Invoking Your Inner Creative

Salutations Friends!

For a while now, I've been wanting to do a post about being creative and what inspires people to be creative. I have periods of time when I can really tap into my inner creative and come up with all kinds of things covered in awesome sauce. Then other times I just feel like all my creativity is all dried up and I'm just wandering around lost.

I dunno how anyone else is, but I almost have to set the mood to be in a creative space. I typically have more juices flowing when it's after midnight and it's just me, my project, & the silence that night time brings. It's kinda like you don't have all the sounds and distractions of the waking hours and can just concentrate on the task at hand. It's when I've done my best work. Another time I'm at my creative best is when I've seen someone else's work that I really liked.  It could be paintings, sculptures, woodworking, fashion, cooking, or whatever. If it is creative then I can be inspired from it.


A couple years ago, I was able to see KAWS artwork at The High Museum of Art here in Atlanta and it was so awesome! I loved how he kind of re-created the Simpson's and called them the Kimpson's (among other cartoon characters). I wouldn't have thought about doing that, but seeing someone else's idea or take on something makes me think outside the box!

COMPANION: Passing Through
~ Photo Source ~

I'm also a fan of my friend Courtney's artwork. He's been amusing the hell outta me since high school with this drawings. And the things he can do with color pencils are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I've secretly been a little envious of his abilities since I first saw what he could do. I just found this doodle the other day that he did when we were in Spanish class that absolutely cracked me up! Our teacher Ms Finny would always be running of at the mouth and whatever she said she would end in 'Por favor!'

'Silencio, por favor!'

'Everyone sit down, por favor!'

'Open your books, por favor!'

And of course being teenagers, we were bored or sleep and wouldn't pay her any mind.

I've read numerous things where people advise "stocking up" of your creative ideas, so that when you don't feel creative you can nab one of your previous ideas. I've tried this before and it doesn't really work that well for me. I'm just not as passionate about the subject matter anymore once the moment has passed. So I thought I'd look up a few things and see what other advice is out there.

Wiki-How has a laughable 3 step version on how to be creative. I mosdef fail at all 3! It's a work of art! How can it not be personal?

Inc.com on the other hand gave some goodies that make sense to try out when you're in a my-brain-is-empty-of-all-creative-goodness mode.

Funders and Founders says to destroy, be wrong,  & be brave (as well as 28 others tips)! You should definitely check this one out!


So when are you at your most creative? Do you have to set the mood? And what do you do when you have a creative block?

Ciao!

She's Licking the Floor..

Salutations! 

 

 

~photo source~

 

Hello friends & Happy Friday! I decided that one of my goals for this weeks Weekly Wishes was to find some art to inspire me and jump start my creative juices. For me, looking at other peoples creativity seems to ignite ideas inside of my own mind. The same thing happens when I watch Project Runway... I have no idea how to make any type of garments, but my hands always seems to start itching to make something! I generally just pull out some yarn and start crocheting or drag out my sketch pad and just doodle!


I was scouring the internet for art that caught my attention and this painting totally made me laugh! I really love and appreciate street art. It always seems to have some sort of humor, deep thought, or optical illusion attached to it. This mural has a softness to it, like watercolor paints (even though they aren't watercolors) and humor. I totally dig this and kudos to whomever the artist is. I'm sure it was no easy feat! The thing that's killing me is that the tongue is so life like.... I love it!


Honorable Mention: The sky this morning was just beautiful! Half the sky was covered in the dark ominous clouds and the other half was clear with fiery red and orange colors. It was as if the sky was on fire! There was a plane flying through as well that added dramatic effect. It appeared to be dragging the 'fire' with it. :)


What has inspired you today or this week?


Ciao!

 

 



Weekly Wishes #23

 

 

Greetings Friends!

 

 

 

Its that time again for weekly wishes! Did you set any goals for last week? If so, how did they go? Are you just joining me? Let me explain what happens for Weekly Wishes..


 

The Happenings: You share your weekly, monthly, or yearly goals/wishes/achievements and you get to be a part of this big group of people that are doing the same thing. Yay! Wanna join in? Check out The Nectar Collective and add a link to your blog!

 

 

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Welcome to a new week peeps! I for one am having a great week so far and I hope you are too! Over the weekend while I was out and about it was raining, so I finally got to wear my rain boots! I swear it rained every other day.... Up until the point that I actually got the fecking boots! It's been weeks since I've bought them and now I finally have and will get to wear them again today. Yippie! :) They're cute, right?

 

 

 So let's talk about what happened Last Week...

 

 

Last Weeks Wishes

• I was able to work on the baby blanket pretty much every day last week and some on the weekend. It's a slow process right now, because my wrist tendons are somewhat inflamed right now. I do a little bit everyday and it's exciting to see it grow. I even went to my crochet group on Friday and hung out with the ladies at Starbucks! Crochet... Pumpkin Spice... Laughter.. Can't beat that, right?

• Writing out a schedule for my meals really worked for me last week! It was great! I mainly focused on dinner as far as what I was going to cook and/or eat on a certain night. I stuck to it all for one day. This is still a total success in my book. The ultimate goal here is to stop eating out so much. Plus I'm just really tired of fast food. Cooking at home forces me to eat different things and maybe throw in a vegetable or two. :)

• I wanted to exercise at least 4 times last week and I ended up doing 3 or of 4. I'm still happy with this. I was really tired last week, but I'm totally feeling the benefit of the exercise this week thus far. It always seems to take my body about a week to catch and realize that I'm exercising more or eating right. Are you like that too or do you see results right away?

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This Weeks Wishes

•  I really want to make a concentrated effort to get some studying in this week for coding. I tried to yesterday while I was on my breaks at work, but the internet on my phone didn't want to be agreeable. I plan on studying at least two nights this week. 

• As sad as I am to admit this, I really need to de-clutter my living room. It's one of those situations where you have a series of days where you are knackered and purse, yarn, shoes, lunch bags, and laptops, just get thrown on the couch and/or tables with promises thrown over the shoulder to put them away soon. Soon hasn't really come yet, but I want to remedy that this week!

• I've felt a little on the non-creative side lately and so I've decided to make it my personal business to find some art that inspired me and gets some juices flowing.

What's in store for you this week? I hope you accomplish everything you set out to do! What keeps you inspired?


Ciao!

 

It's a Process..

Greetings peoples!

The weekend is finally here and I couldn't be happier! It's been a semi stressful week that I'm glad is now complete. Now it's on to bigger and better things. Fun things.. And in the case of right now.. Yarn things! You see, I have this little obsession with yarn..... So I thought I'd share my creative process with you. 

Usually I have to be in a certain mood to be creative and I can't think up new things to do if I'm stressed. Seeing that I can't be stressed is probably the reason why ideas come to me the way they do. Generally when I'm just waking up from sleeping, an image will just pop up in my minds eye or I will be meditating and an idea will appear and I work everything out in my mind on how to make it, right then and there. Other times, I get inspiration the old fashion way and see something I like and say to myself, 'Hmm.. I should make something like that.'

Then still there are other times when I can't think of anything to do and I have to let the yarn speak to me and let it tell me what it whats to be. I have to be very quiet and listen.........

I hear some of everything like, 'Make me into a pillow.. no no wait! I wanna be a necklace. Hm, or no wait! Wait! I choose to be a scarf instead! Yes! A scarf!!' then of course I go to work and make something wonderful that I can be proud of and recommend because I would use/wear it myself.

Sometimes me and the yarn get into a fight and I get all wrapped up in my work..

This one here told me it wanted to be a 'baby blanket'. I think it lied though and decided it wanted to be an afghan instead. Three skeins later and all I have is a little over half a blanket! It's just not right.. Personally I think it's a bastard move to change it's mind when we agreed upon a baby blanket, but what can you do right? 

In the end though, it's always a happy ending and everything turns out fine. There's nothing else to it really. I make what appeals to me and I love when I find others that are into what I make. It's a really good feeling when you can make something with your bare hands that can bring someone else such happiness! There is no special studio that I have. It's just me, the couch, a good movie and/or audio book, a hook and of course the yarn and I truly love it! So for all of you yarn addicts or creative junkies, where do your inspirations come from?

*Peace*

A. Sparkle