Several days ago, Rice ( with two dots above the e ) asked me to respond to three questions:
1. In your opinion, what is creativity?
2. Where does it come from?
3. How can each of us access that creativity and make the most of it in our lives?
http://voodoonotes.blogspot.com/2009/02/kelly-buntin-johnson-on-creativity.html
you can access my answer by clicking on her blog posting above.
It was a fun meditation and writing assignment and am most pleased that Rice ( with two dots above the e ) posted my thoughts. I , as usual, did not follow the usual pathway of writing traditional answers after each question. Please read past postings by other artists. And am sure there will be more thoughts on creativity to come on this blog. I didn't read anyone's version til I had written my own thoughts down on paper. Didn't want to be influenced.
Now, I want to share with you where the title to my 'creativity soap box sermon' came from.
Cows can be purple
It came from a true life story. My Dad is color blind. Can't see purple, red, or green. I doubt orange either though I need to ask him. Not sure about yellow. Most things are brown to him. But I digress. When he was a young boy drawing pictures, one of his sketched cows he colored with a purple crayon. His mother, my Gran, said "Cows are not purple. " To this day Dad is self conscious about his artistic abilities of choosing colors to express his ideas.
And yet, my Gran is a creative person. Quite a seamstress in her day. The dresses and coats that she sewed for me through out my lifetime are treasures. Even my wedding dress. She drafted her own patterns from sketches or photos she saw. And her knitting and crochet work. It pleases Gran and me both that I wear sweaters she knitted in the 1960s. Truly an inspiration to me she is.
So the whole point of the title to my 'creative soap-box sermon' is that we all need to be careful of the words that come from out of our mouth. Words can have huge impact, squashing and stomping like fire breathing Godzilla. What we say can have a lifelong impact on other's creativity. And in turn, we need to be careful of our thoughts as these too have the power to squash and stomp like Godzilla squelching our own courage to be expressive.
We need to live mindfully and listen to what Big Fly whispers to us.
and remember your new vocabulary words: garble and dross
test is Friday. ( and no, it is not open book)
3 comments:
yes, yes, yes, words can most ABSOLUTELY squash creativity!...even teachers who drop off a bunch of kids at my school studio for class, and loudly say " oh, Johhny is such an artist...wait till you see!"....what about every one else?....tender little 7 year old minds just think " well, then I must not be"...
one has to be so very careful! I love purple cows!
Thanks for sharing Kelly.
I am always fascinated and inspired by getting a peek into the hows and whys of an artist's creative process.
Your purple cow story is priceless.
I totally concur about the power of words and the need to be mindful of our speech at all times (I think that was a New Year's resolution once..) If people were more aware of how much affect we have on our surroundings (people included) and lived accordingly, the world would be a much better place. Thanks for the the thoughtful reminder!
I soooo agree with you! Word can squash and as is the case with me, my own thoughts are the villans (Why don't my horses look right? Maybe I just can't draw.) It took me 30 years to move past that thought. I want to thank Rice (with two dots over the e) for introducing me to you! Thanks for sharing. Diane
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