One
2008 CREATIVE ACTION NEWSLETTER
In this introductory issue:
A quick Field Trip.
Four Steps:
getting it done,
getting it out there,
helping it give back to you.
Upcoming Classes
The Design Game begins.
And Two Assignments, should you choose to accept them.
FIRST: Try these ideas for yourself. Email me with what you find.
I will read everything you send me, even if I don’t respond individually.
OLA FROM SANTA FE
Well hello there, creative spark!
Here ya go!
We start with a
FIELD TRIP FOR CREATIVE ACTION
Ever been to San Francisco’s interactive science center, The Exploratorium?
There are small signs all over that say “TO DO AND NOTICE.”
These signs mark experiments you do right there,
to affect some part of the physical world.
You do it, and you get to see what happens when you do.
DO AND NOTICE.
Do something.
See what happens.
Then choose what you want to do next, based on what you just found out.
Hold this idea while you read the rest of this newsletter.
Doing and noticing.
= OBSERVATION FOR TODAY =
Art-making and science are very similar. We artists are engineers of the liminal world.
We investigate, have ideas and theories, make something, observe, evaluate, and then make a new something.
( Kinda like life, really.)
SO.
YA KNOW THIS ONE?
Ever had that experience of going to make something, full of inspiration?
But by the time you are sitting down at your work table you feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities?
And then you don’t really make anything?
Or maybe you know you want to make something: but the ideas fly away by the time you sit, and you can’t remember why you were so excited?
Boy, can I relate. I have been a working artist for twenty-five years, so this may sound weird. But it happens to all of us.
IDEAS AND MORE IDEAS
When I was eleven, I realized with a great shock that I would NEVER get all my ideas out into the world.
Talk about pressure. Jeez Looize.
But I found a way through it.
And I want to share it with you!
TRUTH
You already have what you need inside of you. I have total faith in you. That’s what we’ll talk about here.
FOR INSTANCE
This first newsletter was supposed to go out Jan 5th.
What happened?
Like any artist, I had the tools, materials, and idea – but couldn’t say ‘finished’, let go, and send it out.
DANG!
So how did this finally get to your mailbox?
Getting it done took
FOUR STEPS
It took
Doing them, and noticing what happened.
THOSE PESKY FOUR STEPS
Those of you who’ve been in my classes, you know those mottos for creative action that I pin up on the walls?
Well, I went back to those.
And they worked.
So these four steps are the topic of this first issue.
FOUR STEPS TO GET IT DONE
Step One:
Stop waiting. Just start.
Step Two:
There are no mistakes.
Step Three:
Act on your intuition.
Step Four:
Trust the bigger picture.
APPLICATION OF THESE STEPS
Say I am working along in the studio, and I get bogged down….
STEP ONE: STOP WAITING
I have an idea, a theory- cobalt blue would be a good color here on this object I’m making.
I try it and then I can choose whether that is the best design solution or not.
In the creative process, I can break things down into simple easy steps and just do each one. A small step is easy.
Stop waiting.
STEP TWO: THERE ARE NO MISTAKES
What happened when I put the blue there?
Is blue right for that area? If so, where else could blue be good?
If not, what other quality of color might be better: warmer, brighter, lighter, darker?
There are no mistakes.
STEP THREE: ACT ON YOUR INTUITION
Say the blue looks great, better than I had imagined.
I decide from that to change the color balance of the whole piece.
I make something different and much more satisfying than what I had planned.
…
Or say that the blue looks off, and I remind myself of my original idea.
And I make an even better version of that first idea, because I could refine now that I had more information.
Either way, I make a better object.
STEP FOUR: TRUST THE BIGGER PICTURE
Say I make that even-more-blue one. Sumptuous lapis, azures and cobalts. Not sure why, but my hunch said it was right.
I take this gorgeous blue object to my next show. A woman sees it for whom the object and colors represent ‘peace’.
She buys it and commissions a set of 30 similar items for a wedding reception.
PS: This is a true story. They had a great wedding, and the gifts were perfect.
YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT
Use these four steps.
Look at a creative project you haven’t finished yet.
Ask yourself-
STEP ONE:
- where do I need to STOP WAITING?
To just do it, break it down into small steps and just do the first one?
STEP TWO:
- where do I need to remember that THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, no wrong answers?
That every result helps me refine my choices? That knowledge gives me power, it doesn’t take it away?
STEP THREE:
- what am I hearing/feeling/seeing within myself? How can I ACT ON MY INTUITION?
What is my gut feeling about how this works, what needs to happen here?
STEP FOUR:
- how can I TRUST THE BIGGER PICTURE to take the next step for me with what I made?
How can I put myself, my art and my life out there into the bigger world, and let the universe take over from here?
Let me know how this works for you-
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A monthly feature:
DESIGN GAME NUMBER ONE -
“GATHERING LINES”
—> practice seeing what is actually there. gather these images for inspiration.
Look up.
Notice any visual line anywhere
For instance, find the edge of a wall, an electrical cord, a plant’s stalk: any sort of line.
Start to follow this line. with your eyes.
Trace it onto a blank page in your mind.
Watch this line as it moves along an edge, around a curve.
Notice its actual shape from your perspective.
Do not make an assumption of what it is supposed to do, just notice what it does.
FOR EXAMPLE
In this image of the greenhouse doorway:
Trace the edge of the doorway. Notice the line of the roof angling out: a skewed trapezoid. There’s an odd, interesting polygon here.
Do you see it?
A standard rectangle at the base, (the door) with a weird diamond shape at the top (the roof above the door). Intriguing because it is not quite a regular shape. To me, this line might describe an interesting shape to make a brooch. Or the silhouette of a box. What about you? Notice which lines that you gather interest you for esthetic purposes. Gather lines, either in your mind’s logbook or a journal. Design inspiration is all around you every moment
——————-
SECOND ASSIGNMENT
Your second assignment, very important!
Tell me what you most want me to address here.