 |
July 26, 2019
As I ran across an interesting read on the idea of creativity, it describes creativity as confounding and confusing and abstract as the process itself. That means that to define creativity (so as to teach it or at the least describe it) is as nebulous and the process of creating. Both elude me, but then I'm not alone - it eludes a lot of professionals and understanding that comforts me, but also gives me a leg up.
So there's a lot of folks out there studying this and looking into the process and definition. There are some conceptions that most people have of creative people
1. The myth that creative people are geniuses or slightly (if not completely) mad because it's either a gift you're born with or a consequence of some mental abnormality.
2. Creativity is associated with great artists and scientists - like Picasso or Einstein. Anyone with lesser intelligence or achievements would be regarded as a mere craftsperson or technician because only brilliant minds can be creative.
3. Creativity seems to involve "Eureka" type moments without any of the incremental and plodding works that precede that "Eureka" moment. Possibly because this makes for a better dramatic presentation/description in a movie or TV series, but not much is paid to the long study to the discovery or innovation of the creative process.
4. Creativity is assumed to be individual, rather than social or even involving a group.
These are all patently false and anyone who experiences the creative process realizes this, including craftspeople and technicians who are falsely accused of not being creative. So looking at these point again, lets phrase them more appropriately.
1. You don't have to be nuts or have an IQ in the stratosphere to be creative. You don't even have to be born with it. There were NO sewists in my family - NONE! My family looked at me and thought, "Where in the world did that come from?!"
2. You do not have to be great to be creative. Simply because you aren't the most recognized sewists in the world, does not mean you aren't a sewists and it especially does not mean you aren't creative. I know that's a double negative. It's for emphasis!
3. Creativity always involves lots of practice, daily and sometimes even longer work. This is not meant to say creative breakthroughs come only through lots of work and drudgery, but it does mean to say that you almost always can't have creative moments without the practice behind it to give you a point of reference. This means that you have to have a compendium of information (practice) to make discoveries and innovations.
4. Creativity is always social, even if you are in a solitary art form - painting, singing, composing, writing and sewing. Look at you right now, you are involved in a social activity in reading this document. It's wallowing in the resources of others that can often spur us into some of our most creative thoughts.
I constantly fight this with my students and social media followers. You are all artists.
You are all creative.
You are all innovative.
You are all creators.
The very nature of what you do is creative and innovative that other activities aren't. As a result, there are some conditions that will normally and naturally occur in the process of your creativity.
You will garner lots of practice in your art (sewing) form, and as a result you will have mistakes, you will have problems, you will have brick walls and what you will learn from all of these is that they can be surmounted.
The non-artist never realizes that the brick walls in his/her life can be surmounted and often backs away and goes another way. Whereas the artist always knows there's another way. Why? Because she/he has met obstacles, brick walls, loss of muse and gone past it to create new innovative ways to work through, go around, and get past those obstacles, brick walls and loss of muse(s).
It's a great time to meditate what you've done, what you've accomplished and most of all relish in your laurels. Yes, you've had some failures; yes, you've had brick walls; and yes you've wondered where the muse went on vacation. But here's what we sometimes forget: that with the brick walls comes breakthroughs; with the failures comes successes and with the loss of the muse comes her appearance again. What we have to remember
is that the one thing in life that is for sure something we can count on to happen no matter what is that "things change"....so in the middle of your brick wall, failure and muse absence, remember that it will change. And it will change to your new innovations, successes and the muse being even closer than before.
Here at the end of July is sort of a dead time. We're tired of the heat (it seems like it will never end). There is almost a laziness that overtakes us in the hustle and bustle of summer. And August brings the harbinger of change.....fall is about to come. That means more change and more chance for successes!!
I find this article very interesting, and like a lot of articles today about trade schools it tells a similar story – that story is that a lot of kids who are bright, and some even have college degrees, opt for trade school, where most parents would shudder […]
Read more →
Lately, I’ve been railing about this or that, so thought it was time for a positive view on fashion, cause it sure needs it. Lots of times, when fashion gets really weird, I forget the runway all together in search of some style that’s
real, practical, beautiful, […]
Read more →
Couture has always been a strange duck. For years it’s always been a little quirky and strange, but for the most part, it was filled with beautiful clothes. But it was secret, at least until it was time for collections to hit the stores,
and then it […]
Read more →
PS - I do a lot of posting on Facebook as both Claire Kennedy and SewingArtistry - if you want to friend me to check out the goodies over there for free!
To view this email in browser or to see past emails click here.
|
|
Follow Us!
     
|
|
