Quotes to inspire

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Steve Jobs

Scott Belsky 99 percent

What inspires you to live the life you imagine? 

What do you feel you need to create tomorrow to make your inner vision visible?

I'd love to know ...!

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...

Making s cookies, I remember

Thank you so much to the reader, Valerie, who wrote to ask me about the s cookies that my Grandma used to make!I remembered that I had mentioned those light and delicious cookies in my last post about observation and  memory.

My grandma Marianna used to make them  with us , allowing us to help mix and then shape the cookie into an "s" shape after she pressed the dough through an extruder. I remember her kind hands helping us, patiently waiting for them to come out of the oven and finally sharing a taste after they cooled. The were simple and not too sweet.  When I recall them , I remember the the kindness of my Grandma, the sun in her kitchen and the warm fragrance of baking cookies.

Motivated, I searched for our family book of Sicilian recipes and called my dear cousin Trisha who helped me find the it! I studied the recipe, unconvinced that it was the same as the ones I had made years ago. After searching the internet, I found a recipe by Tom del Rosso that fit more closely to my memory.

I substituted organic palm oil shortening by Spectrum  for Crisco. I was especially thriled to find the combination of vanilla and lemon flavors, as I think that was part of it too. I used the pastry bag method and prefer them golden brown.  Enjoy!  Thank you, each of you for the nudge to get that recipe!

S cookies were originally made using a funnel attached to an old-fashioned meat grinder, but they can be formed with a pastry bag. Sometimes they are shaped like a figure eight. This cookie is soft when it first comes out of the oven, but crisps up like a sugar cookie as it cools. They are a cookie jar favorite, but also look stylish ona wedding cookie cake.

INGREDIENTS

3 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup solid vegetable shortening, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Sift together the flour, baking powder,baking soda, and salt into a bowl.In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar until light andlemon-colored. Whisk in the shortening, lemon juice, and vanilla.Gradually stir in the flour mixture, mixing well to blend theingredients. Let the batter sit, covered, for 5 minutes.Fill a tipless pastry bag two thirds full of the batter to form3-inch-long Ss or 8s on cookie sheets. Or drop heaping teaspoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 1/2 inchesapart, and shape each one into a 3-inch-long S, using the back of the spoon.Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until pale golden in color. Watch carefully and rotate the sheets to prevent burning. Let the cookies cool slightly on the cookie sheets before removing them tocooling racks.

Note: These are wonderful with coffee or tea and make a greatafter-school snack. They can be frozen, but will be softer in texture.

I'd love to hear about times when making something has triggered a memory of someone close to your heart!

Imagine, the first step to getting things done!

Explore your problem by imagining solutions in your mind's eye. That exercise can make the difference between solving the problem or walking away in defeat! It is commonly understood that artists create by holding images in their minds eye. But the mind holds more than visual images. Did you know that musicians can hold the sounds of melodies and musical compositions in their minds? Dancers practice the muscle movements in their heads to develop kinesthetic skills. Athletes have been known to improve in their sport just by reviewing and feeling their movements in their mind. Whole books have been written on holding the taste of madeleines (Proust in Remembrance of things Past) or chocolate in Laura Esquivel's book, Like water for chocolate!

I can recall my Sicilian grandmother making the steamy fragrant honey lemon tea when I was ill with measles, the fragrance of her hand nurtured gardenias, her  plain and simple S cookies wafting their fragrance from the oven. It has been noted that the sense of smell is very effective at triggering memories.

I have drawn on these memories, triggered by fragrances, to make a series of paintings drawings. This mind imaging in ALL senses improves as you use it, similar to exercising muscles.  It just takes practice.

If you want to accomplish or change something, just imagine it, with one or more of your senses. You will be amazed!

Start with small things. Imagine what you will do when you get home from work. Imagine taking a walk past the fragrant lilac bush on the next street.Feel the sea breeze softly sweep your hair back from your face. Engage in the energy that surges through you as you walk briskly through the neighborhood. Suddenly, you are ready for your walk!

Choose to hold things in your mind's eye every day. That tiny action will transform your life image by image.

Oh yes, and let me know what happens!

An amazing and true art/ business connection! In a blog from U.S. News, On Careers, Miriam Salpeter discusses the importance of observation skills, referencing my post on increasing your observation skills in 6 steps. I love how she so clearly explains the connection betweens between eye, hand and mind as enhancing practical life skills in the marketplace.

How to make mistakes into opportunities!

Oh yes, it is true!  Many of my best ideas have begun by making a mistake. If I am afraid of doing something incorrectly, I feel inhibited about making decisions that are unusual or different. When I prepare myself the best I can and then go forward with courage, I find I gain a new way of looking and insights. Consequently I am able to to paint in a new way!Does that ever happen yo you? Making a recipe, following directions, making decisions about moving, choosing a job ? How do you feel about realizing that you made a mistake? If you get angry or nervous or upset, it is perfectly understandable. I've been there, believe me!

It's what you do next, that's important.

I love this video about "being wrong" by Kathryn Schulz. Gets right to the essence of  "what this can tell us about human nature" and why feeling "always right" can impede us in our life growth. being wronghttp://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

What do YOU think?

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?

Why artists are essential to America...

Isn't this something we need in America now?Please find 35 minutes to hear to one of the most heartfelt and scientifically supported reasonings I have heard defining the value of the arts in our world.You can skip right to Arlene , in a bright pink top. You will not regret it![vimeo 15772479 w=400 h=300]

Arlene Goldbard's provocative keynote: "Why America Needs Artists (It's Not What You Think)" from The Field on Vimeo.

For a comprehensive and dynamic look at manifesting creativity, go to Arlene's blog .

Now, i'd love to hear your comments here about  what you see for your future as a creative person who is moved by art!!

Initiate powerful patterns in your life!

I love getting up in the darkness of the early morning, allowing myself to quietly sit while sipping a cup of warm lemon water! Lighting  a candle  dispels the darkness and is a metaphor for opening my heart to the spirit. It is astounding to me, how this simple daily ritual clears my head as I travel through the day. It is in the "vigils" , the dark right before the light part of the day, that I find the time to be aware and grateful.

I actually used to rebel against any kind of repetition in my life. I felt succumbing to patterns would limit or nullify my creativity. I was having trouble, though, maintaining the momentum required to jumpstart my creative juices, each day. I was determined not to be a slave to the clock, a regimin

That was, until I realized the benefits of having habits that I planned , rather then allowing patterns in my life that I did not consciously choose.  I did a lot of research and discovered that there were some great benefits to having healthy habits.

I discovered the 13 creative thinking tools as defined by Dr.Robert Root-Bernstein in "Sparks of Genius". If you have the opportunity, he is speaking in March at the Naea NationalConvention in Seattle, Washington, March 17 -20. On a regular basis, I find myself referencing  "The Creative Habit", by Twyla Tharp in which she details how she stumbles from bed each morning to call a cab to take her to the dance studio where she warms up for choreographing dances. All of this so she has no way out if she feels like staying in bed. A key to her success is in creating rituals that create a network that supports and organizes her creative pursuits.

And you know, this pattern making now reaches into every area of my life. If you have read my blog, you know that I have identified seven categories of my life that I like to balance. When I examine each of them i find patterns emerging. I of course give myself permission to modify them when it is necessary. Thus the patterns transform themselves as my life requires, but I still have the network there for structure.

• art I paint early in the morning, regularly keep a drawing journal which I carry with me most of the time,visit museums and galleries on a regular basis and practice remembering imagery that fascinates me.
• spiritual There is daily, early morning meditation and prayer, moments of silence during the day, and gathering moments of prayer and gratitude at day's end.
• physical Yoga is a 3x a week practice. My intent is to incorporate regular walking, but it hasn't happened yet! I think I will initiate that in the spring. Eating a varied diet at regular intervals as become essential for maintaining the energy to create my art.
• intellectual Reading both fiction and nonfiction, magazines and books about 3x a week is crucial to the development of my body of work.So is reading blogs and looking at art websites on the internet. Teaching art is something I do daily. Many times, When i teach, it informs my artwork and creating my art informs my teaching.
• relationships Consistency in maintaining relationships very simply, works. My husband and I have weekly dancing dates at a local studio. It gives us a chance to just be with each other, leaving al mundane concerns behind. Making appointments with friends, ensures the thought of getting together, even if it has to be rescheduled due to unforseen events.
• environment I have a lot of work to do in this area. My decorating is great and consistent. My organization requires great vigilance at this point.
• riches Among my riches I count are friends, family, health, beauty in my surroundings and financial stability.I am so grateful for what I have and regularly nurture those areas.

Have you recognized and then recreated patterns in your own life? When you recognize patterns in your life, are they constructive or destructive to thinking outside of the box? How do you provide fertile ground for being creative?

Share bread!

Not sure what to do with your life?

I was going through one of my favorite websites Goodlife Zen, by Mary Jaksch of A-List Bloggers and came across a TED talk by Tony Robbins called Why We Do What We Do. It reminded me of the importance of my focus and its confluence with my emotions , beliefs and state of mind.Although I have seen it before, it electrified me! I began to revisit my focus for goals in my life and to examine, most importantly, my ability to grow in  and give back in my vocation as an artist. I have found Tony Robbins to be incredibly skillful at meeting me where I am and opening the doors I have previously imagined impossible.

He helps us to release the imagination to transform your life into a place you never thought was possible! This is definitely worth  the 20 minute investment, wherever you are!http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

2011 opportunity: reflect on the art of your life!

Here we sit , on the precipice of a new year....I choose to spend the day in reflection of last year and preparing to embrace 2011.

I reflect on seven chosen areas of my life , look at my journey last year and where I could go with them this year.                                               Art...Spiritual...Physical...Intellectual...Relationships...Environment...Riches

Imagine this!

An artist creates a drawing by holding an image  taken through the eyes, to the head, to the heart, to the hands to the paper.

To create my life, I need to image what I would like to be and do and then allow my head to organize it and my heart to feel it as I begin to shape my life day by day. Everything I do matters, even and especially, my thoughts, what I imagine and all of my smallest actions and words. So I choose some of my building blocks and I incorporate whatever else comes my way.

Why I write this blog.

Reflection is essential to the fullest development of the idea or vision. Yearly reflection gives a wonderful overview. Reflection on the small everyday moments of creating are what I write about on this blog. I also ask for your comments participating in an invigorating dialogue about how to use our innate creativity to shape our lives! This is why I love end of the year reflection!  It allows me to see the whole picture, unfettered. It is also why I write about how to live creatively. Writing is my reflection on skills and habits that can transform both our lives and art! You can check out my art at beth vendryes williams or click on beth's website link above. Subscribe to this blog for writing about creativity. Or, you may go to  the art blog fand subscribe to have  my latest art delivered to your inbox. Or subscribe to both!

What are you creating in your life? How do you approach the end of this year and the beginning of the new?

Share your ideas and comments!

New art!

This year has been a year of beginnings. I have travelled more than ever before. My sketch journal is my constant companion as I  document moments in a new place. Then I created this new website for my work. We repaired and painted my art studio so now I have an airy,  roomier and separate place to create and view my work!

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?

Discover the art of your life by connecting the pieces

“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

Observe everyday as an artist

Traveling through my day allows me to actually observe what I am given and eventually transform it with my actions.

Becoming awake to observe is a huge thing!

I have had days when I am unable to observe anything around me. I focus only on getting through the day and am not inclined to see anything outside of my predetermined destination at the day's end. On these days I refuse the grace of the visual guideposts offered me during the day.

But when I take the day as it comes, looking carefully at each opportunity as it presents itself, my day begins to feel like an adventure! Suddenly I am aware of the sweetness of the air , the colors of the sky, the feel of the soft earth beneath my feet. I feel like I am discovering a new place and open to new ideas!

I have made it my task to hold in my mind the colors, shapes and contours that populate  my day. Then I can take these impressions in my heart.  I then explore more deeply by drawing and painting.

What do you do with the observations you make each day? How do those observations begin to shape the art of your life?

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Be very aware of the invisible in you

"Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.

By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible

came into being through the invisible."

Hebrews 11:  1-7

Well, it looks like some other artists are talking about the invisible! Read this interview of Damien Hirst, about the relationship between his art and the soul.

Evidence of things not seen

Here it is, the beginning of autumn and transformative weather.  I have been away from writing about the process of creativity for the summer as I made technical changes to my blog design.

What changes? I made the connection between this blog and my beth vendryes williams website  (which is now actually a blog-site). This means that you can check in to see my current artwork very quickly and easily. My blog-site is  a visual blog, so you can see what my visual work reveals on a regular basis. Download time will be much faster.

During this time away from writing, I reflected on my motivation and goals for creating art and writing about it.

What I did rediscover, as I reflected, is that I must create! It is as necessary to me as eating and sleeping. It is  my way of sharing what is not not seen: of digging away at what is not understood; of researching using visual tools and gut level intuition.

I find that writing about the process, certainly including setbacks and motivation, is a breadcrumb trail of where I have been and where I am going both spiritually and creatively. Writing the stories adds another way of understanding the process, both for me and for you.

Emails and comments and stories from you, my friends, expand  ideas and YOU are invaluable to all of us who are struggling to acknowledge and practice the process of creating within ourselves.

How will I proceed? I will continue write about creativity and ways to rediscover the inner artist in whatever we do. I will also write about other creatives. There will be occasional interviews, podcasts, and quotes.

What can you do? I love when you comment if you are moved by a post.  It helps me as well as others who are reading it. Please share my site with those  who are searching for a way to discover their own unique creativity.

Why is this so important to me? It is essential to recognize the unseen within us and to make it visible by the actions of our lives. This blog is a place to dialogue and is an  opportunity to share observations, ideas and solutions as we traverse that journey together.

How to discover beauty in everyday laundry!

A young girl aged six asked her mama to tell her what she did at the university where she went every day.

"I am in the art department.  I teach people how to draw and paint," replied her mother.

Astonished, the girl inquired,

"You mean they forget?"

excerpt from the book by Jack Kornfield,

How to find the beauty in the act of "After the Ecstasy, the Laundry"

Today…the first day of the rest of your life!

Our duty, as men and women,

is to proceed

as if limits to our ability did not exist.

We are collaborators in creation.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)French philosopher, Jesuit priest

Is America throwing out ingenuity?

"I've actually witnessed this", I  exclaimed, as my personal  findings were supported by an article discovered through Thomas Cott's newsletter, "You've Cott Mail"!

"Kyung Hee Kim at the College of William & Mary discovered this in May, after analyzing almost 300,000 Torrance scores of children and adults. Kim found creativity scores had been steadily rising, just like IQ scores, until 1990. Since then, creativity scores have consistently inched downward. “It’s very clear, and the decrease is very significant,” Kim says. It is the scores of younger children in America—from kindergarten through sixth grade—for whom the decline is “most serious.” The Creativity Crisis, Newsweek. July 10,

This is exactly what I have noticed over a decade of teaching art and speaking with many about creativity!  The effort to think outside the box is not something that many people generally aspire to these days. I have been deeply concerned as an artist, art educator and citizen. I know that innovation and looking at events, people and problems  from different points of view is essential, as much today as it was when our country was founded. As Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman state in this same article,

"It’s too early to determine conclusively why U.S. creativity scores are declining. One likely culprit is the number of hours kids now spend in front of the TV and playing video games rather than engaging in creative activities. Another is the lack of creativity development in our schools. In effect, it’s left to the luck of the draw who becomes creative: there’s no concerted effort to nurture the creativity of all children."

I was also incredulous that some researchers then suggest that creativity should be taken out of the art room.  You have got to be kidding. The art classroom is or has  the potential to model creative thinking strategies for both students, teachers and administrators. Yes, the educational system absolutely needs to encourage creative habits as an integral part of the teaching process.

In addition, I wonder if we could use a few of our creative thinking skills to initiate solving this problem: America is losing its edge in innovation. Thomas Friedman acknowledged this in his latest Op-Ed piece, when he said,

It is also everything we should be celebrating and preserving but lately have not: ... educational excellence, a culture of innovation and a financial system designed to promote creative destruction..."

Thinking creatively means

• sharpening our observation skills

• learning hoe to imagine,

• taking ideas to essential, simplest form,

• finding and creating patterns

• making analogies

• body thinking

• feeling empathy

• thinking in dimensions

• modeling or imitating behaviour

• playing

• transforming

• synthesizing

from Michelle and Robert Root-Bernstein's book "Sparks of Genius".

Now, what can you do personally to increase the collective creative and innovative "IQ" of America?

I would love to get some ideas from you so I can try new things myself  and share them here.

This week I will be focusing on observing (visiting new places), modeling(drawing), playing, and of course, my all time favorite, transforming(mistakes into opportunities)! I will share what I have learned in words and paintings ensuing posts.

What about you?  Come on, be courageous,pick one thinking skill and try it!  [tweetmeme source="bethvw"only_single=false]