Monthly Archives: April 2017

“Allow for the Time” – Stephan Meyers

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Words of wisdom from musician Stephan Meyers (Breadfoot):  “Allow for the time…”, when I asked Stephan what ignites his creativity.  I needed to hear those words today…

Photo courtesy of Breadfoot

What ignites your creativity?

“Ain’t one thing that ignites it.  Not like ya just flip a switch or smoke a joint and Shazam!, yer creative.  It’s either in ya or it ain’t, and the only thing that can tease it out proper, in my opinion, is allowing for the time.

Ya need to get past it all being so precious.  Better to do something rather than nothing, even if the result may be crap.  Or conversely, do nothing.  Flannery O’Connor used to put aside about 4 hours a day for writing, whether she wrote or not, she did nothing else.  Again, it all comes down to allowing for the time.”

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Facing a blank canvas today, I listened to Stephan and allowed for the time.  I spent hours poring through ephemera, poetry, and other books, seeking inspiration for my next painted collage.  I still have to “get past it being so precious,” and I will…once I allow for the time.

Watch Breadfoot’s newly released video, Room in Her Heart, off his new album, Salvatella.

And visit Breadfoot’s website:  www.Breadfoot.com

So…how do YOU allow for the time?

Igniting Creativity – Featured Artist: Pamela Robinson-Thompson

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I recently asked a group of creatives…

What ignites your creativity?  

My friend, Pamela Robinson-Thompson, a successful business/life coach and artist based in Texas, reflected on this question.  Personally, I was so inspired by her response, as well as by the whimsical creations she shared with me, that I knew I had to share them with you!  

Enjoy Pam’s thoughts and artwork..

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“I mostly get inspired by nature, other artists and the Universe. I sincerely feel a lot of my work is really divinely inspired. Ideas will just pop into my head, as if they are downloaded through the Universe. A lot of times my work inspires me, too. The ones I keep & share are of course the ones I enjoy. When I’m having a tough time creatively, and I really want to create something that feels good-I’ll look at my past work. Then I think, Wow, I did that, let me see if I can create something that feels as good as that or even better! Then I get on a roll. I was art journaling last night- only happy with a couple things I did. Then I looked at this :

Which inspired me to create this:

I drew them and then digitally changed them to create different feelings and color schemes.

I do love to look at other artists’ work, I think it’s a compliment to them when they inspire me. I never copy another artist – mostly I try to copy the feelings their piece evokes from me. I love fun and whimsical! I recently started to watch videos on SkillShare that other artists have posted. It about $11 a month after the free trial and I find the other artists very inspiring. The first video I watched was this one…

She inspired me to draw this lady-

But I liked the crispness of the colors done digitally so I then was inspired to draw a better one-

Since then I’ve been on a roll with drawing people’s faces- something I was intimidated with.

My alcohol ink paintings were also inspired by an artist on SkillShare.

Kellie Chasse was great at teaching the process. After her videos I created mine- such fun!

One thing then seems to lead to another. Then I started drawing dragon flies digitally too. I now have a lot of my work up on Society6 for sale.

Mostly I create to make myself & others happy!! My final thought is that all of the feedback from others on Facebook inspires me. I never even considered myself to be an artist until I started posting my drawings- just for the fun of it and received so much amazing positive feedback! I was encouraged by friend on Facebook to create a book- my first was in 2014 and now I have 5 adult coloring books and 4 self help books published. One of my books made #1 new release best seller on Amazon. That inspired me to want to create & share more of my work.”

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If you’d like to see more of Pam’s fun work, following her on Facebook.  You may contact Pam at [email protected] .

And check out her Society6 page! 

So tell me, what ignites YOUR creativity?

 

 

 

Creating Joy

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How do you create joy?  An existential question, to which I’m sure we all have many different answers.  A hug.  A smile.  Gut-clenching laughter with a friend.  Kindness to self.  Kindness to others. Petting a cat or dog.  Eating a piece of decadent chocolate cake.  

How about that word, “create”?  To me, the act of creating creates joy!  Getting into the flow of the creative process.  Losing myself in the ethereal world of creating art.  Watching a sketch come to life through shading and colors.  

You know, the more I think about, the more I realize we could all use a little more joy in our lives.  So, how ’bout it?  How do you create joy?