[-art, collections-]

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

drifter a

Originally uploaded by indiegogogirl.

I was immediately drawn to this photo because I’m a picker-upper of rocks. I can’t help it. I put them in my coat pocket, bring them back to the house, pile them up on windowsills. Sometimes I paint pictures of them as you can see below. Rocks are little pieces of rich history and science - geology, geography, geometry. What’s not to love? All that variety in colour, texture and shape!

Indiegogogirl has created what feels to me like an altar to and from her rocks. The subtle colour variations and the similar but unique shapes are beautifully shown in this construct. The shadowing that is going on also emphasizes the composition. And while I’m at it: the background of this image is great! The weathered wood is beautiful within itself, but it also complements the rocks without distracting from them. Here, we can see the whole sculpture —

drifter

Originally uploaded by indiegogogirl.

A while back I made a small indoor fountain that was lined with some of my rocks. The water enriches their color and smell! Unfortunately, my construction skills are spotty and my fountain kept drooping, leaving the water in places it shouldn’t be. I shoud give it another try. If I get it together I’ll definitely post a photo here for all to see. That’s what I like to get in a morning blog post: incentive!

Don’t forget to click on the images to see indiegogogirl’s flickr photostream; See more of her rock sculptures and art on her website: irockitcreations.com

Thanks, Audra!

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See all our articles on Alterations

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

[-metaphorism, inspiration-]

metAphorism is a word I coined to mean a simple, everyday thing, concept or event that points us in the direction of a deeper lesson. metaphor - figure of speech giving an implicit comparison: this is that. aphorism - concise statement of a truth or opinion.

The metAphorism:
The Costume Box
The Lesson:
unplanned, unsorted accumulations are important sources of creative productivity

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

When I was a little girl, we had a big cardboard box in the closet that held anything that could be thought of as “costume.” Never sorted through, never planned, it looked only like an unholy mess. Feathers and ribbons. Fabric to drape and pin. Hand-me-downs and hand-offs from relatives that could never be used in real life. A rabbit-fur muff. A fox stole. A “gypsy” skirt made from horizontal rows of brightly contrasting fabric. There was an evening bag that would bring hundreds on E-bay today. Clip-on earrings without mates. Belts. Beads. Broken things. Unlikely bits of felt and plastic and leather and cotton and wire and pipe cleaners.

The specifics are less prominent in my mind all these years later than the enticing assortment and variety of things.

It was used, of course, at Halloween to devise costumes which were never store-bought. While we sometimes had help from our creative parents, we often came up with our own creations right out of the Costume Box. The other major use was for the garage musicals that my sister, Suze and I put on regularly for fame and profit. Suze was the creative genius behind “Dance through the Centuries” and many others. One was carried out entirely on roller skates (must have been where Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber got the idea). The Costume Box provided the raw materials for transforming us into stage-ready performers.

When I had children, it was second-nature for me to have a box that I threw things into to form their own Costume Box. One summer we rented a condo on the beach with another family. There were five boys in all and I took the Costume Box along, hoping it would provide some entertainment if it rained the whole week. One evening the adults were sitting outside with other people from the condos and our boys came down dressed as characters from Star Wars. Even though there were no store-bought costumes in the box, we watched in amazement as they trooped down in identifiable personages. “There’s Darth Vader!” a child exclaimed. “Oh look! He’s a Stormtrooper!” said an adult. There they were: BobaFet, R2D2, Chewbacca.

It’s truly stunning what our imaginations can do with almost nothing.

None of us became professional performers or costume designers, but the creations that adorned us out of the Costume Boxes had a lasting effect nonetheless. When you have had the experience of making something new out of old cast-offs you remember it forever. It’s not only fun, it’s creative confidence-building in a box.

So when you think about creativity, remember the Costume Box. Don’t let those clutter-clearing shows on TV make you feel too guilty about your accumulation of stuff. Junk drawers, untidy tool sheds, archivist attics, overflowing garages, toy and costume boxes provide raw materials for creative productivity.

Originally published in the October 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: collecting

© 2005 - 2007 all rights reserved

[-photo essay-]

Soy, in ad-dressing collections, we mustard somewhere and honey, you are going to relish this! Mayo we introduce you to a tiny taste of Chris Harne’s astounding preserve of close to 700 flexible portion-control Condiment Packets
…sweet, hot and saucy, eh?

The Condiment Packet Gallery

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[-crackles!-]

If you’ve tried everything else…you could just PLAY with your collection:

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[-photo essay & interview-]

Some collections happen because we are engaged in creative practices that require materials. The more we create, the more we love our materials, the more we need and want to acquire more. Often we acquire so many that we couldn’t possibly use all that we’ve gathered. The materials themselves becomes a collection. Here we have an interview with and photographs of the studios of Teesha Moore, founder of artfest and artFIBERfest.

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[-survey-]

10. What has collecting taught you about people or life?

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[-survey-]

8. If something bad happened to your collections, what would your reaction be?

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[-survey-]

7. What is the downside to your collections?

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[-survey-]

4:At what age did you begin your first collection?

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[-survey-]

Short Answers

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