparks of Genius. They actually studied the most creative people in the world and then broke the skills down into 13 different categories. IThis book is a comprehensive study of how to hone your creative skills.

I actually teach these to children!  They love stretching their minds and learn to overcome their fear of making a “mistake” so they can risk trying  some new ways of thinking. I share the tools here with you, briefly, and will continue to expand each one in a series of posts on developing your own creative IQ.

Check back early in each week to find out how to truly integrate these tools into your everyday thinking! For now, here are short summaries of thow can help you to become a more creative thinker!

• Observing is to watch something carefully. It is important to do because you increase your knowledge and awareness . It keeps you safe. You develop your ability to describe, reflect and remember.
• Imaging is to form a mental image of something that is not present. it is important for you to do because it helps provide meaning to what you experience and greater understanding to what you learn. Your imagination helps you to create something that never existed before!
• Abstracting is to simplify what you see to a few important lines, shapes or colors, words or symbols. it is important to do because you remove non essential information so you can see what is really important about something.
• Recognizing patterns is to organize random events around us that we see hear and feel, by grouping them.
• Making patterns is done by combining an element or operation with another in a consistent way.
• Making analogies is to discover connections between things that seem very different.
• Body thinking occurs when you are aware of how you feel and where your bod is in space. Many times your body senses things physically before you intellectually  become aware of it.
• Feeling empathy means to see the world through others eyes and understand hoe they feel.
• Thinking in dimensions is to understand that you can see things in 2d or 3d; that you can change the  scale or proportions of things.
• Modeling is to make things smaller (like a building) or larger (like dna) in order to understand it better.
• Playing is to do something just for fun. it is important because you can try things out without worrying ; to make your own rules; to change how you usually think.
• Transforming means to change a concept by looking at it from one form into another.
• Synthesizing is a way of thinking that combines different ways or understanding, such as using the senses, memories, scientific knowledge together in a unified way. This creates an awareness of the many connections ,helping you to understand i more deeply because you can experience it in so many different ways.

Do you sometimes have trouble accessing your creative side? What do you do to transform the problem into an opportunity to create? I love to get your comments. Dialogue is yet another way of inspiring creativity!

There is a great blog post from Michael Nobbs' blog drawing inspiration in discusses his successful use of setting limits to get more done!  And here is a post that will get you moving in a positive (and creative) direction from Mark McGuinness in his blog, Lateral Action.

Art is not a product, but a process!

"At the 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 and practical ways to construct the quality of our lives.

from Eric Booth in "The everyday work of art"

Check out this "Ducks & Drakes" by    nkhverma for another perspective on how art is defined. it's also packed with a lot of ideas about writing and creaticvity.

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Be creative like Rocco Landesman in the NEA

“Creativity belongs to the artist in each of us.To create means to relate. The root meaning of the word art is to fit together and we all do this every day. Not all of us are painters, but we are all artists. Each time we fit things together we are creating-whether it is to make a loaf of bread, a child, a day.”

Corita Kent

After reading the article in the New York Times about Rocco Landesman in the New York Times, I find myself encouraged. Rocco is an artist in the real sense of using the skills of art, of fitting things together.He is an outspoken supporter of the arts using his creative skills to build a scaffold upon which art thrives and encourages growth and development in towns across the nation.The name of his campaign, as National Endowment for the Arts Chairman is "Art Works". It suddenly dawned on me that this is exactly the approach that the enterprising little hamlet of Oyster Bay, NY is successfully engaging in.

You know, it IS actually happening in Oyster Bay!  Galleries and artists are beginning to quietly thrive in this laid back town.  The Chase Edwards Gallery , Atelier Gallery, Art that Matters and the Teaching Studios of Art exhibit, educate and sell artwork. On the first Thursday of each month, there is an Art Walk scheduled from 7-9pm.. The galleries above are mentioned and sponsored by restaurants and businesses in town, many of whom also display artwork and stay open for the Art Walks so that customers can drop in for a bite to eat or to shop.

It is encouraging to see the community support for the arts on both a national and local level.

It is also true that each of us can engage in the actions of artists each day. Do not be afraid of trying a new idea, making a mistake, thinking outside the box. That is how Rocco, Oyster Bay and you can make new discoveries and initiate new ways of looking at your life . That is how discoveries are made, businesses are born and people create things that give flight to our imaginations!

How to rediscover yourself in a new place

[slideshow]How I needed a vacation this spring! Oh yes, it has been a long time since I spent any amount of time creating anywhere but in my studio.Suddenly I was off to another place with my  sack of supplies, and heavy load of books. I was on a beach. I slept. I read. I painted. I drew.

My work was reinvigorated. You can do this too.

Find a place to go that you love.

Give yourself the gift of time to listen to your internal voice. I need quiet space and early morning hours to listen.When and where do you listen internally?

Leave time and quiet space to meditate. Make sure you have designed some time with no obligations to anyone but you. How can you kindly and judiciously isolate some uninterrupted time?

Bring simple materials to work with. I needed books, paper, pens and pencils watercolor and water. I actually didi bring too many books! They made traveling arduous. What do you need to bring?

Keep your goal simple. Mine was to sketch every day as necessary with the measured regularity of sleeping and eating. It would be a process, like breathing, not an event, like a party. If you limit yourself to one goal, what would it be?

Reflect on what you have learned.

From taking too many books, I learned that I need to make more time to read in my regular daily schedule. They weighed down my bag and my psyche.

You can do this in a small scale each day without going away. Going away can help you to stick to your goals because you have changed and temporarily simplified your environment which helps with focus.

If you would like more ideas about minimizing what you need  visit  this specific post by Leo Babauta in Zen Habits . To explore the benefits of working regularly, check out the inspiring post by Phillipe Benoit  at The French Easel.

What turns your creative intelligence on? I would love to hear some of your suggestions!

How one artist creates by trusting his gut

My attitude towards drawing is not necessarily about drawing. It's about making the best kind of image I can make,

it's about talking as clearly as I can.

Jim Dine

See a video documenting his creative process as Jim Dine reveals how he conceives a work as he creates an installation at the Getty.

Every person creates  in a unique way. It is very important to be able to imagine what you want to say and to trust your intuition or your stomach, as he says. Notice how he easily makes connections between antique figures , Chinese poems and his own poetry.

You can use the process of  creativity when you want to solve a problem, create something new, or have an idea or image in your imagination and want to make it visible to others. It is a  way of communicating ideas.

My creativity soared when I organized my clothing for an upcoming vacation...colors, textures and shapes. Now I have to simplify, eliminate and get it into one bag, which will require even more creativity!   When have you been creative lately?

Why being creative is a lifesaver

When you think of a lifesaver, you usually would think of a doctor or emergency  medical technician.

Or a life vest. Or a lifeguard. And you would be right.

I have experienced, however, that I can physically live without observing the beauty of the world around me.

I know that we can plod through our lives without imagining what we could become. As Ken Robinson of The Element says,

“ ...we tend to take our imaginations for granted completely.We’ll even criticize people’s perceptions by telling them that they have ‘overactive imaginations or that what they believe is ’all in their imagination.’  People will pride themselves on being ‘down to earth, ‘ realistic’ and ‘no- nonsense’ and deride those who have their ’heads in the clouds.’ And yet, far more than any other power, imagination is what sets humans apart from any other species on earth.”

Ken Robinson’s definition of  imagination is

”the power to bring to mind things that are not present in our senses”.

With this power, you become free to create because you are not dependent on being limited by something you have already experienced.

Creativity is defined as to “make or cause to be or to become” in the Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus.

Imagination gives you the tools to create. To create is to bring something into being, that has never existed before!

Each person, in their own unique way, has the ability to create.

In this way, we actually create the story of our lives!

As Tom Peters says,

”Your schedule today is ... a short story with a beginning, narrative, end, and memory that lingers on.”

Tell me your story.  How are you using the material of your life to transform that life?

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!

Your perception changes everything

" I believe that in the indeterminacy of drawing - the contingent way that images arrive in the work- lies some kind of model of how we live our lives. The activity of drawing is a way of trying to understand who we are and how we operate in the world."

William Kentridge

Funny, I was just beginning to write this blog about  being aware of how you look at things, people and life. What you focus on determines how you feel and then what you will create in your own life.

Then my saavy husband walked in with a video being shown on the Museum of Modern Art site,currently showing the artworks of  William Kentridge, artist from South Africa. When asked if art can change the world, William Kentridge claims its power is in us seeing and hearing the work. He detects strong influences in his life related to how he perceived the work of others. So the artist can affect us on a gut level and it helps shape us and directs our attention.

The artist, as well  is searching to find out who she is and articulate what she thinks by making marks, objects, videos in a visual language that is personal and visceral. Each of us is searching to define ourselves and our world. When we look, listen and respond...that is when the art initiates change!

Have you ever listened to music that just reframes your thinking every time you hear it? There are many songs that do this for me . Yesterday, I was at a yoga class when"Landslide". by Stevie Nicks came on. Landslide by Stevie Nicks always anchors me because I connect it with an amazing event in my life. It reminds me of an important turning point in.

Do you remember a dance, a song, a piece of music, a movie, a play, a poem, a book, an article that cuts through the chaff and touches and changed your heart? Can you think of art that affected you and how?  I'd love to hear about it in comments or share on twitter!

Here's a succinct and  honest post about Genius, misunderstood as a bolt of lightning by Seth Godin. It explains the process of creating.

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!

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Loving drawing...

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,

places to play in and pray in,

where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul."

(John Muir)

Check out the drawings on Urban Sketchers!

How to uncover creativity in 9 steps

I keep thinking about the drawings I would like to make. I want them to express my understanding of the spirit and sacredness in each moment. I just can't seem to focus on the thing that seem right for any length of time. I keep shifting from one concept to another that seems better...but my expectations are dashed and I feel deflated and defeated.

How sad.

I know I can do this.

So I pick myself up with my Moleskine sketchbook and go out with my dear husband to draw in a nearby arboretum.  How lucky I am to live near such a beautiful space. ifind the first place to comfortably place myself and my sketchbooks. I dedicate my time to only observing...not judging. I document what I see and feel.

What I notice, changes, as I observe and make my marks. I give up the certainty of knowing where I am going in my work. I let my hand and spirit lead. After a few attempts and without expectations I find my drawing has revealed more than I expected to me. You may see the drawing on the left. Click on it to see other journal sketches, most of which I have done since the new year began.

The same process can be followed in your life. Sometimes you just can't control things the way you want. Life isn't going the way you imagined it. Whoever told us that it would? Being creative occurs when you take what is in your imagination begins to take form in something tangible.

"Every moment you choose, is art.”  Ikko Tanaka

Does that ever happen to you?  You know you have some great ideas inside of you, but don't quite get them on paper the way you would like. Or you have an idea of a difference you would like to make in the world and it never seems to happen.

Get physical! Just start! Over thinking can sometimes be a way to procrastinate making the commitment to yourself.

• Make a physical movement and begin to create your idea. Begin to change things physically around you to support your creation.

• Set a time limit. Take one day at a time.My initial limit was two hours.

• Do not expect to know the outcome of your efforts.

• Respond to your own work as you are creating it.

• Be ready to begin again and again and again until it feels right in your gut.

• Be honest with yourself. Do not make a mark, write a word, sing a note or teach a lesson just because it looks like it is ok. Make this "mark" because you feel and know that it is true.

• Set it aside to look at later.

• Love the great parts of what you have created.

• Begin again the next day.

As the poet Wallace Stevens said, “Art helps us to live our lives.”

“Art reveals meaning- through the process of creation and the process of observation.”

Shirley Tilghman at Princeton’s 262nd Commencement 2009

Find other ideas about how to jumpstart creativity, I recommend you read Mary Jaksch' blog post at   Goodlife Zen,and check out the video of Alan Watts at the end speaking of work as play. Find more ways to get at that creative side of you at Zen Habits with Leo Babauta.

Don't forget your 6 changes for the new year. Keep on going boldly through your days!

Living everyday creatively

I am always shocked when people ask how I find the courage to think outside of the box.  They wish they were so lucky to be born with talent to draw and paint. They wonder how I manage to t find the time to create .

The fact is, I thrive on making new things and coming up with new ideas. I get up 2 hours earlier than I have to in the morning so I can make time to express my thoughts and sustaining images in paint and graphite. I work at a job that by its nature, constantly demands that I teach my students to understand the power of creativity that is latent in each one of us., just waiting for us to discover that it really is ours!

I write this blog because of those people who wish to exercise their creative abilities in their lives. I want to share the importance of being creative...of understanding the ability that we all have to think in new pathways , to make our ideas visible and audible.

Honestly, I also need to constantly remind myself to stretch my imagination. Through the process of teaching I have found that that I learn so much more when I teach. So this blog engages me in articulating my process of working and shares my belief in the necessity of developing yours and my creative imagination.

Ken Robinson, in his book, "The Element: How finding your passion changes everything", writes

"  You can think of creativity as applied imagination.

You can be creative at anything at all - anything that involves using  your intelligence. It can be in music, in dance, in theater, in math, science, business, in your relationship with other people."

In this spirit, let me share a  blog that plays with the imagination and creativity. It is called creative every day and Leah shares a simple process of creating a design by playing with an idea.

Playing is a great way to get some creative juices moving!

Have fun! I love to hear about what you are imagining and then actually creating in your life!