Ideas and Blank canvases

I am having a time of it trying to live my work life and my art life. Lately I have been getting boat loads of ideas flash through my mind for art pieces at the strangest times. At work, at church, driving in the car. Unfortunately they travel through and out the other end faster than Superman's proverbial speeding bullet. I have a small moleskine "idea book" that I try to capture these ideas in. But many times I am not even in a place that I can stop to write them down. They frown on stopping for "creativity breaks" at work...driving and drawing is not so much on the safety side. So how to solve this problem? What do others do? By the time I get home in the evenings I sit down to a blank canvas and a blank mind.

Blank canvases and blank minds. If I were a morning person - I wonder if my mind wouldn't be so blank when I sit in my studio? But I guess at the end of the day it isn't so much about a blank mind as getting the mind to quiet and focus on creativity and let go of the day. Once I get started the whole world falls away. But getting started. Aye there's the rub! Yes I have tricks and rituals and routines that help. I do different things all the time. But still, eventually you face that blank canvas. I mean how many times can you make sure your pencils are all sharp, your drafting table is cleared off and the laundry is done!? Why is something I love to do so much something I also procrastinate at.

I have a theory that I have long held, particularly when I was making a living at costume design. Although that time looked like procrastination, it was actually a time I was processing all the research and synthesizing my ideas and mind meanderings into concrete design decisions. But now that I am no longer doing costume design, I still do these types of activities before I begin to actually create. Is this just habit, or is it still a precursor to getting down to the business of creating. I don't know, but it seems that if I don't corral this activity now, I may never get anything accomplished in the short time spaces I have free to create these days. It was different when I would have 2-3 days at a time to sit at my table and work on renderings for a show. Now that I have to have a market-place job, my art time is compressed into bits and pieces of early mornings (ya right!!) and evenings that are not filled with other responsibilities.

How do you all do it? Those of you who work full time in the marketplace and are still prolific with your creative output?

How do you capture those ideas that flit through your mind while you are busy doing things that are not art? This distresses me most; loosing all those ideas. Maybe most of them would never come to full fruition, but still, loosing the ideas....

It feels like my mind is in two lives at once. Half is present in the day to day doings of job, home, church, friends, etc. while the other half is always thinking about creating. Anyone else like that? Sometimes I completely go there, to that creative place, and the world goes mute, like a slowly fading radio volume. Now this is embarrassing when you finally realize that someone has been talking to you and you have no idea what they just said.

Speaking of work, gotta go do it. Sigh!

Soul Cards again

The one with the mirror reads "Conversations with a Mirror" and "I am your energy source. Make me Work for you. I have been dealing with body image issues, this is a reflection of this.


The other one reflects my dream to work full time as an artist, a creative person again. Something I am slowly working on.

More Soul Cards

These were created while I was training to walk a half marathon last winter and into the spring. I didn't get to walk it because I began to have muscle spasms in my back that took me out of training for several weeks. By the time I could get back to training there wasn't enough training time left to work back up to being able to walk the distance. But there is always next year.

Out of Practice

I recently purchased a Moleskine sketchbook online. I love it for pencil and pen, but am having challenges with using watercolors with it. Anyway I was at Borders today waiting for someone and started to sketch while I waited. I am so out of practice. I don't think that I have practiced the habit of daily sketching since I was a grad student and the required daily 5 was expected. I am not sure why I quit. I struggled with doing the sketching in school, always have. But there was no question that my skills improved when I kept at it. And of course when it came my time to be the instructor I required the "daily 5" as well, and my students groaned and struggled with it as much as I did. Sitting there today, trying to sketch, feeling rusty, feeling like my hand didn't know how to hold a pen, feeling like my eyes couldn't communicate to my hand I realized that it was time to challenge myself to the daily 5 again. I realize that at this time I will be lucky if I can get in one page of sketching a day, but if I challenge myself to 5 maybe, just maybe I will actually get out one full page a day. Wish me luck.

In addition to sketching I pulled out my old camera (pentax k1000) and then discovered a smaller camera that belonged to my brother (FUJI Discovery) This one has some gidgets and gadgets, but what interested me is the zoom lens. It is one of those auto focus lenses and looks to be an auto adjustable flash. There are these little card thingies you can put into a slot of the top that is suppose to help the flash I think for taking distance, close up, and low light/night pictures. I haven't had time to read the booklet that was with it yet, but I might do some experimenting with it. What attracts me to it is the size. I have been desiring a camera that I could throw into my art bag and have it with me all the time. This isn't quite small enough, (my art bag is pretty small right now due to back problems) but it was in a nice little shoulder bag that fits nicely over my shoulder cross wise for walking. As soon as I get the first roll developed, and if anything turns out I will post a few of them. I am in sore need of creating some images for my collage work. I am getting tired of trying to figure out copy right issues.

Soul Cards

These are a few of the cards inspired by the book by Seena B. Frost called SoulCollage. I don't really use them as she suggests. I use them as a way to pray particularly when the words won't come. They help me to clarify what may be going on in my life, to celebrate almost anything, or to visualize what I feel God may be speaking to me or even to create images of what I can't find words for as I pray.

I began working on them after reading about this book (although I haven't read it yet, it is on my list though) and looking at and being inspired by what others are creating as soul cards. The idea to use them as a form of prayer came out of a time when I was having difficulty bringing words into my prayers. About that time I discovered a prayer movement that started in England among the 20-some things in which they created a prayer room that was open for people to come to pray 24/7. Spontaneously people began to create art that reflected the prayers. I was excited by that thought - combining the two things in my life that breathed life into my soul - prayer and art. I feel that I have just begun to scratch the surface of this and how to use it in both my spiritual life and creative life.

This is the first one I created. On the back is the prayer or the scripture or the thought I was praying or what I sensed God was saying to me. This one was a very powerful one for me. I had been praying for direction and was coming to a place of beginnings and endings. The scripture that kept going through my mind was from Song of Solomon 2:10-11. I felt that God was saying to me "I am the one who opens doors, do not be afraid to walk through, my dreams for you are much larger than you can even begin to dream for yourself" (see Jer. 29:11)

This is the second one. Again I was praying for clarity and direction. I was also being frustrated with issues in my life where I felt out of control...I had been trying to do it alone, without God's help. I felt as I was praying and creating this that God was whispering into my heart to "Look into My true light. As you look into My light I will change you and show you the way you should go"

The scripture references are not ment to explain or support what I say, or try to prove any kind of doctrine. They were the scriptures that came to my mind as I was praying and creating these cards.

Meeting Sketches

Sitting in a dark room, early morning phone conference meeting, about stuff I know nothing about, not sure why I even needed to be here...to keep alert and listening to the monologue what's a girl to do but sketch..badly...in the dark.

Ideas Distracting me from My Job

do something with journal prompts

ab: legendary women

How do ideas come to us? I find that this is an ever-fascinating subject to talk about with other creatives. I used to think that I was some kind of wierd one...I would be in the middle of a conversation and someone would say something and an idea for a painting or a project would come to mind and zoom...there my mind would go and I would be gone from the conversation for minutes at a time while my inner eye saw the project progress. Now I find that many creatives are the same. Nice to know I am not alone in living an inner creative thought life.

But really, how ideas come is just part of the fun of creating. The problem is finding a way to capture those ideas as they come, because for me, as soon as they come, they are gone. I need to record them in some fashion. I always think that I will remember them, but I don't. Over time I have solved some of the problems with this. I keep a sketch book at my bedside with a flashlight and pen to jot ideas or sketches down when they wake me from sleep or I dream about them. At work I discreetly keep a 3x5 post-it note pad to jot ideas down (if I don't I would never get anything done at work). And of course I have a journal and a sketch book/sketch journal that I carry with me. But I am currious about how others deal with this delema. Sometimes the journal/sketch book/post-it-notes are clunky. And what do you do while driving?? I get lots of my ideas while driving...but I am not one who can drive and write at the same time...and you wouldn't want me to either!!

Any suggestions?