Creativity

I've spent most of my life fighting my creative side. But now creativity is the subtext of my life. So it was an honor to be asked me to speak about creativity at the Quilters Unlimited meeting Thursday. 

I was one of four on a panel encouraging people to create an original quilt block to be called Road to Florida. The others talked about design and writing and I gave hints on stirring the creative juices.

From that talk, here are some techniques that work for me.

Write or draw for one minute a day.
Keep a little notebook.  

Or, if you love brown paper like I do, get a big piece and write on it for one minute every day. 

Write, scribble, photograph, brainstorm, doodle, or draw for 1 minute.  Time will stand still. Do it every day, or almost every day. You will enter your own world almost immediately. I guarantee you will love this being lost yet intensely present, alone with your mind and soul.  I call it a creative trance. 

Learn from artists every day.

Here’s how I do it: I began a second notebook, this one for art. Almost every day I scan books, magazines, newspapers and web sites for art I love. I cut it out or print it out and then glue it to the notebook. On the adjoining page I copy it myself. I have a little table with colored pencils and other art stuff nearby and I just hustle and do it. I want to get their art- making into my fingers and arms. It's not a brain thing.  It's quick. Some of it seeps into my real work.

For example, the first picture I pasted is Penelope Gottlieb's flowers. I read that she used saturated color. I kind of knew what that means. Pure pigment. One afternoon I collected scraps of intensely colored fabric and a piece of  8" x 10" turquoise cotton ironed onto stiff interfacing, my scissors and some glue. I took it into the front garden and made some flowers. Later I sewed them down and added more stitching.  I made three of these, inspired by Penelope Gottlieb. 

Inspiration is everywhere. Catch it quick.

Working quickly and with limited materials forces you to be intuitive, to stop thinking and just make stuff. Away from home I carry this art box. It has a scissors, needles, and glue.  Sometimes I add markers or colored pencils, and magazines because they contain so many colors.

Art travel box

Here is what I mean:

We were traveling over the holiday and in a hotel bathroom I noticed what interesting lines the towels made, squeezed together, hanging on the rod at slightly different lengths and angles.

I liked the gray sky outside our window in Cedar Key: Here is a collage of torn strips from a magazine:

Be indiscriminate. Later you can pick out what works.

Make it small first.

If you make a model or collage in your notebook it helps you see where you're going. You can try out colors. Here is a model for Carpenter's Wheel following a workshop a few years ago. I played with various color choices; here's one that didn't work. 

Model for Carpenter's Wheel

Another technique I like is collage. Beach Walk started with a picture I cut out from the newspaper. 

I simplified it and made this collage:

Then I enlarged it and made a big mixed media piece.

Set your own rules.

Work within limits you set for yourself. For example:

• I'm going to use three colors, appliqué, and flowers.
•  I'm going to incorporate the map of Florida.  
•  I'm going to start with a 9-patch and see where that takes me.

My rules for this piece were to use saturated colors and simplified design.

Life map
10" x 12"

Feed your soul.

Close the door. Take three deep breaths. Light a scented candle.  Have a flower like an orchid, with the blossom at eye level.  Turn on the music.

Be serious.

Call yourself an artist. Join other artists. Take classes. Look at art when you travel. It is not frivolous and not for a select few. It is honoring and cultivating the interior life.

Play!

It doesn't matter! You are expressing yourself! Thornton Dial, an artist I admire, said, "I have found a way to show what I am thinking, and I'm not going to stop."