find a creative outlet

need to go to ‘Art Club’ and set up a space in our new house where my pencils, paper etc is always set up. i will set up a still-life permanently that i can just work on for a minute or two when i get the chance.

I enjoy doing all three of these things… I just don’t do them enough. So I’ve found my creative outlet… now I need to get more specific goals to foster them.

I found this really cool YouTube video. I really enjoyed it and found it inspiring and thought provoking… I hope you enjoy it, as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpunQZ4cUyI

This past week, I’ve been working on learning to crochet. So far it’s so much fun! Also, I’ve been working on making some Christmas presents and decorations.

I just did a small sumi-e painting (asian style ink painting) of a flower. I’m trying to get more involved in more creative endeavors. I am going to try to do at least one small painting a day for the next month. :)

I went to one of the nations premier art shows over the weekend (the St. James Court Art Show). Several hundred artist set up booths over several city blocks going in all directions and huge crowds (close to 300,000 total over the weekend) come to look at art all day (and hopefully buy some, too). I really enjoy going and make a point to attend every year. My parents used to be professional artist, so I grew up going to this show and others like it.

Going to the show also inspired me to really start working on finding a creative outlet of my own… I’ve been doing some thinking, and I have an idea for a 3-d/2-d relief landscape done in ceramics (my sister is a professional potter, so I can do this without much hassle).

I’m tired of sitting around and not doing anything. I love to read, watch movies, and surf the web, but I want something more interactive to do. My wife and I are unable to have children, so we have a lot of free time compared to most people we know… yet we don’t do anything with that time. I am really into nature photography, but I can’t get out and take pictures everyday, and even though I really enjoy the photography and plan to stick with it, I’m looking for something else.

When I was younger, my mother made me take oil painting lessons (kind of like some people take piano lessons or dance or whatever it was their mother made them do), but I sort of let that slip by the wayside after I graduated high school. I always thought sculpting (wood or stone) would be cool, and I’ve always had an interest in glass blowing. My wife bought me a nice guitar a few years ago because I told her I wanted to learn sometime… and I’ve never done anything with it. I just need to find something I like and start doing it. I always thought I would like to write, so maybe that would even be it. I joked with my wife the other day that I wish I could knit… at least then I could be doing something while we watch a movie or something. My dad is into woodworking, so that would even be an option.

Whatever I choose, I just need to get to it!

Yesterday i started making a bag out of an old t shirt and also I cooked something new. It goes to show that you can throw a bit of creative flair in your life every day.

I get this feeling inside and that’s when I really feel like making something…and usually it passes in a couple of days and I feel less restless. But the last time it really didn’t. It feels like I am on the verge of something, that’s the best way to explain it, like something is about to change. Anyway, this feeling just went on and on until I turned off the TV and made a couple of collages, one of pretty nice things that make me happy and one representing what I want out of life. It surprised me that I put so many love hearts on this one – I must want to find love more than I thought. Anyway, I did let my creativity out a bit and I learnt some new things about me, which is really cool.

this weekend and although I didn’t get to, I did find plenty of things around my house that would be useful when I do get around to it. I spent most of my weekend cleaning up around the house. There is a ton of stuff that I have kept that I had forgotten about. It is exciting to find useful stuff!