[-exercise, un-blocker-]

by Nancy Waldman

Do you feel creative but still have difficulty creating?
Is something holding you back but you’re not quite sure what or why?
Are you feeling blocked?
Do you feel that your output is a trickle instead of a flood?

Here is a exercise designed to explore these kinds of problems in a new way.

In Marks Have Meaning, I made the point that small, quick, abstract marks can and do communicate emotions and concepts. This same concept can be used as an effective tool for problem solving.

The idea for and way of using marks as problem solving devices came to me from Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Artist Within, which I highly recommend.

Get several pieces of paper and a pencil with an eraser.

Sit down for a moment and think about your life. Choose an issue that is a challenge or an on-going problem, something that you don’t really have a handle on. It does not have to be a creative problem but if one of those questions at the top of this article is bothering you, it might be a good place to start.

Once you’ve decided on a problem, don’t think about it. Begin to draw.

Ms. Edwards suggest that you first draw a boundary on your paper. She calls this a format for the problem. It does not have to be a rectangle or square. Make it any size or shape that seems right.

Then begin to draw the problem. This drawing should take focus as a photograph developing before your eyes. Be in the mind of the issue you’ve chosen but don’t control this drawing with words. Let it come. The main thing to remember is that it should not include any representational or symbolic icons or figures. No hearts, or words, or lightning bolts or pictures of any kind. Just lines and abstract imagery.

Draw for as long as it takes. Remember, you are letting another part of your brain work for you. You are letting the r-mind communicate in the way it can. Enjoy the feeling of being wordless.

If one drawing doesn’t seem enough, do another. Don’t forget to ‘format’ it first, even if you choose to let the edges of the page be the boundary line.

Once the drawing or drawings are done, take a moment to assess how you feel. Are you refreshed? Frustrated? Feeling lighter? Or do you feel silly? Whatever it is, jot the word(s) on the back of the drawing.

Then think about what the drawing is telling you about your problem. Now is the time to try and put it into words. Say out loud what you see, how it makes you feel, what you observe about what you’ve drawn. It’s a similar process to recounting a dream. Often in retelling a dream, there is a process of identifying, of focussing. We might say, “There was a cat in the corner and that cat was—spooky…no, not really spooky, that’s too strong a word. More eerie. That cat gave me an eerie feeling that was like…well, surprisingly it reminds me of Great-grannie Gertrude!” And so on.

Turn your drawing over and on the back write the words that your r-mind has communicated to you. Ms. Edwards suggests that you “memorize” the drawing and the words. The idea is to hold both in your mind at once. Don’t let the words take over because the drawing may have more information in it than you can see right away. Before leaving this exercise, close your eyes and try to picture the drawing you did. Is it memorized? Then think about the words and hold them both in your mind at one time. It isn’t that hard, since you created both. They came from you and therefore are not foreign. The process has simply put them into your awareness in a new way.

Here’s a drawing I did years ago. I was trying to figure out why I couldn’t sustain creative efforts to completion.

In the same way that my dream would have significance to me, but would not to you, this drawing will mean nothing to you. Even if I point out the barriers and the difference between one side of the drawing and the other, it’s not your mind, your problem or your experience and therefore, not significant. However, what you should know is that I gained multiple insights from this and similar drawings. Doing these drawings over the years helped me deal with situations in my life with a broader understanding and awareness of them. In the same way, if you go through the process with openness, your drawings will have deeper significance because they came out of you.

Give it a try and see what happens in your life. For those of you who try it, share your experience with our readers by making a comment below.

[-r-mindfulness, exercise-]

by Nancy Waldman

Before beginning your creative work for the day, try this as a warm-up. It is an excellent way to access your R-mind and to lift your awareness from everyday mode into a heightened realm.

This warm-up is a drawing exercise but it’s not just for visual artists. It will help no matter what kind of creative endeavor follows.

Pick an object to draw. It can be anything, simple or complicated but, especially if you are new to this, choose a small object that can be brought to your drawing table so that you can focus on it easily.

Try to set aside ten to twenty minutes of uninterrupted time. Set a timer if you have one. Because you know there’s a set limit, this will help you to ‘forget’ the passage of time as you work. This will enhance the experience.

Using paper and pencil (it doesn’t have to be a pencil, but I enjoy the resistance that graphite on paper gives) you are going to draw the object. But this is no ordinary drawing. A contour drawing is one where your eyes never leave the object you are drawing and your pencil never leaves the paper once you’ve begun.

The end result will not look like the object you’ve chosen. This is okay because the purpose of this contour drawing is not to have a representation of that object; it is instead to focus on the edges, the lines, the boundaries, the negative space, the contours of the object in a new way. Here is a contour drawing I did of my hand.

The first thing you probably notice is that it doesn’t look like a hand. Good. It’s not supposed to. Now, notice the very specific quality of the line. In contour drawings, you are focused only on *seeing* and moving the pencil as you move the eye. Usually, there is another step between putting what we see on paper. Normally, you would look at the object, then look at the paper, decide on the placement of the line and begin to draw. By that time, though, the specific quality of what you’ve seen has already become somewhat diluted.

In a contour drawing, because the usual connection between what is being seen and what is going down on the paper is removed, the lines show the specificity. They are usually quite beautiful and sensitive, but even that is not the purpose of doing the drawing.

The purpose is to get your brain away from its usual mind-set. After you do your drawing, ask yourself how it felt. Did you notice that you were a little irritated at first? Perhaps you felt frustrated or silly. All of these less than positive responses are quite normal ones, especially if you’ve never done a contour drawing before.

That’s your everyday mind rebelling against an exercise that is completely different. The goal here is to persist with the drawing long enough to pass through these objections and into another mode, a different way of thinking.

Once you’ve done the drawing, then start your day of novel writing or oil painting or composing or whatever your creative work happens to be. You’ll find yourself in a less mundane, more relaxed, focussed and flexibly creative state of mind.

[-journaling, nature, process-]

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

3/1 The crocuses are coming up. Is it early? Is the natural world around you different from the way it was when you were a child? Perhaps it has even changed since you were a young adult. It has for me and I know it is so for many people. Climate change is happening and now, with greater awareness of it, perhaps it is time for those of us who like to record our lives in our journals, to consider chronicling climate change. I have always noticed (and have sometimes written down) those normal firsts during the course of a year. April 29 - Peepers! NS 2006 The first time I see a robin, the first crocus or forsythia or lilac. When I first run into June bugs on the front door screen or hear the cicadas in the summer or the peepers in the spring. That these sightings may be occurring earlier or differently than they used to was not the reason I noted them. I think I was more moved by the solid evidence that these things were happening on the exact same date from year to year. April 17th, 1996 CT 1st forsythia sighting by 18th it is difficult to look without seeing one Tyler tells me many people believe them to be: “for Cynthias” If I did it for any other reason, it had to do with creative writing. When writing, it’s often useful to have at your fingertips real notations of when the Indian Hawthorne blooms in Texas or if it’s believable that the first snowfall of the year might be as late as January in Connecticut or if a character could be hearing the frogs at dusk in Nova Scotia in mid-April. May May 6th - first lilac blooming - CT 1998, CT VERY WET SPRING - Rain everyday for 14 or so also cool May 11 — NS 2006 Forsythias in bloom However, looking back at my nature journal now, I realize that there is benefit in the simple act of jotting down what is happening in the natural world. I only wish I had written more and started earlier in my life. If you plant a vegetable garden or have perennial beds, why not consider keeping a journal dedicated just to what happens there each year? August The Cicadas have come! CT, 1995 Wow… once again, 1996 Not only will you be more likely to improve your gardens by remembering through your journal what works and what doesn’t, you may also notice more readily the changes that are occurring in the weather. The first and last frost dates, the fact that certain crops used to die on the vine but now have time to ripen, the withering of other crops due to higher heat. July 11th 1998 My Birthday Took myself to Sherwood Is. St. Park Beach After sitting on the beach for an hour or so, I walked down one of the nature trails. Was followed—hovered over—by a red-winged blackbird. It flew back to its nest and another came up, chattering at me. Felt as if I had an escort. Then, on the way back, I saw 7 or 8 goldfinches! Only me on this trail despite hundreds of people only yards away. While it may be human nature to avoid awareness of unpleasant things—especially when we feel helpless to do anything about it—it is a natural reaction that, in this case, needs to be resisted. If we notice in our personal lives that things have changed, we may be more likely to change ourselves in the process. Decide—at the very least—to be aware of what is happening to our world and in order to facilitate your awareness and your memory: record it in your journal. CB 2003 ~The summer of baby owls~ Juveniles by the time we spotted them. For days and days there were hanging around the edges of the yard everywhere we looked. Saw the parents less often, but frequently. Screeching “hunger” calls sounded like a bobcat

The images you see here are simple notes from my nature journal. The notes I make are ordered only by month. Because I have moved around and travel frequently, I am always careful to note where I am and the year but otherwise, the placement is random. This provides a quixotic juxtaposition of the years of my life that I find pleasing. ***That sentence provided a place to use two fun *x* words that I also found pleasing. May 17 NS 2006 Earliest spring since I’ve lived here. We’ve had warm to hottish temperatures since last Friday (12th) - a little rain one night but other than that: SUN. All the trees have their leaves though. Unlike most years on June 1st when they POP out all at once, they are opening gradually. This is almost 2 weeks early. Cherry trees beginning to bloom. The journal was a gift from my mother and the pages of it are graced—that is the only fitting word for them—with illustrations by Marjorie Bastin. As you can see they are gentle, accessible and charming images of birds, eggs, nests, dandelions with Marjorie’s own nature notations. Simply beautiful. If you have the time and interest, consider illustrating your own nature journal. One of the most beautiful books that I’ve seen on the nature journal is A Trail Through Leaves - The Journal as a Path to Place, by Hannah Hinchman. June 2005 -9th- in Maine for Cadi’s birth the lilacs are in full bloom Happy Journaling!

[-photography, practices-]

Curvyques

Originally uploaded by suzeque.

This photograph is taken by my cohort [and, btw, sister] Suze and is an image from Texas, taken in San Antonio.

I’m crazy about it. But why?

Taking the time to analyze what we love about someone else’s work is a useful exercise. Heightened awareness can only help to make our own work more instinctive and personal and therefore, better.

This is what I like about Suze’s image: The composition is beautifully balanced without being predictable. The colour contrast between the graceful curlicues and the background is lush and the colour combination unusual. Then there’s the texture on the green metal, the layers of paint - light green, darker green yellow and more - and the rust, which I love. We might as well revere rust for its beauty since it’s inevitable! But in the interest of heightened awareness, let me just ask myself, why? Why is rust so great?

It isn’t predictable. It eats through surfaces irregularly. It makes the surface not only visually variegated but also texturally varied. It adds as it takes away.

Any ideas on rust?

Thanks, suzeque, for your curlicues!

See Suze’s other articles on the PCQ.
See photographs of lots of gorgeous rust and other beautiful signs of aging on our Patina page.

Suze Corte is a writer, artist and pre-school teacher in Houston, Texas. In 2007, she was chosen as be the Houston Area Association of Educator’s of Young Children’s Teacher of the Year and the Texas Association of Educators of Young Children’s Teacher of the Year. Congratulations, Suze! It is a well-deserved recognition.

Originally published in the original Practically Creative blog, March 2006; edited for re-publication

[-essay, creative challenge-]

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

My grandmother, Polly Mahala Reed was a talented seamstress. When I think of the word “Alterations” I think of her.

She, like many of her generation, made most of her family’s clothes. My mother can describe in detail the colors and fabrics of the outfits she and her sister are wearing in the black and white photos from her childhood in the 1920’s and 30’s. But when I knew my grandmother, she was working as a seamstress in a smart little dress shop in San Diego. She did alterations.

Making clothes from scratch is a pretty great skill, but the idea of taking something ready-made and tailoring it to meet the needs of a particular body or taste, is even more amazing. Polly had to not only be able to envision what would work and how, but also have the technical skills to carry out those changes and have the finished product look better than new.

Altering anything can make it new again.

So here’s an Alterations Challenge!

Here are some functional items you could play with to transform into art:

* toothbrushes
* hair brushes
* broom
* pet toys
* plant pots
* old technology (be careful with the ‘innards’; many have toxic materials)
* any kind of recycling - plastic, cardboard, cans

We’re using the term “art” broadly to mean something that is fun, beautiful, wacky, decorative, playful, colorful, wonderful, unexpected, instructive, metaphorical - but NOT primarily functional.

Here’s a great example that was featured in the original PCQ:

Here’s another favourite of mine:

Clean out your make-up items that are not being used and make an assemblage out of them. Construct a shadow box or doll furniture (ok, so that’s slightly functional but we’ll count it as art) . Try playing cards, match boxes, pin cushions, ashtrays, magazines. See our Altered Books article for inspiration.

Here’s a sun-catcher I made from a used gelpen:

As for the other side of the challenge: use old, dusty, dog-eared, torn, faded, broken or “failed” art or photographs as the raw material for something beautifully useful, such as:

* jewelry
* containers (for cell phone, glasses, jewelry)
* frames
* pots
* waste baskets
* pillows
* lamps
* small furniture

Here’s a box I made out of a painting I did years ago:

This was a ready-made craft store box that I covered in old photographs and paper:

Use things you have around the house that would otherwise gather dust, or be thrown or given away.

How about broken glassware or dishes? They make great mosaics and jewelry.

Do you have old craft projects that will never get finished? Think about them in a new way. It’s great for dealing with that I-didn’t-finish-it guilt that can sap and sabotage our creative energy.

Be aware of what’s around you, what you are throwing away or what is on the shelves of your closet or in your junk drawers. Raise your level of consciousness and take the time to experiment.

remember:

Alterations can make things New Again

© 2007 all rights reserved by the artist on all images

We have a lot of fun alterations on our site. check out these other PCQ articles and examples:
Baywhale
- How to Make a Photosandwich
Maureen Shaughnessy - altered photographs
- thoughts and images
- tutorial and images
Cynthia Korzekwa
- On Colour
- Art Begins at Home: recycled and reused items made into art
Karen Hatzigeorgiou
- Altered books / Found Poetry
coming soon:
Nancy Waldman
- Found Poetry
- Article about Norman Sherfield’s, “Six Pac”: Naturally Good

Or just click on the topic: Alterations.

Originally published in the January 2006 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: alterations
Altered slightly for re-publication in The Practically Creative Quarter

[-essay, parenting-]

What do yoga, Carlos Castañeda and being a loving, effective parent have to do with knowing who and where and what you are? Read this great essay to find out.

Playing the edge, finding one’s spot and being one’s true self

by guest essayist, Joe McCarthy

I recently attended a four-class parenting seminar on Love and Logic, wonderfully facilitated by Cindy Horst. The three “rules” of Love and Logic are:

1. Take care of yourself by setting limits in a loving way
2. Give choices whenever it’s reasonable.
3. Let empathy and consequences do the teaching.

Throughout the classes, parents were encouraged to stretch to allow children to experience more consequences directly, enabling them to fail early and often, rather than being protected or rescued from those consequences. There is much to be gained by moving out of our comfort zone, but stopping short of real pain. Cindy notes that the Love and Logic principles can be used not only by parents interacting with their children, but in school and the workplace as well.

I see these principles as applying equally well to my interactions with my self.

This notion of stretching to the edge of our comfort zone reminded me of the concept of “playing the edge” that Erich Schiffman describes in his wonderful book “Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness”. Reviewing the highlighted passages in my copy of the book revealed close alignment with some of the concepts taught by Don Miguel Ruiz in “The Four Agreements” and by Don Juan (via Carlos Castañeda) in “The Teachings of Don Juan”. I’ll include some relevant passages below.

On “playing the edge” (from Erich Schiffman’s book):

A large part of the art and skill in yoga lies in sensing just how far to move into a stretch … This place in the stretch is called your “edge.” The body’s edge in yoga is the place just before pain, but not the pain itself … Sensing where your edges are and learning to hold the body there with awareness, moving with its often subtle shifts, can be called “playing the edge.”

One of the things you learn in yoga is to enjoy working with intensity. Intensity is simply more “energy” at any given moment, more feeling … Yoga can teach you to enjoy and learn from a broader range of experience. It will encourage you to seek out and process more intensity … Skill in yoga involves creating the perfect amount of intensity — not too much, not too little.

The real key to depth in postures is going slowly, making sure you have thoroughly opened your early edges … Proceed slowly, edge by edge and gate by gate … Respect your tight edges. Work with them sensitively. Lure them to greater openness.

Never be in a place you don’t want to be. If you do not like it, change it. Adjust. Find the degree of stretch you can totally immerse yourself in … Never fight yourself.

This last part reminds me of Don Juan’s notion of finding one’s spot (via Carlos Castañeda’s book):

Finally he told me that there was a way, and proceeded to create a problem. He pointed out that I was very tired sitting on the floor, and that the proper thing to do was to find a “spot” (sitto) on the floor where I could sit without fatigue. I had been sitting with my knees up against my chest and my arms locked around my calves. When he said I was tired, I realized that my back ached and that I was quite exhausted.

I waited for him to explain what he meant by a “spot,” but he made no overt attempt to elucidate the point. I thought that perhaps he meant that I should change positions, so I got up and sat closer to him. He protested my movement and clearly emphasized that a spot meant a place where a man could feel naturally happy and strong. He patted the place where he sat and said it was his own spot, adding that he had posed a riddle I had to solve by myself without any further deliberation.

Finally, re-reading the opening chapter of Schiffmann’s book reminded of the concept of mitote in Ruiz’ book:

Your mind is a dream where a thousand people talk at the same time and no one understands each other. Everything you believe about yourself and the world, all the concepts and programming you have in your mind, are all the mitote. We cannot see who we truly are; we risk to be alive and express what we really are.

Schiffman addresses this issue of who we are - and who we are not - and suggests that yoga can provide a way to discover and experience our true selves:

Yoga is a way of moving into stillness in order to experience the truth of who you are … From very early on, a fundamental conflict was introduced into our psyches revolving around this basic and most important issue: Who am I, really? And because we were not encouraged to find out for ourselves, we believed what other people told us. The result is that we feel guilty, ashamed, embarrassed, and confused about who we are. We feel judged … [Yoga teaches you to] turn your attention inward and focus on yourself. Focus on what it feels like to be you. Experience you.

One of the things I like about Love and Logic is that it encourages children to be who they really are. Rather than trying so hard to control children, the program points to a path through which children can more naturally unfold to be their true selves, with gentle guidance and support from their parents. This approach resonates with me, and I will try to apply it as best I can. And, regardless of how this affects my children, I plan to get up extra early tomorrow to have more time to find my spot, play my edge … and experience being me.

about the author:
Joe McCarthy’s mission is to help people relate to one another. He has played the edges of academia and industry, and is currently moving out of his comfort zone and opening up to the intensity of a new entrepreneurial path aligned with this mission. More about Joe’s entrepreneurial aspirations can be found at interrelativity.com; other dimensions of his journey can be found on his blog: gumption.typepad.com. This article is a slightly revised version of this one originally published on his blog.

illustration from the yellow woman series by nancy sm waldman © 2005 - 2007 all rights reserved

Published with the permission of the author in the April 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: inspiration