Stirring the Pot

Sometimes I can take life too seriously, so I had a bit of fun with my layout this week after writing this post, just to keep things in perspective! Various recent discussions with friends about the creative process have prompted me to share some of my cyber travel this week.

First off, is a stop at Laurel’s blog and her insight on the place of patience in the creative process. Learning to see this virtue as an active commitment to your belief and hope in positive outcomes is indeed a survival skill all creative people need to hone to battle the negative voices that can easily overwhelm and drown confidence, and ultimately the creativity itself.



Secondly, after discovering and browsing around Spoonflower, a DIY fabric printing service, my mind was opened to new possibilities – regardless of whether they are actioned or not. Just learning of a new way to express myself, should I wish to employ it, opened a window and let some fresh air into my rather stale mental studio! My cousin, Barbara Woods, an amazing silk screen artist, confirmed her own excitement in how digital printing has worked its magic in her business.

Thirdly, another Barbara suggested I take a look at this blog post featuring a renowned male quilter. She liked the featured work. Me? Not so much. But it stirred me deeply, anyway. I was intrigued by his creative process which emphasised how we are often inspired by the simple things around us. As he worked to implement his ideas into this quilt a new avenue of expression opened up for him. Wow. That is just what I needed to hear this week as I have been packing away my business and wondering what will replace it and also a little nervous about some new options and opportunities on my plate.

We have all been told to get out of our comfort zones – to think outside of the box. This is why. Without experimentation there is no opportunity to travel new roads. So what if we fall over – if we learn something about ourselves in the process we grow.

‘From little things, big things grow’, the song says. Every misstep, every mistake, every failure has in it the potential for improvement. Growth cannot exist without it. Creativity thrives on change and the growth it brings. It is just easier to have a bit of control over the change!

One last link follows an extreme example of finding new direction when hope may be lost - and is as inspiring as any I’ve seen recently. This lovely tune is sung by the Iceland entry of Sjonni's Friends, in this year’s Eurovision song contest. I was charmed by its musicality, upbeat tone and heartfelt lyrics. And then I learned that the songwriter had died unexpectedly days before he was to perform it at the national contest. That could have been the end of it. But his family determined that his ‘voice’ would be heard and a group of his musical friends quickly banded together to take it to the local stage in tribute. To their surprise, it won and they were sent on to compete internationally this week where it has now made it to the Finals. There are many hoping it will win the contest this year. Have a listen and I am sure it will make you smile and remind you of what is important in life. Grab hold of that.

Walking away from the confusion and stirring a new pot of paint, so to speak, can also settle a discouraged soul and lift the spirits. It opens a window – a way of escape. When we were little it was called playing. And it was fun. Remember that?

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I took the 'play perogative' seriously today and so I am not all that sure where all my source material came from in the layout. However, I do remember that I used Creative Memories 'Serenity' papers and the quote comes from 'Wishes and Dreams'. The Word Art "ART" was created in Panstoria's Artisan software a while ago when I trialled the software but I cannot remember the paper used to create the alpha.