Time Spent Being Creative

When you give people the same tools, options and supplies it is astounding what their imaginations can create. Though Albert Einstein was a brilliant scientist he still understood the power of the imagination. Creative people do creative things, think new ideas and astound us with their ability to see the world differently.

As my goal is to create 365 different calligraphy pieces for my blog, I have to constantly be working and coming up with ideas. I spend a great deal of time playing and making backgrounds or patterns to use as backgrounds or layers for my work. To do that I go through a lot of paper. Some ideas hit me right off the bat and others need time to grow. The ones that hit me I work on right away, the others I put in a bin and visit again later. I never really know what will tickle my fancy so I have prepared my studio space for anything. To be creative and let the imagination thrive I need space, time and options, and maybe a bit of caffeine.

To get started I comb through books with quotes, sayings, one liners and poetry. I have written hundreds of sayings in several notebooks, this year I am using that fodder for a great deal of my work. When the words inspire I can usually “see” the piece and then I begin. I pull out a background or layer I created earlier and use it to bring the piece to fruition. I may go through several versions until the words are represented the way I imagined.

What idea is percolating in your head? And where can you go to find other things to spark more creativity to build on that idea? Watch a movie, read a book, google for art and artists who do or create and design things that blow your mind! Looking and searching for ideas is the research that fuels a vivid imagination. No one creates is a vacuum nor do we find inspiration when we are stuck in a box. Social distancing may have limited our ability to go far from home, however the internet provides an endless platform for seeing anything.

What if today you just put pen to paper, or cut up something, or played a game or flipped through an art website to see how your imagination can come alive? Time spent doing something creative is time well spent indeed. You never know where that one photo or image may lead…give it a go.