Creative Process

When students come to an encaustic workshop with a pre-planned project and high expectations that they will be taking home a fabulous and finished work of art, they often don't give themselves permission to play and embrace the process of art-making. Commit to the process, detach from the outcome!! To help students commit to the process and detach from the outcome, I begin my workshops having students recite the Art-day vow. My Art-day vow Put your hand on your heart and repeat after me... I vow to welcome this day with open arms. I promise to let ...
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Unlock your Creativity | Start Copying As I explore creativity in my own life, I have been reading Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative by Austin Kleon. In this book, Kleon isn't suggesting that we plagiarize or break the law, but he does give us permission to look at the work of others for inspiration and education. "All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original."(pg.7) We learn by copying. Educate yourself by copying the work of your favourite artists. Discover what they were thinking, start to see things from their perspective. Surround ...
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As I drove to day-two of the "Sinking In" workshop with Andrea Bird, I listened to a TED talk of David Kelley (see below) discussing how to build your creative confidence. He told this story: I remember one day my best friend Brian was working on a project. He was making a horse out of the clay that our teacher kept under the sink. And at one point, one of the girls who was sitting at his table,seeing what he was doing, leaned over and said to him, "That's terrible. That doesn't look anything like a horse." And Brian's shoulders ...
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Journalling scares me. If you have read my previous post, Sinking In: strengthening the conversation with our art and ourselves, you'll know that I have always shied away from the idea of keeping a journal. I have a fear that someone will read my private thoughts. In my painting Sinking in: “Dear Inner Critic…” I wrote directly on the substrate, hiding my words beneath layers of encaustic. As I continue to explore ways to expand my creativity, I realize that by not journalling I may be missing out. The simple act of writing can help unlock inner thoughts and feelings. It can ...
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For the past two days, I've been "sinking in", exploring the artistic process with Andrea Bird and five other students. I knew that a workshop at The Hive, Andrea & Dan's beautiful encaustic studio, would be a great learning experience but I was not at all anticipating a profound art therapy session. The Inner Critic Exercise Sinking in: "Dear Inner Critic..." We were each given a board and tasked with writing a letter to our inner critic directly on the substrate. I had already heard from my inner critic that morning---we had written our names on nametags. I ...
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Play is such an important, yet not often talked about aspect of creativity. It became apparent to me at a crucial point in my artistic career that if there is not an aspect of play during the time that I'm involved in a piece, then it isn't going anywhere. Play allows for letting go, and loosening the grip on the brush. This is what I aim to do in my encaustic workshops, by creating a place where letting go is encouraged ...
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