The Secret of Creativity

THERE IS NO SECRET

There is no fine line between being creative and not being creative. There are gradations, however, and these can change. That is because we are all, as human beings, basically creative. Have you ever had a problem, came up with a solution and solved it yourself? That is being creative.

Have you ever visualized a house or lifestyle that you wanted? That is being creative.

Someone told you there was only one way to do something, but you found another way of doing it. That is being creative.

OK. Truth be told….

THERE IS NO SECRET

THE ARTIST WITHIN

You can strengthen and refine those powers you drew on to make those decisions. You can discover the artist within you. How? By a series of simple creative projects and readings that encourage your creative juices to start flowing. The personal creative process is fun and rewarding. It should not be demanding or intimidating. After all, you may be meeting a hidden part of you for the first time.

LEARNING THROUGH ART PROJECTS

Art projects can reveal creative powers you didn’t know you had. Have you always thought you are not creative or imaginative? Everyone has creative and imaginative powers that they can draw on for strength, balance and creativity in their own lives.

Through five art projects you’ll find out a lot about yourself and your personal strengths (and weaknesses!) Each project introduces you to using certain materials: oil pastels, collage, pen and ink, pencil sketching and painting with acrylic paints. Through using these materials you will discover your creative and imaginative powers.

Here’s an example: One project involves works with vibrant colors in oil pastels, using small dots and dashes of color to create a composition. This is a lengthy process that requires steady working of a build up of color areas. It takes a long time just fill a small area, but as the color areas develop, contrasting colors are interacting and images begin emerging! The end product is very rewarding and it will teach you several things:

(1) You will learn a specific technique using oil pastels ( a technique used by the Impressionists.)

(2) You will learn how to use many colors to produce one vibrant color area.

(3) You will learn to see forms come out of the color areas and working to emphasize those forms towards the final composition. These forms could be trees, flowers, a patch of fog or an alligator. In the end, you have not only learned a wonderful technique for creating vibrant, atmospheric color with oil pastels, but you are beginning to train your eye to work with your imagination and to create an image.

THE AMAZEMENT FACTOR

As the image emerges, you will feel amazement, because it seems like the work it is developing itself. But, no, you are the one working to develop it and you are the one seeing the images that emerge and making it so. And once they emerge, you will find yourself working automatically , using the oil pastel technique to strengthen the images and make them stronger and clearer. Now you are working like an artist!

You are tapping a very powerful resource within you. One that is primal and necessary for the balance of human existence.

You are learning about yourself. You are beginning to see what you are made of, remembering where you came from and how you tap into your personal history every day to do what you have to do. Sometimes what you draw on as a creative resource is not very pleasant. As you create and imagine, things will float up from your mind. You will remember images and events in your life that were painful, pleasureful, meaningful.

Everyone has a personal history they draw on for inspiration. Let your existence as a human being here on Earth be the resource for your creativity. See yourself as an individual with something to say, to empower yourself and to share with others. This is why art is inspiring. Behind all of the artwork displayed in museums today was, regardless of whether the work was done centuries ago or very recently, the basic need for the artist to draw on his/her creative talents and share them with the rest of humanity. This is what your artist within can do for you–clarify your hopes, dreams, fears, inspirations and goals and, if your choose, communicate these personal powers to others.

Here’s an example of how, through the five art projects, you can be empowered in your personal life:

By learning creative skills in these projects, you can inspire your relationship with your children by turning off the TV, turning off the video games–not just reading bedtime stories, but by drawing pictures with them and encouraging them to creative a story around those pictures. That will be fun! It will strengthen your relationship with your children and pass the wonderful resource of creativity on to them.

THAT GERM OF CREATIVITY

There is a germ of creative ability in everyone. Once it is discovered, a person lives a richer life. No, not all problems can be solved by creative thought. Life happens and creative ability is not going to change everything in our lives. But what it does change is our belief in ourselves and the strength to rally the inner powers– those powers that were there in us all the time –just waiting for us to discover them.