Wednesday’s Creative: Just Do It
I am listening to Aretha Franklin now on my Pandora radio station and she is singing “I can do it, yea I can do it!” That is a mantra to live by. Being creative requires imagining. I met a friend for coffee today and we were talking about how important quiet reflective time is for the creative process. She goes many weekends with her husband on their boat off the Chesapeake and she said she spends hours just looking at the water. My friend is a fellow painter and we both agreed that ideas for our paintings come from this quiet reflective, imagination time. Creating something first comes from an idea and then being creative and working with that idea. Thinking, imagining, then implementing. That is why I think it is so important to keep a journal to write those ideas down that come to you after sitting by the ocean, on a boat, gazing at the fire in your fireplace, taking a shower, or the time right before you fall asleep. But what is so important, is to set a time to work on those ideas. Even if you just set aside 15 min. a day to start a project, this time will add up, and you will see a glimmer of hope in actually having this idea come to fruition! Feeling accomplished and hopeful will only spur you on.
Margate Bay
Go ahead relax and think, then just do it!!
Read more creative tips at: Travel Journal.
Wednesday’s Creative Tip: Start a Travel Journal
Sky at Dusk
Tis the season for traveling and a great time for gathering ideas for future projects. Whether you are interested in becoming more creative in writing, painting, sketching, cooking, music, fashion, or whatever suits your fancy, recording experiences while traveling is a treasure trove for future inspirations. Your journal can be a trusty notebook in which you record events, people, or beauty that impressed you that day. But you don’t have to stick with the typical journal. Use a camera, or a sketchbook to record memorable or beautiful moments. I am constantly clicking away at my new iPhone camera whenever I see something that strikes me and i download to my computer in a folder for possible future paintings. You don’t have to paint to benefit from the photo travel journal. Whatever struck you as beautiful or interesting at the moment you took the picture can inspire you later. For example, the colors in the sky may be used in a future design or fashion project. Perhaps you snapped a picture of some people immersed in playing at the beach. This could spark a story later, or a illustration for a book!
Beach at Dusk
There are stories everywhere, as well as colors, yummy recipes, awesome fashion….you just need to be aware and record what you see!
Read more creative tips at:Add a Bit of Black.
Beauty Journal
I have been reading the “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin. I am about 1/2 way through and am thoroughly enjoying it. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading it, but it really hits home. It is written by a person who is basically happy, but wants more in her life. She wants to prepare herself for the rest of her life, especially if she has to deal with a crisis later in life. I am reading about August now, the “Eternity” chapter. However, when Ms. Rubin was talking about gratitude, I think it was July, she spoke about writing a gratitude journal. Good idea, however it got to be a chore, so she started thinking about all she was grateful for at certain times of the day instead. That seemed to work better for her. I have spoken earlier about keeping a journal of ideas to help come up with creative ideas.
After hearing about the gratitude journal idea, I was thinking about keeping a beauty journal. The idea is to write at the end of everyday something I saw that was beautiful.
While I was sitting in the car waiting for my husband to deliver something to a friend, I was noticing the tree in front of me. I think it was a maple or maybe an oak tree. The bark on it was a medley of grays and beiges, it was simply beautiful. Behind it, peaking through, was a green branch. The colors were so right, so simply beautiful.
Tree bark
Tree bark
I think this beauty journal idea is a good thing, related to gratitude, beauty can be found even in the seemingly mundane!
Read more joyeful musings at Content and Creative.
Being Creative and Productive
Hand painted note cards
Being creative and having many ideas floating around in your psyche can definitely make one feel scattered and unproductive. That is a feeling that I can certainly relate to, but have found a few methods that are helpful in combating this feeling of ineffectiveness.
One: always carry a notebook to write ideas down. I keep an idea diary with me whenever I travel and have it easily accessible at home. It is too easy to have an idea, then forget it.
Two: I make a plan of my time at the beginning of each week. This is very important. If you keep track of how you spend your time, you will have less tendency to waste it.
Three: I write down what I do everyday after I have done it, example: studio, 3 hours, web design, 2 hours etc. If you see that you are putting in increments of time, even if they are small, you will feel like you are accomplishing something. I have made very complicated sweaters with tiny cables and so on that seemed impossible to complete. To help me feel I could accomplish my goal, I made a chart of how many hours I knit each day. Even though the sweater took 120 hours, I could see everyday that I was making progress a little at a time. And I eventually completed the project and felt very good about it.
And four: I give myself plenty of breaks with fun things to do. You will really be more productive with incentive.
Oil commissioned portrait
Read more at: The Color Purple.
It’s Friday!! One of a kind joyeful finds!!!
I wrote yesterday about keeping a journal with you to write down those ideas for creating. Those little gems that slip away if you don’t them get down immediately!! I found a small, simple, yet beautiful hand bound journal found that can be found online at
Transient Books . I bought one of these sweet books and carry it around to write ideas or sketches.
Small hand bound journal from Transient Books
Ordering this journal was very easy even though they are located in Argentina. They ship from the US and the journal came quickly. Dealing with Alex was a pleasure. In fact, cruise around their site, and you will discover a video describing their business and a little music as well. Magu, originally from Córdoba, Argentina, is a singer, musician and composer, besides being a bookbinder. You can hear a little of his music at Sombraitoro .
sketches and writing in my journal!!
I try to follow my own advice and write down ideas that come to me ——-and sketches! Now just to have enough time to implement them all!
Me!
Sooo… this is a start of a new feature on my blog. One of a kind joyeful finds on FRIDAY!! Art, music, writing, books, whatever I find interesting made by a creative person & is beautiful that I would like to share with you!!
Enjoy and have fun!!!
Read more at Pick a Theme, Pears
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