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gaining perspective by walking away and coming back fresh

Ticket-Outhouse Studios

Digitally created composite image from digital paintings - 2003

This morning I started writing a song - if I had finished it - I might have recorded it to share it; but like most creative endeavors it requires my walking away and coming back to it.

I was in my kitchen making coffee - enjoying my dog’s company - because no one else was home - besides the cats. I heard words and music - yes I admit it - in my head - together.

To me this is not strange - but it was quick and could have easily been missed. I had no intentions of writing a song today. I diverted not so much because I wanted, but because I had to - a gift perhaps - words and melody to take where.

I do believe it is going to be a good song - their are difficulties to still work through - and as much as I want to have it complete, I can only finish it by walking away for a while and coming back to it fresh.

The same goes for art or any difficult project - we must get some perspective to see how to proceed.

See Also

• Cats and the Dogs
  Music from summer 2004 - seemed appropriate since song I am writing about is not ready
• Music CD’s at Outhouse Studios
  Availability and Pricing
• Curiosity Da Vinci Style - The Everyday Artist
  creativity, open slate, curiosity, & fresh perspective

observing the lowest point and the artist’s role

Wheel of Fields - digital painting for art prints - 2006

This is a real view from a position just at the  bend in the road.  I found it amazing that the fields from this angle really look like spokes of a wheel.  It is equally amazing that the pattern of the hills finds the lowest point to be the circle - where just as amazing the ever present strawberry harvesters were at it again and only in that area.

A mouthful indeed, but it is clearly the reason why I felt the need to bring the painting to life.

Inspiration surrounds me. I feel lucky that so many things make me want to create. But I am also lucky that I can’t help but look around me.

I have said in other places - that observing is much of the artist’s role - and listening the musician’s.

I don’t see myself as trying to record as a photograph would, but rather as someone more inside the experience - with feelings and confused perception in tact.

For art prints from this digital painting, please email: specialorders@outhousestudios.net.

See Also

• 4 The Road
  An earlier view of the bend - before strawberries
• Around the Arts: Audience members are artists in observation
  Observation is key to being artist and enjoying art
• Click on the image for a larger view of the photo
  Part of University of Florida website and strawberry research - interesting old photos I stumbled upon

Artist , Musician, Creativity, Listening, and Observing

The question of where the artist sits in relation to his work is an important aspect of the creative process and even the finished work.

I suspect it is different for different artists, but there are similarities that can be found as well. In some cases, people approach their work as the great shaper, not stopping until the piece is formed exactly as they imagined. In other cases, people approach their work with more give and take and find themselves going in the direction that the work or medium directs them.

My personal leaning is towards the latter. I like to start with intention, but am not opposed to going in the direction that the piece warrants and pulls me.

Similarly, in music one finds that the role of playing with other musicians requires that kind of subjugation to the overall sound. In an article in The Australian, renowned guitarist Ralph Towner states: " With a group, you have to find a role in the music … and of course the roles change too. You can be chameleon-like. There’s a lot of three-dimensional play. You have to adjust to the other people’s concept of rhythm and harmony and the way they negotiate musical space."

There are other ways in which one can be immersed. According to Emeka Udemba, in an article about Nigerian art breaking borders in the Daily Independent, “For as long as there have been urban environments, artists have found inspiration in them. Creative people have made meaning from the many layers of culture, changing technologies, sense of accelerated time, changes in the social polity and aesthetic allegiances within the cityscape.”

In short the immersion of oneself either in one’s environment or during the process of creating seems to be a great part of the creative process. This is one of the things which is so valuable about the creative process - it is a place one can be incredibly focused and in the moment. There are many who feel there is nothing more real than this being in the moment.

See Also

• The Australian
  Three can strum better than one
• Daily Independent
  Breaking borders through creative dialogue
• St. Petersburg Times Floridian - Coloring in the lines
  Another review of Matisse book - painting a picture of his immersion in his work