Entries Tagged as: nature

What the Full Flower Moon Can Teach You About Creativity

May 8th, 2009, Comments (11)

Today or tomorrow (depending on where you are in the world) marks the start of the Full Flower Moon (also known as the Full Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.) When I thought of the Creative Every Day Challenge's theme of Nature this month, one of the first things that sprang to mind was the moon.

moonunderwater
moon under water

I'm a big fan of the moon. My astrological sign is cancer, but beyond that I'm just drawn to it. I love its rhythms and its beauty. The painting above is called "Moon Under Water" and can be purchased here. I dreamed of the moon under water one night, and when I first sketched the image of this painting, it inspired the following poem:

I dreamt last night
that the moon was under water,
not the whole of it,
just half,
as if she was too hot for this summer night
and decided to take a dip.
Finding it bracingly cold
and frighteningly vast in its darkness,
she kept her face dry and safe
above the water line.
But just the legs of the moon
were enough to give the ocean
an ethereal glow
that startled the fish from their slumber
which caused the waves to ripple and dance.
And when the stars moved in
for a better view
the surface lit up like a discoteque
and the air hummed
like a refridgerator late at night.
On a distant shore the waves lapped, lapped
on the rocks
marking the thumping heartbeat
of the skinny dipping moon,
shivering and alive.

Perhaps the glorious full moon will inspire some art in you this weekend, perhaps a poem will spring forth. The moon is also a constant reminder of the cycles of life which are much like the cycles of creativity. I spoke about these cycles with Jamie for the Your Creative Spark interview and I also wrote about them a bit here and here. It's important to remember that our creativity ebbs and flows and it's perfectly o.k. to experience downtimes. If we ride them like the waves, the whole experience is so much more smooth than if we fight them.

You could also play with the full moon by creating a Full Moon Dreamboard, which Jamie Ridler leads us through every month. These are similar to vision boards, but the idea is to create the vision of what you hope to bring into your life with each full moon. I painted a dreamboard for myself for the Full Pink Moon last month and it was a lovely experience.

Try this: When you reflect on the Full Flower Moon, what does it inspire in you? Perhaps some blossoming or blooming that is wanting to take place? Write, doodle, sketch, or paint whatever comes up.

I hope your weekend is full of inspiration and creativity and fun! In the meantime, go howl at the moon!

Nature as a Stencil

May 5th, 2009, Comments (22)

Last week in my Intuitive Painting class, I was given two random colors on cards to work with. I mixed the colors and then used them to play with. I also had a few elements from nature to bounce off of. Truth is, I wasn't too excited about anything I created in class, but I knew that I could keep playing with the images and they were only beginnings. Back at home, I took one of the larger pieces and cropped it down to what I saw as the most interesting part of the painting (below). I'd done some work with texture and some hand-cut stencils to make the shapes there. I still want to play with it more.

intuitive art green

The two colors I randomly selected were orange and green. The green you can see above. In the piece below, I started with light layers of orange and green using the natural forms I'd chosen. Again, I wasn't loving it. But sometimes not liking something you're working on frees you up to do something drastic that you might not have tried. Sometimes making something you consider "ugly", gives you permission to let go and experiment and stretch yourself in new ways.

Back at home, I took a eucalyptus branch and put it down on the orange/green painting. Then, using a spray bottle filled with some water and a bit of payne's gray acrylic paint, I sprayed over the painting using the eucalyptus plant as a kind of 3D stencil. I loved the way that looked. I then played with layering thin layers of the payne's gray over the painting, emphasizing parts of the shape I created, and continuing to play until I came to what you see below:

intuitive art eucob

This can be great fun to try with any natural element. Try starting with a base of color, then lay down your natural element (try branches, flowers, leaves, grass, sea shells, etc..). Use a spray bottle (an old cleaning bottle could work or you can purchase a little spray bottle from an art supply store) and spray liberally over the surface, maybe spray more in some areas and less in others for variety. Lift up your natural elements and see what kind of shapes they left behind. You can use paint to emphasize or soften the shapes.

After, you could try putting the same items or different ones down in a new arrangement and spray again with the same or a different color. So many ways to play with this. See where it takes you!

Last night, I tried doing this on a white sheet of paper to start, spraying with the payne's gray again and then painting with a mix green-gold, white, and ultramarine blue. It feels very ethereal to me.

intuitive art eucb 

This another piece that could be cropped or maybe played with more or maybe is fine just as it is. I need to let it sit for awhile. Here's a detail:

intuitive art eucdetail

 I'm sure I'll be playing with natural elements as stencils again this month, perhaps in a new way. I'd love to see where it leads you, if you give it a try!

CED May Theme: Nature

April 26th, 2009, Comments (21)

ced nature theme

The *totally optional* theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge in May will be Nature!

I feel like this theme flows so beautifully from the color theme in April. I already feel myself transitioning towards it as I've been taking loads of snapshots on my walks. I've been drawn to flowers blooming, patterns in trees, mushrooms growing in the ground, birds building nests, and refelections in water. So much beauty!

How can you use this theme in your creations? Well, you could use the previous themes to help you brainstorm by getting playful and writing all the ways you could intepret the theme. Perhaps you will dream something up? Or perhaps you will begin exploring the colors in your natural environment?

If you need some suggestions, I will be posting about the theme throughout the month. Here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

  • *Take your camera for a walk in nature and snap pictures of whatever catches your eye.
  • *Use natural elements as a painting tool (paint with a stick or a feather).
  • *Draw or paint outdoors.
  • *Use a color combination from nature in a piece of art.
  • *Use the shapes of nature in a piece of art.
  • *Make prints with natural elements (leaves, potatoes, apples.)
  • *Learn about an animal you're interested in and incorporate it into an art piece.
  • *Pay attention to the rhythms of nature and reflect on them in your creations.

How to use the CED themes:

If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. 

Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.

Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.

And have fun with it!

Nature often holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal, and transformation in our lives.
~Mary Ann Brussat 

p.s.The pictures in the theme image are all from a walk I took last week. Spring has definitely sprung in New England and it's so inspiring!