Celebrating Summer

A field of Rudbeckia

You all know of Thomas Jefferson but have you heard of the Jefferson Awards Foundation?   In the past few years I have learned about this foundation.  This is an organization that supports service to others and the community.  One is recognized for an award by nomination.  Beginning monthly and then for each year, one winner is chosen to represent the city or region. I can’t believe it, but I was the chosen one to represent Omaha, NE for 2016 and hop on a plane to Washington D.C. to celebrate with many others who were out in their world making a difference!  It was such a shock and an exciting experience to find out I won!  I also thought, “Oh my, so many others would have done more than I.”  I could not believe I won!

My children, my dear friend, and I were together to hear all the winners for 2016 speak about their service. How in the world did I win?  It was so inspiring and one of the best experiences of my life.  Check out my speech at breakfast celebration…

We went on a short tour of DC...what a pretty, green, clean city.  So much to see and so little time; we were there only one full day.  I met very briefly with our two state senators Deb Fisher and Ben Sasse, toured the beautiful capital building, and decided I would come back since there was so much I did not see.  We had a fantastic dinner celebration where awards were given out.

 

I got to meet one of the big award winners, Emma.  She has a mission of getting art activities and supplies to children across the country who are in hospitals and medical facilities to help them be creative, reduce stress, and have a moment of fun and joy.  Emma's Art Cart went around the hospitals she was in while dealing with stage four brain cancer that she has had for 8 years.  I told her Arts For all would support her mission of getting 150,000 art kits to 150,000 children from Maine to California.  Arts For All is asking for art supply donations (cash or product) to help meet her mission and ours….making the arts available and affordable for all…..we have the same mission.  AFA wants to provide art lessons, music, acting and dance also available in the hospital setting for children patients.  If you would like to volunteer and help in any way, contact me and AFA.  Emma’s condition is very serious and she is looking at a large goal although time is an issue.

In my speech above, I mentioned one of my missions of helping others see beauty around them every day….developing a sense of wonder and joy, if only for a moment.  That is partly why I write this blog.

Beats of a Different Drum

Summer is in full bloom, preparing for harvest time.  To celebrate, before the leaves begin to fall and autumn is upon us...listen to Vivaldi's "Summer" and let the music bring up all your favorite things about this season.

My garden is a warm one color wise:  red, yellows and orange….I throw in purple as an accent and this summer for the first time I have purple toe nails.  Reminds me of a poem that begins ‘When I am old I shall wear purple’ (I just had a birthday, and little children would say I am old). It’s a great poem, and there is more information on it, and the poet, here:  "Warning" by Jenny Joseph.

Come to Your Senses

It is mid July as I am writing this section.  The weather is sweltering... yet many of my flowers are showing off in the heat: phlox, coleus, coneflowers, hostas, butterfly weeds, begonias, geraniums, hydrangeas, blue bells, neptas, marigolds, clematis and lilies. 

I am used to being outdoors in the summer.  As a child we always went to Wisconsin, staying at a resort on a lake that belonged to friends of my parents. On the car ride up there, one of my favorite things to do was to look for, and read, the Burma Shave signs (started in the late 1920s).  It was fun to count and read the verses….one of the first ways I was introduced to poetry outside of school and home.  The signs had a word or two and they were stretched out along the highway to make a statement, and then remind you to buy Burma Shave cream.  There might have been six or seven to look at for each verse.  I tried to guess what words would be on the next sign.  Here is one I remember: “Past/Schoolhouses/Take it slow/let the little/shavers grow/Burma Shave.”  This was before the interstate and people drove slower on two lane highways.  They were fun!

As a kid I picked wild blueberries to make muffins and mom made hot German potato salad (with bacon) instead of a birthday cake….still love those two foods.   I spent a lot of time in the woods or laying in a hammock reading a great big book.  I can remember the light breeze, fresh air, trees, clouds…it was idyllic. All of these sensory memories take me back and remind me of this song…Lazy Afternoon.

So get out there and pay attention to the beauty!  It can be found in the veins on a leaf, bark on a tree, petal of a flower, or the sun and moon bringing us the eclipses of August.  Come to your senses.= Look, listen, smell, taste, and feel your surroundings. 

Movement of the Muse

(Written for Judy by Felina Kavi)

For those of you who have been reading Judy’s blog posts, you may have already gotten the hint that she loves music of many kinds.  She also loves to dance.  Even though her body doesn’t allow the movement it used to, she is still moved to dance while cooking in the kitchen or even dusting her shelves at home.  She wants to encourage you, dear readers, to let your bodies dance.  It’s good for your health, after all.  Here is a video, Wheelchair Ballet, that shows that no matter what you believe of your body’s limitations, you can dance.

Judy especially loves to dance to Brazilian music.  Check out this version of Summer Samba…and if it makes you smile, we hope it will also inspire you to dance!

I was impressed by the beautiful architecture of the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture while I was in Washington DC.

Wildflowers in the Wind

Spring is here again, and flowers are blooming all around us! This is the best time of year! New things popping up, getting out of the house, everything is opening and coming to life.  My mom loved pansies, a flower that can tolerate great fluctuations in temperature during early spring.  My window boxes are filled with yellow, orange, and purple pansies.  There is so much color right now with the tulips and the daffodils and our trees beginning to open their blossoms. And, every single one of my newly planted Japanese Maples survived the winter! I am overjoyed! They are very small trees right now but they are growing. The leaves on their stems are different colors too!

Leading up to this springtime, I felt it was time to write the story of how Arts for All came to be. I decided I would send it out as a fundraising letter with pieces of paper embedded with wildflower seeds for donors to plant. I envisioned beautiful wildflowers growing all around Omaha, symbolizing the continued growth of our organization supported and nurtured by the community. Arts For All, the sites we have, and the programs we offer are kind of like wildflowers:  a little unconventional, creative, many different kinds of classes just like many kinds of wildflowers.  We are scattered all over,we are all beautiful, and we are helping to create beauty. I titled this letter “Arts for All: Wildflowers in the Wind” and would like to share what I wrote with all of you readers.

Beats of a Different Drum

Arts For All:  Wildflowers in the Wind

Brrrrrrr!!!  Cold standing in front of my storm door February 2004  – neighborhood deserted.  Third day of forced “retirement”.  Not what I thought I’d be doing today…though it was great to sleep in these last two days.  I am the only one around, everyone is working.  Never wanted the rockin’ chair front porch lifestyle in my later years.  Luck did shine on me financially as I received a small layoff package and could survive for a while, I would soon need a job.  Friends were still working or had moved to a warmer climate.  Hmmmmmmm, what to do?  Sally and I were going to start our interior design business, but wait…Sally is still working.    Help me God; what do I do with my life?  (God is my constant companion with running conversations.)  So God, what is my purpose, what have I forgotten?  I constantly asked these questions.  

Twenty years ago my dad died, at the same time my fiancé Bill had a stroke, and mom moved in with me.  I had to work, take care of others.  Right before mom passed away, she said the door is now open for me to do what is most important to me.  I could be an art teacher/substitute, join the Peace Corp, be a piano accompanist, provide counseling, become a minister, be a working artist (didn’t think I had enough talent to be successful.)  Every night as I went to sleep, I asked for a message in my dreams.  I loved the arts, thought they were so important for all, and how could I use them?  No dream answers.

That summer I was teaching art to children and while cleaning my classroom, scrubbing tables, it came to me. ‘I KNOW!  Oh my God!’  I remember hearing a voice say ‘remember when walking on the UNO campus you heard a voice say “help people see the beauty in their world, even for just a moment and that learning to see, hear and appreciate will bring beauty and peace into their world and to enjoy the arts every day.’  I had forgotten that serendipitous experience.  I went on to remember I forgot that Bill and I had a vision of a building with space for the arts; a theater, dance floor, art and music therapy offices, classrooms, gallery, cafe, storage, gardens, and more.  I was now jumping up and down.  I KNEW this was my purpose, my mission.  I started looking for a related job.  A friend called to ask if I had seen the teeny tiny ad in the part time section for a Director for an arts education organization.  I called, had an interview, and by 10 pm that night their board called to say I had the job.  I was ecstatic!  I was an art teacher, had 10 years of piano lessons, took dance classes as a child, sang in choirs and groups, took creative writing classes, board certified master level counselor, taught both children and adults, scout leader, supervised in Corporate America, course developer, certified to teach many business programs nationwide, developed the first on site all employee diversity program, etc.  I had experience in a lot of areas of running this business.  

I worked 24 hours a day bringing back their arts program and had many students enrolled in all the different arts, new sites, new instructors, everything ready to go for our new winter semester.  The day classes were to start, the board announced arts education was too expensive and the program was closed.  So many people were upset and very disappointed.  After shedding many tears, consoling the teachers and assistant about losing their jobs and closing the program, I remembered that I had wanted my own organization and building.  I asked everyone if they wanted to join me in starting our own non-profit. We had no idea if we had support, sites to offer classes, or money.  And, I did not have connections to help financially.  

It was both exciting and scary for me. I believed the mission would be there to get us support.   AFA makes the arts available and affordable for all.  This is what we all agreed upon.  We jumped in and two church sites helped us get off the ground with their locations.    Arts For All, Inc. was born - eleven years ago.  We started with 40 students between the two sites. Many years we served about 3,000.  I have always believed AFA and our mission would work out.  No matter how we are viewed, we are proud to have served so many.  Since 2006, we certainly have grown. Thanks to the support of so many.  

AFA has gone from two sites to six public sites.  We are currently at a library, public school after school programs, and have provided classes during the day, Open Door Mission, camps, universities, the Housing Authority, YMCA, Head Start, senior centers, preschools, Montessori, scout meetings, birthday parties, public events, film workshops, and more.  We even had our own theatre for a year.  

I want you to meet one of our students.  After two years of being in business, Asia joined AFA.  At 7 years she started piano, loved it, did very well and stayed for three years.  Besides piano, she now plays other instruments and is a great musician.  She is now working for the Conservatory.  AFA was there to make it possible for her family by making her classes affordable, providing a payment plan with reduced rates.  Her success makes my heart sing.  We were there for her and have been for so many others.

After five years with my ‘won’t give up’ attitude and challenging start, the big “C” came to live with me.  Breast cancer, stage 4, lives on my bones.  Currently I am indefinitely scheduled for weekly chemo treatments along with other immune support and also dealing with continuous infections, vision problems and other side effects.  I now work mostly from home but I keep working. 

Chemotherapy is my life right now but working for Arts For All, supporting the mission and staff, instructors and participants keeps me alive.  Besides my biological family, AFA is my life and my family.  Along with my health issues, AFA too has had great struggles especially the last two years and now we have to reorganize.  We need your help.  I don’t know what will happen with my cancer after six years of fighting, but I want to leave AFA in a good financial place.  I know that AFA will continue even if I am not around to support this great program. I want to leave a legacy, have our own building, have sites in Council Bluffs, North Omaha, new Bellevue, develop proposed program for the underserved in North Omaha, grow our programs in South Omaha, add programs for special needs and seniors and more.

We have so many plans for the future.  We just need to make sure we have a future.  Remember our mission: making the arts available and affordable for all.  This last year (even though we have been struggling, didn’t receive a lot of grants, had employee turn-over) we received the Governor’s Art Award and I was just awarded, twice, the Jefferson award for community service for 2016, and am looking forward to representing Nebraska in Washington D.C. this June.    We are dedicated, focusing first on the mission.  Please help us be secure and able to grow and provide opportunities for self-expression, developing empathy, learning to see and hear, being creative and all the other benefits from participation in the arts.  I believe Omaha and the surrounding area is fertile ground for the seeds we’ve been planting; we just need more gardeners to help us grow.

Judy Mallory, M.S.                                                                                                                                                      

Executive Director                                                                                                                                                                        

Arts For All, Inc.                                                                                                                                                                    

2315 “I” Street                                                                                                                                                                    

Omaha, NE 68107                                                                                                                                       

For another beat of a different drum, I invite you to listen to ‘Skylark’ by Ella Fitzgerald. This was one of Bill's favorite songs…and it's perfect for springtime.

Come to Your Senses

This season, let's explore texture and design through our sense of touch.  What do the things you love to wear in spring feel like? This month, I was inspired by Easter hats. I remember wearing picture hats to church. I still love hats and am currently on the hunt for the perfect hat because chemotherapy leaves me with little to cover my head. Hats can be works of art and often have fabrics and adornments that give them texture.

Check out this link to the Sunday Morning Show on CBS. They did a tribute to the art of millinery in a segment called “Hats off to Degas”.

Movement of the Muse

If you felt inspired by the story of Arts for All and would like to join us in planting wildflowers in our community, please send me your address so I can send you the seed paper as a thank you for caring, sharing, and supporting our mission. My email address is jgmallory@msn.com and I would be happy to share this gift with any of our readers!

To close, I invite you to listen to Judy Garland singing “April Showers”. The song is a reminder to focus on the beauty of life. That is my hope for all of you.

Longaberger Basket Building, in Ohio, is an office building for a basket-making company.  The building is currently for sale.  Thought it was an interesting design...leading us into the time of May baskets and outdoor picnics!

The Road to Pretend Play

The Road to Pretend Play

Written by Guest Blogger Kim Kuncl

Just when you thought it would never arrive… summer is finally here.

As a child I began my summer countdown around January 4, right after returning from Christmas
vacation. It was not that I did not enjoy school. I just enjoyed summer more, like most kids.
I grew up in a small town in a world without the onslaught of electronics. We did have an Atari
and a Nintendo. However, rather than “plugging in”, I preferred to go outside – finding
adventure on my family’s acreage. I used my imagination. I expressed my creativity. I engaged
in pretend play.

With a homemade headband and my “ugly green” lasso of truth, I became Wonder Woman (my
all-time favorite heroine). I saved my pony Trixie from an onslaught of evil sheep invaders
(Trixie was kept in a corral with a family of sheep). Or I saved the world from the evil brothers
of doom and gloom (my younger siblings) as I dodged their attack of dirt clods with my tin foil
bracelets.

Now this may sound – ho-hum boring; However, I had a lot of fun using my imagination by
engaging in pretend play. As an adult I still engage in pretend play, teaching acting classes for
children as well as writing fiction for myself.

Today’s society seems so structured and planned, that it is a rarity for children to participate in
simple pretend play games. It may sound old-fashioned, but there are a lot of entertaining and
fun games children can play just by using their imagination – whether it involves toys or not.
Perhaps a game of making forts out of blankets with living room and dining room chairs – as
long as parents agree. Or a simple tea party with friends, stuffed animals and/or dolls, and
pretend food. I was an only girl so my tea party guests were toys or my younger brothers, if I
could talk them into it.

Pretend play engages a child’s creativity and imagination, which helps a child learn to have fun
on their own as well as with his or her friends. In addition, imaginative play also is an important
step in developing a child’s cognitive skills(1) , including:

1. Thinking and problem solving skills
2. Social skills
3. Communication skills

So this summer, when your child is looking for something to do, encourage your little ones (and
big ones) to participate in pretend play (or creative play, if the word “pretend” sounds too
childish). By doing so, you will take an important step to opening an abundance of doors in your
child’s future.

1. http://www.besteducationalgamesforchildren.com/why-pretend- play-is- important-for- child-
development/

Summer Blooms

Clematis and Daisies

Edited by Felina Kavi
I had visited my family in California at the end of last month.  In the morning after I returned home, I went outside to my garden to see if my flowers were blooming and had survived the week without me.  What a reception they gave me!  Tall, white daisies with yellow centers waved at me and invited me to walk through them down the path.  Clematis, geraniums, Stella de Oros yellow lilies, and peonies greeted me with pops of color.  Purple was scattered everywhere and seemed to catch my eye, complimenting all the yellow along the fence and mixing with the other colors.  The beauty takes my breath away.

I want to focus on the color purple for this month.  This photo is of a wisteria tree in the Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi, Japan. The largest and oldest in Japan, this tree dates back to approximately 1870.  The 143-year-old tree has branches that are supported by beams, because wisteria grows outward rather than upward, which creates a stunning flower umbrella.  When I look at wisteria, I think of Prince’s song, ‘Purple Rain’.  The wisteria looks as if it is raining purple blossoms.

 Beats of a Different Drum

Though Prince passed away in April this year, his birthday was this month (June 7th).  Many tributes to his music came up after his death, but some of his close friends remembered him another way.  Prince was a great humanitarian.  Watch this interview with his friend, Van Jones, to discover some of the amazing things this musician did in his life and how the money he made from his artistic talent was used to make a positive impact in the lives of others.

Another thing I would like to focus on this month is sound.  For years I have listened to the radio show 'A Prairie Home Companion' on Saturday afternoons on NPR.  I grew up listening to the radio.  My family would have our Sunday sandwich dinner in late afternoon while listening to radio shows.  I would walk home from school for lunch and listen to the radio soap operas my mom had on.  I love listening to the radio and I listen often.  Garrison Keillor is the creator and host of 'A Prairie Home Companion' (this is his final year he will be hosting) partnered with Fred Newman for his amazing abilities to create sound effects in extraordinary and entertaining ways.  Check out this delightful interview to learn more about this unique talent!

Speaking of unique talent, Joey Alexander (who was born in Bali, Indonesia but now lives in New Jersey) is only 12 years old and is already being called 'the future of jazz'.  He is an amazing jazz pianist and already has two Grammy nominations!  Here is an article about him that includes a video of him playing the piano.

Come to Your Senses

Our sense of hearing allows us to experience so many amazing things.  If you followed the links above, you have already heard three different types of music...one of the world's favorite things to listen to.   What are some of your favorite sounds?  When I listen to the world around me, I hear the sound of cooking utensils, the hum of machinery, whistles, vehicles, insects, birds...so many different sounds!  Pay attention to your reactions to certain sounds.  Are there any that startle you...like a creaking door, thunder, or the fly-by buzz of an insect?  What sounds make you cringe?  Nails on a chalkboard is a common one!  What sounds soothe you...flowing water, a crackling fire, or maybe the tinkle of wind chimes?  What is your favorite sound...laughter, a certain song, or perhaps the purr of a cat?  All of these things make up the music of our lives.

Now for a little musical interlude that not only refers back to the color of the month, purple, but also because I have loved this song and group for a long time.   "Deep Purple" by the Hi-Los showcases not only the sound of close harmonies with wide vocal ranges (where their name comes from), but also takes me back to the garden with the beautiful lyrics.  It gets me thinking about the deep purple shadows as twilight gives way to nightfall.  There is a sense of wonder and closeness in becoming part of the shadows.  Visualize and feel it wrapping around you.

The shape I would like to focus on this month the triangle.  There is a lot of structural strength associated with the triangle.  Buildings with a triangular shape are more structurally sound during earthquakes than the usual rectangular shapes of buildings because they don't twist during seismic activity, one of the most common reasons rectangular buildings are prone to collapse.  The photo at the bottom of this blog is of the Flat Iron Building in Manhattan.  It was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built in 1902.  The distinctive triangular shape allowed the building to fill the space located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway.

Where else do you see triangles around you?  They are in math and science, clothing and fabric design, home design, etc.  Notice how many triangles you see in your environment.

Movement of the Muse

I have this book called 'A Whack on the Side of the Head:  How You Can Be More Creative' by Roger von Oech.  It is intended to stimulate the reader's creativity with puzzles, anecdotes, exercises, metaphors, cartoons, questions, quotations, stories, and tips designed to systematically break through your mental blocks and unlock your mind for creative thinking.  It's an excellent book, and right up my alley!  In the book is the following exercise:

Take a look at these shapes above.  Select one of them that is different than the others in at least one respect.  Now go to this website to see if you were correct!  You may be surprised by the answer!

Thank you for taking the time to read and try new things.  I would like to leave you with a quote that sums up the life and artistry of Prince well.  He said, "The key to longevity is to learn every aspect of music that you can."

Manhattan's Flatiron Building

Awakening Spring

'Fields of Gold' by Allard One

I just planted some purple vinca ground cover around my new Purple Ghost Japanese Maple. The tree is only two years old and very tiny still.  I buried the ashes from my last Golden Retriever, Buffy, at the bottom of the tree hole and sat down for a moment remembering her.  

I also thought about the rope swing hanging from my 75-year-old maple.  I love to swing and do so whenever I have the chance.  I repeated to myself the poem I learned as a child; ‘The Swing’ from Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘A Child’s Garden of Verses’.  I read those poems to my children and grandchildren.  Since April is Poetry Month, I want to share this poem with you.

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,

Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,

Till I can see so wide,

River and trees and cattle and all

Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,

Down on the roof so brown—

Up in the air I go flying again,

Up in the air and down!

Beats of a Different Drum

Pink Martini is an orchestra that has appeared several times in Omaha and their focus is jazz, pop, classical, and world music.  They started in the 90s in San Francisco and have made an international name for themselves.  They started playing together because they wanted fun and interesting music to play at fundraisers.  Since Arts for All is a non-profit and we do fundraisers too, I thought it was appropriate.  Here is their song, 'Hang On, Little Tomato'.  Check them out! 

Here’s a poem that goes along with this season as well as Poetry Month.  It is called ‘The Spring Wind’ and can be found with other seasonal poems in the poetry book ‘Changes’ by Charlotte Zolotow.

The summer wind

Is soft and sweet

The winter wind is strong

The autumn wind is mischievous

And sweeps the leaves along.

The wind I love the best

Comes gently after rain

Smelling of spring and growing things

Brushing the world with feathery wings

While everything glistens, and everything sings

In the spring wind

After the rain.

Now here's some "eye candy" for you.  I’m curious if you would consider this art.  There is a woman named Kristen Cummings who uses Jelly Belly’s Jelly Beans as the ‘paint’ for her art.  She uses many different shades to create depth and realism, much like working with mosaics.  She has sold her sweet works for thousands and has many of them displayed at the Jelly Belly corporate gallery.  It takes her a week to turn 12,000 jelly beans into a work of art!  There are 50 different flavors of jelly beans, so that’s how many colors she can work with.  In this interview with CBS, Cummings says ‘I like making things out of weird stuff’.

Come to Your Senses

The colors of Spring are subtle at first…fresh greens poking out of the ground and budding from trees.  Then the whites, pinks, reds, purples, and yellows of the flowering trees and springtime blooms begin to greet the warming weather.  In my yard, I sit close to an early flowering lilac, red and yellow tulips, and a crab apple tree now in bloom.  I love color and I can’t imagine a world without it.  However, my eyes are getting worse every day.  Because of birth defects with my eyes, glaucoma, cancer medicines, and age…my eyes don’t see as clearly as they once did.  Losing my sight would be worse than cancer, for me, because I love the world I see.  For these reasons, we will be focusing on color this month…as well as circles. 

Try making a color wheel.  Colormatters has some useful information on color theory, you may want to check out their site.  Start with the primary colors:  red, yellow, and blue.  Then add the secondary colors and follow that with the tertiary colors.  These colors, and so many more, impact our lives in ways we don’t often think about.  They can change your mood and energy, give you a sense of peace or joy…even the lighting in a room or shadows over colors can have subtle effects on our emotions.  Think about how you decorate your home, yard, and environment.  Does it feel good to you, fight you, displease you, or calm you?  Are there color combinations you gravitate toward?  I like warm colors, perhaps because they seem to energize me.  I am a passionate person and the warm colors suit me well.

Following along with the color wheel, the shape for the month is the circle.  Circles are never-ending, enclosing and inclusive, and all can see each other when in a circle.  Notice the circles around you this month. How do you feel about circles?  Where do you see them?  The photo at the bottom of this page is of a building in China that is in the shape of a circle and was inspired by I Ching coins.

Movement of the Muse

Last month, we called on our inner muse to find new avenues to create solutions.  If you tried the nine dot puzzle, what kind of solutions came to mind?  Did you allow yourself to step out of the box and see a different path?  My favorite solution is to cut out 3 rows of dots and put them side-by-side in a straight line…then draw the line right through all nine of them.  Here’s a link about this puzzle which is meant to expand our pathways and inspire us to ‘think outside the box’. 

Now that we’ve opened up more pathways for our muse to spread more seeds of creativity, things can start to blossom.  Color is bursting out everywhere and the springtime of creative expression begins.  Go back to the color wheel.  Start with your favorite color.  Look for and think about all of the things in your environment that are that color.  I chose yellow and Felina Kavi, who helps edit this blog, chose the color opposite mine on the color wheel:  purple.  Do you wear your favorite color often?  Does it make you feel a certain way while wearing it, or when you see it on others or in your environment?  What does the color opposite your favorite color on the color wheel make you feel like? 

Try this for the coming weeks:  choose a ‘color of the day’ for a few weeks.  Wear something that is that color, but also notice how many times you recognize it wherever you go.  Allow colors to guide you along a pathway each day that brings a new awareness to your mind.  Suddenly choices become clearer as the color seems to pop up in unexpected ways to answer whatever questions may arise. 

Now take those paints, colored pencils, or whatever you used to make your own color wheel and get a blank canvas/piece of white paper.  White can represent an absence of color, but you can also look at the potential of the void that is there.  Now let’s put some music to it.  While listening to this song, ‘How the Garden Grows’ by Michael Franks, allow the colors to be informed and guided by the music.  Do away with the thought that often comes when faced with a fresh start, ‘What should I do?’  Allow the muse to travel along with the song through your ears, into your mind, and through your fingers.  See what you come up with. 

“You can’t use up creativity.  The more you use it, the more you have.” -Maya Angelou

 

Guangzhou Circle in China

New Beginnings

‘Spring Time’ by Krzysztof Browko

Every Spring morning, I rush outside to appreciate all the new growth this season brings.  The tiny bits of green pushing up through the dirt, the opening of buds on my Japanese Maples and Cherokee Chief Red Dogwood…these signs of Spring are dear to me.  I love trees, flowers, shrubs, and growing beautiful and interesting plants.  I love growing Arts For All.  It is time to be getting the garden ready and we are doing the same thing with AFA starting with the new blog by a somewhat seasoned gardener.


New growth needs good prepared soil, lots of sun and rain, and tender loving care.  Essentially, it not only needs the time and attention of the gardener, but also support from its environment.  It is my hope that these seeds of creativity I am planting in words, images, sounds, and feelings will inspire our readers to grow creative gardens of their own.
 

There is a reason we are starting this new endeavor in March. Spring is stirring under the surface, ready to burst forth the beauty of new beginnings.  My intention with this blog is to provide you with something new and beautiful to see, to hear, to think about…we all need beautiful, joyful moments.  Creative inspiration is everywhere around us, and it has the capacity to not only make the world a more beautiful and interesting place but also to change lives in extraordinary ways.  I, and the Arts for All instructors, have seen this happen year after year with the students in our classes.  Learning to expand upon your creative abilities from other creative people encourages growth in many areas of life.  We at Arts for All love to see the blossoming of new ideas.

I would like to share with you how to be the creator of your own garden of inspiration.  Start with something simple.  This month, try a random act of kindness without any concern about being identified as the kindness giver…it could change your life or someone else’s.  I believe the arts change lives too.  May this blog inspire you to go plant good seeds.

Beats of a Different Drum

Photography is an art form that goes beyond ‘selfies’ and recording vacations.  Joel Sartore, a neighbor of ours from Lincoln, uses photography as part of his mission to save lives.  This project of photographing animals that are about to become extinct began for Sartore at the Lincoln Childrens’ Zoo.  His Photo Ark now includes up to 5400 species.  His photos are exhibited through this month in the NG Museum in Washington D.C.  He will also be projecting some of the images on buildings such as the Empire State Builiding and the Vatican.  Check out his Photo Ark for National Geographic to see some unique portraits of endangered animals.

The combination of beautiful music with natural settings is what piqued my interest in The Piano Guys. These musicians play on top of mountains, in forests, on beaches, and give their own spin on many different styles of music.  Check out some of their videos and experience a multi-sensory performance. 

‘The Waters of March’ is one of my favorite songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and is fitting for this time of year.  I love this version of the song sung by Susannah McCorkle.  Some of it is in English while some of it is in Portugese.  This springtime song encompasses the idea that there is beauty and wonder in the small things around us.  The choppiness of the lyrics brings to mind all of the slices of life that make up our lives, while the rhythm ties them together joyfully.  Please listen to this song, and hopefully it brings as much joy to your heart as it does to mine.

Come to Your Senses

I have been accused of being an addict.  I am, but not like you think….I am addicted to beauty….the beauty of just about everything I see, hear and feel.  I appreciate the beauty in all things…the beauty of people, the clouds, mountains, the sound of a fire crackling outdoors while camping or indoors on a cold and cloudy winter afternoon.  And, I am.  By coming to your senses, develop a sense of wonder and experience the WOW factor.  In doing so, more and more each day, you’ll learn to really see  Remembering the elements of art will make this happen if you focus on them….this is not hard and can become a habit….a good habit.

Color, shape, line, texture, pattern…look how one thing interacts with the other.  For this month, pay attention to patterns of all kinds, and things that repeat. In my room, where I am typing, I have a lot of geometrics…..wallpaper with squares, picture frames that are square or rectangle, books, the doors, the squares in the pictures, squares in the rugs, squares in the book cover, squares in the clock face.  Everything in the room where you are reading this has been designed, created, and made using these art elements.  Pick one pattern and look for it everywhere.  Find the words to describe these shapes and patterns.  Do you notice that you have an affinity for certain shapes over others?

Movement of the Muse

Would you say that you are creative?  When I used to ask students this, most would say NO.

I beg to differ.  My belief is that everyone is creative and the definition I use may be very different from most so that is why I say…..you are creative.  You may not be or want to be a painter, writer, composer, designer, inventor…however, I still say you are creative.  Thinking creatively is a common experience.  It is who you are as a human being.  Ideas can pop into your head.  Pictures come to mind.  It is life.  It is creative.

Novelty, passion, energy, willingness to try, to dream, to take a risk in anything…..even a new way to make chili.  Solve a problem, find a new way to work. 

Try this nine dot puzzle.  This is a classic problem for developing creative thinking.  Below are nine dots arranged in a set of three rows.  Your challenge is to draw four straight lines which go through the middle of all of the dots without taking the pencil off the paper.
 

Even if you have done this puzzle before, you may not remember how to solve it.  When finished you will see that you may be limiting your thinking by staying with a certain paradigm and not thinking out of the box.  We tend to limit ourselves and so many times there are many solutions to problems or creative ways of doing things.  Paying attention to your senses, thinking more expansively, and not restricting yourself to so many limitations all relate to working in the arts and creativity.  Look for more puzzles next month.

Albert Einstein says, and I agree along with many others, that imagination is most important.  “Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there ever will be to know and understand.”  You can go anywhere you want with imagination.

Sumet Jumasi's 'Elephant Building', Bangkok (Photo by Alamy)