Wednesday 1 June 2011

Creativity or productivity?

I was given this beautiful piece of work on my birthday, years ago by a second cousin when I went to visit in Canada. It is so beautiful but belive it or not.....
it is simply French knots tightly stitched onto an old facecloth.  I love the way the stitches have distorted the edge of the work and the colour story that Hannah has chosen to use. This has been lying in my studio for many years and I wanted to share it here. Hannah used to make them with the old folk she worked with. Money was tight but there were always old facecloths  which could be upcycled in a colourful way. It is a delightful combination of creative productivity simply filling in the gaps with whatever came to hand.

Today I have been thinking about my need to make, and do, and be busy and to work with colour. It is a real need but there are times in life when creativity does not come easily, and maybe not at all for a few weeks or months even. I have been intensely creative this year producing over 80 card designs and working towards the trade show I went to last week. It has been so satisfying having a wonderful reason to be creative..it is such fun to be playing in order to earn a living. At times it has felt as if I have been flying effortlessly on a glorious creative cloud.

Now the show is over, I've been processing invoices, ordering envelopes, cello bags and sourcing bits and pieces. I am not feeling at all creative but not in a bad way. I simply do not have the need to make anything beautiful at the moment.What I do still need to do is be productive and I've noticed that that need rarely goes. I think it is worth trapping that producivity, harnessing it and using it for future projects and that is the stage I am at right now. Hence me and the rusty old fabric on the wheelbarrow. I have no idea when I might use it, but use it I will at some point. In the same way, I sometimes paint a pile of canvases in a variety of ways and different colours .Nothing complicated, simply productive, but how lovely it is to be able to pick up a canvas when one of those glorious 'aha' moments strike and you grab one and create a masterpiece.

All the creative people I know have highs and lows, it is what makes us who we are. What we all share is the understanding of the frustration that can accompany that feeling, but I am slowly learning to overcome it and find ways of dealing with it. Being part of blogland has opened up a whole new world of friends. People who are driven by the same insatiable need as me to constantly be learning something new, to experiment and try out new things. Rarely does my brain leave me to rest peacefully enough to read a book!

I am so touched by the lovely comments people leave here when they visit. It is wonderful when someone spares to time to stop and read and let me know they've been here. Thank you.

Now I want to share a few bits of fun....

Hope and Grace came back form a few days in the Cotswolds and Hope came for supper  and prepared the plates for the starter (below somewhere!) I only asked her to bung some lettuce on each plate and she produced works of art! After supper, Hope decided to make an 'anti mole hill' potion for Lindsey whose garden is filled with molehills.

Her recipe is a follows:
  • Plety of plucked grass
  • A selection of petals...rose, peony, any old thing will do
  • some tiny 'fallen' apples for the tree, grated across the path first!
  • A selection of flowers heads from all around the garden
  • A BIG bowlful of salt
Stir well and then add several handfuls of soil to thicken. Serve up by pouring it down each mole hill until it spews over the top!

I had a superb picture here of it wizzing round in a colourful blur!!!!! GONE grrrr.

Hope and her starter plateful.

Blogger is being irritating and has just got rid of three pictures here and I can't be bothered to reload them but i did just want to add the froglett update:
As we sat eating dinner, one little froglett climbed almost to the top of the glass bowl before falling backwards into the water so we launched a rescue mission. 7 froglettos were picked up with a seive and released into the flower bed.
Total frogletts released: 12

PS I came across this wonderful competiton
here is my entry:
'What is in the bottle?'

It is filled with words of kindness, encouragement, love and laughter. It is bulging with words packed in so tightly. Once uncapped, the words pour out in a golden stream, wrapping themselves around you in a huge colourful blanket of love, conveying their power of renew and energy just when you need it. Then the blanket will whisk you away to a special place where harmony and happiness are restored within you. Bliss…if only I owned that little bottle or maybe it could be hired out in times of need.

What a delightful way to be distracted from work on a Thursday morning. Thank you! Moira



7 comments:

Ruth said...

The 'anti-molehil potion" really made me laugh. It looked wonderful and I had an image of a mole poking up though the petals, apples and grass!

Jackie Morris said...

I have hills in my garden of pushed up dirt. People say they are moles, but I know they are Welsh burrowing dragons.
Thanks for the comp entry, we are gathering lovely ones together. Always good to exercise the imagination I think. And i am having a wonderful time wandering around other people's blogs.

dandelion dreamer said...

Jackie I LOVE the idea that they are Welsh burrowing dragons. I shall tell my friend...she might be happier about them!

Gina said...

I think we all recognise that creativity dilemma. I thought the embroidered face cloth was a rag rug at first - such glorious colours

Zue said...

''Rarely does my brain leave me to rest peacefully enough to read a book!''
I put this here to remind me. This is me exactly; half way through a good book and it is lost amongst the designs, somewhere! My brain like yours is never still enough to relax!
I never finish a book these days.

The ant-mole recipe is brilliant.
Sue xxx

Sandra Rowney said...

Books? What's a book?

Mary C. Nasser said...

I love this post on creativity and productivity! There are times I am very productive, but do not feel I've accomplished anything creative, and vice versa. Thank you.

So glad I found you through the “All Kinds of Artists” Artist blog hop!
I am your newest blog follower. :)
Looking forward to seeing your upcoming posts!

I welcome you to check out my art blog, too!

Best,
Mary C. Nasser
http://www.marycnasser.com/blog.html