Creativity, Joy, Permission, MESSterpiece, Progress = Contribution

CREATIVITY. IMAGINATION. ORIGINALITY. BRILLIANCE.

• Where does 'it' come from? 
• How do you foster creativity?
• What's the connection between capability and accomplishment? 
• Where does talent fit into the equation?
• What is the role of inspiration in the process of creation? 
• Is it possible to grow originality and flair? 
• How do you cultivate inventiveness? 
• Are there fairies and gremlins involved in awakening shazam? 
• Where does gumption fit into the equation?
• What does it take to have hot flashes of genius? 
• How long does it take to claim a new skill as your own? 
• What activities jumpstart an awakening? 
• What do I want to be when I grow up?  

Susan Hale's personal sketch journal of her travels, shared during her Master Class

Sublime Snowbird Summer Season Subsides

In real-time today is a day of packing. We leave at dawn tomorrow for the other side of our snowbirding equation. Packing up is always a time for reflection and introspection. Where does the time go? How well was it spent? What lies on the horizon? 

Immersing myself up-here in the unique and creative culture of this peninsula affords me the opportunity to rub shoulders with creative genius-at-work. These first several images are from my opportunity to attend Susan Hale's master-class at Edgewood Orchard Gallery a couple weeks ago. Yes. Those are her tubes of paint in the sunshine. Yes. The quote is from those two golden hours at her elbow. Yes. It is pure JOY to watch this woman in action. To watch and listen? PRICELESS!

"Give yourself permission to make a MESS-ter-piece."  

In the two hours of her class, in addition to watching her painting unfold, I got to hear Susan also speak inspirationally of the creative process: her own process and that of others.... that of her teachers and fellow artists. 

She addressed the need to allow yourself the freedom to explore, the freedom to mess up, start over, rewind, scrape off the paint and start over again. Oil is a forgiving medium for 'messing around.'  She laughed and said that no painting of hers is ever done until it is sold and physically taken away. When she still has access to her work she continues to have the ability to improve, revise, revisit, refresh and resuscitate  She shared that she has dozens of works 'underway' at any given time. Thank you, Susan for your example of brilliance. 

[Today's photos are the second such class of Susan's that I've been fortunate to attend from beginning to end. Hop back in time to see an  earlier class unfold. I have also watched her paintings emerge at length during our Plein Air festival ~~ Click pic to go back in time.] 

So what do I want to BE when I grow up?

Apparently I will be gnawing on that question as long as I have days to consider the possibilities. What I know moving forward into the future? I will allow myself the joy of the MESSterpiece! I will give myself permission to make more messes. I will encourage myself to appreciate the beginning phase of every new opportunity, every new project, every new adventure: where new skills are needed and things are sloppy and raw and in need of editing and rambling is expected and you wouldn't show it to anyone and there's just a glimmer of progress from experiment to experiment but there's a thrill in the process. 

I've written at length on process art for children..... what about process-for-me-as-an-adult? 

Seeing Susan's personal art journal lights a fire. What if I started keeping something of a similar ilk? What if I started? What if I gave myself permission (and time) to sketch? To draw? Where could I find those minutes in a day? In a week? Baby steps, Debbie. Baby steps. I'm thinking that cultivating that discipline would require stepping away from the screen. Hmmmm. That might not be a bad thing? Less screen time? Just mulling over the concept is exciting. Susan's journals were especially small. Maybe 4" by 6" ish. Great format. Keep it handy, available and immediate. (Yup. Talking to myself.) 

Must get to the packing and the departing first. Must say goodbye to this season's daisies.  

I'm certainly NOT a photographer, but I will continue to give myself permission to take LOTS of photos! I have a couple of new daisy shots to add to my collection. I never, ever tire of the daisies up here against the blue sky! What can I do with all of these daisy shots? 

Did you know that I made a 'movie' of JUST my daisies? 

Do you need 5 minutes of calm in your day today? 

Maybe it's time to make another movie?

Having a camera on hand, with both memory card space and battery power available, is one critical factor in capturing moments suspended in time. Giving myself permission to take dozens of awful photos -- of any given subject affords me the opportunity to capture one image worth sharing. I'm mastering the MESSterpiece of photography! What a blessing to be alive during the digital camera era. Oh happy day! Take a couple hundred while you're at it! How much patience do you have? 

I'm new to Instagram. This was the season to start there.

It is a good discipline for me. 

Are you on that sharing platform? 

Again. Instagram is an opportunity to share an image. Limited words. 

Square orientation. 

Crop. Edit. Share. 

Short and to the point. 

Ta-da. 

Having a blog is a platform for journaling out into the world. 

Instagram is a suspended moment in time. 

The network prompts me to look at my day a little bit differently. 

I'm enjoying the 'discipline' of posting there regularly.

Whether I'm looking within my little haven................. 

.................. or out onto the larger canvas surrounding me. 

This is me: old dog learning new tricks. 

New 'non-threatening' platform to share/inspire/learn. 

So. It is time to say goodbye to our goats on the roof. 

Such a fun diversion just out our front door. 

They never cease to create smiles for our village visitors. 

It's time to say goodbye to this unique shade of sky. 

It's a blessing that today's prediction calls for clouds and scattered showers. 

It's easier to pack on a rare gray day. 

It's easier to leave. 

It's time to reflect on the sunsets that breath life to the observers. 

Reflection indeed. 

On Golden Pond.

There are exciting opportunities on the horizon! 

There are new places to go. 

New teachers to meet. 

New schools to visit. 

New things to learn.

New disciplines awaint. 

I have NEW BUSINESS CARDS! 

I HAVE NEW SHOES! 

AND

I HAVE NEW TIGHTS! 

BRING IT ON! 

Let the seasons march on.

Fall brings with it a whole new palette!  

Did you have a chance to *see* my FREEBIE fall printable? Just pop over to our Early Education Emporium for your free download in pdf format. 

By the numbers. 

18: the number of years I've had my own creative company. 

5: the number of years I've been blogging. 

100+: the number of original songs that I've written for children. 

3: the number of picture books that I've published as author/illustrator. 

1: the number of nationally award winning DVD's I've created. 

554: the number of people following me on Teachers Pay Teachers

134,105: the number of followers on Pinterest. 

2,807,995: the number of pageviews on my blog.

2: the number of national keynotes that I've delivered.  

7: the number of grand-wonders in our tribe. 

56: the number of trips I've taken round the sun. 

Isn't it fun to look over the shoulders of others? 

I thought you might appreciate looking at my bookshelf as I continue to wrestle. 

Here are a few of my favorite books on my own bookshelf that speak to all of these delightful issues. 

I have linked them with my Amazon Affiliate code. 

Your shopping via clicking from here is a sweet way to support my efforts as I support yours! 

You can't possibly go wrong with any of these women! 

I guess that it's time to plow back through them again. 

I am at a crossroads. 

So it's off to our next adventure. 

Thanks for your support as I continue my journey. 

We'll see where I end up after taking all of these baby steps. 

By all means pin your favorite. My hope is 'entice' creatives, art teachers and the like to 'discover' my humble efforts and share with their students.