Creativity Is Not A Straight Line

A couple of gray and rainy days here in South Dakota, complete with thunderstorms, which is most unusual for November. Subdued color, touched with melancholy....this is the palette that finds its way in my work. This landscape, so beautiful through all the seasons.

With only about four weeks left to go in the semester, I thought I'd better delay gratification and concentrate on school rather than being in the studio....counting the days though! I am thinking a lot about next steps and how I can unite my love and interest in the arts, education, and connecting people with new ideas and with one another. 

One of the undercurrents that runs like a river through everything is my belief in the creative abilities of everyone. Our culture has made us believe that some people are creative and others are not. That it's a gift bestowed upon us....or a talent some of us are lucky to receive and others miss. I don't believe it and it makes me sad to know that so many people carry the label for themselves, often wearing it like a badge..."oh, I'm not creative at all....I can't even draw a straight line." 

As if....a straight line, which anyone can draw with the aid of a ruler or straight edge, is somehow connected to creativity. I can't draw a straight line and frankly don't really want to. A straight line serves a function, but it doesn't inspire me, nor does it reveal much about the way our lives are lived, our ideas are formed or the struggles we face. We are creative beings. It's a function of how our brains work and we belittle ourselves and the huge potential each of us carries, by confining the role of creativity to the life and work of those in the arts. 

I'll be exploring this topic here as time goes on. For now....let's start with a TED Talk by Julie Burstein, 4 Lessons in Creativity. It focuses on creativity, as experienced by some folks in the arts, but she makes it clear that the core ideas apply to all of us. 

Hope you have a creative and energizing week. Thanks for stopping by!