After my last post where I was reflecting on the origin of the circular motifs in my work, I started to experience nostalgia for my childhood toy. The one that had started it all.
As a result, I went and asked my sisters if they remember the toy I’d described to you in my last post. Both of them don’t. But, I wasn’t surprised. Like I said in my previous post, I was super attached to this toy and I spent hours with it. It might have been mine specifically or for all three of us to play with. Whatever the case was, it doesn’t matter. What I certainly remember is no one played with that toy as much as I did. So, it’s no wonder I remember it so well. And no surprise that neither of my sisters does.
The Search for a Childhood Toy
But because no one except me remembers this toy, I needed to prove to myself that this thing wasn’t just a figment of my imagination. Anytime I’ve described the toy to other people, they either say it sounds like a Spirograph or an Etch-a-Sketch I’m talking about. And each time, I’ll have to say, No. It’s both. Ultimately, I had to summon Google’s help. In fact, because I remember it so well, it wasn’t hard for me to describe it to Google and let it help me find my toy. After just a couple of minutes, going down a few rabbit holes, there it was on my phone screen, just the way I remembered it.
Overcome with Nostalgia
I can’t tell you how excited I was to see it. The nostalgia for my childhood toy had brought me full circle to this moment. I was immediately thrown back in time. Suddenly, I was that 7 year old girl who was so fascinated by the infinite possibilities of intersecting circular shapes. That idea that I could draw anything I wanted with a simple toy. It was all coming back. It was pure joy. The hours and hours of creating something out of nothing. I hadn’t dreamed it up. No. It wasn’t just a figment of my imagination. It’s a real thing. It exists. And it’s exactly the way I remembered it. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve found it and I’m speechless.
My eyes welled up with tears. I’ve found my toy.
Till next time,
Warmly,
Sometimes the best thing to do when working so hard on a project that is not coming together is just walking away from it all. Yes, walk away from your creative project. It’s absolutely the best thing you can do for it. It can be the difference between doing something really creative and something which is just meh (for the lack of a better word).
This week’s project – titled “Fractured” – was a tough one for me to work on. I was excited last week when I came up with the creative technique of making a crazy quilt block with no sewing. Yes, absolutely no sewing. Not even one stitch was involved in creating that patchwork quilt. And I felt so g-o-o-d about the technique.
But then this week, when it came to pushing that idea further and stacking some more ideas on top of that foundation, it became a challenge. Each time I’ll stack ideas on top of ideas, they’ll all come crumbling down. I’ll pick them up, rearrange them in a presumably superior order and somehow, they’ll all come tumbling down again. It kept happening time and time again.
Why You Should Walk Away From Your Creative Project
After working on my project for several hours – longer than a typical 8-hour work day, I knew it was time to change course. I was not making any progress – I was just wearing myself out. And I was getting low on brain energy. I was experiencing decision fatigue. Often making the decision to walk away is a critical part of the creative process.
Walking away allows your brain to connect the dots. It’s called the incubation period. And it’s the reason lots of ideas come together ( light-bulb-moments) in the shower or on long walks.
When you get to the point where you’re not making progress, just walk away from it all for a while.
Our brains need the space to wander and to do their own thing in order to bring our ideas together. Usually, we creatives don’t have the patience to allow this to naturally occur. I’ll be the first to raise my hand up to that charge. When you get to the point when you’re not making progress, though, you need to walk away from your creative project.
How to Walk Away From Your Creative Project
Walking way from your creative project can literally mean
- going for a walk,
- taking a shower,
- sleeping on it
- getting yourself a cup of tea (my personal fave)
- going for a long drive
It means engaging in a totally unrelated activity that allows your subconscious mind the space to keep working things out while you’re no longer actively thinking about it. Eventually, when I came to the realization, it was time to walk away from my creative project, I decided to call it a day and go sleep.
Burning the midnight oil is not always the smartest thing to do. Getting a good night sleep is smarter.
However, I totally understand that when you’re working towards a deadline, it’s tempting to overlook or underestimate the importance of an incubation period. That was what was happening in this case.
I needed to produce the video for this weeks’s episode. And that takes several hours to do. So I was pushing myself to come up with the ideas for finishing the project as fast as I could. But the best thing I did for the project was to go to bed. It’s as simple as that. The next morning when I went back to work on it, it was much easier to make progress.
The French mathematician Henri Poincaré put it this way:
Often when one works at a hard question, nothing good is accomplished at the first attack. Then one takes a rest, longer or shorter, and sits down anew to the work. During the first half-hour, as before, nothing is found, and then all of a sudden the decisive idea presents itself to the mind.
Your Turn
Do you ever walk away from your creative project to regroup? Do share your experiences below.
Warmest Regards,
More and more, I’m finding that creativity is exploration, simple!!
I’m sure there are specific definitions for what exactly creativity is. But I think that when you’re willing to follow your ideas, explore and experiment to see what, if anything, will come out of them, then you’re being creative.
Creativity Means Freedom to Experiment
As I continue working on Stitch The Sketch, it has become obvious to me that exploration is at the heart of creativity. Last episode, I created a piece – Towering Above #1 – that I like. I decided to explore what more I could do with that piece. So this time I picked out the organic shapes in the fabrics I used last week and started to just shade these shapes.
The more I think of it, I realize that the rules can get in your way of being creative. In this case, I should have had a subject that I was going to draw, but I decided not to focus on drawing the subject (the jars) but rather to draw the shapes that make up the jars.
Creativity Means Rules Can Be Broken
By breaking my own rule of starting with a subject, I opened myself up to some more possibilities. Another rule that was broken in this design is using a greyscale color scheme. Although I did use mainly greyscale, I added color in various places. It’s good to have rules and to know the rules. It helps maintain structure and order. However, in order to spark creativity, we need to be brave to break some of the rules. We need to be able to mix things up somewhat.
The design in Episode 33 is one of my favorites. (I thought that about the design in episode 32 too 🙂 ) It’s not of any subject in particular but I just love it. The jars lose their identity to organic shapes. And although this design is not the “all-in-all”, I’m especially excited by the opportunities it presents. Because the possibilities which result from creativity is just as important as the process of creating.
Exploration Means Idea Generation
I see new possibilities to create abstract pieces using this process. I see the possibility of starting with a realistic image and abstracting it to the simplest shapes. Or to start with completely abstract shapes with no reference to reality. The ideas are many and what better way to be creative than to have the ability to generate ideas. If you’re stuck with the same old ideas then you’ll create the same old designs. However, if you can commit to exploration, you’ll generate more ideas and your designs will evolve with time. And that’s where we all want to be.
Question: Do you use exploration to generate new ideas for your work. Share your thoughts below.
Warmest Regards,
Watch the entire Stitch The Sketch Series here.
Our creative lives are laboratories. Testing, trying and proving new methodologies are just what we do. Constantly, we learn something new every day.
It was just last week, I thought I’d learned what techniques needed to be learned in stitched drawing so I was going to move on to learn something new in design principles. This week I was reminded that learning is never done – it’s a lifelong process. You relearn the old, learn something new and unlearn some old stuff.
You learn something new every day if you pay attention. ~Ray LeBlond
The subject of this week’s work is hand-painted fabrics. Previously I’ve used hand-dyed fabrics or fabrics that ”read” as one color but not this week. When I peeked into my stash of fabrics, I saw these dye-painted fabrics that have never been cut into with a pair of scissors, just begging to be used.
I couldn’t resist the look in their big brown eyes begging for me to take them to my cutting table to use in this week’s project. How could I resist? I’m a sucker for pretty fabric.
Suddenly, the fact that previously, I’ve only used single colored fabrics became a problem. I didn’t have the skills to deal with the lovely set of multicolored fabrics in front of me. I needed to come up with a plan of action really quick. A good plan on how I was going to choose thread colors.
Choosing several values of the same color thread like I always do wasn’t going to cut it this time, because of the multiple colors in these fabrics. I needed another approach.
There’s More Than One Way to Learn Something New
Initially, I went by just color and simply echoed the shapes in my design but that didn’t work too well. So I tried something new. I used the colors in the fabric as a guide for choosing which thread colors to stitch with.
For each fabric, I isolated the colors in that fabric. Then for each color, I identified the various values of that color in the fabric. I then made my thread choices based on the different colors and values I’d identified in each fabric. Bingo! I got it to work.
You don’t understand anything until you learn it more than one way. ~Marvin Minsky
It’s a multi-step process – a little more involved than my previous approach. But when you want the fabric to speak for itself, this approach works great.
The painted fabrics already look beautiful and I have no reason to not let them shine. I just wanted to add texture. By matching each value and color in the fabric with threads, I allowed the fabric to take the lead instead of being overshadowed by threads. The two elements together worked well to create this week’s piece.
Another lesson learned in choosing thread colors for a stitched drawing. Just when I thought there’s no more to learn, I learn something new.
How about you? Do you find that you make new discoveries in your creative journey when you’re least expecting it? Did you learn something new this week? Do share below.
Warmest Regards,
Watch and read about the entire Stitch The Sketch series.
I started drawing a teacup for this episode and I had to leave for my art group meeting. Would you believe that when I walked into my friend’s house for the meeting, there lying on her dining table was a pile of teacup-themed paper napkins? Before I could pull the chair and sit, I asked her if I could take one of her napkins home with me.
So although I’d sketched the outlines and cut out some collage pieces for this work, I haven’t yet shaded my sketch. So guess what, the paper napkin, became my inspiration for how to shade the drawing. Looking at multiple reference photos for a piece of drawing is always useful. I find that art inspires art and more importantly, everyday things inspire art. Inspiration is all around us. All we’ve got to do is “see”.
For Inspiration, See Differently
Whenever you find yourself needing a creativity boost, just look differently at the stuff around you. They’re all potential sources of inspiration. What could you create with them? Another question to ask is “what are other people using the same things for?”Or, ” What story can you tell about that thing?” The ideas are bound to start flowing when you ask these questions. And before you know it, you’ve got something you’re excited about working on.
Sometimes, I start with an idea and soon discover that it doesn’t hold my interest for long. When I’ve tried a couple of times to get it to work without any avail, I just dump it and move on to another idea. Often, it takes several iterations of this process to find what excites you. One thing is for sure, though, when you find that interesting subject, you wouldn’t need anyone to tell you. You’ll know it. Just latch on to it and run with it. Even if you don’t know how to make it work to start with, you’ll find a way because you’re inspired
Where Inspiration Resides
Working on something that inspires you, something that you find exciting, I think is more important than working on something that you think others may like/accept. Because you need to be able to work past the roadblocks when they arrive (for they certainly will). Your inspiration will help keep you going, even when it gets tough but the opinions of others will not be around to help get you over the hump.
Starting to work on even a slither of inspiration can take your workplaces that you couldn’t have imagined.
Here’s my paper-napkin inspiration for this week.
Front of Stitched Drawing
Collage, Stitch & Dye
Reverse Side of Stitched Drawing
VIDEO
Questions: Where do you find your inspiration? Do you find it difficult to get inspired? Share your thoughts below.
Warmest Regards,
Watch and read about the entire Stitch The Sketch series.
Wo hoo!! Our first double-digits episode -number 10 !!! I’m doing the victory dance right now. What a learning experience this has been so far. I’m thankful to all of you for your continued support and interest in this challenge. Your comments truly keep me going.
I entitled # 10, “Around the Neighborhood”. This started off as a scene I saw in a drawing book. A short while back, I wouldn’t have thought of attempting to draw this scene. But after several months of sketchbook practice, I’ve gained the confidence to draw multi-object pictures. Don’t forget to scroll down to the Tips and Techniques section to learn how to start your own sketchbook practice.
Here’s my original pencil drawing that I used for this episode. My aim was not to capture every single detail in the scene but to capture enough to make my drawing look good.
And here’s the front of thread drawing the same picture on fabric
And here’s the reverse side of the thread drawing
Finally, here’s the video showing me thread drawing this piece. Scroll down after the video for tips on sketchbook practice. I acknowledge that not everyone will enjoy or like to draw but you owe it to yourself to find out. So come on over after the video and discover tips to get you started on your very own sketchbook practice.
If the video doesn’t appear, please click this link.
Tips, Techniques, and Tools
Daily Sketchbook Practice
I know some of you have tried several times to draw and have given up, accepting that you could never draw. I also know that not everyone will want to even learn to draw and that’s also fine. But if you have a desire to learn to draw but you think drawing is a skill exclusive to a limited few, I urge you to try a sketchbook practice like I did. What I can tell you is this,
I’d never have known I could draw if I’d never tried it.
There’s nothing to lose, just give it a try.
Here’s how:
- Commit to a daily sketchbook practice. You don’t need a lot of time. If 15 minutes is all you can afford, then 15 minutes it is. Whatever you can achieve in that amount of time is great. It’s 15 minutes of drawing you wouldn’t have done otherwise.
- Don’t overcomplicate your sketchbook tools, use simple and easy to find stuff around you. All you need is a sketchbook (even copy paper in a binder will do), pencil and eraser.
- Make your tools portable. I’ve got a small sketchbook 3.5” x 5.4” in my pocketbook. I carry a pencil and eraser in there too. You want to have your tools handy for drawing whenever you have those free 15 minutes, whether it be at home or anywhere else.
- Start drawing simple everyday things in your sketchbook – an apple, a book, a cup. Don’t start by trying to make masterpieces. Just enjoy the process and cultivate the habit of a daily sketchbook practice.
- When you miss a day or two, or ten, don’t give up. Continue to work at it. Gradually, your practice will build confidence in you.
I hope you’ll try out a sketching practice and let me know if I can answer any questions for you.
Warmest Regards,
Watch and read about the entire Stitch The Sketch series.
Last year went by so fast I don’t know where it went. It was certainly a busy year for me. In some aspects, it went by really fast and in others not fast enough. As I look back at the year and my creative journey, I see that I took on some challenges which were bigger than me. And I also dared myself to play and try out things for fun.
Last Year’s Artist Challenge
The biggest artistic challenge I took on last year as you all know, was to start work on my hand series. And although I haven’t yet scraped the surface of the subject by any means, I’m glad for daring to try in the first place. It’s kept my mind busy and kept me going when I would’ve stopped to consider all the things I wish I could have, would have, should have done, but couldn’t do.
Satisfaction is in the Pursuit
Satisfaction is found in the pursuit (the creative journey) and not necessarily in the destination itself. But if that destination should by any chance turn out to be beautiful, then alas, you’ve got yourself a double whammy.
The pursuit of accomplishing a purpose alone is enough to wake you up from your bed and put you back to recharge for the next day. When I look back at the year, if I’d been able to complete all that I wanted to do with the hand series, then what else? I would have been truly bored.
Challenges Give Purpose
I look back at the year and I choose not to be critical of myself. I choose to be grateful for the challenges that gave me passion to wake up daily. Working towards something that’s bigger than you is what makes you jump out of bed with purpose every morning. So I encourage you to find that one thing – big or small. Look at this new year and ask yourself what can I do that is challenging and yet will be fulfilling.
It’s not so much about what the final outcome is going to be. Rather, it’s about having something to look forward to and to work at everyday.
Challenge yourself beyond your comfort zone and be prepared for an interesting and sometimes bumpy creative journey that will be so satisfying this year. Happy New Year.
Warmest Regards,
A while back, I was reading an article on mashable dot com about creativity and innovation. It’s been so long, I can’t find the link to the article. In the article, the author discussed research done by three universities on the topic of creativity and innovation. One of the main findings of the research was that having creative abilities does not guarantee any improvement to employees place of work or to their individual endeavors.
Creative ideas need to be captured and implemented in order to be of any benefit. In other words, many people have creative ideas but just a few of these ideas end up in products or services that we can use, appreciate or see.
If I’m honest with myself, I’ll confess many a creative thought goes through my mind every day but only a few of them, if any at all, get acted on.
Those who are recognized as creative people are those who’ve taken action on their creative thoughts.
Therefore, it is safe to say, for every creative person, they are probably 10 more who have similarly great creative thoughts but they aren’t acting on those thoughts.
Take Action on Your Creative Thoughts
And for those of us already acting on our creative thoughts, let’s act on even more of those thoughts, we can only improve on what we are doing.
For those who are not acting out your creative thoughts, I encourage you to take that first step to creating something wonderful.
Write down your thoughts, share your ideas with someone, or start researching your idea. You’ll be surprised where these first steps will lead you to. As I always say to people “you’ve got to let out your creative genius”. It’s in there somewhere, waiting for you to take that first step to letting it out.
Robert M. Hayes an information scientist, put it in not so flattering terms this way, “Held in the palms of thousands of disgruntled people over the centuries have been ideas worth millions – if they only had taken the first step and then followed through.”
For ideas on how to act on your creative thoughts, check out this interview on how to jump start your creativity.
As always, I love to hear what you think. Leave a comment.
Warmest Regards,
This here is a follow-up to my previous article on my interview with Patricia Corbett about Jump Starting Your Creativity. Patricia is a very inspiring person who has worked hard to accomplish all that she has. As the oldest child of her family, Patricia started off by working to support her family while taking night classes.
She worked her way all the way up to become an accomplished opera singer and then later, an artist whose works have been widely shown all around.
If you are looking to grow as a creative person, Patricia has some words of wisdom for you.
Like-Minded Associations
As a creative person, competition is a good thing. Join 2 or 3 professional organizations of like-minded people and share your work with them. As your work gets critiqued and as it competes with the works of the other members, you get inspired to do better work and grow.
“I’m from a very large family. Being from a large family … what happens is that there is a competitive ambitiousness that comes about. You compete among yourselves. It could be frustrating sometimes but it’s a way of being inspired.”
Five of Patricia’s 11 siblings work in varied media and her brother Michael Carpenter, is an OPA Signature Artist. Patricia is also a member of various professional organizations.
Voice:
As a creative person, there comes a point where imitation should begin to fade into inspiration. You have to switch from just imitating to a place where you start to bring out of your own self what it is that you like about the things you imitated. When you’re no longer imitating but other works begin to serve as inspiration for you to create what you want to create, then you’ve found your voice.
“As a singer it took me many years to find my own voice because I was imitating all the famous singers. And that’s a good way to learn – learn by imitation. But eventually, you have to find your own way of [doing things]. Finding your voice means you have the techniques, the principles and now you let go and start creating from your inner core.”
Talents
“When I was younger singing, I thought it was magical. I thought I’d just sing beautifully and they won’t be able to say no so the big shock was it’s a mixture of experience (which comes from practice) and good technique.” Talent helps. I’ve been drawing since I was a little girl. It just came naturally. I could see well-known artists who couldn’t draw and all of a sudden, they passed me by in many respects because they were practicing.
While Patricia was concentrating on growing her career as an opera singer, the artists she knew passed her by until she returned to painting again much later in her life.
Success:
Patricia starts by saying “don’t wait to be successful as a …painter [creative person]”.
As soon as you start creating, you are a [creative person]! She contrasts that statement by saying.
“You cannot give up. [You’ve] got to have the background of hard work, of losing, of failure, to create success. You have to fall down a lot to be able to stand up and be successful.”
Many, many words of wisdom.
Thanks a lot, Patricia, it was a wonderful interview and I enjoyed the polenta wrap 🙂
As always, I love to hear what you’ve all got to say. See you in the comments section below.
Warmest regards,
There is Nothing Childish About Visual Storytelling:
Doodling, Sketching & Coloring
The other day, I came across this interesting piece of information and I thought to myself: who better to share this with than all of you here on the blog. This is what I discovered- Adult coloring books are on the rise!! Say what? Yes, adult coloring books are on the rise and two of the top ten selling books on Amazon (at the time of writing) are actually adult coloring books.
Let me just start by saying, I wasn’t even aware that there was a demand for adult drawing books. So to discover that they are so hot that bookstores can’t even keep up stocking their shelves was a surprise to me.
Most people are getting into doodling, coloring, drawing because it is relaxing and gets them to take a break from the electronics. Go figure!!
Doodling, drawing and creating all sorts of art is not for creatives only. They are very useful ways of keeping the brain active and sharp. Putting pen or pencil to paper (whether drawing or writing) helps us think. It can make you become fully aware of ideas, concepts, and emotions. It is a great tool for enhancing creative thinking.
Looking back on how I learned to draw with the sewing machine, I see that doodling helped me a lot with practicing to stitch designs. I simulated stitching on a sewing machine, by doodling without picking up the pencil till the design was complete. Throughout his article, you’ll see some designs I doodled in my sketchbook and directly onto fabric.
Doodling Fosters Creative Thinking
Doodling, sketching, and coloring are different ways of creative thinking for adults and children alike. Sunni Brown is a woman on a mission to get adults to do more of that. She leads a “revolution” (her word, not mine) to get people to communicate more visually. Get this! Her focus is not on creative types- No way! It’s in corporate America because we all (creatives and non-creatives) need to think creatively. She teaches that there are significant connections between doodling and thinking, sketching and problem solving, and visual language and creativity.
Sunni argues that as children, no one teaches us to doodle and draw – it’s inborn. And then, when we go to school, we’re taught to forget that way of thinking to learn the new and unnatural way of thinking and communicating with alphabets and words.
Doesn’t she sound totally convincing? She does and so I’ve decided to embrace my doodling some more- not so much for creating art – just for thinking and expressing myself.
Your Turn
Are you doodling, sketching or coloring? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. As always, I love to hear what you’ve got to say.
Warmest Regards
