- the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
- something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea of what to do or create.
It has been said that creativity is like a muscle. It must be exercised and used in order to make it grow. When we exercise it we build muscle mass, when we don't we experience muscle atrophy. I have found this to be very true over the past few years as I have gotten in touch with making art..It is still so hard to call myself an artist. I have done something creative throughout most of my life. I had hobbies like cross stitch and quilting, and those are art forms as well, but something different happened as I began to explore art journaling and collage and mixed media art. It became more art and less hobby. I need to exercise my creative muscles with art every day, even if just for a few minutes. I think about art all the time. In fact, it has changed how I view everything else. I see through more of a creative lens now. Some examples:
Yesterday I made a hospital visit and the tile on the floor caught my eye and I thought, "This would be a cool thing to do with painted paper scraps."
Are you exercising your creative muscles?
Yesterday I made a hospital visit and the tile on the floor caught my eye and I thought, "This would be a cool thing to do with painted paper scraps."
During a visit to the art museum with my mom a few weeks ago I was captivated by an ancient Roman mosaic tile floor and it gave me the itch to play with making paper mosaics.
This car inspired the color of my remodeled dining room. I snapped a picture of the color on a car in the parking lot and then went into Lowes and got
I have taken pictures of walls and wall paper in restaurants thinking they would make great doodle patterns.
These are just a few examples of how my creative eye has been inspired as I have learned to use my creative muscles. In my next post I'll talk about other ways I am inspired to make art.
Here's a little sneak peak at something that has been my latest inspiration:
And I have begun using my newest altered book art journal:
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| Work in progress |
I am starting to look at life in the same way, thanks to my contemplative photography practice and the DL project. We are looking at life through a different prism. It deepens our experience of life, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI love the bird quote - will be using it in my art journal. I realized long ago that if I sit out on the patio for any length of time and am quiet, pretty soon the birds forget I'm there and they come closer. I so love birds, as you know, and that quote describes my experience right in my back yard.
Wow, your journal looks like it's coming along wonderfully! I wish I had the patience and skill to do something like that!
ReplyDelete