New Year, New Starts....
I like fresh starts. I love seeing where creativity takes people, how they use materials or combine colors. I'm thinking the New Year is the perfect time to think about where those of us who are driven by the need to create want to go this year. Here are some of the things I decided I want to do:
Push myself to find more ways to fit creating things into my schedule.
Finish pieces that have been growing in my head but haven't made it into form.
Use my materials "stash" in new and creative ways, but get them USED.
Rework or throw away projects that didn't quite work.
Follow the muse that has me doing sketches and making notes about project ideas.
Play more.
How about you? Any creative resolutions for the new year? This could be just the perfect year to go the workshop you're dreaming of, to try that product you saw in the magazine, to experiment with a new technique or revisit an old one. Wherever the muse takes you, I wish you a Happy CREATIVE New Year!!
Push myself to find more ways to fit creating things into my schedule.
Finish pieces that have been growing in my head but haven't made it into form.
Use my materials "stash" in new and creative ways, but get them USED.
Rework or throw away projects that didn't quite work.
Follow the muse that has me doing sketches and making notes about project ideas.
Play more.
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| Auditioning Fabrics for a new clay/fabric wall piece - Betsy J. Parker |
How about you? Any creative resolutions for the new year? This could be just the perfect year to go the workshop you're dreaming of, to try that product you saw in the magazine, to experiment with a new technique or revisit an old one. Wherever the muse takes you, I wish you a Happy CREATIVE New Year!!
OK, then! Great perspective on creating! Since I'm not creating as much in visible works from my hands these days, my own creating (as does that of any artist, actually!) has to start with creating new perspectives on how I am to live my life and go through each day.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm feeling joy within, I know my creation -- my life of creation -- is working, and sometimes a work from my hands is the result. And those works flow with happiness and without pressure.
There are also creations that come out of other emotions than joy, and as long as the other emotions are not taking over and clouding the substance of who I am, they're also appropriate and may result in a visible work that works.
The completion of any work, visible or not, comes from the completion within me. From taking care of the threads left hanging instead of just hoping that maybe another go-'round in the washing machine will take care of them!
Happy New Year to all you creative souls. We are all blessed by your creations -- visible or not. Thank you!
Oh, I admire you for your bravery . . to throw out those projects that never quite worked . . re-work I can do though, but it is learning to know when you can't re-work any more.
ReplyDeleteBy nature (and it is hereditary too) I cannot 'finish' a project. I have to leave something, not necessarily obvious to anyone else, not quite finished. I wonder what that says about me?
I guess the one committment I hope to stick to is not to increase my hoard (please note, I have a hoard, not a stash) until I have used up most of it!
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda . . Happy New Year!
Great take on things, Betsy. It's bigger than just "making things." I love the hanging threads imagery! And Deborah, as a dedicated hanger-on to things, I've finally started to learn when I've reached the limit of reworking and just have to disconnect. Not perfect at it yet, but any small progress is still progress...
ReplyDeleteIn a sense, no piece is ever finished since our first reaction to a finished piece creatively is often to see something we could have done differently, better, etc, etc. So perhaps your leaving something unfinished is symbolic of your instinctively knowing that. Here's to the hoards and stashes of all creative folks. There is joy in knowing what magic is hidden in the piles of this and that- even in reworking! Happy New Year and Happy Creating to us all!