 |
| ‘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) |
