CREATIVITY COMES IN MANY FORMS

Okay, yes, I love shoes! I remember when I used to have to spend hours decorating my shoes. 

I find it just as much fun to stumble on a $5.00 bit of creativity. 

The best thing is, if your the art teacher, you can actually get away with wearing these to work. BONUS!

What's a mom to do when her kid comes home with that annoying smudge of red acrylic paint? 

Turn it into a cool bug of course.

God Bless Sharpie markers!

And the use of CREATIVITY to "fix" problems!

"Dreams are like the paints of a great artist.

Your dreams are your paints,

the world is your canvas.

Believing is the brush that converts your dreams

into a masterpiece of reality."

-Unknown

Quote from Sheri Gaynor's book CREATIVE AWAKENINGS.

A Little Creativity Does The Body Good!

http://www.kerismith.com/blog/

Today my daughter had a friend visiting and I decided to start rummaging  through the tiles and glazes that I recently aquired though a very thoughtful and giving artist friend of mine. Before I knew it we were painting away. All time drifted away. I didn't think about cleaning, or food, or life, or anything. It was absolutely, positively WONDERFUL!

While waiting in the dentist office for my son to get his first filling, and trying to keep my mind off the fact that he just might be screaming somewhere behind the wall, I stumbled upon a fantastic article about making art. This artical sent me to two great blogs. Images and links precede and follow todays entry. ENJOY!

http://www.benandbirdy.blogspot.com/

Inspired by...the Artist of the Everyday

Author , Illustrator, and experimental artist Keri Smith helps kids and adults create magic and beauty from daily life.

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/artist-of-the-everyday-feature-892806/

DERAILED YET AGAIN

http://brittspencer.com/index.html

The question is...How do you get back on the tracks?

I guss you have to just follow the good old adage of 

"Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start again."

I feel completely distracted by everyday "stuff". The house is a mess, the baby needs to be fed, the laundry is piling up, I'm having a Christening party in 7 days, classroom project ideas intrude. If only I could rein it all in and get some ORDER going. Ahhhh the all mighty, never ending chase for that sense of order. Maybe it's not really attainable. It's days like this that I envy "those people" who run away. The people who just chuck it all, leave it all behind, start fresh. So what I want to do is achieve that state-of-mind. I figure it's that whole idea of POSITIVE THINKING or LAW OF ATTRACTION. I've decided that because I keep focusing on my disorganization, my full plate, all the inconveniences and "no time" - that, that's what I get - ALL THE TIME! Okay. Enough is enough already! Today I start over. Start again. FRESH. Wish me luck (I'm gonna' need it!)


On a side note. I love when I look for an image and it leads me to something inspiring. In my hunt for the above image I discovered the work of Britt Spencer. I've always been in love with illustration. I've also always been jealous of successful illustrators (especially ones with really nice websites) Way to go Britt! 

A Creative Week? I Think NOT!

 MONDAYGaulbladder Attack.

 TUESDAYNervous Breakdown

WEDNESDAY
"She really shouldn't be left alone"AKA: A day with mom.

THURSDAY

The Storm

FRIDAY

No Power

AKA: Another day with mom. This time, at her house.

SATURDAY

Our family doubles.
AKA: My sister and her family, displaced by the storm, come to stay with us.

SUNDAY

All things become clear!
It's amazing what you can learn from a DIFFICULT week. I definately gleaned many life lessons over the course of the week. What I have to remember about CREATIVITY is that it's always there - even if I'm not directly creating art. I'm realizing that actually "MAKING" art every single day is REALLY HARD!
We also need to remember that we are being CREATIVE when we cook, clean, hang the wash out on the line, get dressed, and lets not forget - doodling while your on the phone! 

Days 7-13

Life can get in the way of a new venture pretty fast! The trick is figuring out how to get back on track. I've been faced with fessing-up to always adding one more thing to my plate. Apparently it keeps me from actually finishing anything. It keeps me from reaching the places that seem so out of reach. Ahhhh the power of NO. The power of CHOICES. I know that I can't let go of this blog. I can say with confidence that I'd rather do this than anything else! Unfortunately, eventually I have to leave the computer and find a way to find pleasure and excitement in the OTHER STUFF.

Day 6: The first collage!

Day 6. Today I sat myself down with a few magazines. This in it's-self was really hard. I realized that I hang on to many of my magazines like books. For some reason, to cut into them is wrong. The crazy thing is that in the back of my mind, I keep telling myself that I'm keeping them to save the images - to make art with! Before I know it, my house starts to look on the brink of an episode of Hoarders. So as you can imagine, the magazines I cut into were not special ones. (ahhh another Venomous Toad!)

I ripped out pages. And then (not following the rules), I sat and laboriously cut each image out - nice and neat. The rules or guidelines I speak of are those outlined in the Creative Awakenings exercises. Now that my collage is finished - I can see the importance of the quick-ripping out technique. Right a way many ideas and feeling surfaced...

Why does it have to be so perfect?
Why do I feel so guilty that it's taking so long?
Why am I doing this instead of housework?
Why would I choose housework over feeding my creative soul?

The next thing I noticed was that I had way too many images for a two page spread. That's when I found myself categorizing. I said to myself "I'll have a whatever page, a house page, a word page, etc."

The Toad Committee Page (beginning)

Here are some things that I see (so far) in the collages.

Organization - and the need and craving for it.

Color, Collections, Magical Things, Travel, Escape

Old and Dirty vs. Clean and Bright

Landscape, Ocean, Views - Windows

If you notice anything else - please add a comment below:-)

Can Rearranging Furniture Be Considered Creative?

Day 5. Today was a dark and rainy day. Everything in the house seemed to be calling out to me. "Help us! This house is a mess. Please clean us up. Forget that silly art making stuff! We are so much more important. You can't live like this one more minute!"

I think I have just uncovered my first "Venomous Toad"