Do we need to set goals and work toward them? Is goal-setting an activity for the younger generations? What must I set aside to achieve my goals? Am I willing to pay this price? Does dwelling in the future conflict with my desire to become more attentive and grateful for what I have today? How does considering my future influence my art practice? Does my art reflect my hopes for the future? Is art a means to achieving a new reality? There are many varied ways to overcome creative block. Sometimes stepping away from a task for a while is sufficient. Picking up a different medium or project can be stimulating. Presenting yourself with a challenge (alone or in a group) is another way to reignite a passion or find a new one :-) I have tried this with The Prayer Flag Project and The Quotidian Doll. Sometimes a specific issue or quest invites me to step outside my comfort zone and create a short series with strict(ish) parameters. Sticks and Stones and The Inner Child were two such endeavours. Every time, I have managed to overcome hurdles and persevere, learning so much about creativity and myself in the process. Try it! Here is a challenge from Lisa Congdon ... Choose one thing you love to draw or paint
(and feel comfortable drawing or painting) already: an animal, object, a person, whatever. For thirty days, draw or paint that thing thirty different ways, a different way every day. You can use different mediums, expressions, positions, colors, whatever. Each day, push yourself to do something much different than the day before, but keep the subject the same. See how keeping one element constant (in this case, the “thing” you love to draw or paint) can allow you to break out creatively in other ways. Linda Congdon I wonder if how we envision our time on earth influences our art. Do we see life as a precursor to something better? Do we embrace life as a once-only-gift? How do we explain the ups-and-downs of life: punishment and reward? serendipity? karma? How does art help us delve into the mystery of living and dying? How do I define 'creative people'?
1. Express the inexplicable. 2. Are attentive to their world. 3. Encourage growth. 4. Live within mystery. 5. Love to play. 6. Dwell in possibility. 7. Sit beneath the storm. 8. Challenge the status quo. 9. Invite the question. 10 Are passionate. How would you define 'creative people'? Indigenous dolls ... how do we define them or find them? How do they express identity? Must indigenous dolls always express our heritage? How do people without a strong cultural heritage create dolls with which they identify? Do indigenous dolls change with time and environment and materials? Is there a spiritual component to making dolls with local, found materials? Are all indigenous dolls embedded with story or song? How do we respect the cultural practices of groups when making or encountering indigenous dolls? |
Liz PearceI am a doll-maker; a doll interpreter; a doll activist, perhaps, using this medium to reflect on the human condition. Archives
August 2020
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