Pondering Creativity

The sky was sullen and wind blown yesterday

Yesterday I worked an extra day. I was happy to do it because I can really use the money what with the doctor's bills that I know will soon be forthcoming - well, to be completely honest I might just splurge on some art supplies with the extra cash. A soon-to-be birthday present to myself perhaps. The thing is that we were in the midst of a Winter storm in spring. The previous night we had pelting, icy rain and gale force winds - by morning the rain and stopped and the sky was screaming blue but the winds continued an, in fact, intensified.  The windows along the Court room where I work were refitted when the building went through a historical refurbishing but when the winds hit from a certain direction the windows shake so badly that they feel like they are about to implode. Of course they wouldn't - but they do howl-l-l-l and make lots of noise. I have no doubt that the jurors were a bit worried - and also had a bit of trouble hearing above the howling of the windows. Thankfully they were a really lovely group of islanders - some I would love to know outside of work. I would love to ask them who they are? What they do? That sort of small talk that allows you to keep a pulse of your community.

I suppose that's all a long way round to saying that when I got home I was more than exhausted - I was dumb-founded, stare- at- the wall tired. I have been coddled the last few years by working part time and I thought that this would be a good test to see how I would do if I am forced to return to full time work -there are rumbling of that happening because of the economy. As always I like to think that I am haler and heartier than I am. I like to think that the years and the bone issues have not taken any toll. Well, I am announcing that they have - and that I would be less than mentally acute if I have to return to the aptly named grindstone. I know we all do what we have to do - but I would be hard pressed to have a life. Creativity might go by the wayside.

 This is what I felt like yesterday evening - thinking, pondering, wondering

Which leads to my cogitations of  last evening. Being Creative. What is it? Can we 'get' it? Are we born with it? I have no doubt that creativity lurks in all of us and I am not at all sure that it is not something that is born to all of us - we are all creative in one way or another. It does not have to mean only art. When I see something that is really inventive I think "WoW - what an amazing, creative, person they are" - and I think that I have no creativity when judged next to someone that I think is amazing. Are creativity and inventiveness the same  -twigs on the same tree - or are they different? I mean a rocket scientist or quantum physics person must surely be way more inventive than I am - no? Being so tired made me ralize that at that moment I could not have pushed out a single creative thought or idea. NO scratches in my journal - nothing came to the forefront of my mind - other than watching "Dancing With The Stars" and then going to bed. It made me depressed to think that I could even get that tired that I cared nothing for color or creativity. It made me more depressed to consider a life being too tired to make art.

This beauty is pondering the nice clump of greens ahead.

Today I plan to play with some new Dr.PH.Martin's Hydrus watercolors. Art Supply Warehouse (ASW) had a fabuoulous sale on them and I could not pass up the deal. I had wanted to get some watercolors (another one of those things that I never thought I would want) but they are expensive and I knew that I wanted a set .. and didn't know what brand to get etc etc. I love Dr.PH Martins products and decided to stick with a brand I know and know I will use and enjoy. ASW's prices were close to $20.00 off per set during this sale than anywhere else.

I am still pondering creativity. I still wonder if I have it when I think that there are so many truly inventive and amazingly creative people in the world- and I wonder were it goes when I am "stare-at-the wall" tired. What are your thoughts on creativity and inventiveness? What's your favorite trick to get yourself into a creative frame of mind - and can you reach into the well when you are exhausted? How?

This little one is pondering his meal!

Finish The Old To Make Way For The New & Michelle Ward's Crusade #23

Fall really does seem to be right around the corner now. It's raining today & it's cool. Rain is in the forecast for the week ahead. Is this temporary ? Or is it the long slippery slope towards 'eternal, seasonal gray'? Only time will tell ! There were only a few sturdy blossoms left on the rose bushes; those that struggled to reach 'bloom' are all the more fragrant for their trouble. I save those petals every year in a special basket that has gotten full over time, but, somehow, I seem to be able to keep adding to it. I am finding the urge to sleep more (is that really possible?!). The evenings are brisk enough that I have put the fingerless gloves to work as I knit or sew and I am noticing that the days really are a lot shorter. I am beginning to 'feel' the "H" word. Hibernation. There are moments when that seems desirable as well as moments when the thought of closed windows and doors is almost enough to make me want to run outside and scream! I think about getting my "happy light" out of it's summer time cover, knitting something larger, working on a large hand quilting project, anything that will keep me warmer. I'm feeling the ever more incessant urge to clear the art-full decks, clean my figurative plate, and sweep the proverbial drawing board clean. Fall & Winter are, for me, truly a time to savor moving forward - sometimes finding a new direction with my art.

Michelle Ward issued a timely 'crusade' this month though her Green Pepper Press Street Team, called, interestingly enough "Clean Your Plate". This theme coincided eerily with the thoughts that have been rumbling though my mind. My house is cluttered though I don't like it that way. I like order in my disorder. A place for everything even if I'm the only one that knows where that place is. I become easily thrown off kilter when I become overwhelmed with dead-lines, "have-to-do's", commitments, meetings, & obligations. I need time to day dream, to play, to lollygag; draw, spin, paint,sew,felt to my heart's desire without any of it at all having to be anywhere by a specific time. I need this sort of play time just as I need sleep, food, air, love,h ealth & friendship. I become very peckish when I do not get enough un-pressured time to create; just as I need more time alone than many people do. Some people make New Year's resolutions, mine tend to come at this point in the year when the days are shorter & there is more time to settle in. I want to explore some new things this winter. My requirement for "new things" is that I can utilize them to enhance my other passions of knitting, sewing, quilting or journaling. I want to try to spend some time learning calligraphy - or at least some calligraphic techniques. This can be used in my journals, of course, and in my quilts. I want to paint some more - which will also help journaling & quilting. I want to make enough small crows, felted bags, pen cases & knitting bags that I can begin to sell them on Etsy. The one commitment that I have not yet fulfilled is making a new crow to take in to a local gallery for consideration for their 'roster'. I told them that I would try to make it by the middle of this month - but obviously this has not yet happened, and is unlikely to happen until I return from my sojourn to Houston in October. Hopefully, there will still be interest in my Corvid family.

So my Fall & Winter plans are these (not necessarily in any particular order):

1. To sift, sort, prune & gather my supplies.
   
2. Spend some time getting to know my spinning wheel. Spin some of my fabulous 'new' fiber so that I can use it for felts & knits.
   
3. Clean off my desk to make way for some unfettered space to paint & play.
   
4. Try to tackle some of the mess in my sewing area so that I can, at least, know what tools I have available and where they are!
5. Rest, renew, & enjoy the journey, whatever the journey is. Make the process the most important thing - the end result will be just fine if I do that.
   
6. Stop spending quite so much time online. Just a little - well....maybe that won;t happen - but maybe it will!
   

How about you - what plans do you have for making this one of the most creative & enjoyable Fall & Winter seasons yet ? Let's shed some of our creative light onto the dark Winter days to come!