Geometry

When you're a new mom, you don't always have time for big projects, because you don't always have the chunks of time to complete something at one sitting. It's probably a problem for moms who aren't necessarily first-timers, either. Kids take time and energy, and a lot of us creative types have to find small ways to get our fix.

Lately, my way has been to take a piece of graph paper and a pencil, and just start making patterns.

It's fun to see what patterns emerge from starting with a simple design and then repeating it... When I was young, my dad had given me a coloring book that had designs much like the ones I've been creating. I used to love coloring them! I could photocopy these patterns, too, and then use either acrylic paints, watercolors, or markers to fill the patterns with color. If I could just get my printer up and running again, I could print to watercolor paper and have some fun! 

What do YOU do to feed your creative urges when you don't have lots of time? 

The Sound of Tree Rings...

My photo of an oak tree.

While browsing my Facebook feed, I found this awesome link that a friend of mine had posted... An artist named Bartholomäus Traubeck invented a way to "listen" to the sound of tree rings. Ingenious and creative. The result is amazing... Check this out below...

People are so ingenious... And I love that this piece might increase the interest of the general public in admiring and respecting nature. There's so much that we can learn from the natural world around us. There's more magic than we can discover in a lifetime, but keeping our eyes and heart open will allow more magic to find us... 

What Is Your Creative Style?

I was perusing ArtLoveJoy when I decided to do the quiz that she had taken. It's on a website called Psychologies, and it was a little enlightening, to be honest! I had never really thought about it much, but I do find solace in creativity. I DO want to fall in love with whatever I do... it isn't an object, in and of itself, separate from me... I see it as a part of me. Which is maybe why I enjoy giving away the things I make to people that I care about. It's me giving myself to friends and family, and it's kind of what I do.

Here are my results from the quiz...

Creativity enriches you

Creativity is separate from the real world for you. But it’s a magical world in which you like to immerse yourself. When you’re involved in it, you get the wonderful sensation that there are no limits, that anything is possible. What you are really looking for is harmony — you want to feel you are a part of what you create. Planting flowers, writing poetry, embroidery or putting together a photo album, these are all suited to your sort of quiet creativity. You want to fall in love with what you create. You also think of creativity as a part of you in which you can take refuge and feel protected. As the psychoanalyst D Anzieu explained, creativity acts as an ‘encouraging parent — loving, enriching and supportive’. You would love to use your creativity to retreat into a world that is kind and reassuring. For you, being creative means having the chance to become one with what you create, bathe in the glory of it and allow yourself to be taken over by it. This is why you seem more suited to the sort of creativity that calls for gentleness, subtlety, harmony and patience.

What is YOUR creative style?