Funny thing happen along the way.

What is being creative? I’m always smacked in the face with the obvious, it’s always right in front of me. I was driving when I came across this house. I couldn’t decide to laugh or stare like a dog. I couldn’t decide whether it was a joke, a social comment, a strange moment of whimsy, or someone saying –“hey! look at me”. Imagine if Piet Mondrian actually lived there. Would it then make sense? All I know, I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Whatever it was doing to me, it was certainly doing a good job. I was left speechless but with a smile on my face. My conclusion was the owner had a lot of guts to express themselves that way and I take my hat off to them.

 

Piling on.

I find it wonderful to find an example where people are compelled to add to an already creative expression. Whether it’s with graffiti, adding stickers or any evidence of juvenile behavior, it all adds up to a new a image. It becomes some sort of complex abstract visualization of War and Peace or some such thing. I enjoy a lot of creative clutter I find. It’s becomes a timeline for that doorway or wall. I am always entertained and inspired.

 

Red is everywhere.

For me, creativity is life’s blood. Whenever I am in the hunt for a new idea, I am always convinced that it will be right in front of me. I just have to find the path. It will present itself  with very little effort – if you just focus.  I remember dreaming of owning a Corvette when I was young, and there wouldn’t be a day that I didn’t see a bunch of them on the street no matter where I was in the city. I know it’s a common experience. Later in life I became focused on the color red. It’s been an obsession of mine for a long time. Along the way, it has taught me how to stay focused in a variety of ways. It’s become a great visual exercise for me to discover red out in the world. The trick is to find red in harmony with life’s moments. It can be very entertaining. You might ask, “What do you do with all this?” The moment you ask your creativity to come alive, red might just pop up as a possible solution. It may never happen, but at least you know it’s there. You can at least enjoy the discoveries. As a result, I now know where red lives and how it fits into our society. When we see red, we stop, we get mad, we get excited and most of all, we get happy.

 

 

 

 Life’s abstract paintings.

The one on the left was a floor next to me while I was having breakfast in a funky place and the other one I found out in the countryside. Nature and time can create millions of colors and textures. All we have to is look down once in a while without our phones in the way. It is what I call a direct hit on inspiration. These things are always great to discover when I begin to feel left out of the cycle of creativity. It’s a sort of pick me up!

 

 

You can change what you see.

Here is a simple exercise that I do from time to time. I shoot a picture out of focus. They are wonderful images because they becomes very peaceful. The mind will reference that feeling and image later when a need arises. I often do this just to test my ability to pre-visualize photographs.  Try and imagine the scene out of focus before you click the shutter.  Color is also wonderful out of focus. Creativity and Color is a huge subject that I may try to tackle later.

 

 

 Great ideas.

Creativity can be an obsession. Can you see yourself with a tattoo? For those of you with limited experience searching for creativity, there is no need to be profound in the beginning. Be happy with small victories and when you are no longer happy with those victories, then you will know it’s time to step up and be profound. But be prepared to fail. Failure is a great way to clear the path to confidence.

 

 

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life”-Oscar Wilde