Thoughts are Like Seeds

We all receive inspiration and from that inspiration come ideas and thoughts.  All thoughts are seeds.  Some seeds we want to nurture carefully and help germinate.  Often, like a baby in a womb, a seed is cocooned and protected during the germination phase.  Our ideas, our inspirations are like that--we should cocoon and protect them so that they can grow strong and bloom.  It's far too easy for our tender shoots of ideas to be trampled by our selves or others.  Be careful choosing what seeds you plant and then protect those you dearly want to see come to fruition. #InspiredArtProject2015. #inspiration

"Seeds Germinate" (c)SZing 2015.  Watercolor, ink, on watercolor paper.

More Ways than One

We’ve probably all heard the term “more ways than one to skin a cat.”  Now, as a cat lover, I’m not too thrilled with the entomology of this phrase (or the visual this evokes), but from a practical, efficient project management standpoint, I whole-heartedly embrace this concept.

I’m not sure when or where the disabling idea occurred and was embraced that says there is only one right answer.  Okay, perhaps there are disciplines where there actually is only one right answer.  But even in math, for example, I am sure that the further into it you explore, the more creative the answers can get—just look at the wildly creative signs and symbols used to express higher mathematical concepts. 

And even if there is only one right answer, there are multitudes of paths to get to the right answer. 

As an artist/writer and creative person, I have to seek many creative solutions and choose the one that feels best for the circumstance and project.  If one solution doesn’t work out, then it is time for me to try out the second right answer.  And if that still doesn’t lead to the result I want (and it may very well lead to an entirely different expression than I ever expected—one that may provide an entirely new creation or art form)…then I have to explore the third right answer.

With creativity, it is not always the right answer that is the important aspect.  Sometimes, it is the creative process and how the end result is achieved that is far more important.  When I’m doing brain storming for a project or working with a class on brain storming, I constantly ask, “what else would work?”  and “what else could I try?”  These open ended questions can open up the proverbial can of worms.  Some of the ideas might seem crazy.  Some of them might not work at all.  A tangent may not be the answer, but it can lead to a new path that leads to the answer. 

Freeing up creativity requires a willingness to explore. The first answer isn’t always the best answer.  Sometimes it may seem to be the easiest answer, but the easiest answer doesn’t always provide the richness of a satisfying end result.

Surprise yourself.  Try the second or third answer or the thousandth.  If Thomas Edison had accepted the first answer he got for electricity—“it doesn’t work” we’d all still be in the dark. 

Rules? What Rules?

There are rules for cooking and rules for dating.  There are rules that govern our behaviors in society and rules in most households.  They all have their place.  But I just want to go on record and say that in all my not inconsiderable life experience I have yet to see a Rule Book for writing or artwork.  Yes, I am well aware that there are “schools of thought” and “best practices.”  I am also aware that there is, through numerous peoples’ prior expertise and experience, a significant body of knowledge about what seems to work well, effectively and provide “success” in both writing and the art world. 

I also think it is a good idea for an artist to learn at least the basics of their craft.  I believe it is a good practice to hone one’s craft. 

Having, at times in my life, been a rule breaker and sometimes rebel, I find it equally important to break those non-existent rules--oh, the irony!   Perhaps Pirates of the Caribbean had it right when they said that rules are more of a guideline.  To be constrained by rules in art and writing is a double edged sword. 

There is the value of creating something in the normal and expected manner.  But for the sake of creativity and the sake of an artist’s (I use the term inclusively, as writers are also artists) sanity, constraint by rules can be a death knoll to genuine expression and creative intent.  Rules can stymie the flow of ideas.  And when the flow of ideas stops, the art stops.

Not only does the art stop, but the exploration of the use of mediums vanishes.  What would have happened if the Van Eyck’s had not experimented with pigments and oils?  We would have no oil paintings.  What would have happened if the studio art movement did not play with the production and manipulation of glass?  So many unique expressions in glass would not exist. 

What would happen if artists had not broken the rules?  Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol, among many others, immediately come to mind.  Now I realize that there are certain sets of critics and artists who “don’t like” or at least are not fans of these type of artists' work, but it is my belief that our artistic vision, our artistic evolution and the culture of art would be stagnant if not for the rule breakers. 

Sometimes you just have to allow something new to be born that has never been seen before.  This can’t happen within the confines of a fenced in belief system.  Even if there WERE a book of official rules for which an artist should follow…I still would say…rules?  what rules? 

A Creative Tease...

Sometimes you just have to take a vacation.  Apparently, I'm still on mine.  Looking forward to a month of exploring creative solutions and creative thinking.

In the meantime, in joy, enjoy....

The Future is Rosy…or is it?

Magazines are tactilely delightful.  They feature glossy pages, bright colors, and advertisements for new stuff I might not have known I needed otherwise.  In between all that, there are sometimes articles we like to read and pictures at which we like to look.



A favorite magazine I like to check out is the bimonthly called The Futurist.  I get it for the articles.  Really!  What an interesting magazine.  Full of all sorts of ideas and inventions that may someday become real and life changing. Fascinating.  Get a little peek at trends for the future, find out why we won’t have any more car crashes, or discover how to overcome the curse of the infrastructure. 

 

I’ve been intrigued with the Futurist ever since I heard a gentleman talk about the future of technology during a leadership seminar back in 1998 in Washington DC.  He was telling us about a little hand held device that had a fruity name that would enable us to make telephone calls, keep our contacts straight, provide a method for sending email and much more.  It seemed like pleasant fiction for me since I was trying to figure out how to get a larger purse that could handle my PDA and a charger, my cell phone (and charger), my IPOD (and my charger...), my camera (you get the picture?), etc. and not entice muggers on the Metro.  Then a year later it actually was out and on the market.



Why does this matter to an artist?  For me, besides the fact that I’m generally quite curious about the world.  I am also interested in the creative endeavors of others.  Reading about upcoming technology and thinking of the future stirs my creativity up and makes me wonder what I can do today that might survive into the future.  I might not have the scientific or technical skills, but I’ve never yet come away from reading about potential futures without being awed and inspired.  I recommend it if you feel you are in a rut.  A rut is no place to be.  I’d rather be back in the future.



Whatever we are thinking about right now, is creating the future.  Whatever we are living right now, is a result of the past.