All You Need is Love

Creativity. What is it and how do we get it? Webster’s defines "create" as- “to bring into being; originate, design, invent, ect. 2. To bring about, or cause”. I understand that. But the deeper question for me is-where does it come from. Unless you are God, your creation doesn’t come from nothing! It starts with a thought or idea. Maybe it starts with a feeling or something you see. But my point is it starts in your mind.

Since I believe that there is nothing new under the sun, I think we re-circulate things. We may put a new twist to it, or you may have not seen it before-so it’s new to you, but the reality is in the infamous words of the Beatles:

There's nothing you can do that can't be done

Nothing you can sing that can't be sung

Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game

It's easy!

Nothing you can make that can't be made

No one you can save that can't be saved

Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time

It's easy!

Nothing you can know that isn't known

Nothing you can see that isn't shown

Nowhere you can be that isn't where you were meant to be

It’s easy!

All you need is Love

Love is all you need.

It was there all along. So my theory is-stay with me here, creativity is born of love. I want you to ponder that. Creativity is born in unconditional freedom and love. Really ponder this. To really wrap your brain around it takes some thought. If we have unconditional love there is total support, total freedom, total access, total resources- just “total”, all, everything, complete, whole, whatever verbiage you need to use. There is no fear as I’ve said before, because there is no failure, no crossing the any lines. You are unlimited and limitless. That’s big, and empowering.

So, if I’m not feeling creative, or can’t seem to create (or am blocked), where does that come from? Am I feeling unloved or unloving? Could that be blocking the receptors in my brain where that endless creativity and energy come from? (I also think creativity is energy.) Or do you think I’ve lost a marble or two? It doesn’t matter, as long as you think about where your creative energy comes from. It’s a powerful tool if you think about it. Let's use our powers for good and not evil! Let’s choose love.

I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!

Well, I think I’m home to stay a while. I’ve decided I don’t travel well. While my father seems to thrive on going all the time and experiencing new places-my new motto is ““if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with! “(Dorothy-Wizard of Oz)
Now, I wasn’t looking for my heart’s desire exactly, my dad is. And if my dad wasn’t footing the bill, I doubt I would have ever gone to Europe at all! And I don’t want to sound at all ungrateful. I am totally grateful for the experience. But after 20 hours of travel time, you arrive in another country and you say “Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.” And so it began.
We were touring so much and experiencing so much, trying not to miss anything that I really did not have time to paint. I did two quick paintings and that was it! To me, that was so hard. While in Dubrovnik, I spied a man painting watercolor across from a beautiful church. In true artist spirit, I asked him how long he’d been painting and so on. Turns out he was on a “painting holiday” with a group from the UK. I was so jealous! Can you believe that? Here I am in one of the most picturesque cities in the world, and all I want to do is sit and paint! I was ready to miss all the touring and just plunk myself down and paint! As I continued through the city I saw several others of his group happily painting away to their hearts content!
I think I learned something vital about myself this trip. First, art is not what I do anymore, it’s who I am! I need it to calm me and keep me centered. And to really engage in a place or with a person/people, it’s best done while painting!
That’s a huge change from the Michelle of ten or even five years ago. I still had trouble calling myself an artist then, let alone practicing my craft in public. My how I’ve grown! But it’s really been less about my painting, and more about acceptance. Accepting that this is who I am and what I do and that that’s OK. It’s not a frivolity I indulge in selfishly! I’ve spent hours honing my craft and am proud of that. It’s that I can do something, and it has value for no other reason than because I did it. It no longer matters if it sell’s, or if someone raves about it, or it wins a prize. (Which- while I was gone I won nothing in a show I was in, but one of my favorite people won Best of Show! That’s almost as good as winning myself!) It’s being comfortable with who I am and what I’ve invested so much of myself in.
If you learn nothing else from traveling to Europe, I think it should be that they value the arts in a much more profound way. It’s not questioned as important, or viewed as something pushed to the periphery. It is part of the fabric of everyday life. It is learned as part of their history, which it is. And it is not separate from anything they do, whether walking down the street or eating a meal. It is unquestioned and important still today.
I am not sure if it comes from our Quaker/Shaker roots, but the idea that art is not intrinsic to a happy life or something to be viewed as unnecessary or unimportant makes me crazy! Yet I’ve gotten that message directly or indirectly from well meaning people who felt I was wasting my time on a “hobby” as well as from others whose motives were unclear. The bottom line here is -BUZZKILL! I think when we begin to pit function against form (or beauty) we kill something inside a person. Why would you not want your surroundings to be beautiful or your clothes to have color? It’s counter intuitive really.
So, getting back to the Wizard of Oz…I think it was good to get out of Kansas! But I’m glad to be back, and I think my new vision is to make sure my own backyard has LOTS OF ART! Let’s make art necessary!

Finish What You Start

Being a right brained individual, I tend to have ideas. Lots and lots of ideas. That's the fun part. I love the beginnings, the freshness, the endless possibilities! Getting into the nitty gritty of a project tends to leave me cold. Details are not my thing. And I am not good at finishing once the enthusiasm is gone. Thank heavens others aren't so prone, or the world would be a very scary place!

I realize it takes all kinds and that I fit in there someplace. It is not a good character trait to start things and not finish them because I've lost the "mood". But I fear I am not alone! Are you out there? Do I have kindred spirits in the world of drudgery? Some of us are so consumed by fear of failure that we don't even start things! But that's a different blog!

To my credit I do finish some things. I managed to raise the kids without killing them with neglect. I am still married, though I suspect Tom wears different colored soxs a lot. But I forget and leave the laundry in the washer and have to rewash it. Or move it from the drier to a basket and istead of folding it, just pick out what I need for days! I forget dates because the calendar and I are not friends. Yes, I have issues!

So, here's a sketch I FINISHED this morning-largely to avoid doing other boring tasks-that I started this July while in Chicago with my family. It was good to revisit the sketch book and finish what I started. I had time to think about the good time we had. Though this will probably remain nothing more than a sketch, I did some art today. I finished something. Now maybe I'll be in a better frame of mind for those other menial tasks that must be done!

Go finish something! In the immortal words in Nike commercials: Just Do It!

On the Road Again! part 2

This summer has flown by! I can't remember a busier summer-but they all seem that way these days! Do you think it true that the older you get the faster time goes by? I believe it. Time is such a precious commodity to me these days. No one ever has enough, no matter how we use it. What is that about? Are we really too busy, or do we just think all those other things are more important than nurturing our creative selves?

"On the Road Again " was supposed to be an adventure in nurturing my creative side. How? Well, I've been several places this last few months. Lakeside, Ohio; Chicago; Brown Co. Indiana; Sonoma/Napa Calif; San Francisco; Sausilito, Calif. And I will be leaving for Italy in a few short months. These were supposed to be painting opportunities as well as mini-vacations. (all were 3 days at most-but still!) I was so busy going, going, going, that I didn't have painting time! Ah, the best laid plans...

I have painted precious little at all this summer! And when I get home...I have too much to do to catch up from being gone to have studio time-Aarrrggghhh! If you can't tell, I am just a bit frustrated. But if I'm being honest, the real problem is not a lack of time. It is a lack of focus, a lack of structure and a lack of priorities. All of which I struggle with daily, let alone when something disrupts my routine-or lack thereof. I have never been very disciplined. (like writing this blog! I dont have time for this! But it is more for me than anyone else. "Chatty" is how my friend described one. Yes, but I tell you, this stuff is floating around in my head otherwise-this is therapy!)

But here is another nugget of truth. Being gone and in new places with new people gets my creative juices flowing! I have a million more paintings in my head than were there a few trips, photos and color notes before! I am really craving painting time now - since I can't fit it in right now! I have seen new things and experienced new places and people and am richer for it. And who can complain when they have done so much in such a short time-most of which was done within a few day's notice! That takes flexibility! I'm not very flexible either!

So, even though I don't have time to paint right now, I want to really bad! Maybe that's the lesson. Are you craving time to do what you love? Yes, we have to make the time. But sometimes I think it's good not to be able to do what we usually can. It makes us hungry! And I was doing other fun things as well as not so fun things that had to be done!

To everything there is a season... And the seasons change regardless!

On the Road Again! Part 1

I love a good road trip! It's my preferred method of travel most of the time. It may take longer sometimes, but when you factor in how long it takes to get oneself to the airport, in the hour and a half before a flight, and if (and you know it will be) it's delayed, or you can land on time, get a car and get to your destination...unless its across the world, I'll drive! But I digress...

How does a road trip have anything to do with creativity? I'm sure you can figure it out. But here are some things that you may not have thought of. If your like me, you crank up the tunes! And you sing at the top of your lungs. Your in another county or state, so no one is going to recognize the crazy woman rocking out behind the wheel! I think this behaviour is essential on many levels! I highly recommend it.

If the trip is long, you have time to revisit some artists you may not have listened to for a while. My taste in music is very eclectic. I seem to love everything but rap. (opera, not so much either) Country has special appeal to me on a road trip. "looong neck bottle, leeggo my hand!" and "I dug my keys into the side, of his pretty little souped-up, four wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seats - took a louiville slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires, maybe next time he'll think before he cheats!" , "where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away...and I'll be o.k." I mean, who can argue with that? And I cannot listen to Rascal Flats "my wish") without tears. Good a Capella Harmony makes me cry as well. Yes, music moves me.

But I was thinking about how much creativity goes into what we hear. The lyrics, the vocals, the instrumentation, and how we really don't think about what it takes to get it to the radio. We enjoy and appreciate, but not being involved in the process, we miss a lot. My musician friends get this. I can appreciate, but not fully. But they do it because it's their passion. And we listen because on some level it speaks to us. The musicians need to speak in that creative way, and we hear what they are saying!

So, my point? And not to be redundant here, but, EVERYONE has a creative voice of some kind. We may not all speak the same creative language, but we should visit other creative "states" along the way. It may lose something in translation, but we will be richer and broader for having taken the trip! Audit a journalism class, if you read the paper. Learn to cook french food if you like to eat it! If you get into it, you might understand and appreciate it better, even if its not your language. Or do what I did, think about it real hard...

So hit the road people -Visit a new "creative state" -Life is a journey!