I was flipping through the March copy of Reader’s Digest and came across the following article, “The Mind of the Inventor” and as I read about the five unique ways inventors think, it occured to me that one could easily apply this list to artists:
1.) We constantly ask, “What if?” Artists, like inventors, are driven to create just for the sake of seeing the results. “What if I pushed the darks?” “What if I used red?” What if I did a series on this subject?”
2.) We delight in the process. Although the result is interesting, artists are also invigorated by the process of creating art. We revel in our materials. We delight in the sight, sound, feel, even smell of our paint, clay, or ink. There is nothing so enticing as a blank board just waiting for us to carve our ideas into it.
3.) We see the world as a child does. Although there may be nothing new under the sun, everything is new in the eyes of artists. We never stopped asking, “Why?” “How?” “Can I do that?”
4.) We are dreamers. While others slowly stopped listening to their dreams, their subconscious, artists continue to pay close attention to the mental images that play through our minds. Of course, not every idea is great, or even good, but in the words of scientist Linus Pauling, “The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”
5.) We aren’t easily discouraged. The only difference between a practicing artist and people who stopped drawing in elementary school is just that, practice. Artists have to develop a thick skin - as protection against outsiders who would shoot down our ideas and as a firewall against our own creeping self-doubt. As the article points out, “one of the most important traits in any inventor is sheer tenacity” and the same is true of any artist.
I just finished watching the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States and I must say I was moved. Considering the political mess Canada is in right now I admit feeling some envy towards my American cousins. I hope our own politicians take President Obama’s words to heart and finally decide to set aside some of their own childish things.
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/41565
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
- Thomas Merton, Trappist monk and author.
Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays - I certainly enjoyed mine. We spent some time with my parents, some time with Kevin’s parents: baking, eating, snowmobiling, and generally enjoying one another’s company. And now it’s back to work!
’tis the season to look forward at to the year to come, it’s the season for resolutions and goals. In past years, I made a list of artistic goals for 2008. This year however, instead of making a list, or of limiting that list to artistic goals, I’ve decided instead to have a “theme” for 2010: balance. As a Libran, you’d think the whole balance thing would be second nature for me, but it’s not. I tend to be something of a “serial thinker” and can become deeply involved in an idea, which is great, but it sometimes means I forget to tend to other areas of my life. So this year, instead of working on a list of things to do, I’m going to make sure that the projects I take on contribute to my life in a balanced way.
The “map” I’m going to follow to help me achieve balance in my life will be the seven dimensions of wellness: http://www.uregina.ca/recservices/Wellness/index.html
Physical: strive to maintain a high level of energy and lead a lifestyle that will enable me to stay healthy.
Social: strive to make more time for family and friends, and recognize the importance of personal time in my daily life.
Intellectual: strive to engage my mind in a variety of aspects of the world around me.
Spiritual: strive to maintain a positive sense of purpose in my life.
Emotional: strive to develop ways to deal with stress and the emotional ups and downs of my life.
Environmental: strive to maintain a better understanding and positive perception of the environment.
Occupational: strive to obtain and maintain the resources to positively influence my life.
I’m sulking. NBC has decided to cancel their new television series, My Own Worst Enemy. Jeez, I mean I’d just barely forgiven them for cancelling Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and they go and do this! Just what does NBC have against intelligent, challenging television anyway!? What are they going to replace it with? More Knight Rider, which they’ve extended to run another year!!?? (And for the record, I enjoyed the original KR series.)
I’m going to make myself some popcorn.
The Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg announced today that Debby, their beloved 42 year-old Polar Bear, died yesterday. Her veterinarian over the past 24 years, Dr Gordon Glover, made the decision to euthanise Debby when she suffered from multiple organ failure.
Regular readers of my blog will remember me mentioning Debby earlier this year after my husband and I took a photo reference trip to Winnipeg. Kevin got a couple touching photos of Debby as she rested in her enclosure:
Debby Resting: Polar Bear. Photograph, 7 x 5 in. Copyright 2008, Kevin Gates. Used with permission.
Having done a scratchboard of a Polar Bear earlier in the year, I hadn’t considered doing another soon. But I think, for Debby, I will.
