Keeping Creative

Working in a creative field can easily lead to burn-out so coming up with ways to counter this, often impending doom, calls for some creative solutions. This is difficult because how do you throw more creativity out there in the world when that's of the very thing you're depleted?

I take the divide and conquer approach and by this I mean it's time to concentrate on another creative outlet and of these, I've got many. Craft and art tend to be isolating activities as they require presence of mind, concentration and often, planning. Whether the activity is gardening, playing an instrument, sewing, photography, painting, it is necessary to be in the moment. Sure, social knitting is a gas but eventually the wine and chit chat will render your project a mess.  I've done this enough to know that if the girls are coming over for a knit session, don't dig out the silk lace shawl to work on. No, this is the perfect opportunity to start a bulky bouclé crochet blanket, but I digress. The point I'm making is, sometimes it's best to switch your creative focus rather than force the outlet that's tapped out or turn it off completely.

By pursuing other endeavors, the mind has time to percolate, to meditate and make room for new ideas.  This can take time but it's so important to fill the well again and come back to task excited and fresh. Creative work is hard work. Those of us who have chosen this path take a beating whether it be by others or by self in some degree or other. We are often our harshest critic so when it's time to reboot, it's important to choose something that gives us back something in return whether it be peace and quiet or a garden in full bloom.

For me, I make things. I've always made things but now, my interest lies in how close can I get to the beginning of a process - namely food and textiles. Spinning wool in which to knit a hat is a huge investment of time but it's just that, an investment. I will be getting something out of the process that I can then apply to my business, my art and my craft and by engaging in these other pursuits, I can ward off burn-out when the first symptoms arise.

Orange

On occasion, and this is one of those occasions, I tend to think we naturally attract certain things or perhaps seek them out without much awareness. In this case, it's the colour orange. Orange has never been a colour I gravitated to, as that distinction has always gone to red.  Orange has found its way to me and if one were to take a quick inventory of my living space, one would think orange has been seeking me out for years.

If I were to try and date this colour intrusion, I would have to say that date was March 1st, 2000. This is the very day I moved into my current surroundings. Prior to moving in, I was given the option to have the walls painted greyish-white or left as is, or as was. I chose to leave them and by that I chose colour, a bold move for me at the time. The colour is definitely a deep shade of muted orange. There are only two and a portion walls painted so richly and never once have I considered painting them grey-ish-white.

From there, orange spread into the kitchen with flame coated cast iron, orange striped teatowels and solid orange prep bowls. Moving into the living area, I have orange silks accenting the place - silks I've collected independently of one another and without thought of coordination. Glancing around, there are toss cushions, runners and an inordinate number of book spines - all orange.

I keep a ceramic planter (white) full of wool and it currently contains rovings and skeins given to me by others, all in various shades of orange. Colour selections I understand now, were chosen on their own merit, not because they would coordinate so well existing knitted and spun projects. In addition to the wool, silk and other linen, orange has come to me by other means; freebies. I don't normally wear orange, as I prefer to wear red, but if I can spot a trend, this will change soon as I was given running shirt recently and the only colour in my size was orange. It was time to replenish my favourite moisturizer and timing was such I was given a free gift with purchase - a large orange beach bag. Could orange shoes be next? It is true I have some navy blue ones with fabulous orange accents ...

It's hard for me not to notice that my roommate is a colour. I thought I'd look into Orange's references a little more closely as I always considered us strangers though no stranger than, say, purple or some cold blue shades. I learned that orange is the colour of creativity and much energy is derived from it when used for therapeutic purposes. Orange is self-confident, enthusiastic and independent too. All excellent qualities in a roommate.

I'm often of the mind that we gravitate to certain activities, thoughts and paths when were good and ready for them. Perhaps this decade-long orange invasion is coming to my full attention now because it's bringing with it a message - one of creativity. It's everywhere, I mean, my stapler is orange for goodness sake and I couldn't tell you where that came from! I'm pretty sure it just showed up on my desk one day.

Mystery staplers aside, it's true I'm feeling that creative "thing" bubble up again. It comes in waves for me and I can't help but think 'tsunami' this time around. I wish I knew what form the output will take. This isn't something I can answer though I can't stop thinking I'm circling down in a dive ready to grab it. Perhaps that's the wrong metaphor and what's actually happening is I'm circling down, water to a drain. In any case, I'm going to hang out with my new friend, Orange, and see what shakes loose.

Spinning Wheels

I reserve the right to change my mind and then change it back again. The Creative Weekly is now the Millipede Design blog. Though I had the best of intentions to create something every week and blog about the process, it occurred to me by week three that I had put far too much pressure on myself. Millipede Design was busy right out of the gate so the thought of adding more to my already full plate soon became unbearable. What I needed to do in my downtime was to putter and work on the little projects in my home. I needed to unwind rather than wind up. Letting go of the Creative Weekly allowed all that guilt of not following through (something I rarely do) to dissipate. The Millipede Design blog is about following up and with the same spirit in mind, there shouldn't be any pressure on me, the creator.

I will continue to post about art, design and anything else that strikes my fancy. I'm on a quest for balance and am finding this more difficult than I thought. At times, I feel as though I'm spinning my wheels and getting nowhere fast. Eventually, as logic prevails, I ease off the gas and this, in turn, propels me forward slowly,  getting me to where I want to go. Do you think there's a lesson in this?  I sure do.

Self-employment is hard. Even though it still looks rosy to me, the transition from 9-5 to home is a difficult one. My personal difficulty lie with guilt. I feel as though I have to be billing hours every second of the day even when this is not possible. I have a creative business and need to allow myself time to create, to be inspired and to absorb. So how can it be on a sunny afternoon that I should be able to settle in with design magazines or take photographs or paint without the guilt? I've worked hard for this and deserve it so. My business depends on it.

No doubt transition will be a reoccurring theme as I write my way through these coming months. After all, I'm on a learning curve that's likely to go right then left then right again.

Work in Progress

I tried, on a couple of occasions, to paint tulips this week. The tulips that were given to me we actually given to someone else but because they were leaving town, they wanted someone to enjoy the flowers in their absence. The tulips came to me more than a few days fresh so by the time the sketches were finished, the flowers were too.

Because flowers bring me so much joy, I thought the least I could do was spring for some more and spend the weekend basking in their happiness (flowers smile, you know). I spent the morning sketching the flowers and started to paint by afternoon. I think I'll work on this for a while and see where it goes.

Seeing Red

I have many deadlines these days and it just so happens, the ones I set for myself are the last to be completed. This piece has been in the works for two weeks though it sat in my head for most of that time. The composition that locked itself in my thoughts doesn't look like the one above as my work tends to morph when pencil hits paper. However, I was seeing red and red it was going to be.

Deadlines can affect creativity in a big way. I've been dealing with them for at least nine years in creative settings and noticed that they've changed how I approach my own work when deadlines should be non-existent. Everything I do seems to be tackled with speed and efficiency.  How many times have I heard "I need five more drawings by lunch!" and lunch being fifteen minutes away?

There is pressure to make every line count and if you get a couple chances to do over or rework, then life is good. I'd love live without deadlines. Maybe this blog, ahem, weekly blog, will help me break out of time sensitive creativity. Why not let the work dictate when it's done? Maybe it's more effective to create a deadline when to start something rather than when to finish it. Both these ideas seem reasonable and attractive. So why is it I gave myself a deadline to start this blog and impose weekly deadlines within the year long deadline? Good question.

Perhaps deadlines are linked to focus and without focus we become lost. I like to wander but only when I know where the road is and which way it goes. So, my personal view about deadlines? I like them and work fairly well when the crushing pressure to be skilled and creative looms large. There isn't a place for them in the work I'm attempting to do here though. I'll acknowledge the weekly turn-around time to the best of my ability but outside of that, it's time to s-s-l-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w-w-w down. Case in point, the work above needs a lot more ... work.

The First Step

Welcome to the first Creative Weekly post. The reason behind this blog is to explore creativity without any concern for producing good art. It is about producing something, anything, at least once a week. I'm a designer by nature and spend a great deal of time solving problems, be them aesthetic or technical, with a critical eye. In the beginning, this often this requires a pragmatic approach and dare I say it, linear thinking. Good design, in my opinion, is a fine balance between walking the line and and ignoring it completely. Are you in the box or standing somewhere way over there? One can't be defined without the other, and it is out of sheer curiosity I'm willing to commit one year to an 'out-of-the-box' approach to my work. What I'm hoping will happen is that I'll be able to better maintain my creative energy without burn-out. Hitting that wall is not fun and it can take weeks, months even years to recover.

As the title of this blog suggests, my journey will take the form of a piece of artwork that will be photographed and posted here once a week. I use the term artwork without much definition to avoid building a box before this project begins. If my work falls into a niche, a theme or an expression, then so be it. If over the course of many weeks, my creative expressions become a hodge-podge of randomness, well that has its merits too.

As I put my critiques aside for this project, I hope you too view these works with an open mind. It is in this spirit this blog is created and how I'd like it to proceed.

Thank you for visiting this site! Let's visit again next week, shall we?