Back to summer, it’s the creative journey.
After the Storm
I just got back from spending a relaxing weekend at the Jersey shore. While there, I read a book my son recommended that he had read for a college course, titled Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious by Timothy Wilson. I thought it was an interesting read, lots of studies cited about knowing oneself. The dichotomy of conscious vs. non conscious is discussed thoroughly.
Strangers to Ourselves
One point that struck me was in the chapter of what makes people happy. Many people, Mr. Wilson points out, think mega money will make you happy. However, studies of lottery winners have shown that lots of money truly does not provide happiness, rather annoyance and aggravation, and a detour from pleasures of everyday life. What is an activity that make people truly happy? One endeavor mentioned was enjoying the journey of making or creating something. I really need to remember this. I know too well that it is creating, making paintings, recipes, books, patterns, etc., etc. that give me so much joy. We all get bogged down in mundane meaningless tasks that seem sometimes to take over our life. It’s the creative journey, stupid, that is what makes us happy.
Read more at: Staying Free and Creative.
Back and ready to create!
I have been busy with wedding, babysitting and general family stuff! I have had such a good time and now am itching to get back into my studio to create! Back to my paintings, and fabric stash, what to do first? This is always a question.
Here is what I have in my queue…..
1) finish oil landscape
2) make more fabric bags
3) design some summer tops
4) make new scarves
5) knit some loose summer tops!
What are you busy with now?
roses
Read more at: New Hampshire Oil.
Inspiration Thursday: Science and Art
I am reading a book this week that is so inspiring to me and describes my ruminations on science, art, and life so perfectly.
Alan Lightman
Listen to his first few sentences: “Ever since I was a little boy, my passions have been divided between science and art. I was fortunate to make a life in both, as a physicist and a novelist, and even to find creative sympathies between the two, but I have had to live with a constant tension in myself and a continuing rumbling in my gut.” Now, I am not a physicist teaching at MIT, but am trained as an audiologist and still have a passion to read about physics and the wonders of science. And, I am not a novelist, but am a painter, fabric artist, and play classical violin when I can. People like us live in 2 worlds, the rational, fact based one, and the creative, individual expressive one swimming in grays, not the black and white. Mix those 2 universes and you get mighty gut rumbling! But I love both!
I love language, reading, and learning to enhance my scientific knowledge and stimulate my creative flow. The problem comes that many scientists pride themselves on being rational and will only believe the proven, fact based explanation. But artists know there is a human spirit of creativity and rugged individualism, non conformity that life is full of the duality of unexpected color and murkiness.
I am a spiritual person and find the mystery of life can be fascinating. We can study it through science, and at the same time, express the unexplained and our beliefs through paint, music, dance, and love!!
Lilacs
Read more at: Finished and Feel Good.
Wednesday’s Creative Tip: Passion
I have been talking about how to move yourself into action creatively for the past couple weeks.
Let me review some points;
1. Keep a journal of any idea that pops into your smart little head.
2. Keep your journal close by so that when you have ideas you can write them down immediately.
3. Have quiet time to think, this will probably give you the most ideas,(Just ask Einstein, he did an awful lot of just sitting and thinking!).
4. Move on your idea, just do it, like I spoke about last week.
Now to the crux of the whole creative thing, why do you want to do something creative? Is it because you want people to admire you? You have seen other people do creative activities and they seem to have so much fun? You want to fill up empty time? Most people, I think, want to do something creative because they have a passion. Something you have dreamed of doing, “I’ve always wanted to write short stories.” or “I love the cello, maybe one day I could learn to play it.” or “I remember playing dress up as a child and I have a secret yearning to act.”
What do you feel passionate about? Politics? Color? Clay? Fashion? Poetry? Make a list of your passions and see if your ideas correspond?
Vase with purple flowers
As I have gotten older I have realized that I have many passions, so many in fact, that I hope I can accomplish most in my lifetime! I have lots of loves, and one I was thinking about last night while I was teaching watercolor is color, well we all know that, but specifically purple. I am not sure why, but fall seems to be a time of year for me when I love purple. It is regal, rich, beautiful dark or light. It is a color of passion. Before hunkering down for winter, one should examine your passions!
Lilacs
Did I mention that I am passionate about purple flowers?
Orchid
Love to paint them, oh yeah, I also love to paint!
What Matters
Lots of purple pieces of art by me can be bought at: Etsy.
Read more creative tips at Take Photos.
Joyeful One of a Kind Friday: Sarah Barr
I have a deep respect for fine art photography. It is real, yet like a painting, and so, so difficult to do! Believe me, I have tried! I have a lot of fun with my iPhone camera and have taken some respectable landscape photos, but to make them artful, with layers and attention to meaningful detail, well that is an art!! My photos are beautiful because of the amazing ocean or garden I am photographing, but to make a photo artistic goes beyond just the simple subject.
I recently saw work from a Philadelphia based fine art photographer, Sarah Barr. Her work is breath taking and thoughtful.
Sarah Barr
She utilizes all kinds of subject matter to a room, to children, family, and even saints!
Sarah Barr
Sarah Barr
She calls her work photo based and also incorporates paint, mixed media, and text with her work.
Sarah Barr
Ms. Barr makes the viewer realize that there is beauty and fine art around us, even in the mundane. We just need someone to assist us, by shooting their camera in such a way to demonstrate the energy, softness, warmth and art right in front of our eyes.
Check out Ms. Barr’s site.
Read more Joyeful finds at: Clothing.
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Hi I'm Joye!!
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