My Creativity Blog

Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and by not quite knowing what you’re doing.
What you’ll discover will be wonderful: yourself.

Alan Alda

Thought:

Are you brave? Do you consider yourself brave? I am not sure that an artist or creative person would make that call. But, if you think about it, being creative does take a lot of bravery. You have to face that empty sheet of paper or canvas whether or not you are a painter or a writer. I have to admit that I do tend to pause before I begin a project when I am using an expensive piece of paper. For example, a friend of mine gave me a beautiful sketchbook of handmade paper bound in leather. It was so nice that I could not bring myself to draw in it until a year later.

Artists also must be brave when showing their work to others whether a friend, family member, customer or gallery owner. Each time you show your work you are risking rejection and criticism. I see this fear in my students that try to hide their work. Overcoming this fear is very important for artists that are trying to promote their art work.

Being brave is something you can practice. When you face that blank piece of expensive paper take a deep breath and then get on with the act of creating. The more you do it the easier it will get. If one deep breath doesn’t cut it, then take three or for. As you take that breath, remember to say a prayer.

Prayer:

Dear Lord:

Being a creative person is so important to me. I pray that you will be with me when I create. I pray you will give me the courage to try new things, to go places I have never gone with my work. I pray for resiliency when I am criticized or when someone does not support or understand my work. I thank you for all the blessings you send my way.

In Christ’s name, Amen

Marissa and Jaci’s Sculpture

What can you create with 2 pieces of cardboard and 20 pipe cleaners?  That is the question I asked my Art III students a few weeks ago as I handed out supplies. Students were told to get in pairs and to work together creating a work of art with cardboard and pipe cleaners. They were also allowed to use paint, glue, hot glue, paper, and anything they needed to make the art work stay together. They could make the art work two dimensional or three dimensional.

I paired the students because I felt that the process would go faster, be more fun,  and the students would do a better job if they had someone to share ideas through brainstorming.

Each pair of students worked at their own pace, some better than others. Some argued and some did not want to work with their partner. This is a common occurrence when doing a group project. Once the students figure out how to work together then progress began. Some students drew their ideas, some discussed, and then some just started cutting and putting things together.

Most of the projects ended up being three dimensional. But they could have easily created two dimensional work.

I wanted my students to use their imagination and creativity. I figured if I got one or two really creative works of art it would have been worth it. The students were influenced by their environment and many made things that they had already seen. A few groups came up with original designs that turned out nicely like the one in the photograph above.

So if you want to test your creativity and imagination, you might want to use the example of this project. Try it and see what you can come up with. You don’t have to use cardboard and pipe cleaners, just limit your art supplies. Work with another person. Brainstorm. Try not to create what you have already seen. Be original.

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Do you hang out with creative people? Do you think their creativity rubs off on you? Do you consider yourself creative? 

Just a few questions to start off with. As you can tell, I like questions. They make me think. I like to problem solve. I like a challenge. I like the way it feels when I come up with a solution to an issue.

Because I write for this blog I am always thinking about creativity, the hows, the whys and the buts on the subject.

I have this theory about creativity. I am pretty sure this is not original as I know there really isn’t anything new under the sun.

My theory of creativity is:

You are as creative as you think you are. 

There are many articles and books about positive thoughts and how these positive thoughts can bring abundance. Conversely, the idea is that negative thoughts bring negatives into your life.  If this is so, then why not apply it to being creative?

So the moral to this story is:

Believe you are creative.

So how do you do that? Well, you either must truly believe you are creative or you must convince yourself that you are creative.  Now, repeat after me….

“I am a talented and gifted creative being. My creativity increases each day of my life. I am a talented and gifted creative being………”

If you don’t like that mantra, make one of your own. Repeat your mantra on a daily basis.

If my theory of creativity is correct; then your creativity will increase the more you believe in yourself. WOW! How awesome is that!

So when asked, “Do you consider yourself creative?”, the answer should be, “Absolutely!” 

And “Yes!” I think other creative people do rub off on you, so hang out with other creatives. You’ll have more fun too.

What are you reading? Fiction or nonfiction? Are you reading art related books? How-to books? Inspirational books? Devotionals? Books about creativity? I love books and I am always looking for the next best book to read. I have an Ipad with the Kindle and IBooks applications. Therefore I have an incredible amount of books to [...]

Happy New Year! 2013 is going to be a great one! Do you make New Years Resolutions? Do you usually follow through? I find that specific resolutions are hard to stick to. I have good intentions, but I get side tracked, overwhelmed, sick or something like life interferes. When I fail, then I tend to give [...]