Creativity

A simple definition of CREATIVITY is the use of one's imagination to come up with new/original ideas, especially in the creation of an artistic work.

Everyone has their own way of reaching into themselves to find their creative soul.  We all see things differently, so what seems creative to one person may not to another.

I was fortunate to  learn, a number of years ago, how to increase one's ability to think outside the box.  My friend, JoAnn, had gone back to school to get another degree, this time in Product Design.  One of her professor's projects was to have the class pick an object and then see how many uses they could get from it.  (For example:  a brick...could be used to build a building, used as a paperweight, a hammer,  a doorstop,  a base for something, used to prop up a table or it could be ground up for other uses.  How many uses can you add to this?)  Practice this and it will become easier and easier to come up with new ideas.

When doing my own work, I have found that the amount of difficulty involved with what I am working on makes the process more interesting to me and gives me great satisfaction when it is finished.

The charcoal drawing that you see was done by taking a number of images of flamingos and super-imposing over over the other and then adding and subtracting charcoal.  The test is to be able to keep each image in mind while adding the others to the drawing.

My photography is also complicated.  The technique came about by accident and I continue to develop it, but I do not share how I do it.  What I will say is that I create the image before it's photographed and then put it into the computer to be cleaned up and tweaked.  Many, many shots are taken before I find one that I like.  Lots of surprises!!

Welcome!

 I am an artist who uses a camera, or am I a photographer who uses my art experience to create images.  Which came first...the chicken or the egg?  Who knows!  

Although, I have used brushes, pastels, etc. to create, nothing has produced the passion more than that of the camera.  Cameras have been a constant in my life, from the Brownie that I used as a child at the zoo (took weird photos of a camel's weird hooves...sign of things to come?), to the Konica that traveled with me around the world, to the new digital cameras that I use today.

One of the most important things that I learned in art school was to see.  There is seeing and there is "seeing".  It's important in drawing as where you put that line can determine whether your object will be flat or 3-dimensional.  The use of paint teaches you the nuances of color.  Is the red that you are using a cool red or a warm red?  Which colors when put next to each other create what feeling?   One of my professors (Peter Mendez) told me that his favorite color was gray and that he loved all of the colors that he saw in the grays.  He would look at the clouds and describe the colors that he saw.  I still look at gray skies and try to see the colors that he saw.  Not so easy to do!

Why am I talking about drawing and painting?  Well, it has had a huge influence on the type of art that I create which is photography but often looks more like a watercolor or pastel (so I've been told).  My next post will include one of my photographs (which should help give you an idea about these influences) and some thoughts on creating.