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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Thinking About Creativity "Hacks"

Thinking about and sharing creativity "hacks" with others is one of my favorite things to do.  It doesn't matter what sort of creative endeavor it is, really, because there are some common denominators. And the more I share ideas with other creative people (everyone is creative, by the way), the more strategies I can try on for myself.

One example from my past was posited by a friend and poet, Ripley Underwood.  He had learned that when his work was going really well, and he knew what he wanted to do next, it was a good time to stop!  Counter intuitive, right?  But when he explained it, I recognized how I could benefit from it in my painting.  Ripley noticed that what he wanted to do when his work was humming along nicely was to go, go, go until it was very late, he was tiring, and the inspiration was fading.  He saw that when he stopped his work at this stage, it was much harder to resume the next time he got back to it.  Kind of like a golfer having to start each new golf outing with the ball in the rough! 

I've used Ripley's strategy to my advantage, stopping my work session before I got lost or into really difficult decisions.  When my next opportunity to paint comes, I can step back up to the easel, resume my work with clarity, and then move in to the fine tuning with a fresh energy.

New year, new work: I have really enjoyed being able to paint frequently since late last year.  I'm preparing to hang an exhibit of small paintings for a show starting in March.  They will be on display at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church http://gsaustin.org/ for about 6 months.

This is the smallest new painting, a 6"x 6" oil from one of our hikes in Colorado last summer.  And another one which will be in the March show is a 6"x8" view of a late afternoon near Lake Travis, TX.

Thank you for reading my blog, and happy new year!

 
 
 

1 comment:

  1. Such a great point... fatigue is not our friend! These paintings are delish! Can't wait to see your show.

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