How to Access Your (Already Abundant) Creativity

Part three of

A Flower Power Point Presentation

to be viewed one blossom at a time

Paintbrush Flower Sally Swain original artwork

‘A Paintbrush was Sacrificed in the Making of this Picture’ (long title, little picture)
Sally Swain © original art

Flower Power Point Three

Play with the Materials at Hand

CG Jung said, The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
Play is an essential part of creativity. You can explore, try out different perspectives, respond to what happens when it’s not going the way you planned…in painting or in life.

You had a fully-

 

formed picture of a waterfall in your head, but you have absolutely no idea how to represent it and your painting looks like a mushy blue stripe. This is where creative play kicks in. You could turn the picture into a whole host of mushy blue stripes, full of life and vigour, informed by essence of waterfall. You could rip the page into morsels and reassemble them in a rhythmic collage. There are lots of options.

‘Lila’ is a lovely Sanskrit word meaning ‘Divine Play’.
Check out a slice of Lila in POG

It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.

Let us play.

(so said a sign I saw years back in the wonderland Nimbin Museum, northern NSW, Australia)

Divine play

and thank you, Lemonia Cafe, for this particular PLAY reminder

 

What do you wish to create?

Once in a blue moon…

Once in a Blue Moon Sally Swain painting

‘Once in a…’    I just happened to have previously created this blue moon (with leopard?!) paintage and couldn’t resist sharing it with you today. 
Sally Swain © original art

Friday 31st July is a blue moon night. In case you’re unsure of the conventional definition, a blue moon is

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Be A Mused. Be Very A Mused.

Dad and me and creativity

Do you have a muse? Many ongoing muses?

Who or what inspires your creativity?

Dad and me

Dad and me

My original muse was my Dad, David Swain. Dad made a life of writing, cartooning and mentoring other creative sparks.
His first book, The Cantbeworried Tales, came out when I was seven. He gently satirised Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in cartoon and verse. This little book made a big impact on his world and mine.

Cantbeworried Tales David Swain's first book

The Cantbeworried Tales
David Swain’s first book

When I was eleven,

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Creativity Begets Creativity

Introducing…VAGUE
(apologies to editor, designer, model, possum, bug and Ian Thorpe)

I am Aunty Art and Soul. I’ve been hosting niece Ruby (age 9) and sister Jennie (age not telling). We have two hours before I drive them to the airport.
Ruby says, ‘Let’s make a magazine just like POG.’

see previous post: ‘From POG to BLOG in forty years’ to discover what I’m talking about

Frenzy of paper, pens and paste of the non-Perkins variety.

VAGUE (well, at least the cover) is born.

VAGUE by Ruby, Jen and Sal (apologies to editor, designer, model, possum, bug and Ian Thorpe)

VAGUE
by Ruby, Jen and Sal
(apologies to editor, designer, model, possum, bug and Ian Thorpe)

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From POG to BLOG in forty years

A Creative Source Story….

I am sixteen. I sit on the beige 1970s oval rug in the family room, with my sister and my best friend.  We are surrounded by pencils, paper, Perkins Paste,scissors and magazines such as POL.   

POL is supercool, stylish. I dream of living among its pages; of being tall, slender, popular, with a floppy crocheted hat.

We cut the title from its glossy cover page.   

With the substitution of a mere letter, we invent… POG.

 

POG

POG

We design, laugh, arrange, laugh, cut, laugh, paste, laugh, rearrange. Oh. And laugh.

We don’t know it, but

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