Spark Your Creativity

When you start painting and drawing regularly, or taking photographs, you begin to see the world differently. Shapes, colors and compositions present themselves, artful and serendipitous. It just takes a willingness to slow down and appreciate, especially if something doesn't present as immediately aesthetically appealing.

In her December 16, 2009 appearance on "Stargazing Stories", artist and gallery manager Elaine Taylor offered up a technique she tells her students about called "Steal, Copy and Create". People are often afraid to try this for fear of not being "original." But artists have a long and distinguished history of learning from other artists by copying their work. Many traditions have the student copy the "master" as a way of teaching technique as well as appreciation for style, composition, brushstroke, form. Looking at the work of other artists and then copying or "springboarding" off their work can help you build momentum for the creative process as you develop your artistic eye and individual technique. Elaine notes that it is like following a recipe: you choose the ingredients and take the steps the chef recommends, but along the way, it becomes your own, and more and more personalized as your confidence grows. Copying other artists helps you build a foundation, and gives you a little safety net as you leap into creativity, because you know the other artist was successful with the piece. This practice feeds and encourages you, opens to the door to developing your own "flavor". And as long as you don't claim credit for the other artist's work, or fail to attribute the source of your creation, you are colleagues in the process.

Getting more creative doesn't mean a big investment of time and energy---or finances. Sometimes all it means is doing a small thing differently, or paying attention with more intention. For example, change your usual routes every few days, whether you drive to work or run errands or take a daily walk. Come back a different way than you went, or retrace a completely new route, either way, things will look different. Or look for a specific shape or color as you go through your day, such as things that are red, or triangle shapes in buildings, trees, fence lines and highway signs. A big part of being more creative is to learn to see differently. But doing things with just enough change, also wakes up the brain, literally, and makes room for the new. Try it, play with it, see what happens.

Many artists are intimidated by the blank canvas. While putting a light color wash on it can help, it still can be a place in the process where you stall out, find other things to do---- there are probably some dishes or errands or calls to make, right?
Ann Painter, guest on Stargazing Stories on February 3, finds the following method really helped her in the beginning of her art practice or stuck places along the way. Ann suggests taking a blank piece of paper with you to the easel and as a fear rises up ---"I don't know how to paint this", "is this right?" "What if I can't make this work?", etc.----write it down and then go back to the painting. Repeat this process every time you feel the anxious thought arise, going back to the painting each time after you write. After 20 minutes or so you are likely to be engaged in the painting and the fears have subsided.

Want to learn more about composition of paintings or photographs? Want to find out more about what you are drawn to, what appeals or pleases you in terms of shape, color, relationship of objects or elements of a landscape? Here is a simple tip offered up by Cecilia Robertson, Ph.D., an artist and psychologist who was a guest on StargazIng Stories in October.

You can use your camera viewfinder, or make yourself a view finder by cutting out the center of a paper or cardboard rectangle, an opening about 2 inches by 3 inches. Hold it up to view your world----as you walk around your house, your yard, your office, out for a stroll, in the mall, wherever you go. Look through the viewfinder and find something that is pleasing. Focus on it, then move the viewfinder slightly, half inch to the right or left, up or down. Find the view that pleases you the most. Then ask yourself, "why?" What about the composition appeals/attracts you, or in which views do you find a slight increase in interest or energy? Is it the light, shadow, form, color, constrasts? How does moving the viewfinder make a difference?

This practice will help you appreciate design and exercise that design "muscle", build up your "eye" and help you see differently. With practice noticing what attracts you and understanding why, when you set out to paint, you will find you have trained yourself into ways of seeing that are meaningful to you and thus uniquely your artistic vision.

To hear more of the episode on voiceamerica.com "Sun, Wind, Rain, Joy: The Plein Air Life" follow this link
http://www.voiceamerica.com/voiceamerica/vepisode.aspx?aid=41846

Are you stuck going round and round about a situation, with no new or viable solutions presenting themselves? Sometimes we stymie our own creativity by asking ourselves the same questions. This is true in the workplace, our relationships, our self-change efforts. Changing the question can shake things up and let creativity loose. A different question is better if opens instead of closes, leads to more rather than less, to more creativity, more spaciousness of spirit. Find a question about the situation that is more useful to you. One approach is to change the question from a "doing" to a "being" question. Another is to place the situation in the present, instead of the past or future.

Let's try some examples.

1. You are a parent, you have a kid whose behavior is a problem or concern to you. You have found yourself asking "why does he always....?" No answers have emerged that change the situation for you or the child. Try placing the problem- solving questions in the present and shift the language slightly. "Right now, what does my child need?" or "What is different between us when this happens?" or "What am I doing/not doing when this happens?"

2. You are a writer, stuck for inspiration. You ask yourself, "Why can't I think of anything to write about?" or "Why can't I get started?" Try asking yourself a different question such as, "What else is calling my attention or energy right now, that maybe I need to honor/take care of in some way?" or "What would lift my energy now and clear my mind?" or "How can this stuck place about writing be a metaphor for something else in my life? or "How can I use this feeling of being stuck to serve my character/theme/plot?"

Change the focus of the question to find a positive action you can take right now, or to erase old tapes or irritation/annoyance. "Why" questions are great for stimulating curiosity and can serve to inspire creativity. But let loose of the "why" if it carries blame, judgment or leads you in circles or smack into a wall or feeling more in the dark. Good questions offer light and room to move.