Feel Good Detail 3

Feel Good Detail 2

Feel Good Detail

Feel Good in My Body

On Aug 19 2011 I made this little collage. I stuck with orange shades and images of light. The upturned hand didn't really fit with the orange and light theme, but I was compelled to include it. The words "Feel Good in My Body" appeared, pre-cut, out of nowhere. I must have cut that out some time ago and it just slipped out from between the pages of one of the magazines. Those words tied the hand image and light images together for me: for what are we but sparks of light within the structure of the body? I included several details of the collage just for fun. It turns out the collage was a little preview of the next day's activities. On Aug 20 I saw Terrence Malick's Tree of Life. It was full of similar images of light in darkness.

bluegreenblackyellow

I just really like this photo for its colors and textures and wanted to share it. It looks best enlarged.

Spiral Square Cross 2

If you can see the image enlarged, the spiral is in the front, winding up the old allium stalk. I took this picture for the spiraling morning glory, not realizing that there were squares and crosses in the windows in the background. The emerging theme in the past 3-4 weeks has been to look again and see what was unseen. The images present themselves without my effort. This reminds me there is unseen support presenting itself to me all the time, whether I notice it or not. Neat.

SpiralSquareCross Collage

I deconstructed some magazine images of crosses, squares, and spirals. Then I constructed this collage. Some of the symbols were invisible to me until I put it all together. I didn't believe I had found any crosses, but I see them now.

square,cross,spiral

Today I deciced to photograph different elements of the garden since so much of my creativity goes into gardening. And looky-here! Three universal symbols were
waiting for me on the back steps.

June 20 2011--Questions about a Daily Creative Practice

ANSWER TO QUESTIONS

Cultivating a Daily Creative Practice

 How did you figure out what your practice would be?

My original rules were: try to do this the first thing in the morning, so it’s not following me around with guilt all day long. AND wait to see what moves me as being the right thing to do. It could be writing and it could be drawing-doodle-collage.

Originally I told myself to look for beauty/synchronicity/excitement but I usually ended up writing/drawing about something that was gnawing at me.

 Did you find yourself thinking about or noticing things re: your practice throughout the weeks?

Yes, as I woke up I began obsessing about my topic for the day. Usually an event the day before would point me to what I needed to investigate creatively. Or sometimes the wispy memories of a morning dream pointed to the subject of the day.

 What are your rules? Have they evolved?

Yes, they did evolve. I started my creative practice when it was cold out and I had not started my 2 porch gardens yet or my garden in the front of my house or my garden in the backyard. When I began planting, I told myself that spending 2 hours in the garden center picking out hundred of plants –will this coleus with a tinge of hot pink in its leaves go with this New Guinea impatiens I’d picked out--- and will they both grow together, was definitely a creative practice.

Besides the planting of all my gardens, I continued writing in the morning for about 15 to 20 minutes.

 What helped you keep doing it?

It’s a perfect attendance kind of mindset—although in truth I live my life making creative decisions every day—I didn’t do the creative practice every single day.

 What hindered you? And how do you deal with it?

My body hindered me. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. Time hindered me. Appointments too. I’d have to be somewhere at 9 and by the time I got home, I was tired. Some days, I was a rebel. I am too tired and cranky to do anything that resembles a creative practice and so I didn’t do it.

But then, I’d wake up the next morning and start fresh.

 Did you write about your creative practice, take notes, journal?

Yes, I mostly wrote about how I came to the idea of doing the visual part of the DCP. But as an art major who was really going to major in journalism, I have to admit that my first and favored mode of expression is writing. The visual I can usually see in my mind. It’s the craft of nailing myself to a chair and getting out my art materials and doing the piece that took me hours sometimes.

 Are you documenting your progress? How?

I really wish I had documented more but this was one step in the process that I didn’t do.

 What advice would you offer others interested in a creative practice?

Try it for 7 days in a row. And for the days that you are too tired or too congested with activities, take 10 minutes and tell what you would have done if you had the time.

 Have you noticed any changes, awarenesses, in the quality of your life since you’ve started your practice?

This is a loaded question! You can’t help but notice. That is the purpose: to heighten your awareness. If, after doing a DCP for 49 days, you don’t feel more aware, check in with a doctor or therapist. The purpose of DCP is to ENLIVEN your spirit, to reflect on yourself, your life, and to feel more spirited.

 How does your original intention for the practice compare to where you are now?

My original intent didn’t include time (See what I can do in 15-20 minutes, then stop).

And so, I went overboard each day and burned out after 4 weeks. And I went back to writing for 15 or 20 minutes, no drawings, for the last 2 weeks.

Where I am now is in a state of delight and gratitude and heightened awareness. I am also in a state of conflict, wanting to record and document everything, and knowing I can’t do that and also wash the dishes and feed the cats.

 Are you having fun yet? Do you think you’ll continue?

Some days it’s fun. Some days it’s work. I’m not sure I will continue every single day, but I definitely have the tools to do something different than just write each day.

Final Exam

• How did you figure out what your practice would be?
• I was already doing a sketch a day, so I knew I wanted to work on the development of some of the sketches into other artwork.

• Did you find yourself thinking about or noticing things re your practice throughout the weeks?
• Yes, I found myself looking at the world more in terms of composition -- always trying to figure out what masses made arresting arrangements, etc.  Also discussing the practice with other people definitely puts it to the front of my mind. Not only being prepared with something to report on, but listening to how others interpret DCP and  what different ways there are to approach it.

• What are your rules?  Have they evolved?  
• My rules are to sketch a small sketch once a day and to think about and/or develop my sketches into paintings, collages, other sketches, etc.

• What helped you keep doing it? 
• The group meeting, the Sketch-a-Day book.

• What hindered you?  And how do you deal with it? 
• Thinking about it and not doing it. I try to make up for lost sketches by doing a couple at a time. But I'm not really concerned if I miss a day or two. I know I'll come back to it.

• Did you write about your creative practice, take notes, journal?
• Sporadically. I like to write down the ideas and thoughts that come to me while I'm making art in class.

• Are you documenting your progress?  How?
• Sporadically. The actual daily sketches are documentation of a sort. 

• What advice would you offer others interested in a creative practice?
• Let everything count in the beginning. These are not big art projects. These are little daily events. It's the accumulation of these little daily events that are going to change your life. 

• Have you noticed any changes, awarenesses, in the quality of your life since you’ve started your practice?
• Yes, all of the above changes are making art more a continuous part of my life on a daily basis. I think about it when I'm stressed out by work or family, and it's like taking a little vacation.

• How does your original intention for the practice compare to where you are now?
• I would still say I'm pretty much on track. It's a method for developing an approach to art/creativity that I can use for the rest of my life.

• Are you having fun yet?  Do you think you’ll continue?
• I am having fun in a way. Yes I will continue.