No time to be creative?

If only I had enough time. Do you ever find yourself saying that to yourself?

That is what I said when the three boys were little, and part of me didn’t want that time to end.

I painted pictures with them in between making Halloween costumes and cookies, parties and putting bandaids on knees.

We read books a together and we were  a happy audience when they put on plays for us!

When they were in elementary school and middle school, I took my sketchpad to games, although sometimes I didn’t get it open.

I always carried pencils, a  favorite pen and my crayons in my bottomless pocketbook. Many times I watched the game and improved my visual memory by drawing from what I remembered later.

I worked at my job, teaching art. We made pizzas and cakes from scratch, loaves of bread, read books and had family discussions about the state of rest f the world.

Yes, and I dragged them to art museums, plays and music lessons of all kinds.

I am still teaching art to 580 students every week, and loving it!.When I teach, it nurtures my art and when I do my art it makes me a better teacher. I am always looking for time to make more of my own work.

And now it is the summer.

All the time in the world to paint, right?

Wrong. Sometimes I get creative block. Everyone gets it once in a while.

So, I  attempt to make dealing with  this issue a creative project! I enlist my  sense of humor, compassion and an assortment of creative thinking skills. If i am not up for that, I sometimes take a nap. (Try it. It works.)

Every time I get stuck procrastinating with the fear of making a mark on the white paper, I use diversionary tactics!

• Outsmart my left brain  and allow room for the intangible creative side. Let’s not take this too seriously, after all, “playing” is one of the 13 creative thinking tools.
• Integrate and balance other life areas. Make sure to exercise, eat right, read, leave time for spiritual, relationships and taking care of money and job. Limit times and set the alarm.
• Watch how others do it.  I watch my son compose, sing play and mix music when he has a day off or after work, if he’s not too tired. if he is he sleeps.
• Read . Many artists are very generous about sharing their methods of getting time to create.
• Allow myself to do the laundry or vacuum…with a time limit!
• Drink a glass of water.
• Take the dogs for a walk. Good thinking time.
• Put myself in the studio or place that is inspiring, with all of my supplies around me, look at my journals and I can’t help but make something.
• Don’t judge. Just keep exploring.
• Oh yes, and work daily for a self determined consistent amount of time. Stop in the middle of the best part! This was one of Hemingway’s secrets. Your mind will keep working on creative ideas  until you return the next day.

I was intrigued by the post on Write to Done guest post “How to Write When You’re Scared Spitless” by the  Jean-Berg-Sarauer.

There is also a very interesting article about another way to increase creativity called The Cure for Creative Blocks? Leave Your Desk. RT(via @the99percent) that is totally awesome!

What do you do when you are stuck and need a new idea?

Thinking tool 2: Create an image in your mind, then go!

"art studio" by bvw

Expanding the power of visual images is thrilling to me.

Imagine, just holding an image in your mind’s eye is the way to solve a problem, create a new situation or invent something new! Do you find it difficult to believe that visualizing something is the beginning of making it real? Are you tempted to think that was the magic of a child’s world?

Think again. Just one example…Years ago I developed an image in my mind of an art studio that I wanted to work in. It is getting its finish coat of paint now! Where your thoughts are is where your physical efforts will eventually go.  Creating a picture in your mind is one of the most powerful ways to envision an idea across all disciplines.

To increase your own ability to image:

1. Acknowledge and recognize images in your mind and how you use them.
2. Collect images in your mind on a regular basis and in response to other stimuli. See if you can expand the image into other areas of sensual stimuli.. can you smell the flowers that you are imaging? What does it feel like to have a studio that is my own space?
3. Make art in whatever medium you like.Write, draw, sing, bake. Pay attention to your visual images when you process scientific and mathematical concepts.

This  is the way to make your ideas really happen!

In my own experience,  when I make an image in my mind’s eye many times it seems to happen of its own volition. Now understand that I am not just imagining it once. It is a consistent envisioning that develops as I think about it. It also may not happen in the time frame that is what I desire at the time. I have been constantly surprised when something I really wanted to accomplish even years  years ago, is suddenly appearing in my life. Like the studio.

Hey, I wonder if I’ve just given myself the recipe for developing a concept in my work? To review it daily in my mind…allow it to change with my inner imaging and influences from experiences, reading and contemplation….just put pencil, crayon and paint to paper or canvas and let it become visible!

I’d love to know …have ever imaged something and then had it happen to you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

See Zen Habits for a very useful guide to creativity and  a study the Number 1 habit of creative people.For those of you that like to nap (I am definitely a fan!), this is the perfect guide for effortless imaging at Michael Nobbs, the blog: drawing inspiration.

Also read Steven Pressfield’s writings about creativity an other thoughts at his website, and this post  there about Jonathan Fields and the creative process.

How to increase your observation skill in 6 steps

 I know I am not the only one whose thoughts are someplace else while I am doing a task. Isn’t multitasking how to  get more things done? I sit down to draw the landscape as we drove through the farmland upstate New York, from memory!  I try to recall all of the details of the look on my brother’s face when we were speaking of the death of a beloved aunt and the ongoing difficulties in the lives of her surviving siblings.

Yes, I could take a photograph, but I feel the need to remind and retrain my mind to observe very carefully. I want to use, but not be dependent upon, a technical device, like a camera or computer to BE my memory.

I am using the example of painting and drawing because that is what I do, and it is so hands on that it is easy to understand. It is also a combination of physical and mental multitasking.  But there are many ways and reasons to practice and improve observation skills. No matter what you do for a living good observation skills are an important part of doing good work, don’t you think? Here is how!

• Begin by choosing one thing a day to remember: a conversation, a scene, a book or article that you read, a recipe, etc.
• Be present in the now moment. Relax and allow yourself to use your senses to take in all of the unique qualities of what you feel, see and hear.
• After observing the event or scene reflect on what you would like to remember about it. Make connections between what you already know and this new memory.
• Write it down or draw it, preferably in a portable journal without judgement of yourself. Just put it down!
• Be grateful for the gift of experiencing the moment.

Observe and record in a visual, written or auditory way, daily and it will become a habit that will increase your confidence in your powers of observation and visualization!

Let me know how this works for you. I know that if I make a concerted effort to image a detailed memory, I can gradually expand it to two or even three a day. I just need to articulate it in words or a visual to reinforce it.

This is a great way to gather material and ideas for making things and for making things happen.!

Simplifying your focus is eloquently explored by Michael Nobbs /The Blog: Drawing Inspiration. I am inspired by his simple and honest posts.

Here is an other concept about doing two things at once from Ali Hale in Productive Flourishing, by combining a mental task with a physical task.

How to rediscover yourself in a new place

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How I needed a vacation this spring! Oh yes, it has been a long time since I spent any amount of time creating anywhere but in my studio.

Suddenly I was off to another place with my  sack of supplies, and heavy load of books. I was on a beach. I slept. I read. I painted. I drew.

My work was reinvigorated. You can do this too.

Find a place to go that you love.

Give yourself the gift of time to listen to your internal voice. I need quiet space and early morning hours to listen.When and where do you listen internally?

Leave time and quiet space to meditate. Make sure you have designed some time with no obligations to anyone but you. How can you kindly and judiciously isolate some uninterrupted time?

Bring simple materials to work with. I needed books, paper, pens and pencils watercolor and water. I actually didi bring too many books! They made traveling arduous. What do you need to bring?

Keep your goal simple. Mine was to sketch every day as necessary with the measured regularity of sleeping and eating. It would be a process, like breathing, not an event, like a party. If you limit yourself to one goal, what would it be?

Reflect on what you have learned.

From taking too many books, I learned that I need to make more time to read in my regular daily schedule. They weighed down my bag and my psyche.

You can do this in a small scale each day without going away. Going away can help you to stick to your goals because you have changed and temporarily simplified your environment which helps with focus.

If you would like more ideas about minimizing what you need  visit  this specific post by Leo Babauta in Zen Habits . To explore the benefits of working regularly, check out the inspiring post by Phillipe Benoit  at The French Easel.

What turns your creative intelligence on? I would love to hear some of your suggestions!

Create each day…really.

Transforming the way we see things...snow!

A snow day in the north east!

A gift that I didn’t expect.

I look at this day as if I were painting.

Time itself is the medium.

I can imagine what I want to make of the day … and then transform it into what I have imagined!  Just like creating a painting.

That’s why I named my blog Make art. Transform life.

Because that is the way I create.

I wake up each morning with gratitude for the gift of another day. I can plan what I want to do but what happens during that day is not in my control.

How I perceive what happens determines the richness of the day and shapes what I do with my experiences.

Just like making a drawing:

Surface: Time is  the canvas.

Material: People and events are the paint.

Applicator: My perception is the brush in my hand, interpreting what I come across each day.

Product: My actions or inactions transform each day.

So today, I image that I will make some drawings and paintings and write about the process of creating and investigate how it transforms us.

I will post my work later on in the day. What are you doing if you are snowed in today? I love to hear about how you view your options on days suddenly gifted to you, through cancellations or change in plans.

Be sure to read an inspiring  post this morning, on the Art of Great Things by Jeffrey Tang. It gives much food for thought.

Coincidently,two pieces of my artwork are being shown on the current post Live Like You Were Dying on the Religion Network, by the wonderful Lisa Bowman. Be sure to check them out!

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Living everyday creatively

journal 01052010

I am always shocked when people ask how I find the courage to think outside of the box.  They wish they were so lucky to be born with talent to draw and paint. They wonder how I manage to t find the time to create .

The fact is, I thrive on making new things and coming up with new ideas. I get up 2 hours earlier than I have to in the morning so I can make time to express my thoughts and sustaining images in paint and graphite. I work at a job that by its nature, constantly demands that I teach my students to understand the power of creativity that is latent in each one of us., just waiting for us to discover that it really is ours!

I write this blog because of those people who wish to exercise their creative abilities in their lives. I want to share the importance of being creative…of understanding the ability that we all have to think in new pathways , to make our ideas visible and audible.

Honestly, I also need to constantly remind myself to stretch my imagination. Through the process of teaching I have found that that I learn so much more when I teach. So this blog engages me in articulating my process of working and shares my belief in the necessity of developing yours and my creative imagination.

Ken Robinson, in his book, “The Element: How finding your passion changes everything”, writes

”  You can think of creativity as applied imagination.

You can be creative at anything at all – anything that involves using  your intelligence. It can be in music, in dance, in theater, in math, science, business, in your relationship with other people.”

In this spirit, let me share a  blog that plays with the imagination and creativity. It is called creative every day and Leah shares a simple process of creating a design by playing with an idea.

Playing is a great way to get some creative juices moving!

Have fun! I love to hear about what you are imagining and then actually creating in your life!

Breathing space into cracks of time

Have you found that there is never enough time to actually accomplish all that you “desire” to do?

Sometimes I get up in the morning with a list a mile long that is leftover from yesterday. How many times have I put off painting or drawing for other things that seem more important?  How long have I been promising myself that I will revisit learning French, write a note to someone, bake bread or visit an old friend?  It just seems that it is easier to take the habitual road than to break new ground.

But I’ve done it before.  I’ve taken that  first step to initiate a new idea or  project in spite of my perception of time’s scarcity.

• List things that you know are important stepping stones when viewed from the  perspective of your entire life. Ask how you would feel if you never tried this? Where does it fit in your life, if you live each day as if it were your first?
• Think of the fleeting moment that is your life on earth and how this currently deferred venture will fit in?
• Pray.
• If it meets the criteria,  make a plan to integrate it into your day. A daily habit is great because it helps to bring you to the table.

• Find a little time in between things. Do not over schedule or pack time too tightly. At the beginning or end of the day is simple and not jarring.  For an early morning person, rise earlier. If you are a night owl, stay up 30 minutes later. But don’t do both at the same time. Sleep is a necessity for creative thinking. Leave a window in between projects that is larger than you think you need.
• Set aside 30 minutes each day.
• Re prioritize your life. be more expedient at the things that you are already used to doing and give yourself a healthy but finite time to do them.
• When you enter that newly found time space, breathe in and breathe out.
• Slow down.
• Allow yourself the deep luxury of being in the now moment.

Finally time opens up, welcoming you into the flow.

Imagine your life…now live what you’ve imagined.

 

Helen reading by bvw

 

Act as if.

It is very effective.

I have had and do have times when I can’t seem to get my imagination to go past what I already do in my current “real” life. I am trying to change my direction, but it just doesn’t happen . I guess you could say I am in a rut. At this point, I know I have to free myself to fulfill the potential of my vast imagination. The only way to do that is to let go of my self taught or life taught parameters and choose to go beyond them.

Suddenly, everything is possible. And it really is!

It is all about what you believe is possible. Allowing yourself to “image” or” make a picture in your mind” of what you would like to accomplish is one of the  thinking tools of creativity as defined by Robert and Michele Root- Bernstein in their book “Sparks of Genius”. Their research outlines 13 thinking tools that they have discovered are used by the world’s most creative people.  use the ideas in this book to remind myself of ways to sharpen my creative tools. I will be occasionally referencing them as I explore ways to increase creativity in your life.

To simplify, to get out of a rut of thinking the same thoughts and doing things the same way. Here are 5 concrete steps:

1. Set aside at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time. Sometimes, just doing this takes imagination!      Some suggestions I have found to be helpful are:    Get up a half hour earlier; sit in your car at lunch time; put dinner up and sit in the kitchen while the meal warms up; go to your room; take a walk with the dog; go to the beach or a park nearby; have a cup of tea or coffee where nobody knows you so there is no extended conversation; go to the library and look busy. (You really are!)
2. Now make pictures in your mind of how your life “is” when you are living the life you imagine. This is the most important step!
3. Describe this in a journal. A journal to write, draw or collage in is a great place to automatically put down your thoughts. It also saves time AND your thoughts because you never actually lose the previous ideas. The journal is always there for reference.
4. Act as if you are already doing this! If you want to be a successful writer, you need to write as if you already are. What would a writer’s day look like? What would be the priorities in his/her life?
5. How would you define success in accomplishing your newly imagined goal? Defining exactly what you want is important because each person can have a totally different idea of what achieving “success” in that area is.
6. Make a list of things to do that would accomplish this. Start with a simple item that you can accomplish today and determine when, today,  you will do it. Set up another goal for the next day.
7. Focus on this goal and how to continue to advance, expand and change it on a regular basis. Continue to use your journal and your reserved time. Adjust the time more or less, depending n your schedule and the time needs of your chosen path.

Let me know how you are creatively re-imagining your life. It is always astounding to see how concentrated imaging makes a path for transformation in life! Take a look at some other people who have transformed their lives and documented it on their blogs! Zen Habits has a detailed of how he makes changes and an interview with Colin Wright in Far Beyond the Stars.

Yoga-think your life into balance

Sometimes it is just overwhelming to even think about one more thing to juggle, even if it is balancing out your life. Believe me, I know how it feels. So that is the time to stop thinking. And start consciously moving…into yoga!

• Move mindfully.
• Walk with intention.
• Breathe slowly and deeply, into your abdomen.

I find that one of the most important parts of doing yoga, is making the space and intention to do it. Once  I am in the studio, I know I will not leave until after shavasana. That is the part where you lie down and totally relax for 10 minutes. It is my favorite part! So I tend to be in the now moment for the entire practice, because I know I cannot leave for that hour.. Even if the going gets tough, I’m there. Shavasana and feeling balanced is my reward.

Oh dear, you are probably wondering what that has to do with life balance.

When you physically create a practice, when you practice breathing and moving mindfully, it begins to crossover to your creative, intellectual and spiritual habits. I find myself resorting to yoga breathing when I am in a stressful situation. For that I use the long deep in and out through the nose breathing. It is very calming. I find that I am more likely to do things mindfully and calmly.

What if you want to accomplish something, like writing, but are working two jobs and just can’t find the time?

• Be in the now moment.
• Breathe in and out slowly.
• Ask yourself to give yourself a half hour, 2 days a week.
• Treat yourself afterwards; perhaps a nap? a cup of tea?
• If you aren’t inspired, write anyway.
• Don’t judge yourself.
• Be regular and without pressure.

It is the intent and regular practice in yoga that takes you where you want to go. Many times in yoga, your ability to do a posture will change from day to day. You listen to your body.

As Madeleine L’Engle said in her book called “Walking on Water”,

To work on a book is for me very much the sane thing as to pray. Both involve discipline. If the artist works only when he feels like it, he’s not apt to build up much of a body of work. Inspiration far more often comes during the work than before it. because the largest part of the job of the artist is to listen to the work, and to go where it tells him to go…To pray is to listen also.

How do you ge ytourself gently back on track?

For more great ideas about focusing creative energy, absolutely visit the blog Write to Done. Also try Unwrap your Mind for another dynamic yet gentle approach to finding your way to reach your potential.

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Art exhibit-finally up and running!!

Seeing the watercolors all together in the space was inspiring!                                                                                                                           Below are a few photos of the art crowd at Michael Peter Hayes‘ Art Salon in  Locust Valley last night.It was so wonderful to share my work and hear responses to the work!!

It has been inspiring to carry on a dialogue with others about working with the effects of light as it changes over the day. I have utilized the structure of  the “liturgy of the hours” used by so many religious orders for daily prayer. This helps me to organize my vision and  awareness and document the effects of light and shadow on my perception. I reckon that a tradition of discipline that has encouraged heightened awareness and mindfulness in prayer would help me to attain that in my visual meditation of painting.

Any thoughts on that?