A Toast to Getting it Wrong

Last night, I wasn't totally happy with my creation/experiment using charcoal pencils. I started talking to myself: "It's okay, it's fine. I'm learning. Practice makes perfect. Maybe I'll go back to fun creations before trying serious ones again but I will try again. (Etcetera.)" and then I stopped and laughed at myself.

Monday:

CED2010 is an exercise and an experiment for me, one that I am really enjoying. I surprise myself with the bizarre and silly images I have created in 2010, and while I would love to be a great "artist", that isn't really my goal. Some of  the CED2010 particpants are already excellent professional artists! Others, based on what I have read so far, yearn to be. And some are really hard on themselves. (Maybe we all are at times?) I am so impressed with everyone's creativity and ideas! And I have also found that everyone is so encouraging and supportive of each others efforts, and that is fabulous!

So today when I came across a great post by Mark McGuinness of Lateral Action discussing Creative Blocks, I thought I'd share it. In part 2,  Mark encourages an anonymous reader to go out and GET IT WRONG! Then he quotes e.e. cummings (I love quotes): 

"and even if it’s sunday may i be wrong

for whenever men are right they are not young."

Isn't one of the great parts of CED2010 that we have the freedom to get it wrong and learn from our mistakes? To share if we'd like to? Or not?

Two of the comments on that post also resonated with me (and the first surprised me):
Picasso’s technique was never to refer to his paintings as ‘works of art’ but always as ‘experiments’ or as ‘research’. A little bit of self-deception that got him past the perfectionist road block, resulting in a lifetime of continuous productivity.  Chris Vaughn
and:
"Wow, I just went through that entire thought process on my latest project..”what if I get it wrong? Then I need more materials. Oh, I have those, with enough to spare.” And then..”Wait! I’m making this up, it’s what ever I make it.” funny, how I needed to actually articulate that, actually ask those questions, but then also answer them." Martha Downs

What if you get it wrong tonight? I know that I will just be making it up. Are you going to make something new up tonight?

Hmm, now I have this urge to go listen to the Rites of Spring!

To mistakes!   Cheers.

EVA

Week 2 CED2010 - Creating Continues!

Are you having fun yet? I am!

I am SO impressed with all of your work!!! What an amazingly creative group of people the CED2010 participants are!

I continue my attempts at creation. By and large I am pleased with the results so far, and with the process. Sometimes ideas come into my head in the middle of the night and talk to me until I have time to create them. Others days are more challenging but so far I have created each day. Thinking of the theme BODY has led in me in interesting directions!

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

I had never heard of a Zentangle or Zen Doodle before but I have seen a number of them since joining CED2010. Wow!!! Those I have seen by participants are awesome and the process of creating one is fascinating! Here is my first attempt. I had no idea it would turn out like this  - that it would be an egg about to hatch. Very interesting experience! I like them! I think I will do more.

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Most importantly, my ulterior motive for participating is starting to kick in. I have also been creating in other ways. I created 2 Mind Maps and a preliminary Powerpoint presentation. The last time I wrote a paper, I was procrastinating terribly and couldn't get started. I finally decided to do a quick version of the presentation that would eventually accompany the paper. It worked tremendously well to clarify my thinking and I finished the 22 pages of my paper without much more procrastination. (Just a lot of work!) So, since the main thing I want to create this year involves extensive writing, I decided to try the same strategy. The Powerpoint has helped and I am clearer about what I want to write.

This year, I also want to create a fitter body (laughing to myself, thinking about the BODY theme) and I exercised 5 times this past week. So that is great!

How is your creativity in CED2010 affecting your personal or professional life?

Full Blue Moon Dreaming and 2010 Word of the Year!

Happy New Year!! Happy Full Blue Moon! Dream on and Dream BIG!

My best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous and creative 2010 to all of you! Thank you again, Jamie Ridler, for introducing me to the wonderful idea of creating these Full Moon Dreamboards! Thank you too, Christine Kane, for your idea of the Word of the Year! I've chosen to combine them together in my Full Blue Moon Dreamboard.

As I hum along with Dean Martin, I am thinking about the year to come. How very fast they fly by! 2010 promises to be an excellent year and I have much I want to accomplish. The fireworks in my FMDB seed some of my wishes for this year. These include (since the image of that part of my dreamboard isn't as focused as I'd like it to be - note to self "Buy new markers!"):

• Contribution
• Art
• Create my Path
• Research
• Play
• Inspiration
• Invitations
• Travel
• Energy
• Friendships with Remarkable People
• Focus
• Magic
• Prosperity
• Passion
• Write and
• Fitness.

CREATE! is the Word I have chosen for 2010.

CREATE!

I chose "CREATE!" as there is something specific I want to create this year. A document but it may become a book. It will be a minimum of 60 pages and the most I have ever written is 22, so I know this will be a challenge. I still have much research ahead of me but the time has come to start writing. And creating. It has little to do with the type of creativity I see in the dreamboards - Or does it? Does creativity and creating in one arena lead to creativity in another? I am betting that it does. What is your experience?

What kind of mechanisms can I put into place, I wondered, to ensure that I create this year? Participating in the Full Moon Dreamboards is one way. Already in my 2 initial efforts I am astonished by the finished products and by the process. Amateurish they may be, but they are my creations. So I have started to create! Another decision I have made is to participate in the Creative Every Day 2010 Challenge. Some days creating will be the writing I want to do. Other days - who knows?! I feel excited just thinking about it!

I looked at one of the Flickr group slideshow that Leah Piken Kolidas, creator of CED2010, mentioned and immediately started to doubt my ability. Amazing artwork has been created! At the moment of my worst angst, I looked back at the screen and saw this:

Wow!!! What an amazing image to see at that very moment! Thanks so much Annette Q for your great picture! The synchronicity continues!

In 2010, I will Create!

Full Cold Moon Dreaming

One of the things I love about the web is the synchronicity of it. An interesting little thread leads to another stimulating post and to still more. Ideas flow. Curiosity reigns. Creativity often hidden, blooms and flourishes!

Last month, I came across Jamie Ridler's site and was introduced to her Full Moon Dreamboards. I LOVE the Moon, especially when he is Full, (and talkative) and tonight he is especially beautiful. And "Dreamboards"? Very intriguing! This felt like a creative endeavour that was worth trying, one worth reviving this little inactive site so I could participate!

So many beautiful and varied submissions did Jamie receive for the Full Frost Moon that there were oodles of ideas on how to proceed. But what would work for me? A trip to the art store was in order! (Any excuse.)

Intending to buy bristol board, I came away with a large 11x15 watercolour pad and the same size art book. Confused as to which side of me won out: the artist wannabee who received the artbooks and watercolour pencils; or the practical gal who couldn't fathom where to store these (to be) completed posters but knows where a pad or book could live; I realized that a perfect win-win situation was found and all of me left happy!

My first Full Moon Dreamboard:

With Christmas in mind, thoughts wrap around my tree to clarify this month. Full Moons are the perfect decor. Nutcrackers stand guard and make me smile as I start to bring out my own collection from their long stretch of storage. Books call to me to be read: "Pick me, pick me!"

The second full moon in a month is relatively rare and is called a Blue Moon. So I am looking forward to the next FMD, to using the phrase on New Year's Eve "once in a blue moon" as often as possible and to singing along with Dino!

Thanks to Jamie for this fun idea, and to everyone for the motivation to join you in Full Moon Dreaming.

FLOURISH!!!!!!!! - My Word for 2009

Do you set New Years Resolutions?

A few years ago, a close friend and I decided that instead of setting resolutions, we would chose a word for the year. This word would represent the theme or perhaps the goal for the year. It might be a verb or an adjective, maybe even a noun that had meaning for the chooser. We did that both of the last two years and each year we promptly forgot our words.

Late in 2008, I saw a blog discussing the Word of the Year concept and decided to try it again and this time to remember my word for more than a few days! In December, over lunch, we choose our words. My friend chose RE-INVENT, her husband chose INQUISITIVE and I chose FLOURISH!!! To ensure I remember and embrace my word, I have written it in my agendas, very colourfully and with silly flare, since FLOURISH is that kind of a word!

What does FLOURISH mean to me?

The dictionary defines it as:
intransitive verb
1: to grow luxuriantly: thrive
2 a: to achieve success: prosper <a flourishing business> b: to be in a state of activity or production <flourished around 1850> c: to reach a height of development or influence
3: to make bold and sweeping gestures
transitive verb: to wield with dramatic gestures: brandish

Those definitions feel right and like what I'm aiming for - to thrive, to prosper, to grow. Flourishing also implies health and fitness to me. It suggests colour and boldness. It involves action. I have always been a bit concerned about words like growth, abundance, expansion etc as they can include getting larger physically and that I definitely do NOT want that. Flourishing to me doesn't include growing in girth since to flourish you must be fit, healthy and strong. Those are traits I want to improve upon and build.

The only concern I have had, regarding my word and 2009, is that I need to spend time this year doing research for two projects I want to accomplish. This will involve a lot of reading. Reading at times feels like sitting on my fanny doing nothing, inactive. Flourishing evokes taking action. However for a plant to flourish, it must have a strong root system. Reading and my research are like building my root system - necessary to thrive and flourish later. So it still applies! :)

I am very excited about my word. FLOURISH!!! I see 2009 in a bright light now. I expect it to be colourful, happy, healthy, playful, filled with pizazz and music. Laughter, love and living life to the fullest are part of flourishing as are action, accomplishment, contribution and celebration!

Have you chosen a word?

What is it?

Know Limit

One of my favourite artists is Marcus Pierson and one of my favourite pieces of his work is "Know Limit".

His work is very unusual in that it contains words as well as images.

I fell in love with this one when I saw it. (Discovering the gallery with Pierson's artwork, and this piece in particular, happened in a most synchronistic manner, making it all the more memorable and impactful to me. A story for another day!)

Unlike some of his other pieces, I knew that this one was THE ONE I had a proper home for - on my office wall. It could talk to me there. It could inspire me. It affirmed some of what I have already experienced and accomplished. Some, as I know I can do more. The words continue to ring true. They encourage me. They remind me to know and PUSH my own limits. Such amazing creativity his paintings (limited editions) and his sculptures display!

 The words are: “Like everyone else I was told my future had no limit. While it was true for some, for myself - I knew better. So instead I simply set out to find it. And once I had, to push against it and try my best to move it. More like a bull than an eagle, just stubbornly plodding along. Looking back now, I can't believe what I've done, where I've been. So I say to you these two simple words; not no limit - but KNOW LIMIT.”

Do you have any artwork that reminds you of your potential within?

Monday's Quote - Goethe

"The realization of the self is only possible if one is productive, if one can give birth to one's potentialities." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Most, if not all, of the quotes I have come across from Goethe seem to me to contain much wisdom. They frequently make it into my word document where I store quotes of interest to me or that resonate for one reason or another. His quotes frequently resonate with me. But I know little of the man. German. A philosopher. That's about it.

This particular quote resonates in two ways. First it advises that one must be productive. One must produce. Usually that means produces results of some kind. It is well and good to think, ponder, and learn but without results to show for the time spent on those efforts - no realization of self, no birth of potentialities can take place. Productivity is a result of actions taken. Of acting and learning from those experiences. Of trial and error. Of progressive steps. One's potential becomes stillborn without these actions, without the productivity.

It also resonates with me as he refers to one's potentialities. There are unborn potentials in all of us. These wait to appear, to bloom, to grow, as either need or opportunity present themselves. We often have no idea of all of the wonderful things we are capable of, until we take action. Until we are productive.

What actions can I take, can you take, today? Tomorrow?