Creative Life Sampler

Quote for Today “A few hints as to literary craftsmanship may be useful to budding historians. First and foremost, get writing! ” Samuel Elliot Morison History as a Literary Art , Old South Leaflets Often we find sage advice in the wisdom of people far removed from our own areas of interest and expertise. Samuel Elliot Morison, (1887-1976), was an American historian who won two Pulitzer Prizes, among other accolades, for his work in American and maritime history. You don’t have to love history or ships and water to understand what he is sharing here. This is an encouragement to get doing !   I doubt Morison started out with the goal of winning a Pulitzer Prize, that naturally came to him after years of developing his writing and researching skills.   The use of the word “craftsmanship” in reference to becoming a writer of history  caught my attention here. In certain circles, the word ”craft” conjures up visions of handwork in wood, yarn, pa...

A Unique Art Form   I'm always on the lookout for inventive, unique forms of creativity. It is especially meaningful to me when the artist uses recycled or "repurposed" materials. So it was delightful when I stumbled across the work of  Shana Radashaw and Jed Swanson in the gallery section of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center recently.  They use broken musical instruments as their "canvas" and create works of art with vibrant color, intriguing textures (hence the posted admonition not to touch the art work!), lots of pattern, reflective elements, and a highly polished surface. You don't have to be a music lover to appreciate the craftsmanship behind these pieces! I could see an unused instrument with sentimental value, getting a second life through this artistic expression. It is a great example of "upcyclying" or "creative reuse" - transforming "castoff" items from trash to treasure.  Looking for a new...

Time to Freshen Up! Well, I have officially hit the one year mark with 150 posts!!!...It's time to freshen the home page. But, I would like to salute my first "confetti quilt" which has served as my blog header this last year.  Confetti All Over  was created in  November 2015  with scraps left over from many, many sewing projects. It makes me smile to see all these fabrics together, like old friends; it's comforting somehow.  It was the "jumping off point" for the header replacement, Pink Lemonade Deconstructed , as well as other quilt projects. So, thank you old friend, for starting with me on this journey of blogging to share ideas and examples of creativity,... and for providing a great deal of inspiration for future projects, so the creative processes can be documented through the art of quilting. Trying to use up as much extra fabric as  possible on the back of this quilt.  Note: See this link for background on Pink Lemonade D...

Another Spotting of Library Creativity While traveling around the area recently, I dropped in to another local library and found “Babs”. The mannequin seemed out of place, but there it stood in a beam of light, beckoning me to take a look… Display of creativity at Simi Valley Library The bottom of this dress is created with the art from comic books and super heroes. Of course, once I got a closer look, I wanted to know more about this project. One of the fun parts of running across art work in unexpected places is the happy opportunity of getting to chat with the people behind the work, (though it doesn’t happen as often as I’d like). Fortunately, I was directed to library technician Tami Troutt, the creator of “Babs”, and we had a lovely chat about crafting, creativity and activities at the library. Bodice detail with three dimensional roses Originally, Babs was created to promote the “Reading by Design” theme for The Simi Valley Library's 2017 S...

Happy Valentine's Day! A few years ago one of my children wanted to do a service project with friends, so we organized a party. We gathered our crafting supplies, scrapping paper, and embellishments to create Valentine's Day note cards for an organization called Operation Write Home . The kids designed the fronts of the cards and left the inside blank for people serving overseas to write home. It was a fun way for them to socialize over a creative activity and they appreciated sharing with our soldiers. It's pretty cool to see the individuality of these kids shine through in the layout of the cards and color choices. (FYI- This organization still has a web presence, though I read one post that said they had discontinued the project and were no longer accepting contributions. No doubt there are other organizations which match people's creative efforts with those in need... sharing in this way is a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day!) 

edit (verb): to supervise or direct the preparation of (a newspaper, magazine, etc.) to collect , prepare, and arrange to add (usually followed by in ) to omit; eliminate , expunge, delete to revise or correct If you think about it we are always editing, in big and small ways. We edit our wardrobe, when we purchase a new item of clothing, or get rid of one we haven’t worn in years. In preparing dinner, w e make decisions based on our favorite flavors, leaving out a spice we don’t particularly care for, or adding a little extra of one we like. And  we’re forced to edit when we find that we need to substitute or do without that ingredient we were counting on, because it’s not in the pantry after all. Editing even happens when we add a friend to Facebook, “unfriend” that “ex”, or update the page in any way. These are everyday activities that we may not even consciously consider the act of “editing”, but in their execution, you might say we are “supervising or di...

Reflections on a Beach Walk (3 of 3) It gives one pause, to see how the rain could have such a marked affect on the beach. Whether it's the predictable, persistent ebb and flow of the currents or the great waves of a major storm, nature is constantly altering, forming and reforming without a sense of labored effort. It just does its work, it makes its "mark". And we are here to stand in awe of it.  A reminder of one of Nature's most powerful editing tools,  posted on the sides of the lifeguard towers. Maybe the creative message we can get from that is to be ever ready to  edit   ourselves. To progress in our work it's important to look at it objectively, in order to bring the lessons learned from one project to the next. This is not to be done in a negative or harsh way, but rather with the goal of moving forward and improving. The successful parts of our effort will stand the test of time; the less effective elements, the subjects we've exha...

Beach Walk Update (2 of 3) You may have heard that we have been getting a lot of rain here in SoCal. The effects of so much water can be pretty impressive, (and devastating in areas that were affected by the fires of last year). It definitely made a mark on the beach where we walk. Lots of debris scattered across the beach... and erosion... But, even in the aftermath of big storms, you can find things to inspire. Perhaps its an interesting texture... or the ever appearing human urge to make a statement...

Blank Canvas Series Continued   (1 of 3) In previous posts, I have shared examples of how people work with natural materials found at the beach to create structures in intriguing formations; rocks balanced amazingly on point, stacked in large pillars or arched in bridges, structures of driftwood built so a person could stand within it...  (Check out the label "Blank Canvas" below or go to this link for the first in this series: https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2018/03/give-man-person-canvas-and-materials.html ) But there are also blank canvases that attract paint…  Yes, even on the beach walk there are "art boxes"! I'm adding these to our blog collection from other locations.  And there's also a very large canvas that attracts grafitti... This railroad bridge crosses the walkway on the Ventura River Parkway  ...so many blank canvases on which to make a mark  !