Category Archives: creativity

The Creative Epiphany – Albania’s Newfound Self-Esteem

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

th[9] photo courtesy of travelerphotographs

 photo courtesy of Pinterest

 photo courtesy of gadlin.com

 photo courtesy of Flikr

Here in the USA it is Sunday morning and several of the news programs aired segments about some tenement buildings in the capital of Albania – broken-windowed buildings torn by war, neglected, abused and abandoned, that have been transformed and revitalized by the bold and joyous colors of new paint. The EU apparently objected to this radical change – for reasons we are not sure. The Prime Minister of Albania objected to that proclamation, persisted, resisted and basically said, “We are going to go for it,” in a gutsy move.

He went on to say, in one of my favorite quotes of all time, “Beauty is more intimidating than brutality.”

What an epiphany we have here!

To think that pride, creativity, thinking outside the box and positive initiative manifested in the addition of simple, stunning COLOR in some coats of paint could bring about such a paradigm shift in public thinking and collective self-esteem. Drab, often mafia infested neighborhoods, wasted, forgotten and forlorn, accepted and rejoiced in the jolt of some paint and ….what resulted….was optimism, pride and hope. That absolutely can only be seen as great. Sometimes it is the simplest things that make the most monumental changes for the collective good.

The Creative Epiphany – Sustaining Creativity, Part 2

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

vangogh Van Gogh – a creative talent sustained over a lifetime, in spite of vast misfortune and little reward.

In the previous post I touched upon the subject of Creativity – personifying her as I see her – exposing her fickle nature. Her tendency to use us at her will, wringing every last imaginative drop out of us  and then abusing us and abandoning us  when she grows weary of us. Leaving us with the impression that we are unworthy of her faithful and consistent attention and her inventive charms.

It is a common complaint and a valid observation from artists, musicians, writers – all of you creative ones – that creative inspiration comes fleetingly at times and is difficult to sustain for the long haul. There are those who say that it need only visit you once to make its mark and give you a “15 minutes of fame” distinction. As in the case of the song writer who writes the song that everyone on the planet is humming  which sells a million or more CD’s. Or the author of a New York Times best selling book who then finds that he/she does not have a second best selling book in his/her lifetime – that happens a lot. But hey, maybe you should be thrilled  being a one-hit wonder, because it is better than no hit at all. It puts you on the map. People respect that and it takes you a long way in the game of life.

But still, the thing is, creativity is such a flaky wench. She is never dependable. How can you make the most of her visits and keep her engaged and happy so that she moves right in and stays a long while? Perhaps for a lifetime?

Let us consider the importance of the inner voice. The strength of an inner voice can be tapped into, guiding the creative ones, the artist for example, past enormous earthly noise. This ability to follow an illuminating inner compass allows the genius soul of the artist to triumph over distraction, focus and live on forever through work that is aligned perfectly with the purpose of that artist and his universe during his particularly shining, rarified point in history. His lifetime.

If you, whatever type of creative being that you are, can maintain a consistent level of fine creativity over a long period of time then perhaps you have had the experience of feeling uncomfortable accepting all the credit and praise for your own fine achievements. Creativity seems a separate entity; apart from you; she is the shining one, the genius. Quite honestly, you might feel you were a mere vehicle for the expression of your greatest creative ideas – you were just the means for giving them life. They happened to you rather than by you. You feel that some of your finest work and your most original ideas were effortless and not entirely of your own mind – so “involuntarily” accomplished that they seemed to flow through you from somewhere above you as if your actions were being orchestrated by some far more gifted conductor – the beautiful, illusive, divine Creativity God. You felt like a puppet channeling gifts from beyond, strings attached, arms flying in all the right directions, but totally under the control of another entity.

If you are an artist who can tap into this “flow” of creativity it is more a surprise to you than anyone else that your best work is born through the strokes of your own paintbrush or pen. In fact, it is difficult for you to remember how the process unfolded, as you painted or wrote or composed a song, because initially this “flow” experience was beyond common understanding and unlike anything that had ever happened to you, the creative person, when it first occurred. It was of course your work, it was your style, it was your time and effort; it was your paint and your canvas and it was done in your studio space, but the inspiration was so obviously not of this world and the result so much better than your own mere earthly thoughts could have planned to achieve. When this happens, as the work is progressing, the hours fly by, energy does not wane, the steps taken toward completion are automatic and effortless; this level of inspired work is achieved in far less time than other paintings labored over for weeks. And yet it results in your most inspired work; it is the work of your soul in sync with the universe. Creativity was there in the room, but you were more aware, more present, more inspired than ever, receiving messages from your soul.

Ken Robinson, in his brilliant book about creativity titled Out Of Our Minds, Learning To Be Creative, says on page 154:

“Creative processes draw from all areas of human consciousness. They are not strictly logical nor are they wholly emotional. The reason why creativity often proceeds by intuitive leaps is precisely that it draws from areas of mind and consciousness that are not wholly regulated by rational thought.”

On page 155 he continues:

“The term ‘flow’ has been used to describe peak performances. These are times when we are immersed in something that completely engages our creative capabilities and draws equally from our knowledge, feelings and intuitive powers. These peak performances typically occur when someone is working in their element at the peak of their performance. In this respect, creativity involves particular attitudes and being able to access deep personal resources. There is a further factor, which is difficult to describe. Perhaps the best word for this is passion.”

This magic happens in other creative endeavors besides art – musicians such as Sting speak about having no remembrance of how a particularly brilliant song was written or truly understanding the profound meaning of his own lyrics until years later… Inventors suddenly know what must be adjusted for the efficiency of their revolutionary new whiz-bang idea. Or for another creatively inspired one, a great solution comes by way of a dream. In any case, you had an epiphany – a realization.

A creative epiphany can arrive in a sudden shudder of realization, or a slow unfolding of obscure information that forms a finished puzzle as it reveals itself in your mind. It can arrive via an inner voice from your soul that is most assuredly audible in your mind’s ear as it offers you instant advice or a fast solution to a problem just when you need it. Something seemingly unrelated, unsophisticated and of humble origin might trigger the breakthrough of epiphany required for your missing solution to be heard. Epiphanies come in many costumes. They are not proud; whatever type of energy carries them along is just fine for their purposes. Because whether they arrive in elegant style with pomp and circumstance or in the most common of events, they always bring discovery and illumination, as if a light bulb was suddenly turned on, clearing the shadows of our mind. Epiphany is always offering a previously over-looked solution or a startling jolt of new information or a missing ingredient essential to your creative process thereby clarifying your understanding about something you urgently needed to know. Epiphany always knows what information to bring to you if you will listen. Just listen.

I believe this alignment with the universe, when a brilliant message of creative realization is received and then executed by an aware mind, is a CREATIVE EPIPHANY. 

Epiphany will always be Creativity’s best friend, her illumination, her guardian angel, her candle in the darkness. Epiphany always brings news. Creativity must keep an open mind for Epiphany’s message – so she lives in the now, receptive and eager for that special visitor. She listens for her, she watches for her, she can feel the vibration of her impending arrival whether by a thunderous, earthquake shifting of thought or as subtle information, delivered like the slightest flutter of a butterfly’s wing, discernible amid worldly chaos. When Epiphany arrives, you know it. She has no substitute – she is never mistaken for anyone but herself. All the other crazy voices in your head step aside to facilitate her entrance. She brings full body chills to Creativity.

Creativity dwells in our soul and travels through our hearts and our minds. She enters from the open door of the universe carrying free samples of Inspiration. She gets you out of bed in the morning; she calls for your attention. She sings the music of ideas. She chants mantras of encouragement. She meditates while performing humble rituals. She is the reason for wondering. She challenges you to do more – to continue at your work, your hobby, your garden, your learning, your love of life – and to discover your authentic calling. Creativity is actually always there – she never leaves – but you must be aware and open to her song of epiphany.

Portions of this blog were excerpted from Jo’s book, THE CREATIVE EPIPHANY – Gifted Minds, Grand Realizations available on Amazon.com

link to book www.epiphanysfriends.com

The Creative Epiphany – When Creativity Messes With You, Part 1

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

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You know that feeling – you are drained of ideas, you are parched of imagination, desperate for inspiration – you are wondering if you will ever have another burst of brilliance in your lifetime. You try to force it, using your “last resort” tactics to entice the lovely vixen, CREATIVITY, back into your control. She is nowhere to be found – she took the last train for the coast. She always does this when you need her the most; she is fickle and she cheats on you with other guys. You are feeling powerless without her. You have been robbed of your favorite distinction – you feel so ordinary – so without your edge – so blank – so nowhere.

What to do, what to do…  Music? Food? Shopping? Sex?  Dancing? Running to nowhere? Mingling randomly with your fellow human beings? You wonder how long this vacancy will last. This exile from productivity. This emptiness.

The following is excerpted from my Introduction of my book, “THE CREATIVE EPIPHANY – Gifted Minds, Grand Realizations”:

“Creativity does have a down-side. After all, she is only human, isn’t she? She has ongoing relationship issues with Loneliness, Self-Doubt and Criticism. You have heard the expression, “There goes an egomaniac with an inferiority complex.” Bingo. She does not always play well with others. She has problems fitting in. In spite of her flamboyant, life-of-the-party behavior, she can be quite shy. She sometimes leads a solitary life, fleeting in and out of thought incessantly at odd hours of the day and night and then disappearing for months at a time, completely off the radar. Creativity finds it painful to be taken for granted and does not ever come when she is sternly summoned. Even being labeled “creative” is a heavy load to carry through life. People expect a lot of Creativity. And she tires easily. Sometimes she burns herself up in a colorful flame-out. Then there is Depression…circling around Creativity’s camp like a hyena waiting for pieces of flesh, steadfastly marking his territory. Creativity is sometimes deeply fearful. She is plagued with insecurity. She has foot-stomping anger management issues. She hates criticism and feels tricked when it is called “creative criticism.” She is easily offended. But after a dry spell she appears again, rested and giving, ready for some fresh endeavor because she says, smiling, that she was missing you. To make up for her absence and undependability, Creativity takes you on serendipitous journeys you had never dreamed of taking. She shows you the world in one blink of her exotic eye.”

When Creativity finally decides to return, riding on a grand epiphany, lucky be you.

The next blog entry will explain what to look for and how you can facilitate that experience.

In the meantime, go have some fun, put it out of your mind – and relax!

Link to book –  www.epiphanysfriends.com

The Creative Epiphany – The Historic Denver Perrenoud Building, Where Africa Came Alive for Me

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

   photo courtesy of  historichomesofDenver.com

        photos courtesy of uptownonthehill.com

Little did I know back in 2003-2004 that this remarkable historic private residence, built in 1810, would play such a pivotal role in my life and my art career. The Perrenoud Building, originally designed and built as a family home at 836 E. 17th Avenue, Denver, Colorado for prominent Denver pioneer John Perrenoud and his wife and three daughters, showcases an eclectic mix of classical elements over an enormous span of six separate family apartments  on four levels. The only fully functioning brass and wrought iron birdcage elevator in Denver still transports residents between floors – and originally there were individual dumb waiters ( small elevators in each private kitchen) which delivered piping hot  meals to all residents from the main kitchen located in the basement. Maids quarters were located in the top attic, and a newly restored ballroom is found in the basement, where originally a speakeasy was hidden away, with blacked out windows and ample room to dance and drink forbidden adult beverages.The main floor atrium lobby rotunda with Italian marble floors and fireplace, is a rare gem of an entry foyer – a towering ceiling, open railings and stairways to all four floors and topped by a spectacular, original stained glass window in blues, depicting angels sitting on a cloud. Can you imagine the fascinating history of this place? Do you get visual images of carriages arriving, parties in the ballroom and the grand life?

Today this glorious residence is divided into luxurious condos, each offering old world living with exotic woods and carvings and a European flare right in the heart of downtown Denver, just a short stroll away from the Capitol Building. One condo was purchased by my dear friend Christine-Mahree Fowler. I had worked for Chris, as I call her, for several years as the director of her art gallery. She told me about her experiences in traveling to South Africa – she listened to me talk about how I had inexplicably loved anything African from a very early age. I clipped photos from Nat Geo and I must have watched BORN FREE a hundred times. I knew all about the Big Five before age five. The friendship took off and we became “partners in crime”, planners of ambitious undertakings, dreamers of dreams. We began to make things happen based upon Chris’s many travels to South Africa, my love of the continent and artistic leanings, and both of our knowledges of marketing, sales and event planning.

Within a short time we had partnered in an import business we named UNBUNTU and Chris was going back and forth to South Africa importing art & artifacts from several reputable sources she already had there; I was painting with an ethnic African theme as if I were indeed channeling visions of people and places I had actually never seen, and we were hosting “invitation only” gallery shows of our collection in her circa 1810, 4th floor condo in The Perrenoud. We were a great success for several key years, attracting local African experts and others who were eager to soak up the culture and learn…. The moral of this story is that things can get done if you are creative, persistent and alive with passion for a plan.

Years have gone by and our respective business careers  have evolved, yet stayed intertwined, into new completely different things yet  they are basically, logically and appropriately the result of those earlier seeds! Chris is now working as a consultant for Africa Adventure Consultants, Inc. assisting people with custom safaris.   visit www.adventuresinafrica.com  She is also writing a blog on that very subject here with WordPress – visit www.africantraveltales by CM Fowler that I highly recommend for its content and elegant style in reporting raw news direct from the bush as well as sophisticated Cape Town, its fine art galleries and shopping, wine country and the scenic South African coastal regions..

I am of course still painting, talking to Chris nearly every day and brainstorming with her on our common cause – saving the culture, animals and people of South Africa. The thrust of our creativity is now placed in the direction of making a difference in South Africa – a continent we both feel passionately about – a cause we feel equipped to lend our energy and devotion. I will be going on my first Safari in 2014, accompanied by art students I have taught and friends I have made through the years. Chris will lead us – having carefully arranged the itinerary and chosen sights and experiences that we have particularly requested. We have both decided that importing African art and artifacts should come to an end – Africa should keep and hold those indigenous treasures dear to its heart and its people. What we will continue to do is to learn, enlighten, participate and assist those people who feel as we do – that Africa’s future is at risk and there is much to be done so that much is not lost…and forgotten.

If you have an interest in accompanying us on safari – any variation of custom safari you might imagine – contact Chris, known by most as Mahree  (a South  African name) and ask for some information. You will find no one better suited to listening to your dream and making it happen for you and your traveling companions.

Mahree Fowler

Safari Account Executive

Africa Adventure Consultants

Tel: 720-612-0802  • Fax: 303-778-0633 • Toll free: 866-778-1089 • Emergency: 720 836-6531

Email: mahree@adventuresinafrica.com Blog:http://www.africantraveltales.com

Website: http://www.adventuresinafrica.com  Find us on: Facebook

 

The Creative Epiphany -1830’s Rendezvous & Spanish Colonial Market at The Fort, Morrison, CO 2013

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

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This weekend was the 1830 Rendezvous and Spanish Colonial Art Market at The Fort, sponsored by the Tesoro Cultural Center! The weather on Saturday and Sunday was perfection after a deluge on Friday night – more rain here in the Denver area we do not need, after September floods…but then Saturday the sky cleared and  transformed itself to that deeply saturated blue that is especially evident during Indian Summer in Colorado.

Oh what a fun weekend it was, just 20 minutes away from my door to the legendary FORT RESTAURANT, founded by the great Sam Arnold, now deceased. The Fort is located on the outskirts of the charming town of Morrison, adjacent to the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater and just 300 yards off Highway 285, which winds farther up the canyon to places like Conifer and  Evergreen, my old stomping grounds. There was art, crafts, music, dancing, storytelling, Mountain Men, and more this weekend. In addition to the market, The Fort was also the location for one of the “paint out” opportunities offered to artists with the Colorado Plein Air Festival event, so artists were abundantly sprinkled on the restaurant grounds under massive red rock formations and out on the surrounding high meadows, with Denver off in the distance below. The hilly meadows are lush from the unusual rains – looking as though deep green terry cloth has blanketed the countryside. The trees are in various stages of turning, depending what altitude you are. In other words, the setting felt divinely inspired for this particular gathering.

If you like Mountain Men – the real deal – they were everywhere, dressed out in their local garb, all fringed and beaded, posing for pictures if you were polite enough to ask permission and staring you down with kind but beady eyes that reveal a wild but genuinely unique lifestyle at its best. I felt like I was at a photo shoot for Nat Geo, but ill-equipped with only my cellphone for taking pictures. Still, you get the flavor of things….

The food was elegant  “gourmet cowboy”, to put it mildly. Sam Arnold  used to be on Denver radio talking food long before foodies were named foodies, sharing recipes and folklore. We feasted at Friday night’s opening reception on Mexican chicken, guacamole extraordinaire, chorizo and refried bean dip, and  the beer and wine was flowing. In the main courtyard on Sunday, elk filets were being grilled on an open fire – whether or not you are a meat eater, whether or not you are a hunter, you had to admit the aroma was irresistible and the authenticity of the scene was genuinely 1830.

The craftsmanship of the silver jewelry, the leather and wool clothing, the folk art, the skins, the bows covered in rattlesnake skins was museum quality and the talent of the artists was evident in the fine plein air art ( art that is created out in the open air, taking into consideration the rapidly changing light, weather, sun patterns, etc) being accomplished that day. It was creativity heaven this weekend, especially so if you happen to believe that you were a cowgirl in another life – the only explanation I can think of for my deep affinity to this type of authentic 1830 era lifestyle and art. But that is for another time and a different discussion!

I have included many photos with my blog this time, revealing of the local color and the general ambience of the experience.

The Tesoro Society is “dedicated to protecting and making available to the community the artistic treasures of our American past” and they are such a success at doing just that. What an experience it was!

www.tesoroculturalcenter.org      www.thefort.com

The Creative Epiphany – Proust and You

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire: by Graydon Carter and Risko –

101 Luminaries Ponder Love, Death, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life 

published in 2009

 “An intimate look into the inner lives of our most prominent cultural figures— pulled from the celebrated Proust Questionnaire page in Vanity Fair magazine. The probing set of questions originated as a 19th-century parlor game popularized by

contemporaries of Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that an individual’s answers reveal his true nature.”

The final page of Vanity Fair magazine is always the first place I go when my new issue arrives – the page where my favorite Proust Questionnaire asks prominent people to answer timeless questions first posed by Proust, the famous 19th century author. His questions are probing, brief, and compelling, still, more than a century later. You almost cannot read them through without taking time to compose your own answer. The editor of Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter,  has written a compilation of some of the more sensational entries , available on www.Amazon.com and the authentic Proust family has a website  www.proust.com  that will assist you in compiling a family chronicle based upon the questions and answers given by all your family members. The questionnaire has become a means for truly knowing a person; revealing the character and even the motivation behind people’s personalities.

Without using the exact words of Proust, which I am certain are copyrighted, I would like to ask you a couple questions that will give you the flavor of  the game – because, in its time, it did become a parlor game, to go around the room so that people could take turns and thoughtfully answer them. We played this a couple years ago at a dinner party in my home, with about four married couples present, and me too, about a year after I had lost my husband. The process was hilarious, at times profound,  occasionally sad and yet always fascinating. There were some moments of dead silence, everyone kind of sucking for air, stunned at an answer. As well as satisfying the curiosity of everyone else, you can be sure that many people surprised even themselves with the answers that sometimes came flying out of their mouths like flapping red ribbons of honesty. Shock & Awe. Blush. Gulp. It gets more risky after a couple of adult beverages.

So here we go – now keep in mind these are my own take-offs on his famous questions, and I am no Proust.

Define what happiness is for you.

What scares you the most?

What do you dislike about yourself?

And what do you like about yourself?

When have you lied?

Who is the person you care most about?

Is there anyone you wish dead?

Do you have a favorite quote?

What is your finest accomplishment?

What will you always regret?

Do you have a personal hero?

These few inquiries are about half the number usually found on the final page of Vanity Fair – but I will leave it at that. If you answer these honestly you will probably either love this exercise or hate it. I do believe that age factors into your answers. Younger people will have a younger perspective. Older folks might be less conservative than you might believe, hanging it all out there for everyone to hear. Age often comes with a what the hell attitude. Ouch. But in any case I do find the game intriguing, and of course you can think of some great questions of your own.

What? Me? What are my answers? They vary on any given day.

I am a constantly changing, fickle, second-guessing, never sure, hard to define kind of person. Actually, on second thought, about all the important things in life, NO I  AM NOT. My basic core remains unchanged over time. Some of those questions would have answers that have never changed for me. The questions I can be creative about would probably never be answered the same way twice. Because if there is one steady thing about me it is that I am creative. What I do with it goes racing from one end of the scale to the other but it is a given, written in stone. One component of that creative nature is that I question myself 24/7.

Do you?

The Creative Epiphany – Re-opening Doors

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

Moroccan Door

“There is a time to let things happen and a time to make things happen.” – Hugh Prather

Last week I re-opened the door to a new, deeper friendship with an acquaintance I have had for years but seldom seen. We had lunch, for less than two hours, but it was a such a quality conversation about art, life, etc.  – time well spent in other words  – that I wished it could have continued long into the afternoon. It was a brilliant moment in time, most informative and encouraging, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I learned and how uplifted I felt as a result of that lunch. It was just what I needed and apparently my friend felt the same intellectual connection. I will be seeing more of her. Thanks for your valuable time Jane!

I have recently been concerned with how I spend my time….and I do mean SPEND. It is a commodity that is limited, precious and of great value to me – in regard to time, I am no longer wealthy. Suddenly I am on a time budget because I don’t have forever anymore. Remember when you felt that your life stretched out before you and time was plentiful? Those days are gone for me. A sense of urgency has roughly, rudely, nudged away any comfortable, mental lounging around and replaced it with a “hurry up and do it now” kind of antsy-ness. My new normal state of mind is that I am freshly agitated every single morning, at a time when a lot of people my age are picking up speed with their lack of activity….under the false assumption that they have time enough left to waste.

It is a daily challenge, feeling the urgency of life’s timeline. It is sometimes energizing and other times frightening, or even at certain junctures, downright ridiculous. It is easy to feel foolish about some of the things you find yourself doing. Should I keep my appointment to get a haircut at 1pm or do I have to start planning my trip around the world this afternoon instead? I may not have time for both…

Why don’t I have more stuff on my bucket list? I am missing about a thousand things or more – I need to look around for some other stuff to add and compiling that list will take some time. But I also must save time to paint a great body of work. People are asking me for a third book – I have one lying dormant on my PC right now that could be brought to life with a few breaths of oxygen and a slap in the face.

I haven’t seen my relatives in Ohio for the longest time but I need to see Bangkok. Guilt. What to choose.

So I begin to paint a fresh body of work, wondering how long that will take, measuring NOW against how long it took me when I was relaxed and had time for enjoying the journey. I want to enjoy the journey, I really do, but the stretch of highway I am traveling on is going off the right edge of the map. I know that painting while relaxed is so much more successful than painting in a hurry. But I am….usually….in a mental hurry. I need to smell the roses.

Not ever intending to be maudlin, at least in public conversation, I am usually able to temper my “lack of time terror” with humor and a staunch denial of the numbers of life. The birthdays. The decades. The number of summers I might have left. That’s just way too real for me. I prefer to live in the LA-LA Land part of my brain where I am convinced that the sixties are the new forties and the seventies are the new fifties. I heard that on TV and I want so badly to believe it. HUH? Laughing at that, are you? Wait until you are right there in life….you are suddenly willing to bargain with the devil, the statisticians, the medical researchers and the doubters all at once as the ever growing doom & gloom group they are. Whatever the hell works at keeping the life in my days and the optimism in my years is what I am hanging onto. I actually believe it is almost all mental, but as I say that I look over my shoulder to make sure an unannounced  train is not approaching. Luck certainly plays its part.

Anyway, finding a “new” old friend who speaks my language and lights up my life and who is wise, funny and smart is a true blessing. You are defined in large part by the company you keep and the things you think constantly about, so I am grateful to have a generous handful of quality people around me. The older I get, the more I realize that spending any of my hard-earned time dollars on people who bring me down and contribute less than a quality experience to my precious schedule are sooner or later going to become expendable. Unfortunately I just don’t have hours left in my days for the whiners. If a friend of mine needs help, or a shoulder to lean on, I am 100% in and available, as everybody in my life knows, but if I hear nothing but superficial moaning, groaning and complaining – well then I am sorry but I no longer have the time for that.

Gotta run.

The Creative Epiphany – Creativity’s Home

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

stonesbones

So much is said about the things that fuel creativity – travel, stimulating situations, color, scintillating conversations, people, films, unique situations of contrast,  even just a good night’s sleep. We who’s creativity thrives and continues to evolve, based upon  the endless supply of stimuli we absorb, are often asked where our ideas spring from and how we keep them from drying up. Just how early in life did that ball begin to roll? Someone asked me recently how it was for me, growing up. What were my earliest triggers for my own artistic gene to begin to bud, grow and burst into blossom? What do I credit with igniting this wild and ruthless lifelong pursuit of making things? Is it a voluntary phenomenon or am I powerless against the force of it? What is my relationship with creativity?

Powerless is what I am, a weak and compliant servant in its behalf. I will never stop inventing whole paintings, assembling beads, found objects and discarded items into new things, combining exotic papers on canvas, sewing, gardening, writing, designing and re-designing the arrangement of things in my home, inventing my own recipes, etc etc etc  – ad infinitum until the day I stop breathing. It is what I am about. I do it and I will always do it. I once had a husband who tried at various junctures to stifle this force in me, suppress it just a bit, deny it, doubt it, mold it to his liking and HIS whim – control it!! That effort was met with a DAVID-like force whenever it dared to rear its ridiculous little Goliath head. Creativity has kept prisoners confined for decades alive with hope as they scratch messages into solid granite. It has moved mountains and changed the earth with its ingenuity and imagination. Without it we as human beings are nothing.

If I cannot be creative, then just kill me now. It is my life’s work and my life’s play. It is in my genes. But it’s also in my heart and my soul…

It all began in a childhood home where I found wonder everywhere. Eight acres to roam, and no one caring if I was gone eight hours at a stretch exploring it. Trees to climb, creeks to wade in, hills to sled down, and places to build forts. An upstairs attic straight out of an Edgar Allan Poe story. A large barn with a hayloft  and a playhouse out in the horse pasture, a bunch of pets and other transitory animals to care for, a very large house with nooks and crannies that was by all accounts authentically haunted were all the deep tap root that stimulated my young imagination. I remember every single detail of that home of mine, every paint color on every wall, every piece of furniture in each of its twenty-six rooms. It is all so clear and so dear to me in my memory. I can still recall specific dinners we had there, friends we entertained, my first taste of the new and exotic pizza pie on a snowy winter night after sledding all day, sitting around the massive living room fireplace. The home was more than a mere house. It really did have a soul.

To all that  you add an endless supply of paper products coming my particular way from Grandpa’s furniture store – out of season wallpaper books, catalogues of artwork showing framed reproductions of old master paintings, scraps of fine fabrics saved for me by the ladies in the store basement who made custom drapes and bedspreads, and of course three levels of furniture in every style and personality.  With an available supply of scissors, crayons, paint & brushes, glue – and I had no choice but to answer that calling.

I am fortunate to have been raised in such an atmosphere of possibility. But the point here is, I will suggest that if you are creative in the arts or any other avenue, your earliest home had a great deal to do with it. If being creative and inventive is a path you chose for your entire life, your home of those early years planted the seed. Whether your home was precious or poor or somewhere in between, something about that fine home and the people in it nurtured you and fed you smoothies of creative juice. And you thrived on it and ran with that initiative. It made you who you are.

Now that I am living in Denver again I am able to spend many of my weekends with a dear friend who lives in the mountains just 45 minutes from where I live. The house where I visit is very much like the house of my childhood – not in style but in the magic it adds to my days spent there. It meanders, it surprises at every turn, it enfolds and protects and it makes me smile with pleasure at the visual stimulation it affords me. It’s various collections of things; its books, its music, its rugs, its art and its artifacts that inform me about tribes and people in far off places are all comforting and inspirational to me. I feel young and adventurous on its extensive acreage. We explore, we collect old relics and the bleached bones of animals, we find caves, we climb. By the time I return home again my imagination is re-fueled and ignited into a flickering orange flame of  high creativity that lasts me all week and beyond. My weekends spent there in the pines are like soul food to me and fire to my creativity, and those are gifts to cherish.

Whatever or wherever you might discover that lifts you up to new creative heights, feeds your artistic soul the rich fatty food of imagination, fills your fragile heart with wonder and delight, and sits you gently down again, each and every time, in a better place than before – well that is to be treasured. That would be called your homeplace, no matter whether you actually live there or not.

The Creative Epiphany – The Evolution of Your Creativity

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

DSC00133  Whether you are an artist, a designer, a writer, a musician, a chef, a dancer, a climber – whatever creative path you have chosen that tests yourself – your creativity reaches maturity at some point, given your particular set of skills and how far you are willing and capable of taking them. It has nothing at all to do with chronological age. You can be a fine painter and have mastered your craft by the time you are 40 or even earlier, or perhaps you do not reach artistic maturity until you are 68. But at some point, if you have been diligent about your skills, you feel that you have gained maturity in that particular expression. It does not really mean you have totally mastered all aspects of your craft – it simply means that your expression of it is leveling out to some consistent quality of predictable  goodness. You have reached your full potential, you are as satisfied as you will ever be with your mastery of the craft and you continue to float there, happy as a clam. OK.

The question then becomes, how innovative are you? Will you continue to bravely evolve? Evolution of your creativity is a whole different animal than maturity. Are you mature and stagnant or are you mature but still young at heart and adventurous? Are you stuck in achievement’s sweet success or are you gutsy enough to experiment beyond your comfort level and actually continue to evolve, risking raised eyebrows and looks of confusion in your loyal clientele when they witness the new direction? Will you continue to test yourself and question yourself? Many fine creative people will decide to stick with the known, resting on their laurels, maybe even talking about them incessantly, rather than putting their established reputation on the line and offering the world a fresh, new idea.

It might seem as if an artist, for example, who changes his/her style dramatically and almost overnight has lost his mind, because as a general rule an artist’s  voice evolves gradually over time…. people can track the subtle changes over the years and see them up close in retrospective shows. They can see things coming – they are never too surprised because nothing very drastic has happened. If that artist is thinking outside the box only in the back of his/her mind, down through the years, he perhaps has always considered a second style of expression without doing anything about it.

But many fine artists are multi-faceted and jump from one media and style to another. You know their famous names. Rarely, except in the case of the creative genius, does that happen almost over night and unexpected, but it does occasionally occur. And it has nothing to do with the number of years that have passed or the level of maturity. I will offer my opinion here that most often a giant, somewhat shocking creative leap of faith is purely emotional in origin, set off by some set of circumstances that happen to that artist that  scream CHANGE to him/her. Implementing and revealing that change through creative arts becomes almost involuntary and reactionary – it is after all, an expression, a vision, an epiphany of sorts, the cause of an effect, a previously unuttered  statement. It reveals things, often resulting in shock and awe. How exciting! How stimulating! What a great surprise! Who knew?

In the extremes, dramatic change can signal the end of a long struggle, and the re-emergence of bright optimism. It can also signal the entry into sadness or depression… chances are, the observers will know which it is, or that it falls into the gray areas between. Everyone has a story to tell about how their styles evolved and what the catalysts were for those morphs into the unknown, uncharted territory of new creative expression. We should applaud them for opening a vein and bleeding it all out there. That requires courage and adrenaline because it involves private information of personal internal change.  Your creativity is a visual diary, after all. Use it or lose it. Show it so we know it. Be yourself. Be authentic. Hide little. Share. That is true creativity at its best.

For some examples of stories illustrating this subject, read my book THE CREATIVE EPIPHANY by Jo Ann Brown-Scott available on www.Amazon.com, in particular the chapter by Southwest artist Randy Pijoan, titled “My Majenta Return.”

The Creative Epiphany – Every 17 Hours, here it comes again…

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

bed

Every 17 hours or so I try to get some sleep. Some nights it is effortless and deep and other nights not so much. So then I lay quietly listening to the music of the night, as they say in Phantom of the Opera.

“Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness  stirs and wakes imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses. Helpless to resist the notes I write, for I compose the music of the  night…

Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor. Grasp it, sense  it, tremulous and tender. Turn your face away from the garish light of  day. Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light,  and listen to the  music of the night.”

Read more:  Phantom Of The Opera – Music Of The Night Lyrics | MetroLyrics

My experience in the hours from 11pm to 3 or 4 am are not quite so romantic. I hear the crescendo of ice cubes falling like freighter sized shards of arctic ice from the icemaker into the plastic, clattering container way out in the kitchen. I hear the crickets outside – the incessant cricketing – I know it means they are trying to attract a mate. Holy Cow, how can that take all night long and require such a deafening screeching. I hear the distant train, the far-off siren, the flutter of an outdoor creature….perhaps an owl or a bat. Coyotes howling. I hear my own stomach growling, contents of my innards slurping along the tube they are in like a waterslide ride. I hear things I cannot explain. The house has a life of its own; it creaks and groans as it cools and settles. Pipes snap as if they are breaking; the fridge hummmmmmms. Rumbles and …. or was that thunder? Will it rain? I listen for rain. No, it is the wind picking up.

In addition to that roar of auditory stimulation I hear the louder thoughts in my head and I see images randomly presented to me in a rapid fire stream of almost unconsciousness. It is on like ping pong. There will be no sleeping tonight. Obscure fleeting ideas, not fully formed and recognizable, fling themselves at my screen. The colorful day’s activities parade past the inside of my eyes. Who was that person I saw do that amazing thing….did what’s-his-face really say what I thought I heard him say? So worried about my friend who has cancer. Am I going to have to call the handyman again about the thing? That movie did not turn out as good as it was supposed to be. I wish I had bought that cowhide rug I saw. I have always wanted a cowhide rug. Why can’t I find the size canvas I need? I think paint is on sale. Did I remember to call the lady back about the insurance? Who was that person who waved at me – did I know her? Why is my hip hurting. I think I forgot to plug in my phone.

None of this makes any sense to me in the dark purple of my room in the middle of the night. It is an exercise in fruitless thinking. It is never ending and always changing providing nothing and yet it is everything…. in my simple mind world. But I solve no world problems. I have no illuminating realizations. How we can truly save the whales and end world hunger and make that horrible weed go away and die – the one that is choking and devouring our outdoor spaces around the globe. Those solutions do not come to me in the knot of my covers inside my fetal position with my pillows scattered. The night has been a failure to sleep and to solve.

Except once in a while – once in a great whopping while – a super duper idea will come to me that seems pure genius. Usually it’s an idea for a painting composition or a blog or a third book or a recipe or a unique vacation or a great original quote from me that everyone will remember or a creative solution to some issue I needed to finish. If that happens, I force myself to sit up and write it down on the tablet next to the bed. Far too many brilliant ideas were totally lost to me through the years by believing that I could remember them until morning. That is a big mistake, waiting until morning. You have almost always lost the magic by then. You have sacrificed a glorious something for the comfort of not getting up to write it down. Lazy, slovenly you. You need to learn to use the night. It rewards you in unexpected and wondrous ways and you feel productive and smart when you take notes.

On the other hand, occasionally you’ll wake up and read your “notes to self” in the morning and they make no sense at all.

the hot dog faucet was slick. i want to sit in. my third arm would not paint. chasing the rock was weak paint. he was under the cowhide rug. the weeds strangled the whales.

When that happens, you give it a couple minutes of thought and if nothing sensational and worthy of your thoughtful time comes back to you, then you just forget it. Days later you might get it. Or not.