It has been way too long! I can give many excuses but that's all they'd be, excuses. I'm here now and working toward a better blog schedule.
I've been wanting to start an ART JOURNAL for months now and have gathered items to get started. I'm using a 2010 hardbound Victorian calendar book. I liked the Victorian-style and decided that was appropriate for me.
This is the inside page of the cover. As you can see I'm a "Wizard of Oz" fan. I especially liked the line Glenda, the good witch, said to Dorothy "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" I found myself often asking myself this very question, "Am I a good artist/writer or a bad artist/writer?" Sometimes it can be a hindrance to question ourselves too much about how good or bad we are as artists, photographers, etc. It may even stop us for a time. Self-doubt can be the bad witch chasing us for our sparkling "ruby slippers" or creativity.
I used to keep a regular journal, mostly testing the creative waters like poetry, but mostly allowing myself to vent. The above is a drawing my son did at an young age and I've always loved the simplicity of it and the huge scale of the wings on his angel. This is on the first page inside, a positive child-like image of an angel with her arms open. It is to remind me that I must be open and spread my wings when it comes to my creative spirit and whatever project, whether it be writing or photography or mixed media.
We all remember the scene of the Wicked Witch, and there was no question she was not a 'good witch', when Dorothy threw a bucket of water to stop the fire from burning the Scarecrow. I loved that part, a victory for Dorothy and the others. Don't we all feel like we're melting when someone throws us a negative statement or comment about our artistry or we feel like our creativity/muse might melt at any moment and fizzle out completely?
Another thought is that sometimes we have to let ourselves 'melt' in order to regroup or refresh and find our creative path.
I'll have more on my progress with my ART JOURNAL in my next blog. If you have done Art Journaling already, any comments about your experience would be appreciated.
To continue from Tuesday, here is yet another point of view or angle, totally different and focused on the water and stems. These photographs could be compared to the different points of view you might use in a story.
I have a story I've been trying to write for several years now. My sister's accident when she was three. One draft is a poem, one is more a fictional account, and then another is totally fictional.
At some point, a writing instructor said to me to change it up and write in another POV other than my own to see where it wants to go. There were more choices than I thought: my mother's, father's, sister who was hit, witness to accident, my point of view, or even the young man that caused the accident. So which one would best tell my story or communicate what I want it to?
A question all of us as artists in whatever medium have to answer at some point or another. Which rose picture perspective catches your eye the most? Or is the most asethetically pleasing and really highlights the essence of the rose? A lot to think about.
There are so many similarities between the arts--from sculptors who start with an undefined mass of clay so they can chip away at it and shape a form; to writers who start with a blank page and use words as their tool to shape a character. The same for photographers who use their perspective/angle in a picture to convey a message, personality, story; writers also use point of view/perspective to communicate. I did a little study with my camera and a vase of yellow roses to demonstrate the different perspectives.
A look from above the vase, you see more of the stems and the water and in my view adds more interest. You can also readily see which buds never opened at all.
Here I singled out one unopened yellow rose. Your eye focuses for the most part on this solo rose. Since it is not attempting to even open up, that gives it interest also.
Here I'm really choosing what I want the viewer to see/experience.
I will continue later as I have a meeting to attend.
Good Morning! I found this quote while browsing rubber stamp sayings and immediately marked it down. I want to ask fellow artists how does this hit home for you? For a long time I actually feared my photography and writing abilities. Not fully delving into them.
I felt as though my creativity was bottled up, encased for many years. Fear freezing it up, so it was hard to get to. Until I was willing to come face to face with myself, hence face to face with what was holding me back to allow myself to be the creative person I know I am deep down.
I am talking about being afraid to hear what my heart was whispering about doing different creative endeavors. Not trusting my own creative voice and not facing who I really was underneath. You probably know exactly what I'm talking about.
I do believe it has been by the grace of God that this creative dam was broken inside me, and now my ideas for creative projects seems to flow steadily where I am often challenged to decide what to focus on first.
For instance, in the last decade, when I spot something that interests me photographically, I find my camera and just snap away and then see if I have anything. Instead of mulling it over and over, is this a good picture or not? It's best just to follow an instinct to where it wants to go.
I'm more willing to risk, try new things, face myself more! Another gauge is opening up your writing to critique. It is opening yourself up to others seeing who you are and thus you are vulnerable. That's why it feels so scary.
You ultimately see what has been hidden inside you and what you've allowed to come forth ... and allowing the story to unfold. This could mean facing many things that you may not want to see.
But from the gray, cold, dismal, eventually comes spring and summer ... Stay warm and fearless!!
At the onset of the 1990s, I had one of the most profound dreams I can remember. The setting was inside my childhood house on Mohn Street, pronounced moon. I could feel myself being drawn to the living room from upstairs, surrounded in darkness for the most part. The only thing illuminated was an easel with a canvas on it.
I have the dream written down and the creative writing it inspired since then. The painting on the easel was supposed to be my father's. My father wanted to get training as an artist when he was in high school but wasn't able due to lack of finances.
It wasn't until I acknowledged my own artist within as an adult did I realize how frustrating life must have been for my father. Although he did have one creative outlet, his music. He learned to play the accordion without lessons, but by ear.
I have gotten so much from this one-scene dream, like a movie clip. Nothing was said and not really vivid. It's message was revealing. I should say its messages were many--Like pay attention to the silent whispers, the hidden canvas you've forgotten, or find that something waiting to be uncovered. Whether in writing and allowing a character to emerge from the depths of your psyche, or taking that first step to pick up a paint brush.
It's about having the nerve to be creative, artistic. Listening to the revelation and picking up that camera or chisel and not be afraid of the surrounding darkness that sometimes presses in. Go forth this New Year, soon a month old, and dream up a storm!!!
A New Year is underway. I don't know about you, but my holidays felt very rushed and like I was on a high speed train watching the scenes go by quickly as I gazed out a window. Our world today is on a fast track and often we don't take time to listen. I'm speaking for myself. I find at times I'm thinking of other things while someone is trying to communicate a story or slice of their life to me.
Just like these old, rusty chairs I spotted along a walk through my neighborhood, if I hadn't seen something aesthetically pleasing about them and hurried past them, I would have missed something to photograph. Same goes for when I'm fretting and feel like I don't have time to really listen, I may miss an opportunity to share an important part of someone and possibly enrich my writing.
Not only did I find these worn chairs appealing, there is potential for a story here. Today I found myself entranced by an encounter I had with someone older than me and with a totally different life experience.
I listened and really heard things he didn't say. That's what listening is all about, hearing what isn't spoken. He also knew how to weave a story and I immediately was drawn in to his world.
Doesn't look like much in this next picture, yet taking a closer look you may be able to see more than what is there. Like I can ask, why were these chairs left to rust? How old are the chairs? Was this shed once an out-house? What makes some old deteriorated metal chairs sitting outside abandoned make me take my camera on a walk just to capture them?
The rustier the better in my view. So for this second week of 2011, may all us creatives take more time to listen and see. And for myself, take more time to meet my writing and other creative goals this year. Also to grow my blog here ...
Yes, I am here this morning with a cup of coffee, contemplating all that needs done creatively and around the house for the holidays. My main characters have been filling my head along with sugar plums dancing in my head. I have yet to bake cookies, go serious shopping, and decorate a tree.
Seems for some reason Christmas came up on us from behind and now we're faced with less than two weeks. I haven't felt much in the spirit, tis the season for my allergies and sinus inflammation. I also haven't made headway with my work-in-progress novel and my main character, a soon 30-year-old female, wanting life to just go on as it has for the last 15 years. Doesn't like complications.
But sooner or later, mostly sooner, we all are face to face with those types of things, and whether we finally do something about it, is up to us and how much we've grown as a person. So how will my character respond to evidence that presents itself and shakes the world she has known?
This photo best illustrates where I'm at with my main character these days, I have to get the big hedge clippers and get all the overgrowth to find the gems to her personality. This pic was taken in one of my favorite states, Maine. All around this man's land were old rusty vehicles hidden by fallen tree branches and overgrown grass, etc.
Made for neat pictures, I found the aesthetic even with all the rust, tall grass, and unkempt land. I walked and walked through it and found what I was looking for! I uncovered the beauty, my vision of beauty. Just like we are to do with our characters.
Yes, I was really into the dilapidated and made my husband stop so I could take pictures of this house falling apart at the seams. I could actually use these pictures as jump-starts to getting the juices going with my character when I get stuck. What are your characters hiding behind the tall shrubs or behind the walls to this broken-down house?
I plan, along with the baking, wrapping, and getting packages out in the mail, to work on her as a gift to myself during the holidays. It makes me happy to be creative and give myself the time to do so and make progress ... will keep you all posted. HAPPINESS to ALL for a GREAT HOLIDAY, however you celebrate!!
